Farm Boy Win
By WILLIAM C. UTLEY
1" OK BENTON made pood.
The roof of Chicago's palatial
I Civic Oi?era house raised a few
/ inches and almost floated away
on the crest of a wave of applause that
would and did surprise even an opera
bouse, on the nlglit of Tuesday. November
1-1- The cheers were not for
the glamorous and tempestuous Maria
Jeriiza. whose voice and beauty have
made her an international darling of
opera. Nor were they for Pnsquale
Amnio, veteran baritone whose lusty
notes have been sending chills or delight
up and down operatic spines lo,
\ these many years.
They were for Giuseppe Bentonelli.
whom the boys back home in Snyre,
Okln.. and the brothers in the Pi Kappa
Alpha house at the University of Oklahoma
remember as Joe Benton. But
jop or Giuseppe. Benton or Ben*
tonellL it was all the .same to the musical
world and the press who lauded
his American debut as Mario Cavaradossi
in "La Tosca."
Four times at the close of the first
set he had to return to the footlights
to take bows with Jeritza and Amato,
and finally to appease the demands of
the 3.000 out In front he had to take
a call alone.
Toasted by Elites.
After he had left his dressing room
and ,lhe army of waiting reporters,
i there was a lavish party in Bentonelli's
honor. Toasting him were the musical
world, the social world, the artistic
world. One of the most enthusiastic
celebrants was Prof. William g.
i Schmidt of the University of Okla
bourn. He wag the link that night
between Giuseppe Bentonelll and Joe ]
e\ itll N * K
I! |IPpMV \
\ y^- S t
Where Bentonelll Scored Hh
Benton. Perhaps he and Benton were
the only ones there who knew the
*tory. a story that Is America's story,
fUll Of rwl lilnnit niul flrrlif nml ifnixrnil
determination. It Is the ever-challenging
story or how a poor farm hoy battled
to fame and success.
It starrs hack In 1901. Oliver Horace
Benton was sick. Business worries
had precipitated a nervous breakdown.
"Change of climate," the doctors said.
"He must go to Arizona, where It Is
high and dry. The fogs and dampness
of Kansas City are more than he can
stand."
But the Bentons, Oliver and his wife,
did not go to Arizona. They moved to
western Oklahoma, which the government
was just then opening to white
settlers. It was wild country and they
were brave to pioneer its spacious
Plains.
But this was the land of hope and
health and freedom and new beginning.
Oliver was soon well and the
Bentons began with a vigor. They
were the builders of Oklahoma. When
the first railroad train came into the
section In the winter of 1901-02 Mr.
Benton got possession of a box car
some way and started the first church,
with himself as the preacher, although
he was not a clergyman. Soon it was
hill of the bristling youth that was
growing up in Oklahoma.
Joe remembers when they lived In
* tent. He remembers their struggles
*Ith the soil and the live stock and
the loneliness. He remembers their
dread Of th* win* <?lnH tho* hlow
*od blew across the plains until at
?^8bt his mother would cover them
yith the carpets to keep them from
freezing.
Worked Long Hours.
Joe was a good boy. He put In long
hours of heavy work. He picked
tilled the soil (many times It
**a the first time anyone's plow had
dipped Its nose Into the earth that he
^tivated), did most of the chores
teoded the live stock. He milked
ali to eighteen cows.
erokee Scout, Murphy. N
s Battle for Fa]
I Qw $%)
g nt I
Giuseppe Bentonelli.
"What i huleu most was washing
the cream separator," Joe says. "We
had no hot water and many a time I
had to break the Ice in the barrel to
get at the water. The lye was so
strong that It has ruined my hands."
The hands were not ruined to the
extent that he couldn't get plenty of
music out of a plnno, nevertheless. At
three, Joe had already shown all the
symptoms of becoming a musician. His
motner, who was always giving up
things for Joe, made some more sacrifices
and bought a piano for $i!3. It
was a funny, square thing and It came
fA I
'> j. |
s First American Triumph.
from St Louis. It was kind of old.
The date on it was 1SU7.
When it arrived the young man
found that his head Just about reached
the keyboard if he stood up straight.
