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\ V - OU may recall the time when 1 Jim Braddock, supposed to be all washed up, removed the heavy weight championship crown from Max Baer’s carefree dome. After that party we suggested that the “primrose trail” rarely led to any pugilistic heights, or any other ath letic heights. There are certain physical freaks—I won’t mention their names—in boxing, baseball and golf, who trained largely on gin, scotch and bourbon and still made the headlines. For a while. But for each one of these excep tions I can name you ten who trained correctly and reached the top of the hill — Gene Tunney, Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis Benny Leonard, Bobby Jones, Bill Tilden, Byron Nel son, Sammy Snead, Jug McSpaden, Gene Sarazen, Don Budge, Ellsworth Vines, Bill Johnston, all of our track rtars and 98 per cent of our great football and base ball players such as Mel Ott, Carl Hubbell, Blozis, Nagurski, Bill Dick ey—but why go on? Most of these are the ones who count. This question was raised by the recent meeting at Madison Square Garden between two primrose trail ers from the past—Lee Oma and Baksl. Both started out along the soft and easy road. Both were phys ically qualified to do a much better fob than they displayed in their efforts. But neither was willing to pay the price of condition—the price that Tunney, Dempsey and Joe Louis paid to be ready with the best they had to give. And I’m giving you three of the tops along this rug ged road. As a general rule the so-called “primrose trail” has a sudden, abrupt and dismal finish. At the start of their careers Oma and Bak- si were galloping merrily along this trail—and getting nowhere in a hur ry. Now both are supposed to have changed their earlier habits—in the understanding that both are ^bout the two best heavyweights left, out side of war service. Both wasted valuable time in improving them selves. It took a world war to plant them up near the front. Oma seems to be going up faster than Baksi. He beat the tough ex-miner deci sively in 10 rounds, weighing only 185% pounds to Baksi’s 211. Keeping in Condition This isn’t any sermon or lecture on the matter of keeping in shape, or the value of hard training. But there is a general writing and talk ing tendency to overplay some of the playboys who traveled a long way up in spite of their odd ways of training. Harry Greb was one. So was Mickey Walker. Walter Hagen was another, later on in his career. And there was Rube Waddell, Bugs Ray mond, Shufflin’ Phil Douglas—great pitchers. Even the overpowering Babe Ruth had his lapses. So did Jim Thorpe. So did Grover Cleve land Alexander. But what about the great majority of stars who made a point of being in shape—who trained for the job? The best conditioned fighters I’ve known in the last 20 years were Gene Tunney, Jack Dempsey and , Joe Louis. And they were not so bad. Most of the star ballplayers be long to this list—I should say about 92 per cent of them. I mean such big leaguers as Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson, Tris Sneaker, Eddie Col lins, George Sisler, Lou Gehrig, Carl Hubbell, Mel Ott, Hans Wagner, Lefty Grove, Joe Gordon, Bill Dickey—I could keep on for two columns. I’d say about 99 per cent of the college and pro football players— the top ones—keep in shape and re frain at least from the gentle art of getting cockeyed. It makes a better story to write or tell about the fellow who was plastered the ,day or the night be fore—and yet came along to win. But I could also tell you about many more who might have won—many more—who flopped for the same rea son. There are, of course, certain ex ceptions. But there are not so many exceptions when you rank them against the vast majority who took the other road. Those who lack the courage—or perhaps the fortitude— who hope to be athletes without proper training and conditioning- are in for a heavy price and a heav ier jolt. They at least are buck ing tremendous odds. * * • Football Weaknesses Football officials have been given too heavy a burden. They can make or break any close game. It is for this reason that we suggest two changes that will not only help out the officials, but will also help foot ball. The first would permit for ward passing any place, back of the line. The second is that after a for ward pass is thrown, it would be made a free ball for both receiv ers and defenders. It wouldn’t mat. ter who went after it. THE NAZI OLYMPICS (“The German minister of propa ganda declared that the German idea of a good world was one where the Olympic games provided the only conflict among men.” — News Item.) 100 yard dash—All Nazis to get a head start of 99 yards. 200 yard dash—For pure blondes only. Quarter mile relay—Germans of pure strain to have wind at backs. Half mile relay—Open to dis gruntled paperhangers, postcard painters and revengeful corporals only. High jump—All contestants other than Germans must concede that the Germans, however high they may jump, have really jumped two feet higher. Pole vault—Herrinvolk to have first choice of poles. No figures to be official until passed on by a com mittee made up exclusively of Prus sian military officers. (Note. No poles to be permitted for Jews, Ne groes, English or American pole vaulters.) Javelin hurling—Javelins for use by Germans to be of special de sign. Practice in streets crowded with little children to be compul sory. Discus throw—All contestants oth er than Germans to throw left-hand ed, using sidewheel delivery. Running broad jump—Germans to jump down hill with Gestapo at backs. (Anybody jumping higher or farther than a German to be dis qualified for impertinence.) Shot put—This event to be limited to contestants named Fritz, Adolf, Heinrich or Otto. Marathon—All contestants other than those officially approved by Berlin committee on sportsmanship to wear pig lead in running shoes. Special watches to be used to time German runners. Hurdle Races—Those of pure Ger man bloodlines may compete at any time they may wish; others must compete immediately after a full meal. • Swimming Events Fifty yard dash—Outboard motors for Nazis compulsory. 