"what (ebb PL thinks about: Seeking Contentment, ANTA MONICA, CALIF, — Out in the desert country I met kindly, hospitable bravely making the best of things on remote, small home- steads. On little far-away ranches, on res- ervation trading posts, they are edu- cating their children by resolute self-sac- rifice; keeping In touch with the world through radio, through books and magazines and newspapers; and al- most invariably con- tent with their lives ‘and proud of their struggles and living comfortably — yes, and happily—within their means, how- ever meager. Then I come back to crowded cities where wealth seems only to make the inmates dissatisfied be- cause somebody with greater wealth puts on a gaudier show of ostenta- tion and extravagance. And I see the man who feverishly is striving after riches so that when he breaks down he may afford the most ex- pensive nerve specialist. And the spoiled woman who was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but judging by her expression the spoon must have been full of castor oil— and the flavor lasts. And the poor Jittle rich children who have every. thing now and so will have nothing ~except maybe dollars—when they grow up. Curious, isn't it, that so little buys such a lot for some people and such a lot buys so little for the others? - * . The Return of Prosperity. CAN'T help gloating over what appeared in this space when I predicted that the temperamental and fickle bird of passage known as prosperity was winging its way back. Because the Better Business bureau reports that sellers of no- good stocks are showing increased activity. Moreover, I hear that for the first time in years practically all the veteran bunco-steers are off relief. The lean times when the locusts of depression gnawed away our sub- stance must indeed be over if the customers begin to nibble more free- ly at the same dependable old baits. So, as he thumbs his copy of the sucker list against the morrow’s campaign, I seem to hear Mr. Henry J. Slickguy (late of Leavenworth but now opening offices in the Wall street district) murmuring to him- self “Happy days are here again! Drouth may kill the corn, Rust rots the wheat. Boll weevils destroy the cotton. But, thanks be, there's one crop in America which never fails!” Have you a little gold brick in your home, dear reader? Well, don't worry, nobody's going to be slight- ed. Ere long you'll get your chance to invest in one. * » . Making Mental Slips. Ta= most incredible thing has ne to pass. Here I go along, year after year, building up a rep- for invariably being right, the same as George Bernard Shaw and Mme. Secretary Perkins. hen —bango!—I make one little slip and the trusting reader is shocked from pit to dome. The other day I suggested taxing salaries of governmental em- ployees. Now from all sides I'm told federal employees are subject to income taxes; only the vast ma- jority of them, and probably the hardest-worked ones, draw such small wages that they owe Uncle Sam nothing when March 15 rolls around. So far as 1 recall, this is the sec- ond time in my life I've been wrong. I can’t cite what the other instance was—some very trifling matter, no doubt—but it must have occurred because I remember the nation-wide excitement which ensued, with peo- ple going around in a daze mutter- ing: “Can it be possible?” I now admit that early error and the recent one, too, and humbly beg pardon of my devoted public—all eight of them. It'll never happen again. Irvin S. Cobb » *® - Conquered Champions. IT HAS been brought to the atten- tion of Mr. James J. Braddock that something happened to him a while back. Probably, by now, he has quit wondering whether many others were caught in the earth- quake, but is reported to be still saying “Ouch!” at intervals. And now, as is customary, his backers will insist he demand a re- turn engagement-—or disaster—with the Brown Bomber. But if I were Mr. Braddock-—game though he be ~] think I'd pattern my reply on the example of the gentleman who was knocked galley-west by a hit. and-run motorist, As the dazed pedestrian was try- ing feebly to ascertain whether he was all in one piece, a kind-hearted citizen hurried up. “Have an accident?” he inquired, brightly. “~u, thank you,” “just had one.” IRVIN 8. COBB. oo WNU Service said the victim; = nn a. a <, Prepared by National Ge ograph ic Society, Washington, D. C.—~WNU Service, HE completion of the new steel bridge across the Gold- many of which To England, in 1776, fell the honor of erecting the first iron bridge. There Abraham Darby cast a bridge at the Coalbrookdale Iron works and erected it across the Severn. Thomas Telford, a Scotsman who lived between 1757 and 1834, is known to students of engineering the world over for his achievements in canal, harbor, road, and bridge construction. He was engineer for the parliamentary commissioners for road making and bridge build- ing in the highlands of Scotland, un- der which organization 1,200 bridges were erected. In England he helped build five bridges over the Severn, and was employed on canals and highways by the Swedish and Polish governments. The Menai suspension bridge in Wales, connecting Carnarvonshire with the island of Anglesey, is the best-known monument to his pio- neering genius. It was opened in 1826, after seven years of work, and was, at that time, the world's larg- est suspension bridge, being 1,710 feet long, with a main