The Era -- Day By Day

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

"Never heard of her," says Miss Sylvia Ageloff. "Not my crowd."

Closed-minded pinch-lipped Puritans though they may be, you gotta admit they're great for publicity.

Mr. Bate was very nearly killed in the explosion. Back in 1936, he was a key figure in covering the Abdication Crisis for the US. COINCIDENCE????

So the judge pulled strings to get the Very Finest Trial Attorney in the state. And they say Nick Gatt is dead.

Imagine being so starved for human companionship that you're willing to settle for Andy Gump.

C'mon, Doc -- hit a bump. Bounce him right off.

Yeah, you can have a lot of fun on $11 a week. Do they have Automats in Detropolis?

Were you anywhere near the Polish Pavilion yesterday?

REALLLY LENA? REALLLLLLY???????? And poor Truck McClusky barely cold in his grave.

The Judge is wondering what it would take to swing a transfer to "Little Orphan Annie."

 

[Fading Fast]

Police fear a revival of bloody warfare on the Brooklyn waterfront after a dockworker was gunned down this morning in Red Hook. The bullet-riddled body of 49-year-old Victor Adjulino of 94 Baxter Street in Manhattan was found at the corner of Conover and Beard Streets shortly before 7 AM. Adjulino was identified by a Social Security card, found in his coat pocket along with two paper-wrapped sandwiches, evidently a workman's lunch. He had been shot twice thru the chest and once in the stomach. Investigation on the docks revealed that Adjulino had been hired four days ago by the Oceanic Ship Scaling Company of 32 Walcott Street, where a manager stated that he had been assigned to scale rust off the side of a ship moored at Pier 45, where the company had taken on a contract for the Atlantic Basin Iron Works. The dead man was described as a "quiet, conscientious worker," and police confirmed that he had no criminal record. The body was found by a Federal immigration officer on his way to work, who told police he also saw what appeared to be a revolver near the body, but no gun has been found, and police are combing the neighborhood in an effort to find it.
...)

It seems like a key piece of this story is missing, specifically, why would he be shot dead as, possibly, part of the warfare on the waterfront? Was he a scab; was it a non-union contract; was it competing unions as at the tunnel job? Just seems like the Eagle left out a key connecting dot in this story.

...The cries of a parrot and the barking of a chow dog alerted a Flatbush man to a fire early this morning. Richard Sprey, a government employee who lives in a top-floor apartment at 992 Flatbush Avenue, was awakened by his pets about 5AM, and upon investigation discovered a fire on the ground floor of the building next door. The Woodley Mens' Shop, a haberdashery, at 994 Flatbush Ave., sustained serious damage in the fire, along with two vacant apartments above the shop. Mr. Sprey, his parrot, his dog, and his six canaries, were returned to their apartment after the fire was out. Traffic along Flatbush Avenue was delayed for about half an hour by firefighting efforts....

Bob and Spitz smile on approvingly.

...(The "Solovox" is, essentially, an electronic synthesizer -- the first such instrument to be widely available to the consumer public. The Hammond people have a lot to answer for.)...

... "Never heard of her," says Miss Sylvia Ageloff. "Not my crowd."...

Good one Lizzie.

The traffic problem is evergreen. In my several decades in NYC, I've seem many programs rolled out to deal with it and, while some have had some modest success, the situation is not "solvable," it's just a matter of trying to ameliorate it. Heck, after the first few months of Covid truly did clear the city out, the streets now (with exceptions, like Times Square) are often very crowded as, even though fewer workers are coming into the city, those that are, are driving not taking mass transit. The streets in my neighborhood are insanely crowded with cars and trucks these days, at least as busy as before Covid hit.

Good "The Neighbors" today - think about it guys

... C'mon, Doc -- hit a bump. Bounce him right off.


Yeah, you can have a lot of fun on $11 a week. Do they have Automats in Detropolis?


REALLLY LENA? REALLLLLLY???????? And poor Truck McClusky barely cold in his grave.

All of our older teens are having love life issues at the same time. Bucky in, Terry out / Nina in, Snipe out / Lana and Lillums don't even know they are in competition, but they are.

 

[ChiTownScion]

So the judge pulled strings to get the Very Finest Trial Attorney in the state. And they say Nick Gatt is dead.

Pretty common theme with a lot of people: "Lawyers are jerks, thieves, and vermin... but MY lawyer is the finest to draw breath since the time of William Blackstone."

Am I correct, Brother Harp?

 

[Harp]

So the judge pulled strings to get the Very Finest Trial Attorney in the state. And they say Nick Gatt is dead.

Pretty common theme with a lot of people: "Lawyers are jerks, thieves, and vermin... but MY lawyer is the finest to draw breath since the time of William Blackstone."

Am I correct, Brother Harp?

As that eminent Irishman William Shakespeare scribbled in Measure for Measure:
...what knows the laws
That thieves do pass on thieves?

Physicians are especially grateful when caught in a web of ensnare and a lawyer explains how
Tenancy in the entirety is the scalpel of choice in Trust & Estate matters.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Royal Air Force bombers attacked German naval dockyards at Wilhelmshaven and Enden last night, causing extensive damage. An official British communique stated that "many explosions and fires" were confirmed at the yards, with more than twenty noted in the assault on Enden. Meanwhile, the German High Command stated that British explosive and incendiary raids on coastal regions of northwest Germany killed 11 civilians and injured 14 others.

