The Indiana Gazette from Indiana, Pennsylvania • Page 20

M6E 12 IjttllANA eVEMNO (1CT1AMA. I IK- Ft; Life of Will Rogers Patterns Homespun Epic That Crowns Him Court Jester To Democracy Chapter II-Horse Sense Philosophy and Humor This Is the second of four sto- fies revealing those homely sides Of Will Rogers which gave him unique position as First to the American people. By WILLIS THORNTON NEA Service Staff Correspondent Will Rogers was much more than a cheap jokesmith. There was a quality about his humor that had nothing Whatever to do with the kind of Story that starts out, "It seems there were two In fact Rogers personally disliked that kind of joke, and was seldom caught punning. To say that Rogers took his humor seriously ts more lhan to repeat the old truism that many humorists are really very lugubrious fellows at heart.

They are serious because they are thinking of what hard work it is to be funny. Rogers never bothered about that. He was serious because he was thinking of what might be the effect of his joke. To Will Rogers a simple joke for the joke's, sake was like cornflakes without dry going. He once said, "A joke has got to have its foundation in truth if it's going to enjoy the process of getting over to the audience." Philosophy With a Grin Typical of what he must have meant was this one, pulled during the Democratic convention of 1920: "Bryan was cheered 15 minutes, then voted against six to one." There is a lot of pretty profound political philosophy in that one.

Huey Long, take notice. Rogers himself always thought one of the best of his cracks was, "America never lost a she never won a conference." But he admitted he got a louder laugh with such rambling stuff as "Yeh, I admit I'm one of them movie actors from Hollywood. But I'm an exceptional movie actor. I been married 20 years and I still got the same wife I started out with," Perhaps Ihe secret of Will Rogers' hold on millions of plain Americans lies in the story of a smart New Yorker who took a country relative to see Rogers in the Follies. The city man laughed gustily throughout Rogers' performance but the countryman was only quietly chuckling.

After the show, the host asked, "What's the matter, didn't you like Will Rosen' skill with the rope and on horseback was no bluff. He really knew the cow-punching game on the range as well as on the stage. Here he fs twirling a lariat in the "Old Spanish Days" flesU at Santa Barbara, a few years ago. Rogers?" "Sure did," replied the man from the crossroads, "but we hear that sort of thing all the time out our way." Kept His Humor Clean It was just that kinship between Will Rogers and millions of other plain folks along every Main Street the country that gave him his hold. They felt they understood Will.

His prejudices were their prejudices, his weaknesses their own, his homely strengths the ones they had learned with him in McGuffey's Readers. Another thing that drew many people was the fact that Rogers, opera- Ling in the theatre that grew dirtier daily, remained clean. There was no stooping to profanity for effect, no double meanings. If it wasn't a joke "that Betty would like," one that he felt he could tell to his wife, it remained unuttered. So great was Rogers' hold on great numbers of people that it was often said in Washington shortly after Then Now is the time to have your winter wardrobe made to look like new.

With our completely equipped plant your finest garments will have the finest care. Experts handle your things in an expert way! Insist on having the best at no extra cost to you. Others will marvel at the appearance you present in clothes cleaned by Ross De Gaetano. Send yours today! Phone 90 Ross DeGaetano "Indiana's Only Pry Cleaning Plant" World war that "This country can never again go into another war unless Will Rogers is for it." Senators would gather in the cloakrooms and say, "I guess we'd better not introduce that bill for a tariff on shoe horns. I see Will Rogers is taking some raps at it." No Malice in His Recipe Men who have followed Will Rogers' writings and stage performances for years insist that he never intentionally uttered an unkind or malicious word.

Personal ridicule had no place in his scheme, and he was himself deeply embarrassed when, during a radio broadcast in the Coolidge era, he announced that the president would follow, and then Rogers rilled in with his own version of Coolidge's nasal drawl. Informed that protests were going to the White House from the few who had recognized that it raally wasn't Calvin speaking, but Will, the cowboy comic wrote an apology. Coolidge replied in his own handwriting that he hadn't minded a bit. Even so slight a trespass onto satiric grounds distressed Rogers deeply. He was a gentle man, and he didn't want to hurt anybody.

Because he liked people. Once he said that of the thousands of people he had met he didn't recall one whom he really disliked. That was at once his strength and his weakness. Malice and hatred were not in him. Yet he didn't hesitate to stick a wicked barb into general things sometimes.

