| OCR Text |
Show I BROADWAY AND MAIN STREET Attack of Amnesia Transforms Milquetoast Into Roost Ruler By BILLY ROSE ThP other dav I picked up the telephone to call Eleanor and about, but last night I happened to meet VP psychiatrist at the Stork Club, and over a jigger of ginger-beer I told him what had happened. . . th -It was probably a mild attack of amnesia, he said As a rule tne victims Ire folks who, consciously or unconsciously, want to escape from tteir routine chores, and every now and then their minds blank out as a protest against doing the same old things the same old way. "What kind of pills should I take?" "Fun pills," said the mind-medico. "Buy yourself a sailboat, take up skeet-shooting, or get a set of water colors and learn how to paint." "And supposing I don't.?" "Chances are nothing will happen hap-pen except that you'll forget a faw mnm nhnnp 'LP t r I wVJ and his life for hers. And within a year, the man who used to he a gay dog became all dog a Westchester version of Caspar Milquetoast. "After two years of being yammered yam-mered at by his missus, Jerry came in to see me one day and said that he was having trouble with his memory that it was blacking out on him now and then. I asked him some questions about his home life, and when he told me what it was like I advised him to stand up to his wife, and if necessary, neces-sary, slap her down occasionally. He told me, quite seriously, she wouldn't stand for such a thing. "One morning several months later, he came to my office, and told me quite a tale. It seems that on his way home the night before he had had an attack of amnesia, and when he came to 15 hours later he was in a New York hotel room, with no idea of what had happened in between. "I phoned his wife, and from her story, managed to put the pieces together. Jerry's memory had snapped as he got to the door of his house in Scarsdale perhaps in protest against the stuffy people his wife had invited to dinner and all he knew was that he was standing on a strange stoop. "AFRAID TO RING the bell, he sneaked into the back yard, found numbers. On the Billy Rose other hand, there's always the possibility that the spells may get longer and more frequent. That's what happened not long ago to a good friend of yours." JERRY and I'm sure you know the Jerry I mean used to be one of Broadway's leading juveniles and stay-up lates. Five years ago, as you know, he put away his hair-oil hair-oil and got a job producing radio shows. And not long after, he married mar-ried the daughter of a network executive, bought a home in Scars-dale Scars-dale and decided to settle down. "Well, as often happens when a girl has too much dowry, his wife did most of the settling for him. She made him exchange his friends for hers, his fun for hers an open window, hoisted himself through, then recognizing nothing, stopped to puzzle out the situation. Who was he? What sort of man would climb through the window of a strange house? Only a burglar, burg-lar, of course. Ergo, he must be a burglar. And so he tiptoed upstairs, up-stairs, entered his wife's bedroom and began stuffing her jewelry into his pockets. "At this point, bi, , walked in, told bimtostoy ing cops and robbm, mi . badgering him at ibi icp , over-sized lungs. Bui , burglar, instead o mill:,: the carpet, belted her w in the teeth. "That's all there wai to ii how, he got back to Ne; checked in at a hotel, and -. woke up his amnesia was r "Did you tell his wife fe husband wasn't himsell ft clipped her on the chin?" I -c The psychiatrist smiltd course not, and what's mori : '? vised my patient to keep : ;3I Jerry went home to i big s ciliation scene the old '!'" turns' story and ever sits i JO more spine he has shown lie s supine his wife has betoit "I went to his house fori: session recently, and Hi A time she came in the roe -'.; when she brought in the die ..' date, there have teen it s "" a rences of amnesia, and Hi "tl belief that if Jerry doesn't $ any more nonsense from hit i ' there won't be." "Are you suggtsthi 1 1 (i ' and hang shiner mUn eye?" I asked. "In your case," said the pr .. trist, "I doubt If it's m l-However, l-However, if you have itj : trouble remembering fe numbers, I'd suggest you to-few to-few dollars in a water-cole i |
