The Ithaca Journal from Ithaca, New York • Page 9

Saturday, Nov. 24, 1979 ITHACA JOURNAL 9 I A an The homecoming of Rufus McGoofus Gulliver Of boasts, toasts, and making your husbandis lover jealous 1 unfolded new vistas so we paid scant attention to these growing truancies. Of course, he came by his name for obvious reasons. He looked like a Rufus Mc Gook's; and his peregrinations put the seal on Gulliver. And then he didn't come six months.

Our conclusion was that he had wandered to us from his original home, got lost and appealed for aid and rest until it was time to go home again. After a month or so we gave up the thought he'd come back. We missed the little guy but he hadn't been with us long enough to make a strong attachment. Besides, t'is said an animal's original home is where he'll eventually seek to go. And so we forgot him.

The other day we pulled into our driveway and immediately noted a difference, a sense of excitement, a feeling something wasn't its usual self. Our "regular" crew of animals were cavorting like goats on a binge; they raced to meet us, then led us to the porch steps. There was Rufus Mc Goat's Gil liver stretched out on the top step with his face hanging down. As I said, he didn't have to utter a word; his look bespoke it all. Home wherever it was wasn't all he thought it was, nor the bypaths to it as alluring as imagined.

By SIDMESIBOV Journal Writer He didn't have to say a word. It was written all over his face and clearly stated: "Soto have wor- ried you, folks, but Just had to see what was out there. Believe me, it isn't so hot and I'm glad to be home." Rufus McGoofus Gulliver is a nondescript mutt whose ancestry is probably an amalgam of every breed of dog on earth. He is doleful-eyed and slope-eared with his tail curled inward, given to sighing heavily at the slightest provocation. He arrived here one blustery March night, folded up on the porch and when found in the morning was almost frozen to death.

Where he came from is a question that shouldn't be asked because it was obvious he was never anyone's pet. Who could cotton up to such a mass of leftover parts? A few days after he had shucked off his exhaustion and had stowed some grub between his xylophone-like ribs, he began his strange ways. He'd leave the house in the morning and was gone until evening. But each day, the stay-away time grew longer. We figured he was merely exploring his new terrain and each trip history Peerless, fearless Pearl comes to 'Hollywood East' supervisor I know, but I'm not sure I can handle don't think they thought enough about how young I am and how little time I've been I suppose so, but I'm terrified I can't handle Manic elation: "I can't stand worked! It bought my idea! They bought it! I'm going to be rich and listen to what they're going to pay me! It's wild! You know what this could lead to? Let me tell you how they're going to promote it! Isn't this the most fantastic thing you ever heard Miss Manners doesn't claim that any of this dialogue is sparkling.

But at least it doesn't inspire the dislike that bald boasts do. Plain statements, such as "I just inherited a million dollars," or "I got three proposals this year from a congressman, a movie star and a president of a bank," do not arouse unmixed admiration. DEAR MISS MANNERS I am asking this as a manners question after having given due thought, you may be sure, to the other aspects of It. What I want to know is not what to do but how to do this. My husband is having an affair with a long-time friend of mine.

I know this for a fact, although they do not know I know, and I intend to keep It that way. Bringing it out into the open would irrevocably damage, if not end, our marriage. I believe if I let it alone, he will get over it, and we can go on as before. She has told me, in the past, about many such affairs she has had, and I'm sure she is not serious about this one. He, on the other hand, has never done such a thing before.

I'm sure I would have known if he had. She is very beautiful I don't mean just pretty and it happened that she threw a lot of business his way when he was in trouble with his firm. Gratitude, I Imagine, got mixed up with other things, and there it is. I will say for him that he looks miserable. OK so how do I behave to him, and how do I behave to her? On the one hand, I don't want to let on that I know, for the reasons stated, but on the other hand, I am no saint, and if I could speed along the end of this by making both of them really miserable, I wouldn't be sorry to do this.

They see each other two nights a week and every other Saturday he is "working late" then, and she keeps her phone off the hook. The only other person who knows about this is my sister, who has suggested that I openly have an affair myself, which would serve them right. However, even if I knew someone I wanted to do that with, I don't want to leave the children (3, 7 and 10) with no stable parent at all although in all fairness, I know their father is devoted to them. Nor do I want to give him an "excuse." I just want to go on as always, acting natural, but the problem is I By JUDITH MARTIN "I apologize for boasting," says Nicholas Devize in The Lady's Not for Burning by dear Christopher Fry, "but once you know my qualities, I can drop back into a quite brilliant humility." He says it in blank verse, but you do see his problem. Humility is easy, although Miss Manners much mires brilliant humility.

