The Era -- Day By Day

[LizzieMaine]

And for once, when they say someone is a model, Page Four proved she truly has got it going on.

I guess, boxers, even heavyweight contenders had, maybe, a stigma attached to them?

They were about on the same social plateau as actors, which is a terrible thing to say.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Naval authorities believe they have located a missing submarine lying in 440 feet of water off the coast of Portsmouth, New Hampshire -- with the 33 crew members aboard either dead or beyond hope of rescue. The submarine O-9, built 23 years ago, decommissioned and only recently re-commissioned for National Defense service, failed to surface yesterday after a two-hour test dive, and the search vessel Falcon located oil slicks and floating bits of wreckage about fifteen miles southeast of the Portsmouth Naval Yard and about 18 miles north of where the submarine Squalus foundered in May of 1939. It is believed that the wreckage indicates at least part of the O-9's hull has been crushed by the tremendous sea pressure. The sub was built to withstand pressures encountered at a depth of 200 feet. Although authorities believe that there is little chance of anyone surviving the loss of the vessel, Navy Secretary Frank Knox declared today that "everything will be done" to rescue any crew members who may have survived.

One Brooklyn man, 20-year-old Fireman Third Class Walter John Jasowiok of 92 Dupont Street in Greenpoint, was aboard the 0-9 when it went down. The young sailor told his mother that the vessel was "safe as a house" when he learned two weeks ago that he had been assigned to the submarine service.

A 28-year-old nurse at St. Peter's Hospital routed an intruder from her bedroom in the hospital's nurse's residence early this morning by throwing a vase at his head. Miss Helen Cosgrove was awakened at 5:30 AM by a strange man trying to stuff an old tweed sweater into her mouth. She struggled free, grabbed the vase from a table and let it fly. The intruder fled, leaving his sweater behind as the only clue to his identity. Police report that a porter in the building heard Miss Cosgrove scream, and then reported seeing a strange man aged about thirty, five feet eight inches tall, weighing about 150 pounds, and wearing a blue shirt, dark trousers, and dark shoes, running down the back stairway and out of the building.

A total of 1420 Brooklyn men and women have enrolled as volunteer air raid wardens in the first day of recruitment for service under the Office of Civilian Defense. One Brooklyn woman who signed up, Mrs. Beatrice Rubin, a 41-year-old mother of two and wife of a World War veteran, was rousted out of bed at midnight and summoned to report to her local police precinct for an interview. At first she resented the lateness of the hour, but then realized "if you're going to be an air raid warden...."

("T'ey woudn' take me!" fumes Sally, slamming the brisket down on the table with considerable force. "T' BUMS! T'sergean', he says ta me, 'go home an' have ya baby, lit'l lady, we gottit all in han'! 'Lit'l lady!' Where'see gettatt stuff??? I ASK YA!" "Heh," chuckles Joe. "Lit'l lady." "WHAT?" roars Sally, brandishing her fork. "Nut'n. Hey, we beat t'em Reds, ainnat sumpin'?")

Congressional supporters of the President's foreign policy called today for the arming of American merchant vessels, in response to the White House's strong condemnation of the sinking of the freighter Robin Moor by a German submarine. Senator Claude Pepper (D-Florida), who runs in advance of official Administration positions on foriegn policy, but is sometimes used by the White House to float "trial balloons," today predicted that the Robin Moor incident will be "just the first" such incident to occur, and called for the full arming of the American merchant fleet for "a shooting defense" against the Germans.

Queens Borough President George U. Harvey today called New York City the headquarters of Communism in the United States, and called for all New York Communists to be deported. Speaking before a convention of the Nassau American Legion today, Mr. Harvey further urged that "we should put them on a boat, and hope it sinks."

