The Era -- Day By Day

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Another Assistant DA with ties to Lepke? Let's go ahead and get Geoghan on the stand. And no, I am not ready to start shopping for the Best Christmas Ever.

A pretty good price for a pretty good radio, with FM yet! Who would have imagined?

Aren't there any musicians who had an easy time of it?

Either the past two weeks have been a lacerating deconstruction of the myth of the self-made man, or Mr. Gray is trolling us. *Epically* trolling us.

Yep, Laughton would have a field day with this role.

Looking forward to Bevel coming up to the office to punch that rug right off Chigger's head.

Didn't see THIS twist coming.

Hmmmmmmmmm. Is he taking those letters out of the bag -- or putting them in?

"OW! MY COCCYX!"

Oh, here we go. Lil, sweetie, listen, you're how old now? 21? Ever think of getting a job and a place of your own?

 

[Fading Fast]

... Another Assistant DA with ties to Lepke? Let's go ahead and get Geoghan on the stand. And no, I am not ready to start shopping for the Best Christmas Ever....

I noticed this ⇩ too. Are they kidding? Is this the Daily News throwing a sop to its advertisers? If so, that's cheesy.

...
Aren't there any musicians who had an easy time of it?...

Kudos to the Daily News, though, that's an impressive list of interviewees.

Thankfully, they didn't get their days mixed up and ask these guy who is a more satisfying lover, a man of 25 or one of 40?

... Either the past two weeks have been a lacerating deconstruction of the myth of the self-made man, or Mr. Gray is trolling us. *Epically* trolling us....

I think you are right - this is nuts. Maybe Gray's trying to make up for all the Bill Slagg hagiography.

Whatever the reason, I think Annie should bring Punjab the rug and they should pay Warbucks a late night visit.

... Yep, Laughton would have a field day with this role....

"Bring me my Hunchback makeup, I'll just have to alter it a bit and I'll be on the set in ten."

...
Didn't see THIS twist coming....

Don't be too hard on yourself, Lizzie, why would you expect a man who perpetrated an identity fraud to steal one-million dollars to have a conscience about deceiving a woman he doesn't even know? There's some big-time inconsistent morality at work in hypnotized Andy.

...
Hmmmmmmmmm. Is he taking those letters out of the bag -- or putting them in?...

After how many months of kicking around the interior or war-torn China, I bet Burma would kill for fresh soap and a towel.

 

[ChiTownScion]

Lena is so over the top that it's hard to take her seriously as an antagonist.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Reports from British military headquarters in Cairo declared today that "half the German tank fleet in North Africa" has been destroyed by advancing Imperial blitz units in Libya. Approximately 600 Nazi tanks were reported knocked out in three major British victories, following furious clashes in which German tank losses outnumbered the wrecking of British-American battle wagons by a three to one margin. Previous estimates had indicated that three Axis divisions under the command of General Erwin Rommel included 1200 tanks. The British-led forces have advanced more than 100 miles into Libya since beginning the offensive four days ago, and are now reported to be approaching the walls of Tobruk, trapping a large German force in a pocket from which Rommel is attempting to extricate them.

The Nazi High Command asserted today that crack panzer and SS formations have stormed Rostov-on-Don, and stand now at the approaches to the Caucasus. The German statement called Rostov "a strategic Soviet industrial center of special importance to the further conduct of the war. But Soviet sources quoted by the International News Service claimed that the battle for the city is not over, with the Red Army newspaper Red Star declaring that "a battle is now raging that will decide the fate of the city."

The Governor of Pennsylvania has refused to intervene in mine violence in the western part of that state, even as three more United Mine Workers pickets were shot and wounded by a shotgun blast fired by a non-union worker at the Edenborn coal field in strike-locked Fayette County, where tensions continue to mount as a few captive mines attempt to continue in operation. The latest shooting occured on the property of the H.C. Frick Coke Company. Governor Arthur H. James declared that he will not order intervention by state police because Fayette County Sheriff Charles T. Frook has refused to acknowledge that the situation is out of control. The sheriff has requested the use of motorized State Police units as reinforcements, but has refused to turn full control of the situation over to state authorities.

Meanwhile, the impact of the strikes is being felt at major steel production plants. The Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corporation today announced that it is preparing to shut down the $60,000,000 Irvin Works outside Pittsburgh over the weekend. That plant produces steel ingots for processing by other steel plants, and is one of the largest producers of sheet, strip, and tinplate steel in the country, with nearly all of its production earmarked for National Defense. The firm, a subsidiary of United States Steel Corporation, also announced that the lack of coal has forced it to scale back operations at its coke by-products plant at Clairton, Pa., and the reduction in coke production has in turn forced the closing of five more blast furnaces, bringing the total of furnaces closed this week to eleven.

The United Mine Workers Policy Committee is expected today to "flatly reject" President Roosevelt's two-point proposal for the termination of the captive-mine strike, following indications that UMW president John L. Lewis has "personally rejected" the President's proposal to either maintain the status quo concerning demands for a closed shop for the duration of the present emergency, or to turn the matter over to binding Federal arbitration. Administration officials indicated that they now expect the President to take "direct action" to end the strike early next week, with that action expected to take the form of a radio speech directed at the striking workers. That speech, it is initimated, will possibly include a statement that Federal troops will be sent in to "maintain order and prevent violence." New York Senator Robert Wagner, author of the National Labor Relations Act will also broadcast on the coal situation. His address, to be titled "Come Let Us Reason Together," will be heard over WOR and the Mutual network tomorrow night at 10 pm.

An increase in police protection in "Brooklyn's Harlem," is expected today following an outbreak of "racial feuding" that found "five Negro men" attacking five white men in East New York without taking their money or valuables. The incident last night along Sutter Avenue near Bradford and Vermont Streets is the latest in a series of incidents involving groups of "Negro, Polish, and Jewish" men, and neighborhood shopkeepers have complained of "intimidation." Police assert that the attacks have been motivated solely by "vindictiveness."

A 48-year-old Boerum Hill man rescued four of his sons this morning as fire swept their apartment, but the fifth son leaped to his death from a second floor window in an attempt to escape from the flames. Frank Dodich Sr. of 448 Warren Street roused his sons after an oil stove exploded in the apartment, but the oldest of the family, 21-year-old Frank Jr., a grocery clerk, was trapped behind a wall of fire and saw no possible escape short of jumping. He was killed instantly when his head struck the pavement fifteen feet below.

A medical examiner's toxicology report on the body of the late Murder For Money Gang informer Abe "Kid Twist" Reles has concluded that aside from "a trace of alcohol" in his system, no poisons or or other suspicious compounds were found in Reles' body. Reles died ten days ago when he fell from a window at the Half Moon Hotel at Coney Island, where he was being held in protective custody by police.

(Nothing shady going on here, nooooooooosir.)

(Whoever's the Chief Warden here needs to have a talk with the guy with a cigarette hanging out of his face. PUT OUT THAT LIGHT!)

Three weeks' preparation for a simulated air raid on Williamsburg yielded "a coordinated response of all units" of the Sector C Civilian Defense Corps. The only discouraging aspect of the drill was the tendency of high winds to carry recorded sound effects, provided on records furnished courtesy of NBC, of an actual London air raid to much of the surrounding area. The din caused more than 500 residents to spill into the streets to watch the wardens go thru their paces. The simulated postulated "a direct hit" of a bomb on a three-story frame building at 188 Bedford Avenue, and an incendiary attack at 195 Bedford Avenue. Three high school students volunteered to play the role of "casualties" in the exercises, and were given simulated first aid treatments before being carried away in an ambulance. Eleven post wardens and 62 neighborhood wardens responded to the drill.

