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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 27, 1921)
TIIE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, FEBRUARY 27, 1921 M, w 'V.v;- ' JJ ".' W-l -J OP i 1 't - y , L i V V ' And the Surprising Evolution of Tearful Little Miss Hurley Into a Star at Just the Very Moment That She Was Estimating Her Damages and Sufferings at Ten Thousand Dollars in Cash. m Yn I f W v ? v i I f&V-VM ' I ' ' I vtV-M '-v3 If V- 'X . il IV, :rf J? I I? ' 'f f - -l' 'i-' Ttf'' ' 7 In1, "'i Nil i i i i w v . -. -i TbJa 1 Slariaa Barley nbe apprarrd at the ball minui her loat erater hell. BY FRANK DALLAM. CONSIDERING the somewhat hum ble station that was hers, pro fessionally, before the mad rev els of the artists' colony on New Year's eve, and the heights to which she suddenly has soared since then, it would not be at all amiss to refer henceforth to little Marian Hurley as "the Cinderella of the cinema." The original Cinderella had two sisters who were esteemed more beau t'ful than she. Only the opportunity was wanting to show how much more beautiful Cinderella really was than the others. Then, too, the original Cinderella went to the ball and lost her slipper, but it turned out not the catastrophe she feared. It made her a princess. Little Miss Hurley had hundreds of sisters sisters In art, that is to say who were considered far more beautiful than she. When the wanting- opportunity came along it showed Just how much more beautiful was Marian. Little Miss Hurley went to the ball and lost her oyster shell, which was a much more important part of her attire than was Cinderella's slipper. It looked to be very much of a dis aster at first, but as affairs have turned out it has made Miss Hurley a star, a princess of the films, who can give orders to orgulous directors and who can tell fussy producers pre cisely what she will or will not do. Better to understand just how im portant was the oyster shell In little Miss Hurley's ball costume, it should be set forth thats he was to wear it and little else. Not only that, but at a certain period In the revels she was to discard it. She was to step right out of It, as though It were a cloak. Then she was to stand revealed as "the daughter of Aphrodite," im pressing upon the other revelers that she had undoubtedly inherited all her famous mother's insouciance in the matter of drapery. What "happened was but that is the story. Up to the evening of December It, 1920, little Marian Hurley was merely a model. She wanted to be a motion picture actress, but somehow or other she could not find the magical pass word to the office of that personage of awe and influence known in the I film studios as the casting director. She told her ambitions and her dis appointments to no one, not even to her family. ' Just buckled down to the point in hand, did little Marian Hurley, and waited fqr a break in her fortunes, meantime improving the hour by practicing some fancy steps in dancing when she found herself unwatched at her home in New Ro che Ue, that suburb of New York which became famous because it is only 45 minutes from Broadway. It seems odd that no motion-pic ture director ever woke up to Marian Hurley's attractions for screen pur poses. The New York artists and magazine illustrators did the moment they saw her. Howard Chandler Christy found work for her when she applied to him. So did Clarence Un derwood. Likewise Frank Godwin, who draws girls' heads in a way to recall Gibson when that famous art ist was at his height as a black and white creator. They, and as many more, equally as prominent in their fields, kept Miss Hurley fairly busy. Still, when she had the spare time she used it In making the rounds of the film studios over and over again, seeking that engagement which it seemed never would come. Each morning she left her home in New Rochelle to go to the city to work as a model, saying little to her mother about the job she most want ed and still less to her father. While posing one morning early in Decem ber for Jack Casey, the San Fran csco artist, who has only recently returned to this country after a resi dence of 13 years in Paris, she heard fcr the first time of the wonderful costume ball the artists were going to give New Tear's eve at the exclu sive Hotel Des Artistes in Sixty seventh street. Just off Central Tark West. An idea came-Jo Miss Hurley. She listened on until in conversation was mentioned the name of a professional motion picture director who was to supply the spectacular climax to the fantastic evening. The climax was a great secret.. The producer had not even told the managers of the ball the nature of the masterpiece. When she left the Casey studio that day Miss Hurley had the name and address of this wizard who was to Invent and produce the high spot in the carnival. He was Albert Korten, who has an office in Broadway; Miss HUrley presented herself before Mr. Korten and demanded to know if he could use her in his plans. The di rector gave her careful optical ap BANKROLL OF AVARICIOUS BUSINESS BARON AND LAWYERS .THREATEN TO RUIN POOR LP Once It Was Rifle and Knife of Plainsman That Menaced Indian but Now It la Greed for Land and "Legal Lariat" That Are His Worst Enemy. BY CHARLES W. DUKE. ONCE it was tl of the plains ened the e: was the rifle and knife sman that threat- extinction of the Indian on the North American con tinent: now1 it is the bankroll of the avaricious business baron and the "legal lariat" that are driving Poor Lo from pillar to post, robbing him of his rights