Variety (Sep 1937)

58 VARIETY LITERATI Wednesday, September 29, 1937 Brooklyn Strike Goes On Efforts made last week and dur- ing the early part of this week to settle the strike at the Brooklyn Drily Easle by mediation have as yet brought no adjustmient in the di/i'ercnccs between M. Preston Goodfellow, publisher, and some 300 of his employees, Brooklyn paper continues to pub- lish all its editions regularly, with strikers declaring that circulation and advertising is being cut down by a militant campaign. No state- mont has yet been published in the Eagle itseU regarding the strike. Move than 20 editorial men working as strike breakers include: RobTsrt Grannis, David, George, John Geis. Tom Barrett, Fay Steven-' son, Esther Coster, Fred: Anderson, Jimmy Woods, John Lewyj Edwin B. Wilson, Joseph Early, Eugene C. Du- p?\s, David Bixler, Floy4 Barger, Adolf Brown, Vincent Kirk, Harry Ciarke, Al Delaney< Helen-Brown, Ruth Davis and Mary. McCormick. Among those who have quit the strikers' ranks and returned to work are Lou Niss, sports copyreader; Harold Parrott, spdrts writer; Jimmy Murphy, soorts editor, and Martin Dickstein, film editor. Hy Gardner, freelance writer and the Eagle's Broadway columnist, is -not on strike and continues to mail in his material, which he syndicates to six other papers. He is > a non- Guildsman and a liart-time employee. Theatrical press agents and pic- ture publicity offices are, in several instances, refusing to send news to the paper. At least Ave p. a.'s for B'\/ay legit shows have withdrawn their ads from the Eagle, in addition to which they send no-news nor opening night tickets. Theatrical Press Representatives Ass'n, at its meeting last Thursday - (23), acting on the Instigation of the Theatrical Press Unit of the Guild, Unanimously adopted a resolution supporting the objectives of the strikers and expressing sympathy. Arthur Pollock, Brooklyn Eagle's drama critic, has joined the Guild strikers, and has been on the picket line. Cleveland Rodgers, editor, is writing the Sunday 'd^rami. column, with Dave Bixlpr, wntil recently a ' Gopybojr, and Harry Ma'dden, of the general' staff, are covering- shows. "Latter was picketed fn the Lpn'gacre theatre Saturday night at opening . of 'Lady Had a Heart' during inter- ■ mission. , Pollock Is seeing shows regularly, despite the. strike, since he's also the ■ Christian Sciebce Monitor's 6'way critic and enjoys second night priv- il3ges on "behalf of the Mbnitor. Sinclair, Nathan Go "Seyfs-}IVttk Announcement of the imminent arrival of Ken has publishers of the present-line news digest mags jit- tery. Time underwent a consider- able shakeup several weeks ago, claiming it was merely about time, and now News-Week is going for a really big switch in personnel, with names added all along the line. With both, it is known'to be a matter of getting ready for tough opposition since the Smart-Gingrich Chicago outfit is known to be. solid enough to make trouble. News-Week has taken on Sinclair Lewis and George Jean Nathan, former as book critic, his first as- signment of the sort ever, and latter to handle drama. Both, reportedly, will get 'very big money,' supposed to be new high payment for jobs of the sort. Also Gerald Myatt, for- mer editor of Cosmopolitan, • will join to handle a number of depart- ments and Ralph Robey is coming in Vto handle" business and financial news. Thomas J, Cleland has re-designed the mag, which will change its- for- mat and editorial formula. It will remain the same size, but more em- phasis will be placed on the signifi- cance of news than. heretofore. That's along announced Ken lines, latter having said, at first announce- ment of its formation, that it would divulge the 'inside' of news, rather than merely dishing it out. In the case of News-Week, the new blood is largely made possible through an infusion of Vincent Astor coin. Aster's Today, -was merged with News-Week earlier this year. Picketing Pic Crick Two pickets from the Jlews- paper Guild are operating in front of the home of Martin Dickstein, Brooklyn Daily Eagle film