WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS By Edward C. Wayne
McNutt Lashes disciples of Despair/
Calls for All-Out Attack on Tokyo;
Pan-American Solidarity Increases;
R.A.F. Reverses Tide in Malta Battle
(EDITOR'S NOTE—When opinions are expressed in these columns, they
are those of the news analyst and not necessarily of this newspaper.)
— (Released by Western Newspaper >
LABOR:
Picture Complicated
The labor situation, in the other
big battle which had centered in
Washington, the fight over whether
the 40-hour week should be retained
or not, had complicated the New
Deal picture tremendously.
On the one hand Secretary of La
bor Perkins and the White House
itself had been found apparently un
willing to scrap the 40-hour week,
while Thurman Arnold, of the at
torney general’s staff, had issued
the most bitter statement against
labor unions as obstructing the war
effort that had come out of Wash
ington since the New Deal started.
Now, the unions were whole-heart
edly against the move to end the 40
hour week, claiming that the only
benefit their workers had from it
was the extra half-time pay for the
usual eight hours of overtime week
ly, while business already was be
ing accused of getting huge profits
for its share of the war-time boom
in industrial activity.
Congressional leaders were found
urging, against business, that all
profits over 6 per cent be recap
tured for the government, and at
the same time highly divided over
the 40-hour week.
Tremendous mail was being re
ceived on the subject, convincing
many congressmen that a definite
nationwide campaign to have the 40
hour week thrown out was in prog
ress.
One official high in the War Pro
duction board stated that the 40-hour
week through overtime payments
was adding 8 per cent to the cost
of all war contracts.
‘ATTACK TOKYO’:
Pleads McNutt
Lashing out at “disciples of de
spair,” Paul V. McNutt, social se
curity administrator, had urged an
“attack on Tokyo” as the “real de
fense of America.”
He said:
"America’s defense does not be
gin at wading depth on Coney Is
land, nor on the sundrenched sands
of San Diego.
“America’s defense begins with
the attack on Tokyo. It is when
flames roar through Yokohama
PAUL V. McNUTT
“More Leathernecks, fewer bottlenecks.”
and the factories of the Ruhr are
blasted and broken that Wichita,
Kansas City and Omaha will be se
cure.
“The leathernecks of Wake island
taught the Japs what it costs to lick
only a few hundred marines. What
this nation needs is more leather
necks and fewer bottlenecks.”
BRITISH:
Gain Air Strength
The report of a British-German
air fight around Malta, where the
British had been taking a beating
since the war began without giving
in, had been a signal for the fact that
the British R.A.F. had been steadily
gaining strength.
In this assault, British Hurricane
fighters and anti-aircraft gunnery
had brought down 12 bombers and
two fighters in a 24-hour assault on
the island, the biggest bag in the
war so far.
Most significant was the fact that
the “ack-ack boys,” the gunners on
the island, were credited with
knocking the two fighters and 8
of the 12 bombers out of the air.
The other four planes shot down
were fighter-bombers, similar in
plan to our “medium attack bomb
ers,” and they were all bagged by
the R.A.F. fighting squadron.
LATIN-AMERICA:
Grows More Solid
Historians, pointing to the fact
that 21 Latin-American nations ei
ther have declared war or have bro
ken relations with the Axis, as com
pared with 13 in the last war, had
expressed the belief that Chile would
be the next one in, and that Pan
American solidarity was on the in
crease, boding well for hemispher
ic unity in the post-war period.
However, as President-elect Juan
Rios had reached the threshold of
his office following the election,
Adolf Hitler had cabled him ex
pressing the hope that “German re
lations with Chile might become
even closer.”
Chile and Argentina, at this point
had remained the only two still
maintaining relations with the Axis.
Hitler was quoted as cabling:
“I take this opportunity to express
the desire that the relations of sin
cere friendship between Germany
and the Republic of Chile will be
PRESIDENT-ELECT JUAN RIOS
Relations with Germany strained.
preserved during your term as pres
ident, and if possible, become even
closer.”
Yet, by contrasts, most Latin
American observers took this as a
hint that relations were on the point
of being broken.