span of 579 feet. Ancestors of Brooklyn Bridge. Telford was a shepherd's son. Ap- prenticed to a stonemason at fifteen, he studied engineering in his spare time and published verse. A man of amazing industry and versatility, invented the pavement bears his name. Cables spun in place to swing a suspension bridge were tried in 1831 by Vicat, a French engineer, for a bridge across the Rhone. Later Roebling developed this method at Niagara Falls, Cincinnati, and final- ly at the Brooklyn bridge. In Europe, as in America, the Nineteenth century saw vast ad- vance in iron bridge building, espe- The Newcastle and Berwick railway alone required 110. Progress in de- gign sometimes was costly. A new near Dundee, Scotland, collapsed in a gale. open gap a mail train was wrecked, Today's bridge excels not only in The Besse- esses, gave bridge builders some- At any army field day you may see the speedy work of engineers, showing how emergency bridges are built, wrecked, and repaired in war- Washington Bridge Beats George. Homer tells about pontoon bridges Darius, Cyrus, Xer- ployed them. Caesar built his 1,400- foot wooden bridge across the Rhine in ten days. In 1781, it took General Washing- ton four days to ferry only 4,000 men across the Hudson when he moved his army south from New York to Virginia. Now, over the George Washington bridge at New York, a whole army corps—or 97. 000 men, 23,105 animals, and more than 11,000 gun carriages, trucks, and other vehicles—could be put across in eight hours! Chinese classics relate that a cer- tain king once crossed a river by walking over a bridge formed by the backs of a long line of big, ac- commodating turtles! Turkish and Chinese Bridges. In west China and Tibet, to this day, men “coast” across rivers on tightropes, sitting in a seat slung under the rope and sliding along it. To make the underslung seat slide faster the rope is often greased with butter. Dr. Joseph Rock, exploring for the National Geographic society, reports his own use of yak butter on such bridges. “1 always tried to find a bridge made of new rope,” says Dr. Rock, “for the rope soon wears out.” In his “Voyage to South Ameri- ca,” written Don Antonio de Ull rious Inca bridges he found there. One of them, the tarabita, is much like the greasy buttered bridge of Tibet. gle rope made of bejuco,” says Ul loa, “or thongs of ox hide . This rope is fastened on each bank to strong posts. On one side is a kind of wheel, or winch, to straight en or slacken the tarabita to the degree required. From the tarabita hangs a leathern hammock capable of holding a man." Using another rope, the passenger pulls himself back and forth. Ulloa saw mul moved the same way. At Baghdad years ago, when the Turks were still waging their long war against desert tribes, their ar- tillery used to lumber noisily across the Tigris on a bridge of boats, on its way to bombard some Arab mud town that had not paid its taxes. From a safe distance, when Turkish guns opened fire on the mud-walled villages, observers could see dust and timbers fly high into the air. Sometimes the Turks came back across the bridge of boats driving long lines of camels confiscated from delinquent nomads. One qui- et, very hot Sunday morning, the Bedouins, shooting and shouting, rushed suddenly over the bridge, and stole their camels back again. At Mosul on the Tigris, hard by old Nineveh and in the shadow of Jonah's tomb, is another such bridge of boats. Millions of Shiah pilgrims have crossed these sway- ing structures, carrying their dried salted dead relatives and friends to sacred burial grounds around the desert holy cities of An Bridge Into the Sea. In Arabic Al Kantarah means “The Bridge.” That old Roman bridge, the Alcantara, over the Ta- gus in Spain, stands today as proud and stout as when its huge arches were built, some 1,800 years ago. Look at the mass, the heavy weight of these ancient bridges! They were built in, and for, one particular place. his steel bridges to order, erects them, by standardized prac- The pieces are all shaped, num- bered, and packed in a ship's hold like the pieces of a child's construc- tion toy in a Christmas box; blue- prints are the “directions” far set- ting up! Rocketing from rain clouds on an air trip around Brazil, passengers come suddenly upon an enormous out into the Atlantic ocean. Santa Catharina with Florianopolis, off-shore its capital, which stands on an island. The ture, shipping all the parts ready- made. No other field in American over- seas trade demands more ingenuity than does the bridge man's calling. Orders come in for new bridges which may be wanted in any land from Alaska to Ecuador. No facts may be at hand about floods, river traffic, health and food conditions, or the nature of the river bed and banks, whether rock, clay, sand, or mud, at the spot where the new bridge is to be built. Since no tools, equipment, or building supplies of any kind may be available there, the American builder must take everything with him. A Twist of Tongues. Problems of language, food, and climate must be met. One Ameri: can engineer arrived in Peru on his first visit to Latin America to build a bridge. Anxious to gain a Spanish vocabulary of bridge words, he chose a personal helper from among the workers and prac- ticed diligently. Imagine his cha- grin when he finally discovered that his bridge vocabulary could be used only in India, for he had picked