Brooklyn's Raymond Street Jail has been accused of profiteering, by overcharging prisoners for cigarettes sold at the jailhouse commissary. A report issued today in Albany by a state commission investigating conditions at the notorious and much-criticized institution found that cigarette brands sold at retail at 16 cents per pack are sold to prisoners at 17 cents a pack. Formerly, the report noted, those brands were sold in the jail at 18 cents per pack. The committee also criticized the presence of a certain soft drink company's vending machine in the jail, and noted with particular concern the fact that only that company's brand is sold.

An explosion in a manhole at the corner of Myrtle Street and Nostrand Avenue severely injured two firemen and startled pedestrians on their way to work this morning. The blast erupted in the New York Telephone Company manhole shortly after 7:30 AM, sending a thick plume of smoke from burning electrical insulation into the air. Firemen from two engine companies pumped tons of water into the hole in an effort to extinguish the underground blaze, but the sound of a dull subterranean explosion was immediately followed by a burst of flame and smoke that engulfed 47-year-old Lt. Alfred Schatzle of Engine Company 230 and 36-year-old fireman Dennis Healy of Hook and Ladder Company 202. The two men were taken to Cumberland Hospital with serious burns. There is no indication of what caused the explosion.

The big black hat favored by Mayor LaGuardia is now the height of fashion, with four versions of "Butch's" familiar ten-gallon chapeau paraded upon the heads of models in the New York Fashion Futures show last night at the Hotel Astor. The theme of the show was "All American Fashion," of necessity since the fall of Paris to the Nazis, and the Mayor's conspicuous headgear was acknowledged to be about as All-American as it gets. The Mayor was taken by surprise by the appropriation of his hat by the high-fashion devotees, and when asked for his opinion could only say "it's -- ah -- pretty."

After nearly forty years of planning, construction, debate, and delays the new Central Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library will open to the public on Saturday February 1st. The new branch at Grand Army Plaza, to be named in honor of the late borough president Raymond V. Ingersoll, will be opened entirely without ceremony, although a formal dedication is expected to take place later.

("Fo'ty yeahs lateh?" says Joe. "Nah, t'ey prolly won'even have books in 1981," says Sally. "Ev'ybuddygonnabe too busy lookin' at television.")

A California mother has come forward to offer her baby for "immortalization" by the Royal Fraternity of Master Metaphysicans. James B. Schafer, head of the Long Island cult, did not name the woman, but stated that she is a member of the organization, and that both she and her husband -- a college student preparing for a career in the diplomatic corps -- are enthusiastic about contributing their baby as a replacement for the former Immortal Child, Baby Jean Gaultt, who was uncermoniously returned to her parents after spending a year at the sect's "Peace Haven" mansion.

In Chicago, five thousand city employees are going on strike in a dispute over a mandatory pay cut. The walkout will affect all city departments with the exception of police and fire, and the Electricans' Union, in solidarity with the strikers, has reportedly shut off power to City Hall.

The grand old men of the Kings County Volunteer Firemens' Association will hold their final parade on February 22nd, despite the refusal of the city to provide funding for the traditional march. The veterans of the old neighborhood volunteer fire departments of the former City of Brooklyn have pledged to cover the $1500 cost for bands and other incidental expenses thru private donations. Vamps' president Alfred Steers, former Borough President of Brooklyn, has said that the aging of the veterans will make this the last parade to be sponsored by the Association.

(What, you mean all those fancy people in the Heights have to send the butler down to the candy store to buy their Eagle? How un-American!)

(They don't call butterfish "butterfish" because they taste like butter. They call them that because they cause certain human waste products to turn a bright yellow-orange. But for thirteen cents a pound, who can be fussy?)

(The marriage will last until Mr. Shaffler's death in 1975, so maybe there's something to it...)

(The Admiral is fortunate that Facebook hasn't been invented yet.)

A superintendant of company guards for the Triangle Cable and Conduit Company in Glendale is accused of setting fire to a shack in which striking company workers were resting. Thirty-three year old Edmund White is being held on $1000 bail on a charge of attempted arson after workers accused him of throwing a rock and a piece of burning waste material thru the window of the shack on November 30th. One of the workers told police he saw White looking in the window as they fought to extinguish the fire, and then saw him drive away. A license number turned into police by the workers matched that of White's car, but the suspect insisted he was home in bed in Lynbrook at the time of the incident. Workers have been on strike at the plant since last August.

Leo Durocher has been deferred from the draft due to his providing support to his mother, stepfather, and stepbrother, according to a ruling by his neighborhood draft board. The 37-year-old Dodger manager and the rest of his squad are required to get their affairs fully in order with Selective Service before they will be permitted to leave the United States for spring training in Havana next month.

