Evening Star Newspaper, December 23, 1930, Page 5

FIRST MOVIE STAR RECALLS OLD DAYS ! Mtress Who Entered Pictures in 1906 Had Many Nar- row Escapes. @pecial Dispatch to The Star. | KANSAS CITY, Mo, December 23 | (NANA) —Some years ago Gene Gauntfer was Gene Liggett, a pupil in the old Woodland School in Kansas City, and later an actress in the Warder Grand Opera House now the Audi- torium. Still later, she toured the eountry as leading woman in the play, “The County Chairman.” She was & star of the moving pictures when they | were all ‘“one-reelers,” shown as “chasers” at the close of vaudeville per- formances and in nickelodeons. She has written scores of scenarios of mov- ing pictures, and produced and played a8 the star in many of them. Twenty years ago the announcement that one | of her moving pictures, with herself as | star, was to be shown in any theater in | the Middle West was enough to pack | the house. | She was the first star of the moving plctures to be advertised and the first woman director of moving pictures. Also she was the first woman manager of a moving picture studio, and the star of | the first company that went from America to Europe to produce a motion jcture. She wrote scenarios and pro- uced pictures in nearly every country in Europe and in Africa and Palestine. | She discovered D. W. Griffith, di- rector of “The Birth of a Nation,” “In- tolerance” and other great pictures, and gave him his first job as director, at $5 | @ day. Entered Movies in 1906. Miss Gauntier and her sister have $ust come from Sweden for the purpose of burying the ashes of their father, James W. Liggett, in the family burying in this city. The father died Spring in Stockholm, where the Samily resided for some years. ‘Twenty-four years ago, Miss Gaun- Wer went into moving pictures—that ‘was in 1906, when the movies were very young and crude, and the pay was amall. In the very first picture in which she appeared she had one of her nar- rowest escapes from death. “I was on the stage then,” said Miss Gauntier. “At the close of the road season, in 1906, I went to New York io | rest and Sidney Olcutt, then with the Biograph Co,. asked me to go out Wwith & company to take a moving Dpic- ture. He said merely that it was a water picture, and that I would get $3 for the day’s work, and as I had money enough to last me only until June, I} went. There were 10 people in the oast. We went to a mill dam in Con- necticut and when we got there I found that I was to pose as the girl who was pursued by the villain. I was to run across the mill dam and be caught in the middle of it by the villain and thrown into the water, which was 30 feet deep there. I couldn't swim a stroke, and when I learned what I was to do I balked, but there were 10 peo- ple at $3 a day, the railroad fares and all, and after some argument I said I would do it if Olcutt would have res- cuers ready to pull me from the water. Allowed to Struggle. “Jim Slevin was the villain. He me, caught me, grabbed me, lift- ed me up bodily, whispered to me, ‘Now hold your breath, one—two—three—' and hurled me into the water. Beyond the camera lines other members of the cast waited in ts to save me, but, when I arose from the bottom of that mill pool, gasping for breath and clutching at the air, it made such a good scene that the director warnad | the rescuers not to touch me, and he | kept the camera grinding. I went down and up 13 times, and when they Another time, on a river in Florida, Miss Gauntier had to flee across a mass of loose logs where the water was deep, and she slipped and fell and went down. She came up under the logs and for & time could not find an opening. She would have drowned, but just in time she was found and pulled out. Again, in s picture being filmed off the Florida she fell into the ocean, accident- ly, and went down and was caught held by a seaweed until a diver and rescued her. representing a battle scene ‘War she was to appear close exploding powder train, but it prematurely. She was hurled and lay unconscious for an . But luckily the camera man 18, and it made a thrilling scene. Trapped by Fire. she was to be caught in a burn- and rescued through a hole be cut in the roof. It was company and she had written scenario and was the star. She an old abandoned house, it