The Wilmington morning star., 1940-10-04
Man About
Manhattan
By GEORGE TUCKER

SAN JUAN, P. R., Oct. 3-R-
l am writing this on a cool blue
terrace that looks out over the SOU
them ocean. If we could see land
it would be Africa. But there is
no land-only a horizon, and a
freighter that is hull down, and the
summer stars that are beginning
to come out and powder the sky.
Before me is a crumpled en-
velope with these notes set down
on it, Captain Fatt" Chris
tain Belle" Rogers Hum
phreys." These are people
whom I have talked with today.
Very interesting people. -. i.
They are men who do things, and
who have known life in out of the
way places in the world. Let me
introduce you to them.
Captain Fatt, who is new to San
Juan, will be a regular visitor.
from now On. He is the captain of
the Stratoliner, which picks up San
Juan on it's regular flight to Buenos
Aires. The name is something of a
misnomer, though he is no light
weight. Capt. Fatt is a little gray
at the temples, and he has laugh
wrinkles at the corner of his eyes
The storm clouds and the winds
do not bother him overly much.
He goes up above them. up there,
he says, 'its like glass. You do not
even look up from your newspa-
per"
Christian Belle is the French con-
sui to Puerto Rico. When h. joined
us at lunch today there was some
thing about him that seemed va
guely familiar. But I couldn't place
him. He told about caring for a
white Persian kitten for a friend
who is on business in the States.
There had been a CHASTITY moment
he night before when the kitten,
becoming frightened, had leaped
seven stories onto a cement court
yard below. Belle hurried down
stairs, troubled at the explanation
he would have to give his friend.
But the kitten was absolutely un-
harmed.
AS he explained his gratitude at
this happy turn I could not help
but feel that I had known. or al
least had seen this man before.
Well, of course 1 had. 1t came out
a little later. He had been in Puer-
to Rico only a year. The four
years previously he had been in
New York. Furthermore, we
had worked in the same building.
. I suppose I had passed him
in the Railways a hundred times.
Again we have occasion for the
shopWorn but somehow always ad-
equate phrase, cts a small world
after all"
Rogers Humphreys is the civil
aeronautics inspector for Puerto
Rico, though he lives on the island
of St. Thomas, which is one of the
Virgin group. st. Thomas from San
Juan is 80 miles away. Sometimes
he flies at others he comes by
boat. Il like the boat trip be-
cause it is at night and you can go
to bed in St. Thomas and wake up
after a refreshing nights sleep in
San JUAN" he says.
He also spoke enthusiastically of
the bargains in pipes that o
could find on the nearby English
Islands and of the sparkling
wines that came so cheaply that,
at first, he vas afraid to buy them.
-. Down here, incidentally, cham.
payne is a futile luxury. It goes
fiat almost as soon as you open
it. There's something in the salt
tropic air that kills the efferves-
cence. just VIZ this should be l
do not know. Perhaps it is jealousy
on the part of Nature, who resents
effervescence in anything or any
one save herself. .
missouri cottontail rabbits rear
IN lftArS onn1,,111, ,-:4L