Witness this, from a comment on the presidential candidacy of John W. Davis: "Some claimed he worked for Morgan Co. My Lord, that's what we all do, work for Morgan, only he was smart enough to get paid for we pay Morgan." Will's Niche Among Humorists Much speculation attaches as to whether Rogers will go down as one of the line of American humorists, Bill Nye, Artemus Ward, "Mr. Doo- Jey," and Mark Twain. It will take time to tell, of course, but no one can deny that Will Rogers had qualities in common with them all.

In his personal style of address, of making every reader feel that Will was talking to them alone, in the homely, every-day quality of his philosophy, he was akin to them. Not so bitter nor so deep as Dunne and Twain, Rogers certainly is talking to them in their own langauge today. When he said "All I know is what I read in the papers," he was speaking almost tho literal truth. But that is far from being the confession of benighted ignorance it sounds. Rogers did rend the papers, carefully and continually, and had always a pretty clear idea of what was going on in the world.

And it was in the rambling comments he improvised on those events that he was at his very best. This idea of varying his "patter" at each performance as the news kaleidoscope turned 'round developed during his Follins nays and grew to be his greatest as a humorist, Love of Country Strong He put it this way one night at the Follies: "I'd sure be hard up if you folks didn't read the papers. Last summer when 1 was playin' on (he roof I had an awful time. The audience was all composed of bootleggers, and they never road. I'm sure glad to get down with the consumers again." Then, too, he loved America as so many millions of people still love it.

WRECKAGE OF PLANE THAT BORE ROGERS AND POST TO DEATH At tragic journey's end, the crushed plane in which Will Rogers and Wiley Post met deafch togebhar i submerged, at the spot where it crashed fifteen miles south of Point Barrow, Alaska. shown here, half- Returning from a trip around the world only about a year ago, he said "Even if the Republicans were in it would still be the best place in the world." NEXT: Laying aside the jester, Will Rogers was "the Patron Saint of Aviation," and the No. 1 passenger and booster for the thing that finally took his life. Dorothy Stone Tells; "What Will Rogers Meant To (This is the second installment of an interview with Dorothy Stone, stage and screen on "Will Rogers as I knew him." In the first installment, Miss Stone reminisced about her child-hood memories of the great humorist. She closed by describing how she Little Bill, Will Rogers' eldest son, in her lap when he was a baby.

She now continues:) (Copyright, 1935, by I. N. NEW YORK, Aug. he isn't Little Bill any more," she continued sadly, "he's Will Rogers in his own right. He'll be head of the family now, and no finer person could be head of it.

Will's son is marvelous; he's a genuinely real person, absolutely unspoiled, and a real man. In spite of his background and all the advantages which he has enjoyed, he has retained, all of. his father's simplicity and charm. "Will just lived for his family, and his greatest ambition was that they should all be happy. He would just do anything for them.

"Sometimes, he would be putting on his riding clothes getting ready to go out, or be in the midst of doing something else, when he would suddenly remember that he had promised to take little Mary to the movies or to play ball with was enough, and he would drop whatever he was doing to keep his promise to them. "His devotion to Aunt Betty was constantly touching, and illustrated by the many small ways in which he tried to please her. Last Easter, while she was away, he had his whole ranch done over for her. He planned and supervised everything and was as excited as a' small boy. He would say to us: 'Don't you tell her "And, of course, we didn't.

When she came home, she was absolutely delighted with the whole thing. Will led her all around, showing her each improvement, and anxiously waiting to see how she would like it. He grinned broadly each time she praised anything. "Among the improvements he made was the heightening of the roof of the living room. He had' a life-sized stuffed calf in the living room, and every day, after dinner, he'd practice roping it for hours.

The rope would sometimes hit the ceiling, so he had the roof heightened in order to give nim more room in which to swing. "No one ever thought that after- dinner exercise was odd, and the women would sit talking in the room to'-lly oblivious of Will's rope throwing. "1 remember one time when he and Dollar Day Specials Thursday ONE DAY ONLY See Our Ad In Thursday's Paper For Further Week-end CUT RATE DRUGS OF QUALITY my father were roping after we had all finished dinner. My father at the time was wearing his hair very leng in order to fit a character he was going to play in the production, "So Red the Rose." "They tossed ropes at the calf in silence for a few minutes, and then, while his lariat was still in the air, Will said: 'Get yourself a haircut, Fred, You sho' look "Without disturbing his aim, Dad answered: 'Can't do it, Will. Need it for my part in this 'Shucks, Fred, you can wear wig.

