The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-03-05


tie Benny's Note Book Appearing daily
ON the editorial page of The State
Journal How old is he and is he mar
ried7 Has he any children? He is one
of the greatest wonders of the age.
1 would like to see him and hear him
talk. "HOPEFUL."
Tell me about Little Benny. Is he
a real boy?" was asked of Lee Pape,
creator of the famous Little Benny's
Notebook" which appears daily in
The State Journal.
Mr.. Pape answered the question in
the negative, but before the interview
was over Little Benny was q very real
person to the interviewer. while Mr.
Pape himself displayed all the pride
and timorous doubts Of any fond par
ent concerning his offspring.
Don't you think Bennys spelling
has improved lately?" he said. I'm
the beginning it was really quite diff
cult to read his notebook-he was en-
tirely too phonetic-but have noticed
great improvement in the last six
months"
Then his expression of pleasure and
hope changed slightly-'I'm afraid he
is as far as he will ever get, tho.
Spelling is one of the non-essentials in
his young life"
mo, Little Benny will never get any
older he said, when asked If the
youngster was ever going to grow up.
He has a birthday every once in a
while, but he always remains nine
years old and in Miss Kitty's class in
school. You know. he isn't the teach
er's pet exactly. but 1 think Miss Kitty
likes him a lot, don't you? I really
don't want him to grow up. He is my
sole means of support, almost, and
I'm not sure his large family would
care for a more mature Benny"
Pape Only so Years Old.
The creator of Little Benny is de-
cidedly youthful himself. He says he
is 80 years old, but most people refuse
to believe he is much more than 20,
which is quite a source of annoyance
to him. He started to write Little
Benny's Notebook 10 years ago, when
he was on the Philadelphia Evening
Times, now out of existence. The
Times ran q feature page and Mr..
Pape wrote nearly the whole thing.
Seven features running at one time.
were contributed by him.
This was the first newspaper Mr..
Pape worked for. and he did general
news reporting special articles and fea-
ture stories, and regularly reeled off
his comic page. But Little Benny.
started in a casual manner to fill in
corner, proved to be real inspiration.
Immediately there came demand for
more about Benny.
The space for Mr.. Pape's other
comics became smaller and smaller.
Little Benny was no longer a filler-in
he had arrived Then, as Little
Benny >grew in popularity, other pa
pers demanded it, and the feature has
been syndicated by the George Mat
thew. Adams Service to papers all over
the world since that time. 1t is esti-
mated that more than five million
grown-ups and children read "Benny's
Notebook" every day. 1t is testl-
moniaI to Mr.. Pape's interest in Ben
n.y. that he managed somehow to keep
his stories running every day while
he was serving as an officer IN the
army during the great war.
Every week Mr.. Pape receives scores
of letters from Benny fans" They
want to know all sorts OF things about
it. 81 like Pop best. Is it from your
own father you have drawn him ?"
Have you ever been in our town?
We have a F1atfoot, the cop. here"
Mr.. Pape said there was nothing re-
markab1e about this. 1T seems to be
a cop-ical characteristic" he says:
There are about 300 policemen with
flat feet in every large city, and boys
the world over give the same nick
Names"
Then Mr.. Pape was asked if Gladdis
was going to get married soon
Bcnny's Love Affair.
ct rather hope she won't" he said.
'She deserves better luck, for her beau
is certainly an awful simp, isn't heE
! L don't understand why she lets him
hang around so long. If she marries
him it will break up my family. No,
I'm decidedly not for it. By the way,
| what do you think of Benny's love at
fair?
"oh. YOU mean Mary Watkins? Well,
| there are SO many rivals, never took
| it seriously"
Mr.. Pape seemed delighted with my
answer. "She is a vamp, isn't she? ?"
he said in a confidential tone. II don't
think there is anyone in the movies
has anything on Mary when it comes
to carrying on with the boys. But
then, there's Loretter Mincer now, you
know"
Mr.. Pape lives in New York City
he was married about two years ago
He writes Little Benny and another
very successful daily feature, The
Letters of Tessie and joe" and in be-
| tween times works on one-act plays
and short stories for magazine publ
| cation. Several years ago he was
awarded a prize by the Drama league
| in Philadelphia for a children's play.
| which was acted in the Little theater
| there with great success
Despite the glamour attached to see
| ing ones own plays on the boards.
| however, Little Benny has always held
first place in his heart-unul recently.
when a little baby girl came to the
| Pape household to put Benny,s nose
| out of joint. But Pape says he has
| room in his heart for them both, tho
| Benny takes so much of my time" "
| he said. that 1 don't get much else
( done. It's an awful responsibility to
have him writing all the time. and
1 when I attempt to censor some of his
| notes, he goes on a strike The 1. w.
W. has nothing on Benny. He says.
e gosh G, if you don't print it like I
Civ it to you, I'll stop ritins. Then
you'd be left'-wich I would