Evening star., 1945-01-31

Ib was nuOnlgnJ ana president
Roosevelt's SD birthday was ending
Thousands of persons jammed int<
nine hot bathrooms all over the city
and other crowds who lined hotel
halls and entrances chanted Happy
birthdays" Mrs Roosevelt sliced
into a huge birthday cake, a weary
crowd of Hollywood entertainers
smiled mechanically, and members
Of the committee staging the balls
began estimating how far over last
years total the fund, raised to fight
fnfantile paralysis, had gone this
year.
Earlier in the evening, before Mrs.
Roosevelt began her tour of all the
balls, she read over a Nation wide
hookup the Presidents birthday
message. expressing regret that he
could not speak personally, and
praising the infantile paralysis drive
as "an investment in our country's s
future and an assertion of our
American birthright to life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness"
The balls, which continued two
hours into today, climaxed a two
day celebration with numerous activ-
titles held for the benefit of the Ma
tional Foundation for Infantile
Paralysis. Most of them were COM
plete sellouts. and although bands
played between the appearances of
the stars, there was little room for
dancing and mostly the crowds
Rugged close to the stages waiting
for the next celebrity to appear.
All of the bathrooms were jammed
enough to be steamy. At the Stage
Door Canteen the soldier audience
chanted turn off the heat"-until
the air. r-conditioning unit was turned
on; girls kicked off their slippers to
cool their feet; one woman tainted; /;
at the Mayf1ower one member of the
orchestra passed ice cubes from a
glass of water to the perspiring
audience, and the glaring spotlights
made perspiration drip from the
movie stars on the stage.
Crowds Wait Outside.
Crowds of persons filled the lob
bies of the hotels and lined the
streets outside, screaming at each
cab that drew up and pushing i'm
patiently at the policemen who held
them back. Outside the Stage Door
Canteen servicemen waited in a
four deep line which at 9 o'clock
extended block. They were hoping
to get inside, but by II only so op-
timiSts remained. In order to take
care of as many as they did, the
canteen had to refuse to allow
women service personnel to come in.
The biggest event of the evening
was at the Statler Hotel when all
of the stars crowded the stage while
Mrs. Roosevelt cut the three -tiered
birthday cake. After the stars had
been given slices, and some of them
had Clipped off the blue sugar birds
for souvenirs, the cake was wheeled
off and today will be sent to the
children in the infantile paralysis
ward at Gallinger Hospital.
Although the stars had a care
fully worked out schedule and were
slated to appear for only few min
utes at each ball, the program got
fouled up somewhat because the
audiences just wouldn't let the en-
tertainers leave. They clapped and
screamed while backstage managers
clock-watched, and other stars wait
ing To aDpear matted impatient feet
At the Wardman Park Hotel Joe E
Brown reminded the crowd people
are trying to sleep upstairs" but
they only howled louder. Monty
Wooley, who tried the hardest to
stick to schedule, told his audiences,
81 have 80 seconds to talk. That
gives me more pleasure than 1t does
you"-but at several places they
applauded him so long he smiled.