The Era -- Day By Day

[LizzieMaine]

Russian communiques and special dispatches today reported important victories against six German divisions numbering upwards of 90,000 men. The great Russian counterattack in the Smolensk-Gomel area is said to be deepening a big salient against the German line. A report from the Moscow radio monitored in London stated that Red Army forces have broken thru the second German defense line at Gomel, and that Nazi reinforcements are being rushed to to the front. A report from General Constantin Rokossovsky, commander on the central front, stated that German forces along the road to Moscow have been pushed back "considerably" by Red Army counterblows over the past six weeks, and that they continue to retreat.

British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden warned today that the present war will "engulf the entire world," as he called on Britain and the United States for ever-increasing production as the "key to victory." Addressing a crowd at the scene of a German air bombardment at Coventry, Mr. Eden warned that the present production of armaments and associated materiel by the Allied and associated powers still falls short of meeting present requirements, and observed that the entire production of Britain and the United States "twice over" could be used to further the war efforts of Britain and Russia against Germany.

In Japan, there are persistent reports that the Tokio government and the United States have reached "a basic understanding" as a result of conferences in the Japanese capital and in Washington. A spokesman for the Government information board stated that the reports are "probably premature," but added that diplomats of the Axis nations believe that an "agreement in principle" between Japan and the United States is imminent if it has not already been achieved. A pessimistic note was sounded by Britain, in ordering all non-essential British subjects in the Japanese Empire and Manchuko to leave those territories at once. A special British evacuation ship was reported to be en route today to Japan.

Members of the Kings County Republican Law Committee have succeeded in throwing out approximately 400 questionable signatures on petitions nominating Democratic Borough President John Cashmore for a place on the Republican county primary ticket, and now say as many as 2000 signatures on those petitions may be forged. Hearings continued today in Brooklyn Supreme Court before Justice Edward L. Garvin with Republicans presenting a list of 600 additional names to Democratic legal representatives for further examination. It was noted, however, that even if all the challenged signatures were ruled invalid, there would still remain sufficient signatures to place Cashmore on the GOP ballot.

An overflow crowd packed St. John the Evangelist R. C. Church in Park Slope today for funeral services for Mrs. Mary Morey and her three children, who died when Mrs. Morey went on a rampage with an ax and a knife earlier this week in the poverty-stricken family's apartment after becoming convinced that her husband had brought an incurable disease into the home. A special detail of ten policemen held back the crowds as the mourners entered the church following a procession from the John J. Jurak Funeral Home. Following the funeral Mass, burial services were held at St. John's Cemetery, Middle Village.

A dapper, bespectacled bandit is being held in Bellevue Hospital today after a shootout with police in a Harlem tenement. A policeman and a fireman were wounded in the exchange of gun fire, following two holdups and the theft of a car early this morning in Greenwich Village. The bandit, 35-year-old Edward V. Young of Manhattan, a longshoreman with a long and violent criminal record, paused during his rampage up the East Side to apologize to a woman in a Jamacia Avenue tavern for his behavior, and to buy a round of drinks for the house. The chase ended in Harlem, where Patrolman Charles Castora and fireman Albert Boston -- "a Negro" --confronted the bandit in a at 2nd Avenue and 112th Street. Both men were wounded in the gunfire and Young took shelter in a building on 106th Street, where he was finally captured Patrolmen George A. Santanna and Thomas Willmoth. Young was shot in the arm during his capture, and immediately removed to Bellevue.

(I look forward to Mr. MacPhail's reply.)

(Doc has no truck with deniers of germ theory. Fortunately, of course, they won't be around for long.)

(Social Media, 1941.)

("Dive Bomber" is one of those Warner Bros. pictures where you can pretty much reconstruct the entire plot just by reading the cast list.)

Reader L. M. Pierce writes in to complain that something needs to be done about the scalpers from Manhattan and New Jersey who swoop into Brooklyn to buy up blocks of tickets at Ebbets Field for big games, forcing real fans to pay hijack prices. He went to the ballpark last Saturday to try and get tickets for the big Cardinal games, and after standing on line for an hour and a half got to the window to find that all 10,000 $1.10 seats were sold out. A scalper then offered him a seat for $5. "It is my understanding that scalpers are forbidden by city ordinance from demanding any price in excess of 75 cents above the prescribed price of any ticket," he growls, and suggests that state and Federal tax authorities need to get involved. "It looks like a barefaced racked -- which officials at Ebbets Field must have some knowledge of!"

("Ya sure ya do'wanna go?" wheedles Joe. "Solly's got tickets." "Hah," groans Sally. "I should ride 'nourn'ahalf onna subway alla way up t'ere ta sit innat smelly dump." "But it ain't onna radio," argues Joe. "T'em Giants, t'ey don' allow broadcass!" Sally groans again. "STOP KICKIN', KID!" she moans. "WE'RE GOIN' NEX' WEEK!")

(Florida? Be sure to drop in on the Slaggs.)

(The disturbing calm with which Jo is reacting to all this is the sign of a woman who has already reached a decision.)

(Seems Wilmer Bobble has a little brother.)

(Violent vigilantism, Irwin? Sorry, Batman's working this side of the street.)

 

[Fading Fast]

Russian communiques and special dispatches today reported important victories against six German divisions numbering upwards of 90,000 men. The great Russian counterattack in the Smolensk-Gomel area is said to be deepening a big salient against the German line. A report from the Moscow radio monitored in London stated that Red Army forces have broken thru the second German defense line at Gomel, and that Nazi reinforcements are being rushed to to the front. A report from General Constantin Rokossovsky, commander on the central front, stated that German forces along the road to Moscow have been pushed back "considerably" by Red Army counterblows over the past six weeks, and that they continue to retreat.

British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden warned today that the present war will "engulf the entire world," as he called on Britain and the United States for ever-increasing production as the "key to victory." Addressing a crowd at the scene of a German air bombardment at Coventry, Mr. Eden warned that the present production of armaments and associated materiel by the Allied and associated powers still falls short of meeting present requirements, and observed that the entire production of Britain and the United States "twice over" could be used to further the war efforts of Britain and Russia against Germany....

Even though we know it will, it's almost hard to believe that this carnage will go on for four more years.

... ("Dive Bomber" is one of those Warner Bros. pictures where you can pretty much reconstruct the entire plot just by reading the cast list.)...

A spot-on comment that applies to probably half the A-list movies Warner Bros. made in the '30s and '40s and that's said as a fan. WB's plots were often wash-rinse-repeat, with the enjoyment coming from the energy and spirt the writers, directors and actors brought to the effort. I believe you've said it before, Lizzie, half the fun of these movies is revisiting with "the old gang."

...
(Florida? Be sure to drop in on the Slaggs.)...

Since you beat me to the Slagg line, if we ignore geography, Sparky could have shown up at Shadow's (Sundays only) hotdog stand for a neat crossover.

...
(Violent vigilantism, Irwin? Sorry, Batman's working this side of the street.)

Irwin: "Oh, 'Batman,' I thought everyone was saying 'Fatman" and talking about me. Phew, I didn't want to have to go after The Skull all by myself anyway. He's all yours Batman. Hey, does he actually look like a Bat?"

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

"Indelicacy charges?" Is that what they're calling it now? And a big hand for Mr. Clark today -- those two kids in the background are perfectly observed. "Geeeez, Mabel, we gotta get out of this hick town..."

You know, Mr. Krival, you probably shouldn't say things like that IN THE PAPER WITH THE LARGEST CIRCULATION OF ANY PAPER IN AMERICA.

Good, huh? Deborah just shook some itch powder down her sister's neck, and is waiting for the fun to erupt.

I hate mornings like this.

That's really cold, Chief. That's really cold.

Warbucks always wanted to be an actor, but Equity wouldn't take him.

Ohhhhhh, Snipe. No no no no no....

"Wellllllll it isn't Wendelllll Willlkie!!!"

Or maybe just skip town until it all blows over.

Lost your key again, dincha?

 

[Fading Fast]

And in the Daily News...

"Indelicacy charges?" Is that what they're calling it now? And a big hand for Mr. Clark today -- those two kids in the background are perfectly observed. "Geeeez, Mabel, we gotta get out of this hick town..."...

And so it happened, we said at the time if any of Miss Olga's "girls" skipped bail, they'd show up in a later raid, ta-duh.

So, do you think Patrolman Piccirelli turned over all the pictures he took as evidence or did he tuck a few away in the back of his sock drawer?

...[ "Indelicacy charges?" Is that what they're calling it now? And a big hand for Mr. Clark today -- those two kids in the background are perfectly observed. "Geeeez, Mabel, we gotta get out of this hick town..."...

His was the standout stupid comment of the column. That said, as a cigar-store owner, he probably knows Nick Gatt.

... I hate mornings like this....

As you said, Lizzie, Sunday's (tomorrow in '41) "Terry and the Pirates" is going to be a humdinger.

 

[Harp]

When Terry's age I was in Greece during the Colonels rule. After the Junta collapsed, leading to return
of civil government, the Greek paratroop battalion I was with decided to overthrow the new Prime Minister
and his cabinet. There are few more unpleasant ways of starting a day than finding oneself amidst a
coup d'etat; all the more so when you discover you are on the losing side. Hellenic Air Force F4 Phantoms
came roaring down and laid down the law like a hanging judge. The effect of fighters dropping explosive
ordinance is such that the earth shudders while the noise sounds is f.....g surreal. Men just disappear,
completely vanish. Sky King is about to be awakened in such manner his ass ain't never ever gonna forget.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The final question of whether the war engulfs the New World may be forced by the Axis, according to President Roosevelt. Speaking last night in Hyde Park, New York before an audience of 500 at a meeting of the Roosevelt Home Club on the tenant farm of Moses Smith, the President indirectly warned that the Axis nations are "very possibly" planning to conquer not just Europe and East Asia, but also the Western Hemisphere by reading a letter from a woman he described as "an exceedingly good observer" of the present European scene in which the statement was made that world conquest is, in fact, the ultimate goal of the Axis states. Mr. Roosevelt did not name the author of the letter, but it is believed likely that she is Mrs. John Winant, wife of the present U. S. Ambassador to the Court of St. James.