critic. Their • signs hail him as a scab. Boston, Sept. 28. Boston Newspaper Guild mem* bers picketed Ralph Trost, sports writer for the striking Brooklyn Eagle, assigned to cover the Belmont Open golf matches. Picketing took place on the golf links with three Boston* Guildsmen following' Trost around the course. Ledger Sale Stymied Sale of the Philly Ledger to Mpe Annenbejrg, publisher of the Philiy Inquirer and ' N.. Y. Morning Tele- graph, and the Levy Bros., owners of WCAU, is'being held up by an option discovered by John Martin, Ledger publisher. May stymie the deal altogether. Martin, nominal owner of • the sheet, has nothing in it but salary. Other stockholders, principally heirs of Edward Bok, wanted to sell the paper over ■ his head. Action was" halted, however, when he produced an option, which he has. held foi- years, to buy up their stock. Now wants a fancy figure for this option, which the heirs must have before they can sell. Winchell Renews Walter Wincaell has renewed with Daily Mirror,-Inc., and not King Features, contract being signed last week. Broa-jvay cctumnlst's new deal calls for- only six columns a weak, instead of seven.' Winchell denies that the clause over who would assume legal re- sponsibility in case of libel-suits was the cause; that the N. Y. tabloid and the King Features Syndicate would, per usual, worry about that. 'Reason the contract was held up,' says Winchell, 'was because I just dreaded signing any more contracts, not be- in* sure what my platis were.' This is in line with; Broadway re- ports that the coliimnist was getting tired of the severity of a three-ply grind—newspaper, radio and picture work, combination of which, brought about a near-breakdown recently. V/inchell, concentrating solely on the film, with nine weeks' vacation from the mike and the paper, states that he's sleeping and feeling lots better now. Three Guild Strikes Besides the strike at the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, the Newspaper Guild has two others in progress at thfe present time." One of them is at the Seattle Star, and another- was called last w?ek (24) at the Waterbury (Conn.) Democrat. There is also a possibility' that city-wide strike, will be called in [ Wilkec-Barre, Pa., involving the " four newspapers in the city. N. T. Sun Co. Union Set Contract between the N. Y. Sun and the Sun Editorial Employes' Union was signed last week. Union is entirely composed of newsroom ■workers and has no connection with the Newspaper Guild. Ccntract was signed by the pub- lisher, William T. Dewart, and Ed- mund S. DeLong, president of the employes' group. It continues the 5-day, 40-hour weekj establishing va- cations of'from one to three weoks, depending on length of service. It provides for severance pay up to 20 wcolcs and sick leave. Blanket raises of 5% to 15% for thtse earning less than $00 per weak are agreed to and restoration of the 10% cut for space rates. Bocidss DeLong, other officials of ths Sun's union are Edward P. Duffy, vi:c-president; Preston S. Krccker, treasurer; John C. Draper, secretary, and Helen Calamari, asst. secretary. Scibel Frce-Lancingr George Seibel, vet drama critic who was let out by the Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph in a political move a yecr ago, has been signatured to de- liver a monthly article to two Pitts- burgh publications. • One is the Jev/ish Criterion and the other the Mucical Forecast. Another former Pil.sburgh theatre crick, Harvey Gaul, is also a regular contributor to the Forecast. Since he left the Sun-Tele, Seibel has been concentrating on free-lance •wrliing, having already disposed of a romantic novel to a .newspaper outfit for syndication. Stocking: Mag: Snlt Ultem Corp., publishers of the monthly mag, Silk Stocking Stories, has filed suit ,in the. N. Y. supreme court against Arrow Publishers, Inc^. and Harry'Donnenfeld, its president, t.o stop, theni from using the word, stocking, in the title of its publica- tion. The Stocking Parade. Plaintiff asks for permanent injunction and damages. - Ultem contends that it has used the