The Era -- Day By Day

[Harp]

"Ohhh, this is bad!" indeed. In some circumstance, access to firearms by any of the principals here could have fatal consequences.
In Harold's defense, reading the clues as to when the relationship is really over can be very intuitive and subjective....

Lana, precious pearl, ruby beyond price is a principal with principles, blinded perhaps by Cupid's fold.

Harold, certainly is old enough to know his own mind. And he needs to look at his cards.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The Italian high command asserted today that a "suicide band" of British paratroopers has been dropped in Southern Italy, in Great Britain's first attempt to bring the war to the Italian mainland. The high command further claimed that the entire band had been "rounded up by alert Fascist defense forces before it could cause the grave damage that had been planned." The parachutists were said to have been dropped Monday night and Tuesday morning under cover of darkness in two areas, Lucana and Calabria, both in the arch of the Italian boot. The Associated Press reports that the raid's goal had been to cut off or cripple electrical power to much of Southern Italy, and to cut off drinking water to approximately 2,500,000 Italians.

President Roosevelt today warned Japanese Ambassador Kichisaburo Nomura that "there are developments in relations between the United States and Japan that cause concern." The President and Nomura exchanged remarks when the new Japanese envoy arrived at the White House for the ceremonial presentation of his credentials. Mr. Nomura told the President that he "pledged himself to do all in his power to bring better understanding" between the two nations.

A new setback in efforts to demolish the Fulton Street L today, with Mayor LaGuardia declining to give any positive reassurance that the hulking Black Spider will be removed "in the immediate future." The Mayor indicated to the Eagle today that at this stage, his primary hope for an expeditious removal of the structure lies in legislation now pending in Albany, a statement which suggests that municipal efforts to demolish the L have reached their limit without success. When asked why the necessary buses cannot be purchased out of municipal funds without having to go thru the Board of Transportation, the Mayor threw up his hands in frustration and said "I haven't got the money!"

Meanwhile, a mass meeting of Brooklyn civic leaders has been scheduled for next Tuesday night at the Brooklyn Law School Auditorium, 328 Pearl Street. Henry J. Davenport of the Downtown Brooklyn Association will preside at the meeting, which will review the present situation concerning delays in the removal of the L, and will consider possible avenues for finally accomplishing that long-postponed goal.

A long-awaited break in two longstanding murder investigations is anticipated today, after two detectives left hurriedly yesterday for an upstate prison. The detectives hinted that their mission to Clinton Prison at Dannemora, N. Y. was connected to "at least one of the unsolved killings" in the so-called 3-X and Lipstick Murder cases. Those murders took place in Lovers' Lanes in Queens in 1930 and 1937. The 3-X murders in 1930 terrorized that borough for months after two persons were found shot to death in a parked car in Whitestone in June of that year, with an insignia bearing the symbol "3-X" found near the bodies. The same killer was suspected in at least a dozen other murders. Then, on October 6, 1937 a young couple was found shot and stabbed to death in a petting lane off Grand Central Parkway with both bodies branded with a circular mark made with lipstick on their foreheads. It is not known if there is any connection between the 3-X and Lipstick murders.

The Williamsburg woman wounded in a mysterious shooting that claimed the life of her brother-in-law outside the Metropolitan Dress Company plant Monday night has died of her injuries at Greenpoint Hospital. Mrs Josephine Mineo and the plant's manager, Mr. Peter Marcelino, were shot down by an unknown gunman who remains at large.

("Stupid B&B cawbs. Mess ya up ev'y time!""Hey, ya rememba to a'just t'at summa-winta leeva?" "Nah, I droppta cotta pin an' los' it, so I jus' sez t'ellwittit.")

Brooklyn's official 1940 population according to U. S. Census Bureau figures released today was 2,696,385 persons. Of those, at least two thirds expect the Dodgers to win the World Series in 1941.

("I like cats," says Joe. "We ottagetta cat." "Yeah," says Sally. "'Magine 't patta a' lit'l feet 'roun t'place." And Joe gives Sally a look. She gives him back only an enigmatic smile.)

("...indicating that there may have been a time when Brooklynites were twice as eager to get to Manahttan as New Yorkers were to come over here." Mr. Schroth can't resist getting in his digs.)