A Flatbush Democrat connected to the office of Borough President John Cashmore was accused yesterday of being the instigator of the petition drive seeking to Cashmore on the Republican primary ballot. The official named, Frank Nolan, a confidential inspector in the Borough President's office, was identified as the originator of the campaign by John J. Carr of 351 47th Street, a Democratic Party captain in the 23rd Electoral District of the 3rd Assembly District who was called to the stand in Brooklyn Supreme Court by Republican attorney Charles Pokorny. Carr testified that he was told, along with all other confidental inspectors, to report to Cashmore's office and wait for Nolan, who, upon his arrival, assigned each inspector to obtain 40 signatures each within their districts. The Knox County Republican Committee is suing to rule thousands of petition signatures thus gathered to have been obtained thru "fraud, forgery, perjury, and misrepresentation." Yesterday Justice Edwin L. Garvin ruled another 600 signatures invalid bringing the total number of rejected names to 1000.

Two Brooklyn youths were arrested yesterday by Federal agents on charges that they conspired to mail data on local National Defense efforts to Germany. 20 year old Hans Helmut "Bubi" Pagel, a brewer with the F & M Schaefer Brewing Company in Williamsburg, and 19-year-old Frederick Edward Schlosser, an apprentice engineer with the Vahl Engineering Company in South Brooklyn, are being held by G-Men in Manhattan on a specific charge of "attempting to mail unmailable matter," and while FBI New York office chief B. Edwin Sackett declined to reveal the specifics of the charges against the two youths, it is understood that they were mailing information "vital to National Defense" to an address in Germany. The arrests follow a similar arrest in Seattle, Washington, where one Kurt Frederick Ludwig is being held for removal by the FBI on the same charge. It was disclosed that Pagel, who was born in Germany and entered the US in 1931, is a former member of the German-American Youth Movement of Ridgewood, New Jersey, an organization later merged into the German-American Bund. Schlosser belonged to the same organization, and is a former employee of the E. Leitz camera concern in Manhattan, an American subsidiary of a German firm.

Flatlands residents are at odds with the Board of Transportation, alleging unacceptable delays in trolley schedules in the section. While Board officials denied there are any grounds for complaints, residents of the neighborhood say they routinely have to wait fifteen minutes to an hour between cars, due to "bunching" caused by automobile traffic. Several residents complain that the problem is only getting worse, and demanded that the Board adjust schedules along Flatlands routes to reflect present conditions.

A typewriter plated in 24-karat gold will be on display in the Fulton Street windows of Abraham & Straus this week, as the machine continues a nationwide tour. The machine, built by the Royal Typewriter Company, has been engraved by Tiffany & Company with the signatures of 1000 Royal salesmen who presented the fully-functional machine to the company's vice president in charge of sales. Prior to going on tour, the typewriter was exhibited in the House of Jewels at the World's Fair.

The Eagle Editorialist praises the formation of the new Supply Priorities and Allocations Board, to be headed by Vice President Henry A. Wallace, and anticipates that it will turn out to be more than "just one more alphabetical agency" as it oversees apportionment of vital materials for National Defense purposes.

The EE also praises the Soviet Army for exceeding all expectations in its war against Germany. "Neither in England nor the United States was there any hope of an efficient military functioning by Russia," he acknowledges, but also admits that "the Russian armies have not been disorganized, and the civilian population has not yielded to defeatism. Russian military leadership has been resourceful and competent, and the civilian population has not yielded to defeatism. Resources in manpower are almost limitless. And this manpower is equal to any in its value and in its scorn of death, which is one of many factors suggesting that the Soviet armies be able to stand indefinitely against the might of the Nazi military machine."

("I tol' ya," sighs Sally, "it wun' woit' goin'.")

Dixie Walker remains well in front in the Most Popular and Most Colorful Dodger poll sponsored by the Brooklyn Dodgers Victory Committee, the Fabian-Fox and Paramount Theatres, and the Eagle...

("Oh," adds Sally. "You have any luck fin'in' t'em Eagles I ast for?")

(Why does one British general look exactly like every other British general? Or are they all, in fact, just the one guy?)

Old Timer Mrs. G. R. S. writes in to remember her nephew, Dink Benson, who everybody knew in the old days in Greenpoint as the boy who loved apple pie and who, when the Kickapoo Medicine Show came to town each year, would build a fire in front of the family house on Oakland Street to roast potatoes for all the neighborhood children. Dink grew up to be the wireless operator on the S. S. Merida, famous cargo ship sunk off Mexico in 1911. He remained at his key, sending out distress signals until all hands aboard ship were rescued. He was hailed as a hero and got his picture on the front page of the N. Y. Herald. These days he lives in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, and is still a good boy.

(Watch out, Red! You know how writers are!)

(In old Celtic folklore, a "pooka" is a sort of trouble-making shape-shifting spirit that often manifests in the form of an animal. Miss O'Neill ought to be aware of this, unless her real name is Oneilowitz, and she changed it for business reasons.)

(Really, that's Stalin? Looks more like John Garfield.)

(Aw, don't be like that, Mary -- look, you can write funny sayings on it just like Harold Teen used to do! And I'll be very disappointed if this is the last we see of the Skull. Holmes has Moriarty, Batman has the Joker, and somehow Dan Dunn *deserves* the Skull.)

(What you really need to invent is a glue that sticks to the stuff it's supposed to stick to better than it sticks to the stuff it isn't supposed to stick to. But I guess that's asking too much.)

("It's no disgrace to be conquered by Tarzan!" Oh yeah? Well why's he on the back page this week?)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Hopefully, he's a Good Dog and will resist the lure of an exciting life of crime.

Do you get the feeling that Mr. Hill is a terribly unsentimental fellow?