trademark. Silk Stock., ing Stories, for over six years, "and thinks the money it has spent in ex- ploiting the mag entitles them to ex- clusive use of the head. .Arrow's ti- tle, Ultem avers, misleads the read- ers. Motion for a temporary injunction pending trial of the- case will be heard this week. Movie-Goer's Debts < . Movie Publications, Inc.,- publish- ers of the monthly, Movie-Goer, dis- tributed in the Loew houses, last week filed a schedule in bankruptcy in the N. Y. federal court, through its vice-president, Clifford Rellings, showing liabilities of $73,487 and as- sets amounting to $32,358. In July creditors filed an involuntary peti- tion in bankruptcy against the corp. The outfit is now in" the hands of a receiver. Chief among the creditors are printing and engraving firms. Phil- lips & Van Brunt claims $55,838, part of which is contin.gent as en- dorser of notes. Others filing claims and the amounts are the Supremo Advertising Service, $36; Ronald Paper Co., $1,874; Repro Arts, $611, and Criterion Linotype, $5,057. Boston .Book Fair Plans for a book fair in Boston are under way, with the opening set for Nov. 8 in the Herald-Traveller building. Fair is being sponsored by the Retail Bdard of Trade, Boston book merchants, and the Boston Herald. Exhibits include, ih addi-. tion to books, displays illustrating manufacturing and production proc- esses. Fair will differ from the New York exhibit last year in that books will be classified by type and pub- lishers will not have their own booths. Groups include travel books, children's" books, sporting books, etc. , Committee handling the fair in- cludes Russell Gerould, Richard Ful- ler, Margaret Ford,- Mrs. Mary Jack- son, . James Braime, Christopher Ronne, Charles E. -Lauriat, A. C. Ofden, Robert M. Linscott, Laetitia Bolton, Elise Lillie and Ralph Adams Cram. ? Plans for the second N. Y. Times National Book Fair to .be held in N. Y.- from Nov* 5-21 are well under way. The second fair, which -will again be jointly sponsored by the publishers and the N. Y. Times, will be more elaborate than the first and will.occupy two floors of the Inter national Building in Radio City in stead of one as heretofore. Ray Bond, of Dodd, Mead, is in charge of publicity. Look Staff Shifts Look has made sev.eral personnel shifts recently, in addition to taking on Gideon D. Seymour from the As- sociated Press of Great Britain, Ltd. J. C. Herrick, formerly in Now York, goes to Hollywood, with Wil- liam Nelson, formerly with Mid^ Week Pictorial, going to Washington. Vernon Pope, managing editor, has the final say on pix in Des Moines, with Gardner Cowles, Jr., president, also taking an active part. Pope's principal assistants are Dan Mich. Tom Mahoney and Charles Burns. Associate editors include Carl Gart- ner, Esther Janss, Noble Robinson, Betty Welt and Virlea Wood. Val Peter Adds Another D'e Volkszeitung, published in St. Paul since 1877, and one of the out standing German language dailies in the country, has been purchased by Val J. Peter of Omaha, publisher of a string of German ra^s throu-^hout the country. Vblksze'tung will ra tain its handle and W'll continue at its present location pending estab- lishment of a new plant. Name of the ownership has been changed from Daily Volkszeitung, Inc., to Rotary Press, Inc. Harry B. Schunecht, associated with Peter publications since 1916, transfers from the Buffalo (N. Y.) Volksfreund to St. Paul as resident pu'olisher of the 'Volkszeitung. Cor nclius Sittard, erstwhile editor on the St. Paul sheet, stays on as editor in-chief. Sprigle No Plx Fan . Ray Sprigle, the Post-Gazette re porter who scored the biggest news beat of the year with his, expose of Justice Hugo Black's membership in the Ku Klux Klan, has never seen a talker and swore he never would see one. However, he relented just a bit last week when Pathe news reel, made a shot of him narrating the details of his scoop. Sprigle couldn't resist the tempta tion of seeing himself on the screen but timed his visit to coincidie with the showing of the newsreel and re- fused to remain for the