UPTON CLOG? - SUNOCO, TITUFFDAY. VAY 6. I9S7. GOOD EVENING ALL: Fifteen years ago a motion picture director known as William Desmond Taylor was murdered in Hollywood, A hurri­ cane of scandal followed, involving the names of two of the most attractive female stars of the silent screen. One - the piquant, black-haired, little comedienne, Mabel Normand, long since dead. The other - blonde Mary Miles Minter, very much alive. Today the whole case is in the headlines again. Today a district at­ torney who was but a youth when the crime v/as conuniited announces that he ^UBDER -2 is reupening the case. He is bringing it before the grand jury. He has subpoened Mary Miles Mlnter, her sister, Mrs. Filmore, and her mother, Mrs. Margaret Shelby. One of the most lurid rumors back in 1922 was that a pink sil^ night gown, belonging to Mary Miles Minter, had been found in TaylorTs room. Throughout the years that story kept cropping up in local gossip* l^iss Minter, now a young woman of thirty-five, became exasperated. She went to^Los Angeles police headquarters where she demanded to be shown that night gown. The police oould^t find it, couldn’t find even record of having had it* That’s thatj said the young actress, who next went to District Attorney Fitts of Los Angeles. ’’I’m tired of all this gossip and rumor,” she said. ”1 demand to be either prosecuted or that you publicly vindicate The district attorney replied: ’’We have no evidence to warrant reopening the Taylor investigation. Naturally, there fore, we are not prepared to prosecute anyone and we do not accuse anyone.” MURDER - 3 Why then is the case to be reopened now? It** a consequence of a row between women of the family - reminiscent of the troubles of Aimee Semple MacPherson. Miss Mlnter,s sister, Mrs, Fillmore, brought suit against the mother of both Mrs. Shelby for a large sum of money. Depositions were taken in the case. Mrs. Shelby*s lawyer asked the daughter; "What did you do to earn such a sum as a hundred and thirty-three thousand dollars?*1 Mrs, Fillmore replied: nWell for one thing I stood between my mother and the William Desmond Taylor case.** ’* Was your mother suspected of the murder?** asked the attorney. And the daughter replied: **Some people said so.** She then went on to explain: "Another thing I did was to take Mary’s diaries (meaning her sister’s) and put them in a safety deposit vault. They were so diabolical, so pathetic, that they would have made Mary Aster's diary look like a postscript." Then she added: "I didn't want my mother to publish them against my sister." Well of course that deposition by Mrs. Fillmore became MURDER - 4 a matter of record. When the District Attorney read those remarks, he promptly sent to Mary Miles Minter's home in Beverl y Hills and seized the diaries. For the next few weeks we may expect a lurid and pathetic rehash of that 1922 scandal, that made the entire film industry tremble in its shoes. So now Mary Miles Minter is to have her request - the district attorney and a grand jury is glad to accommodate. SPAIN V A sad exodus began today from the Basque harbor of Bilbao, which is called the Spanish Pittsburgh, It was the first evacuation of women and children from the beleaguered city, five thousand of them In two Spanish passenger liners* | Many of those children will probably never see Spain again* A great number of those little exiles are orphan^, not only were their fathers killed on the battlefront, but their mothers perished in the bombardments. From all accounts, it was a spectacle even more pathetic and heart-rending than the arrival of Belgian refugees in England twenty-three years ago. Around the neck of each child was a printed card bearing its name and where it was bound for. The ships carrying them got away safely, but that's no thanks to the clemency of the Rebels* As those ships were steaming out of port. General Franco's cruiser, the ALM1EANTE CERVERA, came puffing up under forced draft. Each of tehOT* liners had a red cross painted on its sides, and they flew the Red Cross flag. But that didn't seem to mean anything to the Rebel warship. SPAIN - 2 For a while it looked as though the Spanish ships would be captured. But suddenly out of the fog loomed a huge bulk steaming fast. It was the powerful British battleship ROYAL OAK. The captain of the ALMIRAMTE CERVERA evidently didn,rt feel like trying conclusions with a real man-o-war, so he turned tail, and disappeared in the mist. The Rebel destroyer VELASCO hung around for a while, but soon decided that the game wasn't worth the candle. General Franco, of course, had protested the evacuation of Bilbao's women and children, it will help the defenders, he said, if they