I guess when Krome froze to death, Mr. Gould looked at his work and said "well, that's rough -- BUT NOT ROUGH ENOUGH!"

Well, now you've cooked it, Burms. You've cooked it good.

Do whatever you want to the rest of 'em but LEAVE THE DOG ALONE!

You'd think that a box of eggs left out in a warm shed in August would hatch into *something.*

Just the "Synopanel?" I'd think Toemain being munched by the fishies would at least be good for half a page.

And just like that, Shadow learns the essence of effective marketing.

And there's a lesson here too.

All right all you "humans did not overlap the time of the dinosaurs" pedants get it out of your system now, so we can enjoy this guy clubbing Bull Moose over the head with a stegosaurus tailbone.

 

[Harp]

Can't blame Burma for all this, still, lie down with a dog like Judas, catch a flea or two.

 

[Fading Fast]

...Two Brooklyn youths were arrested yesterday by Federal agents on charges that they conspired to mail data on local National Defense efforts to Germany. 20 year old Hans Helmut "Bubi" Pagel, a brewer with the F & M Schaefer Brewing Company in Williamsburg, and 19-year-old Frederick Edward Schlosser, an apprentice engineer with the Vahl Engineering Company in South Brooklyn, are being held by G-Men in Manhattan on a specific charge of "attempting to mail unmailable matter," and while FBI New York office chief B. Edwin Sackett declined to reveal the specifics of the charges against the two youths, it is understood that they were mailing information "vital to National Defense" to an address in Germany. The arrests follow a similar arrest in Seattle, Washington, where one Kurt Frederick Ludwig is being held for removal by the FBI on the same charge. It was disclosed that Pagel, who was born in Germany and entered the US in 1931, is a former member of the German-American Youth Movement of Ridgewood, New Jersey, an organization later merged into the German-American Bund. Schlosser belonged to the same organization, and is a former employee of the E. Leitz camera concern in Manhattan, an American subsidiary of a German firm....

Today we're all but not allowed to have such thoughts, but back in '41, the fact that those are some serious German-sounding names could not have gone unnoticed.

...A typewriter plated in 24-karat gold will be on display in the Fulton Street windows of Abraham & Straus this week, as the machine continues a nationwide tour. The machine, built by the Royal Typewriter Company, has been engraved by Tiffany & Company with the signatures of 1000 Royal salesmen who presented the fully-functional machine to the company's vice president in charge of sales. Prior to going on tour, the typewriter was exhibited in the House of Jewels at the World's Fair....

The one humble word that turns this into a nothing-burger story is "plated."

...The EE also praises the Soviet Army for exceeding all expectations in its war against Germany. "Neither in England nor the United States was there any hope of an efficient military functioning by Russia," he acknowledges, but also admits that "the Russian armies have not been disorganized, and the civilian population has not yielded to defeatism. Russian military leadership has been resourceful and competent, and the civilian population has not yielded to defeatism. Resources in manpower are almost limitless. And this manpower is equal to any in its value and in its scorn of death, which is one of many factors suggesting that the Soviet armies be able to stand indefinitely against the might of the Nazi military machine."...

The part about manpower and scorn of death was brilliantly portrayed in the movie "Enemy at the Gates," where the Russians are sending men into battle in groups of two with the front man getting a loaded rifle and the back man extra ammunition but no gun. The back man is told to pick up the gun of the front man when the front man is killed and, then, fight on. I don't know if that is historically accurate, but if it is, it's a perfect instantiation of the Eagle's point.

... ("It's no disgrace to be conquered by Tarzan!" Oh yeah? Well why's he on the back page this week?)

Tarzan's got to be carful to not use too many "strips of his own garment" or we'll be seeing too much of the Apeman.

... Well, now you've cooked it, Burms. You've cooked it good.....

God bless Raven: "I thought 'that Burma woman' would be in on this." She hasn't let that grudge go one bit.

And Pat, if you're around, now would be a good time to show up. Or, even better, Hu Shee to the rescue!

... Do whatever you want to the rest of 'em but LEAVE THE DOG ALONE!...

Agreed. And take the kid out first, she talks too much.

... Just the "Synopanel?" I'd think Toemain being munched by the fishies would at least be good for half a page.....

She definitely inherited the mother's body.

... And just like that, Shadow learns the essence of effective marketing.....

When I graduated college in '85, the salary range for college grads was about $12,000-$18,000 depending on this, that and the other thing. But one very pretty blonde girl I knew who graduated with us was hired by a guy who spotted her on the street. He owned a wholesale business-furniture business and hired her into his sales team. She made $40,000 her first year. It turns out men like to buy furniture for their offices from pretty blondes. To be fair, she was a bright girl, but even she said it, they buy from me because I'm cute. We were all jealous.

 

[Harp]

Today we're all but not allowed to have such thoughts, but back in '41, the fact that those are some serious German-sounding names could not have gone unnoticed.



God bless Raven: "I thought 'that Burma woman' would be in on this." She hasn't let that grudge go one bit.

And Pat, if you're around, now would be a good time to show up. Or, even better, Hu Shee to the rescue!


She definitely inherited the mother's body..