The Flock's Cuban expedition this spring is a Brooklyn first, but it's not the first time any big-league club has trained there. The Reds, who were going in heavily for Cuban talent with the likes of Adolfo Luque, Mike Gonzalez, Armando Marsans, and Manuel Cueto about twenty years ago, pitched their spring camp in Havana for a while, and for some years thereafter Havana considered the Cincinnati team their local club. Larry MacPhail, when he was running the Reds, considered taking them back there a few years ago, but opted for Puerto Rico instead. The Dodgers did make an exhibition appearance in Havana about ten years ago, during Uncle Wilbert Robinson's last year as manager, but the only Dodger still with the club from that time is Van Mungo -- then a rawboned busher whom Uncle Robbie tried to protect from the hell-raising team of veterans who found the Cuban climate much to their liking. How today's Flock will find Havana remains to be seen.

Ginger Rogers makes a pert Kitty Foyle in the picturization of Christopher Morley's bestselling novel, now showing over the bridge at the Rivoli. Philadelphia's Main Line -- already taking a screen drubbing in "The Philadelphia Story" -- gets it good in the screenplay adapted from the novel by Dalton Trumbo, and Miss Rogers, as the self-described "tough mick," is in fine form. The movies have changed the story in places -- especially the end -- but on the whole, the picture is good, especially with Miss Rogers' utter sincerity in the title role.

Bette Davis will star in Arch Oboler's radio adaptation of Somerset Maugham's "Of Human Bondage," over WEAF on Friday January 17th. Mr. Maugham himself will introduce the play. Mr. Oboler, who has worked with Miss Davis before, notably in "Alter Ego," says that he considers her one of the most versatile and talented actresses in the business today.

(Hey Sparks, why not have Doc shine that ray on your common sense.)

("Ha! How I wish you, too, were bright enough..." Poor Jo.)

(OK, so what's your next plan?)

(BOOOM!)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

"Aw, gee whiz, Pop! If that guy Terry can go an' fight in China, why can't I?"

Hmph, what about LaGuardia's hat?

Mr. McLaren is "making the three-ring sign, to ask the man for Ballantine." And when he raps the bar twice with his knuckles, it's a "knock-knock for Knickerbocker!" And when his wife grabs him by the ear, that means "you've had enough tonight, fathead."

Point of order: didn't Anvil mess up La Plata's pretty face with scars and such? I was hoping for something more gruesome here.

Andy can't afford to go Pullman, so maybe you shoulda tied him to a bed.

Yeah, but give him the WHOLE story, Doc.

That's "Chisel" to you. Obviously he's a fine cabinetmaker in the old hand-crafted tradition.

PUNCH HIM PUNCH HIM NOW

PUNCH HIM PUNCH HIM NOW

OK, so for those who've come in late, let's recap. Back in 1939, Lillums was attending college in a distant town, and Harold, in the throes of passion, commandeered his then-employer's butcher-shop delivery truck to drive up there and convince her to elope. They got to the justice-of-the-peace, and Harold had to admit that he'd forgotten to get a marriage license. Lillums, outraged, called him a "rattle brained hepcat" and swore never to speak to him again. Her mother Lena, ever the helpful soul, immediately fixed her up with an oily fellow twice her age, and pushed her into agreeing to marrying him. Harold went pretty much insane, and after splitting a butcher-block in half with a violent swing of a meat cleaver, vowed to -- leave town. Which he did, not realizing that Lillums' fiance had been killed in a car accident the night before. He then spent a year in New York getting fleeced by a woman-of-experience, working for a crazy author, getting fleeced AGAIN by the SAME woman-of-experience, wandering the streets as a bum, and finally got a job with the industrialist J. P. Pipdyke , whose daughters he rescued from a blackmail plot -- causing Pipdyke to send him home triumphant. Meanwhile, Lillums and Harold have had precisely no contact with each other since December of 1939. In other words, kids, you don't know when you're well off.

 

[Fading Fast]

...

An explosion in a manhole at the corner of Myrtle Street and Nostrand Avenue severely injured two firemen and startled pedestrians on their way to work this morning. The blast erupted in the New York Telephone Company manhole shortly after 7:30 AM, sending a thick plume of smoke from burning electrical insulation into the air. Firemen from two engine companies pumped tons of water into the hole in an effort to extinguish the underground blaze, but the sound of a dull subterranean explosion was immediately followed by a burst of flame and smoke that engulfed 47-year-old Lt. Alfred Schatzle of Engine Company 230 and 36-year-old fireman Dennis Healy of Hook and Ladder Company 202. The two men were taken to Cumberland Hospital with serious burns. There is no indication of what caused the explosion....

These type of manhole explosions still happen, occasionally, in NYC to this day.

... (They don't call butterfish "butterfish" because they taste like butter. They call them that because they cause certain human waste products to turn a bright yellow-orange. But for thirteen cents a pound, who can be fussy?)...

Assuming this is the full ad, what's missing versus today is a robust section of pre-packaged cookies and cakes.

...Ginger Rogers makes a pert Kitty Foyle in the picturization of Christopher Morley's bestselling novel, now showing over the bridge at the Rivoli. Philadelphia's Main Line -- already taking a screen drubbing in "The Philadelphia Story" -- gets it good in the screenplay adapted from the novel by Dalton Trumbo, and Miss Rogers, as the self-described "tough mick," is in fine form. The movies have changed the story in places -- especially the end -- but on the whole, the picture is good, especially with Miss Rogers' utter sincerity in the title role....

No surprise, the book is much better than the movie as the movie had to expurgate so much of the book to pass muster with the censors that the story on screen loses much of its punch (and coherence).