haven't those mouths to feed, those defenceless non-combatants to protect. More women and children will be evacuated tomorrow. They'll all be distributed among various cities in France. Doctors, nurses and relief workers have been mobilized to take care of them. Some of them will be looked after by colonies of Spaniards sympathetic to the government. In Barcelona Anarchist troubles broke out again. SPAIN -3 Tluit settlement between the liberal and radical elements doesn’t seem to have taken very well. l1he Valencia government was obliged to take troops away from the battlefrents and rush them up to Catalonia to suppress guerrilla fighting by anarchists. Elsewhere in the peninsula today’s story is pretty much the same as yesterday’s. The government claims successes. The Basques continue to push back the beleaguering rebels. SPAIN CONTINUED ihe rumor comes out of Rome today that Italy and Germany are going to give Franco one more chance, with strong reinforcements, to take Madrid* In other words, more of that policy, which is not exactly new, of not letting the right hand know what the left hand doeth. Officially, of course, Italy and Ge'rmany are ardent members of the non-intervention committee of European powers. Unofficial, and unconfirmed, are the whispers coming out of Rome^ te~ imc of/out that a new' joint fascist effort ll to turn the tide in Spain has been decided upon during Foreign Minister von Neurath*s conference with Mussolini. For the glory of Fascism, it seems, neither country can afford to let Franco be beaten. Sounds like a dangerous game I Already more than a quarter—million of the flower of II Ducefe army is on the African side of the Mediterranean. How many troops dare he spare for Spain? Is he sure enough that the new English government — to follow the Coronation will continue a policy of vacillation? If he is not sure he had Historically the British Lion has a way of better be careful. SPAIM CONTINUED _ g letting challengers over-reach themselves — then springing when they are off guard. On the other hand Mussolini has been the best psycho-analyist of the British political mind to appear in tills century. Is he still reading it aright? As to Germany — one does not conceive of the cautious German army chiefs wasting much strength on side issues like Spain. Then there*s France. One does not believe that French Radicals, important as they now are, will permit Germany and Italy to divide Spain. Of course if tiusf. these nations are without hope of dividing Spain*s resources, they will hardly be interested in spending men and money on Spain. And if the Fascist powers are really interested in starting a general European war there are other wrays of doing it that put them under less onu s. There is another possible explanation — that for the sake of maintaining respect in their olm countries the fascist Dictators have to inspire xofio such rumors. Even their much SPAIN COM Til'll] ED - 5 indoctrinated, subjects cannot fail to have heard by now of the faiiute of the earlier intervention in Spain. Maybe the whole thing is talk — maybe the undenied Roman whispers are officially inspired after all — to pftrsuade England and France into joining them in forcing peace in Spain A that would be favorable to their interests. ENGLAND - FOLLOW SPAIN There v ere further repercussions in England from that Spanish muddle. His Majesty*3 opposition expressed its extreme dislike for the policy of His Majesty’s Government. The non-intervention agreement, said a prominent Labor member, was useless, ineffective. It works out, he said, to the dis­ advantage only of the Spanish Government and to the advantage of General Franco. The Government answered in the expected fashion - well, but saying nothing. WINDSOR The spotlignt that was on the Duke of Windsor and Mrs. Simpson has shifted to the presents which are pouring Into the Chateau de Cande. These gifts seem to be provoking a good deal of nervousness. They are delivered at the Chateau by policement, not by mail carriers. If Mrs. Simpson doesn’t recognize the name or address of the sender, she hands them to a policeman and says: "Send them back." Some of the bulkier packages are carefully scrutinized by the bomb squad of the local gendarmerie. One parcel was found to contain rabbits’ feetl ( :<rk..r And by the way, the date of that wedding has been advanced. The Duke isn’t going to wait until May 24th, his Grandmother's birthday, to make Mrs. Simpson the Dutchess of Windsor. It was stated definitely today by a spokesman for the loving couple that they would be married immediately after the Coronation. RAILROAD /if\ Do you remember that railroad empire the Van Sweringen boys of Cleveland built