feature picture, thus keeping his record par- tially clean at any rate. Tully's Mike Bids Jim Tully returned to the Coast last week after visiting New York during which time he was on the air three times. Several commercial accounts were offered Tully and are being consid- ered for him by the Wilson, Powell & Hay ward agency. Phllly Newshawks' Vice Probe Philly sheets, called to task by court for active work thejir . reporters were doing on the witnesses in grand jury probe of vice here,, swiped an 80-20 compromise, all in their favor, at meeting with Judge Curtis Bok Friday. Probe, which is Indirect out- growth of expose of courts run. by Philly Record last January, has every gambling and horse-race spot in town shut down.' Plenty sensa- tional exposures exfJected-and news- hawks "were giving little peace to anyone called before jury in its. star-chamber proceedings. Judge i36k summoned city editors to his chambers Friday after one witness was reputed to have become hysterical from relentless chase and questioning by reporters. As result of confab, compromise was drawn up. Eds agreed their men would stop putting bee on witnesses in City Hall corridors before they efitered jury room. In return. Bole said he would furnish press with names of wit- nesses before they entered.'. Papers won an agreement they could ques- tion witnesses at will after their testimony had been given. Bok also promised daily press donference to reveal info given by each of those called, except in cases where secrecy was imperative. Papers won another point herCj however, for Judge agreed tliat. if he didn't give out a witness's testimony, it would be every man for himself. On matter of photogs, Court said it would try to influence D.A.'s of- fice to have witnesses pqse before entering room if lensers would agree to.take no.other pix. Pub's $16,843 DebtA Among creditors of the Fifth Ave. Pub. Co;,* against which,an involvm- tary petition in bankruptcy was filed in the N; Y. federal court last; July, are' Mary Thayer and Dr. Fulton Grant, who wrote editorials for one of the outfit's mags, .'Trips.' The schedule, of debts filed Mon- day (27) by William P. Downey, the company's president, fixes its liabili-<, ties at $16,843. Its assets of $6 in- cliide 'misc. manuscripts, value $1.' Jack Gould to Times Jack Gould, Broadway reporter for the N. Y. Herald Tribune for the last several years, leaves that paper next week to cover the same beat for the N. Y. Times. Besides handling theatrical trade and union assignments, Gould has also worked on features. LITERATI OBITS Henry H. Stansbury, 63, leading Washington, D. C., journalist a dec- ade ago, died at a sanatorium in Catonsville, Md. He had never fully recovered from a stroke suffered in Paris nine years ago. He started his career oh The Rome (Ga.) Herald- TribUne 40 years ago and was that paper's war correspondent during Spanish-American War. In 1900 he joined staff of San Francisco Exam- iner, was transferred to the N. Y. American and went to Washington as correspondent for the Hearst papers in 1917. He was made man- ager of the Washington Universal Service Bureau in 1921 and became chief of the Hearst foreign service in 1927. He retired to his estate in Herald Harbor, Md., in 1932, after his health broke. Eilffar A. Custer, 76, newspaper- man and author of 'No Royal Road,' his autobiography, which was pub- lished just a month ago, died in Philadelphia, Sept. 25. Was stricken With cerebral thrombosis several weeks before his book was due to be published. Doctors said only his will to see . the biography come out kept him from dying then. Reviews, most of them favorable, were read to him before he died. Edward J. Herman, 52, died Sept 22, in St.. Vincent's Hospital, Indian- apolis, after a brief illness. He was the author ol a book called, 'Health is Wealth,' and was in Washingtort, D. C, trying to syndicate a iseries of health articles when he was attacked by the malady which brought about his death. CHATTER Leisure League to publish Dorothy Sara's 'Reading Character from Handwriting.' John R. Tunis recuping