The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • 2

'FROM UNDER MY HAT' 2 7 Poll Favors State Control of Tidelands But Issues at Stake Aren't Clear to Half of Californians Father of Films Shoved Aside This is the filth of a series of 14 installments condensed from Hedda Hopper's autobiography. Trora Under Mr Hat" copyrighted by Hedda Hopper and published by Doubled ay 6. Inc. BY HEDDA HOPPER The first time I met Sam Goldwyn he was Sam Goldfish then and. married to Jesse Lasky's sister we sat down together on an outdoor stage to watch his partner, Cecil De Mille, burn Geraldine Farrar at the stake.

I still think it V. BY MERVIX D. FIELD Director, The California Poll Although California has I was a Better picture tnan ingna -joan, dux i nliue, but his cameraman, Billy TRAGEDY AFTERMATH Miss Kotherine Machris testified as court declared her wealthy sister legally dead. could be prejudiced. During that year I saw many pictures being made.

I wanted to learn about them. Wolfie had insisted when I married him jthat I give up my career. He i thought life owed him one wife who'd stay home while he did i the acting for the family. Nevertheless I watched closely. I saw D.

W. Griffith put i finishing touches on "Intoler-! ance with 80 girls dressed as angels fluttering on wires 30 feet above the stage. A third of them became airsick before they could be lowered to terra firma. I'd seen plenty of actresses up in the air, but that was the first time I'd seen 30 of them flutter on wires. Worked From Bible In making scenes, Griffith worked directly from the Bible.

He was meticulous about the effect he wanted for the Crucifixion of Christ and waited for foggy days. There were no fog-making machines then. I remember Griffith, over tired by long hours of trying for perfection, ordering a break and calling for hot tea. The actors who portrayed Christ and the two thieves had been on their crosses four hours without a rest "Lower Christ too," said Grif- fith. "What abmt my brothers who play the thieves?" said an actor.

"Lower the thieves too. Get tea for the whole company." Father of Industry D. W. Griffith was the father of our industry. Many men have tried to claim the title since, but it was due to Griffith that Hollywood grew great.

He was one of the great pioneers of the business in developing screen tech- Woman Who Vanished Off Plane Ruled Dead COURT BATTLE CUT SHORT Eleanor Holm mode smiling offer husband Billy Rose withdrew his divorce suit and agreed v. exit from New York court to alimony in separation. Burbank Boy's Gunfire Death Held Accidental The death' of Arnold V. O'Gor-man, of 1929 Manning St, Bur- bank, who was shot in the face and throat by a playmate In his bedroom Aug. 29, was ruled acci dental by a Coroner's jury yes terday, Norman D.

Lervold, 14, of 2138 Valley St, Burbank, who fired the 22-caliber rifle, and Wayne K. Barnes, 13, of 1830 Frederick St, Burbank, who witnessed the shooting, told the jury the gun was discharged by Lervold, who had forgotten the gun was loaded. Lt Paul M. Evans of the Burbank Police Department also testified and said that officers who handled the case agreed that the shooting was accidental Ridgway Toun Turkey ISTANBUL, Turkey, Sept 10 Gen. Matthew B.

Ridgway today returned to Ankara after a 420-mile jeep inspection trip along Turkey's strategic frontier with the Soviet Union. Bitzer, and not Griffith, as is so widely supposed, invented the close-up. After giving us "Birth of a Nation." "Intolerance," "Way) Down East" "Orphans of the) Storm," and "Broken Blossoms," Griffith started to grow old, and upstart producers said his use-; fulness was at an end. i In his latter years he lived at the Knickerbocker Hotel. Griffith didn't need money; he need-! ed a job to uphold his There was nothing left for him to do in the art form he had largely perfected.

He wandered around Beverly Hills and Holly-1 wood, drinking In one then going on to the next Several times I saw him almost 1 struck by passing cars. Appeals Made I went to several bigwigs In the business. "You must find something for that man to do; give him faith in life." "What could he do?" they asked me. They had the face to ask that question! "The industry has passed him byl" Passed by the man who made it possible for every one of the mto be where they were! In Hollywood gratitude is Public Enemy No. 1.

