Variety (Oct 1928)

10 VARIETY L I T E R AT I Wednesday, October 10, 1928 Why and How Jack Conway Wrote Slang (As written by Jdck himself as a special article in' Variety's Anni- 4 versary Number of December 29, 1926. It was headed: "Why I Write Slang," and carried his signature as generally used in Variety, in this •tyle; "By JACK CONWAY (Con):') In answer to the a])bvo quory I can truthfully siiy I write slang be* cau'se at an early age I picked up a three-a-day habit against food, Although I have tried all. the known cui-efi, including a prejudice against work, I'rn still an addict. No craving for expression'moti- vated me when I hung up the An- ger glove and sliding pads in favor qf socking a typewriter. A crossed ligament in the right soup bone had more to do with the assault than all the Inhibitions outside of the obser- vation ward at Bellevue, As one apt critic put it, "Without slang he would be dumb," and he might have' added, hungry. Slang, in addition to providing mo with seven flops weekly and three scoffs daily, has saved me from night school and made it possible for me. to get.the pennies without making .weight for the erudite w-ord slingers who are big leaguers in t)ic three-syllable- racket. Slang Slingers ' r had sense enough to know that with my 50-word vocabulary I'd be a busher in that company, haying had no minor league experience. I Was hep that the slang slingers were not crowding each other and were. very much in demand, after the success of the tabs and the ermy intelligence tests. Without slang I knew of a lot of other guys who would be doing pan- tomime—fellows who Were too busy chasing calories all their lives to pick up more than enough words to get around the night clubs with. It enabled them to be. as chatty as a board of directors; and It gave me a ready-riiade audience. On Broadway It .was the pay-off, for we all speak and think it. But I never knew it could be peddled until I fell into a job on Variety and found a home. On this sheet, where they use the dictionary for a door check, I could rip and teJir— and I have. And I like it. I think "guts" has It all over "courage;" "clicked" can outpoint "satisfactory" any time, iand "brodied" can give "failed' seven In the rack and bank the last ball. Just Natural In addition, it's my natural medl um. When I do a Sherwood Ander son with a hang-over hitting on all six and turn the mental .spotlight Inward, It isn't Introspection; it's the low-down. And when I've conned myself back to normal and the dauber Itsri't down, it's not In tellect triumphant over complex or ego again in the ascendant—In my lingo It's beating the horrors, which probably means the same thing, al- though you can't prove It by me. Yes, r am proud to be labeled a Blangster; to be articulate and un derstandable to my mob. Slang has its complexities, just as well as pure English. The average reader doesn't differ entiate between the dese, dose and dem type of slang and the wise cracking variety, which has its In ceptlon jn a desire for colorful phraseology. It disdains the usual 5.n^d ordinary _speech, dictated by precedent and g;c)oa"f5fmT ' To. this school belong the para phrasers and the simile makers They are inventors In a measure, . and instead of writing that "Joe Gllch has attempted an Impossible • task," they prefer to say "JOe Gilch ■ Is trying to -stop Niagara with tennis racket." The Purist in Slang Most slangstors use the exagger- ated simile when breaking Into , print. Its use hais ci'cpt more and more Into our general language. It's an everyday occurrence to hear one ffail say to another: "Powder your nose, kid; you look like a seal." But there is the purist In slang as well as In belles lettres. The guy who knows ell the gun talk and will make no concessions to anyone out side of the mob. ' By the mob I re fer to. those fortunate Individuals who can tune in on the conversation a "fio'ck "clfnri'6ns"and"fOl^ without the aid of a central office dick or an interpreter. This bird will necessarily go up against a select clientele, for no one but the etymologists will take the trouble to have hla rave analyzed. Hbwever's he's a hundred to one to got a rise dut of the tall forehead.s, for they are nuts about bizarre T^ecf-s that are away from the regulation diet.. Broadway Slang . Broadway slang differs from giin talk as much as Bostonesc from hog latin. Broadway chatter Is full of theatrical cracks such as "flopped," clicked," "wowed," "kayoed . 'em," 'knocked 'em bowlcgged," "four frolics daily," "ten per center," all of which would be mashed potatoes to the wi r e wh o b u 2;zes gl i b 1 y a bp li t mouthpieces," "big house," "head screw." "gettin" a tail," "right britch," "Insider," "fish hooks," "Hop worker,'! "jug touch,'"•"sheet scratch man,", etc. The Broadway wisccracker has probably never heard that a "bas.s drummer" in certain circles is a gentleman who socks lonely way- farers on the^conk with a .sap In preference to sticking him up with a rod and saving the sock for emer- gencies. And the cleverest wire who ever eefed an insider w'ould be aston- ished to hear that a "milk man" was a hambo, who stole more bows than the applause warranted at the finish, of his act. By the same token the knight, of the grease paint wouldn't be hop to that a "sheet a;nd scratch man" ^yas cannonesque for a high-class forger, and the pipcher would never tumble that "nice people" meant an act that kicked in more than the u.