Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1937-06-03
Lights Of New York
by L. L. Stevenson

parties to courtrooms, hardened
criminals and prison cells, but lsa-
bell Manning Hewson made it. A
Philadelphia socialite, descendant
of a family which dates back to
the a~ristocrats of pre-Revolutionary
days, Miss Hewson deliberately
thrust herself into the courtroom at
mosphere so that she could study
life outside her own exclusive
sphere. Three years ago, she be-
came confidential secretary to Com
mon Pleas Judge Edwin Lewis and
as such, interviewed criminals in
collaboration with the probation de-
partment. 1t was a revelation to
the gently bred girl. Nevertheless,
she kept the job two years and from
the depths of wildly contrasting ex-
periences, evolved a philosophy,
frank and outspoken, yet tolerant,
which has established her as a ra-
dio news commentator and advertis-
ing executive. Writing and talking
as the "Petticoat Philosopher" she
has won praise from both XXI for
the decisiveness and courage of her
views.
II suppose I have an unusual
slant on life," said Miss Hewson. 81
have seen so many different phases.
I've never understood why we WON
en- should be soft and vacillating
in u opinions. On the contrary,
we should hit straight from the
shoulder, say what we think and
stand by our opinions. Letters from
. my listeners agree with me on that
conviction.
whenever young girls ask me for
advice on embarking on a career
similar to mine 7 tell them to learn
human nature and it's vagaries.
Know people of all classes and
types. Then develop a distinctive
style. Don't be afraid to express
your personality. That's what you
have to offer-see that it's accept
ed"
Her fan mail ranges from crude,
penciled scrawls to polished, liter
ate documents. The greatest thrill
of her life came when President
Roosevelt complimented her on her
coverage of the Democratic nation
al convention.
Holding to the air waves a little
farther, here is daven MacQuar-
rie's description of a "radio man.:
"He complains loudly, when he is
using a rehearsal studio, that the
room is too crowded and that he
needs privacy. But when he goes
home, he hunks with four other 'ra-
dio artists because it's cheaper to
split the rent five ways. He boasts
that during his career, he has
smoothed the path for Jessica Drag
onette, Fred Allen, Paul Whiteman
and others-yeah, right out of the
studio elevator! He insists that the
eason he hasn't a commercial is
that the sponsor and he could not
agree on price. He wanted $500
a week and, the sponsor didn't want
him at any price. He tells Guy
Lombardo he's tops. Then he gives
Raymond Paige the same spiel.
What he doesn't know is that
maestros compare notes. He AYERS
that studio audiences are a men
ace to radio. But he needn't worry
the page boys never admit any
visitors who carry weapons"
Music seems to fit in here. It's
Peter Van Steeden who insists that
exceptionally good hearing of mu-
sicians is a fallacy. After citing
classical composer-instrumentalists,
Beethoven, Wolf, Schumann, Wag-
ner and Won Suppe, who were either
completely or partially deaf, he
added that at least rs per cent of
today's musicians have aural trou-
BILE.
"By that, I don't mean that they
can't tell whether a note is high C
or E fiat" he continued. "They can
do that %expertly. But in ordinary
conversation, they fall down. Con-
c%entrating as they do on musical
notes, they don't have the faculty of
quickly catching verbal pitches.
Perhaps it's due to the fact they
listen to a musical sound to the
exclusion of conversation. At re-
hearsals, an instrumentalist will
catch a minute musical flaw, yet
the maestro has to shout three or
four times to attract his attention.
Possibly the boys are absent-mind-
ed. But certainly it is true many
of them are a bit hard of hearing"
Bus top eavesdropping: "She calls
herself a stenog but her letters look
like she writes them in longhand
and c~orrects them with a type
writer"