(I mean, imagine the embarrassment when it turns out he sent away for Dr. Brady's booklet about how It's Stupid To Suffer From Piles.)

(There's A New World Coming.)

("Slingshot?" The Lichtys sure have an interesting household.)

(What a handsome fellow this goalie is. He must be new at it. And it's fascinating to see Abe Attel's name come up as "an old time fight champ." Yes, he was indeed a very fine boxer back in the days of handlebar moustaches and William Howard Taft, but he is far better known to history as one of the lower-level conspirators in the Black Sox Scandal of 1919. How quickly they forget.)

The most important weekend of the National Football League season looms, as the Grid Dodgers face possible elimination from the Eastern Division race if the Football Giants beat the Redskins up at the Polo Grounds. If Washington beats the Maramen tomorrow, the Dodgers could still achieve a tie for the Eastern Division crown -- but if the Giants triumph, it's all over for the season. The crucial contest, expected to draw over 50,000 rooters uptown, takes place as the Dodgers themselves wait out the afternoon with an exhibition game against semipros in Valley Stream.

Miss Sally Rand, portions concealed by her famous fans and an enormous semi-transparent bubble, is contributing a paragraph or two to Brooklyn's cultural history at the Strand this week, but the applause greeting her performance at a recent show was rather perfunctory. Perhaps the audience was "overawed by Miss Rand's serious mein and the artistic setting in which she appeared." Music for the stage show is contributed by Mitchell Ayers and his Orchestra, whose vocalist Meredith Blake can shift smoothly from the sticky sentimentality of "Jim" to the rhythmic "Booglie Wooglie Piggy" without stopping to clear her throat.

"Hellzapoppin" will leave the Winter Garden after Sunday's performances to move to the Majestic Theatre, closing out a run just shy of three solid years at the Garden after an opening run at the 46th Street Theatre. The zany revue originated by Olsen and Johnson and now featuring Jay C. Flippen and Happy Felton will continue at the Majestic as Olsen and Johnson themselves open a new revue under similar lines, "Sons O' Fun," at the Winter Garden on December 1st.

(Oh good, I was afraid Boody forgot about these guys.)

("Another brutal day!" Yeah, it's tough having an actual job.)

(And our Chump of the Week Award goes to...)

(All right, Chump of the Week goes to Dan, user of a random phone in a house crawling with spies. No wonder you're a World Famous Secret Operative.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Brenda looks a bit worse for the wear, and "had been expecting a baby" is a phrase fraught with suggestion.

I'm surprised Butch has nothing to say about this, but maybe they were right about him being too busy with the Civilian Defense stuff.

Point of order!! Peas do not, in fact, have to be cooked. In fact, they are enjoyed to their very best advantage, fresh-picked and raw, out of a brown paper bag. FILE AN APPEAL AT ONCE.

"Yes, Bill Slagg, you're great -- and while I'm gone, you can take care of the kid and the dog."

Seriously, the only way the Mole's little porthole there could be more conspicuous is if you put a neon sign on top saying HOTEL MOLE -- AMERICAN PLAN. I'm surprised you aren't constantly battling urchin infestations.

"Aw, but I look terrible in brown -- green -- what *is* that color anyway?"

Tsk! April corresponding with Crispin! WHAT WOULD TERRY SAY!! Dillon is in fact April's older brother, last seen running a rubber plantation in French Indo-China, until he was captured by the cross-dressing lesbian hypnotist Sanjak, who also captured April and forced her to do her bidding before Pat and Terry came to the rescue. If this means we're going to see Sanjak again, then let's get to it!

"You do?? FRAUD! IMPOSTOR! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY HUSBAND???"

"Stupid old fuddy duddy? Oh, you want Plushbottom, he's just down the hall."

Yes, Harold, remember when Lil went to school out east and you drove out there in your ridiculous old flivver and parked outside her window and gazed up at her with big calf eyes and then your car broke down and you couldn't get home and you had to wire your folks for money for a bus ticket back? Remember how you felt? It sure is great to be a mature grownup now, isn't it?

 

[Fading Fast]

Reports from British military headquarters in Cairo declared today that "half the German tank fleet in North Africa" has been destroyed by advancing Imperial blitz units in Libya. Approximately 600 Nazi tanks were reported knocked out in three major British victories, following furious clashes in which German tank losses outnumbered the wrecking of British-American battle wagons by a three to one margin. Previous estimates had indicated that three Axis divisions under the command of General Erwin Rommel included 1200 tanks. The British-led forces have advanced more than 100 miles into Libya since beginning the offensive four days ago, and are now reported to be approaching the walls of Tobruk, trapping a large German force in a pocket from which Rommel is attempting to extricate them.

The Nazi High Command asserted today that crack panzer and SS formations have stormed Rostov-on-Don, and stand now at the approaches to the Caucasus. The German statement called Rostov "a strategic Soviet industrial center of special importance to the further conduct of the war. But Soviet sources quoted by the International News Service claimed that the battle for the city is not over, with the Red Army newspaper Red Star declaring that "a battle is now raging that will decide the fate of the city."

The Governor of Pennsylvania has refused to intervene in mine violence in the western part of that state, even as three more United Mine Workers pickets were shot and wounded by a shotgun blast fired by a non-union worker at the Edenborn coal field in strike-locked Fayette County, where tensions continue to mount as a few captive mines attempt to continue in operation. The latest shooting occured on the property of the H.C. Frick Coke Company. Governor Arthur H. James declared that he will not order intervention by state police because Fayette County Sheriff Charles T. Frook has refused to acknowledge that the situation is out of control. The sheriff has requested the use of motorized State Police units as reinforcements, but has refused to turn full control of the situation over to state authorities.

Meanwhile, the impact of the strikes is being felt at major steel production plants. The Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corporation today announced that it is preparing to shut down the $60,000,000 Irvin Works outside Pittsburgh over the weekend. That plant produces steel ingots for processing by other steel plants, and is one of the largest producers of sheet, strip, and tinplate steel in the country, with nearly all of its production earmarked for National Defense. The firm, a subsidiary of United States Steel Corporation, also announced that the lack of coal has forced it to scale back operations at its coke by-products plant at Clairton, Pa., and the reduction in coke production has in turn forced the closing of five more blast furnaces, bringing the total of furnaces closed this week to eleven.

The United Mine Workers Policy Committee is expected today to "flatly reject" President Roosevelt's two-point proposal for the termination of the captive-mine strike, following indications that UMW president John L. Lewis has "personally rejected" the President's proposal to either maintain the status quo concerning demands for a closed shop for the duration of the present emergency, or to turn the matter over to binding Federal arbitration. Administration officials indicated that they now expect the President to take "direct action" to end the strike early next week, with that action expected to take the form of a radio speech directed at the striking workers. That speech, it is initimated, will possibly include a statement that Federal troops will be sent in to "maintain order and prevent violence." New York Senator Robert Wagner, author of the National Labor Relations Act will also broadcast on the coal situation. His address, to be titled "Come Let Us Reason Together," will be heard over WOR and the Mutual network tomorrow night at 10 pm.

An increase in police protection in "Brooklyn's Harlem," is expected today following an outbreak of "racial feuding" that found "five Negro men" attacking five white men in East New York without taking their money or valuables. The incident last night along Sutter Avenue near Bradford and Vermont Streets is the latest in a series of incidents involving groups of "Negro, Polish, and Jewish" men, and neighborhood shopkeepers have complained of "intimidation." Police assert that the attacks have been motivated solely by "vindictiveness."...

