The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • Page 27

1 1 Born at Cairo, Reigned in Cairo, Strange As an Arabian Night's Tale Is the Story of Ola Humphrey; But She Found That Life in the Corn Land Hamlet Was Preferable r.i i. I 1 'S 1 to Favorite in an Egyptian Harem 9 5 Pearl Ola Humphrey at the ag of 12. This picture was made by II. S. and J.

W. Hoot of Waterloo, It 1 iTtk 2 tc Ola Humphrey as she looked when she first started on (he stage, not long after leaving Waterloo. for a divorce, the world was agog! In her trial, she would hare the mysteries, of the harem, which had always bean kept an Impenetrable secret from occidentals. Many a boulevardlor was dUappoiuted when he learned that, through the death of the prince, the details Would not be After she left the prince, Princess Hassan went into the movies, and it can be Imagined what a boon that was to Columbus City. Whenever one of her pictures was shown at the Junction, all Columbss City went over to see it.

Mr. Kolly admits that when one of her pictures was at Columbus Junction recently, he attended every night that It Bhowed. A Talking Doll What a Movie Wren Really Means When She Is Interviewed. An Intimate Chat Sent by Our Hollywood Correspondent. HY NEAL R.

O'HARA. Copyright. 1M2 (N Vork Kvnlng World) br ProM Publishing Co. The first real and unshackled Interview with a movie staress. We treld and gut It! What a screen flapper really means when she says something, with explanations, footuotes and diagrams.

on I'm sure poor little me has no interest the dear, delightful public, said Polly Pinhead, the lovable screen ingenue, when Intervelwed by the Movie Monthly's correspondent. "Oh, tell us the siory of your life," we said, as she remind In a dozen and a half silk sofa pillows. Whereupon Miss Pin-head reluctantly uncloaked the history of her radiant past. "To begin with," said she, "the Plnheads are one of the first families of Richmond, Va. (Miss Pinhead means they are of the first families as von enter Richmond on the Chesapeake Ohio main line.

Fiitlier pave all us a splendid education. I myself was educated privately (Miss Pinhead means she was so dumb she stayed after school to learn her lessons) and In 1919 my brother got out of Yale (Swedish for jail). Popper was one of the most prominent men In Richmond on account of being a director for several railroads. (He was train crier In the union depot.) "Now, here I am In Hollywood, doing picture, and I want to emphasise my simple To begin with, I love literature (Po- ft w1' "Auntie" Nancy Maude HaJl for, whom Ola Humphrey used to "speak pieces." BT SrXPAV RKG1STER 8T.4JT" RKPIIESKXTATI E. Columbus City, June 10.

Cairo, a hamlet Bet among the cornfields, and not even listed In the Iowa Official Register as baring postofflce. Cairo, Egypt, ancient, mysterious; city of fantastlo oriental lore; city of minarets and mosques, of veiled women and of harems. What, beyond the name, could these two Cairns have In common? And yet a little Iowa girl, born In a farmhouse near Cairo, became a mighty princess of Cairo, Egypt, and reigned over one of the most magnificent harems of thet Turkish city I It was a strange fate that led Ola Humphrey, that little Iowa girl, so far away to the gorgeous city fcr which her birthplace was so Inaptly named. The friends and relatives who till live In that neighborhood wonder If the same fate will ever lead ber back again to little Cairo, la. If It does, she will find that despite the changres she has undergone, worlds apart as ber life has been from that of the friends of her childhood, she will be welcomed eagerly.

She will learn that her beauty as a girl has become a tradition of the countryside. She will discover that loyal hearts are hers to command. Relatives in Columbus City Even more Interested, If possible. In tha Prlncees Ibrahim Hussan, formerly Pearl Ola Humphrey, Is Colt, 7a bug City, a short distance away, where she ipeiit her childhood. If you huppen to be motoring on the Oreat White Way with a Columbus Cltyan, he Is apt to point out to you the spot where onoe stood the home of Ola Humphrey.

The house has burned down, long since, but they still remember and speak of It. Plie has relatives, too, In Oolumbus City, among; them an aunt, Mrs. Julia Marsden, and a cousin, Mrs, Anwyl. Ttvey hare followed her eagerly every step of the way, both through the press and through dlreat word from Ola or from her mother. They are much better Informed than the news syndicate on the beautiful piinoess' latest difficulty, a suit agatntt her for $2,500,000.

The papers havw carried stories and plcturos about It galore. Hermann L. Rotb, who Is bringing the suit. Is the New Tork attorney Whom the prlnoess retained to gt a divorce for her after she discovered that barem Ufa was Impossible for an American woman. He wns to be paid half of whatever alimony he secured for her.

