He Went That-a-Way

Washington's "I Am an American Day" celebration went off smoothly this week without its two top guests of honor--President Truman and Hopalong Cassidy--even though it was postponed especially to ensure the presence of both (TIME, May 22). The celebration committee's chairman, Colonel Waldron Leonard, didn't blame the President. After all, Vice President Alben Barkley was ready & willing to appear as his standin.

But Washington and Colonel Leonard will be a long time forgiving Hopalong. "Everything was all set," says Leonard. "We had a telegram saying when Cassidy would arrive. Then comes this message from Detroit that we would have to pay $2,600 to fly his horse here. I told them we've got a hundred horses around Washington . . ."

But when Hopalong insisted on his own horse, Colonel Leonard says he agreed to raise the money for Topper's airlift. Then the blow fell. "The next thing I knew there was a telegram from Cassidy saying he couldn't make it because of 'conflicting engagements.'." Unanimously backed by some 50 civic groups sponsoring the event (including the Veterans of Foreign Wars, who are stuck with a medal struck for Hopalong), Colonel Leonard turned the matter over to an attorney. He gave an even more ominous indication of the public temper: "You know what my kids did last night? They took an old safety razor and cut their Hopalong Cassidy clothes to bits."

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