a Hindu as a teacher!. On another job food shipments were so delayed found. subalsting on popeom fried on popcorn with bananas, KRRIARRRR AR RRRRRIR STAR DUST Movie + Radio *%% By VIRGINIA VALE *k% T LAST Shirley Temple's parents have given in and will permit her to speak over the radio. She will stay up until eight-thirty the night that “Wee Willie Winkie’ opens in Holly- address a country-wide 3 2 2 20 20 2 20 2 4 6 2 2 00 0 0 0 0 0 seeing the picture. This is more of a victory for Shir- t Mr Temple, who try to hold cing hours down to a But Shirley heard talk on the studio lot about this player Mrs. began to wonder why sh She begged Mrs. Temple jus wf When Carole Lombard insiste new contract with Para- include a giving her ion to make one picture a year for any other com- pany she chose, all the little companies scurried around looking for stories that might interest her. One picture with a star like they fig- would put them in the big theaters, and in the big money. And now Carole gone and broken their hearts. has signed a contract with Selznick to make one picture a year for him for five years. mount clause permiss Carole Lombard has She ann R-K-O has a grand surprise all ready for Irene Dunne. They have found a dizzy, hilarious character for her to play in a perfectly-mad comedy-—the kind she loves. It is the role of a rich, giddy girl whe wanis to be a detective and who goes around detecting whether any- one wants her to or not. “The Mad Miss Minton" is the name, and here's hoping it is half as good as everyone expects it to be. a There are a lot of peopl e on the e M- G- M Ie Gr el Garbo is just abou he “grandes person alive Charles Boyer picture, “Countess Walewska'' was about half finished, he director a little worried He had discovered that his part was much longer than hers. Breezily the di- rector told him not to give it an- other thought Miss Garbo knew all about that before the picture was started and insisted that no changes be made. ‘The picture must be good," she said. “Not all Garbo.” i Weary of waiting around th studio watching son and dance ars overworked 1 there was rarely a part for Josephine Hutchinson asked for a release from her contract and got it. Immedis Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer signed her for one of the most thrilling roles of the year. She will play the lead in “He Who Gets Slapped,” with Spencer Tracy and Rober rt Taylor in the cast ssa Meanwhile, the same studio that is making Miss Hutchinson so hap- py, is making Joan Crawford un- happy. She suspects that the story- t who kK at and one of them When their currer went to the ately months at a stretch and just pick out any old story that is left over as Rumor has it that go to work for Sam Goldwyn, May- be she will. And you know what grand pictures he makes. > —- After all, the Bennett sisters, Joan won't play the pic- ture star and the double in the popu- lar novel, "Stand In." Joan Blondell has been borrowed from Warner Broth- ers and will play both parts. Con- stance was not keen about playing the vicious, calculating | star and Joan is in- | tent on going to the | Joan Blondell Summer Stock thea- | ter at Dennis on Cape Cod to do some stage acting. Incidentally, Joan is said to be the best rumba dancer in all Hollywood. Wouldn't you love it if she would dance in a film? If enough fans wrote and asked her to, she prob- poem" i. 1 Sener, cho think up hose clos nam musical pictures are a little an- because Jeanette MacDonald outdid Au ‘ee tor given the three / borers ing the rewards catic - and Your-Own ht up to the pic tures v1 Sew- 38 bust t rards of 39 fect cot sate » dress and shorts, the boardwalk. With not § 2 in | and yard for the topper her pretty ad, and | f | dress alone requires 3% yards stream sports The rder to The Sewing Dept., 247 W. . Forts { street, New York, Sports FRALNIUSIast 3 y > - n RA : . 8 itterns, 15 cents at the right her three piece ensemble is 80 very, very | Hot Weather is Here— Beware of Biliousness! Have you ever noticed that in These are some of the more very hot weather your organs of | common symptoms or warnings of digestion and elimination seem to | biliousness or so-called “torpid become torpid or lazy? Your food | liver,” so prevalent in hot climates, sours, forms gas, causes belching, | Don't neglect them. Take Calo- heartburn, and a feeling of re ~ | tabs, the improved calomel com- lessness and irritability, Perhaps | pound tablets that give you the you may have sick headache, effects of calomel and salts, com nausea and dizziness or blind |bined. You will be delighted with spells on suddenly rising. Your | the prompt relief they afford. tongue may be coated, your com- | Trial package ten cents, family plexion bilious and your bowel}pkg twenty-five cts. At drug actions sluggish or insufficient, stores. (Adv. CHEW LONG BILL NAVY TOBACCO 633 dress, she 3 fidence and pride Miss wie va tha says that "Here, Dad, put some of this on— it'll go farther!” Everybody wants to go fagther. Quaker State endeavors to meet this desire of the motoring public with a motor oil of supreme quality, that iseconomical, and available wherever you may go. Try Quaker State. You'll ind you go farther before you need to add a quart because “shere’s an extra of lubrication m ~/ AN galion.’’ The rei price is 35¢ a quart. Quaker State Oil Refining er ein
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers