The Era -- Day By Day

[Fading Fast]

...Two pickpockets with long police records were arrested last night during a lecture at a synagogue at 400 Stone Avenue. 48-year-old Nathan Green of 28 Grafton Street and 50-year-old Samuel Gold of 240 S. 8th Street were taken into custody when two detectives in the congregation saw them about to pick the pockets of the men seated next to them. The two suspects deny the charges, saying they only wanted to hear the lecture. Green has been arrested 20 times since 1910, and Gold 42 times since 1913, and both suspects have done time at Sing Sing....

What a coincidence if the detectives just happened to be there for the lecture. Also, Green and Gold are entitled to their day in court, but boy do their records not work in their favor.

...PREFERRED MORTGAGES 4 to 5 PERCENT -- REFINANCING COSTS YOU AS LOW AS 1 PERCENT! The Greater New York Mutual Savings Bank, offices downtown and in Flatbush. Phone SOuth 8-4400....

For perspective, today's 30 year mortgage rates are around 3.75% - 3.90% and a 1% re-fi fee (if truly all inclusive) is better than today's average of ~1.5% (lot of caveats).

...(Hey, you and Miss Annie Furlong ought to go out to supper sometime. You'd probably get along swell.)....

. I definitely have no desire to have an argument with Miss Furlong about corsets as I have a feeling her opinions are firmly set. And boy would the Eagle editorialist not be happy with the current state of men's attire.

 

[LizzieMaine]

A German naval thrust has sunk eleven British ships in the last two days, say reports from London, including a destroyer sent to the bottom by a Nazi mine. One crewmember from that ship refused to be rescued until those who had suffered more serious injuries were safe, and swam away singing "Even Hitler Had A Mother."

The latest wave of sinkings comes as Germany makes it clear that it is now fighting an unrestricted naval war, with Berlin issuing a statement that it will now sink all armed merchant ships and all armed passenger vessels without warning.

There are also indications that Britain will begin seizing neutral vessels in its waters believed to be carrying contraband destined for Germany.

German Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop today ruled out any acceptance by Germany of an offer by the Netherlands and Belgium to act as mediators in resolving the European conflict. The statement marks Germany's formal rejection of the plan offered last week by Queen Wilhemina of the Netherlands and King Leopold of Belgium, and von Ribbentrop added that Germany's declination of the offer is in response to a similar decision by Britain and France.

German-American Bund leader Fritz Kuhn, on trial for forgery and embezzlement of funds from the Bund treasure, had more than one woman in his life, according to testimony today in Manhattan General Sessions Court. with a physician testifying that Kuhn had accepted a medical bill for Mrs. Virginia Cogswell, the nine-times-married "Georgia Peach." Dr. Francis La Sorsa testified that he had performed services for Mrs. Cogswell in her room at the Hotel Plymouth in Manhattan on September 2, 1938, and that he met Kuhn there, handing him a bill for services rendered, and that Kuhn scribbled his name and address on Dr. La Sorsa's prescription pad as acknowledgement.

Jobs as census takers for 1940 will be distributed as patronage favors by Brooklyn's eight Democratic Congressmen, with each Congressman allowed to nominate up to 250 persons for those positions, with nominations subject to approval by by the Census Bureau. The jobs will pay a salary of $2000 a year plus extras.

The counting of first-place ballots for Brooklyn's City Council race is now complete, with seven seats to be determined as the count continues for second place and onward. At the close of the first count, the seven leading candidates include five Democrates, one Fusionist, and one Republican. An additional forty-three counts will be required under the proportional representation system to determine the final choices. The end of the first round eliminated four of the 54 candidates on the ballot.

The operation of the bail bond racket in Kings County was examined today in the trial of Abraham Frosch, now underway in Brooklyn Supreme Court. The prosecution charges that Frosch, the youngest of the borough's bondsmen, operated by putting up valueless securities and properties he did not own in writing bonds. Frosch allegedly operated most often on behalf of smalltime gamblers such as crap shooters and bookmakers.

The Raymond Street Jail, unfit for human habitation, now holds 531 prisoners -- which is 61 over capacity.

No indication of sabotage has been found in the sinking last week at a Staten Island pier of two crated Lockheed bombers bound for England. Examination of the sunken barge that had carried the planes found that it had a leak, possibly caused by a collision with some obstacle.

Billy Rose's top publicist has died of pneumonia at the age of 28. Sidney Spier, whose efforts did much to promote the success of Rose's Aquacade at the World's Fair last summer, died at Mount Sinai Hospital today with Rose and Rose's fiancee, chief Aquabelle Eleanor Holm, at his bedside. Miss Holm indicated that her wedding to Rose will go ahead later today on schedule.

A discharged hotel porter admitted to arson following a three-alarm fire at the Towers Hotel in Far Rockaway. 50-year-old Michael Macklin confessed that he tossed a lit match into a pile of rubbish on the first floor of the hotel in revenge for his dismissal.

A wedding won't be happening today at the Church Of Our Lady Of Grace on Avenue U, with the bridegroom in custody on charges of assault and robbery stemming from a holdup yesterday morning. 22-year-old Mario Dellarino, and a confederate, 30 year old Pasquale Biencenvengo, were arrested after allegedly robbing Howard Wernay and Walter Wilkes, milkmen for the Borden Company, while they were making their delivery rounds. The two suspects escaped in a rented car, which was quickly traced to Dellarino. The bride, Susie Malcusio of 533 Macdonald Avenue, where she had lived with Dellarino, spent what was to be her wedding day watching his arraignment in Brooklyn Felony Court. She told reporters she and Dellarino had been "secretly married" in New Jersey in a civil ceremony, but wanted a proper church wedding, adding that she did not believe the charges against Dellarino.

