Engaged. Molly O'Daniel, 19, daughter of Texas' elaborately homespun Governor W. Lee ("Pappy") O'Daniel; and Jack Devereaux Wrather, member of one of Texas' oil-wealthy families; in Houston.
Engaged. Brenda Marshall, 24, full-fashioned cinemactress; and Actor William Holden; in Hollywood; shortly after she had got her final divorce decree from Actor Richard H. Gaines.
Married. Rush Dew Holt, 36, once the baby Senator from West Virginia; and Helen Froelich, 27, Washington schoolteacher; in Gridley, Ill.
Married. Poet-Critic William Rose Benet, 55, onetime husband of the late Poet Elinor Wylie; and Marjorie Flack, 43, children's writer and illustrator; he, for the fourth time; in Newtown, Conn. His marriage to Actress Lora Baxter ended in divorce in 1937.
Died. Poultry Farmer Philip Morgan Plant, 39, who until seven years ago lived in gossip columnists' showcases; in Manhattan. Born Philip Manwaring, he was adopted by his mother's second husband, transportation Tycoon Morton F. Plant, who left him $15,000,000. Divorce from Cinemactress Constance Bennett cost him a $1,000,000 settlement, divorce from Big Game Huntress Edna Dunham a fifth as much, an auto crash with Showgirl Helene Jesmer $75,000. His third wife, ex-Showgirl Marjorie King, survives as his widow.
Died. Senator Byron Patton ("Pat") Harrison, 59, Congressman for 30 years; in Washington (see p. 75).
Died. Chain Publisher Paul Block, 63, lifelong advertising salesman, who bought and sold papers he scarcely had time to get acquainted with; in Manhattan. Nearly a score of dailies from Brooklyn to Los Angeles passed through his hands, but he wound up with three: the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Toledo Blade, and the Toledo Times. He gave Hotchkiss School its chapel, endowed a $100,000 foundation at Yale to study the relation of newspapers to public affairs.
Died. Agustin Edwards, 63, Chile's No. 1 publisher, longtime diplomat; in Santiago. His best-known publishing property is El Mercurio. He was at various times Minister of the Interior, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister to Spain and Italy, Ambassador to Britain (1935-38), and once president of the League of Nations Assembly.
Left. By Patrick Francis McElroy, candy butcher on the Long Island Railroad for 60 years: $70,980. Believed responsible for his fortune were market tips he got from affluent Wall Street commuters.