Before the divorce was obtained, howevor, Prince Hassan died, leaving $5,000,000 to his wife. Now Attorney Roth holds that he Is entitled to $2,600,000 as half of the amount that she recolved from the estate. The princess says that no divorce and no alimony had been secured. So he brought suit against her in Los Angeles. Married English Officer Columbus City relatives say that recent letters from Ola Humphrey's mother contain the news that the princess has married Capt.

John Honry Broadwood, late ot the Duke of Cornwall's liaht Infantry, that thoy have a home in London but are now In Italy. Just where In Italy, Attorney Roth would like very much to know. But he would never learn It from Columbus Cltyan. And now when ymi rend In the newspapers that Ola Humphrey rr Princess Hnssan, as she nmy bs callnd, was born In San Fruucisco, you will know better, to. the farm near Cairo may still he som on which her strange career began.

When she was 1 a very small girl, the Humphrey fumlly, which included her father, mother and brother, moved to Oolumbus City. Even then the showed promise of the beauty for which she later became famed over the whole world. All the small boys In th neighborhood at onoe lost lhatr hearts to little Paart, aa sha ca1W4. fiooa. ctuHf aohum Aaak 4 T( iniinii'nirti-l i) it? Mr.

Kelly, rural postman, the only one of Ola Humphrey's childhood playmates who still lives at Columbus City. not dignified with that title! In ber dismay and horror at the situation, it meant little that she was the favorite. Worse, If poBKlbh, followed. When she went abroad, her husband forced her to wear a veil, like the harem women. And when she went abroad too ofteu for his taste, even though she was so veiled, he locked her up at home and would not let her outdoors at all I She was a princess and a prisoner.

Case Never Tried She wns forced to spend all her time with the other women of her husband. She must witness their quarrels aud bickerings over the favors of the prLnoe, her husband. She could not blind herseJf entirely to the praotlees of the harem practices which Europeans in Egypt only whisper about. And the other women, however much they Quarreled among themselves, united In hatred ot the beautiful. She xnanigod to asoapa from him whan ha took bar to Parts, and fiad to America.

Wtno It wa -annaanoad UM-bw wooM sua l-i The mother of Ola Humphrey, Mrs. Minnie Humphrey, who was a local beauty in her day. gray eyes and fair complexion won her tha name of "the prettiest little girl in the county." A. N. Kelly, postman on the rural route from Columbus Junction, was one of the childhood admirers, and the onlv one of her schoolmates in the intermediate grades now llvmg In Columbus City.

"Brans" Hanna lives In Austin, Minn. Walter Hopkins Is in Hopkins, Jennie Ramsey, who Is now Mrs. Charles Wllmerlng, and Fred Schneider live some distance from Oolumbus City. Miss Ella Overholt, now in Des Moines, was the teacher. Mr.

Kelly relates with gusto an Incident of those early days when Ola Humphrey used to "play house" In Columbus City. A Playhouse Tempest "It was right across on that alley," said Mr, Kelly, standing In front ot the Sherm Johnson garage and pointing across a vacant lot on the opposite side of the street, "that wo kids used to play. All the little boys and girls used to get together there. And I remember that the girls bad a little playhouse built there. It was Just a little bit ot a place.

"One day Ola Humphrey and Jennie Ram-soy were In there. All of a sudden there was a regular whirlwind of a racket. Ola Humphrey had a little pitcher, one that belonged to a doll set she thought a lot of, and Jennie grabbed the little pitcher out of Ola's hands and just slammed it down. Broke it all to smithereens. And Jennie Ramsey just came sailing out of there.

It was some time before all was pleasant In the little playhouse again." Another plaoe that was a favorite play spot with the youngsters was the garden ot Aunt Margaret Nancy Hall, who lived next door to the Humphreys. Hall was aunt to all the children In town. She remembers Ola aa a regular visitor, fine at "Bpeaklng pieces." "Speaking pieces" always oame easy to Ola Humphrey, and about the time she woe 18 years old, tha family moved to Waterloo where Ola enrolled In the school of oratory. She returned several yearB later to Oolumbus City and gave a recital In the Reform church at Columbus Juuutiou, whitu is jiut a mile from Columbus City and the latter town's only railroad connection. After that the family moved to California where Mr.

Humphrey engaged In the furniture business in San FTanclaco and his daughter began to win fame on the stage. Rhe started her career at the old Alcnuar the ater as an extra girl under the management of Fred Belaaoo. She had real talent aa well aa baaoty and tu rapfllly advamsd, tn a few fe ff Blatinsi teaiAxw with wry lV Wt 4 (if tt-t Am f. if 1 No longer Pearl Ola Humphrey now Princess Ibrahim Ha-ssan, wife of (he cousin of (he khedive of Egypt. Liberty theater stock company la Oakland.

