Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1935-03-14
Altruist at Large
BY THAYER WALDO
o. Mcclure Newspaper Syndicate.
WNU Service.
TICK TAPPITT put down his glass
~ Of applejack and looked across at

Maybe you've heard of grander,
crazier guys than SAM" he said; Il
never have"
"And you mean to tell me-" the pub
licity man asked, "that he deliberate
ly broke his leg so you and Mollie
would take this job? Man, what
storyp
He pulled a scratch pad toward him
and began scribbling notes on it. The
two were alone in his Office, near the
west emo Of Zenith studios admins
tration building. Dick Tappitt lounged
back on the big leather davenport and
approved
Good! This is something I'd really
like to see played up. It might help
Sam get a better break, and that's
what 1 want more than anything else.
He's the best honest-to-Pete pal man
ever had, and well, feel as If I'd
given him kind Of raw deal.
you see, Sam, and I've been hoofng
together for about three years-five-a-
day routine on the small time back
East. Six months ago we met Mollie;
she was on the same bill with us in st.
Joe. Well, right away Sam wanted her
to join, so after the show he looked
her up, they had talk, and next day
we were rehearsing new trio song
ambulance act.
"Mollie did worlds for u.s." he went
on; "she added the sex appeal and the
touch of class our stuff had been need
ing. What's more, we all got along
well together. In a way, though, that
was the rub: before long both Sam and
! were nuts about Mollie.
"She wasn't the sort of girl to bust
things up by being partial, so she han
died us with kid gloves. Still, Sam
could guess what 1 knew: that Mollie
really cared for me. Understand, I'm
not taking anything for granted; Sam
talked to me and offered best wishes
the day before we left to come out
here. That's the kind of 24-karat boy
he is, and ever since then he's tried to
help US along and ease himself out Of
the picture. But wouldn't have that"
He lit a cigarette, rose, and COM
menced to walk about the room. It
was evident the situation affected him
deeply. Garrison wore look of en-
couraging interest and kept pencil
poised above paper. This, he knew,
was first-rate material on subject
worthy Of attention. Mollie Hoppe
and Dick Tappitt were certain to be-
come as famous as any dancing team
in pictures. The screen test Of them
he'd seen today established that.
"We were getting up in the game"
Dick resumed; making a hit on the
bigger circuits. But we all knew there
wasn't much further to go; vaudeville's
a very sick business these days. So
we pooled our dough, bought fiivver,
and steamed West. We had some
fancy ideas about what we'd do when
we hit Hollywood; but a month Of
pounding the pavements and chasing
agents after we got here cured those.
"That was when Sam began to do
his stuff. First he took an usher's job
to keep us going, then he landed Mol
lie and me tryout in cabaret down
at the beach. And now-now he's pulled
this. What a d-n' fool-and what a
prince!"
"Just how did this leg-breaking bust
ness happen?" asked Garrison. The
dancer grinned to hide his emotion.
''WelI, when we clicked in the beach
job we wanted to have Sam back with
us, but he stalled and said he guessed
he'd stick with what he had. OF course
/ knew the answer: by that time Mollie
and I weren't hiding our feelings much,
and Sam thought he'd be in the way.
"Poor guy-he sure had the wrong
slant Mollie felt bad about 1t, and
naturally did too. mean, after los
ing her to me and then with all he'd
done for us, it seemed just plain lousy
to have him cut out of the act. That's
why when this offer came along, we
said nothing doing unless Sans In
cluded. 1t was Mollie's idea, and I
backed her up strong.
"Well, sir, Sam goes out to the Abe
plant, tells 'em he's an experienced
stunt man, and gets on as a parachute
jumper. They sent him up to bail out
at a thousand feet, and he on purpose
doesn't pull the cord until he's two hun
bred feet from ground. See the
scheme? He knew If he had an acct
dent that laid him up, we'd sign on
here.
"Mollie went over to the hospital to
visit him; that's why she's late for
this conference. wanted to go along,
but--Gee, what can you say to bird
like that? First let him support me,
then glaum onto all the good breaks,
and finally grab Off the girl he loves
and this is how he hits backl Lord, it
sure gets me-"
AS he dropped down on the dlvan
again, a bell rang. Garrison picked up
the phone at his elbow, said: "YesT
"McSweeney Of the Journal" a crisp
voice announced; whats the lowdown
on this thing the dancer you were raw
ing over just pulled"
sT hovon,fD said TntIia after an In