from an operation and out of the hospital yesterday (27). Karl Kamb of Hollywood has ped- dled a fiction story, 'Midsummer Morning,' to Esquire. Lee Puhrnian, Atlanta Constitution rewrite man, back in Philly recup- ing from an attack of arthritis, Harry Hamilton, Metro writer, back from three months in Samoa where he scripted, a novel, 'Watch Us Grow.' Frank G. Stein has been appointed .westeirn advertising manager of Fawcett publications,..and will join up Oct. 1. . • First novel by John Wexley, Warner staff scripter, has been ac- cepted by Random House for winter publication. Next issue of Cinema. Arts, fancy picture mag publiished by A. Griffith Grey, will be delayed, but will ap- pear, it is claimed; Si Shaltz, ace Philly, Record scrib- bler, now writing a daily radio shot for the sheet's promotion depart- ment. • Aired from WFIL.. Julia Shawell's novel, 'When Autumn's Here,' . is due off the Arcadia House presses Oct. 11. Al- ready has two film bids for the rights. Barrett C. Kiesling's' tome, 'Talk- ing Pictures, How They Are Made, How to Appreciate Them,' has hit the stalls. Book has a foreword by Will Hays. New editor of Fawcett's Screen Book is Tom DeVane, forrrierly on publicity staff of RKO. studio in Hollywood. He'll be stationed in New York. Victor Knox, theatrical columnist of the Buffalo Evening News, has left for his annual four-week Holly- wood stint, including interviews and special studio stories. Hugh Wagnon succeeds Paul Sim- mons as chief of bureau in Baltimore in charge of the A.P.'s Maryland service Oct. 1. Simmons moves to Atlanta as feature editor. Kennett L. RaWsdn, former asst. editor at Putnam's, has been made editor, succeeding Diarmuid Rus- sell. Latter is the son of 'A-E.,' late Irish poet; and has no plans as yet. Don Blanding, Hctnolulu poet and novelist, voyaged to "Hollywood to be technical adviser on the filming of his stqfy,- 'Stowaway in- Paradise,' starring Bobby Breen for Sol Lesser. Lester Biedermah, "of the Pitts- burgh Press sports staff, has an ar- ticle on Art Rooney, season's big* gest and luckiest racetrack plunger, in the current issue of Turf and Sport Digest. "dharles W. CDinty') Moore, fea- ture writer for St. Paul Dispatch- Pioneer Press since 1928, left that rag to join the staff of William P. Kenney, president of the Great Northern railroad. Aniia Jane Phillips, reporter on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, has sold an article" to Town and Coun- try. It's about an- Indiah servant she had while touring Asia last year with Margaret Sanger. Aleen Wetstein, who writes a daily column for the Pittsburgh Press, has gone to Hollywood for an extended stay and is doing her. stint from there. It's the second, time for her on the Coast this year. M. C. Mill, Inc., New York, will publish 'Murder at the Manor,' mur- der mystery novel authored by Mrs. Clifford Sturgeon, Newark, O. She's former Molly Come, one-time re- porter on the Ohio State Journal. John W. Harden, with the Char- lotte. (N.C.) News for the past 10 years as general staff man, and for the past three years doing a daily column, 'Snapshots,' has gone to the Salisbury "' (N.C.) Post for similar duties. 'Time Out,' sports cartoon which Chester Smith, sports editor, and Jack Berger, cartoonist of the Pitts- burgh Press; started in their own paper little more than a year ago, is now being syndicated in more than 150 sheets. 'Death by Proxy,' novel by Sam Fuller, Republic studio scribe, has been accepted for publication by Hillman-Curl of New York and is expected on the stands in the fall. Elmer Peterson, former editor of Better Homes and Gardens, who re- tired recently to locate in Southern Califdrnia, has picked up the quill again as western editor for the mag. He is headquartering in Hollywood and will pen articles on gardens of the stars. Benn Hall, asst. radio- editor of Billboard, and Helen Mdrgan. free lance writer, were married at N. Y. City Hall,.,on Sept. 25. Hall was formerly on the Sunday and radio staffs of the N. Y. Times. Bride has been a reporter and feature writer on several N. Y. dailies.