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* Cfcla City, Ckla. N03TH STAR . (Britton) Walter Winehe xxi - cm/ah, It ShiiiesJ * j; Memos About JU0-. ?╜**?╟÷3?Σ≤?╟÷ As the plane^jftpfoached "The Monte Carlo/rtjie West" I we learned h^jjjaroie Lom- I bard died. "There's the mountain p&ak where |he was killed," said our neighbor. "If the plane veered just a few hundred inches?╟÷il^bbuld never ; have happened." f;- "The Scuttlebutt among fliers." .said the'man, "is that C ar ole,,' must Tia^p' been up front gabbing with the pilot. ; He probably wasn't looking as he explained-^he gadgets on tp-e board to her. She was so pretty he probably couldn't stop looking at her. Anyway, most pilots call it Lombard Peak." He told us part of the plane ! can:' still be seen. "It's like a ; dart sticking into the side of \ the mountain." Lou Walters' floor show (at the Desert Inn) is his Big- Timiest. , It will play at his j Latin Quarter ' on Broadway { soon. . The DeCastro Sisters l head a talented troupe. We J pondered why it seemed I better than any we had seen. [ $To sm&U-time comics, Just no comics. Period. * * * The land along The Strip I - (where the swank hotels and spots are) sold for two-bits L per1 acre, 25 cents, twenty-five [ years ago. Certain tracts today can get $1,000 per foot. No- I body wants to sell. * * * The swimming pool at the Desert Inn looks like an 8. "The easy 8," reminded a j dicer-shooter. Las Vegas is located in I Paradise Valley but the gambl ?╟≤ i ing set tell visiting colyumists: "We call it Pair-O-Dice Val- : ley." Eddie Bracken, playing the Ramona Room at the Last Frontier (a picturesque, gay ! place), endeared himself to spectators with: this intro via \an off-stage voice: "He has been in pictures. He has been on the air. He has been in shows. The greatest has-been in show business." you see the loveliest girls from the B'way chorus lines in tight | fitting cowgal blouses and | pants. Its two newspapers have a big-town way about them. It has disc jockeys all over the place, too. They make Eense. Las Vegas means "The Meadows." It was named by John 4 C. Fremont when that famed " General camped here in 1848. " It had only two ranches in 1905 I when Senator W. A. Clark established a railroad division. * point. There are 40 churches. 5 More per capita than any city ' Sits size in the U. S. There are J 'no State, sales, income or inheritance taxes in the State ?√ß of Nevada. The chips you win at the casinos may be cashed at any other resort hotel, * * * The massive sold mahogany^ bar in the Hotel Last Frontier was hauled overland from. San Francisco. You can still see the. bullet holes in it attesting to fthe^Wild West. * * * The'Gblden Nugget in the downtown area (practically one biock of gaming places) is (the., most colorful sjjot. Reminds you of the frontier town settings you see on every Hollywood lot. * * * Herds of wild burros populate the mountains around 'Vegas. These easily-tamed animals descended from donkeys and horses "let loose in the wilderness of old-time prospectors. As you enter- the airport terminal the first thing thaT catches the eye is a long row of slot machines. Howard Hughes is a resident. Locals report that when some Los Angeles ' newspapermen were recently killed (and hurt) in a plane crash en: route to cover # railroad wreck, it was Hughes who paid all doctor bills, etc. "He does a lot of things like that Without press iagenting and he would be awfully sore if he knew your source." In 1940 Las Vegas had a I population of only 8,422:'. Today it is 36,000. They expect it to be over 45,"000 in '55 V. f ' Seven milion tourists" visited : last year, of which 5-million I stayed at least one night . . . : Exclusive of gamblng and ; notching those tourists spent ; $60,789,270 Ug^ . Last year's I gross revenue to | garni: casinos was 43 million ? Total minimum left I ih L Vegas dui%j$;'52: $122,168.64 '?