The usual variety, with its claims about feeling awed and hoping to be worthy, is tiresome. But it is extremely difficult to make others acquainted with how very much one has to be humble about. No, that's not quite what Miss Manners meant to say. What is difficult is to establish gracefully that one has cause to be proud and haughty, before one can be contrastingly humble. The ideal solution is to get others to broadcast one's achievements, so that the achiever has only to handle the humility.

But only a few boastworthy matters can be counted on to attract such assistance. If you are elected president, you can generally get the networks to announce it for you. Enlisting your relatives for such a job is, however, tricky. Miss Manners has seen few family acts in which the boast has been chosen to play the Madonna in the Christmas pageant because she's the most popular girl in the is followed by a convincing amount of humility Mo-ther! Puteezel Besides, the person who has the role of boaster then seems to be boasting on his or her own behalf of having amazing relatives. This sabotages the separation of the two functions.

The safest thing is to do it all oneself, but to blend the two parts. In artful boasting, one states all the information necessary to impress people, but keeps the facts decently clothed in the language of humility. Useful approaches include Disbelief, Fear and Manic Elation. For some reason, these are considered to be more attractive human emotions than justifiable pride or self-satisfaction. Probably because they are not as much fun.

Here are some samples of each. The ellipses stand for the listener's predictable questions and responses. The best-prepared social speeches always allow for such interruptions. Disbelief: "My God, there must be some My test scores I can't believe know I couldn't save done that well the number must have been copied wrong, because I know I messed did you see? There's a mistake. I know you had to do better than I because you know Fear: "Oh.

oh, now I've had you see, I uh, I got the promotionYes, I'm going to be the can't act natural. So what do I do? DEAR READER Miss Manners thinks you are quite right not to attempt to "act natural." Behavior natural to this situation would be quite ugly, and thus go against your interests. And yet the agitation produced by your awareness of the situation produces an energy higher than you would have if the situation were normal. The idea is to use this heightened emotion for an effect that would serve your interests, rather than betray them. What makes people truly uncomfortable is not so much having what others lack, but lacking what others have.

Allow Miss Manners to suggest a more subtle way than your sister's of making them jealous of what you are doing two nights a week and every other Saturday. To him, you might let it be known that you and the children are immensely enjoying those free periods you have together. Plan pleasant family activities for that time building, baking, putting on a play together, or, if you must, even going to the zoo where all the divorced fathers are on Saturdays which they will babble to him about afterwards, thus making him aware that the time he spends away is the most valuable and memorable part of their childhood. To her, if you really want to be evil (and why not it will make you feel better), you might make vague statements with a radiant face that make her believe, without your saying so, that you are spending that same time period with a man who makes you look more thrilled than your husband apparently did. This will pique her; but she will mention it to your husband, to salve his conscience.

He will know, from the children's testimony, that it is not true, so it will give him the idea that she has a dirty mind. It will also pique him. Two people in these states of mind are not going to enjoy themselves for very lone. DEAR MISS MANNERS In an account of a White House dinner, I read that it has been decided, from now on, to have the toasts offered at the beginning of the meal instead of the end. The reason given was that then people who give the toasts need not feel nervous all through the meal, but, being through with the toast, will be able to relax.

What do you think of this, Miss Manners? DEAR READER The people who give toasts at White House dinners are the president of the United States and his guest of honor, a head of state or a head of government. Any president or prime minister or queen who is unnerved at the prospect of giving a small speech, to the point of not being able to enjoy, his or her food, is in the wrong business. by JO OLJELLET Solution: 12 letters Au 114 '4-1-1 4- Joill ivsse.7) 44it 444, I -I (Lir, tfr 4, libi I IICia IV" -113 ..211, 4, 74 t- dy'1" tI'l -NV it 1..0. 4 41t3 e' ,..7.40,) ti" "00 40 ,0, 1 0'. J.

i. 4,4 I' 1( 1 ECI; 4, SID MESIBOV In short order he blended into the general euphoria of the others and has staked out a small part of the porch as his domain. He still goes out after sunrise and sniffs out the fields but he's the first to return before the sun dips too low. We think the Gulliver part of him has been sated as his daily look at us says, "Thanks for taking me back. I keep telling the rest of the gang that "out there" is all right for writers but for our kind East West, Home's Best.

