"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