_______The German Navy later landed a dozen espionage agents off the North Carolina coast.
These dozen were quickly apprehended by the FBI and on FDR's specific instruction quickly executed
by electric chair. I do not know if any formal legal trial was ever convened for record._____

My younger brother lives in Asheville, NC and recounts that during the Second World War the
US Army housed captured German generals at a local fashionable hotel for the duration,
local good ol' boys armed with muzzle loaders would position themselves out in the surrounding woods
and try to pick off any window silhouette target of opportunity.
A little Tenessee windage-Kentucky elevation.________

_____Raven is a bit much. I wonder whether fair Hu-Shee will ever reappear.______

Only follow Terry and The Pirates with Burma the babe so don't know Mom, but the bod ain't bad.______

 

[LizzieMaine]

A couple of Nazi agents landed at Ellsworth, about sixty miles up the coast from here, and managed to make their way to New York before the FBI caught up with them. Seems that a couple of characters in business suits and light topcoats in downeast Maine, in the winter, stood out.

 

[Haversack]

(Why does one British general look exactly like every other British general? Or are they all, in fact, just the one guy?)

Well, they do refer to Sandhurst as The Factory.

 

[Harp]

A couple of Nazi agents landed at Ellsworth, about sixty miles up the coast from here, and managed to make their way to New York before the FBI caught up with them. Seems that a couple of characters in business suits and light topcoats in downeast Maine, in the winter, stood out.

Germany is cold and I wonder if their dress may have been influenced by anticipated cold tolerance
so not to alter their basic guise. I did not know about this Maine landing although I can well imagine their ultimate fate. At a POW camp in either Kansas or Nebraska, perhaps Missouri six or seven German
captives were charged with killing another prisoner suspected of American collusion. These men stood
court martial, convicted of murder, and sent to the gallows. At Ft Sheridan, Illinois German POW-SS veterans
pulling mess hall detail serving chow line file got into a brawl with 101st Airborne returnees. Seven or eight
Germans were beaten to death. Presumably, justified homicide.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Fierce fighting along the entire Russian front and a stunning defeat of Nazi forces attempting to cross the Dnieper River were announced today by the Soviet High Command. "The Germans made repeated attempts to bridge the Dnieper River at an unspecified report," stated the communique. "They were thwarted after two-day efforts to place pontoons into the position." Meanwhile, major Soviet counterattacks all the way from the Arctic Sea to the Northern Ukraine were reported in further communiques and dispatches from Red Army headquarters. It was indicated that Soviet thrusts have slowed, if not completely stopped, German thrusts against Leningrad and the Southern Ukraine.

Germany marked the second anniversary of the war today by claiming to have inflicted "bloody defeats" upon counterattacking Soviet troops, but there were no official statements or ceremonies to commemorate the anniversary of the day German forces marched across the Polish frontier.

British bombers rained destruction upon the industrial Ruhr and Rhineland areas last night as Russian planes pounded Berlin to mark the start of the third year of the war, with a pledge from London promising to bring "a black fall and winter to all of Germany." The city of Essen, home of the great Krupp munitions works and the Goering Steel works, and the industrial sectors of Cologne took the brunt of the British attacks, while Soviet planes sent hundreds of thousands racing into air-raid shelters. Berlin claims the Russian raiders were "driven off."

President Roosevelt will speak to the nation and the world today from his home in Hyde Park to mark the Labor Day holiday with a restatement of his call for all America to strengthen its determination to support all countries now resisting the march of Axis aggression. The President's broadcast will be heard over all American networks and will be relayed to the entire world by short wave.

(And you can hear it here:

)

The pastor of a Flatbush church who handed out 125 dollar bills to his parishioners last year and told them to invest the money in any venture they believed secure and donate the returns to the parish is reaping the rewards of having cast his bread upon the waters in the form of a new paint job for the church building. Members of All Souls Universalist Church, located at Ocean and Ditmas Avenues, have realized a total return of about 400 percent on the original $125, and the resulting profits are already being put to work, with painters' ladders now in place against the tall white belfry of the old brick building. Parishoners invested their dollars in a variety of projects, ranging from candy sales to the manufacturer of small household goods, but the most creative investors were W. R. Smith of Bay Ridge and his son Robert, who invested their money in baseball tickets on the condition that they would contribute ten cents to the paint fund for every game the Dodgers won this season. Thus far that pledge has led to an 820 percent return on the original investment, with further profits well anticipated.

Police in Nassau County are working with insurance company detectives in the search for thieves responsible for a $92,475 jewel robbery in the town of Old Westbury. The gems were taken from a dresser in a second-floor bedroom at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Robert G. Johnson, and all but one piece had been purchased from Tiffany & Company of Manhattan. Mrs. Johnson told police the jewelry was in its place when she left to play golf in Glen Cove on Saturday afternoon, but was missing upon her return home three hours later. Mrs. Johnson had been robbed of over $100,000 worth of gems in Southhampton in 1927.

(Gee, I wonder if Helen got a discount from that brush salesman? And Ryan the Pawnbroker with $100,000 to loan will likely soon have a client from Nassau County.)

("If you can't run this Knot Hole thing right, don't run it at all. Signed, A DISAPPOINTED GIRL.")

("The only problem is, when you use it, the car keeps weaving over the center line.")

(Back to School!!! "The suits are made from woolen fibres" means "the suits are made from reclaimed wool from old clothes macerated in a big vat and then recycled into inferior yarn." Whattaya want for $16.95, vicuna?)