Besides, I got lost again when I tried to find where I came from. What's that you people say; something about the grass being greener on the other side? Not so." on the rocks There is- an unsatisfactory biography entitled "Pearl White, The Peerless, Fearless Girl, written by M. Weltman and R. Lee, pub- lished in 1969. It is interesting mostly for the many pictures it contains which give a good idea oi the action in many of the Pearl White movies.

Janet O'Daniel, on the other hand, has written a novel entitled "The Cliff Hangers" (New York, 1961) which focuses upon those heady days when they made movies in Ithaca. O'Daniel illustrates the confusing and contradictory attitudes Ithacans held concerning the movie people who lived among them. She wrote: "She knew what his vision of Ithaca was. The quiet, academic town. The tree-lined streets, the streams in their echoing gorges.

The traditional built up slowly, layer upon layer through the years, growing richer and more glowing. The movie-makers had intruded roughly, bringing wealth and vitality and independent energy with them. They were gaudy and insubstantial and so attractive that they gathered the whole town into their whirling periphery." Next week: Irene Castle. Carol Kammen teaches local history at Tompkins Cortland Community College. WONVERWORD FLORIDA'S EVERGLADES HOW TO PLAY: First read the hat of words then look at the puzzle.

The words are in all directions vertically. horizontally. diagonally back. wards. Circle each letter of a word found and strike it off list.

The letters ars often used more than once no do not cross them out. It is best to find the big words first. When you find all the words listed in the chins you'll have a number of letters over which spell the Wonderword. CLUES Pearl White she was not like the girl next door. That is, not if you lived in Ithaca, New York.

She was unlike most of the women living in the city of Ithaca or known by Ithacans. In those days when most women neither smoked nor drank, This is the first in a series of articles on Pearl White and Irene Castle, two him stars who lived part of their lives in Ithaca, Poor Pauline, I pity poor Pauline! One night she's drifting out to sea, Then they tie her to a tree, I wonder what the end will be, This suspense is awful! Bing! Bang! Biff! They throw her off a cliff, They dynamite her in a submarine. In the lion's den she stands with fright. Lion goes to take a bite Zip goes the film Good night! Poor Pauline. So went a 1914 song dedicated to the heroine Pauline played by Pearl White the peerless, fearless girl.

some of the scenes used in the movie the Perils of Pauline may have been shot in Ithaca during August of 1914 but that serial contrary to local folk myth was not filmed in Ithaca, nor was it registered as having been produced here. It wasn't until December of 1914 when Theodore and Leopold Wharton began filming The Exploits of Elaine that Pearl White America's darling actress came to live and work in Ithaca, New York. She was the most flamboyant of all the silent screen stars who came to the area. She was known then and is remembered today as a fast-living, out-spoken, speed-loving woman. Her yellow Stutz Bearcat, which she drove recklessly all over the county gathering fines from local justices and spewing dust on unwary or curious pedestrians, was almost as famous as its exotic owner.

"The Exploits of Elaine" was a movie with fourteen thrilling segments. The film has been lost but the titles of the various parts remain to give a vivid idea of the intricacies of the plot. The story began with The Clutching Hand and sometimes the whole series was known by this title. The second episode was called The Twilight Sleep. Then the action moved along to The Vanishing Jewels, The Frozen Safe, The Poisoned Room, The Vampire, The Double Trap, The Hidden Voice, The Death Ray, The Life Current, The House of Three (a.m., obviously), The Blood Crystals, The Devil Worshippers and It ended with The Reckoning.