100 yards—Nazis to swim in regu lar tanks; other nationalities to swim in hot oil. Under water swim—(All contest ants other than pure Germans will come up at their peril.) Water polo events—Opponents of Nazis to swim on backs. German players to consider spiked shoes as proper equipment. , * The laying of mine fields on all tracks after Germans have con cluded their part in the event shall be legal. All cups given as prizes may have booby traps attached. No further no tice of this shall be necessary. Experiments with new jet bombs and other horror weapons shall be conducted on all parts of the field except when German^ are compet ing. All cash prizes shall be paid in wooden money. • • • YE GOODE OLDE FILMS Once in a while an old film is fe-shown, and it is surprising how often they seem far ahead of the later ones in humor, drama and general interest! Such a picture is “If I Had a Million,” first shown over a decade ago, relating, with gorgeous fun, what a half dozen or dinary people do when they are left a million by a gooney millionaire. We have seen few funnier pictures since and lost no time making for the theater that was showing it again. • What a bunch of stars in one comedy! Charles Laughton, W. C. Fields, Charles Ruggles, the late Richard Bennett, Jack Oakie, George Raft, Gary Cooper, May Robson and a half dozen others! There has never been a more side splitting episode in pictures than the one where Fields, his brand new car just wrecked by a careless driver, buys a flock of cars with his sud denly acquired dough and devotes the day to smashing into roadhogs. • Incidentally, Gary Cooper and George Raft, not then famous, were just attracting attention at the time, and it was Charlie Laughton’s first American picture bit. • • • Do You Remember Away Back When— The envelope* fitted the ttatumery? You could count on feeing the tome bar* tender? You could remember the name of the cigarette you’re smoking? • • • It Helps Fifteen thousand dollars was paid at auction the other night for a Frans Hals painting “Portrait of a Laughing Boy." It goes to show what it means to have anybody around the house who seems to fee] pleasant these days. • • • “Muddled Meat Crisis Grows”— Headline. • Muddled meat? That’s a new name for modern hamburgers, we assume. . Gene Tunney THE NEWBERRY SUN, NEWBERRY, S. C. 'T'HAT wisecrack about “the high- A er they fly the farther they fall 1 ' must have been made with mo tion picture stars in mind. For it requires a miracle of sorts to bring back a star who has once slipped at box office. With this in mind, chalk 1945 down as the year of miracles—the year in which more comebacks will be suc cessfully made and attempted than any other in motion picture history There are Joan Blondell and James Dunn in “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,” to be gin with, with Jimmy staging that most difficult of all comebacks, a star role on the very lot which nine years ago Joan Blondell counted him among its bright est box office suc cesses. Both Joan and Jimmy hold long - term con tracts at Twenti eth Century-Fox since executives chalked off their ex cellent performances, Joan as Aunt Sissy, and Jimmy as Johnny Nolan, the famous singing v/aiter of Betty Smith’s novel. Jimmy Dunn Joan Blondell was to a certain extent responsible for her exile from the screen. She was tired of play ing an endless succession of animat ed, gum-chewing typists, alternat ing with wisecracking blonde show girls. Then, too, her husband, Dick Powell, was trying to get away from singing parts and into real acting ones. But the producers didn’t seem to want him in either during this period. So Joan, not wanting to embarrass him, stopped taking parts when he couldn’t get any. Leave of Abtence Joan toured our army camps for 13 months—went into remote posts as far north as Labrador and gave homesick boys of her rich, vibrant personality. She followed this with an uninterrupted go of over two years on Broadway. The new Blon dell proves that she can be some thing more than a big-hearted bag gage with a head of gold. Director Elia Kazan tells me she gives some gradations in her performance of Aunt Sissy that bode well for future efforts. Jimmy Dunn never actually left the screen or the stage. But for nine years—since 1931, when he played “Bad Girl”—he appeared in minor movies of a type that didn’t reach audiences that knew him as a star. And when casting time for “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” filled his agent with enthusiastic ambitions, Jimmy said: “Skip it. You’re wast ing your time. I used to be a big star on that lot—they’d never let me do it.” Darryl Zanuck was deter mined the screen Johnny would live up to the singing waiter of the book. So he ordered every possible appli cant tested until the perfect person showed up. The perfect