(AW COME ON LEO! Have a heart! Holmes says it right there, "the pitching looks like uncooked hash," so why not give Mungo a break? After ten years doesn't he deserve a chance to pitch when it really matters, and is he any worse than Hamlin?? Imagine the storyline here -- "Valiant Old Van Paces Flock Pennant Drive!" Besides, nobody remembers that Cuban stuff, right?)

The Brooklyn Cricket Club was defeated by the Tennyson Cricket Club of Philadelphia
yesterday by a ten-run margin, with the final totals for Tennyson 86 and Brooklyn 76. Squire Dugdale, veteran Philadelphian, captured five wickets for 19 runs, and his change-of-pace bowling proved very effective.

("Whass "cricket,"" wonders Joe. "Sump'n ta do wit' bugs?" "Nah," says Sally. "I seen it oncet ove't' P'rade Groun's. Iss kin'a like baseball, 'cept t'ey got on long pants, anney hit wit' a paddle 'stead of a reg'lar bat. An' stead'a runnin' roun'a bases, t'ey run b'tweeneese sticks stuck inna' groun' like wit' croquet." "Anney gotta knock'ta ball 'tru wickets, like in croquet?" "Nah, I din' see no wickets, but t'ey kep' talkin' bout'em. I t'ink t'ey was invis'ble a'sump'in. Oh, an ya don' s'posta yell. T'ey wouln' let Hilda innaplace." "Hmph," hmphs Joe. "Whassafun innat?" "Ann'en afta a'while, t'whole t'ing stops anney hava cuppa tea." "Ya makinnat up!" gawps Joe. "I sweahtagawd," insists Sally. "It's like inna English movie, ya know? Onnat'em ones looks like t'ey're runnin' it too slow!")

(It's even better if you imagine this column as read by Groucho Marx, just like his speech to the classroom in "Horsefeathers.")

("What? She's alive? But I thought..." "Never mind, dear, we'll think of something else." "I'm so tired of this. Why can't she go to Mexico, like that Ageloff girl?")

("I've seen him before, often..." How's your blood pressure, Jo?)

(Hey Kay, sign this gal up. You need a new partner anyway.)

(I'm kinda enjoying this new format, where the first panel of every strip will be the Skull whining about something.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

See, the firemen need to take a tip from the hospital people. You'll never get ahead if you don't come up with new ideas.

The real question to ask is did the police knowingly let him go because he was a useful stool pigeon, and if so, who made that decision and on what responsibility?

A radio publicity agent? Well, that explains a lot.

"Old Mane In The Face?" Mr. Gray clearly has a problem with beards.

"Aw Charley, ya said the same thing when you spent all our money to raise them chinchillas. I still can't get that smell out of the bedroom." "Aw, quit beefin'. Ya got a coat out of it, didn'cha?"

"No need for thee to get excited..." Yeah, you try not to get excited when you've got Quakers lurking in the dark!

OK, Patrick, that's your cue! Uhhh....Pat? Hu Shee? Dragon Lady? Connie? Big Stoop? Blaze? April?? Ummm...Crispin? That Scottish guy that had the boat? Anybody???

"Yes, I know you were back home just a month ago, but the truth is, I just had to get away from your little sister. Just between you and me, the brat's driving me to drink..."

No, no you won't.

Gee-Gee hates everybody. Hollywood'll do that to ya.

 

[Harp]

Both man and woman are now gone.
_______

Unable to raise the news print panel I could not read the rape/sexual assault story,
but what I did decipher somewhat is an interesting legal issue regarding criminal defendant
mental state issues relevant to the law and prosecution. In serial rape instances and murder
such heinous barbarity can necessitate prosecutorial severance if defendant sanity is questionable
at any time of serial occurrence. Such traverse and select prosecution is necessary to deny any
plausible appellate recourse after conviction; leaving any other victims unanswered inside the halls
of justice, echoing the shibboleth "For Justice to exist, there must by necessity also live a measure of Injustice."

 

[Fading Fast]

...The pastor of a Flatbush church who handed out 125 dollar bills to his parishioners last year and told them to invest the money in any venture they believed secure and donate the returns to the parish is reaping the rewards of having cast his bread upon the waters in the form of a new paint job for the church building. Members of All Souls Universalist Church, located at Ocean and Ditmas Avenues, have realized a total return of about 400 percent on the original $125, and the resulting profits are already being put to work, with painters' ladders now in place against the tall white belfry of the old brick building. Parishoners invested their dollars in a variety of projects, ranging from candy sales to the manufacturer of small household goods, but the most creative investors were W. R. Smith of Bay Ridge and his son Robert, who invested their money in baseball tickets on the condition that they would contribute ten cents to the paint fund for every game the Dodgers won this season. Thus far that pledge has led to an 820 percent return on the original investment, with further profits well anticipated....

I'm a little suspicious of the math here, but good for the Church anyway.

...Police in Nassau County are working with insurance company detectives in the search for thieves responsible for a $92,475 jewel robbery in the town of Old Westbury. The gems were taken from a dresser in a second-floor bedroom at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Robert G. Johnson, and all but one piece had been purchased from Tiffany & Company of Manhattan. Mrs. Johnson told police the jewelry was in its place when she left to play golf in Glen Cove on Saturday afternoon, but was missing upon her return home three hours later. Mrs. Johnson had been robbed of over $100,000 worth of gems in Southhampton in 1927....

