Evening star., 1937-02-14

pODllc, as well as Iame-nunSry aIClSG
The suppressed mutterings that hi
ing room doors burst into the open a.
fortnight ago when a new periodical
called the Commentator made its bow
on the newsstands. Edited on a "fear-
=. less" basis by Lowell Thomas, H. v.
Kaltenborn and one or two other radio
commentators, the little magazine car
ried q rip-snorting debunking Of the
major by Alton Cook. radio editor Of
the New York World-Telegram, who
also conducts an annual radio popu-
larity poll among newspaper radio
editors.
Highly annoyed at this candid strip
ping of the major to his rather sensi-
tive epidermis, the Columbia network,
which last Winter took him away from
N. B. c. for a new sponsor, assigned
its Research Department to the task
of painting a halo around his shrewd
Uranium. The department carried out
the assignment by unveiling a tribute
to the emperor of the amateurs on the
eve of the Tooth performance of his
amateur hour, an event that was duly
observed February II.
IN A well-worded publicity release,
Columbia listed % acts that once
appeared on the majors program and
that are currently booked in theaters,
night clubs and similar places. Fig
ures were offered to show that his
travelling units had played nearly
1000 cities and towns and that $500
tyros had submitted to the ruthless
vagaries of the wheel that goes round
and round and where it ends nobody
knows-not even the major.
Cook time and again refers to the
veteran impresario as demigod, with
frank reference to the tint of his am
pie proboscis and the circumference
of his abdomen. Moreover, he brings
out that the custodian of the wheel
of fortune had amassed few millions
before he yielded to keen advice and
started booking his more colorful sub
jects in theaters, clubs, churches,
schools, lodges and other assembly
halls. His "cut" on these rowing units,
usually estimated at Is per cent, is
said to have lined his pockets with a
few more millions, for there were IA
units in circulation at one time,
figure that has now dwindled to two
or three.
1t was generally gossiped about in
trade circles that the major was
getting weekly check of $4,000 for
his Sunday evening program, but the
new salary offered him when he
switched sponsors last year was said
to have passed the five-figure mark at
top speed. A hint at his income was
shown in recent salary revelations
by the Treasury for 1885. Two of his
personal corporations - for example,
Edmar Enterprises, Inc, and Tyro
Productions him $685. ,642 and
S114,357, respectively, for that year.
EARLY in 1885, Cook explained in
his recent poll of radio editors, the
majors program had dwindled to
second place, although many churches
were still almost stripped of wor-
shippers and even the robins seemed
to have an ear cooked to the nearest
kilocycle as the hour of rolled
around of a Sunday evening. This
year the Cook poll failed to find a
place for the keeper of the gong in the
first 20 programs, and this was inter-
preted to indicate an acceleration in
the rate of his alleged decline. On
the other hand, Hearst radio editors
poll, while not ranking his program,
placed him second among masters of
ceremonies.
The Columbia networks tribute to
Maj. Bowes mentions that the YOU
man Boys have just completed a hotel
engagement and are already in the
big time. Cook. in hiding the majors
weak points behind a cellophane
screen, aired some linen that the boss
and this amateur trio had soiled. The
story was that the Youmans, planted
in a Bowies touring unit, asked for a
raise on the eve of an appearance in
their native Chicago. They got a
raise, but it allegedly was of the
majors polished boot.
THEN there are the stories about
the f1ocks of hinterland potato
players and possessors Of muscle