person turned out to be Ex-Twentieth Star James Dunn. Frank Confeation Few actors are as frank as Jim my in talking of the things which helped him to lose out in his pro fession. “I began watching the money clauses in my contracts, Hedda, instead of reading the scripts carefully,” he said with commend able frankness. “So I got the dough, but I began to slip at the box of fice.” Jimmy Dnrante’s comeback in all the mediums—night clubs, radio, motion pictures—notably “Music for Millions,” with Margaret O’Brien, is one of the bright spotfe of the year just past. This year Joan Crawford, after many hesitations, ruminations and consultations, will essay her screen comeback in “Mildred Pierce,” a red-blooded story by James M. Cain. These are some of the comebacks that enter the mind at the moment. Not all attempts to resume a star status, sometimes lightly laid aside, are successful. I’m thinking now of the many times Gloria Swanson was scheduled for a big comebdCk which never came off. Buster Kea ton never got back where he once had been. Ramon Novarro’s fre quent attempts to star were fail ures, once his lucky period had passed. Yes, a comeback is a sort of minor miracle in the entertainment world, but it can happen. • • • Smart Thinking Frank Sinatra tells me, rain or shine, he’s going overseas to enter tain our fellows in June. He has turned down several pictures that were unsuitable. He’s looking for something with human interest. When I reminded him Bing Crosby was 13 years getting “Going My Way,” he replied, “Well, why not copy Bing and say I’m going his way too? I’d like to.” . . . “Roar ing Waters” highlights tho Shasta dam and will co-star Bill Gargan and Robert Lowery. Pretty, Practical Apron-Pinafore Tot’s Frock for School or Play 1272 14-42 Apron-Pinafore A CURRENTLY popular style is the mother - and - daughter theme. This attractive house frock for mother buttons at the shoulder and waist in back and is mar velously simple to do up. • * • Pattern No. 1272 comes In sizes 14, IS, IS. 20; 40 and 42. Size 16, with sleeves, requires 4% yards of 35 or 39-inch mate rial: 4 yards of rick rick to trim. Due to an unusually large demand and current war conditions, slightly more time is required in filling orders for a few of the most popular pattern numbers. Play Frock I ITTLE daughter will feel quite ' grown-up in her apron pina fore to match mother’s. The gay over-shouider ruffles and sweet heart neck are edged in bright binding. Ideal for school or play. • * • Pattern No. 8741 is designed for sizes 2, 3. 4. 5 and 6 years. Size 3. with sleeves, requires 2% yards of 35 or 39-inch material; 3 yards trimming for ruffles and neck. SEWING CIRCLE PATTERN DEPT. 530 South Wells St. Chicago Enclose 25 cents in coins for each pattern desired. Pattern No Size Name..... Address. San’s Weather Studied in Relation to That of Earth Since 1941, a unique study to de termine whether there is any con nection between the weather of the sun and that of the earth has been carried on at Harvard’s observa tory near Climax, Colo., says Col lier’s. As photographs of the solar corona taken during a natural eclipse could not be used, a spe cial movie camera had to be de veloped. Called the coronagraph, it creates an artificial eclipse with masking screens, and automa tically takes a picture in color every 10 seconds. DON’T JUST SUFFER GET MUkTIPLE RELIEF RELIEF ONE-Reduce fever. RELIEF TWO-Eose stuffy nose. RELIEF THREE-Reduce body udws. RELIEF FOUR-Eose muscle pubs. RELIEF FIVE—lessen heododw. Grove’s Cold Tablets, like many m doctor’s prescription, are a multiple medicine. A combination of eight ac* tive medicinal ingredients especially designed for relief of usual cold tnia* cries. Insist on ftenuin*. GROVE’S t*'.?.’™ WH £N causes You can’t avoid oxposucu r to wintry winds, driving rains, sudden weather changes. But you can relievo-* , easily and quickly—tho muscular pcho■ , and pains they causa. Jest pot on Storm’s I Liniment and fool It ponolraf* Inst—Hy I with warming, comforting relief. Tired Aching Muscles • Sprains Stiff Joints • Strains • Bruises W mat you HEED Et SLOAN’S LINIMENT Meet the Men I The Navy and Merchant Marine send rapid ship-to-ship messages by battery- powered flasher signal lights when radio communication might give a ship’s position to the enemy. It’s difficult to locate men drifting in the sea! Water-tight battery lights on buoyant lifesaver suits have meant the difference between life and death for many Merchant seamen. For emergency communication by voice, the Merchant Marine usee a port able megaphone to broadcast orders and instructions. Dry batteries give necessary power to the megaphone. Two men and a bazooka make a win ning team! But it takes large quantities of ammunition and dry battery power to keep these portable, hard-hitting weapons firing at the enemy. Deadly flamethrowers are blazing the road to Victory! Dry batteries help to create the spark that sends these efficient weapons into instant, flam ing action against the enemy. The Signal Corps man with a Walkie- Talkie has freedom of speech as long as he has plenty of dry batteries! Handie- Talkies also use thousands of war bat* teries to power vital communication* • VPhetl they come Home —• Burgess Batteries will be back again, too ... powering flashlights, radios, telephones, instruments and controls for millions of homes, farms and industries throughout America. BURGESS BATTERIES IN THE NATION'S SERVICE BURGESS BATTERY COMPANY, FREEPORT, ILLINOIS