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0 A TRADITION WITH MAYFIELD FOUR-STAR CLOTHES To qualify for a Mayfield suit a fabric must have a pedigree of qual- ity. Only a limited few meet May- field?╟╓s rigid requirements?╟÷like this suit of exclusive SOFDOWN flannel. Carefully loomed of the finest long staple Australian wool it is famed for its softness and handle. For your nearest quality dealer write MAYFIELD FOUR-STAR CLOTHES DEPT. E MAYFIELD, KENTUCKY perfectly paired... BASS J WEEJUNS Distinctive is the word for Bass Weejuns*. Their simple, classic lines reflect impeccable taste -?╟÷luxury lea- thers are soft and supple. All Weejuns* feature famous Bass ?╟útrue moccasin?╟Ñ construction?╟÷the ultimate in comfort. BASS originator of Weejuns* G. H. BASS & CO., 49 Main Street, Wilton, Maine of the cameras. He was the first man to fly an ?╟úaquawing,?╟Ñ a contraption consisting of. an airplane wing attached to an aquaplane which rose from the water when towed by a fast-moving boat. Once he narrowly escaped drowning when he ascended to a new height of forty-five feet, so fright- ening his brother Malcolm that the latter cut the engine, leaving Pope to flutter helplessly into the lake. (This height would be laughed at in this aay of broken records: Cypress Gardens aquakiters, holding a large kite which is also towed by a boat, go up as high as a hundred feet.) One Cypress Gardens water-skier has been killed and another perma- nently crippled in the course of stunting. Pope claims to have been the first man to jump on water skis. His son Dick, Jr.', now president of the World Water Ski Union, also has a first to his credit, having been the first man since Biblical days to walk on water, through a stunt which might be called waterfooting, that is water skiing on bare feet. Pope is commonly credited with being the major force in popularizing water skiing through his water ski shows, the tournaments he sponsors, and, of course, his queens on skis. Pope s singleminded dedication to the business of attracting tourists is responsible for uniting the Florida tourist attractions into a helpmate organization, and he is said to shake with rage when he sees a potential attraction going unexploited. (Once, in an unsuccessful attempt to con- vince Florida phosphate companies that the giant sand piles thrown up from the mines could be used as attractions, he took his troupe to slide down one of these slopes on water skis.) He has held important positions outside the Gardens, among them that of pictorial publicity man, at $25,000 a year, for the Florida Citrus Commission whose meeting Pope enlivened by dragging out a sheet of eighteen uncut $10 bills to wipe his forehead when debate became heated. For the Gardens, publicital frenzy has turned everything green. Attendance has gone up forty per cent in the past two years and is still rising, and Pope is building parking space for five hundred additional cars. Pope lives today in a large house overlooking two lakes with his wife and his son. He shows visitors with pride his new ?╟úcypress den?╟Ñ of cypress wood. It contains an electric organ, a cypress bar, and an elec- trically operated movie screen, but Pope plans to add an electronic oven and have scenes from Cypress Gardens engraved in the wood paneling. The den, which Pope built originally to provide a setting for his appear- ance on Person-to-Person, a project that has not materialized, also houses in its bathroom on^of the fewJbidets in Fleridarwhich Pope ^lis with goldfish for parties. His automobile is parked just outside and on the dashboard is a sign like those used on airliners which lights up to say ?╟úFasten Your Seat Belts?╟Ñ; Pope likes to think of this as his motto. A day at Cypress Gardens Pope s International Arts contest, which I witnessed, was a battle between the traditional and the abstract on the lawn of the Gardens clubhouse. The proceedings got underway when an attendant, in a long pink dress, placed a rhinestone crown on the blonde head of May Louise Flodin, Miss International Arts, and put a scepter in her hand. The coronation was for the benefit of the cameramen, and both girls smiled into the shutters. On the lake, the water-ski show was in full swing. Six girls in red bathing suits carrying crimson banners with gold letters spelling out Cypress Gardens sped toward the beach on skis. The organ trilled furi- ously. As the skiers landed, brandishing their banners, the announcer paused to tell the audience that after the show they, too, could photo- graph Miss International Arts. ?╟úOne of the most beautiful women in the world,?╟Ñ the announcer said. ?╟úRight now she?╟╓s being photographed by cameramen from the television networks and news services. . . . The most beautiful woman in the world,?╟Ñ he added, correcting himself. Pope chuckled. ?╟úThat?╟╓s just a joke about the TV networks and news services,?╟Ñ he said. ?╟úThe cameramen are all our own.?╟Ñ The fifteen paintings were set up on tripods on the lawn and Pope paused beside a painting of a Mexican Christmas where Miss Inter- national Arts was draped for the photographers. ?╟úWe have this contest every year,?╟Ñ Pope said. ?╟úThe painting that wins is usually the one that?╟╓s the most Christmasy. We don?╟╓t go for that experimental French stuff.?╟Ñ Pope?╟╓s mind seemed to be wandering over the Gardens like a bird.IgT got to go see if they wired up those fresh orchids,?╟Ñ he said. ?╟úThe tour- ists expect to see orchids. Funny people, the tourists.?╟Ñ He eyed the grounds with evident pleasure. ?╟úWe got a good turnout today,?╟Ñ he said, ?╟úseven, eight thousand people. When I see ?╟╓em like this, I say to myself, Took at all those walking $2 bills.?╟╓ They love it here because it?╟╓s so beautiful, and they?╟╓re right?╟÷it is.?╟Ñ He waved expansively. ?╟úI had Doctor Norman Vincent Peale down here?╟÷he wrote a sermon about me?╟÷and he said that anyone who sees all this natural beauty will be convinced there is a God.?╟Ñ Looking radiant, Pope hur- ried off to check on his artificially wired orchids, -flf 128 ESQUIRE : September