But was his library card etched on...

But was his library card etched on a stone tablet?Paul Zall, a research scholar at the Huntington Library, reports that actor Charlton Heston was observed exiting by security Officer Henry Mason.

“I’ve only taken the Gutenberg Bible,” Heston quipped.

“And who’s more entitled?” Mason responded.

“I want to check it for accuracy,” Heston said.

And, just like the Red Sea, the security guards parted.

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Don’t forget to wind your clocks back 85 years: Philippe, which was founded in 1908, is rolling back dinner prices to 10 cents for sandwiches and 5 cents for coffee at an Oct. 4 anniversary celebration.

The Chinatown eatery, the second oldest in L.A. (after Cole’s), claims one distinction all to itself: the invention of the French dip sandwich.

The breakthrough is said to have occurred accidentally in 1918--founder Philippe Mathieu fumbled a French roll into the drippings from a roasting pan. His customer liked the sandwich so much that he told his friends about it. Voila!

Interesting, though, it strikes us that the French dip sandwich is not so complex that chefs in other cities couldn’t also have made the same discovery (or mistake) independently. We’re reminded of the essay Woody Allen wrote on Lord Sandwich’s trials and tribulations in the alleged invention of his namesake. Sandwich, Allen wrote, persevered despite several faulty attempts, including one concoction that featured two pieces of meat and one slice of bread in the middle.

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Standing on the corner, watching all the cars go by: We recently mentioned the anti-cruising sign in North Hollywood that forbids driving past the “same point twice within six hours.” The authorities in Long Beach are a bit more lenient.

The problem with enforcing such warnings, however, is that a police officer must observe each pass that an alleged offender makes. That’s why the two cities’ ordinances are identical in one respect: Neither has ever resulted in a case being brought against a cruiser.

Leonardo da Freeway? Whether or not you cruise, convicted art forger Tony Tetro wants to remind you to use seat belts and, if necessary, child-restraint car seats when motoring about. Tetro is serving his sentence in the San Gabriel Valley by fashioning safety murals out of the classics. Some people think Baby Mona resembles her mother.

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Let’s see if they’re renewed for next season--then we’ll talk: The promo for TV’s “The Crusaders,” a super-hyped investigative reporters’ show, says that this week’s episode involves “what may be the most heartless consumer fraud the Crusaders have ever taken on.” Impressive. The show’s been on the air three weeks.

miscelLAny:

With Columbus Day (Oct. 12) approaching, we should point out that USAir has service to that city on Flight 1492.