.
ARTIST
88
By STANLEY CORDELL
© Associated Newspaper*.
WNU Service.
TONY Wells Is ace director for
the Forrest Film corporation,
lie Is one of the pioneers In the
field, having been associated
with the Industry for nearly twenty
two years. lie knows the Inside
drnnm of hundreds of personalities
and not Infrequently when we are to
gether he will remember some past In
cldent that Is worth repeating. To
night I sat with him and Mrs. Wells
on the veranda of their Beverly Hills
home. It was dusk and beyond the
hedge we could see the lights of Holly
wood (lung against the sky.
“Bight now." I smiled, "is an ex
cellent opportunity to tell me about
Parthea Ellis. Bemember, you prom
Ised to give me her story one of these
days."
"Parthea Ellis," Mrs. Wells said sud
denly, “wasn't her right name. She
only used It because she thought It
sounded arty. Her real name was—."
Tony looked at his wife In mild re
proach, and Mrs. Wells broke off and
smiled. “All right, darling, you tell
him about Parthea. I guess 1 didn't
know her ns well as you.”
"No," said Tony, smiling nt his
thoughts, “I don't think you did." lie
turned to me. "You see. Parthea Ellis
was a personality. The minute she got
Into pictures she lost her Individuality
and becnrne a personality. And per
sonalities nre easy to know, because
they are types.”
“I don’t think I get It,” I said. "But
how did Miss Ellis get into the movies
In the first place?”
Tony chuckled. “Well, yes, It Is In
teresting. When she arrived In Holly
wood she had Individuality. But It
didn't help her a great deal because
she was one of hundreds. They come
every year, these girls, some of them
having won beauty contests back m
their home town, some having made a
“ ‘Darthea,’ I Said. Without Prelim
Inariee, ‘Let Me Tell You Right
Now, You're Riding for a Fall.’"
hit In an amateur production, som*
bearing diplomas from dramatic
schools, and some arriving cold. By
'cold' 1 mean a girl who hasn’t had
any experiences or diplomas or beauty
contest prir.es, but has simply de
cided she'd like to be a movie actress
and packs up her things and comes to
Hollywood. Darthea fitted Into the
‘cold’ class.
“It took her a month ro discover
what she was up against. At the end
of two months she had succeeded In
getting listed as an extra girl. And
within the next three months she was
called upon twice to play in mob
scenes. Pretty discouraging, you might
think. But Darthea wasn't the kind
to quit.
"And so she fell to thinking and
scheming, and suddenly an Idea popped
Into her head. Why not, she thought
became different from the general run
of extra girls?
Why not cause her looks to attract
attention when she appeared In a mob
scene with hundreds of others? Why
not assume a personality?
“Today that Idea Is shopworn, hut
then It was quite an Innovation. An !
It worked. The next time Darthea
was called to piny an extra part she
spent several hours- making herself
up. Slight changes, such as penciling
her eyebrows, putting ringlets In her
hair, shaping her lips with rouge to
create a different Impression. The
effect was quite astonishing. She
stood out in that crowd of extra girls
like nobody’s business.
"Lee Vacltendy, one of my assist
ants, was handling the scene, and he
came up to me after It was over, with
Darthea In tow. ‘Look,’ he said, grin
ning broadly, 'what I found.’ I looked
and was at first Impressed Later I
became skeptical. But I kept the
skepticism to myself. The industry
was young then and I was young and
willing to take a chance.
“We gave Darthen a minor ride In
nut next production and tlie resiil's
were alarming. I believe I can truth
fully say she was the first unknown
to steal a picture. The movie-going
people went wild over her perform
unee. M.iclicncly was delighted, proud
of liis find. I didn't want to tell film
what I thought: I didn’t dare to. Lee
or anyone else would have laughed
So I kept quiet and agreed to star her
opposite Lynn Jenney. Hut even when
she stole the show from that great
actor I was still skeptical. Moreover,
I felt guilty about not warning the
kid. It wnsn’t right.
“Well, time went on and Darthea
made another picture with equally
successful results, nnd my feeling of
guilt grew more pronounced. In the
end 1 decided to tell the kid exactly
what I thought, even though It cos*
me my Job.
