People, Oct. 3, 1955

Names make news. Last week these names made this news: On the palace-lined canals of Venice, thousands of Venetians cheered and waved handkerchiefs as a procession of black, gold-trimmed gondolas bore 300 blue bloods (including 48 princes and princesses, 60 counts and countesses, dozens of barons, a scattering of dukes and duchesses) to the tiny 16th century San Sebastiano Church, where pretty, Rome-born Princess Virginia Ira Fürstenberg, 15, married suave, Madrid-born Prince Alfonso Hohenlohe Langenburg, 31.

When the bride, lovingly nicknamed “Princess Tiger Eyes” by the prince, arrived late at the altar, the impatient groom scolded her untenderly in English, “You’re awfully late, dear.” But he gave her a wedding present of a snappy Mercedes-Benz wrapped in cellophane and bedecked with pink carnations and blue irises. After the wedding luncheon in the historic Palazzo Brandolini, the newlyweds, whose titles date back to the Middle Ages and whose family fortunes are immense, were off on their honeymoon—to Niagara Falls.

In Manhattan, Alger Hiss, 50, reported for the last time to his parole officer. But as a convicted felon, onetime Lawyer Hiss can no longer vote, run for public office or practice law.

In London, British Chancellor of the Exchequer Richard (“Rab”) Butler was caught by a news camera tripping lightly into 10 Downing Street for all the world as if he were doing a buck and wing.

Butler had nothing more frivolous in mind than a report to the Cabinet of meetings of the International Bank and Monetary Fund that he had attended in Istanbul.

Back in Hollywood after a trip to Europe and the Middle East, shapely Dancer Ann Miller furrowed her brow and defined the difference between life in Europe and in the U.S.: “In America, it’s 30 minutes for lunch, hurry, make money, conduct your business in a hurry, make money, be progressive, get an ulcer, but make money. In Europe, it’s enjoy yourself, eat, drink and be merry, let things wait, enjoy yourself …”

Ethiopia’s Emperor Haile Selassie, who

had such a nice welcome on a recent visit to Bavaria, notified Bavarian Minister of Agriculture Dr. Joseph Baumgartner that he was sending him a little gift of thanks : two live lions.

Japan’s No. 1 cinemactress, dove-necked Machiko Kyo, the rape victim of Rashomon and mincing dispenser of love in Ugetsu, arrived in Manhattan for her first trip outside Japan, was given such a whirl of interviews, screenings, photographic sessions, business appointments and kimono changes (she was equipped with ten sets) that she had little time even for window shopping. At week’s end she left for Hollywood to discuss MGM’s prize offer: that she play the role of Lotus Blossom opposite Marlon Brando in the film version of Broadway’s Teahouse of the August Moon.

The baffling problem of what to do about the birthplace of Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a dilapidated house in Portland, Me., was resolved when the poet’s Alma Mater, Bowdoin College, decided to duplicate it on the campus’ using the original furnishings, woodwork and mantels to achieve authenticity.

Communist Painter Pablo Picasso, who

knows a lot more about art than politics, delivered himself of some unregimented observations about modern Russian art: “I have never seen a good Soviet painting. They are all ugly, dreary and monotonous, and full of generals with medals.”

The summer travel season was coming to an end, but a lot of people were still wingdinging around the world. After dining with Cinemactor Rossano (Summertime) Brazzi, Margaret Truman wound up a ten-day Roman holiday by taking the Paris Express for London, where Mrs. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. will put her up.’ Accompanied by his wife and two law partners, former Governor of New York Thomas E. Dewey took off on a monthlong, “entirely personal” air trip around the world, during which he will visit twelve countries. Cruising from port to port in the Mediterranean aboard Shipping Magnate Aristotle Onassis’ luxury yacht, Swedish Sphinx Greta Garbo spent her 50th birthday at sea. Confident that she would swim the English Channel round trip and non-stop to international acclaim, California’s Florence Chadwick set out thoroughly greased from Dover, but after giving up a mile off the French coast, was beached by irate French customs officials, who took a dim view of her arrival or departure without a passport.

Princeton’s President Harold W. Dodds pooh-poohed rumors that he might retire in June by announcing that he will retire at the end of the 1957 academic year, by which time he will have reached the university’s obligatory retirement age of 68 and been president for 24 years, longest term of any Princeton prexy.

As a memorial to its late president, William Green, the American Federation of Labor gave $100,000 to Ohio State University toward scholarships in fields of labor, industrial relations, liberal arts.

Holding his first annual cattle auction at his farm near Carthage, Tenn., Democratic Senator Albert Gore unloaded 51 females and four bulls for a tidy gross of $69,530. Observing the auction, Artist-Author Ludwig (Hotel Splendide) Bemelmans was so carried away by Miss Burgess of Marwood, a Black Angus yearling heifer, that he got her for $1,250. “She had such a kind face,” Bemelmans explained, “I couldn’t keep from buying her. I also liked the idea of keeping her for a pet, not raising her for slaughter.” To put Miss Burgess up, Bemelmans will buy a farm in Virginia.