The Era -- Day By Day

[LizzieMaine]

Sally wants me to state for the record that "Lonnie Frey is a bum among all bums, an' th' noive he's got ta hit a ball like that when heeza one cut up poor Petey. An' then he comes in here an' thinks he can get away wi' hittin' a lousy two-bit home run like that. Whoozee think he is, I ask ya?"

As far as anyone has ever been able to find out that was the only time in the history of Ebbets Field that particular ground rule came into play. Mr. Frey lived to be ninety-nine years old, and it's safe to say that of the sixty-two home runs he hit over the course of fifteen years in the major leagues, that is the one that he remembered most.

Mama's marital status at the moment is a bit vague. She married this Jay Golden Fleecer -- who was exactly the sort of fellow his name implied -- in 1937, and he disappeared "on an overseas trip" a year later. No one at present knows if he's alive or dead, but if I had to guess I'd suspect he was living somewhere far away under an assumed name. Maybe he changed his name to John Blackton.

If Nick really is dead, Mr. Gray is going to get a lot of angry letters.

 

[Fading Fast]

...If Nick really is dead, Mr. Gray is going to get a lot of angry letters.

And his 2020 descendants will get a very late one postmarked New York City.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini met today in Munich to discuss the official response of the Berlin-Rome Axis to France's request for an armistice, and late reports from the German DNB news agency indicate that the two dictators have reached an agreement on terms. Meanwhile, French Premier Petain and Commander-General Weygand have ordered French troops to "continue fighting" on land, on sea, and in the air until an armistice is signed. A total of 350,000 French troops today escaped from the southern end of the fractured Maginot Line to reassemble with the rest of the southern army and lend force to France's insistence on "an honorable peace."

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill today told Parliament that "the Battle For Britain" has begun -- and warned that its loss would plunge the entire world, even the United States, into "the abyss of a new Dark Age." As the House of Commons echoed in wild cheers, the Prime Minister continued "Let us brace ourselves to our duty. And so bear ourselves so that if the British Empire and commonwealth lasts for a thousand years, men will still say 'this was their finest hour.'"

A clean-cut, four-part plot to overthrow the US Government was outlined by Assistant U. S. Attorney Harold M. Kennedy today in Brooklyn Federal Court, as the prosecution began to summarize its case in the Christian Front seditious conspiracy trial. Attorney Kennedy stated that the four phases of the plot broke down thusly: first, to stir up public fear of a Communist revolution; second, to link Communists and Jews in the public mind and present them as controlling the present government; third, to incite Communists and Jews to riot; and fourth, to take advantage of the resulting chaos by seizing power. "There is no such thing as a slight revolution," said Kennedy, "any more than there is a slight case of cancer or a slight case of murder."

Wendell Willkie's presidential campaign kicked off in Brooklyn yesterday at a luncheon of the Brooklyn Young Republican Club at the St. George Hotel. The president of the Commonwealth and Southern Corporation, and an increasingly prominent candidate for the GOP nomination, told the audience that the President "must do nothing by word or deed" that would lead to our involvement in the European War.

The death toll from yesterday's crash of two Army bombers in Queens rose to twelve, with the first civilian fatality recorded. Mrs. Emily Kraft of 239-25 87th Avenue died today in Queens General Hospital of burns she received when her home was set ablaze by the crashing planes. Army authorities investigating the mid-air collision between the two aircraft have yet to determine the cause of the accident.

A petition filed today in Brooklyn Federal Court would revoke the citizenship of approximately one hundred naturalized German and Italian Americans who have returned to their native countries. Assistant US Attorney Harold M. Kennedy has requested the accumulated case files be brought up to date, with a spokesman from his office noting that each of the cases includes a sworn affadavit from the person named consenting to the cancellation of citizenship.

Popular songwriter Harry Revel was indicted today by a Federal Grand Jury on a charge of passport fraud. The case alleges that Revel traveled to France aboard the liner Normandie using a passport issued in his professional name, instead of his true name of Glaser, and that he falsely claimed to have been born in New York, when he was in fact born in London.