Book comments here: #8419
Movie comments here: #28025

... "Aw, gee whiz, Pop! If that guy Terry can go an' fight in China, why can't I?"...

I don't think the term existed yet, but clearly, car jacking was already a thing.

...
That's "Chisel" to you. Obviously he's a fine cabinetmaker in the old hand-crafted tradition....

She will be looking for the office of William O'Dwyer or Burton Turkus.

.. OK, so for those who've come in late, let's recap. Back in 1939, Lillums was attending college in a distant town, and Harold, in the throes of passion, commandeered his then-employer's butcher-shop delivery truck to drive up there and convince her to elope. They got to the justice-of-the-peace, and Harold had to admit that he'd forgotten to get a marriage license. Lillums, outraged, called him a "rattle brained hepcat" and swore never to speak to him again. Her mother Lena, ever the helpful soul, immediately fixed her up with an oily fellow twice her age, and pushed her into agreeing to marrying him. Harold went pretty much insane, and after splitting a butcher-block in half with a violent swing of a meat cleaver, vowed to -- leave town. Which he did, not realizing that Lillums' fiance had been killed in a car accident the night before. He then spent a year in New York getting fleeced by a woman-of-experience, working for a crazy author, getting fleeced AGAIN by the SAME woman-of-experience, wandering the streets as a bum, and finally got a job with the industrialist J. P. Pipdyke , whose daughters he rescued from a blackmail plot -- causing Pipdyke to send him home triumphant. Meanwhile, Lillums and Harold have had precisely no contact with each other since December of 1939. In other words, kids, you don't know when you're well off.

Thank you Lizzie.

I believe the Greek Chorus is quietly chanting the word "Lana" over and over again.

 

[ChiTownScion]

I have to wonder if Harold Gray ever had any kids of his own. Little Billy seems to be a bit too "ideal" for a real little boy. He seems like the kind of a kid that a wannabe Mom would order out of a Sears & Roebuck catalogue: not a trace of brat or whiner in him. Even the best of little boys isn't quite that picture perfect.

 

[LizzieMaine]

He was married twice -- and supposedly liked a bit of fun on the side -- but there doesn't seem to be any mention of kids. Which sort of makes sense, if you read the strip as wish-fulfillment. The theme of happy families being compromised in some way is a recurring one in Gray's work, so it may be there was some issue there that isn't talked about in his own life.

If you really want to get into psychological projection, though, comparing the relationship of Walt and Skeezix -- especially when Skeez was a little kid -- to Frank King's relationship with his own son is absolutely fascinating. Talk about wish fulfullment.

 

[Harp]

If you really want to get into psychological projection, though, comparing the relationship of....
Talk about wish fulfullment.

Terry and Hu Shee. And Puccini. Madame Butterfly- I prefer Maria Callas but that is another story.
Dr Ping really tossed in a Chinese fortune cookie chip in this plot. Time for Terry to make his move.
Buy a diamond ring in Shanghai, get down on his knee, pop the ?, and propose. Got to lay the cards
down, pronto kid. And do an end run around Lucky Buck. Hu Shee seems a bit reticient with Buck.
I believe Dr Ping was trying to get through to knot head Terry.... Is his love sincere, or merely foolish
infatuation. Romeo Montague in love with love as Brother Sloan, tyrant extraordinaire had it back in the day.
ba***rd nailed Montague, and Ping knows the score with kiddo T-wreck.

 

[LizzieMaine]

A strike against the Ranger Aircraft Engineering Corporation in Farmingdale, L. I. by the United Automobile Workers of America has been delayed for 48 hours pending further discussion between the two sides, mediated by a representative of the National Defense Commission. The UAW had planned to walk out as of 7:45 PM last night in a dispute over the 60-day payscale for newly hired workers. The union has been working without a contract since the previous agreement expired at the end of October. In the interval the UAW filed charges against the company with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that Ranger had attempted to induce UAW members to join an illegal company-controlled union.

British long-range bombers pounded the vital German industrial centers in the Ruhr region, targeting oil plants and other objectives. RAF planes also struck the docks at Brest, on the French invasion coast, and oil plants in Rotterdam, Holland. Reports state that the British raids were of "unusually long duration."

Ambassadors of several foreign nations in London have made several predictions for the course of the war during 1941, in reports sent to their home governments. Foremost among the predictions is that Germany will make an all-out effort during the year ahead to bring Britain to its knees, but it is also predicted that Britain will succeed in driving Italy out of the war, that Japan will initiate an expansionist push in the South Seas in synchronization with a massive German spring offensive. The prediction that Germany will make its "supreme push" this year is tied to the projection that Germany will otherwise begin to lose ground from 1942 onward.

With secrecy rivaling that of a grand jury proceeding, romance bloomed in the sordid surroundings of the Amen Office, climaxed by a secret wedding in October between Edward L. "Ted" Rea, executive assistant to Assitant Attorney General John H. Amen and staff attorney Mary Flynn, the only woman on, "and the unofficial It Girl of," the Amen staff. When challenged about all the secrecy by Mr. Amen when the facts of the marriage came out, Mr. Rea sheepishly admitted that "it's just a habit" he got into working in the office. The new Mrs. Rea is a graduate of Hunter College and Fordham Law School who was admitted to the bar in 1938. Mr. Rea is presently completing his third year at Brooklyn College Law School, and expects soon to be a lawyer himself, if he can keep his mind on his studies. The Reas intend to keep their residence in Brooklyn -- "it's a fine borough," says Mr. Rea -- with their present home at 130 Columbia Heights.