Former California Senator William McAdoo has joined a group publicly advocating a third term for President Roosevelt. McAdoo stressed in his announcement that the two-term limit is a "mere dogma."

A crowd of 22,000 at Madison Square Garden turned out to hear Communist Party leader Earl Browder issue a condemnation of the political tenets of Pope Pius XII. Browder took issue with the Pontiff's recent encyclical, and while stressing that Communists have no quarrel with the "great mass of Catholic workers in America," he denounced the Pope for "attacking the fundamental principle of separation of Church and State," and claimed that "there are growing signs that the Catholic Hierarchy have the ambition to more and more determine the laws and administration of the States and the nation in line with their professed creeds."

There's also a photo of Comrade Browder leaving the Garden in a car with a "feminine companion." (That's his wife Raissa. Who do you think he is, Fritz Kuhn?)

Our friends at Renken's officially join the paper-carton movement with the same pitch as Sheffield and Borden, except to add that *their* carton is Kosher.

The Brooklyn Civic Council has announced a borough-wide crusade to protect parks from vandals after releasing a study pointing out that vandalism caused over $80,000 in damage to park equipment and facilities in 1938. Along with a call for more police presence in parks, the Council also called on the borough's teachers to spend some time each day teaching children to respect the rights of others.

When you hear "this is a stick-up," what will you do? You won't have to worry if you have stick-up insurance from McCooey and Schmitz, Insurance Brokers!

It's not just milk that's going in big for disposable containers. Get Trommer's All-Malt Beer in the new No Deposit Bottle!

Big new show opening tomorrow at the Brooklyn Paramount -- see Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Margaret Lockwood in "Rulers Of The Sea," with second feature "Kid Nightingale," featuring John Payne and Jane Wyman, and the bonus Technicolor short, "Bill of Rights."

At the Patio, it's John Garfield in "Dust Be My Destiny," and the Ritz Brothers in "Pack Up Your Troubles."

Silent-era film director Lois Weber, one of the pioneering women in moviemaking, has died of a stomach ailment at the age of 56.

The 23rd Annual Brooklyn Red Cross Drive is underway, with a quota of 150,000 new members.

The Dodgers could get hulking Cincinnati catcher Ernie Lombardi for the asking -- but do they want him? Sure, the Schnoz is a slugger, and could be counted on to hit .300 with 25 homers or so, but he's also by far the slowest man now wearing a baseball uniform, and that doesn't quite fit the fleet-footed vision Larry MacPhail and Leo Durocher have for the Flock in 1940. Word is that the Reds will take outfielder Ernie Koy and catcher Babe Phelps for Lombardi, and that no matter what happens, Lombardi is not likely to be the Reds' number one catcher next season, with Willard Hershberger likely to take over in that role if the Reds can't secure a deal for another catcher.

The Giants will become the sixth major league team to install lights for night baseball in 1940, with contracts signed with the Westinghouse Manufacturing Company for a 200-million candlepower system at the Polo Grounds. The Giants will also agree to play night ball in other parks around the National League. They were the last club to refuse to play anywhere under the lights.

Fifteen major exhibitors ranging from IBM to the Continental Baking Company today signed new contracts for the 1940 edition of the World's Fair, guaranteeing that the majority of industrial exhibitors who participated in 1939 will return for the new season. Fair President Harvey D. Gibson says he's had no indication from any of the industrial exhibitors that they'll not be coming back.

Postmaster General James Farley tests his wits tonight alongside Oscar Levant, Franklin P. Adams, John Kieran, and moderator Clifton Fadiman on tonight's Information Please, 8:30pm on WJZ.

George reprimands Uncle Boohoo for squitching poor Potato-Nose Homer, but Uncle remains determined to stand on his right to a cut of the diamonds. Homer insists the diamonds are all his because they fell from a spot directly under his bed.

Leona is so caught up in planning her swanky dinner with The Handsomest Man In All Europe that she completely forgot that Ted is coming over tonight. Don't worry, I'm sure Cousin Sue will dramatically take off her glasses and keep him entertained.

Dan Dunn is convinced that the bullet did come from the gun he found after all. You can tell he's done with his science because he's putting his coat back on.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And from today's Daily News, it's always a delight to come across a turn of phrase that's never been used before and will in all likelihood never be used again. (Until Mel Brooks comes along, that is...)

 

[Fading Fast]

...Mrs. Virginia Cogswell, the nine-times-married....

Nine times!

...A wedding won't be happening today at the Church Of Our Lady Of Grace on Avenue U, with the bridegroom in custody on charges of assault and robbery stemming from a holdup yesterday morning. 22-year-old Mario Dellarino, and a confederate, 30 year old Pasquale Biencenvengo, were arrested after allegedly robbing Howard Wernay and Walter Wilkes, milkmen for the Borden Company, while they were making their delivery rounds. The two suspects escaped in a rented car, which was quickly traced to Dellarino. The bride, Susie Malcusio of 533 Macdonald Avenue, where she had lived with Dellarino, spent what was to be her wedding day watching his arraignment in Brooklyn Felony Court. She told reporters she and Dellarino had been "secretly married" in New Jersey in a civil ceremony, but wanted a proper church wedding, adding that she did not believe the charges against Dellarino....

Maybe Mario was just trying to even the score with the dairy companies.