A five-cents-a-day non-profit health insurance plan is available under the auspices of the State Department of Insurance and the Board of Social Welfare. The plan, underwritten by the Associated Health Foundation, Inc., began operation last April, and has since been quietly enrolling members in Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and the Bronx, the four boroughs where the plan is offered. Single persons may enroll at a cost of $1.50 per month, with married persons adding a spouse at an additional $1 per month, and minor dependents at 60 cents a month each. Persons under the age of sixty earning no more than $3000 per year are eligible for coverage, and group plans for employed persons are also offered. The plan is designed to aid the "majority of working persons" who cannot afford the fees of private doctors and hospitals, and yet "cannot adjust themselves to the unavoidable inconveniences of clinics."

(And don't be in any rush to go get married, kid. That never works out anyway.)

The Boston Bruins last night set a new National Hockey League record for consecutive unbeaten games, defeating the Rangers 5-3 to make it twenty straight without a loss. The mark breaks the previous record of nineteen, set by the Rangers in 1940. The Bruins haven't lost a game since December 21st, with 13 wins and 7 ties since that date.

(Sportswriters really do have a hard life, don't they?)

The first Hollywood film to deal with the draft is now on the screen in Manhattan at Loew's State. Radio favorites Bud Abbott and Lou Costello appear as a couple of street-corner fakirs who, fleeing from the cops, blunder into an Army recruiting station and before you know it they're in khaki and running crooked dice games to separate hapless selectees from their $21 A Day Once A Month. The Andrews Sisters, ace close-harmony trio, are also on hand as singing camp-show hostesses, and there is an inconsequential romantic triangle subplot featuring Lee Bowman, Alan Curtis and Jane Frazee. But Abbott and Costello and their kit-bag of familiar routines are the main attractions, and if you like their comedy, you'll enjoy them here.

(Gawdawmighty.)

(Doc drags out his old vaudeville act. He'll be on with Bob Hope next week!)

(Peggy's back! The saddest, sorriest soul on the whole comic page. Can Oakdale be far behind?)

(You may recall that about a year ago, this strip indicated its shift in focus from Depression-era melodrama to upscale soap opera, by changing its title from "Apple Mary" to "Mary Worth's Family." And now current developments suggest we're in for yet another change. Be with us next week for the premiere of "Dopey Dad.")

(Odds that Dan is about to discover the secret entrance to an underground base now running at 1-1. I mean, where else would you expect to find Hogan?)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

You want a decadent wallow in the unedifying affairs of the idle rich? You know we're here for you!

"All except that Fulton Lewis Jr., of course. He's a completely unbiased commentator who agrees with me one hundred percent."

Awwwwwwww. I hope Skeez is clipping all these birthday cards.

"And be sure to make it a happy chucklin' maid who makes good pancakes."

You might think Mr. Gould has a cynical view of 1940s small town life, but if my mother's memories are any indication it isn't half cynical enough.

OK, Burms -- what's the gag?

And six stagehands say "I'm NOT cleaning up after THAT."

Happy birthday, kiddo, and may you live to be 100. And thank you Mr. King, for a lovely sentimental resume of our boy's life. There's Phyllis and Walt, and Rachel the housekeeper (looking far less minstrely than she actually did 20 years ago -- well done, Frank), and little Judy. The little dog, of course, is Lollipop, and right behind him is Skeez's childhood pup Pal (RIP.) And then we see the old Alley bunch -- Avery, Doc, Bill, and Mr. Wicker. And there's Skeez's boyhood gang -- Gootch, Spud, and Whimpy. And there's Nina and her dad, and Skeez's high school frenemy Tops (who combines the most annoying traits of Wilmer Bobble and Shadow Smart). And right next to him there's giggly Jessica, who chased Skeez in high school, and her cousin Hope, who did likewise. And there's Handsome Harry Ducker, who tried to make time with Nina. And there's that crook who stole Skeez's kick when he was hitchiking to Detropolis. And -- sigh -- Tula. And CUT IT OUT WILMER, YOU JACKASS. And good ol' Snipe, and Horace, and Mr. Wumple. Yep, you've come a long way, kid. But you ain't seen nothin' yet.

The most fraught phrase in the English language: "How could I?"

Yeah, good luck. You'll soon find that the restaurants in California are far more segregated than they are back east.

 

[Fading Fast]

... ("Stupid B&B cawbs. Mess ya up ev'y time!""Hey, ya rememba to a'just t'at summa-winta leeva?" "Nah, I droppta cotta pin an' los' it, so I jus' sez t'ellwittit.")...