A Long Island woman is seeking to nullify an interlocutory divorce decree granted to her last summer, in order to prevent her ex-husband from marrying "the other woman." Mrs. Alice A. Armstrong of East Williston filed an application before Nassau County Supreme Court Justice Francis J. Hooley declaring that she has "changed her mind," and would be satisfied with a mere legal separation. Her former husband, wealthy rubber-company executive William J. Armstrong, is reportedly considering marriage to the co-respondent in the divorce case, the ex-wife of a man now serving sentence for a narcotics conviction. Mrs. Armstrong, who was granted $45 per week alimony in the divorce, told Justice Hooley that she fears the influence such a marriage might have on her two children.

Tomorrow's scheduled opening of the new Ingersoll Memorial Library branch at Grand Army Plaza may face yet another delay, following an argument over the shade of paint to be used in finishing the walls and ceilings. A double-shift of painters had set to work on Tuesday to prepare the building for Saturday's opening, but a disagreement between the building's architect and the painting contractor over the precise shade to be used. Public Works Commissioner Irving V. A. Hule was meeting today with the feuding parties, and declared that the building will open on schedule if he has to choose the paint himself. Borough President John Cashmore, who has viewed the continuous delays on the project with mounting frustration, when advised of the latest conflict, was heard to mutter something under his breath that couldn't quite be made out.

(About time a FINE CAT got a fair shake in this dog-paper.)

The Department of Corrections has begun an immediate investigation of charges that officials at the Raymond Street Jail are gouging inmates on the price of cigarettes sold thru the jailhouse commissary. Corrections Commissioner Peter F. Amoroso told the Eagle today that if it is found that the jail is selling cigarettes above the prevailing retail price outside the jail, he will order an immediate reduction. It was reported yesterday that brands selling in retail stores for sixteen cents, tax included, are being sold in the jail at seventeen cents per pack.

The Board of Estimate yesterday approved a special appropriation of $2500 to fund excavation work near the Passaic River in Lyndhurst, New Jersey, as District Attorney William O'Dwyer's search for the body of missing Longshoremen's Union activist Peter Panto continues. Mr. O'Dwyer has been personally supervising the dig, after receiving information that Panto's body was dumped at the location after his disappearance in 1939. Steam shovels at the site have encountered a layer of quicksand below the surface, and are continuing to dig despite that obstacle.

A ten year old Bushwick boy was killed yesterday hitching a ride on a Nostrand Avenue trolley. Joseph Cortese of 24 Sumner Street died when he struck his head on a parked car as he hung off the back of the trolley near the intersection of Penn Street and Lee Avenue.

("How c'n she siddowninnat?" wonders Joe. "She ain'gottasiddown," replies Sally. "She gotta built-in chaiah unnaneat'!")

(Aside from the potential for massive blunt-trauma injury, I'm puzzled as to what else is happening here. What is she holding in her left hand -- a phone book? A dictionary? An unapproved Bible translation? The Sears catalog, with the page for sex manuals turned down? Help me, Lichty. Help me to understand.)

A radio patrolman from the Hamilton Avenue precinct is recovering in Methodist Hospital after bulldogging a rampaging horse down 6th Street. Patrolman George Smith, age 38, was on duty with his partner, Patrolman John Lawless, when they saw the horse, hitched to a junk wagon, become frightened by some unknown cause and begin bucking and running out of control toward the busy intersection of 4th Avenue and 6th Street. Patrolman Smith leaped aboard the wagon and siezed the reins from terrified driver Joseph Virgino, junkman, of 274 41st Street. Failing to bring the horse back under control as the wagon sped toward the intersection, the patrolman climbed out onto the animal's neck and wrenched its head sideways, causing the horse to crash into a parked car. Smith was thrown over the horse's head and into the car himself, but neither horse nor policeman were seriously hurt. Virgino, who was thrown from the wagon during the crash, could not explain why the horse bucked. The animal was taken to the ASPCA shelter for examination.

("Whoa! The puck's not s'posed to stand on edge like that! Wow!!!")

Americans coach Red Dutton says the Detroit Red Wings will win the Stanley Cup in 1941. That after the Wings and the Amerks skated to a 3-3 overtime tie at the Garden last night. Detroit is presently second to Toronto in the National Hockey League standings, trailing by just two points, but Red says as the younger team, Detroit has a real advantage over the rest of the season.

The Dodgers won't be worn out by the fifty-game spring exhibition schedule. So states Larry MacPhail, and so argues Tommy Holmes, who points out that even though fifty games are scheduled, no single Dodger will play in all of them, with the team to be split into two units for much of the slate, and plenty of playing time to be given to everyone. The Flock heads to camp with sixteen pitchers on the roster -- not counting Van Mungo, who is, at present, still carried a a coach -- and the expanded schedule ensures that every one of them will get a fair look. It's likely that Durocher himself will lead the Dodger unit scheduled to tour Texas, and that he will take most of his regulars along, leaving Chuck Dressen to lead the "B" team, made up mostly of rookies and part-time players, to work the Eastern half of the route.