As to bride Susie, I guess I respect her loyalty, but methinks she might want to reevaluate. One wonders about the longevity of that marriage.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Mrs. Cogswell was quite a tabloid personality of her time --she claimed to have been Miss America of 1925, tried marriage for the first time at sixteen, decided she liked the concept if not the execution, and cut a merry swath from then on into the 1930s, running up a streak of weddings that would eventually reach eleven.

She was not, in fact, Miss America of 1925 -- she might have won a pageant in Georgia around that time, but she was not the actual, regulation, official Atlantic City Miss America, but the press of the time was not especially exacting when it came to vetting its celebrities-known-for-being-celebrated, and she was routinely advertised as a Former Miss America regardless of the truth of the claim.

But what she was, in fact, was an undercover agent for the Dies Committee, handled by a "freelance agent" -- meaning he had no official sanction except that Martin Dies liked him -- named Richard Rollins. Rollins convinced Mrs. Cogswell to ingratiate herself with Fritz Kuhn and get the dope on the Bund, and paid her fifty dollars a week for her trouble on the understanding that she'd use a portable recording machine to document everything Kuhn said to her. Which led to the preservation of a great many of Bundesfuehrer Fritz's mangy romanticisms but no particularly useful spy stuff. On one occasion Kuhn tried to convince Mrs. Cogswell to let him carve a swastika on her chest with a razor blade as a demonstration of her love for him, but she was able to talk him out of it. But there were plenty of other salacious bits documented by the recordings to keep Dies and his boys at eager attention thruout the investigation.

Virginia Cogswell, waiting to tell all in court.

 

[Fading Fast]

...On one occasion Kuhn tried to convince Mrs. Cogswell to let him carve a swastika on her chest with a razor blade as a demonstration of her love for him....

Oh dear me. Sometimes, it is so much better not to know some things.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The mayor of the Long Island town of North Beach is dead, and a Long Beach police officer is in custody after a double shooting outside the mayor's home. Mayor Louis F. Edwards was cut down by gunfire this morning as he was leaving his house at 15 Beech Street, and his bodyguard, Patrolman James Walsh, was seriously wounded. Long Beach Patrolman Alvin Dooley was waiting as the Mayor left his home shortly after 10 am, and when Edwards greeted him, Dooley responded "Good morning, you ______," drew his .38 Colt service revolver, and shot the mayor in the heart. Dooley then pumped two shots into Walsh, before firing twice more at the fallen body of the mayor. Dooley then hailed a passer-by, and asked to be taken to the police station, declaring "I just shot the mayor. I hope he dies."

Edwards died about half an hour after the shooting at Long Beach Hospital, where Patrolman Walsh is listed in very critical condition.

Patrolman Dooley told police that he shot Mayor Edwards because Patrolman Walsh had beaten him in a recent election for the presidency of the Policemen's Benefit Association. Dooley, who had previously been demoted from his rank of detective, had served until this week on the police motorcycle squad, but had just been reassigned to a street police booth half a block from the mayor's house.

"Onlookers then booed him."

In Prague, students protesting the Nazi occupation and the shooting of a demonstrator last month were routed by storm troopers and German police today, in two separate demonstrations today in the Karlsplatz.

Air raids this week on the Shetland Islands and previous Nazi air assaults on Scapa Flow and the Fith of Forth are "only the beginning" of the air war for Great Britain. So warns the German press today, on the heels of a previous warning that German forces are now beginning unrestricted warfare on the sea.

In a surprise speech today in Venice, Premier Mussolini told the youth of Italy to keep their rifles ready alongside their books. The Duce spoke to a crowd of more than 100,000 students massed in Venice Square.

Nearly half of the Brooklyn candidates for City Council have now been eliminated from the race as the counting of proportional representation ballots continues today. There has been no change in the top five candidates as the count moves into its 20th round, but there is much jostling below the leaders.

Summations are underway today in the removal trial of Kings County Judge George Martin, with a verdict expected tomorrow.

The City Planning Commission has designated another 13 areas in Brooklyn and 4 in Queens for slum-clearance and housing redevelopment projects. A public hearing on the proposals will be held on December 6th.

Mayor LaGuardia is said to be "heartened" by the possibility that a Brooklyn-Battery tunnel project will receive the necessary financing after conferring with the Federal Lending Administrator assigned to the project. Engineers for the Reconstruction Finance Corporation are examining the plans prior to a review by the War Department. The Mayor says "they took the bridge away from me, so there's nothing left but the tunnel."

An earthquake of "considerable intensity" rattled the East Coast last night from New Jersey to Maryland. Sleepers in those states were tossed from their beds, and dishes rattled, but no serious damage is reported.

Japan is beginning a new offensive along the southern coast of China, landing forces at Kwangtung Province and pushing inland. Chinese sources say the attack is centered just 35ty miles from the border to French Indo-China, suggesting the Japanese objective may be to cut off vital railroad and highway supply lines that cross into that territory.

Long Beach, the Long Island town whose mayor was cut down by a disgruntled policeman this morning, is a hotbed of vice and political corruption. A haven for gangsters and bootleggers dominated by gang lord Vannie Higgins during Prohibition, the town "reeks from the breath of scandal" despite the efforts of political reformers. Corpses have been known to vote in city elections, and a plastic surgeon was once appointed to the city police force.

