A Ringing in the Ears

"There is an intimation at the women's colleges that a counter-reformation which could become the hope of the Republic may be under way," Author Bernard De-Voto (Across the Wide Missouri) observed in Harper's. "Jeans are no longer universal wear and no one now loses caste by washing her neck . . ."

"Nothing rustles, nothing casts a fluttering shadow: there is something frightening about the very unhauntedness of 'functional' modern rooms," Irish-born Novelist Elizabeth (The Heat of the Day) Bowen wrote in the Saturday Review of Literature. ". . . Atmosphere has been conditioned out of the air . . ."

"It seems to me that we are entering an era of materialism," Movie Director John Huston (Treasure of Sierra Madre) reflected in the New York Herald Tribune. "People are getting more and more reluctant to spend a dollar for a brief visit with shadows; they want something they can touch and feel, something heavy like an automobile or a television set . . ."

In Manhattan, Eugene Dennis, general secretary of the U.S. Communist Party, who just began serving a year in jail for contempt of Congress (TIME, May 22), got permission to leave his cell for a couple of days, under guard. He will spend the free time with attorneys, preparing appeals for himself and ten other Communist leaders convicted of conspiracy.

In Rome, Philosopher George (The Last Puritan) Santayana, 86, complained that because of Holy Year, the staff at the Catholic retreat where he lives is kept too busy serving the pilgrims. "It may be that sometimes I may be too exacting," he admitted, "but often I am very sure the food is too cold."

Actress Mae West announced that she would build and personally operate, in wide-open Las Vegas, Nev., a $1,000,000 joint to be called Mae West's Diamond Lil Casino and Restaurant.

Baritone Paul Robeson, great & good friend of the U.S.S.R., flew to London to speak at a rally on behalf of "peace." But he planned to be back in the U.S. by the end of the week for a concert date in Boston.

Chicago's longtime (1933-46) Mayor Edward J. Kelly, 74, was hospitalized with what his physician said was "probably a mild to moderate spell of acute indigestion."

In New Orleans, Dorothy (Mrs. Elizabeth Meriwether Gilmer) Dix, most durable (since 1896) of all the advice-to-the-lovelorn columnists, who admits to being almost 80, was in Touro Infirmary after suffering a stroke.

Just Folks

Recovered from a bout with sciatica, which she regarded as a "bore," Queen Mary was up at 8:30 as usual on her 83rd birthday, read many of the thousands of letters and telegrams that poured into Marlborough House, London. At noon she rode in her green Daimler to Buckingham Palace for the customary birthday luncheon. All in all, it was a busy week. A few days before her birthday, she showed up at the Chelsea Flower Show at Royal Hospital, was helped across a muddy stream (see cut). The day after her busy birthday, she took in the Derby at Epsom Downs.

Also at Epsom Downs, not yet recovered from his fall in a Swiss skiing accident last winter, Prince Aly Khan appeared on crutches to watch the Derby. In London, his wife, Cinemactress Rita

Hayworth, replied to a rumor from Hollywood: "I am not expecting again."

As the first European sovereign to make a state visit to France since World War II, Queen Juliana of The Netherlands was treated to the full red carpet in Paris (see cut). Tulips sprouted from chocolate boxes and gloves in store windows; flags and bunting hung from balconies and windows; cavalry parades, civic receptions and state galas snarled up the already tangled Paris traffic. After three days of it, Juliana and Prince Consort Bernhard flew home, worn out but happy.

Curtain Calls

Near Callander, Ont., the Dionne quintuplets turned 16. In longish rose taffeta party dresses and home permanents, they admired their presents from the family emerald rings. Said "Papa" (Olivia) Dionne: no dates for the girls for a couple of years yet.

Honored at a luncheon in Manhattan: U.S. Minister to Luxembourg Perle Mesta, who usually throws parties for other people. The luncheon, given by the International Business Machines' Thomas J. Watson and the A.F.L.'s Matthew Well, attracted such prominent guests as General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Margaret Truman.

Awarded the 35th annual Spingarn Medal posthumously (for outstanding achievement by a U.S. Negro): the late Charles H. Houston, a onetime dean of the law school at Howard University, and special counsel (1935-40) of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Contralto Marian Anderson, appearing at London's Royal Albert Hall, had to turn away from the audience twice to sing to the 1,200 music lovers crowded on narrow benches in the organ gallery behind the stage. The overflow of fans had stood in line most of the day to get in at all.

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