was and as the flames burst out the roof she appeared at one tairs window and then er, uxg to escape and calling . but cut off by the flames. fire burned more rapidly than was expected because the house was made of pine and was dry, and she was al- most suffocated before a hole could be in the roof. She was pulled out with nearly all her clothes burned 1 ) { ol iag it g She was the star in & military pic- taken in Canada. She was about u;lllOlll'll & horse, when it struck out turned she mounted the horse and rode him through the picture. While star- ring in a picture in Ireland, she was held downward over the high walls of Blarney Castle to skiss the blarney stone, and the man holding her ankles found his strength giving out. Bhe felt herself slipping while the man | holding her yelled for help. It came in just the nick of time. In another minute she would have dropped to the ground far belov Miss Gauntier's greatest picture was “From the Manger to the Cross.” or “The Life of Christ.” The idea of that flctum came to her when she was tak- g pictures in Egypt, 10 miles out from | Luxor, on the desert, and had a sun-| stroke. She was lying looking out at | the desert when the idea came that & picture might be made right in salem of the life of Christ. It was a six-reel picture,” said Miss Gauntler. “I think it was the first six-reel picture ever made. Oh, how I studied the Bible 50 I would know how to write the scenario and get all the scenes correctly. We were six weeks making the picture, and it cost the enormous sum of $100,000, including salaries and all expenses. To take it| today, as pictures are now made, it would cost $1,000,000, probably. “Ben-Hur” in Three Da; “I read the book ‘Ben-Hur’ and wrote | scenario of it, a one-reeler, in two| ys, and we went out to Sheepshead , where Payne had given ‘The Fall Jerusalem’ in three days. It was consid- ered then the greatest spectacle ever put the screen, and it was a tre- success, and made money. “In those days there had been no tion over the movies; a scenario never been copyrighted, no one knew whether the cop;right law that an author and publisher in book rights also protect>d them from having their books pirated for ap- on the screen. The heirs of ‘Wallace, who wrote ‘Ben-! ’ and Bros., who published it, sued the Kalem Co. and myself for $25,000 W EAEEE the for years, and was de- LIBERAL PREDICTS | TiE Kyoaisg S1TAR, W ADIELaG LUN, Th 3wk dok . U Laurence M. Hynson, 1410 M street, has time amid the Christmas season hurly-burly of activity to remember his feathered friends of the park with choice tid-bits of crumbs and crusts that are like ambrosia to the pigeons’ craws. FALL OF FASCISM Alliance Leader Tells of Work in Italy—Widow Born in U. S. Acguitted. BY PAUL SCOTT MOWRER. By Cable to The Star. PARIS, France, December 23.—Lauro de Bosis, who claims to be the organ- izer of the “National Alliance of Lib- erty,” whose propaganda activities in Italy caused the special Fascist tribunal | last night to ccndemn the Italian lib- erals Renzo Rendi and Maria Vinci- guerra to 15 years' imprisonment, today made the following statement: “Fascism is in fact losing ground in Italy. It is necessary to foresee the time when there will be a change of regime. The aim of our organization is to prevent this change, when it| comes, from taking a Communistic or | extreme radical complexion. “We therefore are endeavoring to unite for the common purpose the Italian Liberals, Conservatives and Democrats, who either have never ac- | cepted or have become alienated from | Fascist ideals. This is difficult because | free speech is completely forbidden in Italy, the entire Fascist press is strictly | controlled, foreign newspapers are for- bidden entry and mail and telegrams are censored. Even conversations may be reported to the police by secret agents and lead to arrest. Chain Letter Method Adopted. “Our method was, therefore, the | chain letter. We have sent to thou- | sands of Italians, officials and others, | the 11 numbers thus far published in our little single sheet mimeographed newspaper. “Rendi and Vinciguerra were simply among. the many cthers who received | and passed on these sheets in chain| letter form.” Signor De Bosis presented copies of | these 11 sheets. No. 1 described the | purpose