Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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i THE SUN, NEWBERRY. S. C„ FRIDAY, JULY 5, 1940 Wyoming Looks Back Upon Its Fifty Years As a State; It Has the Distinction of Being First to Give the Women a Vote WHO’S NEWS THIS WEEK The Old Occidental hotel in Buffalo, Wyo., said to have been the scene of the encounter between “The Virginian” and his enemy, “Trampas,” in Owen Wister’s novel. By LEMUEL F. PARTON (Consolidated Features—WNU Service.) EW YORK—Dr. Frank Kingdon resigned as president of the By ELMO SCOTT WATSON (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) O N JULY 10 a new United States commemorative postage stamp is being placed on sale for the first time. Now, there’s nothing especially remarkable about this, for the Post Office de partment has sent forth a veritable flood of “commem- oratives” during the last eight years. But the fact that this stamp is being issued in Annection with the 50th anni versary of the admission of Wyoming to the sisterhood of states gives it more than merely local or regional in terest. To Americans the name “Wyoming” means a variety of things. To a majority of us it symbolizes, perhaps more than the name of any other state, the “Wild West,” and rightly so. For it is doubtful if any other state west of the Mississippi has been the scene of more acts in the drama of the “Winning of the West” than have been staged within Wyoming’s 97,914 square miles. Although the route of Lewis and Clark’s epic journey took them north of Wyoming, the names of two members of their party are written on the pages of her history. In 1809 John Colter, who left Lewis and Clark during their return journey to St. Louis, became the first white man to gaze upon the marvels of that wonderland which was first called “John Colter’s Hell” and which we now know as Yellowstone Na tional park. Three quarters of a century later an old Indian wom an died on the Wind River reser vation of her people, the Sho shones, and today a simple mon ument marks what Wyoming be lieves (despite counter claims by North and South Dakota) to be the last resting place of Saca- jawea, or the “Bird Woman,” the heroic Indian girl who guided Lewis and Clark across the Shin ing mountains. Long before Lewis and Clark, Wyoming had been visited by ex plorers of another nation — the Frenchman, Sieur de la Veren- drye, and his sons who were searching for good sites to estab lish posts for trading with the Indians. That was in 1743 and soon afterwards France lost to England in the struggle to dom inate North America. So it fell to the lot of a new breed of men to exploit Wyoming’s riches in furs—the American trapper and fur trader. The late 1820s and the 1830s saw the full flowering of the fur trade and wrote on Wyoming’s pages the names of such men as Gen. William H. Ashley, Jedediah Smith, Jim Beckwourth, Manuel Lisa, Jim Bridger, Thomas Fitz patrick, the Sublettes, Baptiste Brown, Kit Carson and a host of other giants in buckskin. Then, almost before the day of the trapper and trader had dawned, the sun went down on this dra matic chapter in American his tory. The Oregon Trail. For the wagon trains of Ore gon-bound homeseekers or Cali fornia gold hunters began stream ing westward and one of Amer ica’s most historic highways, the Oregon Trail, wound across Wy oming from its eastern border to its western. Across it also wound the Salt Lake Trail, over which hurried the Mormons on their way to the Promised Land in Utah, and the Overland Trail, which echoed to the rumblings of the Concord stagecoaches and the hurrying hoofs of the Pony Express. The building of such sentinel posts as historic Fort Laramie and Fort Bridger to guard the traffic over these trails held in check for a little while the hos tile red men. But when the Union Pacific began to push west- • r ward and forts were built along the Bozeman Trail to guard the gold- seekers, hurrying to the new dig gings in Montana, the Sioux and Cheyennes girded their naked red loins for a last stand against the invaders. The result was “Red Cloud’s War.” Although the Treaty of 1868, signed at Fort Laramie, was a victory for Red Cloud, in that the government agreed to abandon the posts along the Bozeman Trail, it was far from being complete. For the Union Pacific continued to push westward and when, in May, 1869, the “Golden Spike” was driven at Promontory Point in Utah, the hammers which drove it home sounded the death