We often think things are terrible in the world today, but the above three stories argue we have nothing on 1941.

... (Nothing shady going on here, nooooooooosir.)...

The next time something crazy happens in "The Bungles" and we say, that would never really happen, we need to remember this story and the flying flatiron. Oddly, the detective seemed more upset about her kicking him in the stomach, but had the flatiron hit him in the head, it would have done a lot more damage. Next time, the detectives should bring Cagney along to translate.

...The most important weekend of the National Football League season looms, as the Grid Dodgers face possible elimination from the Eastern Division race if the Football Giants beat the Redskins up at the Polo Grounds. If Washington beats the Maramen tomorrow, the Dodgers could still achieve a tie for the Eastern Division crown -- but if the Giants triumph, it's all over for the season. The crucial contest, expected to draw over 50,000 rooters uptown, takes place as the Dodgers themselves wait out the afternoon with an exhibition game against semipros in Valley Stream....

50,000 is an impressive attendance number.

"Hey, Joe, where are our uniforms?"
"We don't need them, we're playing in Valley Stream." Ba-dum-tish.

How crazy is it that a pro team, still in contention for a playoff spot, is going to play an exhibition game, and risk injury, while waiting? Clearly there were different economics to the game back then.

... ("Another brutal day!" Yeah, it's tough having an actual job.)...

It's an interesting twist to see George actually working hard at, and caring about, a real job. It's almost like he finally found the career he was meant to have.

... Brenda looks a bit worse for the wear, and "had been expecting a baby" is a phrase fraught with suggestion....

The Doris Duke burglary story reads like a "Dick Tracy" storyline, other than there not being a gruesome death at the end of it.

...
I'm surprised Butch has nothing to say about this, but maybe they were right about him being too busy with the Civilian Defense stuff....

He must be busy as he didn't even comment on the pinball machines being considered gambling in last week's paper.

The legal issues around this "strike" are interesting.

...
Point of order!! Peas do not, in fact, have to be cooked. In fact, they are enjoyed to their very best advantage, fresh-picked and raw, out of a brown paper bag. FILE AN APPEAL AT ONCE....

It's been scientifically proven that the distinction between the two are that a fruit is something you want to eat and a vegetable is something you're forced to eat. You can't argue with settled science.

...
Tsk! April corresponding with Crispin! WHAT WOULD TERRY SAY!! Dillon is in fact April's older brother, last seen running a rubber plantation in French Indo-China, until he was captured by the cross-dressing lesbian hypnotist Sanjak, who also captured April and forced her to do her bidding before Pat and Terry came to the rescue. If this means we're going to see Sanjak again, then let's get to it!...

"One rejoices that such a rogue is employed elsewhere than in one's own place of business!"

"Dear April, you left a little rubbery disc thing here - is it important, shall I mail it back to you?"
"Dear Crispy, hold on to it, it will come in handy the next time I see you." [Thinks to herself, "Your move, Hu Shee."]

...
"You do?? FRAUD! IMPOSTOR! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY HUSBAND???"...

They'll be time enough later for confessions, right now, we know what hypnotized Andy should really be doing.

 

[LizzieMaine]

United Mine Workers president John L. Lewis last night ordered 53,000 striking captive coal miners and 150,000 striking commercial miners back into their pits immediately, following an agreement with President Roosevelt and the steel industry that the question of a closed shop will be resolved by binding Federal arbitration. The Lewis order was expected to reopen closed mines as of the Saturday-Sunday night shift, with other miners returning on their scheduled shifts today and tomorrow. As part of the agreement, Lewis himself will serve on the special arbitration board along with Benjamin Fairless, president of the United States Steel Corporation, and Dr. John R. Steelman, president of the United States Conciliation Service. The agreement ensures uninterrupted coal production in the nation's mines until April 1, 1943, when the present Appalachian contract is scheduled to expire. The captive mine agreement will run concurrently with the Appalachian contract agreed upon with commercial operators last June. "We accepted the President's suggestion fully," declared Mr. Lewis, "and without reservation," and further stated that "the coal industry will offer an object lesson to all other important industries."

Great Britain's mechanized armies continue their sweep across Libya and toward Tobruk, with authoritative reports stating that British tanks have won every engagement against Axis mechanized units. British troops are reported today to have captured the Italian stronghold of Fort Capuzzo, and to have left crushed German panzer divisions "stranded in the desert." British Empire air forces are also reported to be in full control of the Libyan sky, with squadrons bolstered by American-built planes bombing Axis strongholds at will and returning to base in perfect formation without a single casualty.

Nazi sources asserted that the coming week will reveal the results of "spectacular operations" on the Rostov line, where German units are reported to have captured that Ukrainian city and thereby gained control of the gateway to the rich oil fields of the Caucasus. Berlin hinted that gains from the Rostov campaign and the continuing siege on Moscow may "reveal gains greater than previously reported."

Factors responsible for the continued existence of the Raymond Street Jail may soon come to light in revelations expected from the Amen Office's investigation of the Department of Corrections. Assistant Attorney General John H. Amen indicated to the Eagle yesterday that one of the Amen grand juries pursuing that investigation "is rapidly nearing the point" of issuing a presentment. Amen assistant Mary Flynn has been assigned to supervise that phase of the investigation, and notes that as far back as 1904, it was reported in the Eagle that a Brooklyn grand jury threatened to issue an indictment connected with the failure of the borough to receive a replacement for the decaying jail, and that, in fact, agitation to demolish the structure dates back to the absorption of the old City of Brooklyn into New York City in 1898.

("Well it seemed like a good idea at the time...")

Emanuel "Mendy" Weiss is a fun-loving character who likes to pull the hair and tickle the toes of guests in his home -- especially when they are sleeping. So testified Mrs. Dorothy Isaacson, testifying for the defense in Weiss's trial alongside Louis "Lepke" Buchalter and Louis Capone for the 1936 murder of candy-store informant Joseph Rosen. Mrs. Isaacson testified that she was present at a birthday party for Weiss on September 12, 1936 and stayed overnight into the following day, a period spanning the time of the Rosen murder. Mrs. Isaacson further testified that Weiss awoke her on the morning of the 13th by pulling her hair and tickling her toes, "as he had often done" when she spent the night at his home.

In Kansas City, Mo., the name of Charles A. Lindbergh has been struck from the list of honorary members of the city's World War Memorial Association. John W. McQueen, past president of the Kansas City chapter of the Disabled American Veterans, sponsored the resolution rescinding the honor, declaring that Lindbergh's statements of his isolationist political views "do not reflect the spirit of the World War dead."

Beer will not be sold in Brooklyn for off-premises consumption on Sundays following a ruling this week by the Court of Appeals upholding the Sabbath ban. Samuel Bernstein of Astoria, counsel for the New York State Wholesale Beer Association, has advised all wholesale beer distributors that under the law they must keep their premises closed on Sundays until 1pm, and that even after that hour they may not distribute beer in kegs, bottles, cans, or other containers for consumption off-premises. Delivery drivers have also been advised that they may not deliver beer to any establishment after 1 PM on Sundays unless the proprietor has secured a special permit for such delivery from state liquor authorities. The Association's ruling does not cover bars, grocery stores, or delicatessens, since retailers are not subject to the Association's rules, but it is believed that such establishments will also be required to adhere to the Appeals Court ban. The case went to the Appeals Court after a Queens distributor was found guilty of selling a keg of beer to an Astoria man for home use despite the Sunday law.