(An Italian restaurant run by "Chubby" is about as Truth In Advertising as you can get.)

Dialectician Minnie Pious will be Colonel Stoopnagle's guest on his Sunday afternoon program over WABC this week. The mainstay of the Mighty Allen Art Players, and mistress of every known comedy dialect, advises radio fans to "lissen in an' loin."

("Whassatspostamean?" wonders Joe. "Soich me," shrugs Sally.)

(Sparky's a sap.)

("...and a fool for a client.")

(See now, wasn't that easy?)

(Ah, Dan Dumb. Given your suspicions about this mook, why would you give him ANY information AT ALL?)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Mary Pickford was one of the toughest eggs in Hollywood, and she didn't care who knew it. It's a pity she never hooked up with Barrymore, she'd have snapped him into position PDQ.

"They promised me the fine print didn't mean a thing."

Ahhhhh, spring is in the air.

Nobody likes you, Pete. Not even Sam.

You know, if you just shot the guy and dumped him in a swamp you'd make it a lot harder for the cops.

Ahhh. You'll be out on the road, and poor Nina will just have to fend for herself.

That's OK, just tie Paul Bunyan here to the front of the engine.

Go to sleep, Doc -- let nature take its course.

And the thing is, Willie and Mamie have by far the soundest marriage in the funnies.

Huh, I wonder what strips Harold reads. "That Skeezix, what a chump!"

 

[Fading Fast]

...A Long Island woman is seeking to nullify an interlocutory divorce decree granted to her last summer, in order to prevent her ex-husband from marrying "the other woman." Mrs. Alice A. Armstrong of East Williston filed an application before Nassau County Supreme Court Justice Francis J. Hooley declaring that she has "changed her mind," and would be satisfied with a mere legal separation. Her former husband, wealthy rubber-company executive William J. Armstrong, is reportedly considering marriage to the co-respondent in the divorce case, the ex-wife of a man now serving sentence for a narcotics conviction. Mrs. Armstrong, who was granted $45 per week alimony in the divorce, told Justice Hooley that she fears the influence such a marriage might have on her two children....

Knowing only the facts in this paragraph, if Ms. Armstrong wants to punish her husband, she'd let him marry that woman.

...Tomorrow's scheduled opening of the new Ingersoll Memorial Library branch at Grand Army Plaza may face yet another delay, following an argument over the shade of paint to be used in finishing the walls and ceilings. A double-shift of painters had set to work on Tuesday to prepare the building for Saturday's opening, but a disagreement between the building's architect and the painting contractor over the precise shade to be used. Public Works Commissioner Irving V. A. Hule was meeting today with the feuding parties, and declared that the building will open on schedule if he has to choose the paint himself. Borough President John Cashmore, who has viewed the continuous delays on the project with mounting frustration, when advised of the latest conflict, was heard to mutter something under his breath that couldn't quite be made out....

...
(Aside from the potential for massive blunt-trauma injury, I'm puzzled as to what else is happening here. What is she holding in her left hand -- a phone book? A dictionary? An unapproved Bible translation? The Sears catalog, with the page for sex manuals turned down? Help me, Lichty. Help me to understand.)...

The joke would have made sense in a simple way had she just had the rolling pin raised and no book in her other hand. As set up now, I agree, it's not clear at all what's happening.

...A radio patrolman from the Hamilton Avenue precinct is recovering in Methodist Hospital after bulldogging a rampaging horse down 6th Street. Patrolman George Smith, age 38, was on duty with his partner, Patrolman John Lawless, when they saw the horse, hitched to a junk wagon, become frightened by some unknown cause and begin bucking and running out of control toward the busy intersection of 4th Avenue and 6th Street. Patrolman Smith leaped aboard the wagon and siezed the reins from terrified driver Joseph Virgino, junkman, of 274 41st Street. Failing to bring the horse back under control as the wagon sped toward the intersection, the patrolman climbed out onto the animal's neck and wrenched its head sideways, causing the horse to crash into a parked car. Smith was thrown over the horse's head and into the car himself, but neither horse nor policeman were seriously hurt. Virgino, who was thrown from the wagon during the crash, could not explain why the horse bucked. The animal was taken to the ASPCA shelter for examination....

It's amazing, thankfully, that no one was seriously injured in this. Say what you will about modern technology, I'd love to see the Youtube video of it.

...Dialectician Minnie Pious will be Colonel Stoopnagle's guest on his Sunday afternoon program over WABC this week. The mainstay of the Mighty Allen Art Players, and mistress of every known comedy dialect, advises radio fans to "lissen in an' loin."

("Whassatspostamean?" wonders Joe. "Soich me," shrugs Sally.)...

... (See now, wasn't that easy?)...

Because husbands-to-be always ask, apparently without checking with their fiancés first, all but random strangers to give the bride away.

...
"They promised me the fine print didn't mean a thing."...

Based on what we know from this ad, the only way this business model can work is if, one, they charge a high rate of interest as these are unsecured loans to people already in financial trouble and, two, they have aggressive (not necessarily mob or illegal) collection efforts. Basically, they have to offset what they know will be many loans that will never be repaid with the profits on the ones that will.