The Trylon will get a new skin over the winter. The 700-foot-tall spire, part of the Theme Center at the World's Fair, began to lose chunks of its plasterboard outer layer during the last weeks of the 1939 season, and it was feared that the entire structure might have to come down. But an examination by engineers has determined that the inner steel skeleton and the foundation of the Trylon remain sound, and re-covering the structure with fresh plasterboard, at a cost of $35,000, should solve its problems. The Perisphere, meanwhile, remains in good condition, with a thicker, more waterproof outer plasterboard skin. (It will, however, require a fresh paint job to cover all the obscene graffiti scrawled on its base by the kiddies who stormed the Fair during the free-admission debacle last month...)

FRIENDS AND ROAMING COUNTRYMEN -- Lend Us Your Ears! And hear the unbelievable news about the new 1940 Nash! Smooth, soundproofed, with the new Weather Eye climate control system and the famous Nash Convertible Bed! Come In -- Get Behind The Wheel -- Start Having Fun! It's That New Nash! Delivered in Brooklyn -- starting at $880!

The president of Georgetown University has stung back at Communist Party leader Earl Browder for his criticism of the political tenets of Pope Pius XII. The Rev. Edward J. Walsh, S. J. dismissed Browder's remarks in a Madison Square Garden speech this week as simply "the party line," and argued that the statements of the Pope reflected an appeal to "fundamental principles of moral law" that are binding on all men, regardless of creed.

19 year old Madeline LaPierre has been declared "The Most Virtuous Girl In France," and will receive a prize of fr. 300,000.

NO WOMAN CAN BE GLAMOROUS -- If Her Beauty Is Marred by PSORIASIS! Insist on SIROIL -- At All Drug Stores!

Santa Claus has gone on the WPA -- and is turning out plenty of toys for needy Brooklyn children. The WPA Toy Shop is turning out fat, cheerful dolls and stuffed animals for Christmas distribution to those whose stockings might otherwise be empty.

The Wise Woman Wears Low Heeled Shoes For Walking, High Heels for Dress, declares a representative of the Treemark Shoe Company to a meeting of the Eagle Home Guild. And when you buy shoes, get them to fit -- no matter what the marked size.

A reader writes to Helen Worth concerned that her fiancee, who entered the country illegally at the age of 12, will be deported. Helen says she checked, and was told "nobody knows what will happen, but the young man will probably not be obliged to go back to England."

A three-alarm fire in a five-story loft building at 85-87 Varet Street rousted occupants of nearby tenements early this morning. Hundreds of people were forced into the street by the blaze, but there were no reported injuries. The fire began in a textile knitting mill located on the fourth floor of the building when a spark from a sewing machine motor ignited a pile of rayon material.

Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra, featuring Harriet Hilliard, will head the vaudeville bill at the Flatbush Theater starting tomorrow. "Mutiny On The Black Hawk" will be the feature picture.

A destitute scupltress who announced this week that she is destroying all of her work in protest of her economic circumstances has been asked to stop. Rockwell Kent, president of the United Artists of America, issued the request to Mrs. Adelaide Johnson, but was rebuffed. Mrs. Johnson, whose work has been displayed in the US Capitol, revealed this week that she has destroyed at least a dozen of her marble busts.

Mrs. A. B. Weber writes in to agree with "Heights Citizen" about the fate of Brownie the Spaniel, and protests the entire unfair system of justice as it pertains to animals. She points out that animals are far more moral beings than humans, who have tortured and tormented animals for their own profit.

A coalition of Protestant church leaders from around Brooklyn have formally condemned the "Christian Front," the militant and anti-Semitic Catholic organization formed by Father Coughlin.

Larry MacPhail has started something with his "World Series For All" proposal, with other ideas for interleague play likely to spark discussion at the upcoming baseball winter meetings. Phillies owner Gerry Nugent is proposing an interleague post-season playoff system similar to that used in the minor leagues, and National League president Ford Frick thinks that's a good idea. An NL owner who isn't named says he believes interleague play in some form will come to the majors within the next five years.

The Football Pirates aren't for sale at any price. So says Pittsburgh owner Art Rooney, who also is very much against the proposal to expand the NFL by adding teams in Boston, St. Louis, and Cincinnati.

The Green Bay Packers have arrived in town and are working out for their game against the Football Dodgers at Ebbets Field on Sunday. The game is a must-win for Brooklyn -- but also for Green Bay, with a tenuous hold on first place in the Central Division.

No more squitching around for Uncle Boohoo. He wants to see a lawyer. Homer asks George what would happen if Uncle Boohoo, I dunno, ended up getting drowned?

Leona is dressed to the teeth when Ted arrives, and she tries to give him the brush -- but he immediately figures out what's going on and lets her know he knows. But hey, he's no Handsomest Man In All Europe.

Dan Dunn goes to Sheriff Nigel Bruce with his findings, even as J. B. Dook asks Kay for another date. And why are Sherrif N. B. and Mr. Dook wearing *exactly the same* plaid sport coat? They even look suspiciously alike. Is that a putty nose Mr. Dook is wearing? Is there a plot twist nobody saw coming? Naw......

 

[David Conwill]

A destitute scupltress who announced this week that she is destroying all of her work in protest of her economic circumstances has been asked to stop. Rockwell Kent, president of the United Artists of America, issued the request to Mrs. Adelaide Johnson, but was rebuffed. Mrs. Johnson, whose work has been displayed in the US Capitol, revealed this week that she has destroyed at least a dozen of her marble busts.

Poor woman was 80 in 1939. Maybe instead of asking her to stop, somebody should have helped her out?

 

[LizzieMaine]

The Art Industry has a sad habit of turning its backs on its own.