His mother had given him a drum for
Christmas; he had beat lots of rhythm
and both of the sides out of it. but he
still had the drumsticks. He used
ineiii m sume mc (uuiik iyc-j 4,iC
keys were solid Ivory?solid, that Is,
until they met up with Joe. He split
every one of them with his sticks, unknowingly
causing him plenty of grief
Inter, for he was to play on that piano
for many years to come. t
His music lessons came long and
hard. He had to teach himself, for
no one In the house knew anything
about music. lie would go to Sunday
school and watch the lady at the footpowered
organ as she played "Revive
Us Again." He watched which key
she struck for the "re" part
of "revive." He made a menral note
of the key she hit for "vive." He went
home and struck those same keys on
the piano and was rewarded by hearlog
the same notes. In the hymn book
he saw which of these notes went with
"re" and which with "vive." He rea- I
soned that notes which went higher 1
up on the scale were higher on the
" * ka 'nnnil himself
piano, uerure iuug no iVHUU
reading music and playing it.
Takes Up Singing.
It was not until much later, however,
that young Benton began to sing. As a
youngster he had a very deep and
husky voice; when it changed, it became
a rich, full baritone. During his
last year in high school, a young woman
and her husband, friends of Joe's
mother, came to Say re. She knew
music and could sing herself. She became
interested in Joe, and saw possibilities
in his playing and in his voice.
She coached him and prepared him
for competition In a state-wide musical
contest.
Playing two difficult selections and
singing a familiar church hymn (be
1. C., Thursday, Novemb
me and Success
| cause any other music was so hard to
! procure in the wilds of western OklaI
homa just then), he won the contest,
I and with it a teachers' college scholarship
which he never used. lie was
just past sixteen.
After that came dark days, hut they
were days which had uiore. perhups, to
do with shaping Joe's career than all
of his study so far. He fell sick w'Jh
typhoid fever. For forty-sir days and
nights he battled with the fever.
! The fever left him weak and wasted.
| P.ut it was in that sick-bed that Jo*
i Benton, the farm boy, really became
Giuseppe Bentoneill, the lyric tenor
of American and Continental opera.
| When he had recovered he entered the
I University of Oklahoma, and tried out
I for the glee club. It was amazedly disj
covered that ids baritone voice, which
I la* had not tried since the typhoid got
him. had become a fine, rich tenor.
The glamor of the war attracted Joe
Benton while ho was at the university
and he tried to join the army,
hut was too young. He joined the
KOTC, and was commissioned as n lieutenant
In the infantry Just after the
war cioseu. He was graduated with a
bachelor of arts degree and won a Thl
Beta Kappa key.
.Toe didn't need the army to get to
Europe. On a shoestring he crossed
the Atlantic to study with the mnsters.
lie didn't always eat, he said, but he
studied night and day. At Nice, he
studied under the distinguished Polish
tenor. Jean de Reskc. His lesson on
March 31,1925, was the 'ast ever given
ioy the i:oie, who died seven days inter.
Still known as Joseph Benton, he went
u? iiaiy, wnere ne studied ror four
years.
When his teachers pronounced him
ready, young Henton made his debut
as the first tenor In the title role of
"Andrea Chenler" in the Teatro ltealle
del ropern at Rome. It was the beginning
of a European career that was
to take him through 411 performances
in thirty-four different operas.
He Becomes "BentoneM."
It was in his Itome debut that, upon
the advice of his teacher In Milan, he
i assumed the name of Rentonelll. Ills
reason was a good one.
"To the Italians my name sounds
| French," he explained. "They pro'
notince It 'Bon-Ton'. No matter if
you arc better than Caruso, If you
make your debut in Italy bearing a
French name, you are likely to get
grape-fruit thrown at you. Martin became
MartinetII. so I could see no reaj
son why Benton should not be Bentonelli.
In a Milan court it cost mc
three hundred dollars In law fees tc
have the new name legalized. I can
now use It In perfect security; It is
good even on passports."
When he returned home this year It
was the first time In five years. But
you will never find a more ardent patriot
than Giuseppe Bcntonelll.
Itentonelli Is still n "regular guy";
success hasn't spoiled him. When a
Chicago critic scored him for the lusty
manner In which he sang to Scarpia,
denouncing the chief of the Roman police
as a hangman and an unscrupulous
butcher, his enthusiasm was unruf
lied. The critic claimed he overplayed
the role.
