Variety (Apr 1939)

52 VARIETY UTERATI Wednesdaj, April 5, 1939 Stnssbnrscr'a Ambitions Attempt by Ralpb Beaver Strass- bureer, wealthy . Norrlstown, Pa., publisher, to grab the New York Post aod Philadelphia Record Irom J. David Stem was temporarily blocked In Common Pleas court, Phllly, last week. Minutes of a board ol directors meeting read at the court hearing revealed that Strassburger strongly disapproves the anti-Nazi policy ol the Post Hearing was on an application by Strassburger for an Injunction to re- strain Record stockholders from holding their annual meeting last wesk. Judge James Gay Gordon, Jr.. refused the injunction, where- upon the meeting was held and Strassburger was not re-elected to the board of directors. He subr sequenUy appealed to the State Su- preme Court Argument wiU be heard In May. Judge Gordon's decision followed reading of the minutes of a board meeting on Feb. 10 by David Stem Loeb, assistant secretary of the Rec- ord. It was as an outgrowth of this meeUng that Strassburger filed a pre- vious suit in New York to have his own accountant go over the books of the Post of which he is also a stockholder. It was also revealed In these minutes that Strassburger was ambitious to become president and editor of the Record. Albert M. Greenfield, another big Record atockholder, told Strass- burger that <he only way he .could gain control ol the Record would be by buying a majority of Uie common stock. Strassburger de dared that he would gam control by other means and suggMted that Stern could be left out of the pic- ture lor a year with his salary taken care ol whUe other interests op- erated the paper. however, that a code ol ethics or any other regulatory measures valueless without means ol enlorce- ment, and subsequent inlormal el- forts made to woo co-operation of Authors' Guild as possible enforce- ment agency. Although the literary agents nave not gone officially on record as de- sirous of Guild co-operating in for- mation of their regulatory organiza- tion,' they've expressed so privately. In view of the Pinker thing, they would welcome Guild's participation at once.' Ironical note Is that Pinker has been present at most of the meetings held by the agents in attempts ,to organize.' In fact presence of Pinker, one of the leading agents in N. Y.. was a cpnyincer for many that organization was important Press Society's. Position Attacks on the fairly new Ameri- can Press Society as ahti-imion, an- swered in a general denial by the board of governors. Society, which calls itself a professional organiza- tion of newspaper editorial work- ers, went on record as not opposed to ' unionism in news rooms, but against closed shop. Although assertedly sympathizing with all editorial workers, union or hoh-tmion, in efforts to improve their professional and economic status. Society will not participate in collective bargaining or seek con- tracts for members. In explaining opposition to closed shop in the news room. Society char- acterizes' closed shop as a 'menace to the freedom ol the press and the independence and integrity ol the press.' 15«G Photo Salt A $750,000 damage suit filed against King Features and the N. Y, Evening Journal by Ina C. Banlcs charges unlawful printing of her picture. Plaintiff claims that she was operated on in November, 1936, in Tulsa, Okla., and that the pictures of the operation were printed on Jan. 2, 1937. She tlaims that they were Im- modest, unrefined and vulgar. Asks Public to Aid News Rochestef Evening . Niv/a carried' front page editorial all last week asking public to subscribe lor stock to keep the paper running. George W. Hinman, Jr., trustee In reorgani- zation proceedings, stated $50,000 had been promised 'if paper could raise additional $150,000. Employes, who have been working virtually with- out, salaries for six weeks, put the bee on affiliated unions for funds to carry the paper over the hump. " Hinman announced that the News, started in August had been launched with insufficient capital. Paper claimed 25.000 circulation, but from the first got little advertising. Miss Sllleoz Unloads Luise Slllcox has resigned as treasurer of the Authors' League of America because ol the press ol In- creased duties. Successor is expected to "be Gertrude Prlester, the organi- zation's accountant Change is con- ■idered largely a tedhnical one, with Miss Slllcox likely to remain in ac- tive charge ol the league olflMs In New York. In addition to her duties •s treasurer she was also formerly iecretary, but declined to fun lor re-elecUon last year. She will now have the duUes ol executive-secre- tary, but without lormal title. She retains her olfice treasurer ol the Authors' League F^md. WUkes-Barre Peace Looms Three Wllkes-Barre, Pa., papers, ■which lalled to resume publication upon settlement ol an American Newspaper Guild strike because ol failure to get together with printers on a new contract are set to resume. Evening News and Times-Leader were ready to reappear yesterday (Tuesday) altemoon, and Record this morning (Wednesday), Understood that Inability ot pub- Ushers to sign a new agreement wit', the typographical union re- sulted Irom reports ol Impending consolidation ol the three dailies during the Guild strike. Printers ■aid to have insisted on Job assur- ance in the event a merger was effected, and new contract reported to include such n clause. Guild strike halted publication of the three papers on. Oct 3. News- n.