I wouldn't be surprised if we learned that the photographer had the woman on the right smear some grease on her face as that grease mark looks a bit too perfect for the picture's needs and title.

...Brooklyn's official 1940 population according to U. S. Census Bureau figures released today was 2,696,385 persons. Of those, at least two thirds expect the Dodgers to win the World Series in 1941....

What the heck is the other third thinking? There's no room in Brooklyn for defeatists.

... (Sportswriters really do have a hard life, don't they?)...

Havana in the winter sounds nice, but schlepping after the team in not-airconditioned train cars and buses all summer sounds like less fun. Also, somebody needs to take the copywriter's cap-lock key away.

... (Doc drags out his old vaudeville act. He'll be on with Bob Hope next week!)...

Seriously.

... View attachment 309919 You want a decadent wallow in the unedifying affairs of the idle rich? You know we're here for you!....

I absolutely "want a decadent wallow in the unedifying affairs of the idle rich" as the Tiffany story is Page-Four perfect IMO.

And I don't think Helen is really married, just sayin', not married, nope, no ceremony, no certificate, no marriage. And not that Blythe couldn't play herself when MGM makes the picture (that studio loved movies where a man had more than one wife), but how much does Jean Muir look like Blythe Daly?

Jean Muir plays Blythe Daly, "the other woman," in MGM's "I Didn't Marry My Wife," also staring Myrna Loy as Helen Tiffany and Cary Grant as George Tiffany, the man with too many women.


Separately, very good "The Neighbors" today.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"I would characterize his conduct as that of a low down cur and rotter and bounder."

Who's writing this dialog, anyway? Lord Plushbottom?

 

[Harp]

Burma loves Terry.

The course of love never did run smooth. Shakespeare

 

[LizzieMaine]

And Harold has never been more Warner B-Movie Ronald Reagan than he is today. Oh how I wish they'd made a "Harold Teen" series.

 

[Harp]

And Harold has never been more Warner B-Movie.....

I have ceased said comic strip consider for the moment.
If not the Delphic Oracle, does Plato not speak, "Pleasure is the bait of sin."

Angelic Terry is a devil in other ways. And Burma is hooked.

 

[LizzieMaine]

In Italy, freight traffic along several railway lines where British parachutists were reported captured by Blackshirt troops has been suspended. That word comes after British authorities confirmed that parachute troops assigned to "demolish certain objectives connected to ports" were landed in Southern Italy. Although the Italians claim to have captured at least some of the saboteurs, there are indications that others remain "at large."

Accused gambling swindler Hymie Caplin was described today as "the innocent victim of a frameup," as the defense summed up its case for the fight manager charged with masterminding a years-long racket that operated rigged poker games in various Brooklyn hotel rooms, and which mulcted out-of-town suckers out of millions of dollars. Defense attorney Sidney Rosenthal also denounced Herbert Simpson, named in the complaint against Caplin as the victim of an $8500 fleecing, as "as big a crook as the others," and charged that states' witness Isidore Sternberg was the real mastermind of the racket.

The State Transit Commission today criticized the economy-minded policy of Mayor LaGuardia's administration and denounced an amendment that gives the city government the power to regulate the Commission's budget. The amendment to the Public Service Law, adopted last year, places the bulk of the Commission's expenditures, which take place in the city, under the administrative control of the city, and led to what Commission members call "an arbitrary cap" of $300,000 on Commission expenditures during the present fiscal year. That cap, in turn, has led to personnel cuts that have affected multiple transit divisions.

The official Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano has denounced as "false" and "malicious" reports that Pope Pius XII favors the establishment of an Axis "New Order" in Europe. The rebuttal comes as rumors circulate on the Continent that the Pontiff had openly declared that "it is mandatory to adjust to the New European Order," and that the Holy See "from remote times opposes the democratic form of government."

Radio actress Donna Damarel Fick, who played the role of Marge on the popular CBS serial "Myrt and Marge," died this morning in Englewood, New Jersey after giving birth to a son. The actress, who was 29 years of age, and was in private life the wife of champion swimmer Peter Fick, died approximately eight minutes after the child was born at 12:52 AM. Mrs. Fick was the daughter of Myrtle Vail, who created the "Myrt and Marge" sketch in 1931 and plays the role of Myrt. The character of Marge will be written out of the sketch until further notice.

