Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-11-09

10 NE bkldI DTOdO-
casting offers an excellent
chance for most of us to compare some
of the stage stars of other years with
the crop Of today.
Most of the modern hlminaries get
before the microphone some time or
other, and / don't see any good reason
why more OF the veterans, who have
practically retired, couldn't be persuad-
ed to face the mike. Billie Burke is
just now up and at EN- over the air
who knows? She might stick-and why
can't there be more? The rest of the
BarrymoreS, for instance. (John has
already broadcast.) Not that 1 mean
TO imply that they are at the retire
ment age.
And Maude Adams. She's expected
to return to the stage some time III the
near future, and that would really be
good time for her to try the air waves.
But name your own names.
| And to go back to Gillette. When
he came off the air the other night,
Laddie Seaman, who is around IL years
old, and who had had a part in the
show, stepped up to congratulate the
| 70-year-old star on the fine lob he, q
mike novice, had turned in. I sup
pose the lad must have caught the old
mans fancy, for he began to talk to
him, asking him how he liked broad
!
all that sort Of thing
What do you want to do when you
grow up?" Gillette asked at length.
| II want to be a famous actor like
you" Laddie confessed.
We'll, you have pretty good chance
at that" Gillette replied. 1T was in
the part you played tonight that Charlie
Chaplin got his start
You may imagine how thrilled the
boy was. And it reminded several
others that it was Gillette who discov-
| cred the famous screen comedian, when
Chaplin was a lad in London. Young
Charles powers of mimicry impressed
him, and he gave the boy his first real
chance.
GEORGE HICKS had a grand time
- up in New London the day he,
Jimmy wellington and Skeets Miller
put on that broadcast demonstrating
the Nays latest method of escaping
from sunken submarines But Georges
mother, who lives in Tacoma Wash,
thinks they played dirty trick on him
| by making him stay in that compart-
ment at the bottom of the big test tank
20 minutes after all the rest had
escaped" She wrote him a letter and
told him so.
AS matter of fact, the compartment
|
water, Stimulating the coming tower of
a submerged submarine, is so arranged
that even with the hatch open, a con-
traption still keeps at least three feet
of air in 1t. No failure of valves or
artificial "lungs" to work could have
made any difference Plenty of air to
last for hours would still be there.
George had actually drawn the safest
assignment OF the lot.
When the boys came back from the
broadcast they explained to everybody
within hearing that this story of sailors
being shot through torpedo tubes of
disabled subs so they could reach the
surface and save their lives is just an
other myth Coming to the surface
that fast would kill them. Now, equipped
with the Momsen lung" they slide
intervals to breathe and allow their
bodies to adjust themselves to the de-
creased pressure. Hicks says that when
you get used to it, test escapes" from
submarines are frst-rate sport
incidentally, the announcers, Miller
and one of the field engineers will prob
ably be the only civilians for a long
time to qualify as experts in the use of
MomSen'S underwater reSpirator. Right
after Lieut.. Momsen himself put them
through the course of instruction the
Navy Department issued an order say
ing that in the future the training
would be given only to Navy personnel
George has written his mother all
about it, but I hear she still thinks
George should have been allowed to
escape" too.
You can't impress Mildred Hunt with
the idea that it was any great
shakes for Amos and Andy to become
movie stars. She says she's one herself,
and with an international following to
boot.
1t seems that while Mildred was in
London late this Summer she and a
party of friends decided to go to a
restaurant for snack after one of her
concerts. They called cabby, and all
piled in. While she was entering the
taxi, and while she was alighting at the
restaurant, Mildred noticed that the
driver was watching her closely. AS a
matter of fact, he even followed the
party into the restaurant
No sooner were they seated at a table,
when the driver came up and addressed
Mildred directly and a little brusquely,
it seemed to her. Being a crooner, she
wasn't used to being recognized in public
\ and anyway, she couldn't see why 1t
should make any difference to the driver
if she were an American or not.
ST say, aren't you an Americana" he
repeated.
Mildred admitted she was.
IT thought So" he said, seemingly
rather gratified. 81 saw an American
movie the other day, and you know, an
actress in it was the living image of you.
I can't remember her name"
What was the picture?" asked one
of the party.
Mothers Boy" the cabby replied.
''Was the name of the actress Mildred
Hunt?"
"Yes thanks. I just wanted to be
able to remember it."
To tell the truth, Mildred had almost
forgotten that she was featured with
Morton Downey-remember his swell
tenor over the air?-in that talkie. And
when her friends told the cabby he was
talking to Mildred herself he blushed,
grinned and than ran full tilt for the
door without another word.
And now Mildred is stumped as to
whether she'd better stick to broadcast
ing, go into vaudeville again as she did
last year. or give the talkies another
whirl. My guess is she'll stick to the
air. She isn't very happy away from
New York.
7 SUPPOSE nearly everybody knows by
now the story of how B. A. Rolfe
mace HlllllOl OI SO-ulOSGly III movies
dropped it all in Florida real estate
during the crash down there, and now is
well set to make another fortune In
broadcasting. They got his shirt in
Florida, but now Rolfe spends his spare
Summer hours on his own yacht.
And now another old timer is attempt
ing to stage comeback. He is Harry
Yerkes, and he's an orchestra leader too.
YerkeS is built on the same general
/ architectural cfu1a a g T90Ifa TIC NO.11dV,st
touch his toes with a ruler, and too, his
| face is rnllId and rosu inst q cnlIrla