->n's strike endel around two weeks ago. Satevepost So-'Wluts Germany Curtis Publishing Co. has hal{,ed a9le of its mags in Germany. . Action taken after a number of recent Is- sues ol the Sntevepost had been confiscated by the censors because of articles on European affairs. Fig- uring that stop and go !>lgnaLon fu- ture issues would be too much bother, publishing company decided to forego future sales M.lts periodi- cr's in the Reich. . ■• ■ Sntevepost the only one of the Curtis publications to have been In- terfered with. No Inttrference with the Ladles Home Journal, but Curtis has withdrawn that one from Ger- many, too. New Yorkers Wonid Be Amazed With opening of N. Y; World's Fair imminent surfeit of printed guides to the metropolis threatens. Directories tumbling from the presses in ever increasing numbers, and' there may .be as many printed guides to the big town as will be visitors to the Fair. Directories of •every shape, form and manner, Irom almost literal Baedakers to a folder. Some ol the more pretentious guide books sell lor as much as $3 each, and are lancy volumes. 'Majority are pocket- size affairs costing 25c, and many are given away Iree with the com- pliments ol someone or another. Data dug up for the printed guides so varied as to leave not a stone of the metropolis unturned. Some of the dope wIU amaze even the natives; Guides give so thorough and glowing- the lowdown on N. Y., they're likely to make any visitors reading them forget about, the Fair. Post-Gazette Statna Contract negotiations between Newspaper Guild and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette were . called off last week by both parties when no agree- ment could be reached after week's ol wrangling and next move is still up in air. Present agreement ran out April 1 and management has agreed to make any deal settled upon in luture retroactive. Believed that Guild membership will vote to empower negotiating committee to. take over completely and report back on any concessions management is willing to inake. One point P-G has definitely stated it will not concede is closed Guild shop and that's understood to be the chiel stumblin,? block at present Pay raises publisher Is ready to meet in' elude lew in bushiess department but no more. Guild had been seek' ing general increase in minimums, with five percent raise for all those getting above that Here's New Engbnd •Here's New England' and "The Berkshires' are two volumes slated for publication by Federal Writers' Project in April. Houghton Mifflin will publish the former and Hastings House the latter. •New England,' with 100 pa.?es, will be sold at the New York World's Fair at 50c per copy (it's sponsored by the New En^and Council), and Berkshires' will retaU lor $2.50. Ken Banned in'Canad* As Ksult ol second 'offense' Ken has permanently been banned in Canada. Ban order loUowed publi' cation ol a cartoon ol King George VI, which revenue department olfl- lals regarded 'undignified' Single issue' of the mag was banned a few months ago because of an article which officials didn't like. Pinker Episode Aftermath Attempts by the N. Y. literary agents at- self-regulation, begun last summer, spurred by the Eric S. Pinker affair. But, although craft Is de- termined on formation ol an organi- za tion as guard agains t evi ls, feeI-_ "Tng is thalThe AufBbrs' 'uuuo, m?m - bership ol which is vitally inter- ested in such an undertaking, would help considerably to make the projected organization a reality 11 actively aiding in Its lormatton. Code ol ethics spoken of at. initial organization meeting of the literary agents last June, presided over by Wiliia Klngsley Wing. Realized, Bad Libel Conviction A jury In the court of Superior Judge James of Redwood City, Cal, found John L. LeBerthon, publisher of the News Letter and Wasp, Sah Francisco, guilty of three counts of criminal libel. Maximum penalty for the conviction is $5,000 fine and one year on each count The suit grew out of a series.of articles LeBerthon published con cerning Dr. John C. McGovem, San Frpncisco dentist Dr. McGovera has a S350.000 civil suit depending against LeBerthon in San Francisco courts. Claire Brig^s Carries on Claire Briggs, 20-ye ir-old daughter of the late cartoonist, Clare Briggs, has joined the Esquire Feature Syn^ TOale"ana" wni 'revive "the former Briggs cartoon captions and charac' ters. Will do daily panels ol the old titles, including 'When a Feller Needs a Friend,' 'Ain't It a Grand and Glorious Feeling,' and a Sunday (iolor pane of 'Days of Real Snort,' AlthouQii former titles will - be used, all material will be strictly new. Federated Officers. Be-elected Three Michigan publishers, re- cently ordered by the U. S. circuit