JAPS:
Warn Aussies
The Japanese, apparently trying
to undermine Australian confidence
and trying to build up a lack of
unity within the continent, were put
ting out “warnings to Australians”
before they had tried a landing.
The grim determination of the
Australians to defend their country,
plus the appointment of Gen. Doug
las MacArthur to the supreme com
mand, was ample assurance that
Japanese propaganda would fall on
barren soil.
As the invaders of New Guinea
were moving across the difficult and
almost impassable terrain between
Salamaua and Lae and Port Mores
by on the southern coast, with pros
pect of a bitter battle at the end,
they issued the following warning:
“Australia stands at the cross
roads. She must choose between
freedom and the fate of the Dutch
East Indies.
“Japan has no territorial aspira
tions, and wants Australia to be
come a partner in the eastern Asiat
ic prosperity realm.
Australia, with a population of
only 7,000,000 cannot defend her long
eastern coastline.
“The countries, Japan and Aus
tralia, economically supplement
each other. One way leads to the
end of Australia’s existence and the
other to wealth and peace,” said
the Japanese.
At the same time the Japs showed
evidence of being jittery over possi
ble attacks by American planes
from Alaska via the Aleutians, Adm.
Kayozo Nakamura having told the
Japanese people in a broadcast:
“Fears that the United States in
the spring will embark on surprise
attacks on Japan by submarines and
aircraft are unnecessary.
“The Americans have no adequate
base.”
European centers had placed
little importance on the signing in
Moscow of a renewal of the pact
between Japan and Russia on the
subject of fishing rights off the Si
berian coast.
Refusal of Russia to have signed
would have been viewed as a prac
tical declaration of war. But few
European observers took the sign
ing of the pact, in existence for
many years, as any special sign of
friendliness.
HIGHLIGHTS • • • in the week’s news
New York: One of the most defi
nite reports of the sinking of a
U-boat off the coast was reported
by General Drum, who said that a
patrol bomber returning after a pho
tographic mission had seen a sub
marine, had dropped four depth
bombs and that the oil and debris
which littered the sea made it defi
nite that the submarine had been
sunk.
Peoria, 111.: The government had
stepped in and ended a strike on the
239-mile Toledo, Peoria and Western
railroad. The government held that
the failure of the railroad to arbi
trate with the brotherhoods consti
tuted a blocking of the war effort.
Istanbul: Turkey was predicting
the fall of the Kallay government of
Hungary in favor of a regime which
would be still more favorable to Ger
many. The Turkish observers felt
that it was a general move by Ger
many to “blackjack” Hungary into
providing more soldiers for the
Nazis.
London: The Times has reported
that German heavy industry is pay
ing Adolf Hitler a personal tribute
of $12,000,000 a year for his own
use, and that Hitler devotes a por
tion of this to buy support.
Philadelphia: One convict was
killed and others injured in a riot
at the penitentiary. The riot was
started over a shortened ration of
sugar in the convicts’ coffee.
JAPS:
America’s greatest forced migra
tion of enemy aliens had started on
the Pacific coast when a small cara
van moved out of Los Angeles’ “lit
tle Tokyo,” bound for the Owens
valley, far inland.
They were the first of an estimat
ed 35,000 individuals who were to
be moved to the Owens valley re
ception center.
They moved for the most part in
busses, the caravans rolling along
in true army convoy style, with
command cars at front and rear.
VATICAN:
And Neutrality
ARCHBISHOP SPELLMAN
“The church is against atrocities
The sending of a Japanese mis
sion to the Vatican in Rome and its
acceptance by the pope had brought
statements from Washington and
London that the Allies “had direct
ed the attention of the pope to the
unfortunate effects of allowing Ja
pan to establish a mission at the
Holy See.
While there was no direct answer
to these representations from Pope
Pius himself, the pontiff’s close friend
and American spokesman. Archbish
op Spellman of New York, said:
“Leaders of nations who have
tried to influence the Holy Father on
one side or the other in this conflict
must understand that the Holy Fa
ther has to be impartial.
“While there can be no neutrali
ty between right and wrong, and
the church is against atrocities, the
Holy See must keep in contact with
and aid the Catholics of' every na
tion.
“The Holy See must accept the
envoys who choose to make these
contacts.”