 

[Fading Fast]

...An earthquake of "considerable intensity" rattled the East Coast last night from New Jersey to Maryland. Sleepers in those states were tossed from their beds, and dishes rattled, but no serious damage is reported......

While we tend to think of earthquakes and California, the East Coast gets its share. There've been a few in my time and, as noted here, more going back. Periodically, you'll read that the East Coast is at risk for a major earthquake sometime in the next few decade with "sometime" including tomorrow in that possible timeline.

...and a plastic surgeon was once appointed to the city police force.....

What? What does that even mean?

...19 year old Madeline LaPierre has been declared "The Most Virtuous Girl In France," and will receive a prize of fr. 300,000.....

Sometimes the jokes just write themselves.

A reader writes to Helen Worth concerned that her fiancee, who entered the country illegally at the age of 12, will be deported. Helen says she checked, and was told "nobody knows what will happen, but the young man will probably not be obliged to go back to England."...

...Mrs. A. B. Weber writes in to agree with "Heights Citizen" about the fate of Brownie the Spaniel, and protests the entire unfair system of justice as it pertains to animals. She points out that animals are far more moral beings than humans, who have tortured and tormented animals for their own profit....

...A coalition of Protestant church leaders from around Brooklyn have formally condemned the "Christian Front," the militant and anti-Semitic Catholic organization formed by Father Coughlin....

With only some minor tweaks, all three issues could be taken directly out of today's headlines as well.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I was going to make a crack about "the best cook in England," but ran out of space.

I look forward to seeing how the Daily News will play this whole Long Beach thing, but astonishingly they didn't get out an extra for it, even though they had three separate Brooklyn-Queens-Long Island editions for the day. No doubt they'll make up for it tomorrow.

As for the plastic surgeon on the police force, maybe a convenience service for hoods who need to avoid being picked out of the lineup?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Kings County Judge George W. Martin has been exonerated on all charges in his corruption trial before the State Senate in Albany. The verdict came in this afternoon at the conclusion of a six-week trial that examined Martin's alleged use of his judicial influence to benefit friends and himself. The defense had accused the prosecution of "saturating this atmosphere overwhelmingly with innuendo and insinuation" in stating its case against the 63-year-old jurist, who is ill with complications from diabetes. The necessary fourteen votes for acquittal were received before half the Senate had voted.

U. S. Supreme Court Justice Pierce Butler died today at the age of 73. Justice Butler, the third oldest member of the present Court, was a Democrat, but an opponent of many New Deal policies and the only Roman Catholic serving on the Court. Butler was appointed to the Court in 1922 by President Warren G. Harding. Progressives in the Senate opposed that nomination, considering him a reactionary. His votes in recent years opposing minimum wage laws and unemployment insurance marked him, along with Justice McReynolds, as one of the two most conservative members of the current Court.

Al Capone walked out of the Lewisburg Penetentiary today a free man -- and was taken immediately to Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore for treatment of paresis, a brain disease. The fabulous overlord of Chicago's Prohibition-era gangdom had served seven years in Federal custody after conviction on tax-evasion charges, with most of that sentenced served behind the grim walls of Alcatraz Prison. He had been transferred out of Alcatraz to the Terminal Island Prison for health reasons, and arrived at Lewisburg this morning by train. He was given a new suit of clothes upon his release, but not the customary $10 usually given to Federal prisoners upon discharge.

Germany will carry on its war against Great Britain "until British supremacy is destroyed." So runs an official statement from Berlin today, warning that peace will only be discussed when the war ends in a German victory.

The State rested its case today in the grand larceny/forgery trial of German-American Bund leader Fritz Kuhn, with a prosecution witness testifying that the amount of money missing from the Bund treasury appears to be less than originally believed. An accountant for District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey's office stated that the amount of the shortage appears to be $674.73 and not $4424.22 if discrepancies from dues sheets are left out of the calculation.

Work could start soon on the construction of a Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel if the Reconstruction Finance Corporation approves $70,000,000 in a Federal loan for the project. Construction plans for the proposed tube are said to ready for submission to the Board of Estimate once the funds are available.

A Brooklyn man who operates the Rezloh Pearl Company in Manhattan shot and wounded a former employee in the lobby of an office building on W. 33rd Street before turning the gun on himself. Sixty-one year old Henry Yander of 3145 4th Street was waiting for 41-year-old Mrs. Rose Bender of 26 Ralph Avenue, and when she came thru the revolving door, he fired three shots -- hitting her twice -- and then fired a fourth shot into his own head. Mrs. Bender had filed a complaint against Yander over unemployment insurance after leaving his employ three months ago, and a hearing before the State Labor Board was to take place next week. Yander died at the scene, while Mrs. Bander is in critical condition at Bellevue Hospital.

Anti-LaGuardia Republican City Councilman Abner Surpless may be the next name to drop off the ballot in Brooklyn as the count of proportional-representation votes continues today. Surpless failed to pick up any significant number of second-place votes after two other Republican candidates were eliminated, and Fusionist Councilwoman Genevieve Earle retaining a firm hold on her sixth-place position in the tabulation. It appears likely that at least one of Brooklyn's seven Council seats will go to the American Labor Party, with three of its candidates climbing in the vote totals. Communist candidate Peter Caccione, who ran a write-in campaign after he was ruled off the ballot on a technicality, is also still in the running.

Estonia is urging Finland to accede to Soviet demands for naval bases and territorial concessions near Leningrad, but the Finnish government is said to be firm on its insistence on new terms for any further negotiations.

