Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1942-08-31
Jack Pickering
Here
Nnd
!. Now
Jack Pickering

A few days ago I mentioned a
girl who was saving cellophane
to help a blind man get a leader
dog. Since then. several other
instances OF the same thing have
come TO light an office force
which has collected 1000 OF the
colored tapes with which you
open cigaret packages. and a
factory in which the workers
have collected nearly 5000 of
them.
I'm afraid that this Is wasted
effort. Harold Warman OF the
Leader-Dog League says he does
not think that anybody Is offer
Ing dogs in return for cellophane.
For several years. Warman
said. generous-hearted people
have been collecting cellophane,
gum wrappers. match folders
and other such things In the
belief that IL would provide a
dog for some blind person.
In every case that Mr.. War
man has encountered. the whole
thing has exploded like a soap
bubble. Where the idea gets its
start, nobody knows. Certainly
II isn't started by the cigaret
or match companies. because IL
leads only to an embarrassing
situation for them.
As the American Tobacco
Company told Marman:
"No, we don't sponsor any
such offer. We wouldn't care 10
he In the position Of using the
blind rs an advertising medium"
So if you are thinking OF
saving celiophane or anything
else for that purpose. investigate
first. Otherwise you probably
will waste your own time and.
worse still. help build dream
Astfe that eventually will come
1ashing down in the heart OF
some blind person.
BIAGINI ON GOLDKETTE
7 had lunch the other day
with Henry Biagini, another or
the band leaders who emerged
from Detroit's golden age OF
dance music.
Certainly no other city ever
bred so many top musicians, and
BIagini gives the credit to Jean
Goidkette. The Dorsey boys,
Jack Teagarden, Glen Gray,
Benny Goodman. frankie Trum-
bauer-probabiy two-thirds OF
the present crop Of top-notchers
got their start with one or an
other of GoIdkette's bands, or at
least played In one OF them for
a time.
DiagIni thinks that Goldkette's
talent lay In developing the
latent talents of these musicians,
I.ttirg them develop what they
could do best. In recent years,
Piagini feels, there's been too
r,uch emphasis on copying stic-
cessfuI musicians rather than
developing original techniques.
Since Gene krupa hit the top,
90 per cent Of the drummers
chew gum with their mouths
open. the way krupa does.
Giarinetists copy Goodman's
foot in the-bucket stance. They
ape Harry James mannerisms or
buy instruments or mouth pieces
because some other swing vir-
tuoso uses them.
With Biagini's own band. out
OF the Club San Diego, he makes
them throw away faddish equip
ment. Some Of them don't like
II at first, but later they begin
TO realize why. Every man who
has a speciality II encouraged to
develop II and given n chance at
Jos.
No doubt Biagini's idea applies
Just as aptly to any other art.
profession or business. Even a
flawless copy is still only a copy.
Originality is what has the
luster.
Unfortunately. Goldkette was
not a Snowman in the personal
sense. He was a musicians mu-
stefan. just as Charlie Gehringer
was a ballplayers' ballplayer.
Maybe that's why Goldkette
didn't cash in as richly as did
many of the men he taught.
LETTER:
The following letter is from
one Of the youngest of the con-
tributors to this column. Judy
Fitzpatrick, II, of Port Huron.
She writes:
T read your column about
cats and we have such n funny
cat I thought 1 would write to
you about IL.
"His name Il Charlie Chaplin
because he has a white face
and n black mustache and his
two front feet are like two
black boots but his back feet
from his hips down are black
and look like a pair Of black
pants.
'HIe does some funny tricks,
some Of which are taking his
paw and opening our back door,