SUGAR:
A Week of None
The announcement that there
would be a week of no sugar sales
decreed by the government for the
week of April 27, came when sugar
rationing, ban on sales of new
automobiles, and demands that auto
graveyards give up their dead were
holding the economic spotlight.
The East was having gasoline shut
downs, with rationing in prospect
throughout this territory, perhaps
also in the Pacific Northwest.
Washington told the people of
7.900.000 tons of sugar having been
withdrawn from the market by
hoarders, and told of plans to make
sugar hoarders give up their sup
plies to the retail stores, selling
them back at retail prices.
A campaign had been started to
force used-car-lot junkmen to “turn
over” their cars every 60 days or
face the penalty of having the rusty
metal requisitioned by the govern
ment.
In one eastern state of average
size, it was said, the junkyards had
14.000 cars, enough metal to make
2.300.000 three-inch shells; 9,000 75
mm. howitzers or 6,000 anti-aircraft
guns.
TRAINING PROGRAMS:
For Army Forces
War Secretary Stimson has an
nounced that 100,000 men and wom
en will be trained for civilian jobs—
including overhaul and repair me
chanics, production workers, inspec
tors at government factories, depots
and arsenals—in government and
state-owned schools and rented facil
ities of private technical schools. El
igible men must be outside the age
and other selective service require
ments. Students wiil be paid $900
to $1,400 a year in training. Courses
vary from 15 weeks to four months.
Applications may be made to any
fcivil service commission local office.
The Army institute has been es
tablished at Madison, Wis., to pro
vide for enlisted men with at least
four months active service, corre
spondence study in more than 65
courses in English, social studies,
mathematics, science, business and
engineering at a cost of two dollars
a course.
Army Ground Forces Commander
McNair announced selection of a
site “west of the Colorado river”
for large-scale troop training in
modern desert warfare, part of a
program to develop task forces for
mountain, airborne and armored
warfare and for joint ground opera
tions. The department said the re
placement and school command will
open headquarters at Birmingham,
Ala., and the anti-aircraft command
at Richmond, Va., before April 1.
The former will include 14 schools
and replacement centers, including
officer candidate schools. A military
police replacement training center
will be established at Fort Riley,
Kan., about April 8, to accommo
date 1,800 trainees from all sections
of the country. Mr. Stimson said
the R.O.T.C. program will be main
tained in colleges, but the army can
not supply material and personnel
to provide pre-induction training at
such institutions.
ATLANTIC:
Sinkings continued at a rapid pace
along the Atlantic seaboard, though
there were not so many on the regu
lar sea-lanes carrying commerce
between Britain and the U. S.
Yet there were favorable signs,
and measures were being taken to
make the lot of the submarine hard
er, and to cut down sinkings.
One of these was the dim-out or
black-out of lights of cities and re
sorts along the coast, particularly
along sea-lanes frequented by coast
wise vessels.
Sinkings off Miami at night, for
instance, had been reported caused
in part by the silhouetting of ships
close to shore by the lights of the
city, the subs lying out to the east,
and having excellent targets to fire
at.
The answer came swiftly and pa
triotically, the cities along the coast
immediately adopted “dim-out” or
“black-out” precautions, not for
their own protection, but designed
to remove the light background for
the ships passing close outside the
beaches. The silhouette targets will
be lost for the Jap raiders.
Roger B. Whitman—WNU Service.
RECONCRETING OLD SURFACES
AN UNEVEN concrete floor can
not be smoothed by the simple
process of spreading new concrete
on top. for the reason that concrete
is not sticky and that the new will
not adhere to the old surface. The
usual process is to hack and gouge
the old surface with a pointed ham
mer or cold chisel to provide rough
nesses around which the new con
crete can harden, and so form a
bond. This may be a long and tedi
ous job. One of my correspondents
describes a method that he has used
with success and that simplifies
matters. He treats the old concrete
with a mixture of 1 part muriatic
acid and 4 parts of water. After a
few minutes the acid will eat into
the old concrete and roughen the
surface sufficiently to permit the
new concrete to bond to the old. He
says that this works even when the
edges of the new concrete are as
thin as feathers. The process
must be used with great care, how
ever, because of the corrosive quali
ties of the acid. In the first place,
rubber boots, rubber gloves and old
| clothes should be worn. In making
: the mixture the acid should be
■ poured slowly into the water with
constant stirring, for otherwise it
would spatter. It is left in contact
with the old concrete for only a few
minutes, and is then flushed off with
plenty of water. A very thin layer of
cement is scattered on the wet con
crete, followed by a mixture of one
part cement and 1 to 2% parts of
sand. The new surface should be
kept wet for three or four days in
order to gain harness and full den
sity. In applying the acid solution
the greatest care should be taken to
protect the skin, and anything else
that might be injured by it.