(Is it normal for there to be this many shutouts in football on one day?)

Boys High closed out the Brooklyn schoolboy football season yesterday by eking out a close victory over Manual Training, 13-6. It was 36th annual meeting in the rivalry, still led by Manual 17-15, with four ties.

(Yep, if there's one thing the Flock needs it's another duck hunter.)

(There was a time when opera stars were popular-culture figures, and 1941 is that time.)

Old Timer Charles A. Hughes of Jamaica remembers a delightful visit to Rockaway Beach back in the early '80s, when he was dazzled by a sword-swallower, a man calmly eating glass lamp-chimneys, and a fire eater, and with his appetite thus stimulated he got his knuckles rapped for trying to steal a sandwich out of the picnic basket.

Broadway's Alan Reed, now appearing as a bombastic Italian farmer in the Theatre Guild's production of "Hope For The Harvest" might be a new face to habitues of the stage, but he's far from a new voice. For years you heard him as one of radio's top dialecticians, where he worked under his original name of "Teddy Bergman." Remember "Rubinoff" on the old Eddie Cantor show? That was Mr. Reed. He still goes in for radio work as a key member of Fred Allen's stock company and as the drink-cadging Irish cop on "Duffy's Tavern," but he's determined to carve out a place for himself in The Theatre. Hence the new name, intended to distance himself from his comedy work. Mr Reed points out that he is no stranger to the deeper things of art, having appeared in a Eugene O'Neill cycle while working with at the Provincetown Theatre in 1923. He remembers doing that series of shows, but, he admits, he doesn't remember why.

A twelve year old girl who had run away from her parents' home in Oklahoma turned up recently at auditions in Hollywood for the role of a young roughrider in the RKO movie version of John Steinbeck's "Red Pony." Young Gerry Norris appeared at the audition disguised as a boy in faded jeans, checkered shirt, and cowboy hat, and when confronted declared that she knew how to ride, how to rope, and how to speak horse-language. And besides, she insisted, "it's tough to be a girl."

(Well, OK, but I'd rather save a picture of the "dance of death.")

(HMPH! If Uncle Bim was here, he would so CANE this guy!)

(I rode an elephant in a circus parade once myself, and it really didn't seem all that much fun for the elephant.)

(Bill's such a philistine. And just wait till tomorrow -- "HOLD SECRET OPERATIVE IN LIBRARY BOOK DEFACEMENT. HOOVER DISAVOWS KNOWLEDGE, CALLS DUNN ROGUE AGENT.")

(Poor Jo. She's just so over it.)

(I dunno. I'm finding this desert adventure stuff a bit dry.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

I'm all in favor of making "Marital Front Communiques" a regular Page Four feature, especially if it means we don't have to read any more of Lowell Limpus.

What, no Vapo-Rub? It's the only way to go!

Sorry, Mole, but it's physically impossible to climb a ladder like that. Not that I've tried, of course.

Awww, I kinda liked the beard.

"Some ice." "Some mice." OK, that's funny.

I'd forgotten how smug Pat could be. Time for "Little Hu Shee" to show up and clean his clock.

C'mon, Shad, enough with the false modesty. We all know your game.

In 1941, boxing is America's third most popular sport.

What's going on in panel nine there, Zack? Spilled the ink?

"I was--was on a research mission. I had this great idea for a movie -- about -- about a giant gorilla! And I came here to the jungle hoping -- wait, why are you looking at me that way?"

 

[Fading Fast]

...Beer will not be sold in Brooklyn for off-premises consumption on Sundays following a ruling this week by the Court of Appeals upholding the Sabbath ban. Samuel Bernstein of Astoria, counsel for the New York State Wholesale Beer Association, has advised all wholesale beer distributors that under the law they must keep their premises closed on Sundays until 1pm, and that even after that hour they may not distribute beer in kegs, bottles, cans, or other containers for consumption off-premises. Delivery drivers have also been advised that they may not deliver beer to any establishment after 1 PM on Sundays unless the proprietor has secured a special permit for such delivery from state liquor authorities. The Association's ruling does not cover bars, grocery stores, or delicatessens, since retailers are not subject to the Association's rules, but it is believed that such establishments will also be required to adhere to the Appeals Court ban. The case went to the Appeals Court after a Queens distributor was found guilty of selling a keg of beer to an Astoria man for home use despite the Sunday law....

To this day, NY's liquor laws are a tangle of inconsistencies and confusion because of the way, as seen here, they were cobbled together over the past 100+ years.

... View attachment 381401 (Is it normal for there to be this many shutouts in football on one day?)...

That seems odd, but it does remind us what a low-scoring game football used to be before, over the past fifty years, the rules were changed several times to super-charge the offense.

...
(I rode an elephant in a circus parade once myself, and it really didn't seem all that much fun for the elephant.)...

I'm suspicious about the source of the information that Hitler watched that meeting 15 times? That would have to be one deep in contact. I bet some of this stuff is just made up.

...
(Bill's such a philistine. And just wait till tomorrow -- "HOLD SECRET OPERATIVE IN LIBRARY BOOK DEFACEMENT. HOOVER DISAVOWS KNOWLEDGE, CALLS DUNN ROGUE AGENT.")...

"Let's see, what am I doing today? Oh yeah, I'm secretly following Dan Dunn to see what he's really doing in town. Well, I guess I'll put on the loudest suit in the universe so that I can stand out as much as possible. That makes sense. Honey, did my windowpane suit come back from the dry cleaners yet? What? Oh good, thank you, I see it now."

... Sorry, Mole, but it's physically impossible to climb a ladder like that. Not that I've tried, of course....

Plus try just lifting up a manhole cover.

...
I'd forgotten how smug Pat could be. Time for "Little Hu Shee" to show up and clean his clock....

True, but in this case, he's right. But I'm in favor of anything that brings Hu Shee back to the story.

... C'mon, Shad, enough with the false modesty. We all know your game....

Ed admirably milked as much as is humanly possible out of one joke for God knows how many Sundays in a row, but it's time to move on.

 

[LizzieMaine]

American troops have been sent to Dutch Guiana to help ensure the continued flow of bauxite ore, used in the manufacture of aluminum. The White House announced today that the U. S. Army contingent was sent this week to the Dutch colony on the northeast coast of South America in response to an "unspecified threat" to bauxite mines operating there, and the official statement indicated that the American troops will be withdrawn as soon as "the present danger to the mines is removed." The mines at the colony, also known by the Dutch name of "Surinam," furnish approximately 60 percent of the aluminum required by the U. S. defense industry. The statement also indicated that the use of American troops has been authorized by the government of the Netherlands and of the neighboring nation of Brazil.

A "gigantic non-stop tank battle" that may decide control of Libya is raging in the desert south of Tobruk, with mounting casualties on both sides, and British industry pushing westward to join the conflict. "The Jerries have everything at stake, and are fighting like hell," declared a British military spokesman. The battle is making heavy use of American built tanks, which draw high praise from British officials. "My God," declared the spokesman, "they pack a wallop."

The Nazi High Command today claimed that a German spearhead has driven to within 31 miles of Moscow, with the capture of the town of Solenchnogorsk, northwest of the Soviet capital on the Kalinin-Moscow Highway. It was stated that Solenchnogorsk was captured after heavy fighting and that the attack along the middle sector of the Soviet front "is proceeding."

