Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1945-06-01
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learned little about handling finn
and chemicals and drying racks In
the subtropics.
The first place I Photographic i
after Honolulu, was Japan; and the
first "shot" Il was learning fast)
was a silkworm factory. The jap
anese Government sent three men
and they never got farther away
from me, I'm sure, than ten feet.
And demanded to see every inch of
film.
won't stop to set down all my
adventures, except this one point.
l was on the China Sea, on a North
German-Lloyd ship named the Fran
els Ferdinand, sitting at the cap
taln's table, one noon, when a man
from the wireless office came, said
something in German, and handed
the captain message. The captain
read it, then reread it, and, to my
aston1shment, arose slowly and,
without word to anyone, faced the
end of the dining room where there
was a painting on the wall of the
Archduke Francis Ferdinand. He
saluted the picture gravely, and sat
down. Then he said, "He has just
been assassinated at Serajevo."
But it did affect me, as I soon
found. Singapore-England's strong
hold in the Orient-was filled with
German spies. And soon, at my
Dutch hotel, I heard nothing but war.
But it would be over soon.
On the way to Rangoon, later, four
or five English "clarks," who had
been assigned to duty at home,
walked up and down the deck giving
an imitation of the goose step and
roaring with laughter. I laughed,
too. 1t all seemed vastly amusing.
One of the clerks said, "It'n all
be over before we get home and III
have to turn around and come back,
which'n be just my luck"
At Rangoon shadow fell across
us. We were transferred to another
ship, one much smaller. Gradually
matters grew worse and I felt my
self struggling against something
powerful and relentless, as one does
in troubled dream.
had no passport Of any kind, for
at that time passports were not re-
CURED. But I did have a personal
letter from William J. Bryan, Sec
rotary of State, which the publisher
of Leslie's Weekly had got for me.
got on the train one night in
Calcutta with Pennsylvania Dutch
young man of my age. We were in
the compartment alone together;
the engine was smoking and breath
ing heavily, and people were going
up and down the platform in last
minute excitement of departure
when suddenly the door was opened
by two British officers. One said,
care there any Germans in here?"
The young man with me answered,
"Nein."
He was hauled out and was,
learned later, kept in Ceylon as a
prisoner for three months.
made newsreels and travel pic
lures across India, but even here,
miles from any British stronghold,
felt the war roaring toward me
like some gigantic but invisible
force. In Bombay my camera was
taken from me and l had to see half
dozen officials to get it back. l
ran out of money, and the Majestic
Hotel elected us, but kept our cam
eras, chemicals and equipment. l
moved into the YMCA, where, for
three weeks, was without shilling
to my name. All l could do was to
smoke and scour my teeth and chew
gum. At last money came through.
l claimed my cameras and equip
ment, and got on to Egypt. The
shadow had grown darker. I could
fill pages with details of what hap
pened, but l must forego that, for
don't want to make my book too
long. Only just one point: l was
questioned at the Second Cataract as
spy. William J. Bryan saved me.
At last I got to London and cut
the film. 1t was released as half
reel subjects under my name.
thought it was, for the most part,
pretty poor. But when the Universal
house organ came out, it had this
as a banner line: UNIVERSAL
SCORES AGAIN. LAEMMLE LUCK
STILL HOLDS" I felt better.
went to the advertising com.
panies with my pictures and the
pieces I'd written. The chewing gum
company said No; and wanted none
of what l had to offer. The others
bought some of my "still'' pictures
and some of the material I wrote
at price which thought was pretty
good, but which l now realize was
ridiculously cheap.
And now I had enough money to
get married. Oh boy!
When we were married, the Uni
versal Newsreel made motion pic
lures of us coming out of the church
and getting into cab; the pic
lures were shown on the screen in
and around New York. Thus we
became the first couple in the world
to be put into newsreel. The
church was the Swedenborgian, near
Madison Avenue, New York, and
the time was February 7, 1915. Un-
til then the newsreels had dealt