faint on Bricks,
Question: In my home there is a
very old fireplace, and back of it a
brick oven. The bricks are the soft
pink variety, but previous owners
have given them several coats of
paint. Most of this I have taken off
with a paint remover and putty
knife, with turpentine and muriatic
acid. The gray first coat remains in
the indentations of the bricks. How
can I get it out?
Answer: One way would be to
use a gasoline blowtorch, which
would turn the remaining paint into
a powder with no strength. A stiff
brush should take it out of the in
dentations. If there is near-by
woodwook, the blowtorch, of course,
must be used with very great care.
One-Flue Chimney.
Question: My chimney is built of
blocks, with a terra cotta lining. I
have a hot air furnace in the cellar
and would like to have a stove in
my kitchen. Would a hole in the
chimney for a stovepipe be a fire
hazard? The kitchen is finished
with plasterboard. Is this more in
flammable than lath and plaster?
Answer: If there is only one flue
in the chimney, connecting a sec
ond fire to it would impair the draft
and neither your furnace nor your
kitchen stove would burn properly.
Every fire should have its own flue.
Plasterboard is considered to be less
inflammable than plaster on wood
lath.
Sticking Door.
Question: My heavy front door
cannot be tightly closed without
slamming, which is hard on the
ears As a result of the slamming
one of the panels is cracked. How
about a quiet closing?
Answer: The door frame is out
of square with the door, possibly
from the settlement of the house, in
which case the edges of the door
that rub against the frame should be
planed to fit. Possibly the top hinge
is loose, so that the door sags. Tight
ening the screws should help this.
When properly fitted a door should
be closed tightly without any of the
edges striking the frame.
Hoots in bewer.
Question: Please repeat what you
said some time ago on clearing tree
roots out of sewer pipes.
Answer: The surest method is
with an electric pipe-cleaner. All
localities now have operators own
ing a machine of this kind, which
cuts the roots so that they are car
ried through to the end. Tree roots
in a sewer can be killed by dissolv
ing a half-pound or more of copper
sulphate—blue vitriol—in a plumb
ing fixture and letting it drain into
the pipe.
Cracks in Walls.
Question: There are cracks in the
tongue-and-groove board walls of
our enclosed porch. Putty put in
them lasts only a short time. Could
plasterboard be nailed on? Would
it stand the weather?
Answer: In an enclosed porch the
plasterboard would not be exposed
to extremes of weather, and should
give good service, especially if
painted.
Cleaning Feathers.
Question: How can feather bed
ding be cleaned and renovated? Will
this take away their fluffiness?
Answer: You will find that all
modern laundries are equipped to
do that job. Whether or not the
feathers will flatten depends on their
quality. Feathers of high grade will
have their springiness improved, if
anything. But low grade feathers
are likely to be flattened.
Wax Removal.
Question: How can wax be re
moved from furniture and linoleum?
Answer: Wipe with turpentine.
MacArthut’s Australian Campaign
| Heightens Spirit of All America
General Douglas MacArthur
A fighting General for fighting mad people is he . . .
NOW you are going to see some real fighting.
That is what thousands of persons said, some of
whom might have said it to you, when word was flashed
from Australia that General Douglas MacArthur was down
there to assume the supreme United Nations command in
that region.
Ever since the war in the Pacific region began, the story
of the ground warfare has been continually, and dishearten
ingly the same but with one exception.
Newspaper and radio accounts have related of continual retreats and,
finally, surrenders by the Allied armies. But the brilliant exception to all
--1 ..._*1— ,
activity of General MacArthur, his
aides, and his native and American
troops fighting on the Bataan pen
insula.