A runaway horse went on a rampage thru Astoria today before being brought to a halt by two police patrolmen on crossing guard duty. The horse escaped from a riding academy on Steinway Street and galloped down 23rd Street for nearly three miles before Patrolmen John Boteger and John Robb, on duty outside P. S. 54, took pursuit in their radio car. As motorists skidded their cars to a halt to let the horse and his pursuers pass, the horse kicked in the fender of the police car, forcing it to a stop. Patrolmen Boetger and Robb took up the chase on foot and finally subdued the exhausted animal on 43rd Street near Broadway. The horse was taken to the Astoria police station, where it may be picked up by its owner at his earliest convenience.

(Someday, somebody will come up with an excellent sitcom about the daily lives of 1940s New York cops.)

("Farmers Oval" in Glendale is the home of the Glendale Farmers, a semi-pro club that isn't officially a Brooklyn farm team, but past and future Dodgers do occasionally pass thru there. When, that is, all these old-timers with the Gay 90s moustaches and pillbox caps let them play.)

(Love him or hate him, Larry sure does know how to get his name in the paper.)

("Huh," says Joe. "I don' get it.")

(Given Ebbets Field's reputation as a bandbox it's jarring to see that 35 home runs was for a long time the team record -- until you remember that it was very difficult for right-handed hitters to hit home runs there until the stands were wrapped around to left and center field in 1931, reducing the home-run distances by about forty feet. Homers by left handed hitters were easier, but they were made less so by the construction of a tall screen atop the right field wall in 1930. Mr. Camilli is pretty sore about that.)

("Hey bud! Ya messed it up," growls Sally. "T'new liberry's in FLATBUSH, not in BENSONHOIST! People 'roun heah wouln' even know from a book!" "Hey, watchit," retorts Joe. "We got lotsa books!" "Yeah," says Sally. "Inna backa canny stoahs!")

(Yes, there was indeed a time when Leo Gorcey could get a role in a serious picture.)

(Not is Boody doing no favors to Sino-American relations here, he's not even making sense. C'mon pal, sober up.)

(Oh puhleeeeeeeeeeze let "the widow" be Sibyl Dardanella.)

(Theosophical cult compound? Christian Front training camp? Retirement home for cat ladies?)

(I wonder how much Norman Marsh weighs?)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

I mean, does a marriage where you even have to say "choose me or Hitler" have much of a chance at all?

Yeah, but the "other picture on back page" isn't one of Billy in a bathing suit. What a cheat.

"Well, sure," says Snipe. "But where's the fun in that?"

"Look bud. You talk a good game, but until I'm actually heading off for the night with Pat Ryan, I'm not buying what you've got to sell."

I dunno what Mr. Gould is up to, but these are the least-imposing hoods since The Skull.

Um, did you just slip a hairbrush into your pocket? What are you gonna do, give 'em a finger wave?

Y'know, Skeez, they're talking about lowering the draft age to 18. Just something for you to think about.

Hey, knobhead, be reasonable. Bim just spent millions searching the world for that little girl's father -- his petty cash fund is kinda tapped.

"It's those brussels sprouts we had for luncheon. They always repeat."

Tomorrow: Emmy and her fella doing aerials at Roseland.

 

[Harp]

Burma will never forget this guy; she'll dimly recall Ryan, but Wolff is, as Frost will write,
about to inflict the immortal wound of poetry on her heart.

 

[Fading Fast]

...
(Given Ebbets Field's reputation as a bandbox it's jarring to see that 35 home runs was for a long time the team record -- until you remember that it was very difficult for right-handed hitters to hit home runs there until the stands were wrapped around to left and center field in 1931, reducing the home-run distances by about forty feet. Homers by left handed hitters were easier, but they were made less so by the construction of a tall screen atop the right field wall in 1930. Mr. Camilli is pretty sore about that.)...

The quirkiness of different stadiums is one of the unique joys of baseball.

... View attachment 342525 ("Hey bud! Ya messed it up," growls Sally. "T'new liberry's in FLATBUSH, not in BENSONHOIST! People 'roun heah wouln' even know from a book!" "Hey, watchit," retorts Joe. "We got lotsa books!" "Yeah," says Sally. "Inna backa canny stoahs!")...

