Engaged. William Brown Dern, 27 RFC employe, second son of the Secretary of War; and Helen M. McCollam, 25 secretary to an RFC section chief, daughter of an unemployed Washington bricklayer; in Washington, D. C.

Married-Cornelius ("Neely") Vanderbilt Jr., 36, journalist and onetime publisher; and Mrs. Helen Varner Anderson 26, of Clarksburg, W. Va.; in Albuquerque N. Mex. where they met three years ago and whither they returned "because it seemed more romantic." Twice before has Journalist Vanderbilt been married: to Rachel Littleton of Chattanooga, Tenn. (divorced in 1927) and to Mrs. Mary Weir Logan of Chicago (divorced in 1931).

Left-By Mary Harriman Rumsey, eldest daughter of the late Edward Henry Harriman (TIME, Dec. 31): a $500,000 trust fund to her adviser and physician, Dr. William Joseph M. A. Maloney.

Left. By the late Col. Anthony Joseph ("Dandy Tony") Drexel, convivial expatriate (TIME, Dec. 24): a life income from $500,000 to Mme Helene Earth, a middle-aged Parisienne.

Died. George Bistany, 45, famed animalcatcher, superintendent of San Francisco's Zoo; of high blood pressure, a kidney ailment and grief; in San Francisco. Last November the Zoo's prize orangutan "Ginger" died of poison. Its keeper, Jack Bamberger, promptly took to his bed, died two days later of a heart ailment and grief. Superintendent Bistany, who credited "Ginger" with having saved his life when he was attacked by another ape, also fell ill. Explained he: "I don't know what happened to me. Ginger was my friend. He could lick 30 men." Two days after Bistany died last week a second orangutan named "Mickey," which had been so devoted to the superintendent that it was called his "private secretary," pined away to death.

Died. Professor George Pierce Baker, 68, famed teacher of playwrights; of pneumonia; in Manhattan. In 1902, teaching English 47 at Harvard, he let a group of pupils headed by Witter Bynner submit original plays instead of term-end theses. In 1912 Professor Baker's "47 Workshop" was formally organized with cramped working quarters and a small theatre. Professor Baker in 1925 accepted Yale's offer to run its luxurious new $125,000 theatre and drama school. He retired in 1933. Some Baker students: Eugene O'Neill, Philip Barry, Sidney Howard, Winthrop Ames, Robert Edmond Jones, Robert Benchley, Rollo Peters, Percy Mackaye, Donald Oenslager, Van Wyck Brooks.

Died. W1111am Sproule, 76, longtime (1911-18, 1920-28) president of Southern Pacific Railroad Co.; of a heart attack; in San Francisco.

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