Not only did MacArthur stop the
Japs—and thereby causing the com
mander, Gen. Masaharu Homma, to
commit hara kiri—but he also put
through two brilliant, strategical of
fensives which prevented further
enemy advances at the time.
Reason for Australians’ Respect.
Such immediate background of
this brilliant general, this Number
One officer of the United Nations,
was the cause for the increasing
clamor of the Australians to have
MacArthur come down there and
help them, with American. British,
Australian, and native soldiers, re
sist the Japs in the last Pacific re
gion stand. So, after receiving or
ders on Washington’s birthday from
the President to go to Australia,
MacArthur made plans with his suc
cessor. Maj. Gen. Jonathan May
hew Wainwright, a brilliant tacti
cian, for further defense at Bataan.
‘Mac’s the Man.’
When a “roving reporter” for one
of the outstanding Midwest newspa
pers went out to interview pedes
trians as to how they felt about the
new shakeup in military control in
the Pacific region whereby General
MacArthur was given complete mil
itary control, the consensus of opin
ion was, “Mac’s the Man.”
One fellow said that it was the
best news he heard since the U. S.
entered the war. A housewife said
that, “MacArthur is the man for
the job.” A student on his way to
his class at university said that if
anyone can successfully “Slap the
Japs,” MacArthur is the one that
can do it. A not too busy auto
salesman said that the general’s
appointment was the most impor
tant move since the United States
was stabbed in the back.
Such opinions as these of Mr. and
Mrs. America reflect—it is almost
certain to say—the opinion of this
nation, and all Allied nations as a
whole. Even in London, the news
papers there, commenting on the
first time that a foreign general has
taken command of defense in Brit
ish dominions, had nothing but en
couraging, hopeful, and optimistic
words.
Fame After Career Ended.
Fame came to General MacAr
thur after his career had ended!
For it was in 1935 that he retired
from the army after making a
“name” for himself as officer of
World War I, and decorated for con
spicuous courage. His decorations
are reportedly more numerous than
any other officer in the service.
Back in 1903 he was graduated
from military academy, heading his
class. Ever since then he has been
showing his fellow officers and his
men under him that he is “one of
the men” who knows how to fight.
Son of a Civil war hero, Lieut.
Gen. Arthur MacArthur, General
i :* mmmammsm&2x#>
Since General MacArtbur has taken his new command in Australia
to stop, and then push back, the Japanese drive, Maj. Gen. Jonathan M.
Wainwright (left), shown talking with Gen. MacArtbur, has been ap
pointed to the command of the forces that outfought, despite 20 to 1
odds, the Jap forces on the Bataan peninsula in the Philippine Islands.
|
Like Father, Like Son
> - —.— - .—. .
General Douglas MacArthur, and
j his deceased father, Lieut. Gen. Ar
! thur MacArthur, experienced mili
tary .lives exceedingly interesting
because of their striking similarity
as available information proves.
Lieut. Geu. Arthur MacArthur,
like his son, Douglas, was advanced
over the heads of many older offi
cers to more important posts.
In active service during the Civil
war, Arthur MacArthur, just a few
months after his 17th birthday, was
commissioned first lieutenant and
adjutant in the infantry. Douglas
MacArthur was cne of the youngest
officers serving under General Per
shing in the Rainbow division.
The name of MacArthur is well
known in the Philippines. The fa
ther was a brigadier general who
helped wrest the islands from the
insurgents. The son began his ca
reer as a lieutenant in the engi
neers there, and also made himself
famous in its World War II defense,
i
Both father and son, Arthur and
Douglas MacArthur, showed great
strategical talent. One of the fa
ther’s Civil war tactics of battle
eventually became a war depart
ment standard officer examination.
The son’s strategy in the Philip
pines is well known to all newspa
per readers, who have been fol
lowing his brilliant leadership.
Both, when very young were ham
pered in their attempts to get into
the army. Arthur MacArthur's dif
ficulty came—at the time of the
Civil war—when he was just 16.
His father thought he was too young
for the army. Douglas MacArthur’s
trouble in getting into the U. S.
