The Wilmington morning star., 1941-01-13
o. :..; n@GI . e $780, !i;:!!?

vRrrEN FOR AND sE1EAsED BY
crNTRAL PRESS ASSOCIATION

ruApTER TWENTY-FIVE
nrinted words of shocking
Inc ,aaned at Kit from the old
clippings; I'M pAo,o
By Jasper DoWd
on.,bbed the Sembler Songbird,
.n+sst Winner Kitty O'Reilly last
s s proved herself a Hedging as
als"s op ntried to venture with i'm
y w. from whatever nest shelters
pui.' songsters... Her voice has the
s sILiorIs quality of sweetness, but it
oUJ I.. the full-throated, cultivated
lsr a1;tv and dramatic flair one Vas
la1 to expect in proportion to the
leq nrise which launched her. It
ewes one reason to suspect that
ssa.+ests of this kind prove 80"
XII put the clipping down and
nicked up another. The second one
w. also from the pen of Jasper
Dowd. She read:
oAfter three programs, it is our
eod duty to report that we cannot
nradict a happy future for the Sem.
i Her Cinderella girl, Kitty O'Reilly.
A uer voice, now minus even the
Il a,altv Of sweetness which first
81 .s,arked it, is too small to rate her
\ snot. Last nights Sembler program
biob.lighted a violin solo by Mark
s. Monocco, long a member of the
eonbled orchestra. One wonders
4 II snonsors wouldn't do better to
q look at home talent rather than to
eynensive contests for star mate
81 rial j.,
Kit wished that she could put
Fl them all aside. But, mechanically,
81 she picked up another:
4 sFNBLER PROGRAM REVISED
\ Following the example of other
more successful shows, the SAMPLER
4 radio directors have revised their
4 policy and will give top billing to
u Guest stars. An impressive list of
d broadway and Hollywood stars, as
q well as operate names, will bid
Il for public attention beginning
i April 5.
This move, it is believed, is
q made to offset the audience loss
81 suffered by this longtime S h o w
u when its widely publicized contest
winner, Kitty O'Reilly, failed to
4 make The grade as a big-time spot
i filler. Miss O'Reilly will continue
q as & regular member of the COM
PAM
Ats teeth made small marks on
her lips and her cheek bones shone
4 where the skin seemed tightly
4 drawn over them. She had to go
. on; she picked up a bunch of clip
4 pings pinned together. Clippings OF
Winchell's and Sullivan's and Fer
maids columns. She picked out the
items ringed with a blue pencil:
Hands acros the table: Jerry
i 5embler and Kitty O'Reilly at the
H Stork club Tuesday night, at Ell
Morocco Wednesday, at the Gay
AeAa4e5las Thursday"
| Kit saio aloud, Il wouldn't have
to keep a diary" She turned the
clipping over to reveal the next
one:
What radio oriole with a Helen
of-Troy face (and a not-too-good
voice. is getting star support on
her big-time program because the
scion Of the sponsoring company Is
determined to put her over?"
Fernald wrote:
The life of Reilly with an o.
is something many a starlet yearns
for. It's a new version Of an old
theme and it means yachting par
ties and unearneo stardom if the
starlet makes her debut at the tor
and stays there because her young
sponsor is willing to spend a for
tune to keep her there in spite OF
consistently mediocre perform
ances."
Kit thrust the clippings back into
the envelope and put it back where
she had found it.
She got up and busted her hands
and walked into her own room. Shs
thrust some clothes into a suitcase
and snapped the clamps together.
Then she went to the telephone ano
erderd a taxi.
With no expression at all on her
face, she closed her piano and drew
the shades. At her desk she
drew he shades. At her desk she
opened a strong box and took gu
OF it a newspaper picture of Vance
nd her Sembler contract. The
\ rst she put in her pocketbook
le second she tore into powdsry
!eces ana dropped into the vast:
asket.
The timetable she had sought I
eW days before lay under he!
and. She a a finger down thu
st of station stops in Connecticut
ser finger stopped beside the nam
E.lmford Junction.
She scrubbed a few lines on
Piece of note paper, put it in al
envelope, and wrote Fran's nam
on 1t. This she put on the mantle
4 Ihe superintendent knocked a
ner door and announced that he
taxi was waiting.
Kit picked up her gloves ant
pockstbook and walked out of tn
room without looking back.
Joe Miller, sole owner and Pre-
pfletor of the Elmford garage
ooaSted that he could tell a pros
pect half a mile away. Unles
JoeS prediction was wrong, tn
sInail once-blue coupe spurtin
Jerkily past the roadside diner, wa
seSuhed for a stop at his place
oteam rose in clouds from tn
RADIATOR as the car came closer