This is pretty suspicious too. $92,475 is worth about $1.7 million today. So despite this woman having had roughly the same dollar amount of jewelry stolen from her in 1927, in 1941, she kept her jewelry in a dresser - not a safe - in her home. I'm thinking the insurance company is rightfully going to investigate this one very carefully before paying out any claims.

Once again, we see that jewel thief was a lucrative and popular career choice in the '20s, '30s and '40s.

...
...And Ryan the Pawnbroker with $100,000 to loan will likely soon have a client from Nassau County.)...

"Dem sparklers too hot to hock locally; have to fence them quietly out of town. Didn't you say you know a guy you met in the joint?" Who says you can't learn anything from film noir?

And yes, there are several movies that pivot on just this plot angle - the hocking of stolen jewels:

"The Asphalt Jungle" (comments here: #26609)
"The Burglar" (comments here: #28263)

... (Back to School!!! "The suits are made from woolen fibres" means "the suits are made from reclaimed wool from old clothes macerated in a big vat and then recycled into inferior yarn." Whattaya want for $16.95, vicuna?)...

And yes, there is a movie about this too:

... ("What? She's alive? But I thought..." "Never mind, dear, we'll think of something else." "I'm so tired of this. Why can't she go to Mexico, like that Ageloff girl?")...

Spot on Lizzie, her parents should only be so lucky. Unfortunately, Fran is the spend-father's-money type not the reject-father's-money-for-ideological-reasons type of spoiled rich daughter.

... ("I've seen him before, often..." How's your blood pressure, Jo?)...

How did Jo not punch Oakdale in the face in panel three when he said, "Deucedly clever of you, too, Mrs. Bungle." He wants to get punched.

...
(Hey Kay, sign this gal up. You need a new partner anyway.)...

I'm sorry you're bored one week after getting a job you didn't deserve in the first place said every unemployed journalist major ever.

Also, I think Connie just set a new record for "The Tiniest Waist in a Comic Strip."

... (I'm kinda enjoying this new format, where the first panel of every strip will be the Skull whining about something.)

Umm, uh, well, err, Dan, uh, it's like this, you see, well, Kay, what?, yes, your Kay, now has the plane, but she said if you ask nicely and in advance, she might let you use it occasionally.

...[ "Aw Charley, ya said the same thing when you spent all our money to raise them chinchillas. I still can't get that smell out of the bedroom." "Aw, quit beefin'. Ya got a coat out of it, didn'cha?"...

Umm, Charlie, that's not how this works. I think you are confusing saving the life of a law-abiding millionaire with that of a gangster. Good chance, when he comes to, he'll kill you to keep you from talking. Might want to call the police right now and, then, lob a call into your old boss, "I was just kidding and all when I said you were fat and stupid."

... OK, Patrick, that's your cue! Uhhh....Pat? Hu Shee? Dragon Lady? Connie? Big Stoop? Blaze? April?? Ummm...Crispin? That Scottish guy that had the boat? Anybody???...

Why did Caniff not do the cool action stuff yesterday when he had all those color panels?

Love to see, but this rescue is a bit above April's pay grade. Now, Hu Shee would be perfect. She was a stunt driver in Hollywood (how fantastic is it that Caniff's mind came up with that?), so she could probably also fly a plane and make a dramatic last minute save.

...
No, no you won't.....

Maybe a trip to a tropical island. By the way, isn't that were we last saw Senga?

 

[Harp]

Once again, we see that jewel thief was a lucrative and popular career choice in the '20s, '30s and '40s.
"Dem sparklers too hot to hock locally; have to fence them quietly out of town. Didn't you say you know a guy you met in the joint?" Who says you can't learn anything from film noir?

And yes, there are several movies that pivot on just this plot angle - the hocking of stolen jewels:

"The Asphalt Jungle" (comments here: #26609)
"The Burglar" (comments here: #28263

In Thief James Caan plays a jewel thief on retirement's cusp after a fairly lucrative career.
Trained in prison by graduates of the 1920-30s-and 40s school, he emerged and plied his learned skills
until technology caught trade itself, and he decided it was high time to bale. He finishes one last heist,
but collecting his cut runs into trouble. His fence's ultimate fence, wants him to stay on the job;
doesn't understand Caan, which isn't surprising because boiled down to brass tacks Caan doesn't
really understand himself. He only has an approximate grasp of his world and his largely solitaire
life, won't go any further with spoilers xcept to say that if not yet seen, a very good thief flick
from the inside looking out.

________

 

[LizzieMaine]

An United States Navy captain, an American flight engineer, and the Belgian son-in-law of an American State Department official are missing along with seven others following the loss of a British transport plane en route to Britain from Canada. The aircraft operated by the Royal Air Force Ferry Command was reported "missing and presumed lost" today by the Air Ministry, marking the third Ferry Command tragedy in the past three weeks. American passengers were also lost on the airplanes reported missing on August 10th and August 15th.

Nazi sources claimed tonight that German troops have pierced the suburbs of Leningrad, and that invasion forces now stand in a half-moon formation 16 to 25 miles outside the center of the second-largest Soviet city. The ring is said to enclose all routes to the city save for a rapidly-narrowing gap east of the Neva River and south of Lake Lagoda.