...
Ahhhhh, spring is in the air....

It's not Twitter. This man put in effort (writing, addressing, mailing) and spent time and money just so people could read his opinion.

 

[LizzieMaine]

This isn't the first time we've seen a cop wrangle a wild horse in the middle of the street. Did New York police in 1941 have to have rodeo training?

The library situation reminds me of our theatre here, where there are least seven distinct variations of the same shade of green in just the lobby. Sixteen years later, I find myself desperately scraping rust flakes off the tops of old paint cans trying to find the codes to get the colors matched. Interior designers ought to be forced to live in the buildings they design.

It seems Mr. Cashmore might have experienced some mental/emotional problems late in his life. I can understand why.

 

[Harp]

Terry, nada, zip, zero. It ain't even gonna happen. Sorry ba***rd cannot even step up to the plate.
Too busy feeling sorry for himself, definitely not keeping his eye on the ball.
And China doll Hu Shee is a pearl. That flyboy Lucky Buck may win a wildcard by default.
Just like the Chicago Bears. Bet the Saints kick ass today. Unbearable. But cherry Terry just fumbles
every damn time he gets the ball. Gutless dumbass. But I liked Ping Pong's Puccini reference.
Love Madame Butterfly, wonder if Anna Netrebko ever sang this?

Ditto Harold Teen. Lana's gorgeous. She seems a mix of Shirley Jones and Kim Novak.
And the kid is still living at home. About time he got his ass in gear.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Specific methods by which the Roosevelt Administration would extend aid to Britain under the proposed Lease-Lend bill began to take shape today even as Congressional critics called for restriction of the vast power which the measure would confer upon the President. Senator James F. Byrnes (D-SC), who participated in preliminary conferences on the measure, stated today that if adopted, the provisions of the measure would be implemented by the President thru the newly-established Office of Production Management headed by William S. Knudsen, representing business, and Sidney Hillman, representing labor, with Secretaries Henry L. Stimson and Frank Knox serving as members.

In Germany, the Nazi press declared today that the Lease-Lend bill comes too late to provide any meaningful assistance to Britain, predicting that "by the time the Roosevelt bill is available, England will have long been taken care of." In Moscow, the Soviet press questioned the "juggling of international law" inherent in the bill and its impact on America's neutral status. Germany and the USSR this week entered into a new trade agreement in which Soviet grain will go to Germany in exchange for German-made machinery.

A contract agreement reached early today has prevented a strike by the United Automobile Workers of America against the Ranger Aircraft Engineering Corporation of East Farmingdale. The pact, hammered out during all-night negotiations at the Hotel Commodore in Manhattan, includes a compromise by the union on the matter of the 60-day wage scale for new employees, with new hires to begin work at a pay rate of 50 cents an hour, advancing to 55 cents after four months, 57 1/2 cents after 6 months, and to 60 cents after a year on the job. In exchange, the union received a guarantee that it will be recognized as exclusive bargaining agent for all plant workers.

Investigators have found no evidence of sabotage in an overnight fire in the hold of a British freighter moored at the foot of Pineapple Street. The blaze caused an estimated $50,000 to $100,000 in damage to Red Cross supplies stored in the hold of the freighter Black Heron, and Fire Marshal Thomas P. Brophy stated this morning that no evidence of a suspicious origin was found. The fire is believed to have been caused by acetylene torches used by workers on the vessel in the construction of a steel cable intended for use in lashing down one of the three bombing planes stored on the deck of the ship. The planes themselves suffered no damage in the fire.

Comedian Joe Penner is dead. The 36-year-old comic was found dead in his bed by his wife last night in Philadelphia, where he was starring in a road-company production of the musical comedy "Yokel Boy." It is believed that the entertainer died in his sleep of a heart attack, although he had no history of heart trouble, and an autopsy will be performed to confirm the cause of death. Mr. Penner, who came to the United States from Hungary as a small boy, enjoyed a long career in burlesque, vaudeville, and on Broadway before he surged to national fame in 1933 after a guest appearance on Rudy Vallee's radio hour. He began his own program later that year, and his humorous songs and catchphrases "Wanna buy a duck?", "You nasty man!" and "Don't ever do that!" led to his selection as the nation's outstanding radio comedian in 1933 and 1934. Mr. Penner also enjoyed a successful career in motion pictures beginning with "College Rhythm" in 1933. He joined the "Yokel Boy" company two weeks ago, where friends said he felt like he was "starting life all over again" to be enjoying the excitement of the stage. Mr. Penner is survived by his wife, the former Eleanor May Vogt, a dancer.

("How c'n Joe Penna be dead?" wonders Joe. "He's on'y toity-six. My brutta Lou is toity-six, an' he's alive." "Terr'ble t'ing," says Sally, shaking her head somberly as, at a mere twenty-eight, she for the first time truly senses the passing of the years. "Terr'ble t'ing.")

British Naval pilots flying American-built Grumman single-seat fighter planes have shot down a German Junkers-88. The incident marks the first time British pilots in an American plane have successfully brought down a Nazi plane, with the JU-88 among the most heavily-armed aircraft in the German air force.

The Eagle Editorialist notes the appearance of harbingers of spring -- including advertisements for women's spring hats. And he warns men to hold their tongues when criticizing such impractical headgear -- especially the kind of men who go around in hard-boiled bowler hats and stiff starched collars "merely because it's tradition."

