The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-08-17
OLYMPIC GAMES
 GIVE THRILL TO MARY PICKFORD
Screen Star Enjoyed Spain More Than Any
 Other Country

NEW YORK, Aug. 16.--It was the Olympic games which gave Mary Pick ford her biggest thrill during her recent three months trip in Europe. After returning on the Leviathan, she and Douglas Fairbanks spent few days at the Ritz-Carlton attending to business matters before going home to their be- loved California. It was there that she enthused over the American athlete abroad and the wonderwul feeling ie gives one to hear the national anthem and see the Stars and Stripes on for eign soil.
 "France and England, especially the latter, produce fine sportsmen," she said. They can applaud some one else just as heartily as they can their own countrymen. Colonel Thompson, who took our team over, told me that the most significant thing he said to the boys was, We must win like gentle men, but, still more important, we must lose like gentlemen which ! think was a fine thought with which to send contestants into the Oiymplcs. I am sure they acted like gentlemen Tn the events they lost, for they were the first to go up and congratulate the winners"
 On this trip abroad Mir. and Mrs. Fairbanks spent most of their time mo- toring, visiting Central Europe, the Scandinavian countries, Holland, Bel aium, England and Spain. While ex- pressing appreciation of the reception they received in all the countries, and the pleasure she enjoyed in seeing each' Miss Pickford admitted that 1t was Spain that appealed to her most. It was there she had her second biggest thrill, the Alhambra more than tulflli- ing her expectations. Mary Plckfords modesty and simplicity of manner are well known and apparently the adula- ton of one foreign country after an other did no more to spoil her than has the adoration she has always re- ceived from her own people. Speclal privileges which were granted on every hand to these two faVorites still come as d surprise to her and are never tax en for granted. It was, therefore, Wlth Animation and> in tones of warm pleas ure that she related how the queen rooms and baths, which are closed to the nublic. were opened for their in anection. and also the room where Washington Irving put so much of the Alhambra's beauty into prose.
 Is Good Traveller
 Miss Pickford is a good traveller, claiming she can sleep most any time Tn almost any place, and is not fastidious when it comes to food. If she couldn't live in California, the spot she loves heat in the world, she would settle III Paris. A thing which she and her hus- band accomplished on this trip, never having done it previously was to visit the United Artists various branch of fices. In gaining a general impression of conditions abroad. Miss Pickford al- lowed her judgment to be influenced by the appearance of the children of the country. In Germany she says the prices are still staggering, but that the children are healthier looking than on our own East Side.
 Miss Pickford's love of children and animals is among her strongest charac- teristics.
 During the interview Douglas Fair hanks breezed in and out of the room. Ye wore a light gray suit, brown shoes, a Yale blue tie and looked as if he had iust come out of college. He has much She some personal magnetism Theodore Roosevelt had and the effervescent epirits of youth. Also he has the win l ning manner in greeting you of one who recalls every intimate detail Of your life and would like nothing better than to sit down and chat about all your uncles, aunts and cousins.
 Very Different Personalities
 He and his wife are very different personalities, making an unusually ln- feresting couple, aside from their po- .aitions in the film world. Fairbanks IS electric and you know of his approach before he enters a room. Miss Pick ford, on the contrary, is beside you be- fore you realize it. When they have both left, however, you remember what she said the longest. It would seem im- possible for anybody not to like Fair banks instantly. For Miss Pickford a tremendous liking crept slowly over me, At the end of an hour and half I had found in her a great gentleness kindliness and an unusual seriousness toward her public and the position it has forced her to fill. She believes iD fair play in her own actions as well as in those of others. We doubt it her education has been along very broad lines, but she is an extremely intelll- gent woman. Few, if any, know more about the moving picture industry than does this girl, who went from an extra to the top of her profession. It is diff ficult not to think of Mary Pickford as a child or a school girl, therefore her poise and dignity come as a sur prise.
 Dressed in a simple white crepe de chine gown over flesh with a small pink felt hat covering the famous Pickford curls, she was a youthful figure. In talking with her, however, there de- velops sadness and an air of infinite simaI age. Contact with MT. Fair banks gives one the idea that life is just about perfect with wishing carpets right around the corner and a long, broad highway stretching out in front. No amount of happiness, we think, could make Miss Pickford forget that tragedy may be around the corner for any of us. She is absolutely honest with herself as well as with others.
 DRIFTED 1,5OO MILES
 nOath of A Ferry Pilot Recalls Arctic