court of appeals to return 33,572 shares of stock to the company's treasury, last week were re-elected oUicers ol the Federated Publica' tions. Inc., which owns the Iianslng State Journal, Battle Creek En- quirer-News and Grand Rapids Her- ald, all in Michigan. Albert Miller, publisher ql the En- qulrer-News, was. renamed president Loiiis A. Weil, publisher ol the Port Huron (Mich.) Times-Herald, was re-elected vice-president and Paul A. Martin, ol Lansing, renamed sec-^ retary-treasurer. S. W. McFarland, ol Port Huron, and H. C. Hawk, Jr. Battle Creek, were chosen directors. Miller; Well and McFarland were those. affected by court ruling, the outgrowth of a suit by Lewis Ash' man,' a' stockholder, who charged de- fendants with using 'goodwill and credit* ol company in acquiring for their own account shares valued at $670,00a WoHe's Terrlflo Oatput Illustrative ol the prodigious out put ol the late Thomas Wolfe, the hall ot the manuscript lelt by him Upon his death, which Harper's sent to the printers last weelc, contains aroimd 315,000 words. Second half, to be published next year, will be about tiie same length. Two fall Into distinct halves, mak- ing each a novel complete in itself, First part, skedded lor publication In June, to bear the title ol The Web and the Rock,' with the second to be called "You Can't Go Hoine Again.' NEW PERIODICALS Man About Town is new inag to t>e brought out by Dell this month, Sort ol companion pub to the same firm's Mr., except that Mart About Town will go irt lor more humor, Norman Anthony, who edits Mr. will additionally edit the newcomer. Who's News In Who's Who, new mag to be issued by publishers ol Who's Who. As title indicates, will treat ol those personalities in Who' Who of more than ordinary current interest Mag to be edited by the regular Who's Who editorial staff. Fanna, new mag of wild animal life. Issued quarterly, with publish' ing offices in Philadelphia. Editor is Roger Conant 60, LITESATI OBITS Constance Lindsay Skinner, Ttovelist, hl'slcTrian, essayist and poet and. previously newspaper music and drama critic, died last week in her home In N. Y. of complications fol lowing an attack ot grippe. Early ■newspaper career included service wi th th e San Francisco. Examiner ancTEos Angeles Times. Maarlce L Block, 42, Goldsboro, N. C newspaperman, died in bis sleep at his home March 18. He had suffered with heart trouble lor two or three years, but had been actively at work until the day before bis death. Wlliiam P. TIebont, 53, assistant news editor ol the Cleveland News, died Thursday alter a short Illness. Served the paper since 1921, previ- ously having been with the Erie (Pa.) Dispatch-Herald, Chattenooga Times and Albany Knickerbocker Press. Wile and three daughters survive. Edwin J..Farber, 82,.publisher,of the Catonsville (Md.)- Argus, died April 30 in his home In Baltimore. Had been ptubUsher ot the old Balti- more Daily Record and ol the Mary- land Medical Journal. Survived by his wile and son. . John B. Fltzpairlck, 47, city editor ol Columbus, Ga.^ Ledger for past eight years and one ol best known newspapermen in Georgia, died last week in U. S. Veterans' Hospital in Atlanta. Native ol Mumlordville, Ky., he began his newspaper career in Charleston, W. Va; later working on papers in Richmond, Petersburg and Newport News, Va. He went to Columbus alter war and was con- nected with 'Enquirer there before joining Ledger. A past Georgia De- partment Conimander of -American Legion, he was buried in Columbus with military honors. W. W. Cheely, publisher ol Great H^ls, Mont, died March 31 In Holly- wood. Samuel Pan! Booth, 73, head ol the Interborough News Co., newspaper, book and mag distributor in the N. Y. area, died April 2. Beginning his career as a circulation department exec with' the Detroit Free Press, Booth was with a number of other papers throu^out the country be- fore coming to N. Y., where be served the old Evening Journal and Commercial Advertiser. Forined the Interborough News Co. about 20 years ago. Wile and two nephews survive. EmU Vadnay. 47, N. Y. Times cor- respondent in Central end South eastern Europe, died Saturday (1) in Prague. Native, ol Hungary, served as correspondent lor several London papers belore joining the N. Y. Times staiff. He also represented Vabiett. Zador Scabados, 61, associate ed- itor ol Magyar Jovo, Hungarian-lan- guage dally published in N. Y., died Thursday (30) after a short Illness. Was editor ol Uj Elore, another Hun- garian-language paper published In N. Y„ until paper's luspension last year. Widow and ■ daughter lur' vive. CHATTER Phyllis Bentley to London. Eleanor Early to Santa Domingo. Melvin Rile shopping lor a boat Bruce Lockhardt back to England. Bernard Smitb, ol Knopf; doing a book. T. ^cent Clarkson back from the Bahamas. The Albert Payson Teiliunes off on a cruise. Hope Cooke^ of King Features, to wed in June. Gramercy Park Press formed by Paul Kanter. Louis Adamle In from his Penn' sylvania retreat Madeleine Boyd feted by the Con temporary Arts group. James Joyce's 'Finhegan's Wake,' set lor