A legless man who "went on a spree" on his rolling cart was charged with disorderly conduct in Brooklyn-Queens Night Court. Thirty-seven-year-old Harry Lynch of 127 33rd Street was accused of "disturbing the peace" by rolling about the neighborhood of 4th Avenue and Union Street yesterday and shouting loudly. "I had a few drinks in me," Lynch explained to Magistrate Nicholas Pinto, who suspended sentence and advised the defendant that a man in his condition should not drink to excess.

Political predictions from Clifford Evans -- Wendell Willkie will be the Republican Vice-Presidential candidate and 1940, and former president Herbert Hoover isn't out of the nomination picture yet. And look for Brooklyn District Attorney William O'Dwyer to run as Democratic candidate for Mayor in 1941. Cliff also notes that the Coney Island Wax Museum has a potent exhibit based on the icepick murder of George "Whitey" Rudnick.

(A double-bill for the ages.)

(Another reason why you're better off with a used car.)

The Dodgers lost their third in a row yesterday, falling to the fine pitching of Cardinal Clyde Shoun by a score of 3-1. The Flock could do nothing with the raw-boned West Virginia righthander who was making his first start of 1940. Vito Tamulis gave the Cards seven hits, and that was enough. The Cardinals, who supposedly gave away their chance at the pennant when they sent Joe Medwick to Brooklyn, haven't lost a game since that deal was made.

Good reserved seats are still available for tomorrow's night game at Ebbets Field against the Cardinals. An added attraction for the evening will be music by a 120-piece band from North High School of Minneapolis, national high-school band champions, who have performed before the King and Queen of England.

(Jo is never too annoyed to troll.)

(Hmmm, the plot thins....)

(EXCUSE ME SIR MAY I SEE SOME IDENTIFICATION?)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

This plane crash story gets more gruesome the more we learn about it. And yet it's totally forgotten.

Yeah, but how much spaghetti do you actually get for 35 cents? Pictures or I'm not buying.

HELLO FOLKS! Does Elmer know you're stealing his material?

We never saw the shot. We never saw the body. And there's nothing you can say that will convince me that Nick didn't set this whole thing up. Axel's out of the picture, Bolo's out of the picture, Tecum looks good to the public, and Annie's safe. And Nick? He's off to China to fight the Invader alongside Cap'n Blaze until the heat's off. That's my head-canon, and I'm sticking to it. Look, even Sandy knows the truth.

There are two classes of people in Tracy's Universe -- chumps, and people who take the chumps.

And seriously, you're a grown man hanging around with this bunch of weirdoes. What's with you, Ryan?

Mamma's walking around with a bird on her head. Just let that sink in.

Better check first to be sure there's no cover charge.

Ten years from now, Kayo Mullins will be a nationally famous television wrestling commentator.

Well loooooooooooook who's back!

 

[Fading Fast]

...
(A double-bill for the ages.)...

Kudos to The Boys, "The Way of All Flesh" (a remake of a '27 movie) is a heck of a name (and remember, it's 1940, porn isn't everywhere). Also, thankfully, you'll be watching Gladys George's lips burn like fire from inside the cool air-conditioned Paramount.

... (Jo is never too annoyed to troll.)...

This could quickly get ugly.

... (Hmmm, the plot thins....)...

Maybe not, but you'd think "The employment agency thought you might be able to use..." would raise a red flag at a major campaign. Also, I'm pretty sure, even in 1940, there was some pre-vetting for secretaries to a candidate for governor. And, exactly what pattern is that large-graph-paper suit on Blackston's assistant supposed to be?

... (EXCUSE ME SIR MAY I SEE SOME IDENTIFICATION?)

Dan's covering a lot of distance in that leap without his cape on.

...
Yeah, but how much spaghetti do you actually get for 35 cents? Pictures or I'm not buying....

Let's just be happy the muffins have returned. Also, they'd have to pay me 35 cents to, and I still probably wouldn't, eat that vegetable plate. Second thought, I absolutely wouldn't eat it for 35 cents.

...
HELLO FOLKS! Does Elmer know you're stealing his material?..

Childs and its stupid vegetable plate are out. You can't compete with a talking pie. I could see two pieces and a glass a milk being lunch.

.... We never saw the shot. We never saw the body. And there's nothing you can say that will convince me that Nick didn't set this whole thing up. Axel's out of the picture, Bolo's out of the picture, Tecum looks good to the public, and Annie's safe. And Nick? He's off to China to fight the Invader alongside Cap'n Blaze until the heat's off. That's my head-canon, and I'm sticking to it. Look, even Sandy knows the truth....