Frances Marion tells a heart-stopping story of passing Grau-man's Chinese Theater one night when someone's footprints were being recorded in the cement, and of seeing D. W. Griffith, swaying a little, looking bewil dered and lost hovering on the edge of the crowd. His footprints were never asked for, yet no one has filled his shoes. Glve Him a Job I also talk to the executives of the Motion Picture Relief Tarn to Page 22, Coin ma 1 from the County Jail to Superior Judge William B.

Neeley's court for probation report and sentence. But the judge Indicat ed he wanted further informa tion from the Probation Depart ment and postponed his decision until today. Sherwin, a ward of Juvenile Court, who has been placed in his parents' custody, will have his case finally disposed of to day. Husband Waits Waiting in the courtroom were Le Tourneau, construcUon engineer, and their son. The for mer was obviously deeply con cerned with what would happen to his wife, with whom he has reconciled.

But Armand Jr. had another worry: Tuesday night his pet white rats, Ben and Herman, disap peared along with their cage, "He's nuts about pets," his mother said. "Why, on the trip we took with Jimmy, Armana insisted on taking along five of his hamsters. They got loose the car and damaged about $300 worth of my clothing and shoes. I finally persuaded him to turn them loose in a field." i 'I DID WRONG SAYS MRS.

LE TOURNEAU All of $157,000 Estate Ignoring Banker Who Oil-rich Mrs. Marie Machris Westbrook, 38, sucked out of an air transport off the east coast of South America, was declared legally dead yesterday by Su perior Judge Newcomb Condee, who admitted her" will to pro bate. The court acted after taking the testimony of her sister, Miss Katherine Machris, 31, and of one of their attorneys, Robert F. Tyler, who said he had been sent to Brazil to find the body but that the trip had proved fruitless. Dated Jan.

20, 1951, and writ-1 ten entirely in Mrs. Westbrook's hand, the will bequeathed all of her $157,000 estate to her son, Robert Machris Westbrook, 12, whose father. Col. Robert B. Westbrook, lost his life in a strafing attack against the Japanese during World War II.

The document named her mother, Mrs. Bessie E. Machris, with whom Robert now lives at 1431 Kings Road, executor. Banker Ignored No mention was made in the probate proceedings of Emilio Capellero, 41, the Italian banker who was traveling in her com pany at the time of the strange accident and who later said he and the heiress had been secretly married. Following the court hearing, Miss Machris, Tyler and George v.

is' ix, anotner attorney rep resenting Mrs. Westbrook's estate, said their investigation had convinced them no such mar riage had taken place. Tyler, unfolding a map of the Brazilian coast told the court his inquirv had shown that Mrs. Westbrook had boarded the plane at Rio de Janeiro last July 27 for a trip to Buenos Aires. Some 12,000 feet above the sea and about 25 miles from Rio, Tyler said, a plane door sudden ly flew open.

featured prominently in the State versus Federal fight for control of the oil-rich submerged lands bordering on the 'acific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, almost half of the State's citizens do not have a clear rrirture of th issues stake. Of those who do, however, a two-thirds majority favor State control of the offshore deposits. Until recently, the State gov. ernments had undisputed title to the tidelands. Presently, California, Texas and Louisiana are engaged in a gigantic struggle with the Federal government for ownership of these offshore oil lands.

Prior to the 1930's. when it was definitely established that these tidelands contained oiL no one cared much about title to them. Today, when ownership means tax revenues In the Treasury State or Federal, depending on who wins the fight the contest over ownership has become a fierce one. Voters Questioned In an effort to determine how the people of California feel about this issue, interviewers for the California Poll sounded out a representative cross sec tion of voters in this State on the matter of tidelands ownership. First, a question designed to determine if voters had heard anything about the Issue was asked.