"It was hard telling her. hard be
cause she was so likeable, such a real
ly decent sort nnd so delighted with
her own success. The kindest way. I
convinced myself, was to be brutally
frank, to get It all over with at once.
“And so I called her Into my office.
'Darthea.' I said, without prelim
Innries, ’let me tell you right now,
you're riding for a fall. It can't last
"She stared at me with her big
round Innocent eyes, nnd for a moment
I felt like a cad nnd wished I hadn’t
hegtin. 'I don’t believe I understand
.Mr. Wells. What Is It that can’t
Inst?’
"1 looked away, got a grip on in.v
self nnd plunged. ‘It can’t Inst.’ I
said, ‘because you're a personality
Because you've lost your Individuality
Because you’ll become a type. Be
cause you're not an actress nor ever
will be. Itiglit now the movies are
In their Infancy, and most anything
goes. But before long the public Is
going to deiunnd art. They’re going to
become fed up on seeing a mere per
sonallty exhibit herself on the screen
They’re going to weary of rypes.
Styles are going to change, nnd stars
like yourself are hound to take a
dive—’
"I broke off. because Darthen’s face
had gone white and her eyes were
blazing. ’You’ve said quite enough.
Mr. Wells. For almost a year I
worked as an extra girl and halt
starved myself to keep on, trying to
attract your attention by merely being
myself. And at Inst I had to resort
to something else. It was my own
Idea and It worked. It brought me
fame nnd a good Income, and now
when It looks as though I were on the
road to becoming great—well. I’m not
interested In your advice, Mr. Wells,
or In you or In Forrest Films. I hap
pen to be In demand and I’m going
where I’m appreciated and where I’m
paid the most money.’
“And with this she turned and went
out. Well, it couldn’t be helped.
Maybe I’d done wrong, hut at least
my conscience was clear. I felt better,
nnd I didn't lose my job, even though
Darthen left us and went with Na
tional.”
Tony paused. It was quite dark
now, hut I sensed that he was smiling.
"So what happened?” I asked.
Tony turned his head. "What hap
pened? Why, the only thing that
could happen. Within six months
every extra girl, in fact two-thirds of
the feminine population of the coun
try, caught on to Dart hen's artifice
and copied her personality. Incredible
though Ir seems, they could do It easily
merely by applying a bit of eyebrow
pencil nnd rouge nnd a curling Iron.
Dnrthea censed to become an Indl
virtual or even a personality. She be
came a type.”
lie paused, and It seemed to me
that he Intended to say something
further and thought better of It. Then
Mrs. Wells spoke out of the darkness.
“You see, Dnrthea wasn't an artist,
and only artists Inst In the movies, or
anywhere else. That’s why Tony Is a
great dlrettor today—because he’s an
artist, enough of an artist to realize
what Dnrthea lacked, nnd enough of a
man ro warn her against what wns
to come.
Another pause. I felt suddenly
strange nnd queer. “What became of
her?’’ I nskrd. “Was that the end of
Dnrthea Kills? She must have hated
Tony—”
Mrs. Wells’ laughter cut me ofT.
"She did. And she cante back to tell
him just what she thought of hint."
Her laughter sounded again. "Didn’t
Tony tell you how It all ended?”
“No,” I smiled, and everything wns
suddenly clear. “Tony didn't tell me.
But I can guess Tony wns artist
enough to recognize the woman hehlntl
Dnrthea Kllis, eh? Thai’s why lie
warned her. And that, too, Is why ho
mnrrled her. Kb, Mrs. Wells?”
“I never knew,” said Mrs. Wells.
"I was never enough Interested to
ask.”
Formation of Natural Gian
Natural glass Is a phenomenon welt
known to science. Af> a rule It Is
caused by the fusion of lightning and
sand. Kxnniples found In the Arnbl
an ami other deserts are Invariably
tubular and friable. Another variety,
known ns tektltes, occurs In meteoric
craters, nnd has long been familiar as
"obsidian.” "water chrysolite.’’ and
“Moldnvlle.” the various names given
to gem stones cut from It.