Accused bail-bond fraudster Abraham Frosch was a familiar figure around the Bergen Street police station. So testified a witness in Frosch's trial today in Brooklyn Supreme Court, stating that he assumed Frosch was a reporter, and that he saw him frequently passing thru the detectives' squad room.

Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain has caused the recall of a newsreel film of her Armistice Day speech. The film will be reshot with better makeup and improved lighting.

There may be more to the story of the murder of Long Beach Mayor Louis F. Edwards than first believed, or so investigators suspect. Nassau County police are reported to be investigating the possibility that Patrolman Alvin Dooley, who shot and killed Edwards and severely wounded his bodyguard, Patrolman James Walsh, in front of the Mayor's home yesterday morning, may have been involved in a plot to assassinate the Mayor, or if others, with an interest in removing the Mayor, might have worked on Dooley psychologically, to build up his resentment of Edwards and goad him into action. It is reported that Dooley's estranged wife Mae will be questioned by detectives.

Funeral services for Mayor Edwards will be held tomorrow at 11 am. Meanwhile, Patrolman Walsh is reported to be responding well to medical treatment, and he is said to have a 50-50 chance of recovery.

WE ARE GOING OUT OF BUSINESS FOREVER! Sweeping reductions on men's suits, topcoats, overcoats, and formal wear! SIMON ACKERMAN CLOTHES, three locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Prices do not include alterations.

Thirteen people died at the World's Fair in 1939, practically all of them from heart disease. The Fair used over half a billion gallons of water, not including water used in fountain displays or for drinking purposes. Over 75 million kilowatt-hours of electricity were consumed. There were 300 fires. There were 147 arrests on the Fair grounds, but only one pickpocket.

35,000 motion picture industry employees represented by AFL unions could go on strike if the Hollywood studios don't come to terms on a 10 percent across-the-board wage increase. A mass strike will be called next Tuesday if negotiations fail.

A 17-year-old pony ride operator faces a court hearing on whether he needs a license. Aaron Borden of 156 S. 1st Street charges five cents to let neighborhood children ride his pony, but an official of the Department Of Licenses shut him down on the grounds that a pony-ride concession falls under the definition of a "common show," and thus requires a city license. A Bridge Plaza Court magistrate will rule on the case next week, with the Department of Licenses official pointing out that the various pony-ride operators at Coney Island are all licensed, and the case will have significant implications for them.

Smoked Butts, sugar cured, are 25 cents a pound at your A&P Super Market.

Whatever day you celebrate Thanksgiving this year, your turkey will cost less -- with birds expected to go for considerably less than the 33 cents a pound average of 1938. An improved poultry crop for 1939 is the reason for the expected drop.

(The secret ingredient in Oxydol? Cocaine.)

Russian expatriate Gleb Botkin has formed his own new religion in West Hempstead, devoted to the worship of a Greek goddess. Mr. Botkin's Long Island Church of Aphrodite received its incorporation papers last month. Mr. Botkin is the son of the physician of the former Czar.

Residents of Denver, Colorado were shocked to see a swastika flag flying over a park in the city's business district. Police say the banner was a leftover Halloween prank, but couldn't get it down until a patrolman shinnied up the flagpole and cut it down. Written across the flag in crayon were the words "HITLER IS OUR GOD."

Claire Trevor and John Wayne star in "Allegheny Uprising" at the RKO Albee, with big co-feature "Little Accident," starring Hugh Herbert (woo-woo!) and Baby Sandy (goo-goo!). Extra! The latest "Information Please" short subject.

Frozen hibernation could become a popular alternative for persons with less than six weeks to live. Over a hundred US physicans have been taught the technique by scientists in Philadelphia.

"Crusaders for the Negro" in major league baseball will find much to support their case in the new book "The Negro In Sports," by Edwin Bancroft Henderson, a long study of the history of the Negro in baseball and of the long campaign to "win major league recognition for the race."

Bert Lee will give a play-by-play description as the New York Rangers meet the Chicago Blackhawks, tonight at 9:30 over WHN.

The arguments over who owns the diamonds grinds to halt with the arrival of a man with a frock coat and an upward-tilted nose who declares he's the new landlord -- and what's this about diamonds being found in HIS BUILDING?

The Handsomest Man In All Europe prepares to turn his charm on Mary Worth, who does not appear to be having any of it.

And Kay gushes with big round eyes as J. B. Dook flashes his handsome profile at her. You'd look better if you took that stupid cigarette out of your mouth. Meanwhile, Dan Dunn and Sheriff Nigel Bruce are waiting to pounce.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And meanwhile, better late than never, the Daily News offers a dignified, restrained look at the doings in Long Beach.

Officer Dooley would be well advised to see if that plastic surgeon is still on the force.

 

[Fading Fast]

...Al Capone walked out of the Lewisburg Penetentiary today a free man -- and was taken immediately to Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore for treatment of paresis, a brain disease. The fabulous overlord of Chicago's Prohibition-era gangdom had served seven years in Federal custody after conviction on tax-evasion charges, with most of that sentenced served behind the grim walls of Alcatraz Prison. He had been transferred out of Alcatraz to the Terminal Island Prison for health reasons, and arrived at Lewisburg this morning by train. He was given a new suit of clothes upon his release, but not the customary $10 usually given to Federal prisoners upon discharge....

That's a neat piece of history to stumble upon - a loose end from the '20s.