"What do they want me to do?" he
asked. "Waltz up to the old villain,
.. i.l ? 1.1 , .....1 *l\ K
III. Kit; ma iiuu auu v/u, juu uuasj
or hangman, you!'?**
Bentonelli has been much Interested
in a career somewhat parallel to his
own. It is that of a fellow tenor ol
the Chicago Grand Opera company,
Myron Duncan. Duncan, a logger ol
Myron Duncan, the Logger, Who Also
Reached the Heights.
the north woods who was discovered
singing to the trees up in northern
| Wisconsin, made his American debut
a week later In the same role as did
Bentonelll. Like the latter, Duncan
"went Italian" over there. His name
became Mario Duca, but he has not
retained it in the land of his birth.
Bentonelll, dark, handsome and. in
his own words "more than thirty and
less than thirty-five," is a real American
young man. lie looks more like a
well-dressed collegian than anything
else.
?. WMtern Newrp*p?i Ualea.
er 30, 1934 fl| I
'Bioif
LIKE GRADING PLAN
IN MARKETING EGGS
More Careful Practices Arc
Found Profitable.
By P. E. Orajr. Poultrv Extension Specialist
Ohio Stulc Unlversitv.?WNU Service.
Each year more eggs arc marketed
on a graded basis. Along with thii
trend it Is noticeable that poultrymer
are taking better care of their eggs
! And we are finding that the farm prae
tlces leading to better quulity are n<
more tliflicult to follow than many oi
the practices now In vogue that lead
to poorer quality.
Kggs. like milk, deteriorate. Be
cause the egg conies In a sealed pack
age, and Us appearance seems muct
the same whether kept under goot
conditions or poor conditions, farmer!
have come more siowly to those prac
tlces that make for quality.
Here arc the four practices poultry
men say lead to good quality:
Remove all cockerels from the
flock as soon as the breeding season It
ended.
Use good laying ration. It happen*
that the best laying rations also art
proving to be the rations that giv<
Quality aiiil, ?lieu tuc a?"c fertile
hntchubllity.
Produce clean eggs, by using goot
litter In nests, on the floor, and cov
ering dropi>lng boards with wire net
ting.
Gather eggs frequently. One poul
I tryinun reports saving time by gather
! ing four times a day. He hnd lest
I washing to do, he explained.
Guinea Fowls Marketed
Like Other Game Birds
The marketing season for gulnei
fowls is during the latter part of tin
summer and throughout the fall. A
this time the demand In the city mar
, kets is for young birds weighing fron
one to two pounds each. As the sea
son advances, the demand is foi
heavier birds.
Guineas are marketed as game birdi
and, like game birds, are usually sole
on the market unplucked, althougl
hotels and restaurants buy then
, plucked. There are three varieties o
guineas, white, pearl, and lavendex
, | and although they were probably on<
of the earliest domesticated fowls, the;
still retain many of their wild char
acteristics. They can be raised prof
, itnbly on most farms where the younj
birds are allowed to range, picking u]
i waste grain and Insects.?Missour
j Farmer.
! nr T>?u T _ J-?
tv etuis ruuibryiiieii on louint
Because production of orbs with ;
high iodine content Is quite easy, an
J lately has become somewhat of a fad
California poultry men have been at]
vised by Dr. H. J. Almqulst, researc!
assistant in poultry husbandry, Unl
versity of California, to proceed cau
tiously along this line. "The prlnclpl
I guiding much of this work," he said
"seems to be that, if a small ainoun
of iodine in eggs is desirable, a larg
dose of it would be much better. Thi
1 la following the same rule whlcl
caused the Indian buck to kill himsel
with cough medicine." Minimum an
maximum iodine requirements of la;
ing birds and growing chicks, accord
ing to Doctor Almquist, are not knowr
and until they are, considerable cau
tion In the use of Iodine supplement
is to be recommended, he said.
Watch the Water Supply
Water fountains for poultry ar
often counted expensive appliances
Those who keep only a small flocl
i are ant to think nrdinarv nnen vmiaI
1 which cqd be bought for a small frac
tlon of their cost will do as well. Thi
i great advantage of the fountain i
i that it keeps the water much longe
, at the temperature it was when pu
| In, and that in summer there is ver;
little evaporation from it On a hot
dry day water will evaporate fron
open drinking vessels so fast tha
they may be dry long before the tlm<
when they are usually refilled When
the attendant Is away from home al
day, the consequence is that the blrdi
are without water when they need ft
most.