√ßm.'"*_s. * * --3m^- Althot^pipe; fanned town- is best kno|||ojpr-its nightclubs and jack^^i^achi^s!^ei^;,it jis the ogP&lr-. p?·'-. OSl/of the largest anil most viifi^.rreere- | ationalffffas in'^pp-,world. Within^fMius of ||phiies.you [ can fis^-ih Lake Mead^rj: jft'de in the desert?╟÷go skih^p%,Mt. Charl^tori: -^V^^I^I^sw M-aiDHin; Williams <.;f tlie Desert linr lb turfed patiently *?? a m3^K^^M?╜n?Θ╝ of min^^^^RSF^ft^BP hour ! waitii Room of the Sahara is another ?√ßeye-filler. The chorines are the best costumed and the orchestras keep you jumping with their zing. The only swank place where they doji^yha^ any gambling equipm^^MlSCblonial House, anothefe;JS$1l5?║r' Clark enter-' prise. !^eMitiful'5B>artmenti ior folks who seek rest,- peaee and contentment. ^___K-. The town is dottJ3|| with Justice of the' Peace places. You can get married- any hour cf the night. Bob -Hope says: "Most of the .parsons flip a ' coin for the fee: "Double or ^fothiftg," Capt. E. B. Woodward, the Clark County, Nevada, Sheriff, patrols th&. area. He calls his motorbike "Atomic Chief." His license number is 7-11. "Vegas," he said. " is the last 1 place in the world where it 1 Isn't against the law to Live!" I The only thing that may stem the tide of gambling in Vegas is the discovery of oil. Some wells flourish in regions j nearby. First-time visitors | can'c b< lieve what they seV. Neon lighting, every where, gaiety i24 Hnurg around the clock, noon and lovely/lals erej^nch" of the " UK 1 V is the -luxury _____________ _maingo is H|e best known RancJSkVegas has Ja show- busine^^ttoactiv^ess The Silver^MipJfr's "Black outs" girl week is a must for ,showfolks. Too sinful for Broadway . . . The Congo 'aoh New JO uos |!^> '^1 W> S0SIVa ?╟≤ -ash: a 'h ;sjw p?Σ≤ 'm jo mm ~H nBp ^^h *bh wi ssq M9^ -pa;iAur Anerpjoo sri -qnd otix -uajpjiqo neuis joJ WmSSm-i-~mf\nrrl -it fn .. ^.jlJ JUL PRESS CUPPING BUREAU Established 1888 LOS ANGELES San Francisco ?╟≤>. Portland - Seattle Hollywood", Calin.; Variety |fe^ JUN j|9|b SA'NDS egas, June 11. -dFln the parlanfe of the tables, frym which all Vf gas blessings JJlow, Jack | Entratrar has tossedj^nother pass and wiR^rake in^fenty of chips for this i^lJferH^Bl&rill-Louis Armstrong bet. At first thought this could be considered odd booking ?╟÷ with Merrill and Armstrong both sounding widely divergent types of ?√ß music?╟÷but outcome is great. Merrill makes his first big- I league nitery appearance (he I started in the game 15 years ago I at the Tic Toe, Montreal) and I holds Copa Roomers spellbound, I having to beg off at the finish of I his songspiel. Not only does he 1 become a volatile personality on I his own following the Satchmo I Armstrong riot, but adds another I name to the imposing list of long- I hairs who have clicked in this vil- ?√ß lage. Rather than ease into serioso, J Merrill heads right into such fare II with the aria "La Mattinata," then j I follows with "Falling In Love" and ! I applause-shaking "I Believe." } A classic in more ways than *J one is his "Figaro," having great value visually imparted by expres- ?