The Realities
More than 1,000 followers with gold-embossed invitations to "The Marriage Feast of the Lamb" arrived in Philadelphia to help Father Divine, the self-proclaimed deity, celebrate the fifth anniversary of his wedding to Canadian-born Edna Rose Ritchings, whom he still proudly calls his "white, spotless virgin bride." For two days the "heavenly guests" shouted and sang as they waited a turn at the huge banquet table lighted with a neon sign: "God's Holy Communion Table of Unity Mission."
Back in the U.S. after spending 17 months in a Hungarian prison, Robert A. Vogeler entered Bethesda Naval Hospital near Washington. It would require "some time," Navy doctors said, for Annapolis-man Vogeler to recover from malnutrition, vitamin deficiency and chronic exhaustion.
Vice President Alben W. Berkley explained in El Paso why he spent so much time on speaking tours: "Since most of the American people can't afford to come to Washington to see the Government, I feel it's my duty to bring the Government to them." "
In London, Sir Hartley Shawcross, British prosecutor at the Nürnberg war crimes trials, and new President of the British Board of Trade, delivered a judgment on feminine fashions: "No woman in Britain should have so many clothes that she can ask her husband, 'What shall I wear tonight?' " Furthermore, he added, "the only clothes suitable for the wife of any member of the Government obviously are sackcloth and ashes nowadays."
Still suffering from a sharp attack of lumbago, Israel's Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion arrived in Washington for a four-week tour of the U.S. After a luncheon with the President and a confab with Government officials, he got down to work on the real purpose of his trip: to help launch the new $500,000,000 Israeli bond issue (TIME, April 2).
The Arts
When Margaret Truman stepped into the Pump Room of Chicago's Ambassador Hotel, fresh from Hollywood and her radio acting debut, the headwaiter led her to Table No. 1 with a respectful flourish. The last time Margaret had rated only Table No. 11. The reason for the rise in rank, the hotel explained: Miss Truman is no longer just a President's daughter and a singer; she is now a radio and television actress.
In Spokane, Wash., Austrian-born Ski Instructor, and former fire extinguisher salesman, Hans Hauser, husband of gangland's Glamour Girl Virginia Hill, asked U.S. immigration officers for permission to leave his home, take his wife and child south to teach skiing in Chile.
In Manhattan, Actress Gertrude (The King and I) Lawrence signed on for a bit-part in civil defense, got billing as air raid warden #18-1133.
Just before the concert was scheduled to begin in Birmingham, England, a local news photographer snapped an unauthorized shot of hot-tempered, camera-shy Conductor Leopold Stokowski, who blinked in anger and issued an ultimatum: hand over the film or there will be no concert. The photographer surrendered, waited patiently, caught the maestro unexpectedly for the second time after the concert was finished.