knell of Indian domination in Wyoming. True, the Sioux and Cheyennes would fight another war in 1876-77, but the final result was a foregone conclusion—the conquest of the red man and the seizure of his lands by the whites. The Day of the Cattleman. After the Indian wars were over came one of the most glam orous periods in Wyoming’s his tory—the day of the cattleman. Brief though it was, it lasted long enough to make the name of Wy oming synonymous with the word “cowboy,” that picturesque American figure whose jingling spurs still echo in the American consciousness even though the era of the “open range” is long since past. For the day of the cattleman came to a climax and an end in 1892—with the famous “Johnson County War,” or the “Rustler War,” a fight between the cattle barons and the small ranchmen. It not only ended the reign of the barons but it also foreshadowed the coming of sheepmen, who be gan to crowd upon and spoil the cattle ranges, the “nester” or small farmer, and finally the “dude rancher” of today. Such, in brief outline, is the thrilling history of the state of Wyoming. But there is another fact in her history which makes her unique among the sisterhood of states. It is suggested by the central figure of a woman in the new stamp with the legend “Equal Rights” above her head. When congress, in 1868, created the Territory of Wyoming from parts of Dakota, Utah and Idaho, one of the first acts of the terri torial legislature was to pass a bill granting women the right to vote. Two years later the new terri tory did an even more unheard- of thing. In March, 1870, when the grand jury for the regular term of the court of the First Judicial district at Laramie was drawn, there appeared on the panel the names of the first wom en to be summoned to act as com mon law jurors anywhere in the world. Miss Eliza Stewart, a school teacher, had the distinc tion of heading the list of eight women whose names were drawn and who served on the jury. They were Nelly Hagen, Mary Wilcox, Retta Burnham, Mary Flynn, Mrs. I. M. Hartsough, Liz zie A. Spooner, and Jenny Ivin- son. Appointed as a bailiff was another woman, Martha Boies. News of this startling innova tion in the conduct of public af fairs spread all over the world and King William of Prussia, who seems to have been something of a feminist, cabled President U. S. Grant his enthusiastic congrat ulations. Reporters and cartoon ists swarmed to Daramie and pic tured the women jurors as mas culine creatures with bawling ba bies in their arms. Some un known poet celebrated the event in a deathless couplet: “Baby, baby, don’t get in a fury; Your mama’s gone to sit on the jury.” But for all the ridicule, the women jurors proved to be a suc cess. They not only served on a jury, but they indicted a murder er and convicted him! If the majority of Americans think of Wyoming in terms of cow boys, bucking broncos, ridin’ and ropin’ and roundups, credit for that fact is due more to one man, perhaps, than to any other single factor. And, paradoxically, he wasn’t a Westerner at all. He was an Easterner, a “tenderfoot.” A Tenderfoot Goes West. Owen Wister was his name and he was born in Philadelphia just 80 years ago—on July 14, 1860. A friend of Theodore Roosevelt while a student at Harvard, he planned a career in music and was well on the way to success in it abroad when the insistence of his father resulted in his re turning to Harvard to study law. His health broke before he was well started and, as Roosevelt had done, he went West to recu perate. That was in the middle eighties, and he lived in Arizona and Wyoming and learned to love the West. He returned to it each spring and in 1891, upon his re turn from a summer in Wyo ming, wrote two stories about the country and its people, “Hank’s Woman” and “How Lin McLean Went West,” both of which ap peared in Harper’s Magazine. He continued writing Western stories and in 1896 the first group of his tales were gathered in a volume called "Red Men and White.” A second volume, “Lin McLean,” came out two years later. Thus far Wister’s work had been accepted by critics as authentic portrayals of life in the West but it had not enjoyed any particular popular success. Then in 1902 his novel “The Virginian” appeared. The book became a best seller in a day when historical novels were especially popular and it continues to sell even today. At the time of Wister’s death in 1938 it was announced that the total sales of “The Virginian” had