The Office of Civilian Defense is preparing to establish an American version of Britain's Women's Land Army next year, sending young women volunteers to farm country to help harvest next year's crops. Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, assistant director of the OCD, stated today that such an effort is necessary due to the shortage of farm labor resulting from the migration of young people from farms to the cities. A House Committee on Migratory Labor is presently studying the labor situation in the Middle West, but Mrs. Roosevelt observed that regardless of that committee's eventual findings, it appears certain that womens' labor will be required in the fields next year.

A waiter aboard transatlantic liners now on trial as one of fifteen defendants in the ongoing spy trial in Brooklyn Federal Court testified today that he considered carrying messages for the Nazi spy ring just one of "several little sidelines" he carried on to augment his pay. Defendant Erich Strunck testified that another of his "little sidelines" involved carrying German bonds from a Manhattan brokerage firm to the neutral port of Lisbon, from which they were mailed to German clients, a service he carried out for pay of $20 per mission. Strunck also revealed that he had a profitable sideline in carrying a carton of American cigarettes and three fifteen-cent magazines to a client in Lisbon, for which he was paid $50 per trip. Cross-examination revealed that this client was in fact a German espionage agent, but Strunck insisted he had no knowledge of the nature of any communications he carried.

(America's Biggest Small Town.)

A piece of a door proved sufficient evidence yesterday to convict a Coney Island man of possession of policy slips. Defendant Morris Biolensky, age 34, of 2940 W. 24th Street, was charged with writing eighteen sets of policy bets on the back of a door in a public restroom at 2324 Mermaid Avenue. Patrolman Ruben Stein cut out the door panel and brought it before Magistrate John F. X. Masterson in Brooklyn Weekend Court. The magistrate was "startled" by the evidence, but found it convincing enough to convict.

Three soldiers from Camp Upton face courts-martial following an attempt to escape from a disciplinary fatigue detail. 20-year-old Private Ronald Lennon of 1078 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, 21-year-old Nicholas Petrina of Elizabeth, New Jersey, and 26-year-old Martin J. McGowan of the Bronx were assigned to burn trash in the woods as discipline for minor infractions, and overpowered their Military Police guard and took away his service pistol. The three stole an Army truck at gunpoint and induced the driver to take them to a wooded area near Yaphank, three miles from the base. A detail of military and civil police spotted the three, still dressed in denim fatigue uniforms, walking along Route 26 near Middle Island. They were arrested without resistance.

(Look for the spy message in every carton!)

(One of radio's happiest marriages. Bea will live to be 100, outliving her husband by sixteen years, and will perform almost to the very end of her life. Andre will also remain active in radio to the end, and in the mid-fifties will even serve a short stretch alongside Vin Scully as a broadcaster for the Dodgers.)

(If you want to see "The Forgotten Village," a docudrama about life in a poor Mexican village with a script by John Steinbeck, you'd better hurry. It's being distributed without the MPPDA Seal because the Breen Office rejected an explicit scene depicting childbirth.)

("Welt" or "Geld?")

Radio news commentator Johannes Steele declared last night in a speech before the 14th Anniversary Dinner of the Jewish Community House in Bensonhurst that citizens of the Soviet Union enjoy greater religious freedom than citizens of Franco Spain, and asserted that raising the question of religion in an effort to discourage aid to Russia "is the bunk." Mr. Steele, former overseas correspondent for the Mutual network, further argued that the "delaying action" pursued by the Soviets on the Eastern Front has "saved the lives of a million American boys," giving ample reason for Americans to "be grateful to the Russians." The commentator predicted that "America will have to fight -- and not necessarily to 'save democracy,' but to save our own necks."

("Hmph," hmphs Joe. "Hey, how 'bout t'em Amerks!" "Hockey," sniffs Sally. "I don'know nuttin' f'm hockey. T'ey skate aroun' in coicles. an' hit'tat flat rubba t'ing, an'nnen stop an' whack each'utta wit' sticks. Whatsa pernt? I ask ya?" "Well," shrugs Joe, "it's sump'n t' tawkabout till spring...")

(You know, it just might work.)

("We Never Sleep!" Oh wait, that's the Pinkertons.)

(Redeeming qualities? Who do you think I am, Leona Stockpool?)

(Shouldn't you ASSUME AS A MATTER OF COURSE that someone is shadowing you at all times and always take precautions? Oh, and take a look inside the next carton of cigarettes that shows up.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Once again, Maine makes Page Four. I'm just surprised it doesn't happen more often.

You really can't go wrong for a nickel. And with bacon yet!

Those who live by the Boys shall perish by the Boys.

Just one sharp blow to the back of the head. That's all it'd take, Bill. Just one sharp blow. Look, Bill, there on the desk. That novelty World's Fair paperweight. It's just the right size, isn't it Bill? Just one sharp blow.

"Yeah, so? C'mon, let's neck!"

Now do something about the one that clank-clanks directly in front of my house.

Y'know, kid, maybe you aren't cut out for this line of work...

You turn 21 in just two and a half months, Skeez. How 'bout that. Where does the time go?

Sighhhhhhhhh......

Kayo will go far in the customer-service sector.

 

[Fading Fast]

...A piece of a door proved sufficient evidence yesterday to convict a Coney Island man of possession of policy slips. Defendant Morris Biolensky, age 34, of 2940 W. 24th Street, was charged with writing eighteen sets of policy bets on the back of a door in a public restroom at 2324 Mermaid Avenue. Patrolman Ruben Stein cut out the door panel and brought it before Magistrate John F. X. Masterson in Brooklyn Weekend Court. The magistrate was "startled" by the evidence, but found it convincing enough to convict....

"Please read the evidence for the court."

"Let's see, Dodger +2, High Wire at 6-1 in the 5th, Rocket at 10-1 in the 8th, For a good time call Gina, oops, never mind, Big Runner at 7-1..."

...
(If you want to see "The Forgotten Village," a docudrama about life in a poor Mexican village with a script by John Steinbeck, you'd better hurry. It's being distributed without the MPPDA Seal because the Breen Office rejected an explicit scene depicting childbirth.)...

"Ladies in Retirement" is a solid Ida Lupino movie (comments here: #28815)

Ginger Rogers, reading "Gotham Grapevine," thinks to herself, thankfully, Fred's pretty easy to get along with as I don't know a thing about palms.

...
("Hmph," hmphs Joe. "Hey, how 'bout t'em Amerks!" "Hockey," sniffs Sally. "I don'know nuttin' f'm hockey. T'ey skate aroun' in coicles. an' hit'tat flat rubba t'ing, an'nnen stop an' whack each'utta wit' sticks. Whatsa pernt? I ask ya?" "Well," shrugs Joe, "it's sump'n t' tawkabout till spring...")...

How many days till pitchers and catchers report?

...
(Shouldn't you ASSUME AS A MATTER OF COURSE that someone is shadowing you at all times and always take precautions? Oh, and take a look inside the next carton of cigarettes that shows up.)

I thought that guy might have been following me, but then I dismissed it as no one would be stupid enough to wear that loud suit if they were trying to surreptitiously follow someone.

... Once again, Maine makes Page Four. I'm just surprised it doesn't happen more often....

The only thing Garbo is guilty of in "Two-Faced Woman" is making a bad picture. It's too silly to be immoral (comments here: #28625).

He was jealous about one guy, what about the other 121?

...
Just one sharp blow to the back of the head. That's all it'd take, Bill. Just one sharp blow. Look, Bill, there on the desk. That novelty World's Fair paperweight. It's just the right size, isn't it Bill? Just one sharp blow.....