Then she married Edwin Mordant, a well known leading man, from whom she was divorced Inter. Miss Humphrey and her husband went east and were starred in Theodore Kramer's melodrama, "The Fatal Wedding," for several years. After her divorce from Mordant, Miss Humphrey went abroad. At a big party at the Hotel Cecil, London, she met Prince Ho was a graduate of Oxford university and although a purculooded Turk, would have passed auywhere as an Englishman. Harem Life He protested that she whs the only woman in the world for him.

After a whirlwind courtship, they were married at the registry offlne in London, and took apartments at tha Savoy, where they entertained In regal style. So far the life of Ola Humphrey bad been like a wonderful fairy tale. She must have bean moved by the thought of living In a beautiful palace In Cnlro. She may have remembered with louder amusement the name of her birthplace, doubtless she told the prince about It, and both commented on the colnai-dotioe. Bho must have looked forward with the greatest anticipation to her new life as the wife of one of the greatest men of the eastern Cairo.

But when she reached the palace, she found that she was to be one ot four or five other wtves, not to mention the preeoa a Bod bet other baanttfot ladies wha war lice Gazette, A Thousand Ford Stories for Ten Cents, Zippy Stories, etc.) I alsoflove dogs (frankfurters), and I love my Pinto (my plate beans Is what Miss Pinhead means), "I hope to take a long vacation as soon as I am old enough to vote. (Miss pinhead Is 37 and old enough to vote. She means when she Is old enough to read and write, which are qualifications for voting.) Hut as things are now, 1 am only a teeny-weeny wisp of a girl and 1 vr go anywhere without my protectors (sleeve protectors). "I am busy with my work from morning to night. 1 have to have four secretaries and assistants (four secretaries and assistants consisting of one general maid, one furnace tender, one laundress on Tuesdays and one chore boy).

We JuBt receive loads ot mail! I get an average ot five proposals a week (three ot them proposals that Miss Pinhead settle her grocery bill and the others suggesting payments on furniture and clothes). Hut 1 nover reply to them. (That's the truth.) "You say you want me to toll more about myself? Well, there Isn't much, really. Flitst of all. I love to conk (opium pills).

And I anK always collecting rare old china (plates and cups from cafeterias; silverware from hotels, I just dole on the old masters (Old King Hiady, Old Plack Joe, Nick Carter, etc.) and my favorite color Is reddish brown (rye whisky i. "Of course, I have my likes and dislikes. My Ideal man Is one that can do a big job and do It well. One that can got away with anything he tries and who v. Ill leave his footprints on the sands of time.

That's the kind of a he-man I adore. (Miss Pinhead here refers to a successful second etory worker.) But I am afraid I shall never find him," she said, with tears coursing from her eyes (one-half pint of glycerine). Local Politics By systematically weighing several thicknesses of paper with every ordor sent out from his store, old Blddleton hud accumulated Quite a little fortune, and In addition had risen to great heights In the exclusive circles of Kllnk-prville. His greatest ambition was realised whan he became elected to adorn, the local council. One evening, at the club, Blddleton was, as usual, talking about the wonderful honor that had been thrust upon him.

"I'll wake 'em up!" he said truculently. "Free lighting and cheap wafer that's my motto!" "Do 1 understand the proceduret" sneered cedure of a council mooting?" asked a young man of a facetious turn. "Do I understand the procedure?" sneered Blddleton. "Of course, young man; I tinder stand all about It, all except one or two purely technical points, that Is, I must confess that I cannot tiulie see how a standing committee can have sittings, but I sliull soon find out. I am not quite a fool!" A Couple of Rural Notes A famous Kentucky editor, wlio Tor years lias made a collection of funny "local notes," thinks that these two are among the very best of the collection: "The bridal procession proceeded down tha aisle of tiie church to the entrancing strains of Mendel and Sons' wedding march." "Any one who will send an unsigned syn.

onymous letter to another person Is sure to be deserving of the opprohlous epithet 'hlc or "he lies." Notural Preference Mr. I.ighlleigh had made a rapid tour of tha European ooiiUnent and had found littla to impress him, either favorable or otherwise. "You say you aw all you wanted to Italy?" said a friend on Mr. LlghUelBli3 re turn to his native heath. "What did yott ttdnH of the lazzaronl?" "Don't talk to me about It," suld Mr.

Light lelgh, briskly. "I'd rather have a good dish, of plain American macaroni baked with aheesii any timet".