The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1929-07-18

= Molly thought she was learning d
great deal about life. She had
studied, in college, Pope's Essay on
Man" and she remembered the quo
tation, proclaimed by the professor
Of English literature: The proper
/ study Of mankind is man." 1t was
a pleasant study. and Molly was
/ an earnest student.
The Inquiring Reporter column
had not lasted very long, and for
that Molly was devoutly thankful.
The first question she propounded
was this: Should an aviator, when
he is married, give up hazardous
fying?'
The first person she approached
was a portly gentleman, VINO hap
/ pened to be very deaf. Curious
passersby stopped to listen, and
presently Molly and the deaf gen.
tleman were the center of an
amused group.
Finally utterly discouraged, she
called the photographer, who loi-
tered across the street.
/ Il never felt so silly in my life"
{ she lamented.'
THE photographer grinned un-
L feelingly Sure they do Why
wouldn't they?" Then, seeing her
evident distress, he relented. you
weer so cocksure of yourself, Sis
ter, let you strut your stuff. Now
III show you the ropes.
He hailed taxi, explaining as
he helped her in, "TaxiS don't go
so hot on the paper, but if we want
to grab a factory crowd doing the
noon hour, We haven't any time to
lose. Get a gang together, that's the
idea. Then they think it's big lark.
Here's tip for you. Phone a
bunch of places, and get the fore
man TO line up some smooth-look-
ing james for us and coupla slick
Johns. We can shoot the works in
ten minutes. Give you a chance to
kill O. little time on the job
1t was, after all, the simplest
thing to do. But Molly felt very
uncomfortable about it. To pro-
tect the photographer. who had q
weakness for shooting craps and
liked to steal an hour or so, she was
obliged to waste that amount of
! time every day. To ease her con-
| science she devoted her time to OBJ
servant little strolls along the water
front, or through the Public Gar
| dens, and along the Common. And
she wrote pithy paragraphs about
people and circumstances that
seemed unusual or interesting to
her At the end of the week she
submitted several sheets of copy to
the city editor.
Good stuff" he approved. 81 like
| your bit about the old man and the
little lame girl. And this dog story's
good. People like animal stories.
Keep it up"
On the following Monday Molly
was relieved of her Inquiring Re
porter assignment, and given the
joyous privilege Of compiling a col
umn of her own. About Town"
they called it, and it proved pop
ular feature.
And, before long, she was doing
news stories. Stories with a hui
man interest slant. A boxing match,
from the womans point of view.
And then a wrestling match. She
talked with ball players and their
wives. And finally she interviewed
! theatrical stars.
It was great fun, sitting down
front. on a press ticket. and meeting
the press agent in the lobby, be-
tween acts. to be taken to the stars
dressing room. It was always the
incest dressing room, and it usually
had star painted on the door.
Usually the glamorous lady had a
maid. and sometimes she had a
secretary. Her maid frequently
helped her dress while she chatted
to Molly.
Molly loved theatrical interviews.
But the biggest thrill of her life
came on the day she was assigned to
cover a murder trial
IT, 10