The Aurora Borcali*
Aurora borealis Is the name given
to the Northern Light. It Is not visih’f
in the southern hemisphere. The an
rora australis or Southern Light Is
seen there. Aurora polarls is a name
given to both.
Let Our Motto Be
GOOD HEALTH
BY DR. LLOYD ARNOLD
Professor of Bacteriology snd Preventive
Medicine, University of Illinois,
THE UBIQUITOUS TUBERCLE AND
ITS RELATION TO MAN
According to a report just Issued by
the National Tuberculosis association
of New York city,
the tuberculosis
death rate In the
United States ranks
seventh among the
80 countries listed.
New Zealand, the
Union of Sonth
Africa, Australia,
Ceylon, Denmark
and the Nether
lands are the coun
tries that have
lower tuberculosis
death rates. These
figures are for 1928-1932. The listing
for 1934 U not available yet because
It takes time to tabulate the enormous
amount of data.
Tuberculosis is one of the moat prev
alent pf all contagious diseasea. It is
rightly called the white plague. It is
spread pver much of the known world.
And It Is different from most of our
other contagious diseases, which are
what we call acute. If any one has
typhoid fever, diphtheria, measles,
scarlet fever, mumps or whooping
cough, he has a period of a few days
to three weeks when he Is confined to
bed. But recovery takes place prompt
ly after the fever stage Is over. Tu
berculosis, on the contrary, Is a chron
ic disease. It can extend over a period
of years. In the beginning stages pa
tients may hardly be aware that they
have It.
It isn't only the human race that hat
tuberculosis. Animals also can get It
Fish, turtles and frogs have tubercu
losis. Birds, chickens nnd turkeys
have tuberculosis. Cows have tuber
culosis. The cold-blooded animals are
Infected with a tubercle bacillus that
grows only at a low temperature, and
hence cannot grow In man. Birds have
a higher temperature than man, con
sequently It Is hard to Infect us with
their tubercle bacillus. Some human
cases have been reported, but avian
tuberculosis Id man Is extremely rare.
The tubercle bacilli that cows have,
however, can grow In man and cause
tuberculosis. But the disease Is dif
ferent from the true human type, as
the lungs are seldom Involved In bo
vine or cattle tuberculosis in man.
Tuberculosis of the bones, Joints and
glands in children, however, are often
times caused by this particular kind
of tubercle bacilli.
Most of us have breathed In or swal
lowed living tubercle bacilli many
times before we reach adolescent age.
When the bacilli enter the body, they
either are killed off quickly or else
they find lodgmeof In some organ,
usually the lungs, and there they grow
In a small local spot of tissue. When
the growth Is very slow, as It Is In a
healthy person, then the surrounding
tissues can wall off the Infected area.
It Is as If n few thousand soldiers of
an enemy country had succeeded In en
tering fhe center of some state, and
then the defense soldiers of that state,
who could not drive them out, bad
sealed them up In a tight-walled en
closure. Now If these Invaders were
able to live on the water, air nnd food
that percolated through the wall, then
you would hnre the same situation as
exists in a walled-In tubercle foci. The
Invaders are harmless so long as the
wall holds them prisoners, but If the
wnll gives away, we And an Invading
army right In our midst. Undernourish
ment and long fevers, such as undulant
fever, rabbit fever and parrot fever,
nnd whooping cough, mumps, diabetes
and anemia, all tend to lower the body
resistance and open up boles In the
walls enclosing the germ prisoners.
The bacilli swarm out of the opening,
nnd spread rapidly through the adjoin
ing tissues.
The best way to prevent tuberculosis
Is to prevent the tubercle bacilli from
getting Into our bodies. But this Is
almost impossible to do In the present
conditions of modern civilization. We
have to mix with too many different
people. Did you ever count the num
ber of persons you talk with dally,
shake hands with, or stand or sit next
to In a movie theater, church, restau
rant, store, street car or bus?
One should almost have to live on
a desert island, with absolutely no con
tact with the outside world, to be safe
from infection.