Complete BS how Gray is handling this. One more sanctimonious comment from Tecum and I hope Annie kicks him (I believe she's thinking about it in the last panel).

... And seriously, you're a grown man hanging around with this bunch of weirdoes. What's with you, Ryan?...

I don't know, I'll grant you it's a ragtag group, but Raven has no ability to laugh at a situation. And let's not kid ourselves, everyone in this strip is off in some way or another. Also, if she respects Pat, then don't make such snap judgements about his friends and their relationship. I'm with Pat on this one.

...
Better check first to be sure there's no cover charge...

Skip the meal, go straight to the bank and buy yourself $70 worth of savings bonds. Neither he nor Harold can handle the liquidity risk of having brass in pocket.

...
Well loooooooooooook who's back!

Those two deserve each other.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I honestly can't accept that this is the end of Nick, not in a universe where Daddy Warbucks dies and comes back to life on a regular basis, and has a henchman who can send his enemies into alternate dimensions at will, and Annie is good friends with a mysterious Santa Claus-bearded entity named Mr. Am, who, it is strongly hinted, is God in person. This is the universe where a man like Nick Gatt can be shot down by some punk OFF CAMERA and that's it?

No, I'm convinced there's more to the story. There just HAS to be.

Raven doesn't want to share Pat with anybody now that she's got him where she wants him. The junior pirate patrol had better watch out.

I will laugh and laugh if Igor turns out to be an agent of the secret police from whatever country Senga's running from, there to take her in. Maybe he works for Axel.

 

[Fading Fast]

I honestly can't accept that this is the end of Nick, not in a universe where Daddy Warbucks dies and comes back to life on a regular basis, and has a henchman who can send his enemies into alternate dimensions at will, and Annie is good friends with a mysterious Santa Claus-bearded entity named Mr. Am, who, it is strongly hinted, is God in person. This is the universe where a man like Nick Gatt can be shot down by some punk OFF CAMERA and that's it?

No, I'm convinced there's more to the story. There just HAS to be.

Raven doesn't want to share Pat with anybody now that she's got him where she wants him. The junior pirate patrol had better watch out.

I will laugh and laugh if Igor turns out to be an agent of the secret police from whatever country Senga's running from, there to take her in. Maybe he works for Axel.

I'm in complete agreement with you on Nick. I don't know the LOA world as you do, but it is insane to off a major character - possibly the best it has in its current storyline - off camera (as you said) and for no significant reason. Why? Nick's complex tribalistic philosophy is the most interesting thing LOA has right now.

 

[LizzieMaine]

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Robert Bowman will be questioned by District Attorney William O'Dwyer, and criminal charges may be filed, in connection with yesterday's beaning of Joe Medwick at Ebbets Field, after the District Attorney learned that Bowman and Medwick had clashed before the game in a hotel elevator.

Also to be questioned by the District Attorney's office will be Dodger manager Leo Durocher, who was reportedly also threatened by Bowman before the game; Cardinal manager William Southworth, Dodger coach Charles Dressen, Cardinal catcher Donald Padgett, and plate umpire William Campbell.

The incident occurred in the bottom of the first inning, after the Dodgers had scored two runs on three consecutive hits. Bowman's first pitch to Medwick was a fast ball that appeared to be aimed directly at the batter's head, and struck him on the right side of his skull, directly below the button of his cap. Medwick fell flat on his back, landing with such force that his feet kicked up in the air, and he remained completely still, his arms splayed out to the sides.

As Bowman, Durocher, Padgett, and Campbell crowded around the fallen hitter, an angry rumble swept thru the crowd, and Dodger president Larry MacPhail stormed onto the field, racing to the Cardinal dugout after tearing away from Dressen and Dodger catcher Babe Phelps, who had attempted to restrain him. MacPhail hurled invective at the Cardinal bench, demanding they come out and fight him until Johnny Mize and Pepper Martin stepped onto the field to attempt to calm the infuriated executive. Meanwhile, Medwick's wife, seated in the stands, began screaming with rage, threatening to "get" Bowman. Bowman was ejected from the game for his own safety, and escorted off the field under heavy police guard. MacPhail attempted to attack Bowman under the stands as he was escorted away, but succeeded only in knocking off his hat. MacPhail then distributed a typewritten memorandum to reporters in the press box, charging Bowman with "a cowardly premeditated assault," and claiming that Bowman had said to him "the (deleted by censor) should have ducked."

