The NEW BERN /I———— / •UBLIIHID WIIKLY / ■WI mART OR / "'RM NORTH L-^*C - VOLUME 10 NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1967 NUMBER 81 Reaction to the columa on New Bern, written by Will Rog ers a third of a century ago, convinces us that his brand of humor would be as popular to day as It was way back when. Shirley Temple, now 40 and running for Congress, was Just a tiny tot when she co-starred In a movie with Will, but the two got along gloriously to gether. It was Shirley, consplclously small among the adult digni taries, who unveiled the plague of him in Hollywood's Rogers Memorial Hall. Facing the crowd as she drew the cord, she said, “I loved him, too." Will made a fortune from his shy smile, drawling manner of speech, and witty observations, but be was no miser. With out fanfare, he donated huge sums to countless charities. He thought nothing of flying thousands of miles to raise funds for disaster victims. And It will hardly surprise you to learn that he was a soft touch for every cowboy and ranch- hand who came to Hollywood in search of fame, and sought him out. Rogers was first and last a cowboy himself, an honest to goodness one, and he never tried to act above his rais ing. The last Christmas of his life bis wife gave him a trac tor for the ranch he loved so well. His foreman later told of seeing the tractor pushed to one side, and seventy-five cow hands plowing and grading a plot of ground. Asked why he wasn’t making use of the trac tor for the job. Will said, "But tractors don’t have to eat.’’ Will didn’t start out as a wisecracking entertainer. His stock in trade was a rope twirl ing act that earned him his hoecakes in circuses and on the vaudeville stage. Only fellow performers, out of public view, were treated to samples of his rare wit in those early days. None of them. It seems reasonable to assume, dreamed he would become a world figure. It has been said that Rogers fed his first wisecrack to an audience at Tony Pastor’s, a New York night spot of con siderable fame. Nearing the end of his act, he wiped his forehead after completing a dif ficult twirl and confided, "Spln- nln’ a rope is fun, if your neck ain’t in it.’’ Will was the gent who came up with the oft quoted remark that "The United States has never lost a war or won a conference.’’ It was inspired by President Woodrow Wilson’s generosity at the post-World War peace parley, but the words still ring true In troubled times like these. On one of countless trips abroad, he wrote, "I must tell you about Venice. Say, what a fine swamp that Venice, Italy, turned out to be. I stepped out of the wrong side of a Venice taxicab and they were three minutes fishing me out. "I got seasick crossing an alley. If you love to have someone row you In a boat you will love Venice. But don’t try to walk or they will be searching for you with grappling hooks.’’ Everyone was fair game for (Continued on page 8) NEW BcSN CRAVEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii QUITE A PAIR — Will Rogers (see Looking Glass) seems to have been talked into a trance by a very young Mickey Rooney, but you can bet your life Will wasn't missing a word. Both were established movie stars when the photo was snapped. At the time, Rogers hadn’t written the hilarious column about New Bern that appeared in last week’s issue of The Mirror. Rooney probably still doesn’t know it, but like the famed humorist he too was linked in a limited sense to the State’s historic First Capital. Mickey’s father, Joe Yule, played the role of Jiggs when “Maggie and Jiggs” graced the stage of New Bern’s Athens Theatre many moons ago. Yule was a natural for the celebrated cartoon character created by George McManus to de light those who reveled in the Sunday funnies. It really is a little world, isn’t it?

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