passed the 1,500,000 mark, a dis tinction which few American nov els have ever attained. Soon after “The Virginian” was published it was dramatized and, with Dustin Farnum playing the role of the hero, Frank Campeau as Trampas and Guy Bates Post as Steve, it was a “best seller” for six months. Afterwards it ran “on the road” for 10 years, is still played by stock companies, has been made into a movie no Since Wyoming was the scene j of the story of “The Virginian” i and its cowpuncher-hero was a glamorous, romantic figure, it is easy to understand why America thinks of that commonwealth which is celebrating its fiftieth year as a state this year, in terms of the cowboy. Another reason is indicated in the preface to one of Wister’s later books— “Members of the Family," pub lished in 1911. In it he says: Wyoming burst upon the tenderfoot resplendent, like all the story*books, like Cooper and Irving and Parkman come true again: here, actually going on, was that something which the boy runs away from school to find, that land safe and far from Monday morning, nine o’clock, and the spelling-bi k; here was Saturday eternal, where you slept out-of-doors, hunted big animals, rode a horse, roped steers, and wore deadly weapons. Make no mistake: fire-arms were at times practical and imperative, but this was not the whole reason for sporting them on your hip; you had es caped from civilization’s schoolroom, an air never breathed be.ore filled your lungs, and you were become one large shout of Joy. College-boy, farm-boy. street-boy, this West melted you all down to the same first principles. Were you seeking fortune. Perhaps, incidentally, but money was not the point; you had escaped from school. This holiday was leavened by hard bodily work, manly deeds and the bright brave ripple moved the ground-swell of tragedy. Something of a promise, also, was in the air, promise of a democracy which the Easf had missed. The truth of that quotation— with certain reservations as to “wearing deadly weapons,” per haps—is immediately apparent to anyone who has ever spent a vacation on a modern Wyoming dude ranch. And for the thou sands of Americans who have driven across Wyoming the truth of this quotation from the pref ace of “The Virginian” is also apparent: The mountains are there, far and shin ing, and the sunlight, and the infinite earth, and the air that seems forever the true fountain of youth—but where is the buffalo, and the wild antelope, and where the horseman with his pasturing thousands? So like its old self does the sage-brush seem when revisited, that you wait for the horseman to appear. But he will never come again. He rides in his historic yesterday. You will no more see him gallop out of the un> changing silence than you will see Co lumbus on the unchanging sea come salt ing from Palos with his caravels. University of Newark to serve the cause of American unity against j i o.-n various open Freedom' Stdl and hidc f en Embodies Our disruptive Hope and Faith forces. Cer tain industri alists have become dollar-a-year men for military rearmament. Dr. Kingdon is perhaps the first man to give up his job to work for intellec tual rearmament. With others, he built the Citizenship Educational Service to advance tolerance, co operation and all-around American solidarity. Theodore Roosevelt is its chairman and Dr. Kingdon is educational director. .“American Unity” was the subject of Dr. Kingdon’s address before the Institute of Public Affairs at Char lottesville, Va., recently. A few days ago, this writer happened to be pres ent when Dr. Kingdon was convers ing with a New York citizen of dis tinction and influence who main tained that democracy was both de cadent and impotent. In his Char lottesville address, Dr. Kingdon said: “The other day, 1 was arguing with a self-confessed Fascist. I happened to use the word free dom. He immediately scoffed, saying, ‘Freedom for what? Freedom to be unemployed? Freedom to starve?’ He knew that the word was one of the signal words of human history. He could not meet it squarely. So he tried to tie it up with all kinds of other words having un pleasant definitions in order to. destroy its own appeal by trans ferring to it their dismay. His was a deliberate effort to empty »f meaning a word that is packed with hope and faith. His performance was typical of the planned and concerted attempt to destroy the foundations of our thought so that we shall crumble before a vigorous onslaught from the cause with which he has allied himself.” In the above address Dr. King don assays such words as Christi anity, freedom, religion, propagan da, isolation, in the interest of tol erance and unity. Such is one of the unique endeavors of the Citizen ship Educational Service. Dr. Kingdon, tall, urbane school man and cleric, was born in London and came to this country in 1912, at the age of 17. He was educated at University College school, Lon don, and Boston university. TN BRAZIL, there is a saying that President Getulio Vargas is so clever that he can take off his socks without removing his shoes. Cer tainly some such deft pro cedure was in dicated when he eased Bra zil noiselessly into a dictatorship in 1937. Currently his swing on “sterile democracy,” and his indorsement of European dictatorships as “vigorous peoples fit for life” is big news in the western world, heeling quickly, as it does, the Italian aggression. There are 400,000 Germans in Brazil who have indicated similar views about “sterile democracy.” President Vargas has seemed much more able and plausible than most dictators. He isn’t given to casual shooting or hang ing and he says very little and this in a low voice, never in a sports palast or on a balcony. He built his 1930 campaign on a bare-knuckle fight against the “plutocratic coffee barons” of the Sao Paulo. He was badly defeated. He didn’t yell, “I’ve been robbed,” but instead gath ered a few of his old gaucho friends and quietly took over the country. • For four years, he ruled by de cree and then set up a liberal con stitution, written by the national as sembly. He proclaimed his alle giance to liberal government and the democratic ideal. He governed effectively and is credited with hav ing cut down debt a-d upped pro duction. Reared in a prairie town, he en rolled in a military college, but was diverted to the law and, like many of our own politicians, reached the national congress, with a start as district attorney. At about two o’clock on the morning of November 10, 1937, President Vargas telephoned all the members of his cabinet and the leaders of his legislature to come to the palace immediately. They seized weapons as they ' dashed for their cars. The presi dent received them urbanely, broke out cigars and wine, chat ted a few moments and then handed them a document in which he had scrapped and fired congress, nullified existing laws and substituted his own code. There was no dissent. By VIRGINIA VALE (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) T HE first actor in Hollywood history ever to be elected : a delegate to a national polit ical convention, Melvyn Doug las wonders if he will be able to enjoy the honor. ‘‘Of course I can always be represented by proxy,” he said the other day. “But a chance like this comes only every four years, and I’d hate to miss it.” Douglas made preparations to be in Chicago July 15 for the big con clave. But he temporarily forgot that he is also an actor, involved in the new Columbia comedy, “He Stayed for Breakfast,” along with Loretta Young, Eugene Pallette, Una O’Connor and Alan Marshall. Alexander Hall, the director, is making every effort to hurry things along, and is making all the scenes with Douglas first. '■& If you think you’d like to be a mo tion picture producer, pause and consider what happei A at the Para mount studio recently when Joel Mc- Crea withdrew from the cast of “Arise My Love” because of ill health. (1) Because of McCrea’s withdrawal, Ray Milland was plucked from the cast of “Virginia” to take the McCrea assignment, op- JOEL McCREA posite Claudette Colbert. (2) That meant that "Virginia” wouldn’t start on time. (3) That meant that Franchot Tone, who was to have co- starred in “Virginia,” had to with draw from the cast, because he had another commitment, and could ap pear in "Virginia” only if it started on schedule. (4) That meant that Fred McMurray stepped into the role for which Milland had been scheduled, playing opposite Made leine Carroll, but (5) She flew to England recently; at the moment of writing there’s no telling when she’ll be back. * Dorothy Lamour traded a $10,000,- 000 (according to her studio) head of hair for 30 cents’ worth of calico, and it wasn’t just a stunt in a movie scenario either. Seems she’s been wanting to bob those 40-inch tresses, which played quite a part in estab lishing her as a draw at the box- office. The studio wanted her to make some more pictures in which she wore a sarong, and she