A post-game investigation revealed that Bowman, Medwick, and Durocher had exchanged angry words in an elevator at the Hotel New Yorker early yesterday morning, and Bowman was heard to threaten to "take care of" both men when they came to bat in that afternoon's game. Cardinal manager Southworth dismissed that story as "just ribbing," and declared that the beaning was a simple accident. There is known to be bad blood between Medwick and many of his former Cardinal teammates, with a feeling among many on that club that Medwick's lackadaisical play stemming from his dissatisfaction with his St. Louis bosses last season cost the club the pennant.

National League president Ford Frick is fully cooperating with the District Attorney's office in the investigation. The beaning is the second serious incident involving the Dodgers in three weeks, the other being the injury to Pee Wee Reese in Chicago, an injury from which the young shortstop has yet to fully recover. Medwick is reported to be conscious and resting at Caledonian Hospital. He was questioned from his bed there today by Assistant District Attorney Burton Turkus, assigned by O'Dwyer to head up the probe.

The fate of fourteen men charged with seditious conspiracy against the United States is now in the hands of the jury, following a two hour and twenty minute charge to jurors from Judge Marcus B. Campbell in Brooklyn Federal Court. The trial began two and a half months ago, involving charges that the men, all connected to the so-called "Christian Front," had not only discussed a plan to overthrow the government, but had acquired guns, ammunition, and explosives to further their plan.

The United States has served notice on the German and Italian governments that it will enforce the Monroe Doctrine by refusing to recognize any change in the sovereignty of French, British, and Dutch possessions in the Western Hemisphere. The announcement comes as Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles has proposed an emergency meeting of representatives of the 21 American republics to discuss new problems arising from the European War. So far representatives of 13 governments have agreed to attend such a meeting.

A hundred Nazi planes raked the coast of England last night in retaliation for widespread RAF raids the night before on cities in Western and Northern Germany. Seven German raiders were shot down, and casualty reports showed twelve British civilians dead and thirteen injured.

As top Nazi officials arrive in conquered France, French Jews are living in mortal terror, as are thousands of Jewish and political refugees from Nazi-occupied Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Austria. Some are hiding in the woods surrounding Paris in hopes of somehow finding their way out of the country before full Nazi rule is implemented.

Scientists at Johns Hopkins University are investigating the newly-discovered Vitamin K as a potential lifesaver for up to 80,000 newborn babies a year. Tests have suggested that merely 1/15,000th of an ounce of the vitamin administered to a newborn infant immediatel after birth can halt hemmorrhagic bleeding in babies not yet able to absorb the vitamin from food.

(Mr. Lichty clearly has his finger on the pulse of the news.)

Shaken by the beaning of Joe Medwick, the Dodgers suffered a bitter eleven-inning loss to the Cardinals yesterday by a score of 7 to 5. But Tommy Holmes believes the injury to Medwick, coupled with the injury to Pee Wee Reese three weeks ago, will light a fire under the club, with sentiment building among the Brooklyn players that they are being specifically targeted around the league because they're now serious contenders for the pennant. Some on the team feel that Dodger pitchers don't do enough dusting off of their own, and aside from Hugh Casey, a man who takes no guff from anyone, the club really doesn't have any other specialists in the "high hard one." As a result, some Dodgers believe, the team has come up on the short end of many on-field feuds.

Tensions between the Dodgers and Cardinals will be rubbed raw for tonight's game at Ebbets Field wrapping up the St. Louis series, and Eagle sports editor Jimmy Wood says its high time organized baseball stepped up to do something about beanballs. It's been twenty years since Cleveland shortstop Ray Chapman was killed by a pitch to the head by Yankee Carl Mays, and it's been only three years since Tiger manager Mickey Cochrane was nearly killed by a Bump Hadley pitch. And it's only been three weeks since Pee Wee Reese was skulled by Jake Mooty at Wrigley Field. And what's been done? There have been investigations, and there have been reports, but they've all be shoved out of sight. Have baseball officials ordered anything done about the dangerous hitting background at the Cubs' park? No, and they won't. At the very least, baseball needs to severely tighten penalties against pitchers known to aim high, such as suspensions matching the length of time an injured player is out? Of course, nothing will come of this. Nothing ever comes of any suggestion. "Nothing short of a funeral will bring any reform."