...The State rested its case today in the grand larceny/forgery trial of German-American Bund leader Fritz Kuhn, with a prosecution witness testifying that the amount of money missing from the Bund treasury appears to be less than originally believed. An accountant for District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey's office stated that the amount of the shortage appears to be $674.73 and not $4424.22 if discrepancies from dues sheets are left out of the calculation.....

That's not a small difference to have pop up in the middle of a trial.

...A Brooklyn man who operates the Rezloh Pearl Company in Manhattan shot and wounded a former employee in the lobby of an office building on W. 33rd Street before turning the gun on himself. Sixty-one year old Henry Yander of 3145 4th Street was waiting for 41-year-old Mrs. Rose Bender of 26 Ralph Avenue, and when she came thru the revolving door, he fired three shots -- hitting her twice -- and then fired a fourth shot into his own head. Mrs. Bender had filed a complaint against Yander over unemployment insurance after leaving his employ three months ago, and a hearing before the State Labor Board was to take place next week. Yander died at the scene, while Mrs. Bander is in critical condition at Bellevue Hospital.....

I wouldn't be surprised to find out that these two were romantically linked before the break.

...Estonia is urging Finland to accede to Soviet demands for naval bases and territorial concessions near Leningrad, but the Finnish government is said to be firm on its insistence on new terms for any further negotiations....

If I'm Finland, Estonia is probably not the country I'd turn to for advice on how to deal with the Soviets.

...WE ARE GOING OUT OF BUSINESS FOREVER! Sweeping reductions on men's suits, topcoats, overcoats, and formal wear! SIMON ACKERMAN CLOTHES, three locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Prices do not include alterations....

And casual Friday dress codes weren't even a thing yet.

...Whatever day you celebrate Thanksgiving this year, your turkey will cost less -- with birds expected to go for considerably less than the 33 cents a pound average of 1938. An improved poultry crop for 1939 is the reason for the expected drop....

Inflation adjusted 33 cents = ~$6 in 2019 dollars. The average price of Turkey per pound today is ~$1.60.

Food really has gotten much cheaper / no wonder our parents were much more carful with waist than most of us are today.

...(The secret ingredient in Oxydol? Cocaine.)....

Were users ingesting it somehow? Also, note the man doing dishes.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Well, Rinso used to advertise itself as "anti-sneeze," so perhaps soap snorting wasn't as a ridiculous a proposition as it might seem...

Ackerman's is the second major old-line men's store to fold since we started this thread. Those two-pants-suits at Bond are making inroads.

It seems like there's a difference of accounting methods at work in the Kuhn matter. It seems odd that money paid for dues wouldn't go into the organization treasury, but it was a common thing in lodges and fraternal groups for dues money to be raked off by the Potentates and Sachems and Kingfishes of such organizations before they made it into the treasury. That might account for the difference in sums given here, but I would have thought they'd have had that all spelled out before trial. Brother Dewey is not usually that sloppy.

 

[3fingers]

the amount of the shortage appears to be $674.73 and not $4424.22 if discrepancies from dues sheets are left out of the calculation.

Well I guess that changes everything if you steal it before it makes it in to the treasury?

 

[LizzieMaine]

The acquittal of Judge George Martin on corruption charges will not end the ongoing probe of corruption in Brooklyn law enforcement circles. So vows Assistant Attorney General Amen, who tells associates he "hasn't begun to scratch the surface" in his investigations. District Attorney-elect William O'Dwyer says he will not interfere in the jurisdiction of the Amen office once he takes over as Kings County's chief prosecutor, and Amen himself declares that he will continue with the assignment he was given by Governor Lehman, even if Mayor LaGuardia cuts off his funding on December 31st.

One fireman is dead and fifteen people were injured this morning in a two-alarm fire in an old-law tenement at 3rd Avenue and 58th Street. 29-year-old John Finley, a probationary fireman who had joined the department in July, died of smoke poisoning as he battled the flames around 1 AM. Forty-one members of seven families occupying the tenement fled into the streets as the building burned, with a crowd of five thousand people rousted from their beds to watch. Two 3rd Avenue trolley cars were commandeered to serve as emergency first-aid stations. The fire is believed to have started when a tenant tossed a lit cigarette down a dumbwaiter shaft, where it ignited a pile of rubbish.

Democrats will hold veto power in the new City Council over Mayor LaGuardia, with the final election results now tallied, but in Brooklyn, anti-LaGuardia Republican Abner Surpless goes into the discard pile, with his set to be taken by Dr. Harry W. Laidler of the American Labor Party. The other six Brooklyn seats will be held by Democrats John Cashmore, Anthony J. Digiovanna, Walter R. Hart, Joseph T. Sharkey, and William McCarthy, and Fusionist Genevieve Earle.

Manhattan District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey took the witness stand today in the grand larceny/forgery trial of German-American Bund leader Fritz Kuhn, and under questioning by the defense, told the court he had no hatred for Kuhn -- but only contempt. The defense called the District Attorney in an attempt to prove that the case against Kuhn is based on political motives, and introduced as evidence a note written by Dewey to Mayor LaGuardia, in which he declared that "the ash can is the best place for him."

Nazi storm troopers shot and killed nine Czech students today as demonstrations continue in Prague, with members of the SS rounding up another 1200 protesters and hauling them off in buses.

Britain and France have agreed to pool resources in the way of aviation, shipping, munitions, raw materials, food, and other essentials in carrying out the war. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and Premier Daladier announced the new arrangement as a way of avoiding competition between the Allies in the importing of foreign necessities.

