The Omaha guide., 1936-11-14

By l.. L. STEVENSON
Ira Vail, former star auto race
driver, was recalling old times.
Among his memories is one of sail
ing through a barbed wire fence,
which practically denuded him, and
landing in the ample lap of a fat
lady. He came to before the wom-
an who acted as a cushion recov.
cred her poise, and was bundled
hurriedly into an ambulance. In
the mad dash to the hospital. he
was ten times more scared than ne
ever had been in a racel Such IN
cidents we're not uncommon in tho
lives Of racing drivers of former
days and were looked on rs fun.
ny" rather than grim. Vail chuck
led when he recalled how Louis Dis
brow, after a spill. had been carried
to the morgue just as good as dead.
only to sit up on his slab and throw
the attendants into confusion by de.
handing a cigarette. Then there
was Ralph De Palma whose a
careened off a New England track
He was picked up with a cornstalk
through his stomach and was
thought to be fatally injured. But
he married his nurse.
Ivy Overholtzer, of Los Angeles,
has the most novel combination
around race tracks, Vail believes.
He operates an undertaking estab-
lishment and turns his hearse into
an ambulance merely by changing
the signs. He's a great pal of the
drivers.
People have asked me many
times what makes a man become
a racing driver" Vail said. IT
think the best answer is a crack
made by one of the boys-'you don't
have to be crazy but it helps"
This doesn't concern Vail or other
race drivers but it seems to fit in
at this particular point. An out of
town couple was enjoying a ride
through Central park in one of those
throw-backs to old days that have
their stand near the Plaza horse
and carriage. The passengers no.
ticed that the driver called his
horse Frank and finally asked him
what had caused him to give his
animal such a name.
You see," replied the driver,
Ticking the animals ear lightly
with the w~hiplash, my best
friends name was Frank"
Bob Hope. who played in vaude-
vile theaters all over the country
before appearing in the 'Follies"
and other B'way musicals, believes
that the present generation has for
gotten that form of entertainment.
Says Hope:
THE young folks of today think
that next-to-closing' is a bank
ruptcy sale. that a sketch is a
drawing and, for all they know, the
Two Black Crows were a couple
of birds that stole corn from farm
ers. They think a pit musician
is a guy who plays in a mine and
when they hear the expression
working in one,' they ask, One
what?' To them bow music is
what comes from a violin and they
believe that only a sheriff can stop
the show The only acts they
know about are those passed by
congress and to them a double is
a horse parlay."
Speaking of terms, it seems that
swing music, now so popular, has a
lexicon of its own. For the follow
ing glossary I'm indebted to John
L. Gould in the Herald Tribune:
"Jamster," improviser on the mel
ody against a rhythmic united
front; Swing" the art of jamming;
"jitterbug," swing fan; digit
truckin'," the art of manipulating
an instrument; '1ong underwear
gang" stooges of the old-fashioned
crooner; laid it in the groove" got
hot, went to town; Spank the
skin," play the drum; ticks" hot
bars; "gang O. horn," plenty of
trumpet; "long-haired," old-fash-
Toned; "growl," trumpet in agony;
''iron horn" trumpet; "corn-fed
stuff" what the Pilgrims danced to.
Oh yes, on Great Lakes vessels,
the meal gong is known as the
hash hammer"
Subway eavesdropping: Say, he
stretches things so that II he was
TAKING the fairy ~ Cfatan Island