After a decade of giving her top billing in his movies, Herbert ("Papa") Yates, 72-year-old president of Republic Pictures, signed a new contract with his favorite cinemactress, Vera Hruba Ralston, 31, onetime Czech skater. He quietly escorted her to Burbank and bought a marriage license.
The Duke of Edinburgh enjoyed his first ride in a jet aircraft: a 72-minute, 500-m.p.h. test flight over southern England and the Channel. The plane: British Overseas Airways' new Comet airliner, designed to launch commercial jet travel this spring between Britain and South Africa.
With her old friend Drucie Snyder Horton, daughter of the Treasury Secretary, and an escort of six Secret Service guards, Margaret Truman arrived in Malibu, Calif, for a two-week beach holiday and some personal appearances. For the radio, she chose the operetta Sari, in which she played the daughter of a gypsy fiddler; for television, she started rehearsing as the friendly foil of Comic Jimmy Durante.
Some sons of well-known fathers were getting their names in the news:
Spring turnout for the varsity baseball team at Princeton included Thomas E. Dewey Jr., 19 (pitcher), and the pollster's boy, George H. Gallup Jr., 21 (catcher). In Manhattan, James W. Symington, 24, son of the retired RFC head and a law student at Columbia University, picked up a contract to sing in the Carnaval Room of the Sherry-Netherland Hotel. Said Tenor Symington: "I'm paying my spring tuition with what I get here." Nicholas Eden, 20, son of Britain's Foreign Secretary, left Oxford and arrived in Ottawa to begin his new job as aide to Governor General Vincent Massey. He was, he said, "a summer sports man. I don't ski or skate, but I expect to enjoy my visit to Canada very much."
Past Masters
Eleanor Roosevelt received an honorary Litt.D. degree from the University of Delhi, and a compliment from former U.N. Representative Sir Senegal Rau. Said he: Indian visitors to the U.S. are impressed by two things. "First is Niagara Falls, and second is Mrs. Roosevelt."
Evangelist Billy Graham, 35, arrived in London to conduct his own special blitz against sin. An audience of over 7,000 filled Albert Hall to hear his sermon. The Graham theme: "I am absolutely convinced that we are living in an hour just before the judgment of God strikes." His score for the first evening: seven converts.
In Copenhagen, Denmark's King Frederik, who is proud of his muscular, tattooed torso and sailing skill, displayed his talent with the baton. At a private concert for family, friends and diplomats, he conducted the Royal Danish Symphony Orchestra through Mozart's Symphony in G Minor (No. 40) and Weber's overture to Euryanthe. Among those who listened and applauded: famed British Conductor Sir Malcolm Sargent.
In Princeton. N.J., Albert Einstein ignored his 73rd birthday. Said his secretary: "He doesn't care about his birthday at all. He won't even have a birthday cake."
Nurse Sister Kenny, who announced last year that she was suffering from Parkinson's disease and would spend the rest of her life in Australia, told Sydney reporters that she now feels well enough to plan a two-month trip to the U.S.
Hard Lines