Poultry Affairs
Poultry houses should be ventilated
at the top.
Poultrymen have found it costs Jos
as much to feed a nonlaylng hen as ft
does a high producer.
The good layer has a long, slightl]
curved keel, a deep abdomen and
body, a broad, straight, smooth back
good chest development, straight
sides, with the width carried bad
from the hip bone to the stern. '
Paee Seven
typed messages by radio
Glenn Watson of Detroit and Walter
Lemmon of New York have perfected
a machine, known as m Watson
graph, which will send typed
messages by radio. As each key on
the machine, which resembles an ordinary
typewriter, is pressed it sends
out a cryptic tlash over a five-meter
, ' wave length, which c?[?erates a cori
responding key on a similar machine
equipped for receiving.
Automatic coding and decoding is
also Incorporated on the device, this
: equipment scrambling the message
so that only the machine for which
it is Intended can unscramble the
information. To prevent eavesdropI
ping by a clever cryptographer, the
J code may he changed at will by
1 simply throwing a switch.?rathfinder
Magazine.
:
' QUICK STARTING
> with CLEANED PLUGS
J I
; REMOVE OXIDE COATING WITH THE
, | AC SPARK riiiu CikANfcK?AND YOUR
MOTOR STARTS INSTANTLY.
...ONLY go * PLUG
No spark plug can
escapcOxideCoating
* ?the chief cause of
hard starting, loss
r f\CGIS TCfttO
of power, poor gas 'V a
mileage. But a thor'
ough cleaning?by a
1 RegisteredACClean- CLEANING
J ing Station ? is a STATION
"sure-fire" remedy.
, Replace badly M orn t??ptJ90'^h*
plugs M ith neiv ACs. ni.-r.6a
Condense Worries
j One hour a day might be set aside
to worry.
* | Whitens, Clears The
' Skin Quickest Way
No matter how dull and dark your
* complexion; no matter how freckled and
? coarsened by sun and yvind, Nadinola
1 Bleaching Cream will r ---^y:
whiten.clear and smooth r~' , S
! your skin to new beauty, jKgjjk
3uickest. easiest way. ?
ust apply at bedtime; f
"* Nadinola, tested and & Jl
ft trusted for over a gen- j/, W)
d eration, begins its beau- r
I tifying work while you t j
' sleep. Then you see day- fi %l"
by-day improvement un
h til jour complexion is fry .?"' >
[- all you long for; creamy jSrJ .
j. white, satin-smooth, EEL? J
lovely. No disappointments, no long
? waiting for results. Money-back guarantee.
Get a large box of Nadiuola
t Bleaching Cream at your favorite toilet
e counter, or bj' mail, postpaidr only 60c,
a NADINOLA, Box 15, Paris, Tenu.
h
f I
J Do you lack PEP 7
|. I Art you all In, tirad and run down?
; tflntersmlth's
n tonic
Will rid you of
MALAR/A
I. j and build you uo. Used for 65 year* for ChllU,
^ ; Fever, Malaria and
9 A General Tonic
y ; BOc and $1.00 At All Drorgiil*
B '
; help kidneys
f j TP your kidneys function badly
! A and you have a lame, aching
i | back, with attacks of dizziness,
t i burning, scanty or too frequent
j i urination, getting up at night,
| swollen feet and ankles, rhenmatlo
" ( Itains _ _ - URA n/Me'?
1 Doan's are especially for poorly
B functioning kidneys. Millions oC
t boxes are used every year. They
are recommended the country over.
Aele your neighborI
, DOAN'S PILLS
WNU?7 4S?34
t
1 BB391 PARKER'S
WtaWll HAIR BALSAM
?owotob D?Klraff-8*ops Hair Pallhv
HV _jH Imports Color wid
7 Pfll ?-f? pJC^uuj.
1 mjBmHiT,
FLO RES TON SHAMPOO Ideal for dm la
I eooiwetk? with Perkar'a Heir B*laam.Makoe the
_ heir eoft end fluffy. 60 cento by nail or et draw*
c lkrta,Hiecox Chemical Worka, PaUbocaeN.1*