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McCORMICK MESSENGER, McCORMICK, S. THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 1940 t ■ i i ‘ By LEMUEL F. PARTON f (Consolidated Features—WNU Service.) YORK. — Most airpjane makers who expressed an opin ion about Henry Ford’s offer to make 1,000 planes a day were doubt- t j m. about Mr. Industry ‘Can Do Ford . s ability Anything* in Our to deliver. Defense Effort Young and energetic Sherman M. Fairchild, president of the Fairchild Engine and Airplane corporation, thought “anything would be possible” provided suf ficient money, materials and person nel were available. He was re assuring as to the industry’s capaci ties in tooling, plants and other re quirements for a quick shift to mass production. Mr. Fairchild is, himself, re assuring in exemplifying the tradition of Yankee inventive ness. His father, the late < George Winthrop Fairchild, once -chairman of the International , Business Machines corporation, was the inventor of the dial tele phone, the computing machine v and finally the adding machine, to keep track of his mounting * millions—about 10 of which went to his son. He had begun his business career at 08 a week. , “Anything is possible” seems to ! have been a sort of family slogan. WHO’S NEWS THIS WEEK • n As a youth, Sherman M. Fairchild was mainly interested in cameras. His father had tapped him for junior executive of his company, iWhen- the young man stuck to cameras, this interest later shading into airplanes, his family was indul gent. They thought the boy was just having a “wanderjahr” and would round up at a desk when the time came. But the camera obses sion wasn’t just monkey business. At 21, he had invented an unique flashlight camera and several years later brought through a radial aerial camera, organized the Fairchild Aerial Surveys and caught attention with a trail-blazing aerial survey of New York. This led to plane-build ing. In 1927, he corralled several companies, set Igor Sigorsky build ing planes and turned out the first cabin monoplane in the United States. S INCE chivalry is not inseparable from T»»trir»t.ism this writpr Lauds Response Given to Appeal ..w... patriotism, this writer asked Norman H. Davis, chairman of the American Red Cross, to send Red Cross Chief „ m ‘ hl a paragraph s about the work of the Red Cross in its greatest endeavor. He responded as follows: “Anyone attempting to bring ma terial assistance to the millions of homeless and miserable war refu gees is inevitably seized with a sense of futility. Th2re is so much that needs doing immediately, and there are so many obstacles to over come that the burden of responsibil ity becomes almost overwhelming. “These moods of futility I can diSpel by concentrating my ^ thoughts on the splendid sup port received by the American Red Cross from all over the country. When I think of the 350,000 volunteers sewing band ages and knitting garments, or of the millions of Amerioans in every walk of life who are con tributing to the Red Cross war- relief fund, my spirits are im mediately buoyed. Pride in the generous and patriotic response i of the public gives each Red Cross worker new courage to carry out his tasks. “The war-relief funds are going to work for humanity almost as fast as they come in. Relief supplies are being distributed, hospital supplies are on the way and ambulances have been ordered. Clothing and surgical dressings are being shipped to the stricken areas, in huge quantities. Our activities are rapidly being geared to greatly increased needs as the toll of invasion continues to mount. I have an abiding faith that the people of this country will help the Red Cross keep pace with its increasing obligations. ■ Mr. Davis is a Southerner by birth, and therefore fundamen tally humane; as a successful ; business man and financier, he is effective, and as a European i { ambassador at large under five Presidents, he is discreet. 1 In the dark depths of the rear seat (of his town car, one night two years ago, I had a talk with him about power politics in Europe. He was, indeed, discreet, but I gained an Impression of his shrewd awareness 'of the deeper realities of the Euro pean impasse, as now tragically re vealed. When, later, he was ap pointed chairman of the Red Cross, it seemed to me that our greatest humane tradition had been fortu nately personalized, in a man with both a touch of homespun and the sophistication of one accustomed to getting things done. Britain’s ‘Rock’ Under a Double Threat An aerial view of Gibraltar, Britain’s mighty fortress at the entrance to the Mediterranean, one of the key points of the European