May publication. . Frances Hughes has joined the Photoplay editorial staff. The Geoffrey Castles (Margery Sharp) quit N. Y. lor home. . Philip E. Mosely a newlywed, Bride is the lonner Ruth Bissell. X<ook claiming circulation gain ol 200,000 In first quarter ol the year. Steve Fisher's novel, *Bugle in the Night' opens as a serial in July Cos' mopolitan. Charles Lee, book editor ol the Boston Herald, guesting Thornton W. Burgess. Pietro di Donato, the new scrib bling sensation, was a bricklayer hot so long ago, Ben Lucian Burman has changed publishers, going to John Day lor long period, Autobiog of Ida M. Tarbell due AprU 18, under the tiUe ol 'All in the Day's Worlt.' Matty Mario publishing his own novel, 'Bad Boy,' with editorial help by Garry T, McHugh. . Donald Jansen to Norway, on the chance there might be some fiction material in the old lolks. Francis 'Gerard carrying on the 'Sanders ot the Riv er' character created "Fy Edgar Wallace. . Louise Redfield Peattie and Don' aid Culross Peattie partied jointly by their respective publishers, Dodd, Mead and Doubleday Doran. -Hat-Foster to resign as Phllly-rep for Fortune on May 1 and' resume his former job as head "ol* the Paul Block papers ollice In that city. The Satevepost piece^ 'Cats and Clinkers,' story ol the. RlngUng show, was authored by Joe Bryan III,, associate ed. It appeared sans byline.' Maxwell Anderson has gathered miscallany ol matter, to be pub- llshed soon as The Essence ol Trag- edy, and Footnotes and Other Papers.' Allen Raymond, ol the N, Y. Her- ald Tribune, and Craig Thompson, ot the N. Y. Times, have sold Dial Press a book on N. Y. gangsters and politicians, Peter B. Kyne, recovered alter, a long;' period ol tU-health," Is" back'" writing; a new novel, his first in six years; hearing completion. .Wil- liam C. Lengel's handling him. Clyde Blackwell, reporter on th* Rochester Times-Union, 'was married March 11 to Ruth Atwood, a lellow- reporter and daughter ol M. V. At- wood, editorial director ol the Gan- nett Newspapers. Hickman Powell, who was on tha old N. Y. World, and more recently on the Herald Tribune, has written an account , ol N. "Y.'s vice racket, Ninety Times Guilty,' which Har- court Brace putlishes soon. James Keeney» columnist (under the name bl Cecil Pennyfeather) ol the Philadelphia Record, has been elected president ol'the Pen and Pencil Club, social organization bl' Philadelphia newspaper men. Collyer's News Bureau and Coll-, yer's Publishing Co. celebrated their silver anniversary last week. The sports syndicate and publications ot that name were founded in 1914 In Chicago by the late Bert E. CoUyer. Pickets at Fair (ConUnued from page 49) certain matters pertaining to th* Ringling, Bamum & Bailey circus. Dissatisfied With Arbltntlon Union has been dissatisfied with arbitrations so lar, one now pending with the Theatre GuUd. "While It was understood that the differences were settled when a double box ol- fice crew ol six treasturers and as- sistants were installed at the Shu- bert lor the Guild's "The Philadel- phia Story' last week, the wrangling with the Guild did not end The arbitration 'was reopened be- lore an a'ward was made and twa more sessions were held, final hear- ing being Friday (31), with attor- neys for both sides then slated t» tender briefs. Guild contended that it has an agreement with TMAT to the effect that It has t he privileg a ol switching Its own box onice crew into a theatre to handle subscrip- tions, so long as the regular ticket staff is paid. TMAT doesn't like that Idea, In- sisting that the regular staff-be re- tained and denying the necessify lor special ticket sellers being used for subscriptions. In other words, th« union takes the position of not want^ ing members to get wages without working. It's further claimed tliat special box office staffs are not used out ol town to handle Guild sub- scription tickets. Both sides inti- mate "irregularities In handUng tickets regardless ol which crew is used. Several groups within the' union held meistings lor various reasons. One was called by the New York press agents with the idea ol com- bining with the road agents, which are a separate group. It Is said that the Broadway bunch, which Insisted on a certain amount ol autonomy when joining TMAT In a body, haa changed Its attitude ol aloolness. A meeting to nominate officers !• carded lor April 13. Present officers and staff were named'lor . short terms because ol the delay In adopting the new constitutIonj_^ , „_ ., McClintic (Continued Irom page 49) stroyed the film sale value ol tha play. Verdict against'Metro is rated as luU payment lor the alleged in- fringement so McClintic and Miller would have no claim against the stu- .^j* Besi des, they did n ot hold copy- rTgKt on the play,"" but merely were guaranteed a split ol the screen rights' purchase price. Theory is that the production ol the play en- hanced its value as a film possibility. How McClintic and Miller would split any coin they would reeieive "would presumably depend on the sharing terms under which ^they pro- duced the play.