"It wasn't always easy, but I had to remain strong for Punjab and Annie. Don't let them know I said anything, but those two gave up several times and I had to buck them up emotionally just so that we could go on. It's not about me, I'm just glad God gave me the strength for all three of us. But as I said, let's just keep that between you and me as I wouldn't want to embarrassed them."

...
"Yeah, so? C'mon, let's neck!"...

IRL, he'd have taken the car for a spin before telling the dealer he was only looking.

 

[LizzieMaine]

88 days. Havana here we come.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The Roosevelt Administration is preparing to take action to prohibit any wage increases deemed inflationary as part of a broader program implementing price control legislation. The initiative emerged from a White House conference last night with Congressional leaders on labor matters, and the House Labor Committee today directed its ranking majority member, Rep. Robert F. Ramspeck (D-Georgia), to prepare legislation "embodying the understanding" reached at that conference. The "understanding" is also said to incorporate four major points relating to procedure for resolving defense labor disputes, including compulsory negotiation between workers and employers, conciliation by the Labor Department, mediation by a board empowered to ban striking during that period of mediation, and compulsory arbitration of disputes continuing past the negotiation stage, at the discretion of the President.

Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson today denounced Finland's cooperation in the war on the side of Nazi Germany as "menacing American war-aid efforts," with Finnish interference with the delivery of American military aid to Russia declared contrary to US national interests. The remarks by the Secretary are seen as indicative of further American pressure being brought to bear on Helsinki to withdraw from the war.

Victorious Red Armies, pressing a smashing counteroffensive to the south, were reported by official Soviet dispatches as being in "swift pursuit" of fleeing German and Italian divisions on the Moscow front, while another new Russian offensive is said to be making further progress in the north. Vice-Commissar for Military Affairs S. A. Lozovsky declared that the Germans "have been dealt a severe blow," and that "German losses at Moscow have been greater than at Verdun." The Vice-Commissar predicted that losses in the second German offensive will be even greater than in the first.

Nazi Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop today posed under glaring klieg lights before a battery of movie cameras to announce the addition of seven more nations to the Anti-Comintern Pact. Finland, Denmark, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovakia, Rumania, and the Japanese-sponsored Nanking regime of Wang Ching-Wei join Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Hungary, and Manchuko in the anti-Soviet alliance.

A British mechanized spearhead stabbed deeper into Libya today, advancing another 200 miles into the desert and capturing the town of Augila. A military spokesman noted that arriving reinforcements are bolstering the British offensive, helping to hold ground already taken, and to further ensure the doom of German panzer forces.

Black-uniformed British commandos made a daring hit-and-run raid on the Normandy coast Sunday night and early Monday morning, it was learned today, causing much "havoc and destruction" as they reconnoitered German defenses on the French invasion coast. As those units struck, Admiral Sir Roger J. B. Keyes rose in the House of Commons to denounce "brass hats of Whitehall" who have stalled and snarled British invasion plans. The Admiral asserted that the Commando units, which he organized a year ago, were ready to act in 1940, and had they been permitted to do at that time, they would have "electrified the world and possibly altered the course of the war." He denounced "service committees and subcommittes" for being so preoccupied with the possible risks of commando raids that their value was compromised, and warned that until the present system of staff officers is "thoroughly overhauled," "we will always be too late for everything we undertake."

(OOOPS)

A bill to abolish the system of Proportional Representational voting for City Council has the endorsement of Majority Leader Joseph T. Sharkey of Brooklyn. The bill, introduced this afternoon by Councilman Louis Cohen of the Bronx, would "set up a different system for electing the Council." Councilman Sharkey declared that Brooklyn has suffered the most of any borough since P. R. was adopted, noting that the large number of blank or incomplete ballots submitted in the last election "deprived Brooklyn of two representatives" on the Council. Criticism of Proportional Representation has increased since the election earlier this month of Brooklyn Communist Peter V. Cacchione to a council seat, while Brooklyn Republicans failed to elect a single candidate. The system proposed by Councilman Cohen would allot each borough one Council seat per Senatorial district, and ten at-large seats, for a total Council membership of 33, with each seat filled by a simple majority vote. The bill would require approval by the Fusion-controlled Board of Estimate, and contains a provision for its presentation as a referendum at the next city election.

(Nobody's gonna tell Doc what to eat!)

(It is a great cultural loss that no film footage has appeared of this "Hellzapoppin minstrel parade.")

(Point 10 translates to "YOU BETTER WIN THE WORLD SERIES NEXT YEAR!")

(Old country codgers where I grew up were very fond of sliced macaroni-and-cheese loaf, so this isn't as unlikely as it seems.)

(Well, geez. Leo's been running down Phelps and Hamlin in the press at every opportunity for almost two years now. Just how much value do they have? Granted, a catcher with mental issues and a pitcher whose best pitch is the gopher ball don't set a very high standard, but didn't your Hollywood pals teach you anything about MARKETING?)

(Sparky, you babbling idiot! CARELESS TALK!)

(Pretty slick detective work there, Inspector!)

(Ah! Angel is clearly a Universal star! Sorry kid, you'll never be up there with Deanna Durbin, but maybe Jane Frazee and Gloria Jean should worry.)

(Serves you right for TALKING TO YOURSELF SO MUCH)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News

Nothing says "Loveless" like being shot three times and stuffed in a closet. And Maine being Maine, there is no way that every living soul in Farmington didn't know every single unedifying detail of the Wheeler-Buzzell situation.

"Brrrr!" shivers Joe. "'At year onna WPA was alla snow I wanna shovel, t'ankya very much! But, say, ya brutt'a oughta be outa cold storage right about time fa'..." "Nah," says Sally. "He says he's lookin fa' sump'n wit' potential f'advancement." "Well," says Joe, "t'ere's a'ways foxhole diggin'...."

The war's getting to be too big for a tabloid paper.

Daddy's gonna bail out over occupied Europe so he can bring down poor Sam the Presser with his whining.

OK Milt, fun's fun, and a gag's a gag, but this isn't "Harold Teen."

Whoa, the Mole has television! Well now, can you get the rasslin' matches from Jamaica Arena?

Clearly Tops already knows two-thirds of what it takes to be a soldier in 1941.

It's just that she can't believe there's more than one man in the world with that face.

We miss out by not getting to actually hear that "3 Stooges Coconut Shell" sound effect.

Ahhhhh, they don't call him "Goofy" for nothing.

 

[Fading Fast]

... (It is a great cultural loss that no film footage has appeared of this "Hellzapoppin minstrel parade.")...

"They Died with Their Boots on" was on TCM this morning - a neat touch to these 1941 Day by Days. I caught the last half hour and two things popped out. One, at this time, Errol Flynn was prettier than most of his costars and, two, things are not going well when you are forming a battle square.

The selection of movies just in Brooklyn, just this week - "Suspicion," "Shadow of the Thin Man," "How Green was my Valley," "Ladies in Retirement," "They Died with Their Boots on," "Sergeant York," "Little Foxes" and more - is pretty amazing.

... (Point 10 translates to "YOU BETTER WIN THE WORLD SERIES NEXT YEAR!")...

It was not particular to Brooklyn, but in thirty years, instead of this optimistic view of a future Brooklyn, the borough would become, like so much of New York, a broken, violent, drug-infested city with prostitutes, hustlers and dealers operating in the open, in daylight. It would shock someone from 1941 (as it did many who lived to see it) what would happen in only thirty years.

... (Ah! Angel is clearly a Universal star! Sorry kid, you'll never be up there with Deanna Durbin, but maybe Jane Frazee and Gloria Jean should worry.)...