The expatriate daughter of Britian's Lord Redesdale, who recently attempted suicide after a personal quarrel with Adolf Hitler is "crazy in love" with the German Fueher. So states British author/poet Stanley Richardson, who arrived here today aboard the liner Lancastria. Richardson told reporters that Unity Mitford-Freeman believes that Hitler is a Christ figure who will lead the superior German race to its place as the world's leading nation. "I told her," declared Richardson, "she was making an international ass of herself."

Meanwhile, Chancellor Hitler is reported to be at odds with his general staff as the war in Europe lags in an apparent stalemate.

President Roosevelt does not anticipate naming a new justice to the Supreme Court until 1940, but could act sooner if an "emergency" requires him to do so. The Court vacancy results from the death yesterday of Associate Justice Pierce Butler. Congressional observers expect that Attorney General Frank Murphy is the most likely candidate to fill that vacancy.

Black Venus All-In-One -- For Your Evening Self! Extremely low back, controlling Lastex sides and back, boned front for midriff and abdominal control. $7.50 in the Second Floor corset department at Abraham & Straus.

Should married women be prohibited by law from holding jobs? That question will be debated over station WEVD, tonight at 8:30pm. Male students from Brooklyn College will take the affirmative, while Hunter College women will argue the negative.

The editor of America, a weekly Roman Catholic magazine, condemned American racism today in remarks supporting the recent encyclical by Pope Pius XII. The Reverend John LaFarge, S. J. observed that "German racism applied to the Jew is but a match for American racism applied to the Negro."

One-time gangland monarch Al Capone sits quietly in his room staring vacantly at the walls. So report G-Men observing Capone as he is treated for paresis at a Baltimore hospital, following his release yesterday from Federal custody.

A Brooklyn magistrate recently defeated in his bid for a Supreme Court seat today condemned the widespread posting of advertising bills around the borough. Magistrate Nicholas H. Pinto held forth in Coney Island Court about the defacing of buildings by advertising posters while arraigning two men for covering BMT trolley poles with posters for an upcoming high school football game. The magistrate saved particular anger for politicians who cover any available surface with campaign posters, and recommends that voters withhold their ballots from any candidate who does so.

Brooklyn Girl Scouts are being deluged by cookie orders, with the first shipments now being delivered. Cookie eaters will be pleased with this year's choices -- cocoanut crisp, chocolate, and fruit-and-nut. Orders will be accepted thru November 30th.

Hy Gardner reports that Orson Welles is walking around Hollywood with a two-foot beard, and when his neighbor Shirley Temple saw it, she called him "Santa Clorson Welles."

Enjoy Thanksgiving Deluxe Dinner, $1.50 with cocktail, at Brooklyn's Smart Restaurant and Lounge Bar -- SILSBE, Inc., 407 Bridge Street, next to Martin's.

Herbert Cohn went into the City to see The Marx Brothers at the Capitol in "At The Circus," and was not entirely satisfied by the experience, charitably calling it "a less spontaneous brand of comedy" than the Brothers are usually known for. High point of the picture is Groucho's song, "Lydia The Tattooed Lady," but after that there isn't much to get excited over.

The Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein collaboration "Very Warm For May" opens tonight at the Alvin Theatre. (Something tells me this will an exquisite show.)

John L. Scanlan of Brooklyn writes in to complain that he's offended by the coalition of Protestant churchmen who condemned the "Christian Front" as an irreligious and destructive influence, and wonders why they don't criticize the American League Of Peace and Democracy, which he declares a Red front to which many of these clergymen belong. (Well, just maybe, Mr. Scanlan, it's because members of the ALoPD don't roam the streets beating anyone who looks Jewish over the head with blackjacks. Think about it. Oh, and give my regards to Mrs. Dilling.)

In Lousiville, Kentucky, trustees of the city library are considering carrying comic magazines at one of its branches, after a flood of requests for the publications.

Light-heavyweight champion Billy Conn is the 3 to 1 favorite tonight at Madison Square Garden, as the Pittsburgh puncher takes on challenger Gus Lesnevich, who was flipping hamburgers in his mother's hash house just five years ago.

You can hear that fight over WJZ at 10pm tonight, with Sam Taub and Bill Stern calling the blows.

An American woman whose husband was arrested in Moscow as a spy two years ago has taken Soviet citizenship. Mrs. Ruth Marie Rubens will now be known as citizeness Ruth Freiderichova Boerger, and has settled in a city in the Ukraine.

While George, Homer, Uncle Boohoo and the new landlord argue over the diamonds, they don't notice until it's too late that the diamonds are gone.

The Handsomest Man In All Europe is feeding Mary Worth the old oil -- is she BLUSHING? -- while Leona decides that THMIAE is a chump after all.

Dan Dunn tells Irwin and Sheriff Nigel Bruce he needs something -- anything -- with Dook's fingerprints on it. (How about Kay?)

 

[LizzieMaine]

Site of the fire, before the fire.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And some pretty spectacular photos from the Daily News' Brooklyn four-star final.

 

[Fading Fast]

...he expatriate daughter of Britian's Lord Redesdale, who recently attempted suicide after a personal quarrel with Adolf Hitler is "crazy in love" with the German Fueher. So states British author/poet Stanley Richardson, who arrived here today aboard the liner Lancastria. Richardson told reporters that Unity Mitford-Freeman believes that Hitler is a Christ figure who will lead the superior German race to its place as the world's leading nation. "I told her," declared Richardson, "she was making an international ass of herself."...

The stories about the Mitford sisters have to be, overall, true as no one would believe them if made up.

Site of the fire, before the fire.

View attachment 196060

A future ghost sign.