and threatening to cheat him out of his home sweet home, ac cording to Matthew K. Sniffen, valiant friend of the modernized red skin. "It used to be a case of the Indian scalping the white man; now we are confronted with a situation where we must exercise vigilance in behalf of the red man or he will be scalped by the white man," says Sniffen. Lest you forget on the moment the identity of Sniffen, he is secretary of the Indian Rights association, a non poiltlcal, nonsectarian national or ganization of public-spirted American men and women perfected 33 years ago "to take into consideration the best method of producing such public feeling and congressional action as shall secure to our Indian population civil rights and general education . . . and in time bring about the complete civilization of the Indians and their admission to citizenship." In the expansion of big business in America and the development of eco nomic resources on "a new post-war scale, the Indian figuratively Is fight ing for his own and may be downed unless pubic opinion Intervenes, ac cording to Sniffen. The scheming politician and the ambitious land owner compose an entente of their own, all Intent on defrauding the Indian of his rich cattle lands, his oil fields, his cotton and wheat tracts and his fertile waterfront areas. Sniffen knows what he is talking about. For years he has been travel, ing around among the Indians. As secretary of the Indian Rights asso ciation he has stood With others a little band between the diminished tribes of the south and west and "the modern tribes of . mercenaries, who know no law save their own." Now, in the tejieees of the reservations, now on the threshold of congress these Indian rights champions have fought the good fight for more than three decades. "Exploiting the Indian that's what we are doing or trying to do, says Sniffen. "In the early days of. this country the schemers sought to de spoil the Indian by force, by inciting outbreaks and causing him to be 'moved on' under the pretext that his presence was a menace to the peace of the border. Now the same ends are often attempted in a more subtle way 'under cover of law,' by act of congress. In order to get a comprehensive Idea of the Indian as he is today some questions were put to Secretary Sniffen, which he answered in chro nological order. They are repro duced, leading up to the points he clinches apropos of the exploitation of the redskin. "How many Indians are there in the United States today?" "About 336,000 Indians in this coun try, exclusive of Alaslia. They are distributed among some 130 reserva tions. About 180,000 of them are full- fledged citizens of the United States." "Are Indians as a race becoming extinct?" "In point of population the Indian today is about holding his own. In 1868 there were about 7500 Navajos; now there are about 35,000 of them. This is an-exceptional case; the ave rage would not so hold in many other cases. I should say, however, the great tendency is toward the absorp tinn of the Indian race by the white man." Is the Indian a good citizen?" 'No better answer Is available than the record of the Indians during (he world war. There were approximate ly 10,000 of them in our army and navy, mostly volunteers. Back of the firing line, thousands of them showed their patriotism in various ways. Their subscriptions to the lberty loans were about 820,000,000; they were In dustrious in Red Cross work and other war activities and responded splendidly along agricultural and stockraising lines. - And, strange as It may seem, the majority of these Indians do not enjoy the privileges of that democracy for which they worked and fought." "As an economic factor, is tm Indian generally a good workman? Can he produce and make good when given the opportunity?" "If the Indian gets the right kind of encouragement he would be prosper ous as a race rather than in indi vidual cases. It is impossible to put all the red men at the same kind of work and expect them to make good. Their tastes are different; their qual ifications different. The Hop! Indian is a natural agriculturist. The Pimaa suits. The Navajos are praisal. He studied her dimensions i up and down and across. He could use her, he finally decided, provided , "Provided what?" snapped the de termined little Miss Hurley. Well, provided two things, re plied Mr. Korten. "The first is that you don't mind being brought into the ballroom In an oyster shell-not a real oyster shell, you understand but a papier mache shell, which wi be built exactly to fit you, when you have made yourself as small as pos sible by the omission of clothes. Of course, you will wear silk and gauze fleshings. You may also let you long dark hair hang down your back, and a bracelet or two, and maybe necklace won't burden you with to much wardrobe "The second provision is that you be able to do a dance, an interpretative dance in consonance with the allegory t be depicted. I call this number 'The Daughter of Aphrodite.' Aphro dite, you doubtless remember, was never born; she just appeared on top of a wave hair floating down he back and all that sort of thing. As her daughter, you are not going to be born, either.. You are just going to pop as a beautiful pearl out of th oyster shell, which is to be brought into the ballroom on the shoulders of 12 husky sons of Neptune, "These sons of Neptune will place the oyster shell in the center of the ballroom and will then turn back the top half of the shell. Out you hop, like a brilliant, white, high-polished pearl, the music strikes up and you break