Cincinnati Crust

To Cincinnati last week went Sir Frederick Whyte, LL.D., Knight Commander of the Star of India, author, statesman, longtime president of the Indian Legislative Assembly, lately adviser on foreign affairs to the Nanking Government. Few days later Sir Frederick departed, with Cincinnati newsreaders none the wiser save for the fact that he had delivered a lecture entitled "The Future of England"; that he and Lady Whyte had been put up at the Walnut Hills home of Professor & Mrs. George Barbour; that Lady Whyte, at dinner, had worn a red evening dress. Sir Frederick's ideas on England's future or on any other world problem remained sacred to 160 members of the local English-Speaking Union, whose guest he was. Thence arose a teapot-tempest between the Cincinnati Press and Cincinnati socialites.

When Sir Frederick and his lady came to town they were promptly pursued to the Barbour home by newshawks. There the newsmen were told that Sir Frederick was under contract not to give interviews before his address two nights hence. Under contract to whom? To the Cincinnati chapter of the English-Speaking Union, headed by social-leading President Joseph Spencer Graydon.

The McLean-owned Enquirer was polite about it; the Taft-owned Times-Star, less so. But here was a chance for the Scripps-Howard Post to demonstrate its boasted disrespect for the upper crust. The Post splashed a conversation between its city editor and Dr. L. W. Scott Alter, treasurer of the Union:

". . . We are a closed group and membership is by invitation only"

"Will any reporters be admitted [to the lecture] ?" '

"No. That is, only society reporters."

"And you won't give us permission to speak with Sir Frederick today?"

"No, we certainly will not."

The Post went on to flay the English-Speaking Union editorially. Excerpt: "Pearls of wisdom which fall from the lips of Sir Frederick Whyte . . . shall not be cast before -- well, not before run-of-mine citizens of Cincinnati thru the medium of newspaper news columns. . . ."

The night of the lecture in the "Gold Room" of the Queen City Club, the Post's society editor found herself secluded from the guests, at a table on the balcony. Later she declared that she had been served only one course of the dinner. The Times-Star reporter, a Rhodes scholar, left in a huff. Nevertheless all three papers obediently reported only the chit-chat of the event on their society pages next day, mentioned only the title of Sir Frederick's hour-and-a-half address.

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