I was thinking RKO, but $3000/week (~$56,000 in 2021 dollars) is just below tier-one-star pay.

.. Nothing says "Loveless" like being shot three times and stuffed in a closet. And Maine being Maine, there is no way that every living soul in Farmington didn't know every single unedifying detail of the Wheeler-Buzzell situation....

The full story of the Loveless killing is going to be interesting.

I still can't get past the 122 men - she was 20 years old and lived in a small community. The logistics and mathematics are hard to figure. Maybe she had a booth or she was just prepping for war job. I could go on all day here.

...
Daddy's gonna bail out over occupied Europe so he can bring down poor Sam the Presser with his whining....

"That sound great and I'd love to join you but I got a letter here from the Government saying I have to go to this thing called 'school,' if I'm pronouncing that word correctly?"

...[ OK Milt, fun's fun, and a gag's a gag, but this isn't "Harold Teen."...

I think Caniff's trying to level-set his readers after Raven. I'm guessing we'll soon be back in the mix of the geopolitics of it all, especially with December 7th just around the corner (although, how far behind real-time is Caniff - six weeks?).

Pat is looking quite dapper in his double-breasted pinstripes.

... Whoa, the Mole has television! Well now, can you get the rasslin' matches from Jamaica Arena?....

No wonder he wanted all of Duke's $2000, those sets were expensive back then.

.... It's just that she can't believe there's more than one man in the world with that face.....

And more unbelievably, they both found their way to her...and her bed. Jesus.

...
Ahhhhh, they don't call him "Goofy" for nothing.

That whole, "you take my girl out for me cause I'm busy tonight" is a very Golden-Era dating thing (at least I see it in the movies and books of that period all the time) that was dead as could be by the time I started dating in the 1970s. How they couldn't see what a bad idea it was is hard to figure.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Police in Hempstead, L. I. are searching for three armed bandits who kidnapped and robbed two employees of a Wantagh construction firm of a $10,000 payroll just withdrawn from the Second National Bank of Hempstead. The victims were spirited away shortly before noon in a black sedan, and Nassau police knew nothing of the incident until the victims telephoned them from a realty office in Hollis, after being dumped on the Union Turnpike between Springfield and Hollis Court Boulevard in Queens Village. The two payroll guards, employed by the Good Roads Engineering and Construction Company, told police they had been waylaid by the bandits in an alley off Main Street, across from the bank. Two of the bandits were described as between the ages of 35 and 40, with one about five feet six inches in height, wearing a blue suit and a dark overcoat, and the other about 5 feet 10 inches, wearing a dark gray suit and matching overcoat. The guards could furnish no description of the third man.

British tank reinforcements aided by infantry attacks from Tobruk and Gambut attacked Axis forces on the Sidi Rezegh battle sector today while the Royal Air Force battered a roving German armored column that broke across the frontier into Egypt, far behind the Libyan war front. Dispatches published in the London Daily Mail stated that portions of seven Italian divisions and one German division that had been holding the siege lines around Tobruk are believed to be moving east in an attempt to hold back the New Zealand forces moving toward Tobruk from Gambut.

Germany pushed its offensive against Moscow on two vital sectors, Soviet dispatches stated, but the Red Army is fighting to stop a dangerous breakthru in the Stalinogorsk sector east of Tula. Russian broadcasts frankly warned of the danger in the advances and said the big Nazi push has reached its "decisive stage."

The United States is understood "on good authority" today as looking favorably on a plan calling for a "three-month breathing spell" in the Far East to provide time for a more extended discussion of the vital issues between this country and Japan. It is reported that a proposal along those lines was being prepared for presentation to special envoy Saburu Karusu and Ambassador Kichisaburo Nomura when the two Japanese diplomats resume their discussions with Secretary of State Cordell Hull. It is expected that the proposal will include a relaxation of the United States economic blockade against Japan, provided Japan pledges itself against further aggressive moves to the south, or against Russia.

A 14-year-old Astoria boy is in fair condition at St. John's Hospital in Long Island City after being accidentally stabbed in the heart by a playmate. According to police, Joseph D'Agostino and 13-year-old Jack Knabe, both students at Junior High School 126 in Astoria, were playing on roller skates when Knabe made "a playful lunge" at D'Agostino with a penknife, lost his balance, and fell against D'Agostino, stabbing him in the left ventricle of the heart with the blade. Surgeons at the hospital closed the heart wound with two stitches and the youth received a blood transfusion from the Knabe boy's father, John Knabe of 30-90 14th Street. The Knabe boy will face a technical charge of juvenile delinquency tomorrow in Jamaica Children's Court.

(You gotta admire the ingenuity.)

The five policemen on duty at the Half Moon Hotel at Coney Island when Abe "Kid Twist" Reles plunged to his death from a sixth-floor window will face departmental trials today for neglect of duty. While it has been claimed that police allowed Reles, who was being held under protective custody in preparation for his testimony in the trial of Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, to sleep alone in his room, another protective-custody witness, Albert "Allie" Tannenbaum, has testified that it was the practice for police to sleep in chairs in the witnesses' rooms.

The Soviet Government charged today that Nazi Germany has begun an organized program of atrocity and barbarism against Red Army prisoners of war in violation of all international agreements and tenets of warfare. The complaint signed by Soviet Foreign Commissar V. I. Molotov accuses Germany of systematically slaughtering Soviet prisoners, of torturing them with hot irons, of gouging out their eyes and cutting off their extremities, of tying them to tanks and tearing them asunder, of denying them medical treatment or warm clothing, of giving them little or no food, and of compelling them to do work in furtherance of the Nazi war effort on penalty of death. It is also charged that German troops in occupied areas of Russia are committing mass outrages against the civilian population including rape, looting, torture, and murder.

(Judge Leibowitz has never been known as a man of temperate speech.)

(Sure, but if you go in for all this Good Neighbor south-of-the-border stuff, will you really need a richly-furred woolen dress coat?)

("Hey!" says Joe. "We ain' been rolla-skatin' in f'eveh! Less go out an' do some wheelin'!" "Can't," shrugs Sally. "Lost my skate key." "Ahhhhh," replies Joe. "Ya brut'ta c'n fix 'at! He's real good at makin..." "AWRIGHT T'AT'S ENOUGH!")

("Imagine a bed that comes right outa the wall!")

(A baby leading the Cry-Babies? Somewhere Oscar Vitt is snickering. And yeah, Doc Prothro can go back home and be a dentist again. Why would he care about managing the Phillies, the abscessed molar of the National League?)

The Football Dodgers are out of the running for the Eastern Division title in the National Football League, but they still have a solid shot at second place, which will mean a bigger share of the playoff money if they can cinch it with a win next week against the Pittsburgh Steelers and on December 7th against the Giants. A win in that Giant game will also give the Grid Flock the metropolitan football title for 1941.

(Somebody really needs to warn Industrial Coordinator Knudsen about these guys.)

("Light-minded friends!")

(Angel proves once again just how far you can go in pictures with two poses.)

(Why not try the window, Dan? You could tie some sheets to the radiator. It's not that far a drop.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Our Joe would be in 3-A had he not just made the age cutoff by turning 28 this year and been shifted to 1-H. But he is following draft developments with an increasing sense of anxiety.

(All right you yardbirds. Report for prophylaxis!)

Are we to interpret this as meaning Charlie McCarthy himself will be AT City Hall? Well, somebody's got to run things while Butch is away.