A barber's estranged wife who stormed into his shop and raised havoc found herself in Brooklyn-Queens Night Court last night on a charge of disorderly conduct. Solomon and Fannie Goldbard of Brownsville had separated two years ago, and in a decision handed down by a Jewish arbitration board, Mr. Goldbard agreed to pay his wife separate maintenance of $5 a week. When he only mailed her $3 this week, Mrs. Goldbard appeared at his barber shop at 111 Dumont Avenue, chased away his customers, and smashed several fixtures. After Mrs. Goldbard eloquently and at length outlined her husband's many shortcomings before Magistrate Charles P. Hirsimaki, Mr. Goldbard, reached into his pocket, peeled five one-dollar bills off a roll, and placed them on the bench. "Here, your Honor," he said. "This ought to shut her up." Counseled by the magistrate to take the money and leave her husband alone, Mrs. Goldbard replied "Judge, I've got the $5. Should I need a husband?"

(Joe folds the paper and looks across the table at Sally, who is sawing her way thru a lamb chop. "Hey," he says. "Did I ever tell ya I love ya?" "Eatcha suppa," replies Sally, with a bit of a puzzled flush. "'S gettin' cold.")

("How Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down On The Farm, After They've Seen Bushwick?")

A 35-year-old Jamaica man appeared in Long Island City Court yesterday with a freshly-blackened eye, and filed charges against the operator of an Ozone Park bar and grill, following a dispute over whether a straight beats two pair in poker. Daniel McNamara filed assault charges against 41-year-old Daniel O'Gara, claiming that the barkeep socked him in the optic after reaching for a $6 pot Mr. McNamara did not believe that he was entitled to take. McNamara told Magistrate Francis X. Giaccione that he was holding a straight at the time, and O'Gara two pair, and the Magistrate, after referring to a copy of Hoyle, confirmed that he was correct in concluding that he, and not his opponent, was entitled to the pot. Mr. O'Gara argued that it was Mr. McNamara who really started the fight by reaching over the table and pulling all the buttons off Mr. O'Gara's vest, but the Magistrate ordered him held for trial on $500 bail just the same.

The 33-year-old wife of a convicted drug runner is herself in jail after admitting that she used a contrivance made from several pairs of her panties to shoplift. Mrs. Bea Liss, wife of convicted dope racketeer Moe Liss, and reputed sweetheart of missing Brooklyn murder suspect Mendy Weiss, confessed that she wore under her dress an elastic belt from which several pouches made from panties were suspended, each containing a quantity of stolen articles.

(Amen's back, baby, and he's WEARING BOOTS!)

(Here now, let's have none of that defeatist talk.)

Mickey Owen remains the only significant Dodger holdout, with Dolph Camilli and Pete Coscarart having come to terms as the Flock emplaned today for Sunny Havana. The big first-baseman signed for $15,000 after a conversation today with team president Larry MacPhail. Camilli's signing was as much of a surprise as his appearance this morning in Miami, with team officials having been led to believe that the slugger was sulking at home on his California farm. Coscarart's salary has not been disclosed, but Mr. MacPhail reported that the Bounding Basque unlimbered his pen after he and the second baseman spent "fifteen minutes alone in a hotel room," and immediately boarded the Cuba-bound plane.

With the exception of Owen and a few minor stragglers, most of the Dodgers have reported to camp. Pitcher Whit Wyatt has an excused absence, as the hurler undergoes a "ten day pre-training siege in Hot Springs, Arkansas."

(Isn't Sparky still under contract to play ball? Shouldn't he be on his way to training camp? Wait'll he meets the Chester Hale Dancers!)

(Fergawdsakes, Peggy. You're what, 35 years old now? And you keep coming home? GO FAR AWAY AND DON'T LOOK BACK.)

(Wait, "Mary Worth vs. The Boys From Marketing?" YES PLEASSSSSSSSSE!!!!!!11!)

(Doncha hate when you ask somebody a straight question, and all they'll say is "The Skull told me to.")

 

[Harp]

An those Skull slobs didna even-steven sweep the dust for them buildings full nelsons.
Jest toss out a few dynamites pitchin n' no rotation. Bullpen stuff. Geezzz.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

The Gable-Lombard story is a heartbreaker, not just because we know the fate that awaits dear Carole in less than a year, but also the sad truth that she was incapable of bearing children.

It's bad enough we have to have all this hokey unemployed royalty running around the USA, but when they start showing up on deserted islands, that's just the absolute limit.

Sally's eyes blaze and her nostrils flare. Joe shrugs and says "Hey, at least he didn't say 'Pigtown.'"