Consequently, since we can hardly
prevent tuberculosis germs from com
ing Into our bodies, fhe next best thing
to do is to keep our bodily health In
such dally good condition that we can
destroy thg germs that do get In, or,
if the (lose Is beyond our ability to de
stroy, that we can imprison them In
the capsule form Just described. Then
our chances are very good for going
tbrougli life without being Invaded by
this disease.
9 Western Newspaper Unloe,
HAM iUllROg Q reat
■ Seaport
View of the Port of Hamburg.
m
Prepared by the National Orographic Society.
Waahlngton, D. G—WNU Service
HAMBURG thinks In terms of
ships, of fish, and trade with
far-flung places. Overseas
news, especially news that
affects trade for better or worse, means
more to It than all the politico-social
twaddle of Berlin or Munich.
Since the days of sail, Its sons have
scoured every nook of the world to
barter, buy, and sell. Many now extern
slve German colonies In South America
and the Orient began os small groups
of traders and clerks first sent from
here. Some marry foreign women, re
tire well-to-do, and bring their fam
ilies back here to educate the chil
dren.
This close tie with distant lands
accounts for Hamburg's well-known
study of tropic economics and diseases.
Its researches Into new uses for Im
ported raw materials, the world wide
work of Its trade groups, and the de
sire of Its young people to lenrn for
eign languages and to travel abroad.
Visit In nny Hamburg home, or any
Industrial museum where foreign prod
nets are seen, and at once you are
Struck with youth's eager Interest In
men, events, and things overseas.
During the years when endless ship
loads of Immigrants left Germany for
the New world, Hamburg was the port
from which millions of them sailed.
Including those from middle and east
ern Europe.
Many a Hamburg sitting room Is
cluttered with curios and quaint me
mentos brought hack from distant voy
ages by father, uncle, or brother. Al
ways, Hamburg shares Its sons with
the sen—many never to return.
From here red-faced crews In smelly
oilskins and high toots sail each sea
son to fish the wind-swept North sen,
working as far away ns Iceland. The
loss of life, ships, nnd nets In this
trade Is recorded In mnny a North sea
bnllad. Herrings they harvest la
countless millions, herrings being to
the North sen what bananas are to
Central America. Special fish cars,
gaudily painted like circus trnlns. run
at high speed from North sea fish ports
to fish-hungry cities as far away as
Vienna.
What the “Frss Port” Means.
That phrase, “the Free Port of Ham
burg." means what? Only this:
Away back In 1189 Frederick Hurbn
rossn (the Red Beard) gave Hamburg
Its "free charter.” Though a state now
In the German republic. It still enjoys
a peculiar degree of Independence. Its
ancient senate still functions In tra
ditional Spanish dress. While Ham
burg joined the German customs union
In 1888, the senate cannlly maintained
Its free-trade rights by holding hack
a part of Its harbor area ns a free port.
Shut off by a high Iron fence. Mils sec
tion Is a city within Itself, free from
the plague of duties nnd customs In
spectors.
Here nre mammoth warehouses piled
high with China silk, frozen meats from
Argentina, coffee from Brazil, farm ma
chines from the United States, man;
waiting reshlpment to strange-named
Baltic ports, none to pay a cent of
customs duty to Germany. Here many
of the world’s huge ships nre built;
here are foundries and machine shops
Here, too, flocks of factories profit hy
the free use of Imported raw material
and easy shipping facilities.
Hamburg, ns a German state, has
tariff protections, but this part of It
enjoys free trade In nil Its enormous
transit commerce. This benefit is shared
by American firms who have ware
houses here.
I.lke Manhattan Island, crowded
Hamburg uses tunnels. Between St.
Paul' and the Stelnwarder side of the
Kibe. In the harbor sections, n double
tube leads under the river. It Is slm
liar to the Hudson tunnels at New
York, except for approaches. So crowd
ed are the river hanks that no space
could he spared for Inclines; hence, nt
each end. men and vehicles use ele
vators, which lift and lower them 77
feet below street level. Domed temple
like structures nouse these elevators,
whose high windows pour daylight
down to the bottom ot each shaft.