up, and that was bought for a song by neighbor George A, Ball of Indiana, who made the glass jars emu mother^ canned fruit in? Ball made a charity foundation of it, Then sold to three investment brokers for six million, three hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, which is said to be just ':v .m one five-hundredth of the actual value. ' if All this has made the Railway ifll Finance Committee of the Senate mighty curious. They want to know a lot of things. The Chairman of that Committee happens to be ace Congressional-investiga- tor Senator Wheeler of Montana. Says Senator Wheeler of the forthcoming investigation: nI expect some sweeping legislation will be the consequence^*# It will probably mean that Congress will have to do away with railroad holding companies.” HUGHIS Much to-do is being made about that speech of Chief Justice Hughes, his annual address to the American Law Institute in Washington, it is being construed as i»y-inforonoo a retort to President Roosevelts proposal to increase the Supreme Court of the United States* liose scrutiny of his words^^seem to make that inference a trifle far fetched. Naturally, the Chief Justice makes no joa open mention of the Roosevelt plan. As he wrote to the Judiciary Committee of the Senate some weeks ago: "The politics of the issue I do not discuss." For a large part, his address was an eulogy of the late Elihu Root. Having finished that, he said: "It has been my custom on these occasions to refer briefly to the work of the Supreme Court. For sever&l years I have been able to report at these meetings that the court'is fully up with its work. I am happy to say that this is true of the current term." tjhg Chief Justice then went on to repeat and amplify that statement. He also reeapituated with considerable more detail whathe had told the Judiciary Committee. 8e related the HUGHES - £ progress and improvement th^t k i that had been Bade in the procedure of the federal courts in general iw u W here are the remarks which are being interpreted as a renlv ^ o P y to President Roosevelt* "The success of democratic tuctitutions," says Chief Justice Hughes, "lies in the success of the processes of reason as opposed to the tyranny of force. Between these, society must choose. If society mhjaEccttax**™ chooses the processes of reason, it must maintain the institutions which embody those processes.n Further on he said: "The firm and true administration of justice is the primary concern of civilized society. That administration must find its ultimate assurance, not in statutes or forms, but in the sentiment of a free people, themselves tolerant and reasonable and keenly alive to the necessity of maintaining the instrumentalities for the impartial » determination of controversies." y "Wo CS-v-N-*- (, Such a; were the remarks-by Ohlof -Justice ■Ifaghgs—bhat -are wUTk helng-nrm s t m ad—ae- a Teryl’r-trr- -Pr e a + DERBY * Kow ^o.. ^he really big question of the day in these United States* hasn t to do with the Supreme Court, nor the Spanish Civil War, nor murder, crime, nor any investigation* It's focal point is out on the banks of the Ohio River, recently such a cruel and devastating torrent. " ----^ fa Qf course,9 Churchill Downs, Louisville* Where the waters three months ago ran furiously and muddily* Twenty or more three-year olds, the best in America, will run furiously on Saturday# But everyone hopes they won’t have to run muddily* Everyone, that is, except the owners of horses that are good mudders* And the big ques­ tion on Churchill Downs, from now until seven o’clock Saturday evening, is "will Colonel Edward Riley Bradley win his fifth Kentucky Derby?,, The old veteran of horse racers boasts of two records at Churchill Downs. As he himself says in the current issue of the SATOHDAY EVENING POST: "Four times in a Vdozen years my colors showed in front. Twice my horses finished first and second." And that record is four winnings to just double that of any other horse owner since the first Kentucky Derby Tfi g r'in 1875 DERBY -2 In his seventy-seventh year, Colonel Bradley has serious hopes of winning for the fifth time with a horse whose name as usual begins with a WBW» Brooklyn is the one with which he declares to win. But he says Brooklyn’s stable-mate, Baggen- baggage, ought to be a good second. The experts,! might( add do not agree with the erect white-haired colonel* Both his entires are far from being favorite. Nevertheless, no horse lover ever ignores a Bradley entry. And now, to paraphrase my friend Lowell, who is in Borne tonight, this is the length of it tonight — but tomorrow if all goes well you will hear from Mr. Thomas direct from the city on the Seven Hills. £7