to Shanghai 4 "Believe itor not"—Mr. Robert in town, ing a grey suit With a startling green shirt and Gomfortable if surprising sports Shoes, he might be just another friprer, complete with camera, intend of the cartoonist whose "Be-Tieve Tt or Not" is published in eight languages.
Waylaid at the Cathay Hotel early on April. 1, Mr. Ripley was on his way, to the Shanghai "battlefields," if the little matter of official passes could be arranged. But Mr. Ripley has an -officient' secretary, rather a fvorried man, to attend to such de-ils. At home, he has a staff of twelve to handle the swiftly mounting correspondence resulting from his cartoons. mere film star would blush with shame, to mention the number of "fan" letters received when the mail bag of the cartoonist i mentioned. Two years ago it w million letters a year, a statement duly published in "Believe Tt Or Not" and duly challenged.
'The following twelve months an astute office force kept the letters file and the total had jumped by half. So Mr, Ripley can' "prove At" to those who doubt and are @arnest enough in their objections fo drop around for a look.
However, he no longer encour-'Ages, correspondence, it's too ex-Pensive, for one thing. At the moment, the various papers in the United States publishing his cartoons, have combined on a_ contest for the best drawing in the fam-pus Ripley manner, MiNice prizes, too," he explains. Like an' aeroplane, and 4_motor-oat and an insurance policy. Tin Being' to distribute them in all the Ehiet cities that. in, not "all, but way back. to "New certainly will be for me," with ter a career tha reads like an American Blagat story—first feartoon sold to "Li at the age of fourteen, on the star ofthe San Pranclsco "Chronicle" at sixteen, as sport cartoonist, the first "Believe It Or Not" thrown together at the end of a trying day and named at Fandom and—to-tay he appears Spend. an enviable. existence. wane lering in forgotten corners of the world in search of material.
I's not so dificult, either, when you know how, he. says. Acar: Aoonist Tearns to look at everything ith a glance that should" make interviewer saquiym, Just lit fey and try to recollect any latent réakinh tendencies) with an eye to Possible: materia His present trip to the South Beas has been eventful, so far €oPY goes, And he expects the two days in Shanghai to prove equally etui, though he deplores arriving 30 late, Of the thousands of cart: duced by this. prolific art supplements his work in the black and white with radi film appearances, (Mis ig taking place' before, the micro Poe during. the tip, for the Be: lieve It Or Not" hour has been a tremendously popular feature American life for the past two years) two are outstanding in their creator's opinion, One, of course, dealt with tain historic flight and bore a tion thousands considered heresy, "Lindbergh was. the seventh man to make a noi flight over the Atlantic Ocean.' once again Mr. Ripley's honesty was challenged, to put it mildly, but he proved his point, as generally is the case. Not always, to be sure, according to his own modest statement, claim never to have hound to be typograp!
But, my information has been cor, eet!"
'The second cartoon of particular an' equally fai ous subject, ina's teeming mil ions. In this case they were pictured marching, ever. marching, Pasta given point. Allowing for the high death rate and- counting on the equally high birth rate, the contention was that the line' was cartoonist suggested, German beer. I guess "that's! my only other hobby.'
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.