^ual vaudeville agent's legitimate com- mission- National Slanguage Every, phase of our complex civ- ilization and every class have con- tributed something to what is. fast becoming a national slanguage. The bootleg&ers With their "hooch," "rid- ing," "drums," "tail," . "fronters," 'fixers"; the underworld with its jargrfn, almost unintelligible to iin outsider; the outdoor show game with its "rag front," "silver men,", 'pitch," "ballyhoo," "grift," "roll downs," "shills," and hundreds of other words; racing, with its "front runners," "morning glories," ".stoom- ers," "workouts," "wind suckers,": "pencil men," "chumps," "round books," "first past," et al.; the road, with- Its "blanket stiffs," "jungle," 'rods," "blind," "Mulligan," "main stem," and the thousand and one others; the dopes and hop hcad.s, with their "sterti." "yen hok," "hab- it," "sul paw," "layout," " "landlord special," "green pill," "yen shee," needle," "hypo"; the army and navy, with "flops," "dream bags," and the war slang bom during the recent quarrel, and so on ad in- finituni. Book of Slang It Is not beyond the range of pos- sibility that some day an entire now language will evolve and that some pioneer will write a book on it, with out recourse to what we now know as pure E.nglish. And why not? Some-'of the terms and words con- sidered vulgar 10 years ago have become harmless and innocuous through general use. Of such is "gold digger," not mentioned in po- lite society until a daring author Mrs. Ervine's Impressions Ivconra Mary Brvlne (Mrs, St.. .Tohn Ervine), wife of the New York "World" critic, writing in that pa- per, compares a London first night with a Broadway premiere and clearly and. dispassionately regrets the rowdyism' of her own people as compared to the composure of the American metropolis' . theatre- goes, but chides us for our blaise re- a-ctlon to the tinsel and gaudlness of the footlights which, In turn, are so inspirational to the Engiishman, be he. a gallery god or a soup^ahd-. fi.sh's stall occupant. Mrs, Ervine rings the bell with her opinion, of qontomporary sar- torial standards by chucking a bou- quet at the American worpen but deriding the carelessness and un- tidiness of the American man, even whexi he Is all dressed up? ' Louise Read Passes : The "Grand old woman of French letters," Louise Read,' who Inspired many an author of European repute and was herself a -writer of no mean ability, passed away at the age" of 83. Her last days were spent in seclusion in a tiny apartment hidden' away just . outside of the. Latin quarter. Pauline JacobsQn Pies. Pauline. Jacobson, pioneer San Ifrancisco newspaper and fiction writer, died Oct, 1 in Franklin hospital In the Golden Gate city, following a long illness. She was for many years a feature writeir on the S, F. Bulletin, retiring from active newspaper work several years ago. ■ Mary Host to Editors During their visit to Lbs Ange^les the group of 14 British newspaper publishers, from Oct. 31 to Nov. 9, will be .entertained Nov. at the. Pickford-Fairbanks home in Beverly Hills. appropriated it and used it as title for his play. There was noth ing comical about a loose lady to our-parents, but after a comedy was fa.s-hioned around her and she was marked.human, she was admitted to the national language. A "pushrftver/' which means fighter with round heels along caul- iflower alley, was, by the same tok en, a dame on. rockers in another circle. A fight manager could u.s'e the term in church without a blush, but in the enviromont wliere per fume and rosin don't mix, it would have been given the official knife. The spread of American^ slang Isn't confined to - Our own shores. According to recently returned trav- elers it Is sweeping England, fol- lowing in the w;vko of the jazz craze. Some students have attributed the phenomena to the succofis of recent American slang plays in England one of which, "Is Zat So?" inserted a glossary in the program, so the -limo^-juiccrs,.