chessboard. Great Britain may be forced to defend Gibraltar against both Musso lini and Gen. Francisco Franco, who has been urged to repay Spain’s debt to the Rome-Berlin axis by co operating in any axis operation against the “Rock.” The Allied Troops Retreat From Dunkirk The picture shows the allied troops wading out from the beach to the rescue boat in the right fore ground, during the evacuation of Duqkirk. This was one of the most remarkable retreats in history, 887 British craft taking part in the operation. A correspondent reports that every building in this city of 33,000 persons was destroyed by the Nazis. $230,769,230 Per Ounce! Between 1935 and 1940 federal expenditures have increased by $3,000,- 000,000, and the budget has gained 13 ounces in weight. This means that every time the budget becomes an ounce heavier the spending increases, on an average, by $230,769,230. The picture was prepared by the National Small Business Men’s association with headquarters in Chicago. Middies March in June-Week Fete Middies parade during the presentation of colors ceremony, one of the features of June week at the United States Naval academy, Annapolis, Md. Helen Barbara Engh, 19, Sweet Briar college sophomore, was selected color girl for the ceremony. Interned by Nazis P. G. Wodehouse, British humor ist, and his wife (shown) were giv ing a cocktail party in Le Touquet, French channel coast town, when the Germans came along. He was interned, but his wife was allowed to leave. Visitors Barred Every armory in New York state has been put under military guard. The buildings have been closed to the public to prevent possible sabo tage. “The Name Is Familiar— BY FELIX B. STREYCKMANS and ELMO SCOTT WATSON ‘Get Your Gat!* IF RICHARD JORDAN GATLING ■■■ could know how his name is per petuated in the slang of the under world, he would probably revolve as rapidly in his grave as did the bat tery gun which he invented in 1861. For when a crook says to a com panion, “Get your gat!”, his per sonification of his weapon is a short ening of the name of an inventor, born in North Carolina in 1818, who gave to the world many use ful articles before he invented the gun that bears his name. Among them were a machine for sowing cotton seed, another for thinning cotton- plants, one for sowing rice, an other for sowing wheat, a screw for propelling water craft, a machine for breaking hemp and a steam plow. But Gatling is remembered for none of these. Instead, his name is linked with an instrument of death— a revolving gun consisting of a num ber of simple breech-loading rifled barrels grouped around and revolv ing about a common axis. The orig inal Gatling gun fired only 250 to 300 shots per minute but later mod els were capable of spitting out 1,200 bullets every 60 seconds. It was used with deadly effect in the Civil war and for many years thereafter by the United States army, which adopted it in 1866, until the modern machine gun supplanted it. Even though it’s not in common use now, its inventor’s name is—shortened to “gat.” • • * R. J. Gatling Vandyke Beard 'T'HE famous artist Vandyke is an- other whose name has been per petuated by becoming a part of our language and yet hardly anyone knows how he spelled it. The Van dyke beard is named for him and is spelled that way, but he spelled his name Van Dyck. Antonius Van Dyck, born in Ant werp, Belgium, in 1599, and one of the greatest art ists of all time, migrated to Eng land. There his name was angli cised to Anthony Vandyke and, al though he spent some time in Ita ly, returned to Antwerp and did some work in Paris, the Eng lish spelling of his name is the van Dyck one ^at remained through the centuries. So we call his type of beard—a rather full mustache with a small, billy-goat-like pendage of hair from the lower lip—a Vandyke beard. And there is a Vandyke collar and cape, so named because it was promi nent on portraits he painted. It consists of fine linen and lace with deep pointed or indented edges. Van Dyck had a successful but short life, made possible by the fact that his talents were brought out while he was very young. At 10 his wealthy father sent him to a famous art school; at 16 he organ ized a firm of portrait painters; at 20 he was called to England and was recognized by the king of Eng land who pensioned him, and at 42 he died. • • * Gladstone Bag YlfHEN you pack your gladstone W bag for a trip, you may not realize it, but you will be carrying with you a constant reminder of “the greatest of the long line of Vic torian political leaders and prime ministers of England.” But such will be the case, for this convenient and capacious piece