Good one Sally.

...
(Yes, there was indeed a time when Leo Gorcey could get a role in a serious picture.)...

It's uneven, but definitely worth a watch (comments here, second movie down: #24006)

...[ (I wonder how much Norman Marsh weighs?)

Dan's just pretending to have amnesia as he's really waiting for Kay to off Irwin before he comes back.

... I mean, does a marriage where you even have to say "choose me or Hitler" have much of a chance at all?...

If the State Department doesn't grant her permission to stay, and I can't see why it would, she's going to get quite the "reception" now when she returns to Germany.

..
Yeah, but the "other picture on back page" isn't one of Billy in a bathing suit. What a cheat.....

"We ran that picture yesterday, we can't run it again."

"Have you seen the picture?"

"Sure, sure I have, but we can't run it two days in a row."

"Take a good look again."

"Run it."

...
"Look bud. You talk a good game, but until I'm actually heading off for the night with Pat Ryan, I'm not buying what you've got to sell."....

Other than by the Penguin in the 1960s TV series "Batman," I don't think I've ever heard "fine-feathered friend" used anywhere. And, like "gallivanting" from yesterday, it is disappearing.

...
Y'know, Skeez, they're talking about lowering the draft age to 18. Just something for you to think about.....

Women in the supine position seem to be on King's mind these past few days.

 

[Harp]

^^^I rather assuredly assume he's not the only one.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Ebbets Field ground rules...

Ball hits Sally and knocks over her Coke: Run like hell.

These are the rules as they stood in 1956, and it's interesting to note the "ball remains on ledge" situation is listed as a ground-rule double. You may recall that last summer, Sally's favorite Cincinnati Red, Lonnie Frey, hit a ball that struck the right-field screen, fell straight down, bounced a couple of times, and came to rest safe and sound atop the concrete wall. This had never happened before, and there was no rule, so Frey got an inside-the-park home run out of it. The new ground rule, "Frey's Rule," putting a stop to such nonsense, was promulgated soon after. As far as anyone has been able to determine, that type of a hit never happened again.

 

[Haversack]

(Someday, somebody will come up with an excellent sitcom about the daily lives of 1940s New York cops.)

"There's a hold-up in the Bronx. Brooklyn's opened up in fights. There's a traffic jam in Harlem that's backed up to Jackson Heights..."

 

[LizzieMaine]

At this very moment out in Hollywood, Nat Hiken is trying to come up with a good script idea for a new project. Hopefully the wire services will pick up this story.

This isn't the first Wild West adventure we've come across in the Eagle. Our regular readers may recall a situation last year where a horse pulling a junk wagon in Brownsville got spooked by something and went berzerk. A cop jumped up on the wagon as it was tearing thru the streets, crawled out on the horse's neck, grabbed his head, and wrestled him back under control. Red Ryder couldn't have done it better.

 

[Fading Fast]

At this very moment out in Hollywood, Nat Hiken is trying to come up with a good script idea for a new project. Hopefully the wire services will pick up this story.

This isn't the first Wild West adventure we've come across in the Eagle. Our regular readers may recall a situation last year where a horse pulling a junk wagon in Brownsville got spooked by something and went berzerk. A cop jumped up on the wagon as it was tearing thru the streets, crawled out on the horse's neck, grabbed his head, and wrestled him back under control. Red Ryder couldn't have done it better.

⇧ I remember it well. 1941 was only, what, twenty to thirty years passed when horses were a large part of local transportation. It's like 2001 or no farther back than 1991 to us today.

 

[Harp]

^A decade after the Second World War horses drew milk wagons in Chicago.

 

[EngProf]

"There's a hold-up in the Bronx. Brooklyn's opened up in fights. There's a traffic jam in Harlem that's backed up to Jackson Heights..."

"There's a Scout Troop short a child..."
"Khruschev's due at Idlewild..."
I can see Toody and Muldoon involved in a lot of these odd NY-cop escapades.