√ß sive face and actions. With "Enchanted Evening," he brings ohs and ahs, then smiles with an impression of Pinza warbling the same melodic phrases. From "Figaro," the b,ravos mount until he is snowed under with enthusiasm for "Torna A Sorrento," "Old Man River," and "Whiffenpoof Song." The preceding session headed by the great jazz horn and ensemble of Louis Armstrong rocks the room and perhaps all adjoining cubicles. Satchmo captivates with his big grin and gravel voice on "Sleepy Time Down South," "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," (in tribute to ringsiders Jimmy McHugh and Louella Parsons at show caught), "Buckets Got A Hole In It." Soloists Barney Bigard (clarinet) and Arvel Shaw (bass) wrap 1 up "C Jam Blues." Then comes I 88'er Marty Napoleon's turn in the spot with a furious "Jealousy," aided by Cozy Cole's tempestuous beats on the skins, Shad's skip- along bass. Velma Middleton rolls her 340 pounds on to grab terrif mitts for "Mama's Back ln$3_M_n" tagged by a floor split. Th?½ Arm- strong-Middleton vis-a-vis^^^,t's I My Desire," pulls in yockgy'feguing into all-stops-out closing ^rai)ast, Cozy Cole paradiddles ah^T^jefiad H drum whapping on "MoW^fop" The Cerneys have a flirig*around the floor in some andantaBpll- I rooming, with "Clair De Lune* and I "Beguine" winning special favors. I I The refurbished Copa line, 'now j I using four males known as The ' I Escorts, shows definite improve- j I ment in unisQlf patterns. Choreo- >, I graphy by Bob Gilbert is lushly 1 I styled for both routines. Fronting E ?√ß productions are chirpers Pam Gar- I I ner and Charles Nelson with Jack I ?√ß Ackerman's ^Sol" tapistry scoring I I well. Ray Sinatra's orch, augmen- I I ted by three fiddles, does a stand-/! I out job. Will./\ Press Ct^raif Service 119 NjS^^te|pt Frfm Fittstvli^S^ra. Hl3da Hopper Jn Mollywood HOLLYWOOD?╟÷Untapped talent will have an opportunity to show itself this summer when Imogene Coca and Sid Caesar go on vacation. The hour and a half, now devoted to "The Show of Shows,'* will emanate from here with new, fresh?╟÷and NBC hopes?╟÷original talent... Congratulations to David Sarnoff, of *~- jNBC, and his co-workers for up- ping John West to vice president. While David Selznick was here, he edited "Terminal Station," the picture Jennifer Jones made in [Rome, and spent a great leal of [time with his mother, who would rather he lived here than be traipsing all over Europe. Jennifer's two sons are now in different Swiss schools.^ "Seems one roof wasn't large enough for them . . . Since Clark Gable's salary is $7,500 a week and he gets it 52 weeks a year whether he works or plays, his 18 months' sojourn abroad will net him $585,- loOt^That should keep him in I eating money for a while. * * * I Gene Evans always did .do things differently from most actors. Jhstead of buying him self a yacht, he's building s cabin cruiser himself between pictures.. .?╟≤. Bert Friedlob would be mighty happy to get Susan Haywlard to star in "Untamed," whictf he'll shoot in Africa. Susan liked the book; but 20th keeps her too busy for many loan-outs. * * * Fifi D'Orsay, the French bombshell who's never been to France, was awarded a trip to Paris after doing the "This Is Your Life" show. But when I ran into her the other day, she said shel=: [didn't think she could make the visit as she was too busy work- ling. Fifi was born in Canada of French parents. The fellows in the cast of 'Twelve Mile Feef" sent me i box of fine smelling cigars from Florida. Since I don't smoke myself, Anne Baxter is out of town, and x'm not an expectant father, I passedghe stogieo on to a male frtapP^But thanks any- how' b??y^i^a?╜^.swas bound up I happen. ^j|p^|%n Johnson wore jfllfsocks w^tHthis tuxedo at hJrpands hotel Jfigagement; jhis fMyiJUJcer jipis in Las Vega\ftromptI^^pped up the idea ana8lIiPfilking a fad of it,