of the “Alllanza Nazionale”| thus: “1. To kesp the country informed of the real state of things by circulating notices and articles from leading for- elgn newspapers which today are pro- hibited in Italy. “2. To draft a concrete program of interior policy to which all partics may adhere, and thus unite in a single army | the scattered anti-Fascist groups. “3. To remind moderate and con-| servative citizens of their duty to pre- pare a solution of the Italian problem, | which otherwise will undoubtedly fall | into the hands of revolutionary ex- | tremists.” Disputes Mussolini’s Claim. Another sheet contests Premier Benito | Mussclini’s assertion that it was he him- | self who saved Italy from bolshevism. ‘This sheet declares the bolshevist dan- ger was ended before Premier Mussolini | came to power and cites extracts from | Premier Mussolini's own writings at the time as proof of this. Generally speaking, the sheets tend to accuse Premier Mussolini and fascism of having isolated Italy in foreign policy | and having ruined it economically and | morally. On the other hand, the “Na- | tional “Alliance” seems wholeheartedly | to support the King, the army and the Pope. (Copyright. 1930.) U. 8. WOMAN IS ACQUITTED. Three Men Sentenced in Italy for Anti-Fascist Activities. ROME, December 23 (#).—Mrs. H. J. de Bosis, American-born widow of an Italian poet, was acquitted yesterday of charges that she had engaged in anti- Fascist activities, but three men in- dicted on similar charges were given prison sentences. Renzo Rendi, occasional correspond- ent for American Newspapers, Was sen- tenced by the special tribune for de- fense of state to 15 years in jail. Mario Vinciguerra received a like sentence and Gelmetti, another defendant, was ordered to prison for three years. Three other _defendants, Augusto Benedetti, Olga Benedetti and a third | named Marchi, were acquitted. Mrs. de Bosis, born Lillian Vernon of St. Louis, Mo, who told the court she was 65 years old, expressed her re- | gret that she had taken part in recent anti-Fascist propaganda, which con- | sisted of the printing and distribution | of circulars. Rendi testified that Mrs. de Bosis had | nothing to do with writing the circulars, but only with their mechanical prepara- ticn PUP IS ELEPHANTINE Kennel for “Gift” Pet Must Be Made Larger. EVANSTON, Ill. (N.AN.A).—When Chief of Police Freeman promised the boys of the Beta Theta Pi Praternity at | Northwestern University a “pup” they immediately began building a kennel. Now they have to enlarge it. The “pup” is a St. Bernard of elephantine proportions. It s 9 months old and 6 feet 8 inches from nose to tail. (Copyright, 1930. by North American News- paper Alliance.) cided against us, and_that first lawsuit settled for all time that the copyright | of a book or story also covered the moving picture rights of it. | “Our ‘Ben-Hur' whrroduce. but the later big ‘Ben-Hur,' | which was produced in grand style by consent of the owners of the copyright, cost more than $1,000,000, and I was told that the company that produced cost about $25,000 | Convict, Sentenced To Die, Escapes by Ventilator Shafts Possession of Revolver Leads to Belief He Re- ceived Outside Aid. By the Assoclated Press. SALEM, N. J., December 23 —Squeez- ing through two ventilator shafts, Charles Fithian, 22, escaped from the county jail early last night a few hours after he had been sentenced to die for the murder of William J. McCausland in & pay roll hold-up. While organizing a State-wide search for the slayer, police expressed the opinion he had received outside aid in his escape. The fact he had a revolver emphasized this belief, they said. Jail officials said Fithian, who is slim of body, had squeezed through the ventilator opening in his cell and worked his way through the ventilating tube to the hospital ward on the second floor of the prison. Here, they said, he encountered three youths held on a larceny charge, drew a revolver and threatened them if they made an outcry. Then he pulled a table to the center of the room, climbed through the bars of a ceiling ventilator and thence through the tube to the roof. From the jail roof he jumped to the nearby roof of another building and then to the ground. THE WEATHER District of Columbja—Partly cloudy tonight and