What really makes it funny is that the guy in the derby and the sweater is just some random jamoke on his way home from the pool room.

I've never seen a high-speed snowplow chase before, so this should be interesting.

You know, a few strokes of an eyebrow pencil would do wonders for that moustache.

Well, it looks like Herr von Fashyhaircut isn't as big of a sap as we thought he was.

Poor Andy has just learned a dark secret: once you are in Show Business, you are in Show Business for life.

It seems Shadow's love-god powers only work on Sunday.

(And the page with Mr. Mullins seems to be missing today, but we can assume that he got thrown out of that fine restaurant yesterday for trying to welsh on a 35 cent tab.)

 

[Fading Fast]

...A barber's estranged wife who stormed into his shop and raised havoc found herself in Brooklyn-Queens Night Court last night on a charge of disorderly conduct. Solomon and Fannie Goldbard of Brownsville had separated two years ago, and in a decision handed down by a Jewish arbitration board, Mr. Goldbard agreed to pay his wife separate maintenance of $5 a week. When he only mailed her $3 this week, Mrs. Goldbard appeared at his barber shop at 111 Dumont Avenue, chased away his customers, and smashed several fixtures. After Mrs. Goldbard eloquently and at length outlined her husband's many shortcomings before Magistrate Charles P. Hirsimaki, Mr. Goldbard, reached into his pocket, peeled five one-dollar bills off a roll, and placed them on the bench. "Here, your Honor," he said. "This ought to shut her up." Counseled by the magistrate to take the money and leave her husband alone, Mrs. Goldbard replied "Judge, I've got the $5. Should I need a husband?"...

Okay then.

...A 35-year-old Jamaica man appeared in Long Island City Court yesterday with a freshly-blackened eye, and filed charges against the operator of an Ozone Park bar and grill, following a dispute over whether a straight beats two pair in poker. Daniel McNamara filed assault charges against 41-year-old Daniel O'Gara, claiming that the barkeep socked him in the optic after reaching for a $6 pot Mr. McNamara did not believe that he was entitled to take. McNamara told Magistrate Francis X. Giaccione that he was holding a straight at the time, and O'Gara two pair, and the Magistrate, after referring to a copy of Hoyle, confirmed that he was correct in concluding that he, and not his opponent, was entitled to the pot. Mr. O'Gara argued that it was Mr. McNamara who really started the fight by reaching over the table and pulling all the buttons off Mr. O'Gara's vest, but the Magistrate ordered him held for trial on $500 bail just the same....

Is anyone going to bring up the fact that gambling is illegal?

...The 33-year-old wife of a convicted drug runner is herself in jail after admitting that she used a contrivance made from several pairs of her panties to shoplift. Mrs. Bea Liss, wife of convicted dope racketeer Moe Liss, and reputed sweetheart of missing Brooklyn murder suspect Mendy Weiss, confessed that she wore under her dress an elastic belt from which several pouches made from panties were suspended, each containing a quantity of stolen articles....

I assume we'll be seeing this story on Page Four and with pics.

...
Sally's eyes blaze and her nostrils flare. Joe shrugs and says "Hey, at least he didn't say 'Pigtown.'"...

Hmm, seems like this ⇧ might have been a rebuttal to this ⇩ from a few days back.


Perhaps Magistrate Francis X. Giaccione, while pondering the card-game bar fight, would want to arbitrate this one as well.

... Well, it looks like Herr von Fashyhaircut isn't as big of a sap as we thought he was....

Away from the oddness of referring to oneself as "Madam Lustre," you would think that when you are living with a woman and, one assumes, doing all the things that usually goes along with that setup, you wouldn't still be calling her "Madame Lustre" either.

... It seems Shadow's love-god powers only work on Sunday....

Man-up Harold - it's time.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I get the impression that Burma, who is from that cosmopolitan French enclave of St. Louis, Mo., is trying to sound like Irene Bordoni or zomeseeng lak daaat. Nazi officers are supposed to be dumb enough to fall for that, but it seems Major Bullneck is impervious to such tactics. What I want to know is why she was in France in the first place -- when last encountered she was skulking around Shanghai.

I used to own that exact herringbone coat Nina is wearing there, and I loved it to death. Its remains are still hanging on the peg because I can't bear to get rid of it.

You've got to admire the ingenuity of that panty rig. But I bet it made her look hippy.