^wj3uld"- knoW-Wha t it was all about. They laughed in the wrong places and In the middle of the gags, but they loved the slang just the same, probably thinking it a survival of the tribal tongues of the Five Nations. Variety Is credited with a large circulation in England, but wti'vc never been able to figure out why Maybe that's the answer. They buy it and- then have It tran.ilated. George Kllpatrlok, publishor of the Lawrence-v'Illo Times-Gazette, in his office, Kilpatrick some time ago bought the weekly fi*om Beach. Bea«h •agreed not to start another paper Iri the Brunswick territory and It was further agreed that Beach was to be employed on the paper. Beach recently quit the sheet >ylth reports that he was going to launch an- other paper. Kilpatrick, says Lewis, made threats tb kill Beach If he did. The t-vvo men met on Thursday last. Without a -word Beach fired four .shots, killing Kilpatrick, then he fled to a deserted lot where he turned the gun on himaelf. Literary "Bibles" Bureau of Educati.on, of the De- partment of interior, ha^s picked four as the "Literary Bibles'* of the world with; none of those four by Arnerlcans, They are: the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, the Divine Com- edy of "Dante, the greater dramas Of Shakespeare, and Goethe's Faust. A. statement Irom the federal- educational controlling board In the United States has. placed these "Literary Bibles" in revised Read- ing Course No. 1 as sponsored i>y the bureau. .. New Ydrk Circulation Following are the last circulation figures covering average daily cir- culation for the six-month period, April 1 to Oct. .1 for the English language ne\yspapers published In New York, together with' the sahie figures coverincr the like period end- ing March 31, 1028: ''■ Oct. ' l' ■ 401,656 ..1,224,243 .. 13,127 .. S3.484 •292,392 -4,164 5,350 piate in formulating somie simple, workable, standard rules liU(?nded* to complete the work already vol- ur.tai'Ily and Independently begun by the publi.sliors to ielinilnate from this field" of publicity an advertisements of a false and inisleading nature. In other woi-ds, as experts In their line, men actively engaged In this field are a:sked to assist. In the forma- tion of rules designed to regulate ^ ■ this subject. Neither this Invitation nor at^i tendance or repres^'ntatlon at th« • conference should bo; taken to niean that those addressed or rep- resented have knowingly permit- ted the use of such advertising in their publications, or have aided or. abetted advertLsers In decep- tion ot the public or unfair meth- ods of competition. Quite th« contrary is generally true, as these conferences are usually urged and brought to a success- ful termination by those'in tht Industry who are obeying th» law and who -wish not only to protect the Industi'y. but al.so the ■ public, and the conference Is In aid. of the splendid Work In this connectibn which niahy. of th» periodicals have the.ih.'se.lves . started. Public Relations "Counsel" Columbia University. In Its exten- sion- depa,rtment is. now offering a course in publicity methods and public relations. George Hastings, public relations counsel of the Astpr Hotel, Is the class instructor. Saturday Evening Post for Hoover Sam Blythe's. story in the Satur- day Evening Post two' weeks ago comparing Smith and Hoover as candidates.was regarded by the Re- publican campaign managers as goo'd Hoover propaganda. Tliey are said to have ordered three million reprints for distribution throughout the country. The Post hesitated about printing a piece so strongly favoring a can- didate because the paper has al- ways been neutral In national poli- tics. ; When deciding to print the Blythe article they expected heavy squawks accompanied by cancella- tlo'n of subscriptions. The mails brought less than a score bf com- plaining letters and not one sub- scription was cancelled. Daily Mirror Daily News . News Record Racing Form Running. Horse., Eve, 'World ..... Exhib, Review ., Film Daily Jour, of Com. .,, Morn. Telegraph American ...... Eve. Graphic .. Eve. Journal. Eve. Post ...... Herald Tribune Telegram ...... Times ..; Sun , 285,464 Wall St. Journal. 39,381 Woman's Wear.. 30^244 Morn. World ..... 368,090 Lorimer's Birthday Party George Horace Lorimer, editor of the Saturday Evening Post, gave his first birthday party last week. It was the occasion. of reaching his 60th.birthday. . He never would have thought of celebrating had not George Bye suggested it. Event was staged In the private dining room in the Post's building, Philadelphia. Attending were a, number of writing fellows, hard and so'ft boiled. Included -wei'e Rube Goldberg, Franklin P, Adams, Arr thur Bugs Baer, Alexander Wo'oll- cott, William McGeehan, Eddie Cantor, Laurence Stallings and Dave Friedman. Stallings' Idea Laur(»nce Stallings has declared himself out of active writing for the stage and pictures. Not that he has entirely quit, but, hereafter, he will have no part in rehearsal.s and the detail annoyances of being on the spot. He' has purchased a 400-acre farm In Danville, Va., re tiring there to write. Stallings plans to have future plays first printed in book form with sta,ge prcsentaiUon possibly following. . O'Connor's Book "Broad-vvay Raciteteers," by Jcihn ny O'Connor, is shortly to he pub li.shed by Boni & Liveriglit. The title is most eloquent ancl. will Johnny's knowledge, be.s-idos stylo .w-hatcver=^the^pricfi.