tomororw, not much change in temperature; minimum tonight about 26 degrees; gentle to moderate west winds. Maryland—Cloudy, with snow flurries in the mountains tonight and tomor- row, not much change in temperature; fresh northwest and west winds. Virginia—Cloudy with snow flurries | in extreme northwest portion tonight and tomorrow, not much change in temperature; fresh northwest and west winds. West Virginia—Cloudy, with snow flurries tonight; tomorrow partly cloudy; not much change in temperature, Record for 24 Hours. ‘Thermometer—4 p.m., 35; 8 pm., 34; midnight, 32; 4 am, 31; 8 am, 27; noon, 34. Barometer—4 pam., 30.0 30.06; midnight, 29.96; 4 a. 8 a.m, 29.92; nocn, 29.91. Highest temperature, 36, occurred at 3:30 p.m. yesterday. Lowest temperature, 27, occurred at 7:40 am. today. Temperature same date last year— Highest, 32; lowest, 27. Tide Tables. (Purnished by United States Coast and Geodetic Survey.) Today—Low tide, 4:51 am. and § p.m.; high tide, 10:22 a.m. and 10:38 p.m. Tomorrow—Low tide, 4 am. and 5:43 pm.; high tide, 11:06 a.m. and 11:19 pm. The Sun and Moon. ‘Today—Sun rose 7:24 a.m.; sun sets 4:50 pm. ‘Tomorrow—Sun rises 7:25 am.; sun sets 4:50 pm. 8 pm . 2093 | Moon rises 10:20 a.m.; sets 8:14 p.m. Automobile lamps to be lighted one- half hour after sunset. Water. Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers both clear this morning. Weather In Various Citles. gnm-muu ¥ e 3 Stations. Atlantic City. Baltimo: Birming| Bismarc 05ton, 3 Snowing uffalo. N. Y..0 2992 2 Cloudy Charieston, Chicago. 11l Cincinnati, O} Cleveland, Okio. Columbia, 8 C. Snowing Clear Clear Snowing Clear Clear Clear Clear Cloudy Pt.cloudy Clear 50, Tex ston, Tex. . Mont.. Huron,'8. Dak ) reans, La.. 30 New York, N Y. Oklahoma’ City. Priindeiohia . 39 el Pho-nix. At o N. ©.. B2t Lake City San Antonio.. 3 San Diego. Calif 30.06 San_Prancisco.. 20.27 E et oday.) Part cloudy Part cloudy Part cloudy Rai Homil o c: Mrs. Frederick Cripps, formerly Duch- ess of Westminster, has become it paid the Wallace gumdmrpen fflem of a leading beauty ashionable section of Lol 3 employes with her colore t paid het 150,000 for that t. a decorated the (Copyright, 1930, n&_dum..m —-Star Staff Photo, SEARCH FOR BRIDE WHO FLED HOSPITAL Woman Who Introduced Hus- band as “Knight” Left Scantily Clad. 2 By the Assoclated Press. WORCESTER, Mass., December 23.— Barbara Buffum Branwell, whose visi- | tor's leave from the Worcester State | Hospital was revoked after she had been married and introduced the bride- | groom, & ship's clerk, as an English knight, escaped at daybreak yesterday from the Worcester State Hospital. Wearing a nightgown, coat, shoes and hat, she dropped quietly from her hos- pital window and vanished. Another patient saw her going and shouted, but by the time a nurse had run outside to_catch her, she had disappeared. Search was made for her all day in the vicinity of Worcester and Ox- ford, where her father is a bank cashier. Marriage Causes Soclety Stir. The marriage of Barbara Buffum, daugh'er of one of the town's most prominent families, to “Sir" Willlam | Wilton Bramwell, “commander in the royal navy,” caused something of a stir in Oxford last week. The bridegroom, a distinguished look- ing, gray-haired man, with a cultivated English accent, arrived late, and the police obligingly furnished him with a | motor cycle escort through the traffic. Blames High-Hat Relatives. A few hours after the wedding, how- | ever, word came back that he was neither a “sir” nor a “commander in | the Royal Navy,” but simply & steward's clerk on the liner Mauretania. He had left his bride in Boston and had hur- ried back to New York to report to his ip. “Lady” Bramwell, located in a Boston hotel, admitted that she was just “Mrs. Bramwell,” and blamed it all on “high- hat” relatives, who, she said, wanted to make an impression. Then it was dis- covered she was on visitor's leave from the State hospital and she was returned | there. A Cunard Line official at Southamp- ton said tonight Bramwell was no long- er a member of the Mauretania's crew. " HEART ATTACK FATAL | T0 J. C. PARKER, SR. General Manager of Mercantile | | Firm Stricken While Descend- ing Stairs From His Office. James Clarence Parker, sr., 52 years old, vice president and general manager of the retail