 

[Fading Fast]

I get the impression that Burma, who is from that cosmopolitan French enclave of St. Louis, Mo., is trying to sound like Irene Bordoni or zomeseeng lak daaat. Nazi officers are supposed to be dumb enough to fall for that, but it seems Major Bullneck is impervious to such tactics. What I want to know is why she was in France in the first place -- when last encountered she was skulking around Shanghai.

I used to own that exact herringbone coat Nina is wearing there, and I loved it to death. Its remains are still hanging on the peg because I can't bear to get rid of it.

You've got to admire the ingenuity of that panty rig. But I bet it made her look hippy.

Funny, in our closet today is a similar herringbone coat of my girlfriends that's become pretty threadbare, but as we haven't been able to find a good replacement, it isn't going anywhere for now. I am not a buy-a-lot-of-stuff guy, but I do own two herringbone overcoats (one's very old, one's new) as they are, just about, my favorite article of clothing.

Re the panty rig, I'm hoping Page Four jumps on it by tomorrow.

 

[Harp]

I get the impression that Burma, who is from that cosmopolitan French enclave of St. Louis, Mo... What I want to know is why she was in France in the first place -- when last encountered she was skulking around Shanghai.

Her third person reference to herself and Ace Slimeball's response speaks more distance than familiarity;
despite whatever intimacy they share, and her inquisitiveness imperils her own safety.
A peripatetic cat, she purrs seductively. Nine lives. A stitch in time saves nine.

 

[LizzieMaine]

My coat's a 1941-made Harris Tweed that I paid twenty dollars for in the long ago, but the older I got, and the fatter I got around the middle, the more strain it put on the buttons until the buttonholes finally ripped thru. I tried to mend it, but you never can really repair something like that, so it's still hanging on the rack, with my UAW Member button still pinned in the lapel. Sometimes I walk by it and sniffle, and not just because it gathers dust.

Burma is out only for Burma, and never forget that. I'M TALKING TO YOU TERRY LEE.

I now want to know who Mr. Caniff used as the model for Baron Sneerface. His mailman? The guy who delivers his coal? His father in law?

 

[Harp]

Burma is out only for Burma, and never forget that. I'M TALKING TO YOU TERRY LEE.

But since she pricked thee out for women's pleasure...and thy love use their treasure. --Shakespeare

Nature fell her own artistry and women succumb their desire.
Burma has surrendered her heart by implicit generous gift and continued pursuit so reveals desire.
This inherent tender weakness neither escape nor evasion permit. Terry is too innocuous such advantage,
and, as the Bard wrote, There is no evil angel but love.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The fiercest raids yet on Nazi-held bases on the French channel coast blazed in bright flames visible from the English side, as RAF planes pounded Axis targets from Ostend to Boulonge in an attack that extended thru last night into the early morning hours. The raids began shortly after dusk when a large formation of British fighters crossed back from scouting missions over France, to be followed shortly after by wave after wave of bombers. Great clouds of smoke billowed out over the Dover Straight thruout the night, with fires blazing well into the daylight hours.

A motion will be made on Monday to overturn the conviction of fight manager Hyman Caplin, convicted yesterday by a blue ribbon jury on two counts of grand larceny in connection with his activities as the banker for a Brooklyn card-sharking ring. Judge Peter Brancato refused to continue bail following the conviction, and ordered Caplin remanded to the Raymond Street Jail pending sentencing. Caplin could face ten to twenty years in prison under the two counts.

Engineers have proposed an immediate solution to the downtown transportation dilemma that continues to delay demolition of the Fulton Street L, by recommending the rerouting of half a dozen trolley lines now powered by cables hung from the bottom of the L structure. It is stated that the plan will allow demolition to begin immediately, without the need for the leasing of gasoline buses proposed as permanent replacements for the surface cars. A plan to acquire those buses was thrown into abeyance by a legal injunction blocking the execution of city contracts for those vehicles. The rerouting plan is expected to be discussed in detail at a mass meeting of Brooklyn civic leaders at the Brooklyn Law School Auditorium on Tuesday night.

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt says she has given up taking rhumba classes and is now looking for a better program for obtaining winter exercise. Mrs. Roosevelt stated yesterday that she had enrolled in the rhumba class along with Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau as her dancing partner, but , she stated, "I found that it didn't give me much exercise at all."

(And some people still try to say Old Henry wasn't a hardened anti-Semite. Forget the dogwhistle, he's blowing a siren.)

