The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1945-05-31

Faouiiu uidt ulytIlICdl place kQOWn
as Tin Pan Alley, there is consider
able talk nowadays about Johnny
Mercer. He wrote the words to
"Accentuate the Positive" after q
visit to his fortune teller who h said
to have spoken these eloquent words
to him and thereby. given the. idea
for a hit song. Now Johnny has
come out with another "snashs a.
the song boys call 1.-THE wcrds' for
Candy, that catchy tune which
has really caught ON. Besides all
all this. Johnny is q business partner
in one of the largest recording COM
panies in the country, and not long
ago was a featured singer in a popu-
lar network radio program advertis-
ing cigarettes. A ~slow-moving South
erner, Johnny Mercer seems to have
arrived nonetheless.
It's a good thing that people can
retain their sense Of humor, especi-
ally in times like these. Over at 6th
Avenue and 51st Street is a good ex-
ample of this. Not a new idea but
always good for a laugh. At this
corner, a building has been torn
down and on a rather wide surface,
excavating is taking place right near
the sidewalk. A fence has been built
around the place but two wide slits
have been left in the boarding, one
through which adults can see, the
other for children. Above the firstis
neatly lettered sign, For Sidewalk
Superintendent. Above the latter,
For Young Sidewalk Superintend~
ents".
Up at New York Hospital the .usu-
al commotion was going on. Along
the modern corridors of the sumr-
tuous sixth floor went q procession
of yelling, bowling babies neatly
and individually encased in their
respective cloth carts en- route to Q
square meal after experiencing
something more triangular. White
dressed nurses moved precisely q
longside while dignified doctors
looked ~tolerantly up from their Of
fees as the audible procession went
by. Then into this miniature bedlam
was injected a strange note OF sur
prised laughter which came from
the elevator that was unloading on
this floor. Out came young nurses
and internes in v glee. They
were discussing a minor phenomen-
on which had just happened. A
nurse had been brushing her teeth,
got to coughing and somehow swal
lowed the tooth brush and had 70
have an emergency operation to re-
cover the bristled mouth tool.
Over at the Roosevelt Hotel II
met DR.. Thomas Parran. SurEeop
general Of the u. S. Public Health
Service. He Is q neat-looking man
with a clipped mustache and on this
day was wearing the uniform OF an
admiral in the Navy, to which ! un-
derstand his position entities him.
Upon being introduced to an expect.
ant father who glibly volunteered
that he felt quite calm under the
circumstances, DR.. Parran replied,
'It's rarely fatal in the cas- OF faith
ers." Also present was the niece OF
DIR. Parran, Miss Mary Mackall, who
is attending Columbia University
School of Journalism. She said she
couldn't understand why so many
newspaper men advised her to get
into something else-but maybe
someday she will see what they
mean. Ginny Sims was there q
pretty too. I especially enjoyed talk
ing to Jim Ameche, brother OF Don,
and who looks and talks a lot like
him. Jim is announcing some radio
shows in New York now, and seems
a likable and modest young man. he
started out as "Jack Armstrong" on
Station WBBM in Chicago at the
same place where his brother began
his successful career. Many predict
that if Jim can the con-
slant comparison with his brother,
he will be equally successful.