Throughout, Pearl White, her head covered by her famous Blonde wig, was threatened by thugs, saved from villians and rescued from rogues. The hero appeared from time to time and he can be seen in the still publicity pictures talking on a telephone and wearing a clown suit! The Whartons produced two sequels to "The Exploits of Elaine," one called "The Romance of Elaine" and the other "The New Exploits of Elaine." In each Pearl White dazzled the public with her daring escapes yet it was not she but stunt men who swung down ropes and Jumped off bridges. All the rigors of action in the "cliff could not be avoided by the star of the show, however, and Pearl White had her share of uneasy moments. Once she found herself in a tank with a dozen rats whose teeth had been clipped into jagged points; while another time the balloon she was to ride escaped its moorings and landed her, some hours later, in a prison exercise yard. As interesting and fascinating as Pearl White was to watch and she was an attractive woman ESNOI TA VA ESBOSONOPR GN IMALF SNWISRK NSMISTEE A INISESC.TOD TELDIGVOCNSNEST A ALIKN I I EEOLIWFCDU PRRNIOGATEO, TUROOTR A I LS, A TSOST AK ESS AS1DHGSEMSAPAWESOMEX MOPISPSFHTOEESALSEXIA ISSSCRRRMN A OM LW ECSUPPF A VVL AOTINGA l'AK, RHSOA ANNE CGSWIYNBOITT AISIOUEIHIO-00A0) I I LISRR-LKORSPA ESICFELIDETV CENESMHNDRIVEEESSGS Rides River Root Rose Sandpipers Sawgrass Scenes Serpents Show Snake Soils Sounds South Species Stakes State Stream Swamp Alligators Fact Marsh Animals Flamingo Mist Asian Flowers Mix Awesome Foxes Mosquitoes Frogs Birds Noises Rite Garfish Noon Birds Bite Garfish Botanists Gasp Bromeliads Gate Bushes Guides Observations Orchids Otters Canoes Count Creatures Crows Deer Drove Ducks Hawks Park Larvae Path Limestone Pahayohee Limits Pelicans Lures Plants Ponds Mangroves Posts Maps 'She knew what his vision of Ithaca was.

The quiet, academic town. The tree-lined streets, the streams in their echoing gorges. The were gaudy and insubstantial and so attradive they gathered the whole town into their whiding I1 125 To ordor Vloodonowl tiOloc000 mood 11 1110 wonOTeOlOre VC Met nowspopo 0 Soo 10 tot nip Oot OM 197 0 Los Angeles Times SyndIMS WORD SLEUTH Battle Tours Total Track Trails Trees Turtles Unique Vast Sit SOWS Vim Walk Water Wildlife Wings Woodpeckers Licensed by Soicrob 1, 11, i I I A RA FL! 0 11---I 1 11 Eti 11. T1 1-I Ail esetelled Mee, ST11001111 eN 0411010101-410101 Encounter Scrimmago Donnybrook RESRILSF ARGUELRR MPNOPBAE MRRSE A IDLLPEK LMECRDR I I NNIP.RIERWT COUNTRI G2 by JUDD DIRECTIONS: 2- to 74etter scoring 50-point value. Proper are forbidden.

and Rghto CO owner dine nodenornn Wideman SCRABBLE 1 1---I 11----S 1---1 1---1 T-1 RACK II Double Word Score I-I RACK 2 G21 Us Cl I1 Triple Word Score .....1 1-4 1-i ,......1. Et P3 C3 P3 RACK 3 .....1 1- 1----1 ti, 010 H.1 RACK 4 EERFG GHIA NBMEN TRYUM ICONT GCCON ELLAROF SCUFTLO ICOSACA RILIETMB FSTFMR0 ItIGIF CU SCRIZILK Pearl White did both. She drove her own car, usually at high speeds, and could swear as effectively as any man. It was her occupation, however, that set Pearl White off from most middle class Americans. Women entertainers, even if talented, were considered to be somewhat suspect and were regarded as people set apart.

Their life style was considered by many to be erractic at best, their exhibition of themselves, unladylike. Pearl While was born in 1889 in Green Ridge, Missouri. She grew up in the city of Springfield. She defied her pious parents by going on the stage, working as a printers helper in order to pay for acting lessons and a chance to appear in bit parts. Her father, believing actresses to be sinful creatures, threatened to get a restraining order from a local judge to prevent Pearl from appearing in public.

When he discovered that she not only performed during a play but smoked a cigarette while on the stage he is said to have declared, "I'd rather see you dead than act another part on the infernal stage." ENGENCOUN ENFLICIDO UGGLEFIRI NCOILIS STRSOC IWARBR FOUR RACK TOTAL TIME LIMIT: 20 MIN. Rearrange each row of letters to fon a word. To total points of your words, use directions to right of each row. 7-letter words get bonus. 'Blanks" used as any letter have no point nouns, foreign, slang or hyphenated words toteelley Plea Me NOW wee la ete eleerom.

Mire gen le bOCIIMPIft lit OMR eel Mmemelle Mo Meed elee MO: ROYAL Bout Fray Fight Brawl Match Fracas Strife Contest Scuffle Conflict Skirmish Struggle In Unned Feature Inc Answers on Page 19 C1979 Komi ftheIvril SVIId.cets Inc I I I It tEttt.