Looking for Mabel Normand

 

FATTY ARBUCKLE

VISITS UNITED STATES MARINES

 

Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle was a happy guest of honor of the marines at Mare Island near San Francisco this week.  No sooner had the big Paramount comedian reached the Bay City on his short vacation of four days than the United States Marine Corps extended a special invitation to Roscoe to witness a sham battle and eat regular “chow” with “the first to fight.”

 Fatty Arbuckle and the Marine boys had a great day.  First, about 500 of Uncle Sam’s fighters allowed Fatty to defeat them single-handed in a pushball game.  With three rousing cheers for the panting victor, they all posed for a Gaumont weekly cameraman.

 Major Small and Captain Woodridge acted as hosts to Mr. Arbuckle and his personal representative, Scoop Conlon at “chow.”

 After mess, the commanding officers showed the comedian the impressive realism of a sham battle with about 1,000 marines taking part.  The camera caught Fatty leading a charge up a hill double quick.

 Renewing acquaintance with Sergeant Walcott, leader of the famous marine band, whom he met in the Philippines in 1910, Fatty next led the musicians in “Over There.”  Several well known baseball players on the champion marine’s team next lured the comedian into batting practice where Fatty demonstrated his athletic ability.

 Major Small conducted Arbuckle through the huge training station where Uncle Sam is conditioning the best fighters on earth.  He also saw the largest battleship in the world – the “California” – in construction, as well as several torpedo boat destroyers.

 Fatty Arbuckle spent four strenuous days in San Francisco, where he made four personal appearances at the Imperial theatre, visited the scenes of his start in the theatrical game fifteen years ago – San Jose and Santa Clara, posed for cartoons by Fay King, the noted Hearst artist and was entertained by the Chamber of Commerce.

 March 19, 1918

The Bridgeport Telegram, pg 6

Filmdom and Footlights edited by D. J. Lustig

 

 

 

Mare Island

The military history of Mare Island began on January 4, 1853.  Mare Island’s only battleship, the USS California, she was launched in 1919, the largest ship ever built on the Pacific Coast slid into the water. Mare Island’s St. Peter’s Chapel is the oldest Naval Chapel in the Pacific, its first service on October 6, 1901. Along with its bronze wall plaques and hand carved wood tablets in the ceiling, the true jewels of this chapel are its 29 stained glass windows. Designed by Tiffany Studios at the request of Chaplin Adam McAlister, 16 of the windows were produced and signed by the studio. These priceless windows represent one of the finest collections of translucent glass under one roof anywhere in the world. In the spring of 1996, the shipyard officially closed its doors, thus ending 142 years of United States Navy history.

 

 

Gaumont Weekly

The Gaumont Weekly Newsreels started in 1912 as an American and international newsreels service merging with Kinograms in 1921, a competitor with the Pathe and Hearst, Kinograms ended in 1931.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fay King

The female comic artists at the beginning of the twentieth century, she drew comics in which featured herself, looking a little like Olive Oyl. She portrayed her own opinions and personal life, inspiring generations of future women comic artists.  Her marriage and divorce to Matt (Battling) Nelson were stories carried in newspaper in 1913 and 1916.  She was in the film The Great White Way (1924) as herself, Fayrene King.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Paul “Scoop” Conton

McCallum, John. 1960. “Scooper: Authorized Story of Scoop Conlon's Motion Picture World”.  Seattle 1, Washington: Wood & Reber.

 John Denos has a scrapbook of gag drawings that belonged to publicist and Los Angeles Times reporter "Scooper" Conlon.  Besides, for Roscoe, Scooper had famous friends including a number of cartoonists.  A few of the drawings from his collection are on the A-HAA website.  Scoop was married to Lilian Mettler and their daughter was Natalia Clare she occasionally performed under the name of Natalia Conlon.  Natalia Clare died April 8, 2007 from complications of a stroke at the age of 87, as most of you know she was a member of both of the influential Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo troups of the 1940s and '50s and she was the founder of a prominent Los Angeles ballet schoo after a knee injury.

 

Roscoe was in the Philippines with the Ferris Hartman Troupe, more information is in an article about Ferris Hartman.  It is rather long, to link press photo below