 

[LizzieMaine]

It appears likely that the crushed hull of submarine O-9 will remain the tomb of the 33 men aboard, after a Navy diver failed yesterday in his attempt to locate the vessel under 450 feet of water. The O-9 foundered off the Isle of Shoals on Friday, and it is conceded that no one aboard could still be alive given the tremendous pressure at that depth. Diver George Crocker yesterday attempted to reach the vessel in the deepest working dive ever attempted in the Atlantic, but his first attempt was foiled by a malfunction in the telephone line linking Crocker with his ship, the Navy salvage vessel Chewink. Meanwhile, back in Greenpoint, the mother of one of the sailors on board the doomed sub continues to hold out hope for her son's rescue. Mrs. Tillie Jaskowiak of 92 Dupont Avenue could only repeat, again and again, "He'll be all right. I know he'll be all right." Her 20 year old son Walter had only been assigned to the O-9 two weeks ago.

In two major moves, the Army has acted to revitalize its Air Corps, and recommended that all National Guard and Reserve officers activated during the present emergency be kept on active duty indefinitely in order to provide a trained nucleus for a rapidly-expanding citizen army. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson announced yesterday that the combat and service units of the Army Air Corps will be reorganized into a single, unified force under a single senior Air Officer, who will answer only to the Chief Of Staff of the Army. Major General Henry A. Arnold will be named the head of the new Army Air Forces.

The Roosevelt Administration was preparing last night to exercise extraordinary emergency powers to take full wartime control over the movements of all aliens in the United States, and to restrict the ability of U. S. citizens to leave or re-enter the country. The moves, based on a new act signed by the President early yesterday, are stated to be intended to hinder espionage and sabotage of national defense facilities.

The Administration yesterday issued an order closing all Italian consulates in the United States, following on its recent closer of German consulates, an order also affecting all agencies and offices connected in any way to the Italian Government, including Italian news and cable agencies, the Italian Information Service, and the Italian Tobacco Monopoly. These moves leave only the thinnest thread of diplomatic relations in place between the United States, Rome, and Berlin.

The chairman of the International Catholic Truth Society's Anti-War Committee is demanding a formal apology from Dodger president Larry MacPhail for his refusal to allow rental of Ebbets Field by the Brooklyn America First Committee. The Rev. Dr. Edward Lodge Curran, former East Coast representative for Father Charles E. Coughlin, denounced MacPhail yesterday for "following the tyrannical Hitler way" in denying use of the ballpark for an America First rally, and called on the baseball executive to "demonstrate the sportsmanship shown by the Brooklyn ball players" by apologizing for his remarks to local America First chairman William F. Leonard and declaring the ballpark's gates open to the requested rally. Meanwhile, the America First Committee yesterday invited MacPhail, an outspoken member of the Committee to Defend America By Aiding the Allies, to present his own views at a "free speech rally" to be held by America First at the Columbus Club on Tuesday, June 24th. America First representative Marcellus H. Evans, in his invitation to the Dodger president, requested that he specifically appear to defend his intimation that Charles A. Lindbergh, Senator Burton K. Wheeler, and Senator Gerald P. Nye are in league with Hitler.

(Mike Godwin won't be born for another fifteen years, but his Law already appears to be alive and well in 1941.)

(There's always a Brooklyn Angle.)

Mrs. H. M. K. writes to Dr. Brady wondering if it's healthful for children to sleep out of doors. Doc says "sleeping in the open is beneficial for children and adults if they enjoy it," and he warns that you should always sleep with all bedroom windows open. "If it is windy, rainy, snowy, blowy, or buggy out, insert in the windows screens of unbleached muslin such as were so successfully used for schoolroom ventilation by Dr. John B. Todd of Syracuse."

The Eagle Editorialist takes great offense at the idea that assessments of property value on Fulton Street should go up once the Black Spider is gone. "Valuations on Fulton Street, and in Brooklyn at large, have long been too high," he sniffs. "The city should leave well enough alone."