("Idiot boy! I told you we should have gone to Childs!")

(No hitting below the belt!)

The flu epidemic is cutting a broad swath thru the radio studios. Actress Betty Garde, of the "Court of Missing Heirs," Adelaide Klein of "Meet Mr. Meeks," and WHN hockey announcer Bert Lee are all suffering from influenza. Lee broadcast from the Garden this week with a doctor sitting next to him in the booth.

Murder mixed with glee make an effective combination in "Arsenic and Old Lace," new comic play opening this week at the Fulton Theatre. It's the story of two sweet old ladies who live in an old-fashioned house in Brooklyn, who express their sympathy for the lonely old men they take in as boarders by serving them poisoned elderberry wine. There's twelve bodies buried in their cellar, with more to come, until the appearance on the scene of two criminals and a nosy nephew threatens to disrupt their tranquil, peaceful existence. Josephine Hull and Jean Adair are delightful as the gentle murderesses, Allyn Joslyn makes a suitably perplexed nephew, and Boris Karloff and Edgar Stehli are absolute delights as the criminals. You could call it the "Life With Father" of murder plays!

At the Patio this week, it's Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in "Too Many Girls," paired with Boris Karloff in "The Ape." (This is, apparently, a good year to be Boris Karloff.)

(Sparky makes Harold Teen look like Lothario, Casanova, Don Juan, and Clark Gable rolled into one.)

(There are certainly times where "take the money and run" is the most effective strategy.)

(The old gal can certainly move quick when she needs to.)

("Excellent! All that dead weight will make a really spectacular 'pouf!'")

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

I used to think all those operettas about second-rate mittel-European royalty were exaggerated hokum, but now I'm not so sure.

A two-family house in Flatbush/Midwood today could easily sell for seven figures. Too bad Sally's mom sold out in 1970.

They did this editorial just so they'd have an excuse to use that picture.

Just a hint, there, Buck, but you might want to lose that uniform until you get to safety.

Proof positive that technique should always be subordinate to results.

I dunno there, Pete. Artie Shaw ran away to Mexico and then came back, but his new band was never as good as the old one.

Please don't ask Wilmer to do you a favor and pick up Nina at the station. Please don't do that. Please.

I wish Bull Moose leeved in my neighborhood.

Ma has never been this devious before, but she really got used to not having the big goof around the house.

California "motor courts" were, in fact, completely segregated in 1941.

 

[Harp]

Lucky Buck-can't tell-might be wearing a horsehide Aero A2. Dumb fly boy should ditch it quick.
Terry-the-lost-cause is just along for the ride.

Lana, you are so sweet. Why cast your pearl self before that swine punk Harold?

Slim Jim and Ace Slimeball converse, and the manchild hurries off to his room. Sad.

 

[Fading Fast]

... View attachment 299991
Investigators have found no evidence of sabotage in an overnight fire in the hold of a British freighter moored at the foot of Pineapple Street. The blaze caused an estimated $50,000 to $100,000 in damage to Red Cross supplies stored in the hold of the freighter Black Heron, and Fire Marshal Thomas P. Brophy stated this morning that no evidence of a suspicious origin was found. The fire is believed to have been caused by acetylene torches used by workers on the vessel in the construction of a steel cable intended for use in lashing down one of the three bombing planes stored on the deck of the ship. The planes themselves suffered no damage in the fire...

I believe it was the exact same cause - an acetylene torch - that set the Normandie on fire in a New York City harbor a year later.

... (Sparky makes Harold Teen look like Lothario, Casanova, Don Juan, and Clark Gable rolled into one.)...

Trying to be logical about the crazy in "Spark Watts" is a bit of crazy itself, but why can't Sparky just be the baby's godfather or "uncle?"

... (There are certainly times where "take the money and run" is the most effective strategy.)...

Since four ambulance-chasing lawyers already turned down the case, I couldn't agree more. That said, the way they struggled to read the dollar amount without their glasses has me suspicious that it's really $10k as, I'd bet, they've missed a decimal point. So, it's probably $100 written as "$100.00" that these guys saw as "$10000."

... Just a hint, there, Buck, but you might want to lose that uniform until you get to safety.....

And if his uniform doesn't make the Japanese suspicous, perhaps yellow-hair Terry sitting front and center will. That crew would be the motherload of spies and resistance fighters to capture.

..
Proof positive that technique should always be subordinate to results.....

Agreed. To wit, all Auric Goldfinger had to do was put a bullet in Bond's head instead of employing that convoluted laser (castration fantasy) contraption he used and his plan to all but monopolize the gold market would have worked.

... Please don't ask Wilmer to do you a favor and pick up Nina at the station. Please don't do that. Please.....

At this point in his relationship with Wilmer, if Skeezix does ask him, then he gets what he deserves for being so insanely stupid.

... Ma has never been this devious before, but she really got used to not having the big goof around the house.....

What's that I hear, oh yes, the Greek Chorus is still quietly chanting "Lana, Lana, Lana..."

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

OH, MY, poor dog ASPCA, needs to investigate, dog was clearly treated poorly.

And as for Jack and Joy, HOORAY they are finally together.