When Fred Allen takes the air for Bristol Myers for the last time next Wednesday, his season finale will feature a spoof of Gabriel Heatter's "We The People" program. Mr. Allen will appear as "Labiel Teatter" in the sketch.

(The sad thing is how very true to life this all is. My sister would fit right in with this crew.)

("Why do they call him Luke?" "Because he's not so hot! Ha! Ha! Ha! Get it?"

("INDEED IT IS! HA! HA! HA! HA!")

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Today it's the back page everyone's looking at.

Although Page 4 has plenty going on. What is it with gangsters and icepicks? Nick's boys never used icepicks.

I haven't eaten lamb in a very long time, but I suppose that's the one item I'd go for here. I wonder if there's a deli in the neighborhood with a 35 cent pastrami special?

There's definitely something afoot here. Someone's waiting out on the high seas, perhaps someone who cleverly faked his own death?

"That goes hard with a fat person?" Hey, you're not exactly Susie Sylph yourself, toots.

No words can express.

Tula's about to start swinging that riding crop.

There's got to be a place in Bim's worldwide organization for a shoe clerk with a bent for bad poetry.

Never trust a man who wears a fuzzy fez.

Poor Elmo. They really need to get a taller patrol wagon.

 

[Fading Fast]

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Robert Bowman will be questioned by District Attorney William O'Dwyer, and criminal charges may be filed, in connection with yesterday's beaning of Joe Medwick at Ebbets Field, after the District Attorney learned that Bowman and Medwick had clashed before the game in a hotel elevator.

View attachment 242521
Also to be questioned by the District Attorney's office will be Dodger manager Leo Durocher, who was reportedly also threatened by Bowman before the game; Cardinal manager William Southworth, Dodger coach Charles Dressen, Cardinal catcher Donald Padgett, and plate umpire William Campbell.

The incident occurred in the bottom of the first inning, after the Dodgers had scored two runs on three consecutive hits. Bowman's first pitch to Medwick was a fast ball that appeared to be aimed directly at the batter's head, and struck him on the right side of his skull, directly below the button of his cap. Medwick fell flat on his back, landing with such force that his feet kicked up in the air, and he remained completely still, his arms splayed out to the sides.

As Bowman, Durocher, Padgett, and Campbell crowded around the fallen hitter, an angry rumble swept thru the crowd, and Dodger president Larry MacPhail stormed onto the field, racing to the Cardinal dugout after tearing away from Dressen and Dodger catcher Babe Phelps, who had attempted to restrain him. MacPhail hurled invective at the Cardinal bench, demanding they come out and fight him until Johnny Mize and Pepper Martin stepped onto the field to attempt to calm the infuriated executive. Meanwhile, Medwick's wife, seated in the stands, began screaming with rage, threatening to "get" Bowman. Bowman was ejected from the game for his own safety, and escorted off the field under heavy police guard. MacPhail attempted to attack Bowman under the stands as he was escorted away, but succeeded only in knocking off his hat. MacPhail then distributed a typewritten memorandum to reporters in the press box, charging Bowman with "a cowardly premeditated assault," and claiming that Bowman had said to him "the (deleted by censor) should have ducked."

A post-game investigation revealed that Bowman, Medwick, and Durocher had exchanged angry words in an elevator at the Hotel New Yorker early yesterday morning, and Bowman was heard to threaten to "take care of" both men when they came to bat in that afternoon's game. Cardinal manager Southworth dismissed that story as "just ribbing," and declared that the beaning was a simple accident. There is known to be bad blood between Medwick and many of his former Cardinal teammates, with a feeling among many on that club that Medwick's lackadaisical play stemming from his dissatisfaction with his St. Louis bosses last season cost the club the pennant.

View attachment 242528

National League president Ford Frick is fully cooperating with the District Attorney's office in the investigation. The beaning is the second serious incident involving the Dodgers in three weeks, the other being the injury to Pee Wee Reese in Chicago, an injury from which the young shortstop has yet to fully recover. Medwick is reported to be conscious and resting at Caledonian Hospital. He was questioned from his bed there today by Assistant District Attorney Burton Turkus, assigned by O'Dwyer to head up the probe....

