A dog's life is not such a bad life - if he makes $300 a week. Pal does.
And after seeing hundreds of animated faces of folks ranging in age from two to ninety viewing Pal as one of the leading characters in one of the big Fox films, even the most skeptical person would be ready to believe Pal is worth every cent of his handsome salary.
Pal is the property of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lucenay, who lived in Waco up until eleven years ago when they moved to California. Mrs. Lucenay is visiting her sister, Mrs. E. C. Hake, 1812 North Sixth street, both formerly being Dillworth girls of this city.
Motored from Hollywood
Mrs. Lucenay drove through from 866 Hyperion avenue, Hollywood, with her three-year-old son, Ted. When asked if she wasn't afraid to come all that distance with just Ted, Mrs. Lucenay stated that she had seen just as many freaks and queer-looking people in Hollywood as she could expect to find in any of the out-of-the-way places across three states and into Texas. Ted, anyway, even at three, is somewhat of a man of the world, for he has been playing in Big Boy comedies for almost two years.
But to get back to Pal. He is only one of eight dogs owned by Mr. and Mrs. Lucenay now, the three most popular dogs being Pal, who is 13 years old, Pal Jr., who is only a year and a half and quite a jellybean among dogs, and Pete, who is five. Pal does not work all of the time, for he is not a comedian in any sense of the word. He likes intellectual parts that call for artistic poses and clever acting. Of course, after eleven years before the big Kleig lights, Pal can well rest on his laurels and let Pal II do the heavy work.
A Willing Worker
Pal Jr. is a willing worker. In fact, he had rather work than stay at home, where there are no admirers and no romps with kiddies or other dogs. He is Mr. Lucenay's favorite, but the office force just couldn't resist the swagger look of Pete in Mr. Lucenay's hat. In fact, they thought the hat was quite a lucky straw to be worn over that intelligent doggish eye circled with charcoal.
According to Mr. Lucenay, Pal Jr. has an enviable future before him, well, that is if Pal Jr. doesn't take a wild notion to go in for things Chinese. One time, so the story runs, Pal Jr. was on location at the seashore and was supposed to swim out to a craft in the bay. He did. He swam out and past and one of the lifeguards had to go out and get him in a speed boat. Not being able to understand dog language, the director was never able to learn just what part of China P. J. was bound for.
Pal Jr. has just begun his career in Fox pictures. He is featured in films of the great open spaces, starring big brawny mean men and heart-broken ladies, and he just loves to chew out a big hunk of the villian's best trousers or to be seen through a diffused light snuggling at the feet of some limpid-eyed heroine, blondes preferred.
Pete Is a Comedian
Pete is the comic character of the bunch. He makes a handsome salary, too, quite a "doggie" one, and he features with "Our Gang" comedies and is a great favorite with little burr-headed Farina. He is now under a five year contract with Hal Roach. Pete is really an actor by nature, for he can be ferocious or docile as a lamb, or, oh, so mischievous.
The other five dogs are mostly just dogs of mixed breed who with the other three, which are full-blooded Pitts, are put through a regular course of training each day. Well, really, Pal does not need any training, for he was already well trained by Mr. Lucenay when he arrived at Hollywood. But the others go to school each day and are taught by an old German indoor circus trainer by the name of Sig. Hermany, who trained animals for 35 years in Europe.
But the reader must not get the idea that "just dogs" are not interesting, for one of the nondescripts, a mixture of bull and wire-haired terrier, won a loving cup awarded by Harold Lloyd for being the funniest looking dog out of 250. According to Mrs. Lucenay, he really is a treat to the eyes, for no one could imagine such a oddish looking dog with such a light of intelligence in his eyes. He is reputed to look like an old, old monkey and his ears stand straight up as if he has been suddenly startled, only he hasn't.
Have Individual Beds
The dogs all live in regular quarters in the rear of the Lucenay dwelling. They sleep in individual baby beds and have their own blankets, and when they get uncovered, they come in the house and announce the fact to Mrs. Lucenay, not Mr. Lucenay, for even dogs recognize the feminine touch. Besides, Mrs. Lucenay feeds them, and dogs as well as men are susceptible through the bread basket, according to those who claim to know. Each morning, each dog gets his teeth brushed and has his hair combed so as to look spick and span if he is called out to work. From time to time, all of the dogs get jobs and then they are happy. They usually get to ride to the studio in a nice, big shiny car, and when they are not under the big lights, they get to play and are always patted by admiring hands.
Feeding eight dogs is no small culinary proposition, says Mrs. Lucenay, who would not risk any one else preparing their food. Pal eats a pound of cooked meat every day, and is so very particular about his dietetics that he must have his vitamins, so Mrs. Lucenay must drop in a carrot or some other vegetable to give his meat the preferred piquancy. Pete eats two and a half pounds, and one of the mere mongrels has a disgusting appetite, raising an almighty howl if he doesn't get his customary three and a half pounds of meat.
How Pal Got Into Movies
Pal really has the right name, because it was due to him that his owners have made such a "howling" success in movieland. About eleven years ago, Mr. and Mrs. Lucenay went to Hollywood via the chair car with three crisp $20 bills between them and the high-ly advertised climate of California. Mrs. Lucenay did the feminine thing by losing the bills, thus forcing them to become quite intimately acquainted with all varieties of beans. In fact, many times they ate a frugal meal so that Pal might have an ample sufficiency. He repaid them - and how! One day, Mary Pickford saw Pal smoking his pipe and suggested that he report at a certain studio. That put the idea into the owner's head and he did that very thing. Never did Pal smoke a pipe more charmingly, nor shake hands more cordially, nor play dead more gracefully, than he did before several calloused movie directors. He got a job and for eleven years he has been working.
Then the Lucenays got Pete - the pride of "Our Gang." Pete can speak for himself and does, and we only wish that we could print one of his most charming how-de-do's as he really says it.
Sidenote: The Lucenays moved to California 8 years earlier, not 11. Pal at this time would have been 12 years old, not 13. Pete would have been about 6½ years old, not 5.