The border vidette., 1928-06-30
LlNDBERGH SOON FORGOTTEN
"POSSiBLY," SAYS WRITER

Will Col. Charles A. Lind
bergN within a few months or
years drift into oblivion as has
other American heroes and pro
minent figures whose names we're
temporarily on every tongue?
II not be will be one of few
exceptions in history since Mar
Gus Aurelieus wrote all is eph
emeral = fame and famous as
we'll. Beginning with this pre-.
mise, Frederick L. Collins, mag
azine writer. opens discussion
in The American Magazine for
July, Of the future of the fore.
most American idol in recent
years.
| Under the title, How Many
of These Celebrities Do You Re
member p Mr.. Collins presents
not an ordinary memory test, but
a modern application of the Mar
Gus Aurelius theory; a commen.
tary upon quick flaming and
quick dying American enthusi
asms.
Is it possible that Lindy, the
unforgettab BILE. will sometime take
his place among the heroes we
have forgotten asks the gifted
writer. Perhaps, but I do not
| think so. His first achievement,
great beyond the dreams of great
men, might save him. But, like
many historic and epic deeds. it
might be forgotten if it were not
for two things. One is Lindy's
wonderful personality and the
other his glorious youth"
However, among the list of
names that the average person
has forgotten, Mr.. Collins places
Alcock and Brown. Harry Haw.
ker and Lat. Commander Albert
G. Reed, the two former being
the first team to make trans
Atlantic flight and the latter
pilot Of the American naval
planes which reached Europe
via the Azores, establishing the
! Commander for the time as The
| Colum bus of the Air"
Two great figures emerged
from the chaos of the Spanish
American War" continues Mr..
Collins. One was Dewey, the
other Roosevelt. Of the two
Dewey had every advantage of
rank. prestige and actual achieve
ment. Moreover. for a brief
period be enjoyed unprecedented
popular acclaim.
Again the inevitable compar.
ison: Theodore Roosevelt en-
tered the hero business at an
early age. Month by month be
built up the structure of his pop
ularity just as he would have
done If be had been manufacture
silk stockings or selling automo
bile bearings. He made himself
the best advertised article the
world has ever seen. And what
is the result? One of the ques
tions invariably put to a candi-
date for citizenship is: Who is
President of the United States"
And it is no unusual thing, even
today, to receive the answer,
Teddy Roosevelt.
Look at Henry Ford. He
has done much the same thing
that Roosevelt did. Not so con
sciously perhaps but far more
obviously. Edison stands in the
public mind far above any in.
ventor of his day not alone be
cause of the merit of his inven,
tions, but because his face and
his signature have spread his
name and supported his fame
throughout the electric lighted
world.
"Prominonce is like prosperi
ty; hard to win and hard to keep.
And sudden prominence is like
sudden prosperity; the first to
go. Quick publicity doesn't stick
to people any more than quick
money does. But both publicity
and money can be accumulated
line by line and penny by penny
against the rainy day of the peo.
ple's neglect"
Mr.. Collins prepared a list of
scores of people who within the
past decades were world famous
or at least notorious. Submit
ing the list to we'll read friends
of ordinary intelligence he found
that they could identify but a
fraction of percent of the list.
Some of these newspaper he
roes weren't anywhere near 50
harOic as wa thOuOht thnv were