And you suttingly ought to get those bushy eyebrows trimmed. Look like "All this time, they were studiously lassooing the calf as though it were the most important thing in the world "Dad answered, 'Can't wear a wig. Always looks too "Aw no, Fred, I don't think' so, You sho' need to get spruced "Watching the two of them working on the much-roped calf, and listening to their dialogue, I suddenly thought that here we were witnessing something that on the stage people would pay almost anything to see. And yet it was an every-day occurrence. "Will was always lecturing and advising Daddy as though he were his father.

And Daddy never failed to listen. The next day, incidentally, he had his hair cut, his bushy eye-brows trimmed, and, in general, got all "spruced up." Miss Stone hesitated for a moment, and then went on, "Yet with all his charm and playfulness, Will was essentially a man's man, and nothing better' illustrates his inner quality of self-sacrifice and courage lhan the incident of the flood, "Two winters ago, there was a heavy, continuous downpour of rain in the Los Angeles area which caused a swelling of the rivers and flooded a great many sections. The water washed away the embankment of the road by Will's hou-e leaving a deep chasm and the road impas-" sible and exceedingly dangerous. The occupants of any car that went off the road were almost certain to be killed. "It was New Year's eve, and the rain was coming clown in torrents, but, carrying a red lantern, Will sad- Family on Way to Funeral For Rogers mmm TELL OF mssm Granite Works 31 College Ave.

Phone Their gnet shared by the nation, the family of Will Rogers here are shown as they pauud In New York on their way from Maine to Los Angeles, scene of funeral services for the humorist. Left to ngnt ara James Rogers, a son; Mary Rogers, a daughter; Mrs. Rogers; and WiH another son. died a horse, and, all night long, he warned motorists of the danger and persuaded them to stop. None of them knew who he of them thought he was a hold-up thought he was just a cranky old one look at the road, and they were offering fervent thanks for his aid.

"Cold, with the water swishing up to his horse's knees, and the rain soaking through his coat, Will kept guard all night. But worse than ttie physical sufferings was a terrible fear clutching at his heart. All of his children were out at New Year's he knew that the other roads were washed away." (In the third installment of this interview, Miss Stone 'tells of the highly-dramatic meeting of Will Rogers and his son the night of the flood, and she begins the diverting story of her partnership with Will in "Three REVIVALS Taylorsville Over 250 thronged the Crusade grounds on Sunday night at Taylorsville to hear Roy Muir speak on "Dole or Work Relief." The music was under the direction of Paul Shank of Commodore and the Fleming Musical Trio of Purchase Line. Pearl Lydic sang very beautifully, "Jesus Hear Me," Harold Shank captivated all with a chorus and Paul and Theada Shank sang a duet. It was one of the largest meetings of the August series.

People of every denominational faith were represented. Among other things Evangelist Muir said "The Bible condemns any policy of government which brings the dole to the people. God says 'If any will not work, neither shall he The Bible does not back a dole nor does it back socialism in its endeavor to equally divide wealth. We need to oust this 'New Deal' policy from Washington and be done with the 'dole' forever. America needs to gel back to the Bible.

"I am charged with trying to clean up politics in this section. Wrong again! I am trying to resist not clean up politics. The business of the Church of Jesus Christ is to resist the Devil and I am on the firing line. "And as you go to the primaries, vote for the Dealer" and see to it that the man you nominate for public affairs is of high ideals, conscientious, listening to the will of the people. We need no 'rubber stamps' at this hour.

We need godliness and genuine American patriotism." At the conclusion of the address scores of young people surged to the front, several of whom made their first Christian decision. The entire assamblage, in a circle of blazing auto headlights, then rose to their feet and joined in the salute to the JANET GAYNOR 'The Farmer Takes a Wife" WITH Henry Fonda Jane Withers Charles Bickford Slim Summerville RITZ LAST SHOWING TODAY DICK POWELL JOAN BLONDEU BROADWAY GONDOLIER W- U.u/l n. A rm i i-i ADOLPHE MENJOU LOUISE KAZtNDA WILLIAM GARGAN NMMM flag. Tuesday night the evangelist's subject will prophetic, "Who are the two witnesses at Revelation Wednesday night, "Why I believe in voting," and Thursday night "The new heaven and the new earth." A special program is being arranged for Sunday night, August 28, when the subject will be "Mr. Hoover or Mr.

Roosevelt." And said verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom ot Matthew, 18:3. NEW STAR POX prMwh TUTTA II INDIANA WeWhiir. Latt Showing Today MIWIY HUM. WAINfi VAU1II.