department of the Foster- | Reynolds Co., of New York, died of a heart attack in the company's store, 1305 P street, last night. He was stricken while descending the stairs after leav- | ing his office shortly after closing time at 6 o'clock. The fire rescue squad and the Emergency Hospital ambulance were | summoned. He was pronounced dead by a physician from Emergency. A native of Goldsboro, N. C., Mr. Parker came here from Gainesville, Ga., 25 years ago .He had held various of- fices with the Foster-Reynolds Co., and was widely known in this city. He was a member of the Merchants and Manu- facturers’ Association. He formerly was an employe of the Government. Mr. Parker resided at 3319 Cleveland avenue. He is survived by his widow, Mrs. Lulu Winburn Parker, and a son, James Clarence Parker, jr. Funeral arrangements were to be completed this afternoon. EX-LAND AGENT DIES E. M. Searle Sold 1,250,000 Acres for Union Pacific. | LOS ANGELES, December 23 (#).— |Edwin M. Searle, 81, who as general road sold more than 1,250,000 acres of land in Nebraska half a century ago, died of heart disease here today. Searle was born in Rushford, N. Y., served as a drummer boy with the Union forces in the Civil War, and joined the Union Pacific as a telegraph operator in 1867. As land agent he laj of Ogallala, Nebr., and later represented that district in the State Legislature. He had lived in Los Angeles 12 years. Besides his widow he is survived by two sons, E. M. Searle, jr., of Omaha, and A. L. Searle of Ogallaia. An unusual opportunity for high class well paid work (mot clerical) is open to a few men under forty who can furnish satisfactory character references —replies should state briefly business ex| Address BOX 324—E Star Office. Just Think of lt— ‘The Star delivered to your door every vvening and, Sunday morning 8t 1%c per day and 5¢ . Can you afford to be without ml; service at mm Telephone National 5000 will start at once. {1and agent for the Union Pacific Rail-| out the town | GABLING SYSTEN STOPPED BY BANKS Clearing House Figures, Used Chiefly in Lotteries, No Longer to Be Issued. By the Associated Press. NEW YORK, December 23.—The New York Clearing House Association an- nounced today that after December 31 it would discontinue publication of daily exchanges and balances. Gambling rings throughout the coun- try have been using the figures as the basis of & Nation-wide lottery, and metropolitan banks having membership in the association decided to stop this playing for big stakes by the simple method of refusing to publish the statis- tics, which have virtually no financial significance. Many efforts have been made to bribe the comparatively few persons who have had prompt access to the figures as they are posted each morning at 11:30 o'clock on a blackboard in the lobby of the association in Cedar street. A change in one digit, before the totals are broadcast by news tickers and news- papers, would mean much to an un- scrupulous player. A year ago last Summer represent- atives of the gambling ring offered money to the 15-year-old employe of the Associated Press who was charged with getting the figures each day. He was asked to report a wrong total. In- stead, he reported to his superiors and a trap was laid for the bribers, with the result that an arrest was made and the offender placed on probation. After the first of the year the Clear- ing House will publish only its usual weekly statement. Prior to the advent of the Federal Reserve System the daily figures had considerable value as indices of the banks’ condition, but for many years their importance has been comparatively slight. | NAVY ORDERS Orders issued to officers under date of December 19, 1930: Lieut. Comdr. Thomas J. Kelther, jr., detached command U. S. S. Hart, to| navy yard, Washington, D. C. Lieut. Comdr. John F. Moloney, de- tached command VJ Squadron 2§ (U. 8. 8. Wright), Carrier Division_1, United States Fleet, to command VP Squadron 108, Carrier Division 1, United States Fleet. Lieut. Comdr. Charles K. Osborne. detached command U. 8. S. Tarbell after June 1, to Naval War College, Newport, R. I. Lieut. Comdr. Lybrand P. Smith, de- | tached U. S. 8. Claxton about Decem- ber 10, to navy yard, Philadelphia, Pa. Lieut. Theron S. Hare, detached U. 8. 