Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

The,Southern Israelite Page 13 / igh lights and Sidelights Gossip and News of Jewish Personalities By MARTIN GOLDE , V]th ]<v , ne Meyer safely tucked in Governor of the Federal Reserve B< ;<rd. it is quite in order to re- late a jjttk ancient history, in which the A | characters includes Teutons and lo-Sax<inv After Cchurman’s exit nan the p"St of American envoy to the i the Mitlerites, President {. M iver tin'US’lit it would be an excellent t Eugene Meyer at the helm a>>y in Berlin. But Herb was , ut ,,f order. He was foolish enough to ik that a man who is of German an- otry is < iirmati. He is—unless he hap- in-i^ to he Jewish. hrmigh the usual indirect channels by h such diplomatic amenities are con- I,ided tin name of Eugene Meyer was in pc'ted to Hindenburg. But evidently ,,dnr i»t Jewish flesh is not pleasant the n« *>trils of the Junkers, unless it inis to he the flesh of Jews burning ,s iodder on some German battlefield, make a long story short, the name Meyer was vetoed and Frederick kett was subsequently named. Red »e at W ashington is so thick that it iet*• a' a heavy curtain to muffle all that might disturb the public. \nyhow. the Germans know that Meyer •» a Jew. Perhaps the laugh will be n the Americans if at the next session f the Senate, when the Meyer appoint ing comes up, one of our abundant yokels hints that Meyer is ineligible be- ati'e of his Mosaic ancestry. n wondering about Jewish stars of the >t the name of Battling Levinsky and ' fate in this cruel, unappreciative "Hd amused my curiosity. After check 'll up on him I discovered that the fam- b'.xer, once the light-weight cham- i of the world, is about to settle down tter more than two decades of more or successful fighting, and that he plans "pen a business men’s gymnasium 1 nivwhere along Broadway. Levinsky was one of the most popular ’mhters of his time—which began around l 1 ' 11 " and eonculded last year. It was in hat Levinsky reached world renown ■ defeated Jack Dillon. But his lasted for only four years, for in I '-P Handsome George Carpentier level- ;, 1 Bat to ignominious defeat. Since then n struggling along. One wonders II 1m many friends of a well-to-do past Battling Levinsky as the pro- r, 'tor of ;i gymnasium. in>t often that the clergy gets 1 in this column. But when the t the cloth merit a break they " in grand style. Take the case "am Z. Idelsohn, for example. Jewish name, you would say. e is Professor of Music and r courses at the Hebrew' Union Cincinnati. The other day, 'paper accounts relate, Prof. 1 ame back to Pilsener Town 1 sad tale of woe to the local 1Ce : had been on a jaunt to ' 3 n a w * c ked confidence men him out of $5,200 on a fake he asserted. We hope the man will catch the bad, bad put them all in a dark, damp But Dr. Idelsohn—if you’ll personal mode of address— die difference as to whether race was fake or genuine? a tradition in the family of Mni, the famous actor, that as born his mother said: “My "ever be an actor.’’ In the nave passed, during which she her son grow into one of the country s noted dramatic stars, she has shown her objection to her son’s career in only one way: she never conies to see him in a play in which he has a dying scene. Talking of the stage brings me to Maurice Sshartz, the man who gave birth to the Yiddish Art Theatre and who is having more sorrows in keeping it alive than he had labor pains. Some montths ago he went to Argentina for several weeks of repertory. The money he made down in South America will be used to maintain Art on East Side’s Broadway. Recently Schwartz announced he would go to Philadelphia—and thus punish the callous theatre-goers of Gotham, who didn’t know a great artist when they heard one. But apparently Philadelphia didn’t particularly appreciate the honor that had been conferred upon it. So that Schwartz will play the old stand this sea son. But all this living from hand to mouth could have been avoided if Schwartz knew a little more about the box office and just a trifle less about Art. It hap pened this way : His nephew is John Wexley, who was puttering around with a play two years ago. He came to his uncle and urged him to put it on in Yiddish, saying that it was an excellent stage piece. But Maurice Schwartz, who insisted lie knew his Drama, pooh- poohed his twenty- four-year-old nephew. “Gwan, that’s rubbish—take it away,” he scorned. Last year that same play was produced on Broadway and made countless thous ands for Wexley and even more for the producer. The play which Maurice Schwartz had pooh-poohed was’Thc Last Mile,” that sensational play of prison life. Joe Weber and Lew Fields, that most famous of all comedy teams, are about to stage a comebck. Twenty years ago they were the wittiest pair in the busi ness. But old age creeping up on them knocked them for a row of poorhouses, except for the money they had laid aside. Radio, looking around for always new material to sate the millions of dial- twisters, decided to give Joe and Lew another chance. And so it is that they will be back in their old roles as Mike and Meyer, telling their stories with their own inimitable German accent. They won’t be the same stories, however. They’ve had to work up new gags, new situations. The new generation laughs at a different kind of crack. And show men who know their business supply the new kind. Here’s hoping that these two old Jewish veterans make the grade. Jascha Heifetz is one of the very few violin virtuosos who have thus far not succumbed to the wealth and fame offer ed by the radio. Nevertheless he has his own views on the subject. Recently, m discussing radio broadcasting wi^th George Engles, chief of the National Broadcasting artists' bureau. Jascha de clared that “broadcasts should be a little more artistic. During the intermission of an. orchestral concert let the announcer say that the radio audience may now re tire for a cigarette or a refreshing chat, and that the music will soon begin again. This would carry out the fine tradition of the concert stage, and • • • But Engles let him go no further, in terrupting with a mild sarcasm which shattered the naive musings of Jascha. “Only cost several thousand dolars m wire tolls while nothing is going out over (Copyright, 1930, by S.A.F.S.