Old Timer W. S. K. writes in to remember the good old days at P. S. 1, over near Adams and Concord Street, from which he graduated in February 1904. "The principal was glad to see me go," he admits.

The Eagle Editorialist, who bows to no one in his dislike for Communists, says the Legislature is going too far when it continues placing them under legal ban. "To make them political outlaws as well as moral outlaws is only a step away from political imprisonments."

The infant son of radio actress Donna Damarel Fick is in good condition at a hospital in Englewood, New Jersey, a day after his mother died in childbirth on Friday. Mrs. Fick performed her role in the daily "Myrt and Marge" serial with her mother Myrtle Vail at CBS in Manhattan on Friday, and went immediately to the hospital after the broadcast. Studio colleagues stated that they had no idea that Mrs. Fick was expecting a baby.

(I have always felt there was something to this story that was not being told, and learning here that nobody even knew she was pregnant cinches it.)

(Just like the ones Eleanor wears when she does the rhumba!)

The Dodgers held their first workout at their new training camp in Havana, Cuba yesterday with only one of the four catchers on the 40-man roster actually under contract. Babe The Blimp Phelps is signed, in camp, and ready to play, backup Herman Franks is in camp but is not yet signed, and third-stringer Angelo Guiliani is neither. But the real problem is that the projected first-string catcher for 1941, newly-acquired Mickey Owen, has shown no sign of capitulating to Larry MacPhail's charms. Owen is still insisting on a sum which MacPhail is by no means willing to hand over, and negotiations seem to be at a standstill as the Flock gets situated in its spring quarters.

The first workout opened with calisthenics, followed by an hour of batting practice thrown by a grinning Cuban left-hander named Yo-Yo Acosta. Van Mungo, who is determined to make a comeback this year, also stepped in to throw to batters for a bit.

Dizzy Dean says if things don't go well this year, he's quitting baseball for good. The sorearmed former fireballer left his Texas farm yesterday for the Chicaco Cubs traning camp at Avalon, California with his jaw set and his eyes hard, declaring that "if I can't win, I'll quit." Since injuring his arm in 1937, and joining the Cubs in 1938 Dean has struggled every season, to the point of falling back to the minors for a portion of the 1940 season, and he says he's tired of taking money for work that hasn't been up to standards.

(Sometimes the Trend writer strains to come across with the whole cocky passive-aggressive Henry Luce schtick of his, but comparing this poor dog to Barrymore is just -- no, please don't.)

(Never mind all this corny cowboy stuff, GIVE BIGFOOT HIS OWN STRIP!)

(Get a load of panel two -- it really *is* Leopold and Loeb!)

(If the damn Chief Invader can mask up so can everybody else!)

(Vintage Things That Have Disappeared In Your Lifetime)

("I GUESS I HAVE?" Jeez, Dan needs to get a better press agent.)

(I love it when Tuthill goes all meta and mocks his own tropes.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

The Reno Chamber of Commerce laughs and laughs. "Arkansas! HAHAHAHAH! Arkansas!"

"Nothing Without Labor!" I had no idea that Mr. Hill was a Wobbly. Solidarity, brother!

Okie dokie, kindaleh -- It's nightmare time!

"Chimneys. Chimneys...so straight...and strong....thrusting, thrusting upward...thrusting....OH, MR. AM! I --ah -- didn't hear you come in!"

You know, there's often a contrast between the tones of a daily strip and its Sunday page, but I mean -- in the dailies, Chester's dad is cavorting on stage three times a day in a bear suit. And on Sundays, we plumb the depths of poverty and urban depravity. No middle ground for you, is there Gus?

Meanwhile, Major von Grumpykraut's outfit suggests that he has apparently taken a job playing third trumpet in the band at a Hungarian restaurant.

While Joy, judging from panel two, appears to have taken a job in the chorus. Probably needs her own plane to play road dates.

"Classic music? You mean like Beiderbecke?"

Judy's experience here parallels my own first experience on ice skates, except I didn't have a 280 pound goofy dad to supply comedy relief. He was 160 pounds, and he was sitting in the ice fishing shack drinking Narragansett.

So that's what became of George Bungle's old car.

 

[ChiTownScion]

Hint to Shadow: full morning wear (cutaway coat, striped trousers, waistcoat) is overkill when you're just popping by to see the sweetie for tea. It smacks of nouveau riche. Dial it back a tad, son.