8. Gold Star, to Receiving Ship, San Francisco. Lieut. Ralph G. Moody, detached navy yard, Boston, to Office of Inspector of Navigation Material, Boston. Lieut. Ashton B. Smith, detached U. 8. S. Wyoming, to Naval Air Station, Anacostia, D. C. Lieut. William J. Walker, detached | navy yard, Pearl Harbor, Hawall, to U. S. 8. Rigel. Lieut. (Junior Grade) Harold M. Briggs, detached U. 8. 8. Claxton about January 14, to U. S. 8. Louisville. Lieut. (Junfor Grade) Willlam H. Carpenter, detached U. S. S. O-9 about December 15, to U. S. S. Houston. - Lieut. (Junior Grade) Louis L. French, Lieut. (Junior Grade) Gordon | A. McLean and Lieut. (Junior Grade) | Anderson Offutt, detached VS Squadron | 108, Carrler Division 1, United States Fleet, to duty with VS’ Squadron 108, | U. 8. 8. Louisville. Lieut. (Junior Grade) Royal Lovell, dlfl.ached U. 8. 8. Dent, to Asiatic Sta- tion. Lieut. (Junior Grade) Jack Maginnis, detached U. S. S. Saratoga about De- cember 31, to Asiatic Station. Lieut. (Junior Grade) Leonidas M., Matthews, detached U. S. S. Lexington | about January 2, to Asiatic Station. Lieut. (Junior Grade) Willis H. Pick- | ed 8. Claxton, to U. 8. 8. Argonne. Lieut. (Junior Grade) Henry F. Rip- ley, detached U. 8. S. Lexingion about | January 2, to Asiatic Station. Lieut. (Junior Grade) Matthew §. Q.| Weiser, detached navy yard, Philadel- phia, Pa,, to U. S. 8. Trenton. Lieut. (Junfor Grade) James S. Wil- lis detached U. S. S. New York about | December 24. to Asiatic Station Ensien Miiton G. Johnson, detached | U. 8. S. West Virginia about January | 25, to Aslatic Station. | Medical Corps. Comdr. Jacob Stepp (M. C.). de-! tached Navy Recruiting Station, Provi- | dence, R. I, about January 19, to home | and await orders. Lieut. Comdr. Rex H. White (M. C.) to duty involving flying staff, com- mander. Carrier Division 1, United | States Fleet. Supply Corps. Ensign Willard C. Johnson (8. C.) detached navy yard, Puget Sound, Wash.. about December 29, to U. 8. 8. West Virginia. Civil Engineer Corps. Lieut. Dow H. Nicholson (C. E. C.), detached navy yard, Norfolk, Va, to! naval station, Tutuila, Samoa. 5 1 Warrant Officers, | Bosn. Clifton Evans, jr. detached | U. 8. 8. Wright about December 26, to ! VS Squadron 68 (U. 8. S. Cincinnati). Ch. Gun. George C. Smith, to treat- ! ment, Naval Hospital, San Diego, Calif. Pharm. Paul T. Rees, detached Naval | Medical Supply Depot, Brooklyn. N. Y., to duty with 1st Brigade, United States Marines, Haitl. | e | BELOIT, Wis., December 23 (#).— W. C. Heath, vice president of the Fair- banks, Morse Co., announced last night practically all of the company’s 2,335 workers will be called back to approxi- mately full-time employment on Janu- ary 5. All departments except one will | have full personnel, partly because of !the transfer here of products formerly made at Three Rivers, Mich., and In- | dianapolis. [ ENTERPRISE SERIAL i BUILDING ASSOCIATION (| 7th st and La. Ave. N.W. 65th Issue of Stock Now Open | for Subscription Money loaned to members on easy monthly payments James E. Connelly James F. Shea President Secretary ORGANIZED 1888 " Your Last Chance Electric Tree Sets $1.00 and $1.50 Weatherproof Sets for Outdoor Use $2.50 to $11.00 Wreaths, With Electric Candles $1.25 and $1.65 < MUDDIMANS. 911 G Street Na'tl 0140-2622 Lo 23, 1930. WASHINGTON'S FINEST MEN'S WEAR STOR RALEIGH HABERDASHER 1310 F Street Give him a %25 Silk Robe it will only cost you *16% Silk Brocade ' Silk Moire Silk Faile ROBES 5165 Reduced from $25 Full silk lined for smartness and in- ter-lined for warmth, they are cut to fit and drape perfectly. Shiny satin trimmings on the pockets, collar, cuffs and sash blend with neat pat- terns in blue, tan and winetone. $250 to ¥4 Hand-tailored Neckwear French and Italian Silks Luxurious moires, brocades, gleam- ing satin stripes, small figures, large patterns. Spitalfields. Resilient con- struction— Hand tailored. Sale of $750 Imported MUFFLERS 485 Plain shades and fancy patterns in heavy English silk mufflers. Large square shapes in 18 combinations of the newest colors. Special! English Cashmere Wool Hose $|5° Soft and warm to keep you com- fortable. In pleasing colors, plain shades; clocked and fancy patterns. A special value at $1.50. Il use RALEIGH HABERDASHER 1310 F Street YOUR CHARGE ACCOUNT DURING THIS SALE [}