into the Greek dunce if you know one." ,"I don't know anything about Aph rodite being born on top of a wave,' Miss Hurley is said to have replied but I do know I can fold into that oyster shell, and as for the dance, why, I'm there! That's all. Soon came the big night. Ths first part of the evening was a bewildering series of scenes of splendor and color. In a studied arrangement of events. the director had plaeed the arrival of the daughter of Aphrodite as the cap of Arizona are self-supporting farm ers. Others follow mechanical pur- sheaf immediateiy bef0re the signal wag given for all to throng upon the ballroom floor. The orchestra had sounded the opening chords of the entrance music for Mile, Aphrodite, In i curtained space adjoining the ballroom Miss Hurley, in a stunning costume that weighed all of halt pound, waited for her cue. "All set. Miss Hurley?" asked the director. "Ready," she responded. "Where's my shell and the husky sons of Nep tune?" "The huskies are here, all right," he said, "but sufferin' snakes, haven't you got the shell? You were supposed to furnish that. Why, it was part of your costume, quite as much as your bare feet." "No shell I thought you were go ing to supply that," said Miss Hurley. But a fig-leaf for oyster shells! I'll do the dance without one," referring, to be sure, to shells. "No time to hunt one up now. - Before the directors could object. Miss Hurley sped through the velvet curtains and out upon the dancing floor. It was a vision that sent up the temperature of -every beholder. The feninine spectators said Miss Hurley was the sweetest little thing they had ever seen... The masculine spectators gasped for air and couldn't say anything. For ten minutes Aph rodite's daughter gyrated and undu- ! lated and rotated, until 'finally she' floated out of the picture1, as her il- good at sheep cattle. "Take the Osage tribe: They are the richest of all the tribes. They have the largest per capita income of any race of people on the face of the earth. Of 2220 enrolled Osages, each one possesses 650 acres. Out of a total of 1,465,000 acres of Osage land, fully one-quarter is given over to the pro duction of oil. These people do an average of 825,000,000 businessin a year. Every one of the tribe draws down an average of 88000 in royalties on oil. They are industrious and thrifty. Your modern Indian, however, is no different from his white brother. Once possessed of wealth and af fluence, the tendency is to sit down and let the white man work for him. In this respect he is no different from any other person." Then the Indians as a whole have made the best of their opportunities?" "In spite of defects in administra tion and environments, the Indianhas made rapid progress in the last three decades. He is 'now In a transition stage, and it should be noted that he was asked to do more than was ever expected of the white man, namely, to take a step in a generation or two that required centuries for the Anglo- Saxon race. He has advanced more speedily than the regulations under which he is governed." A studio photo of Slariaa Hurley, nkg la now proclaimed aa "the aaoat perfectly formed model on earth,9 announced that she has Instituted lustrlous mother, on a wave of ap plause spumous with cheers of delight. After she had got out of her deep- ea clothes and into land togs mom suitable for a midwinter night. Miss Hurley avers, she went to Mr. Kor ten to collect the 8125 which she sayt she was promised for her one-dry mitation of an aquatic gambol. He refused to pay, but offered her 825 for her troubles, so she asserts. When she insisted that she had carried out er agreement and was entitled to the full amount, she declares, he grew inpatient and gave her a rude and violent shove against a table. She naled him Into court on a charge of disorderly conduct. Magis trate Nolan In the west side polio court heard the charge. Korten's de fense was a complete denial as to the assault. He said he had not paid er the full sum promised because the young woman had not lived up to her contract,. "How could I stage living pearl when she had lost her oyster shell?" he" asked the Judge. The stern magistrate, with an ap preciative glance at small Miss Hur ley and an added something about the pearl that was cast before people ho did not know how to value one, suggested a civil court. Miss Hurley acted on the tip at once. She han suit against Korten In the New York supreme court for 810,000 damage:! growing out of a breach of contract. But, as the poet says, clouds havn silver linings often. Miss Hurley's cloud was one of that kind. If Korten really did Shove, he shoved her Into fame at once. Directly the story of the Aphrodite dance and the sensa tion it caused at the Hotel des Art istes ball got Into the newspapers, Miss Hurley began to receive offerii of engagements from every motion picture producer of prominence in New fork. Vaudeville booking agents also bid high for her act. All named figures beside which the $125 she didn't get from Korten looked like the contents of a nursery savings bank. No more weary days of standing before the artist's easel for little Misa Hurley. She's a star now, or can bo whenever she wants. Some say find ing a pearl in an oyster shell prog nosticates good luck. Now, who will deny that a pearl who loses her oys ter shell insn't the luckiest one of all'! Mrrirrr Forma for X-Ray Study. There are about 600 organizations of scientists In the world for studying X-rays, and a Dutch leader in the science is trying to combine them in one international body.