I’lg Iron weights hold the tubes from
shifting. The tunnels, their walls fnced
with glazed tiles and decorated with
sculptured reliefs, are brilliantly llluml
nnted. On bad days, when fog or lc«
slows down the Elbe ferries or crowdi
the bridges, pedestrians and cyclists
all prefer the dry, warm tubes.
Many Languages There.
Hamburg la a polyglot port Shop
ping street window cards read “Eng
lish Spoken," “Se Habla Espanol,’
“On Earle Francals," Syrian cafes dis
play sidewalk dinner signs In “flsh
worm” writing. The hoariest newspa
per Joke tells of one store whose sign
read, “German spoken here.”
English words and phrases “five
o'clock tea,” “sport,” “morning coat,”
"gentleman,” even “boule dogue" for
bulldog—are often sandwiched In Ger
man speech and news text “Jazz” Is
pronounced “yotz." At the theater one
sometimes hears the phrase “Echt
Ameriknnlsclie Yotz Bandt,” meaning
“real American Jazz bnnd
Germans take their pleasures seri
ously. Sport Is highly organized so
that fun-making may function smooth
ly, like electric cargo cranes In the
harbor 1 Hamburg crowds leaving fot
winter sports take every conventional
article advertised In fashion Journals.
Watch the ltuft Hansn planes, whose
pilots can’t start till uniformed air
policemen come with orders; or ob
serve the race crowds on Derby day,
where muny wear monocles and Lon
don sport clothes, and see with what
clocklike precision all events are
clicked off. In busy cafes waiters keep
count of beers served by the number
of paper coasters stacked under each
guest’s glass.
Go out In Mecklenbhrg to shoot, and
sen-ants carry your coat, lunch, gun,
shells, even a stool to sit on, while
others drive the game past you, In easy
shooting range.
In a vast St. Eaull pleasure paiace
you see dinner dancers suddenly scurry
from the floor when uniformed attend
ants rush In, as If raiding the place,
dragging mats, rugs, poles, wires, and
all the gear of aerial acrobats. In a
Jiffy this Is set up, and girls In tights
are flying through the smoke or swing
ing out over the tnhles by trapeze.
Just as magically, all this spectacle
vanishes; agnln the Jazz band plays,
and back to the floor the diners rush
to dance again.
Alster Lake In the City.
Alster lake Is set In Hamburg like
a reflection pool in some ornate expo
sition grounds. Imagine Times Square,
In New York city, as a tree-bordered
lake, alive with toy ferryboats, rafts,
pleasure craft, floats, and swans. Ham
burg's Alster lake is like that, only
larger. A river, the Alster, on Its way
to the Kibe splays wide as It reaches
the city. A dam divides the lake, cut
ting off one end, the Inner Alster, lo
Hamburg's busiest quarters; so that
hotel guests, department store and office
building workers can look down on
cafes and canoes and wntch huge flocks
of swans fed at troughs like pigs
Riding to Hamburg In a third-class
conch affords a quick flash of life
among the masses. Through snatches
of salty dialogue overheard run the
themes nbout which working people
think. Jobs, wages, the price of food
and clothes, what the government ought
to do, politics In Its many variations—
the same here as everywhere. Also,
you hear many poor are leaving the
city to save rents nnd try to live on
the land. Some men In the coach, re
turning from visits with country kin,
carry a goose, a sack of fruit or pota
toes.
"It was better before the war."
“Ach, ya, the good old pence times!"
Peace, war; fires, floods, and cholera
—Hamburg has known them all since
Charlemagne first laid out the place
as a 'ort from which to fight the
Wends, the Swedes, and other half
wild pagans hereabout, whose descend
ants later helped people Kngland
Danes, French/ Russians--all have
struck their blows at Hamburg. But,
from the day that Pome soldiers hull)
the first hut and sounded their bugle
blasts over the swampy Kibe Inndi
down to the steam-siren chorus of to
day, Hamburg has slowly grown In
power nnd Influence, till now she is the
greatest seaport In continental Kurope
Heiress of the Hanseatic league, Hep
( mans call her.