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Show LIGHTS OF NEW YORK By WALTER TRUMBULL Theodore Roosevelt practically never forgot a name. Perhaps that is why he was President. Personally, I couldn't even run for a train on that platform. I cannot remember names, and my mother is no better at it than I am. I wonder whether it can be an inherited trait. At any rate we know better than to try to remember re-member a name, because if we do try we always get It wrong. In this regard, any association of ideas Is a snare and a delusion. One reason is that when you want to remember re-member a name you usually are in a hurry. Either you are trying to introduce in-troduce somebody or you unexpectedly unexpected-ly meet some one out of his accustomed accus-tomed niche. When there is no sudden sud-den pressure names are easy to remember. re-member. You always think of them 15 minutes after you need them. Those with a good memory for names regard you with pity and tolerance. tol-erance. The fact that you do not forget persons seems to carry little weight. If you say, "You know the chap I mean that bearded author who goes about with Gene Tunney the tall old Irish fellow who writes plays," they exclaim In shocked tones : "Surely, you are not speaking of Bernard Ber-nard Shaw!" Of whom else could you be speaking? Isn't he Irish and tall, and hasn't he a beard, and isn't he an author and playwright? Try and deny it! Persons are such egoists that they rarely help you out on names. Few, lor example, step up and say, "I'm Manuel, former king of Portugal. Do you remember me?" That's Old world courtesy. Most of them are like the man of whom Jim Corbett tells his famous story, the member of a crowd of several thousand who met Jim at the station when he was champion, and who later said, "Of course, you remember me. I was the man in the brown derby." I hnte to blow the whistle on Jack x Dempsey, but Jack has been getting away too long with a reputation lor a great memory. The truth is that h has a system. He Just says, "Hello, pal" to everybody. I heard y Mm do that once to a particularly innoying butter-In. "Is he your al?" I asked him a bit severely. "I never saw the dumb cluck before," said Jack cheerfully, "but they're all my pals." Few have the moral courage to admit ad-mit that they don't remember. Frequently Fre-quently I stall until I have had a chance to go over the alphabet and try the theory of association. Then usually I triumphantly address "Jlr. Tiger" as "Mr. Lion, or "Mr. Pickerel" Pick-erel" as "Mr. Pike." Gene Tunney Used to be honest. He would say, "I am sorry. I don't remember you. but I am glad to see you." Then' some one who had probably shaken hands with him at a training camp would go away calling him III mannered man-nered and "high hat." George Creel has the courage of his convictions. He was standing with a senator once in Washington, when a man rushed up and said, "You don't know my name." "Why should I?" demanded Mr. Creel. "I don't even remember you." The senator sighed. "I wish," he said, "I had the nerve to do that" Franklin P. Adams Is fond of such things as crossword puzzles, but refuses to spend his time In guessing guess-ing contests. If some one calls him on the telephone and says, "I bet you don't know who this is," he replies promptly, "You win," and hangs up the receiver. Women, even the most beautiful and interesting, are hardest to re member because of the faculty they have of completely changing their appearance ap-pearance with a hat or gown. I still grow warm with embarrassment when I think of a woman I met one morning morn-ing on Fiftli avenue. It was In the days when they wore those hats they pulled down over their noses. "You don't remember me." she said laughingly. I knew I had seen and talked with her somewhere, but couldn't for the life of me call her by name. It developed that I had sat next to her at a dinner the previous pre-vious evening. (fc 1931. Bell Svndlcate.) WNU Service |