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Show -MOW TO WIN FRIENDS and HfWfrXX PKW HOW A HOBBY SAVED H. V. KALTENBORN'S LIFE Trim tired business man who has a hobby will likely tell you that it "lias saved my life." By that he means usually that it affords him relaxation and pleasure, gives him a chance to forget about business for a period and enables him to clear his mind of worry. But here is a story where a hobby actually saved a man's life, saved him from death through physical , .T- , injury. 'm"m V y V. Kaltenborn, journalist and radio com- mentator, grew up in Wisconsin, and as a boy if f'' spent much time in the pine forests of that state. Iv"- He spent many hours that might have been I lonely if he had not been a resourceful young 1 ' chap and developed a skill that offhand would " not seem to be of any great importance. As a D. Carnegie matter of fact, to him it was just a means A passing the time and amusing those around him. This skill was juggling bottles and Indian clubs and ljghted torches. Could he have looked ahead some two or three decades le would have had respect for that skill amounting to ven-iration. ven-iration. This is what happened: In 1927 his work as a journalist took him to China all over China. He took risks, went among all kinds of people, including bandits. These bandits accused him of being a Communist Com-munist and threatened to shoot him. Mr. Kaltenborn told me that the trigger men were actually pointing their guns at his head and he felt that his time had come. He tried in vain to explain that he was a newspaper man and that he merely wanted to interview their chief; but they couldn't understand English and he couldn't talk Chinese. So Mr. Kaltenborn thought fast and believe me, he acted even faster. He remembered how, as a boy, he had amused audiences back in W isconsin by his skill in juggling Indian clubs, and he figured that he could entertain the bandits the same way. So he pulled four oranges out of his food pouch and started juggling them keeping four oranges going in the air at the same time. The bandits laughed and lowered their guns. Then Mr. Kaltenborn picked up a couple of straws and balanced them on his chin. He offered to teach the bandits how to juggle oranges, and they were so delighted that they became friendly, laid their weapons down and flocked around j him. He passed his oranges and his straws around and he took time out from his Great Worry to help them learn to juggle. There was no further trouble and when he was ready to j leave they waved to him and shouted and smiled. |