(Sally, slumped over the railing of the fire escape on a stultifying Sunday afternoon, while Joe rubs the back of her neck with a big chip of ice, wads up this page and watches it drop to the searing cobblestones below.)

(Hey Larry, why didn't you trade this big stiff Hamlin when you had the chance? Maybe you could have swapped him to the Firsters for Gerald Nye, who's often shown an impressive ability to pitch from both sides of his mouth.)

Erasmus Hall High School will go after its first P. S. A. L. baseball crown since the turn of the century on Tuesday, when the Buff-and-Blue take on Grover Cleveland High at Erasmus Field. Baby-face senior Danny O'Brien is expected to start for Erasmus in the title game against Dick "Diz" Schurrer for Cleveland -- which has lost only one game all season.

"No Glamour-Boy Prince of Islam..." And somewhere, King Farouk's ears are itching.

Old Timer Eleanor Van Cott Perry of Flushing remembers growing up in the old Eastern District where she once shook hands with *both* Grover Cleveland *and* James G. Blaine. Not at the same time, though.

Writer-director Preston Sturges is back in action on the Paramount lot as production begins on his fourth feature comedy, "Sullivan's Travels," starring Joel McCrea and Veronical Lake. This will be an "important picture," say insiders, telling the story of a Hollywood director fed up with making "bogus slapstick comedies like 'So Long Sarong,' 'Hey Hey in the Hayloft,' and 'Ants in Your Pants of 1936'" who sets out to make "an important picture."

(I'm not ashamed to admit that I'd gladly go see 'So Long Sarong,' 'Hey, Hey in the Hayloft,' and 'Ants in Your Pants of 1936,' all of which must've starred some combination of Joe Penner, Martha Raye, Ned Sparks, and Una Merkel. But there's no accounting for tastes...)

(Ah, the old "trapped in the bedroom" gag. Not the sort of material you usually associate with Tarzan, but let's see where it goes...)

(I once performed in a theatre with switches like that on the light board and you'd see a big blue arc flash when the operator threw them around. There was a pail of sand nearby, in case the operator caught on fire.)

(Do you get the sense that Churchill went thru a lot of secretaries?)

(To be a professional troll one day, as Dennie clearly hopes to be, you must practice constantly. And why isn't Irwin TIED TO THE CHAIR TIED TO THE CHAIR TIED TO THE CHAIR?)

("What crust! I threw away all my speakeasy cards in 1933!")

(Aw, I'm with the kid on this. Red slicing that guy's head off with the ax would have been groundbreaking, dramatic stuff.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

See, Eagle, this is what happens when you go to press early on Sundays.

Red and Al were actually a pretty good looking couple of fellas, if you don't mind one being skinny and one being -- not skinny.

"Never...mind...me....(cough!)...just....get...the...milk....thru......"

"He gave me the gun last night. Oh, and this pistol too."

GIVE 'EM THE RUG! GIVE 'EM THE RUG! GIVE 'EM THE RUG!

Well, this will certainly go well.

"Boy, Jack, it's a good thing you're over the tragic death of your wife that upset you so bad you tried to commit suicide. Isn't it, Jack? Jack?"

"Ahoy, mutton merger?" Well, at least it's better than calling him "Fat Guy."

You might be able to get him out of the net, but you'll have a tough time getting him into the ether bottle.

Willie without his checkerboard suit is like Samson with a buzz cut.

 

[Harp]

Burma is bit. And probably her heart struck by Cupid's dart, and her ovaries all tied in knots over this platonic
pistol packing Prussian affair that wasn't.

 

[Fading Fast]

...
(Hey Larry, why didn't you trade this big stiff Hamlin when you had the chance? Maybe you could have swapped him to the Firsters for Gerald Nye, who's often shown an impressive ability to pitch from both sides of his mouth.)...

On romps Whirlaway. What a fun time for horse racing.

