OCR Text |
Show DID COLUMBUS WE AH BEARD ON LANDING? Hy NKA Senice NEW YORK. Oct. 14. Did Columbus Colum-bus wear a beard when he landed at San Salvador or had he merely forgotten forgot-ten tr. shave In the excitement of the last days of the Journey? And did the thrilling episode of Captain John Smith and tha duaky Pocahontas spring from the romantic imagination of a bachelor adventurer? adventur-er? Was It, after all, only a bit of fiction created by the doughty Captain Cap-tain John because he thought there wasn't enough eex Interest in his Journal? Or was !t because he labored la-bored under a suppressed rcmaatlc complex? ST these snd a hundred similar problems, the professor of the history his-tory department of Yale university have wrinkled thlr brom as rhv labored to attain historical accuracy In a series of mrrrlng pictures which will tell the story of America, from the landing of Columbus to the present pres-ent dsy. These moving plcturea. the first of which. "Columbua." has Just been I oinpi!ed. ar: being produced by the Chronicles of America Pitu'e corporation. cor-poration. The president of ne coi -aorl ion Is George Parmiv Day. treaa-j urer of Yale university, and president of Yale University Press. The -dl tors-ln-chlef are Lr Max Farr.m I professor of American hlstor-II hlstor-II ale. and Lr. Frank Kllsworth Bps ll I lng. head of the department of .-du cation Forty-one plays of 100 reels w.ll present the drama of America's development de-velopment In taring of fle.-h and blood characters on the sIit screen To bring about exact POCroAtion of the characters, the greatest research lis necessary. In the mutter of Columbus' Co-lumbus' beard unfllcting records were found. One of Ihftgf tails of a native chief approaching Columbus! and touching the xplorcr's beard. But other accounts present Columbus tif smooth-shaven .i!il thv theory was advanced that Columbus had not Uhuved for a few day I The historian decided that Colum-lus Colum-lus ahould be shown throughout as (smooth-shaven except when he appears ap-pears as an old man Captain John Smith did not stand 'veil among the historians. His rec-loids rec-loids were filled with Inaccuracies and af times with untruths. But the I Story of Pocahontas was too good to i kill and the professors, like careful 'city editors, inserted a movie "tt Is 'reported'' expression by having ono j of the character recount the captain's cap-tain's adventure, the screen disclosing disclos-ing the narration, "These pictures had their roots In tho success of the Yale University I Press 60-voluine serlen. 'The Chronicles Chron-icles of America," explained President Day. "I believe the pictures will he rr Immense value in bringing before the j foreign population the history of 1 America ond the principles and Idcil-on Idcil-on which our g- rmnont 1 oasi d." . ni . |