Matt Weinstock, July 13, 1959

Highway Manners While driving on Highway 1 recently, Jean Meredith of CBS ran over a rock and in a few minutes was marooned on this picturesque, narrow, winding, lonelyMonterey Peninsula road with a flat left front tire. But luck was with her. In a little while a car stopped and a man in his 30s came over and, while his wife and two children waited, efficiently removed the flat and put on the spare. Then came that awkward moment. How does one discreetly express his gratitude for such a service? To offer money is sometimes insulting. On the other hand, merely to say thanks is sometimes not enough. It depends on the person and one can't be certain what the proper course is with strangers. Jean drew his wife aside and tried to press a bill on her. The wife adamantly refused. Jean had an idea. "Buy the children a malt at the next stop," she said; "let it be my treat to them." The wife reluctantly took the bill. As she was putting it in her purse a look of dismay came over the face of her 10-year-old boy and he said sadly, "Now what am I going to tell in Scout meeting!" :: ONLY IN L.A. -- A downtown character known as Buster was back in City Jail only 22 hours after being released from a 90-day term -- a possible record. A small bottle oftokay undid him. As he was hauled off a pal observed, "I'll bet the boys over at Lincoln Heights wish he had a point of no return." :: SYNTHETIC SEERESS That prediction, ma'm, was     a bit too drastic -- Perhaps your crystal ball is     made of plastic.     -- JOSEPH P. KRENGEL :: A STERN TEST of strength is taking place in an apartment house on S Kenmore Ave. About a week ago the tenants learned the place was being put up for sale. A real-estate man appeared and presented a letter from the absentee owner asking the tenants to show their apartments to prospective buyers. The tenants held a caucus and decided to resist. Some of them have lived there a dozen years at a modest rental. They are certain a new owner would raise the ante, especially after seeing how nicely they have kept up their apartments. So they've been playing a cat and mouse game. They sneak down the back stairs and duck out the alley to avoid the real-estate man. One woman didn't answer a knock on her door and waited silently inside for three hours until she saw him and a client drive away. Thus far no one has got to see any apartment but the tenants realistically fear it's only a matter of time until the enemy makes a breakthrough. :: ANOTHER BATCH of trite dialogue -- the kind that tips off the kind of movie it is -- has dribbled in. Roy Ringer squirms when a man in a doublet and cape says, "Give me three ships, your majesty, and I'll sweep the Spanish from the seas!" Also when the country doctor says, "There's only one surgeon in the world who can save your brother, Miss Polyp, and he's in Vienna." A variation of this one goes, "Medical science can do nothing more for your brother, Miss Polyp; he has no will to live." Jeff Davis cringes when he hears, "Are you keeping the line open to the governor's mansion?" Also at "I couldn't marry a man who killed my brother." Melissa Caron shudders when the dance-hall girl, revealed as belonging to a proud Philadelphia family, says, "So now you know." And Hal Humphrey says not to forget the tight-lipped remark, "A man does what he has to do." :: MISCELLANY -- A messenger boy heading out into last Friday's blast-furnace heat called to his boss, "We who are about to fry salute you!" . . . Picture postcard signed Mary Lou, postmarked Laguna Beach, has the message, "Between the sharks in the surf and the wolves on the beach a girl isn't safe -- thank heavens!" . . . Don Perkins of Toastmaster International reports that Alaskans are now calling us "the South 48."