...Erasmus Hall High School will go after its first P. S. A. L. baseball crown since the turn of the century on Tuesday, when the Buff-and-Blue take on Grover Cleveland High at Erasmus Field. Baby-face senior Danny O'Brien is expected to start for Erasmus in the title game against Dick "Diz" Schurrer for Cleveland -- which has lost only one game all season....

Will Sally and Joe be in attendance?

...(I'm not ashamed to admit that I'd gladly go see 'So Long Sarong,' 'Hey, Hey in the Hayloft,' and 'Ants in Your Pants of 1936,' all of which must've starred some combination of Joe Penner, Martha Raye, Ned Sparks, and Una Merkel. But there's no accounting for tastes...)...

...
(Ah, the old "trapped in the bedroom" gag. Not the sort of material you usually associate with Tarzan, but let's see where it goes...)...

When Jane reads about this on Page Four, Tarzan's gonna have some 'splaining to do when he gets home.

...[ (I once performed in a theatre with switches like that on the light board and you'd see a big blue arc flash when the operator threw them around. There was a pail of sand nearby, in case the operator caught on fire.)...

Did Invisible Scarlett pay her, not insubstantial, cab fare before going all invisible on the driver?

I think, only think, I've seen those sand buckets around those type of switchboards in '30s movies that take place in theaters.

...[
(Do you get the sense that Churchill went thru a lot of secretaries?)...

Not speaking to the historical accuracy of the movie, but in 2017's "Darkest Hour," there are several really good scenes about the challenges and, also, excitement of being Churchill's secretary (wonderfully played by Lily James).

...
"He gave me the gun last night. Oh, and this pistol too."....

At that time, in that corner of the world, that sounds like a reasonably fair exchange.

...
GIVE 'EM THE RUG! GIVE 'EM THE RUG! GIVE 'EM THE RUG!...

Somebody had her Wheaties again this morning. But sadly, I agree - GIVE 'EM THE RUG!

... "Boy, Jack, it's a good thing you're over the tragic death of your wife that upset you so bad you tried to commit suicide. Isn't it, Jack? Jack?"....

You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a strong, independent female role model in '41 comics.

You gotta love Toeman the Great's calendar: Tuesday, dining with the opposition general; Wednesday [marked with two stars], kill Smilln' Jack; Thursday pick up dry-cleaning (check they pressed the lapel right before leaving); Friday...

 

[Fading Fast]

Burma is bit. And probably her heart struck by Cupid's dart, and her ovaries all tied in knots over this platonic
pistol packing Prussian affair that wasn't.

I don't know, Burma strikes me as if she understands the real world she lives in and might have taken it either as a fair exchange for freedom or just sex.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The thing to remember about Burma is that Burma is always out for Burma, and she'll do whatever she has to do within that framework. Sometimes it works out that her interests are in line with those of Terry and Pat, but sometimes not. She'll feel guilty about slipping the shiv, but she'll do it just the same.

Meanwhile, as a bonus page today, here's coverage of today's events in Russia courtesy of the five-star final edition of the News:

 

[Harp]

The thing to remember about Burma is that Burma is always out for Burma, and she'll do whatever she has to do within that framework. Sometimes it works out that her interests are in line with those of Terry and Pat, but sometimes not. She'll feel guilty about slipping the shiv, but she'll do it just the same.

I don't know, Burma strikes me as if she understands the real world she lives in and might have taken it either as a fair exchange for freedom or just sex.

...OK guys, but her countenance and tone chalk it all up to a dart shot by that marksman Cupid.
She may be cynical, shrewd, a woman of the world but she is as vulnerable as all of us; perhaps more so
being who she is but fate twists the arrow of love as it does the death dagger.

Besides, we need a little tease with this strip. A funny world, indeed.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The best thing of all, of course, is that today's successful escape brings us that much closer to the day Burma meets Raven Sherman. Unstoppable force, meet immovable object.

Oh, and wouldn't it be a neat twist if Slagg getting blackjacked in the head by those thugs turned him evil again.