The poll found that 56' of the people said they had heard something about the issue, with 36 saying they had not and 8 not sure whether they had or not Those who said they had heard of the issue (slightly more than one-half of all persons in-! terviewed) were then asked: i Who do you think is mostly in' the right the State or Federal' government?" The vote was: Per cent State government 60 Federal government 23 opinion IT 100 Political Issne The Republican Party and its Presidential candidate, Dwight Eisenhower, are pledged by the party's platform to work for State control of the offshore deposits. The Truman administration and the Democratic Presidential candidate, Adlai Stevenson, favor Federal control of these tidelands. If the present trend of sentiment holds throughout California on the tidelands issue, it could lend support to Eisenhower's candidacy. Another State which has a great stake in the outcome of this offshore oil land dispute is Texas. In that State, the Texas Poll (an independent poll similar to the California Poll, and sponsored by a group of Texas newspapers) reports that although Stevenson still leads Eisenhower in Texas, the Illinois Governor's following dropped by 5 percentage points after his statement that he believed the Federal government should control the tidelands.

Tidelands Issne came Into prominence in 1930 when the Superior Oil Co. brought in an important well off the California coast Following this, in 1933, the late Harold Secretary of the Interior, ruled that title to the tide-lands was vested in the adjacent States. However, he later reversed this ruling. Following World War II, President Truman ordered the Justice Department to bring suit to obtain Federal control of the tidelands off the California coast. In June, 1947, the Supreme Court handed down its now famous "paramount rights" decision in favor of the Federal government In 1946, Congress passed a bill which gave control to the States.

Truman vetoed this bilL In 1950 the Supreme Court ruled against Texas and Louisiana as it had In the California case, but did not clarify ownership of the tide-lands. As a result, the dispute Is sot yet resolved. Some of the oil companies who are drilling In. the tidelands are paying royalties to both governments. CwnliU tti rmllfmlk FB aa4 Prince Nearly 21 TOKYO, Sept 10 UPh-Emperor Hlrohito will acclaim Crown Prince Aklhito as heir apparent and announce his coming of age at state rites in mid-November.

DIVORCE Rose, who once declared that Eleanor was "one girl in a mil-! lion," sat facing her across a large table throughout most of the session. He smiled hopeful at her once or twice but she merely batted her long eyelashes and ignored him. Victory for Eleanor They finally exchanged sev eral weak smiles as the proceed ings drew to a bitter end. and Eleanor triumphantly declared that the outcome was a clear victory for herself. Rose not only agreed to drop his charges, counter-charges and defenses but he said he would let McNally decide on Oct.

15 how big a slice of his millions his wife should get. The usual ly tight-fisted showman will be permitted to contest the alimony judgment, if he doesn't like it, however. Miss Holm has been receiving $700 a week temporary alimony and Is living in Rose's fashionable Beekman Place mansion. Man Hunted GI's Mother threat Monday night "So you want trouble? Well, you're going to get it." Torrance Police Chief John H. Stroh ordered radio officers to stay within a minute's call of the home.

A 1 I I Timet photo Left to Son, 12, Claimed Secret Wedding Over a three-week period fol lowing Mrs. Westbrook's disappearance, Tyler added, the Brazilian Air Force conducted daily searches. Tyler said he arrived on the scene Aug. 4 and for nine days combed the area personally and made Inquiries of fishermen, distributing 10,000 pamphlets among them asking for informa Uon. "I don't mean to be flippant observed Judge Condee, "but it seems to me that it is sufficient for you to show that Mrs.

West brook left the plane in flight some 12,000 feet above the sea without a parachute and the presumption of death follows Mrs. estbrook was the daugh ter of Victor Machris, oil company founder, who died in 1030. At the time of her death, Capellero and other passengers re ported some minutes had elapsed in the confusion over the open door before they realized she was missing. New Long Beach Publisher to Talk to Ad Managers Herman H. Ridder.

new pub lisher of the Long Beach Inde pendent and Pres3-Telegram, will be the principal speaker at the 7 p.m. meeting tomorrow of the California Newspaper Advertis ing Association, Southern Unit at the Mayfair. His subject will be "A Pub-Usher Looks at the Southern California Karl Wray of Lompoc, president of the association, says Ridder is expected to explain why his eastern and midwest publishing family decided to purchase papers in the Southern California area. The Ridders also recently pur chased the San Jose Mercury and News. tne ruling toaay.

Time photo BILLY ROSE Continued from First Page who specializes in settling divorce cases without lengthy legal wrangling, commended both sides for keeping their grievances quiet. He said that they had spared anxiety, embarrassment, harm and national notoriety for themselves and their friends. Short Formality "The court feels relieved to announce that nothing like that is going to happen," McNally said. The actual formality of grant ing the decree took only a few minutes. Miss Holm testified that Billy abandoned her in September.