Military academy was due to spinal
ailment. History, today, knows that
both of them got w'hat they wanted.
And now, Arthur MacArthur’s son,
Douglas, also has a son who is
right in the heart of a battle sector
— where, it seems, most MacArthurs
want to be
Douglas went with his father as an
aide when he went to Tokyo on a
mission in 1905-’06. On three dif
ferent occasions he saw extended
army service in the Philippines.
In 1935 he went to Manila as the
commonwealth’s president. Manuel
Quezon's military adviser.
That his advisory capacity tc
President Quezon was of a success
ful nature is now seen in the suc
cessful manner in which American
troops. Philippine scout profession
als, and Filipino reservists, unde:
his command, fought.
So, at the age of 50, after many
years of active service, it looked as
though General MacArthur’s mili
tary life was at an end. It seemed
that he was then destined for ob
scurity after being chief of staff fo:
five years. But, it has often beer
stated, that it is the seemingly lit
tle incidents in a person’s life whicl:
eventually develop into significant,
extremely important matters. Whai
would have happened had MacAr
thur, upon being “retired,” not been
sent to the Philippines to shape up
a military force there is impossible
to say.
Once again, MacArthur’s life is
showing that fact is oftentimes more
interesting than fiction. Here, in
MacArthur, you see a story book
_
Mrs. Douglas MacArthur
It is now up to her husband . . .
soldier, cool, even tempered, poised,
admired by his stall and men, pre
paring to do a titanic job despite
heavy odds against it.
Even the general’s air-flight of
2,000 miles to Australia had a touch
of the dramatic to it. For the zone
over which he and his officers and
aides flew in two planes, has
been conceded as being the “hot
spot” of the southwest Pacific. This
is the zone where both enemy and
Allied planes are continually on the
alert. Fighters, bombers, and in
terceptors, always ready for bat
tle. When you look at a map and
see the territory you will fully real
ize that MacArthur has not lost
any of his boldness. It is such dar
ing, skill, and calm that has put all
the confidence of the Allied nations’
people directly on his shoulders.
The Yanks, and Aussies, being what
they are in temperament, and dis
position as to being ready for a fight
at all times, now have a man as
their leader they know will not fail
them.
Congressmen Behind Him, Too.
That this attitude even goes for
officials and congressmen in the na
tion’s capital is noted in the com
ment of various congressmen on the
day that MacArthur’s safe arrival
was announced in a special official
war department communique. Sen.
Millard E. Tydings, (D., Md.) said
that Australia now has real leader
ship . . . that he was very happy to
know that MacArthur was down
there where a man such as he is
needed.
Rep. Joseph J. Mansfield, (D.,
Texas) put in a comment which all
Americans fully understand. He
said that MacArthur is sure going
to “raise hell” with the Japs pro
viding we can keep him supplied
with a continuous line of supplies
and men.
House Minority Leader Joseph W.
Martin (R., Mass.), said he was
happy to hear of the famous sol
dier's appointment. He further add
ed that such an appointment will
add to the confidence of the Ameri
can people.
The day that MacArthur’s appoint
ment, and successful flight to Aus
tralia was announced, the President
in his press conference also had
words of encouragement for the
American people. He said that the
purpose of the transfer was not to
develop further defensive measures,
but primarily, and definitely to “win
the war.” President Roosevelt said
at that conference that he felt, too,
that every American man and wom
an held the same admiration for the
fighting, brilliant general that be
held.
Maj. Gen. Jonathan M. Wain
wright, close friend of MacArthur,
and his right-hand man in the Phil
ippines, is still there in the Bataan
peninsula to carry on against the
Japs. There, the odds are still 20
to 1, or even more, against the
American forces, but Wainwright
will carry on. For he, former com
mandant at Fort Myer, Va., is re
garded by those who are familiar
with his capacities and abilities as
being one of the army’s shrewdest
students of “modern warfare. Offi
cer Wainwright began his career as
a lieutenant in the Philippines.
By VIRGINIA VALE
(Released by Western Newspaper Union.)
TAXICAB business boomed
recently at one of Holly
wood’s major studios, unaf
fected by the rubber short
age. Richard Carlson and
Martha O’Driscoll drove off
in one to be married, with
Cecil Keilaway at the wheel.
