Family Circles

Winston Churchill saw news pictures of Franklin Roosevelt motoring in the rain, promptly sent a dutch-uncle message to the U.S.: "Tell your President not to go out in the rain. I know what he'd say to me if I did it."

General Joseph W. ("Vinegar Joe") Stilwell, commandless at his Carmel, Calif, home, shed his ribbonless four-starred khaki for slacks and an old black sweater, met the press informally. Mum on the subject of his removal from China, grizzled Vinegar Joe said his hat was off to this generation of U.S. fighting men, averred that his being at home just "waiting" was "very tough on Mrs. Stilwell," swore that he ranked around the house "right after the dog."

The Rev. Adam Clayton Powell Jr., 35, Manhattan's first Negro Congressman-elect, who preaches hellfire in a gates-ajar collar to his flock at Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church and kisses the womenfolk in the congregation afterward, ran into parsonage trouble. Mrs. Powell, a onetime nightclub performer, sued for separation after eleven years of marriage, charged Pastor Powell with "infatuation" for another nightclub performer. Broadway wiseacres immediately identified the parsonage-wrecker as round-eyed Pianist Hazel Scott, famed in cafe society for blending boogie-woogie with Bach. Asking the court to grant her $100 a week temporary alimony, Mrs. Powell told virtually all: "I pleaded with him to make good our marriage, in view of the fact that he was sure to be elected to Congress. He seized me solemnly by the shoulders and said it was too late."

Bouquets & Brickbats

Lieut. General James Harold ("Jimmy") Doolittle, brilliant, scrappy commander of the U.S. Eighth Air Force, stood happily by while Corporal Ruby Newell, of Long Beach, Calif., accepted a bunch of roses and the verdict of U.S. doughboys stationed in England that she is "the most beautiful WAC in the European theater."

Captain Joseph ("Joe") Gould, 48, cigar-mangling peacetime prizefight manager, whose most famed charge was ex-Heavyweight Champion James J. Braddock, went down for the count before an Army general court-martial. He was found guilty, as an Army contract officer, of conspiring to defraud the U.S. of $200,000 on Army contracts, sentenced to three years at hard labor, a $12,000 fine and dismissal from the service. Said one of his associates along "Jacob's Beach," hoary Manhattan rendezvous for the pugilistic trade: "He never should of done it during the war."

Lieut. General Omar Nelson Bradley, busily engaged on the German front, was served notice by city officials of his home town, Moberly, Mo., that his 1945 auto license plates were on their way. They had assigned him license No. 1, hoping that the plates would roll into Berlin on the General's jeep before the license expired.

Grand illusions

Mary Purnell, vigorous, 83-year-old "Queen" of the City of David and widow of "King" Benjamin Purnell, founder of the vegetarian, ball-playing House of David, told her bearded subjects that Adolf Hitler had somehow conveyed a personal message to her. Said Hitler: "I'm dead. Stop the war. I'm sorry. . . ."

Henry Morgenthau Jr., who has been Secretary of the Treasury longer (eleven years) than all but two of his predecessors,* admitted that he sold Term IV short. When the three-year lease on his Washington quarters expires next February, the Secretary will be houseless (the owner plans to move back in)./- Asked if he had really believed that the President would not run for a fourth term, the Secretary said: "I didn't--not three years ago."

Mrs. Mark W. Clark, trim, white-haired, publicity-wise wife of Lieut. General Mark Clark, expressed a wish to be "even a honky-tonk dancer" as a sure-fire passport for overseas service, sighed: "But I haven't got glamor."

Sacha Guitry, unctuous, prolific Parisian Noel Coward, jailed for suspected collaboration, was given his "provisional freedom." Reason: lack of evidence. In jail, 59-year-old, bon vivant Guitry held a daily salon, accepted flowers, pillows, black-market chocolate, U.S. cigarets from admirers. Upon his release, he entered a clinic to calm his nerves, rebuild his appetite. Said a sour acquaintance: "There's nothing wrong with dear Sacha that flattery won't cure."

Mrs. Rex Beach, wife of the novelist, phoned from her Manhattan hotel suite and was greeted by the switchboard operator with a cheery "Hotel Algonquin." Replied Mrs. Beach: ".Yes, I know." Asked the operator, "Is this 1106?" "No, it's 408, and I want to order breakfast." Operator: "There's no room service except Sunday." "Yes, there is: I've . . . had breakfast up here every day--and furthermore it's Sunday." Operator: "Sunday! My God, I'm not supposed to be here."

* Albert Gallatin (1801-1813) and Andrew Mellon (1921-1932).

/- In Rochester, N.Y., Congressman Joe O'Brien, incumbent Republican who lost his seat to his friend and Democratic opponent, George Rogers, politely agreed to rent his Washington apartment to Rogers, easily arranged for only a two-year sublease.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.