1951. without cause or justification, and never returned. There was no cross-examination. But for two hours before that, the judge had held a number of private conferences with one side and then the other in get ting a quick settlement of the long marital dispute. Fake Naval in Hoax on The Office of Naval Intelligence reportedly was searching for "a Navy man who misrepresented himself in the strange hoax on a Hollywood Riviera mother who was personally informed by a supposedly fake Navy chaplain that her 19-year-old son was wounded in Korea.

The Los Angeles office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation said ONI is pushing the investi- gauon alter first studies lnai cated it was a Navy man, rather than a civilian, who posed as a 1 lieutenant commander chaplain; in calling on Mrs. Lee LeRot, 249 Calls De Madrid, last Aug. 23. Added Mystery Mrs. LeRoi yesterday added further mystery the case when she said a beach telegraph office failed to find a cable from her son.

Richard Barth, saying the report of his injury was an error. It was read to her over the phone last Friday and confirmed the following day. but never arrived by mail as she requested, she said. Meanwhile Torrance police were closely patroling the area in the vicinity of the LeRoi ham following a telephone Boy, 2, Killed by Backing Car Two-year-old Randy Vaughn was killed yesterday when he was run over in the driveway of his Lakewood home by a car being backed from the garage by nis mother, California High way Patrolmen reported. The boy, son of Mr.

and Mrs. William F. Vaughn, 3039 Green- briar Road. was pronounced dead on arrival at Seaside Long Beach. Officers said the boy apparently ran into the path of the car unobserved by his mother, Mrs.

Sally Vaughn. RFC Man Sworn In WASHINGTON, Sept 10 (JPy Supreme Court Justice Stanley F. Reed today swore in Clarence A. Beutel. Chicago banker, as deputy administrator of the Reconstruction Finance Corp.

ly i 1 Mrs. Virginia Le Tourneau, 28-, year-old Burbank housewife who recently pleaded guilty to contributing to the delinquency of a minor, yesterday acknowl edged that her flight for love with a teen-age boy was wrong. But she won't know until this morning whether she will remain In jail or be freed on probation. Promisee to Be Good "I know deep in my heart," she told a probation officer, "that I did wrong and acted on impulse (this referred to leaving home with Jimmy Sherwin. 17- year-old news vendor, and her own 10-year-oia son, Armana and traipsing for six weeks through several Western States.) "If I'm granted probation, ana my husband will take me back, I will respect him ana mane a good home and be a good wife and mother, and never see Jimmy again," she vowed.

"It is hard, but it win De we very best thing for my husband, my son and Jimmy." Mrs. Le Tourneau was tanen Fall Injures Television's Dick Lane Dick Lane, the television ac tor, is currently holding forth at the Hollywood Hospital, nurs ing two fractured heels, follow ing a fall from a six-foot ladder in the back yard of his home. Lane, 50. of 303 Swall Drive, Beverly Hills, was pruning a tree when he lost his balance and fell from the ladder yester day. He receivea treatment at the Beverlv Hills Emergency Hospital ana was men trans ferred to the Hollywood Hospi taL Boat Adrift Towed, to Port The fishing boat Apache, adrift three miles off-Huntington Beach with her engine out of operation, was towed Into Long Beach yesterday after a short wave radio enthusiast heard the boat's distress call and notified the Coast Guard.

W. R. Strachen of 435 Orizaba Long Beach, told the Coast Guard he heard the boat's message for aid, listing eight passengers aboard the 32-foot craft Dean Snyder of 10841 Sampson St. Lynwood, was listed as the owner of the boat 'iiiuim I U- VfK- JAIL DECISION DELAYED Mrs. Virginia Le Tourneau, who pleaded guilty to contributing to delinquency of minor in romance with 17-year-old boy, was accompanied to court by Husband Armand and son Armand Jr.

Judge postponed decision, on sentence SCREEN STAR IN VENICE Claude tte Colbert, Hollywood film stor, is seen beside Grand Canal in Venice, Italy, where she is attending annual film festival. WM Wttid phot or probation for Mrs. Le Tourneau, but is expected to make .1.