TIIE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, FEBRUARY 27, 1921
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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.
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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.