^Jbn y. Fatal Gun Play Commonwealth Attorney K. A Lewis of Brunswick County, A'a. has expressed the belief that J. B Beach, former newspaper publisher of Lawrencevillo, "Va., and a nephew of Rex Beach, the author, died last woMt as the result of .i duel. Beach died Oct, 4 from a self-inflicted pi.s-, tol shot "Which he fired after killing .23,920 42,851 341,658 295,645 635„401 89,2(55 323,913 235,578 459,800. April 1 432,440 1,226,561 13,219 19,336 18,336 302,521 3,413 5,320 25,496 • 37,094 337,741 297,084 680,115 77,049 316,061 209,388 . 447,651 262,152 . 35,364 . 30,212 368,629 Dempsey's Trio Weekly Jack Dempsey has a. new contract with King Features for three ar-. tides weekly. . One will deal witii celebrities the eX-heavy charrip has^ met.. Others will be concerned with* general sports news and physical exercises, Frank G, Menke,. sports, editor of International News Serv-' ice, is Dompsey's ghost writer. ♦Filing of statement delayed. A new novel of theatrical life Is "Angel Child," by Grace Perkins, published by Rae D. llenkle^of New York. Miss Perkins Is in pri-vate life Mrs. Fulton Oursler. In addi- tion, ,she has appeared on the stage. Mags Combine Maneuvering on the part of The Outlook and The Independent for one to purchase the other, was won by the former. It will combine the two and call it The Outlook and Independent, First joint issue, will be on Oct, 24, . Covering the same field, both weeklies had done rather so-and-so, and the only way out wa.s by an amalgamation. Francis R, Bellamy, editor of The Outlook, will be in charge of the combined publication.s. Poets on Reverse Alfred A. Knopf, the publisher, will have an Engll.sh branch of his concern, know-^n as Alfred A. Knopf, Ltd., with headquarters in London. The organization was effected by Mrs. Knopf; wife of the publisher, who is her husband's assistant In the business. Success of Knopf and his wife in their publishing enterprises disap proves the theory that poets don't make good business i>eople. Both were poets before .turning to. the business end of the publishing in dustry. The True Story Bunk . Literary aspirants wbo pour in their fiction for the True Stories page of the Dally News need a lot of endurance before they get through. Ninety per cent of this capsule fiction is. ground out by the boys, on the staff. Outside romanc ers u.sually Svait five to 10 w'ceks for a decision on their stuff—'gen erally takes the form of a fat en vclopc and thanks. The Mirror is acting rallier huffy, too, of late. Trade Conference A conference has been called by the Federal Trade Commission in New York Oct. 9 at the Waldorf- Astoria hotel, of publi.'ihoi-'S of perl odicals, with this objective rx pres.sed in Mie eoniniission'a notifl cation: The purpose is to .i^ivc all con- rorned an opportii'nily to parlici- John Held is Con-sta-bule John Held, Jr., was elected conr stable of. Weston, Conn. He beat his Republican opposition by A. single vbte for the board of relioft; of the town. Held goes after th^*, dern speeders. . .'; Barry Conners, Allan Dlnehart.' and Claiborne Foster, citizens ojf"" the village, were bri the ca.mpaigh'" cbmmlttee which swept Held . Into office. Merk's Idle Prize That $500 prize offered by the American Mercury to the journalist submitting the best a.rticle on journalism seems to have aroused little response to date. The editors are threatening to divide this prize between the .Amei;-; lean Civil Liberties Union and the Association Opposed to the Prohi- bition Amendment In case none of the articles submitted by Oct, 15, when the contest closes, are deemed worthy of printing. Famous Parody "The Ballad of Yukon Jake," a parody on the vei-ses of Robert W. Service, written by Edward E. Par-; amour, Jr., one of the authors, of "Ringside," Will be . publl.shed In book form by Coward & McCann, Rockwell Kent will illustrate. Publicity Travesty . "Babe Evanson" is the title of a, book burlesquing life In New York publicity departments which . Is go- ing to the Century pres-ses. It is the work of Cathferine Birody who contributes to the American Mercury and other such things. - Youngest Mag Editor Girls are commencing to tell their, age. . Like Natalie Messenger, who Is 21, and says ' she's younger than. Delight Evans, No dli'ty dig in that, just a matter of record as to the youngest magazine editor, "Variety; said It was Delight—Natalie says it's herself. She's on Secret.s, too, a Ramer Reviews periodical. Burns Mantle on Playwrights As soon as he has c6mi)leted his annual compilation, "Best Pla,ys of 1927-8," Burns Mantle, dramatic critic of the New York Daily News, is to start work on a volume of short biographies of American i)lay- Wrights. Ho may make that an an- nual, too, if it gets arroas, taking 'th7;-~^!^!?onal==TiT'\\'>^pl;i y\v-isffli l^=^as his .subjects. Chester Hope Rescued Cho.'^'tcr Hope, recently he;id of Universal Service anil until this week organizing editor of IIear.st'8 new B(>e-Xews in Omaha, has been rosfucd from oxUe to Ix'con-ie Jack Lait's a.ssist.'int on King Featvu-eS Syndicate magazine staff.