The Washington times., 1938-02-05

slow, beautiful smile. She was
beautiful.
Her mother discovered it the
first time she looked at her, but
every mother discovers that about
her babies and she wasn't positive
for five years. When Amy was
five, an itinerant photographer
got a Job on the Argus. His name
was Joe Benis and he was big
city camera shooter.
But his thirst interfered with
his work, so he dropped his work
whenever he felt like doing a
little drinking.
When he landed in Victory, the
Argus was embarked tentatively
on the Wild-eyed scheme OF using
local news pictures instead OF rely
ing on those sent out by the boiler
nIate snG mat services. They had
heard about Joe and they hired
him.
PLENTY TO DO
Joe wasn't thrilled about his
new Job. He found that besides
going out to get his pictures, he
had to organize a studio to oe-
velop and print them and ne
didn't CAFE a lot about indoor or
STEADY work. He looked around
the town and found that there was
a decided under current OF respect
for the law which made the towns
men frown upon the one speak
easy which operated in the en-
virons, (Of course, this was dur
ing ProhibitionO So Joe decided
to cult drinking long enough to
save some money. When he had
a sufficiency, he would blow to
Chicago and on his earnest prom
ise never to touch another drink,
he knew he could land job.
But then a national magazine
Instituted a "best photograph"
contest. Joe read about 1t ana
straightway forgot it. He didn't
care about contests. There was
large gambling element in them.
You competed with thousands OF
other people and only good luck
could bring your work into the
scrutiny of the judges, no matter
how good it was.
"MAYBE I'LL WIN"
About a month after the con-
test was announced, however, Bill
Charlton, friend of his on the
Ledger, found out where Joe was
and wrote him letter in which
he told him to get into the con-
test because Eddie Haynes, head
of the Ledger art department, was
one of the judges. Joe knew that
Eddie was a real artist with a fine
appreciation of beauty.
He knew that Eddie liked him
enough to give any work he did a
fair Judgment. So he said to him.
self, What can I lose? And maybe
I'll win" So he got to casting
about for a subject. He found
Amy.
On his first sight of her. Amy
was swinging in her swing in her
yard. She was pulling at the
ropes with her little arms and
then kicking with her sturdy legs
and the swings arc was getting
larger and larger with every swing
HALO OF BLOND HAIR
AS Joe glanced over the picket
fence, he saw pair Of baby shoes,
o pair of sturdy baby legs and a
very minute pair of baby pants
that covered a surface that was a
logical outgrowth of the sturdy
legs. Over this rather naughty
expanse Of childish pulchritude,
he saw halo of blond hair which
caught the sun and twi5Ced it into
tiny wiSpS of gold. AS the swing
reached the top of his arc, he saw
the really important part of Amy.
He saw her hair flying and her
mouth formed into a rosebud as
she said "Oo!" in ecstatic expecta-
tion Of what she knew would hap
pen to her stomach as the swing
swung down. And Joe said to him
self. There's my picture!" and
went in to talk to Mrs. Dell
about it.
Mrs. Dell was gratified but not
surprised. She had known all
along how beautiful Amy was. But
here was a photographer who was
trained to know beauty when he
saw 1t. And he was asking permis-
sion to pose Amy and take Amy's
picture for a national contest. She
gave her permission at once.
Well, to make this short story
shorter, Amy won and Joe got a
500 prize. But things didn't stop
there. The picture he had submit
ted was such perfect capture of
the wiStfulneSs of beautiful child
that other papers began buying
1t from the Ledger. Every time
somebody bought it the Ledger
sent the money to Joe. But, after
Q while, the sales kept coming so
regularly that the Ledger, really
not an "eelemosynary" institution,
decided to buy the picture outright
from Joe and keep whatever prof
its that might accrue from it. They
paid Joe $500.
FALLS IN LOVE
Joe, the moment he heard that
the Ledger was paying $500. suf-
fered a complete change of heart