A Moscow communique states that Germany is transferring entire divisions of troops from occupied France, Holland, and Belgium to the eastern front to bolster its lines and replace "terrific losses of manpower" due to heavy Red Army counterattacks. A report from the Moscow radio monitored in New York by the INS stated that German casualties since the invasion of Russia began on June 22nd now amount to 2,500,000 men, including 1,000,000 dead.

In East Hempstead, Long Island three children were burned critically when an Army P-40 pursuit plane from Mitchel Field crashed into a vacant lot at Jerusalem Avenue and Flowers Street around 2 this afternoon. The children were playing in the street when the plane smashed into the ground and burst into flames. 8-year-old Pauline Cuccio, her 4-year-old brother Jasper, and their friend 3-year-old Georgine Kramer were rushed to Meadowbrook Hospital with third-degree burns. The father of the Cuccio children, Peter Cuccio, who operates a butcher shop near the site of the crash, and a bystander, Arthur Weston, were also treated for burns to the hands. The pilot of the airplane, Lt. Roy W. Scott, bailed out of the vehicle and landed by parachute. He was also taken to Meadowbrook where he was treated for a broken arm.

District captains under the command of Coney Island Democratic leader Kenneth F. Sutherland were assigned to gather petition signatures seeking to place Borough President John Cashmore on the Republican primary ballot, it was stated today from the witness stand in Brooklyn Supreme Court. One of the district captains testified that after each man had gathered his quota of signatures, the petitions were taken to the Coney Island Democratic clubhouse to be notarized. One district captain, Mitchell I. Klein of 1627 W. 11th Street, testified that while he raised his hand during the notarization procedure, he did not speak the required oath. "I did not say a word," he declared today before Justice Edwin L. Garvin.

"Gasless Sundays" may become a reality under a recommendation from city fuel czar Grover Whalen, as presented to a conference of Eastern filling station operators in Philadelphia. The proposal to close all gasoline stations in the shortage zone two Sundays out of each month was not met with enthusiasm, although Louis Kimmel of the Gasoline Merchants of Brooklyn and Queens declared that, while he does not favor the Whalen plan, he would endorse a recommendation that drivers abstain from driving two Sundays a month.

A 27-year-old Bay Ridge woman is under observation at Bellevue Hospital after she threw her two-month-old daughter out a second-story window near Sunset Park. Mrs. Alice Klein of 712 46th Street was reported to have been "in poor health" since the birth of the baby, and told police "I don't know why. I just did it." The infant landed in a grassy yard at 4603 7th Avenue, and was rescued by a neighbor who operates a stationery store on the ground floor of that building. The child was not seriously injured.

Cookie Lavagetto is looking for his wallet, which went missing when the Dodger third baseman attended an Italian festival in the Navy Yard district last night. Cookie says the wallet contained $50 in cash and valuable papers, and if the valuable papers are returned to him at the Hotel Granada or Ebbets Field, the finder may keep the money with no questions asked.

(Magistrate Charlie says "now why didn't *I* think of that?")

("Pop Up" toasters are the latest thing in modern living. Get 'em while you can!)

(And so ends "the last peace-time summer." If you're smoking more than you once did, maybe it's because you're a nervous wreck.)

The Eagle Editorialist endorses a suggestion by Borough President John Cashmore that Brooklyn needs a real Civic Center. Had not the City of Brooklyn made the decision to become a mere borough of New York City forty-three years ago, no doubt this goal would have been achieved long ago. "There is no community of comparable size and importance anywhere in the country that does not boast an impressive Civic Center." Brooklyn had pleaded for years for attention while Manhattan built its own extensive civic center around Centre Street, but Brooklyn too is in the city and pays taxes -- and it's now Brooklyn's turn to receive that attention from planners and builders.

("And you don't get a set of the Encyclopedia Britannica for stumping the panel, either.")

Actress Lillian Gish today announced her resignation from the America First Committee. The veteran stage and screen star did not state whether she has changed her views on American intervention in the war, but dismissed rumors that she has been unable to secure roles due to her involvement with the isolationist group. Miss Gish has spoken at America First rallies in Chicago, San Francisco, and Hollywood.

(National League rules in 1941 prohibit the lights from being turned on during a game that began in daylight. A stupid rule, in retrospect, and a frustrating one at the time. Especially, I would imagine, for Fitz.)

(I imagine a ping-pong demonstration would actually make for pretty good television, especially if she plays against herself.)

("And not only that, the tux-rental place has been calling and calling, and -- well, you'll find out.")

(George and Jo have been married for over thirty-five years, and in all that time, George has never once heard a single word that Jo said.)

(Trust me on this: the very worst place for an English major is on the staff of a small-town newspaper.)

("Uh, about the case. We've assigned Kay as our lead operative in the investigation. You'll report to her. Irwin's being reassigned -- our field office in Keokuk needs a new janitor.")

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Tommy finds that it's real experience that makes the difference.

"Detectives! Show your badge for $1 off!"

True Fact: Miss DeFee began her burlesque career as a bouncer. SO WATCH IT.

This isn't actually how you check up on a guy, but whatever.

The look on Thompson's face is that of a man suddenly wishing he'd followed his childhood dream to become a trolley conductor.

Jeez, Hennick, aren't you just relaxed about it all. Didn't have your coffee yet?

"And not only that, thou hast tracked in MUD on my clean floor!"

"And a personal question, if I may -- how do you get your hair to do that?"

"Psss, Gramps -- you already are."

Cagney is gonna be sore when he reads this and sees how they're lifting his material.