Imaginary Interviews: Dec. 10, 1923

(During the Past Week the Daily Press Gave Extensive Publicity to the Following Men and Women. Let Each Explain to You Why His Name Appeared in the Headlines.)

Nikolai Lenin: “From Prague it was reported that Professor Schlosser, chief surgeon of the German University there, had been asked to go to Moscow to perform an operation on me for brain tumor.”

Alvaro Obregon, President of Mexico: “From Celaya, it was reported that I, seriously ill, had suffered a relapse.”

Mustapha Kemal Pasha, President of Turkey: “From Constantinople it was reported that I, ill with heart disease, ‘had apparently suffered a relapse.’ ”

Vicente Blasco Ibanez, Spanish author: “It was reported that I, ‘seriously ill from an undetermined ailment,’ was taken from the S.S. Franconia at Colon, C. Z., and removed to a hospital there.”

Frank Morris, California author: “Johan Bojer, Norwegian writer stopping at the Whitcomb Hotel, San Francisco, stated that in his opinion I am the world’s greatest novelist.”

Mme. Lois Selfridge, mother of Gordon Selfridge, London merchant: “I was among the passengers that arrived in Manhattan on the Olympic. Said the newspapers: ‘Mme. Selfridge is now in her 90th year, although few of those who conversed with her on the ship would believe it, so alert and active is she in every sense.’ ”

John J. Pershing: “In Paris Prime Minister Poincare and wife gave a dinner in my honor. Those present included : Myron T. Herrick, the American Ambassador; Marshals Foch, Joffre, Petain, d’Esperey.”

Ganna Walska McCormick: “In Chicago, Miss Elizabeth McCormick, second cousin of my husband, Harold F. McCormick, gave a dinner for the McCormick family. The newspapers reported that Mrs. Edith Rockefeller McCormick and I ‘confronted each other in seats of honor.’ Mrs. Rockefeller McCormick was escorted by Edward Krenn, Viennese architect. They later went to the Batik Ball.”

Grover Cleveland Bergdoll, slacker: “In Berlin I filed a damage suit for $150,000 against Corliss Hooven Griffis, an American Army officer now in jail at Mossbach in connection with an attempt to kidnap me last Summer (TIME, Aug. 20, 27).”

Mrs. Calvin Coolidge: “Accompanied by Assistant Secretary of War Davis, I went to Fort Myer, a cavalry post near Washington, spent half an hour under the instruction of riding experts. The newspapers pointed out that I did some riding in my girlhood days, said that I am expected to accompany the President on his early morning canters when I again master the art.”

William Butler Yeats, Irish poet: “On being notified that the 1923 Nobel Prize for Literature ( £7,500) had been awarded to me, I was reported to have said: ‘If it is small, we (my wife and I) will spend it and be rich. If it is large, we will invest it and be sub-stantial.’ ”

Gabriele d’Annunzio, Italian soldier-poet : “At Gardone, Italy, I stayed in my garden while rain was falling and a terrific wind blowing. When members of my household urged me to take shelter from the elements, I replied: ‘I must hear the sound of the waves, the whistle of the wind and the fall of the raindrops. To write one must be next to nature!’ Next day found me in bed with a severe attack of tonsilitis. Said the Daily News, New York newspaper: ‘What our poets need most is not to get next to nature, but to get next to themselves. As for d’Annunzio, he ought at least to have his tonsils removed.'”

Hiram Johnson: “Under the Headline GOD FORBID!, The New York Evening World published an editorial which said: ‘Hiram Johnson’s notion of a foreign policy for the United States boils down to this: Never go near a “council” table at which any other nation has a right to speak. Never confer. Never listen. The attitude of the United States toward other nations must always be: “We do not argue with you. We tell you.” Debate is unAmerican. . . . Watch for earthquakes, famines and the like. These visitations afford a chance to point to good-samaritanism. . . . Never try to understand Europe. … Be as selfish as you like.’ ”

Samuel M. Vauclain, President of the Baldwin Locomotive Works: “In a public meeting in the office of the Mayor of Philadelphia, sentiment was overwhelmingly opposed to making the proposed Sesqui -Centennial Exposition (in Philadelphia, 1926) an exhibition of international proportions. The vote was 403 to 43. Opposition to the international project was led by E. T. Stotesbury and myself. The fair will therefore be held exclusively under the auspices of Philadelphia.”

Mrs. Woodrow Wilson: “On Oct. 15, Henry C. Bergheimer, manager of an Atlantic City jewelry store owned by me, died. Last week it became known that he had left an estate valued at $6,000. I was named as the sole legatee.”