of luggage is named for William Ewart Gladstone, who was born of Scotch parentage in Liv erpool in 1809, served an appren ticeship under an other great prime minister, Sir Rob ert Peel, and him self became prime minister for the first time in 1868. From that time on he and another great prime min ister, Benjamin Disraeli, were con stant rivals and for the next quarter of a century Gladstone was the leader of the Liberal party and served as prime minister no less than four different times. He died in 1898 and is buried in the states man’s corner of Westminster abbey. (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) W. E. Gladstone Early Ceremonial Washings In all early civilizations, bathing and handwashing—of a sort—were required decencies. Religions, even of very ancient peoples, called for a great deal of ceremonial washing. Hospitality among the Hebrews re quired offering a foot bath to the guest; among the Greeks and Ro mans the refreshment of a bath was offered. By VIRGINIA VALE (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) E ACH year Hollywood makes a “sleeper” — a picture that, during the mak ing, created no excitement,! but during the preview show-! ing had all the earmarks of being one of the best of the year. “It Happened One Night” and “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” are two of the better known sleepers. This year’s, according to some of the people who have seen it, may be “Down Went Mc- Ginty.” Written and directed by Preston Sturgis, with a cast including Muriel Angelus, Brian Donlevy and Akim Tamiroff, it is the “saga of a bum.”i It may be the making of a new star, Muriel Angelus. In England she is one of the foremost musical MURIEL ANGELUS comedy stars; she played the lead in “Balalaika” on the stage there— you’ll recall that Nelson Eddy and Ilona Massey did the picture ver sion. She has been in this country for two years; last year, while sing-! ing on the New York stage in “The! Boys From Syracuse,” she was signed up by Paramount, and “The: Light That Failed,” with Ronald Colman, was her first picture. Then! she did “Safari” and “The Way of All Flesh,” followed them with “Down Went McGinty.” When John Barrymore seemed to be unavailable for the role of John Barrymore in “The Great Profile,” at Twentieth Century-Fox, Adolphe Menjou was engaged for it. Then Barrymore’s plans changed, he took the part, and Menjou took his sal ary, as the studio had no other pic ture ready for him. M/ ✓4s Rod Cameron, a young, six-foot Canadian, went to Los Angeles a year ago to learn the dime stone business. That didn’t work out very well, so he quit, took up little theater work, and now finds himself acting for Paramount. Death brought him his first role, that of “Corporal Underhill” in Cecil B. DeMille’s “Northwest Mounted Police.” Earl Askam, a former stage star and war hero, was to have played it, but he died recent ly of a heart attack, and young Cameron (whose real name is Rod Cox) was summoned for it. By a grisly coincidence, the role includes a death scene, but he’s so elated over getting the part that he can’t afford to be superstitious. Now that they need passports to sail for a tour of South America, it has been discovered that many of Toscanini’s NBC Symphony musi cians are men without a country. It seems that there was a general impression among them that all they had to do to become American citizens was to file their intentions of doing so; now they’re not Amer icans, and, as they renounced their native lands, they don’t legally be long anywhere. ✓4\ ' " George Brent, working in Warner Brothers’ “The Sentence,” offers to put up $10,000 at 10 to 1 odds that he won’t marry for another three years. “That’s no reflection on Aim,” he says, meaning Ann Sheri dan, whom gossips have him wed ding soon. “It’s just that I’m going to wind up my picture contract then, and I’m not making any mar riage plans until I do.” Miss Sheridan (working in “They Drive by Night,” same studio) is equally vehement. “George and I haven’t even discussed getting mar ried,” says she. But—it’s the kind of buildup that so often leads to ah elopement, in Hollywood! M/ Carl Hoff, on the CBS A1 Pearce show, drew an impressive crowd the other day and wished he hadn’t. He parked his new coupe and then tried to get out of it, and couldn’t. He went through assorted acrobatic convulsions, thrusting his feet and arms out of the windows in all pos sible combinations, while the crowd offered advice hilariously. The new coupe has patent thief-locks on its doors. Only after he had struggled till he was limp did it occur to Hoff to pass the key to one of the amused bystanders.