***Sigh*** Back to the Slaggs.

"No doubt about it, Pat -- Duke was killed by a subway conductor!"

Only one thing to do, Min. Hit him over the head.

"And, not to shock you or anything, but I had a swell time too..."

I don't remember Lil's eyes ever sticking out that much before.

OK, the pieces are all in place. Let the game begin.

Ahhhhhh, Little Egypt. She was a carnival dancer who cavorted with Moon at the same time she was working Plushie, which rather compromised her chances in court. I hope we get to see her in person -- I mean, if Sally Rand's still in circulation, there must be a place for her.

 

[Fading Fast]

...
(You gotta admire the ingenuity.)...

I am not proud of it, but I could not agree more - it's a very cool scheme. And Layman sounds like quite the character.

... View attachment 382230 ("Hey!" says Joe. "We ain' been rolla-skatin' in f'eveh! Less go out an' do some wheelin'!" "Can't," shrugs Sally. "Lost my skate key." "Ahhhhh," replies Joe. "Ya brut'ta c'n fix 'at! He's real good at makin..." "AWRIGHT T'AT'S ENOUGH!")...

... ("Light-minded friends!")...

He nicely tucked the slam in there, didn't he - obnoxious, but well done.

... Our Joe would be in 3-A had he not just made the age cutoff by turning 28 this year and been shifted to 1-H. But he is following draft developments with an increasing sense of anxiety.....

Maybe she killed herself, but I'm still leaning to the theory that Buzzell was murdered.

I recognize the parents in "The Neighbors," but growing up, had I made a comment like that, I'd probably have been shot. To be honest, back then, since that's all I knew, I didn't have the perspective to even make a comment like that. It probably kept me alive.

...
***Sigh*** Back to the Slaggs....

"Hello, Nick, Nick it's Annie...good, how are you?...That great. Say, can Sandy and I come stay for a bit?"

...
Only one thing to do, Min. Hit him over the head.....

Let's not be rash here, this Andy is a much better version, perhaps Min should give it some time to see if she can adjust.

...
I don't remember Lil's eyes ever sticking out that much before.....

Step-ins sighting number four in about the same number of weeks. Quoting Lizzie, "Hey Kids! Comics!"

...
Ahhhhhh, Little Egypt. She was a carnival dancer who cavorted with Moon at the same time she was working Plushie, which rather compromised her chances in court. I hope we get to see her in person -- I mean, if Sally Rand's still in circulation, there must be a place for her.

Little Egypt looks like Gee-Gee's long lost twin sister.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Negotiations between the United States and Japan are nearing the crisis point, with authoritative sources expressing fear today that Japan's response to yesterday's demand by the US that it withdraw from the Axis and get out of China may come within the next few days in the form of an attack on Thailand. This disclosure came as White House press secretary Stephen Early announced a mid-afternoon conference today between President Roosevelt, Secretary of State Cordell Hull, and the two Japanese envoys. Information reaching Washington today, and disclosed by "sources other than Mr. Early," revealed that Japanese forces are massing in north and south Indo-China in preparation for a likely assault against Thailand and the Burma Road in China. It was confirmed that "a large number of troops" had landed in Saigon within the last five days, even as Secretary Hull was in conference with Ambassador Kichisaburo Namura and Special Envoy Saburo Kurusu.

The first American soldier to fall in the fight against Hitler died Monday night in Libya, according to British radio reports monitored in New York by the Columbia Broadcasting System. The British statement did not identify the American casualty, but stated that the soldier was "repairing light American tanks in an advanced position near Sidi Omar." It was also noted that additional American officers and technicians are expected to arrive in Libya in the near future "as more and more American tanks arrive from Egypt, from where they are being thrown into battle."

Great Britain's advancing mechanized army smashed thru strong opposition in the Libyan desert today to join forces with the long-besieged Tobruk garrison in an advance that may have sealed the fate of large Axis columns in the battle of Sidi Rezegh. Tank, infantry, artillery, and air forces continued "violent fighting," but it appeared that the joining of the main British forces with the Tobruk garrison has closed the main route westward to Axis movements.

A Berlin communique asserted today that German forces have captured the Russian town of Klin, and fourteen small villages behind the Soviet fortified lines around Moscow. Klin is located 51 miles northwest of the capital, on the road to Kalinin. It was also reported by a German military spokesman that Nazi forces continue to hold the town of Tichvin, southeast of Leningrad. The Germans reported taking that town on November 9th, and it was today stated that the occupying forces have "beaten back" Soviet counterattacks.

A former chef with the United States Lines confessed today in Brooklyn Federal Court to acting as a courier for Nazi spies in this country. Richard H. H. Kleiss, who "reluctantly gave up his German citizenship in 1931 in order to retain his job," becomes the second defendent to admit his guilt since the spy trials began 12 weeks ago. Following Kleiss's admission of guilt, Police Commissioner Lewis J. Valentine has ordered an investigation into the activities of Lt. Frank Hogan and Sgt. William C. Wilson, two police officers who testified as character witnesses on Kleiss's behalf earlier in the trial.

("Big Boy?" That's pretty trite and predictable for a gangster name, don't you think?)

The illness of Judge Franklin Taylor brought a temporary halt to the murder trial of Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, Emanuel "Mendy" Weiss, and Louis Capone, with the Judge reported to be suffering from a sudden severe cold. Summations in the case will continue when the trial resumes, if possible, tomorrow morning.

The head of Selective Service for New York City has gone on record today as favoring an immediate delcaration of war against Nazi Germany. Colonel Arthur V. McDermott rose last night at a meeting of the Brooklyn Municipal Club to endorse statements made by Frank Gervasi, foreign correspondent for Collier's Magazine, who argued that "there is only one way to beat Hitler, and that is for the United States to get into it right now." Colonel McDermott immediately stood up to declare "this man has absolutely hit the nail on the head -- the sooner we get into it the better!"

(Now what would Uncle Fud and Grandpa Snazzy say about this!)

In Cumberland, Kentucky, two boys have confessed to the murder of prominent Washington D.C. attorney Ward Loveless at his home in Leesburg, Virginia. Loveless's body was found earlier this week stuffed into a china closet at his palatial residence, battered and riddled with bullets. The youths, 16-year-old Paul Hoback of Bluefield, West Virginia and 16-year-old Thomas Peters of Norfolk, West Virginia, were seized by police in a Cumberland rooming house, and told detectives that they had shot Loveless when he resisted robbery. The boys admitted that they selected Loveless as their victim because "he was the richest man in the community and made about $400 an hour."

New York motorists will be asked to turn in their 1941 license plates in order to receive their new 1942 plates in January. The requirement is made necessary by the continuing shortage of scrap metal caused by the national defense program.

In Warsaw, two Jewish men and six Jewish women have been executed by Nazi authorities for leaving ghettoes in violation of regulations. According to the German-language newspaper in the former Polish capital, the sentences were handed down on October 15th.

(The "Good Neighbor Policy" in action.)

(And don't miss the Three Singing Bananas, appearing with Miss Miranda in "Sons O' Fun!")

(Keep those photographers around, Admiral, they'll come in handy.)

("The uncomplimentary remarks of spectators about the ball team have never ruffled Lobert's feelings." Well, there's the main requirement to be a Philadelphia manager right there.)

(Annnnnd guess who's going to be Sue's new fella. "There's Something About A Soldier!")

("Sugartoe!" C'mon, Horace, who do you think you're kidding?)

("Burlesque?" wonders Tom. "What's that?")

(Careful, Dan. WOULDN'T WANT YOU TO FALL.)