Evening Star Newspaper, January 25, 1942, Page 84

strange combination, but it served him well. For in road companies with Otis Skinner and David Warfield and in early movies with William S. Hart, he learned what entertained and moved an audience. One hot summer day in 1921, attending a Kansas firemen's convention, he heard a fire chief complain to his fellow red-shirts that he couldn’t seem to interest children with his lectures on fire prevention. The youngsters just wiggled, squirmed and paid absolutely no attention, Rogers thought: ‘““We’re going at this thing all wrong. Why doesn’t someone talk to these kids in their own language?”” Then he thought some more, and asked himself: ‘‘Well, Harry, why don't you do something? Use theater methods. Don’t talk — act.” He conferred cagerly with other chiefs about his new idea. Most of them discouraged him, but Rogers decided to go ahead anyhow. Making his own stage *‘props,” he worked up a clown act. He used his five-year-old daughter Jean and her playmates as a testing audience for every trick, every joke. If they didn’t laugh, he threw it out. If they did, into the act it went. Consequence: the show has delighted children ever since. At first, Rogers paid his own expenses, and took what civic groups could pay him. In three years, he spent $3,000 of his own money. Fortunately, an insurance-company repre- sentative saw him at work, and hired him to spread the gospel from then on. Audiences of Every Size HE'S still doing it, 1n addition to his exten- sive field work in training firemen for na- tional defense. His audiences have varied from adozen kids in a village schoolroom to 120,000 in Soldier's Field. Chicago. He has spoken from platforms at county fairs, in hay barns, from teachers’ desks, in hospital wards for crippled youngsters, in schools for the blind. (Afterward, the blind children often come forward and feel his clown costume.) Stage properties for Smoky’s act are sim- ple: stepladder, set of steps, bucket, riop, two large matches as big as policemen’s night- sticks, huge clock which rings a loud gong every minute during the act. That last drives home to the children a startling fact : every 60 seconds an American home burns because of carelessness. Plenty of Color ONTO the stage prances Smoky, resplendent in a brilliant red coat, a huge, flapping white collar, sky-blue pants and a toy fireman’s hat perched on top of his head. Smoky climbs the stepladder, tangling one foot with the other, then sits on the top step. He asks: “How many of you children ever saw a stick of dynamite? (A few raise hands.) It’s terrible stuff, isn’t it? One stick would blow this building all to smithereens, wouldn’t it? Now, how many of you ever saw a gallon of gasoline? (All raise hands.) Oh, everybody has. Now, I'll tell you something about gaso- line. One gallon of gasoline will tear up just as much, when it explodes, as 87 sticks of dynamite! “‘Now, when you go home, I want you to tell your mothers and your big sisters that whenever they use gasoline to wash their gloves or to take grease spots out of their clothing, that they should always go out in the back yard. Or, better vet, send the stuff to the cleaner — let him worry!” Seated atop the stepladder, Smoky now rocks back and forth. At each rock the chil- dren think Smoky will fall, but he doesn’'t — until finally over he goes, turning two back Seosy 'OQ FOR COMFORT somersaults and coming up on his feet, un- hurt and grinning. In another sequence, Smoky explains spon- taneous combustion, the dangers of storing oily rags or mops under stairs. Dramatically, he sets off some flash powder underneath him- self, while sitting on the prop stairs, then hurriedly turns in a fire alarm — the wrong way. He then does it the right way. Using that same graphic technique Smoky teaches children to be careful in handling matches, how to roll in a rug if their clothes catch fire, the dangers of bonfires, rubber gas- stove connections, and all the other common dangers. Elementary? Of course. Funny? Not to adults — but it is to children. And they re- member. As a matter of fact, during his act he does not wish teachers to discipline the children. He says that if he can’t hold their attention, ke is the one who ought to be corrected, not they. Smoky is business- like, too. To each of his listeners he gives a Home Fire Hazard checklist, which each child fills out after a home inspection. Six million of these have been filled out and turned over to local fire departments. It would be impossible to estimate how many home fires those lists have prevented. If Smoky has had phenomenal success with the youngsters, his success with grownups has been no less amazing. Today, with civilian ¢“‘Smoky’’ as heappears on defense duty defense a No. 1 job, he is training fire fighters all over the country. He has aided corpora- tions in organizing their own brigades. Smoky says that elaborate equipment is not necessary — if you fight fire with knowledge. Or better yet, prevent it. Rogers was the first field instructor of fire- men in this country. He organized the first regional training schools. Last year 76,000 firemen were enrolled in them; 20 years ago there were no schools and no students. Since 13,000 of our 14,000 fire departments are volun- teer, this advanced training means far greater protection for your life and property in either peace or war. With his heavy work schedule, Rogers him- self does not have much leisure. But when he is tired, he just looks at the newspapers and finds plenty of refresh- ment in stories like this: At Ashland, Ohio, Anna Louise, aged eight, saw her little brother stumble into a gas heater. His bath- robe caught fire. Calmly, the little girl un- buttoned the garment, snatched it off. rolled it in a rug to put it out. The boy was unhurt. Anna Louise then went upstairs and told her mother what had happened. Anna Louise said she had learned what to do in an emergency from Smoky, the Fire Clown. That’s the kind of a testimonial that would make anyone feel pretty good. The End VICTOR DE PALMA in Balance ' D...' . e..’fiq’ Page Eleven "9~~,§.',!,§tn * Chooter, pu st SCOTTISSUE TODAY ismore luxuriousty soft than ever before. But this voft- ness is perfectly balanced with its twin quality —toughness. There 1 no sacrifice of the strength that is so necessary for practical toilet use. You don't have choose be- tween these twin qualities when you buy ScotTissue You have them both, in balanced combina- tion—gentle softness that is safe for even baby’s sensitive skin and strength that resists tearing and shredding, even when moist. SCOTTISSUE 1S AN ECONOMY 1000 roll gives you needed Fewer are 2% ue 100! 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