was de termined not tb. So both sides gave in; she had her hair bobbed by Wally Westmore, head of the make up department (and cried a little, as most girls do when they hear that first snip of the shears) and consented to do three South Seas pictures — “Moon Over Burma,” “Aloma of the South Seas,” with Jon Hall, and “South of Samoa,” with Bing Crosby. * A custom has been initiated dur ing the rehearsals of the Rudy Val- lee show to mark the scripts with asterisks to denote the laugh al lowed. The reason for this is to clock for timing when the show is actually broadcast. Four asterisks are tops in laugh pauses. The other night someone in the cast asked scriptwriter Sid Fields what it meant to see five asterisks instead of the customary four. Re plied Fields, “Then you know that you have the Fred Allen script by mistake.” * When you see the Bing Crosby picture, “Rhythm on the River,” you may be surprised to find that Ken Carpenter, Bing’s announcer and chime ringer on the air, plays a radio announcer named “Ken Car penter.” It’s the result of an acci dent. Scenarists had given Carpen ter another name in the picture, but John Scott Trotter, who’s Bing’s broadcast band leader and plays a band leader in the picture, made a long film take in which he called Carpenter by his real name. It was simpler to change the name than to do the scene over again. * Arthur Lake’s desire for realism on the “Blondie” radio show nearly disrupted the program recently. In one scene he had to fall down, with the proper accompanying sound ef fects; usually that just means that the sound man makes the noises. But Arthur insisted on doing his own fall. The show was on for the east ern broadcast. Arthur fell wrong, the script flew in all directions, and Pen ny Singleton had to rush over with her script and let Arthur read his part from it until his script had been reassembled. less than three times and has been translated into foreign lan guages. President Vargas Of Brazil Senses Direction of Wind l-OP° SEW 4- Ruth Wyeth Spears f FT WAS with a thrill of pride that i 1 Betsy’s mother looked over a list of the nicest girls in Betsy’s class. She had said, “yes,” when Betsy wanted to give a luncheon Eor them. Now what would she do about the shabby old dining room with its veneered oak chairs, short, faded curtains and bare buff-colored walls? Here is the answer and it cost exactly six dollars. An inexpen sive green and yellow flowered chintz was used for draperies -Jisk Me Jinother A General Quiz The Questions 1. What is the leading cause of death in the U.: S. navy? 2. Did Count von Zeppelin fight in the American Civil war? 3. How many presidential elec tors are allotted to the District of Columbia? 4. Approximately how many balls do the American and Nation al leagues use during a season? from ceiling to floor. The trick of making the windows higher is ex plained in the diagram. The old window shades were painted a soft, clear green. The backs and seats of the chairs were slip-cov ered with the chintz with green bindings, and a set of green and yellow china was brought out to lend color to the walls and add a note of interest on green painted stands in front of the windows. The stands were made of empty spools as described in the new Sewing Book 5, which is now ready for mailing. Tiiis book also gives directions for a buckram stiffened valance of the type shown here. All of its 32 pages are packed as tight as I could make them with ideas to make your home attractive without breaking the bank. You can have your copy for 10 cents to cover cost and mailing. Send order to: MRS. RUTH WYETH SPEARS Dniwer 10 Bedford Hills New York Enclose 10 cents for Book S. Name Address ..•••• Florence Nightingale’s Voice Florence Nightingale’s voice, preserved in a record of a brief talk, is one of the treasures owned by the British Broadcasting sys tem. The Answers 1. For the past six years it has been motor vehicle accidents. 2. Yes, on the Union side. 3. None. 4. Approximately 105,000, cost ing about $130,000. FOR SHAVING COMFORT —PLUS SAVING USI SINGLE EDGE OR < ‘ lO DOUBLE EDGE | *t 8w«dfa * Kent Blades^ 10c African Pigmies The stature of i\kka tribesmen of African pigmies seldom exceeds 4 feet 10 inches. I KEEP MV SMOKING ON THE SLOW-BURNING SIDE WITH CAMELS. THEY GIVE ME EXTRA MILDNESS AND EXTRA COOLNESS PATRICIA ENGLISH, noted Hon tralnar R IGHT YOU ARE, Patricia . English. Camels are more than mild. 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