That was in New York. Then
Burgess Meredith and Louise Platt
rode to a railway station in Newark
N. J., in the same cab. Finally
Allan Ladd and Bonita Granville
took the same cab to Brian Donley’s
home in a Middle Western city.
Same cab—mounted on a fixed plat
form, never turning a wheel; it had
no wheels!
-X
In case you’re interested, the pic
tures for which that taxi worked so
hard and so faithfully are “My
Heart Belongs to Daddy,” "Street
of Chance,” that being the new title
for “The Black Curtain,” and “The
Glass Key.”
-*
Almost ten years ago Red Skelton
played his first vaudeville act in
Wooster, Mass. June Earle danced
and played “straight man" for him.
Tommy Mac was also in the act.
RED SKELTON
Now they’re together in the new
"Maisie” film. June and Mac doing
the same skits they did then, and
Red Skelton—or so he insists—telling
the same jokes he told then. But
he’s now earning more than $7 a
week for doing it! •
Ml _
Basil Rathbone has a new con
tract (with Metro, this time) but
he’ll continue being a villain. In
“Crossroads,” with William Powell
and Hedy Lamarr, he holds the key
to Powell’s past, Powell being a.
French diplomat branded as a for
mer underworld character.
-*
Jean Atkinson, stand-in for Mad
eleine Carroll for the last six years,
has been called Hollywood’s com
posite woman; she’s been stand-in
for Fay Wray, Vivien Leigh, Frances
Farmer, Claire Trevor and many
others, “because she looks like
many actresses rolled into one.’*
She’s been a stand-in for ten years,
and says that she has no ambitions,
to be an actress.
_ t
William Powell took time off from
his work to give a farewell party for
Richard Barthelmess, before the lat
ter left for Norfolk, Va., to serve
as a naval lieutenant. Years ago—
long before they knew their present
wives—those two and Ronald Col
man were bosom companions.
_'I'
With practically all of Hollywood
doing some kind of war work, (and
really doing it, too; no fooling) Hedy
Lamarr got busy right on her own
home grounds, when she saved her
hairdresser, Eadie Hubner, from se
rious burns from an exploding gas
stove.
Bob Hawk’s having to do a lot of
explaining. He decided to invest in
a restaurant. Found one, signed a
lease, and the sign painter went to
work. The place was to be called
“The Griddle’’—but the painter
made a mistake—and Hawk’s ex
plaining to friends that he isn't
really in the girdle business.
Columns could be devoted to Nor
man Corwin. A newspaper man,
five years ago he pursued major
radio executives with program ideas
to revolutionize the airwaves. Only
a small independent station in New
York would give him a chance. To
day he’s engaged by four major net
works. He directs the government
series, “This Is War,” heard every
Saturday. Many of his original
radio dramas have been broadcast.
His recently published broadcast,
“We Hold These Truths,” celebrating
the 150th anniversary of the Bill of
Rights, was heard by 60,000,000 peo
ple. He directs radio propaganda
for the government. His “This Is
War” is heard round the world.
1/
ODDS AND ENDS—The V. S. navy
likes Metro’s two-reeler, “The. Battle,”
so much that the picture will be used
for recruiting purposes . . . Director
George Cukor's directing “Her Card
board lAtver” for the third time; once
with Laurette Taylor, once with Jeanne
Eagels, now with Norma Shearer and
Robert Taylor . . . Sidney Chaplin,
Charlie’s 15-year-old son, when inter
viewed by Vox Pop at his prep school,
said he wants to act and direct, like
his father. He weighs 175 . . . RKO
suspended Lucille Ball from salary for
refusing to play the second feminine
lead in “Strictly Dynamite,” for which
they’d lent her to 20th Century-Fox.
George F. Putnam, NBC broad
caster, had an awful time with his
tory when he was in school. Now,
as a result of reading the news over
the air seven times a week since
Poland was invaded in 1939, he has
world history at his finger tips.
Richard Gaines is descended from
President James Madison—but so
far on the stage and air he's been
busy portraying Abraham Lincoln
and Woodrow Wilson—except when
he took time out and did Patrick
Henry in “The Howards of Virginia.”