Certainly based on what's presented here, there's a lot of evidence against Bowman. It will be interesting to see what our Murder-for-Hire prosecutors do with this situation.

...
(Mr. Lichty clearly has his finger on the pulse of the news.)..

As we see in most of the comic strips, these writers are cribbing from the headlines all the time. It makes their strips relevant, but also, helps solve the challenge of the intense pressure to come up with new ideas daily.

... (The sad thing is how very true to life this all is. My sister would fit right in with this crew.)...

Lifespan: African bush elephant: 60 – 70 years, Asian elephant: 48 years, African forest elephant: 60 – 70 years

So, the real questions are, what kind of Elephant is Tootsie and how old is she?

... ("Why do they call him Luke?" "Because he's not so hot! Ha! Ha! Ha! Get it?"...

Blackston is getting more and more like clueless Tecum everyday. They are both turtles on a post.

...

Today it's the back page everyone's looking at.....

Odd that the Eagle noted it as a twelve inning game.

...
Although Page 4 has plenty going on. What is it with gangsters and icepicks? Nick's boys never used icepicks....

Even for page 4, there's a whole lot of hanky-panky (and other stuff) going on today.

Re Ms. Saportas: Odd they got married and, then, each went back to his and her respective parent's home. Sounds as if they didn't really think through (or even understand the point of) the elopment.

Re the Jewel thief going back to Canada: Granted not the most honest way to earn a living, but it is another 1930s/40s robust employment field that has all but disappeared today. Even a career in crime isn't protected from obsolescence. "Hey, Hank, remember the good old days when you could make an honest living stealing rich people's jewelry?"

Re Sea-green PJs and blonde hair: that sounds like an intentional set up for the divorce proceedings.

... There's definitely something afoot here. Someone's waiting out on the high seas, perhaps someone who cleverly faked his own death?....

Also, who gets a month off even in 1940? If Gray tried this nonsense today, social media would have already forced the return of Nick.

... "That goes hard with a fat person?" Hey, you're not exactly Susie Sylph yourself, toots.....

I didn't miss that line either -that was harsh and, as you noted, a bit hypocritical.

... No words can express.....

This is exactly why I kept encouraging those two to have sex when they had the opportunity.

... There's got to be a place in Bim's worldwide organization for a shoe clerk with a bent for bad poetry.....

The heck with finding him a job, that's easy. If I'm moneybags Bim, and before O'Dwyer and Turkus did their thing, I'd have been making subtle inquiries about Murder For Hire re Momma. You know, just asking for a friend and all.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The photo of Medwick splayed out like that is one of the most horrifying sports pictures ever taken -- he looks dead, and he very easily could have been if the ball had hit half an inch lower.

But what I want to know is why there are no photos of MacPhail rampaging on the field. Some had to have been taken, and I want to know exactly who pulled the string to have them suppressed. The league office? The commissioner? I can't imagine MacPhail himself would have done anything to stop them -- if anything he'd want to be seen as the brave executive defending his boys from the sinister attacks of a depraved enemy. But the powers-that-be have no love for Laughing Larry, and this seems like an incident that'll reinforce that attitude. Baseball, then as now, does not like to have the spotlight shine on its bad side.

Out of curiosity I checked how this story played in St. Louis, and found that it basically didn't -- the Post-Dispatch carried nothing on the front page, which is odd considering what an institution Medwick had been in that city, and just a wire-service story on the sports page. No analysis, no columns, no commentary, and no photos. The other big St. Louis paper, the Globe-Democrat plays it the same way, but they do run a small cut of the famous photo way down at the bottom of the sports page. Hmmm.

I can't imagine any modern-era executive, not even Steinbrenner in all his glory, running onto the field to scream into a dugout or going after an opposing player under the stands, no matter what the provocation. "It was a gentler time."

MacPhail has been an advocate for batting helmets for a while now, so we may see action, at least, on that front.

Since when does Tecum own a boat or know anything about boats? I almost wonder if somebody at the syndicate called Gray in and said "we can't have this gangster character as a hero. Get rid of him."

Today's TATP is a small masterpiece. Notice the facial expressions -- especially Pat's.

 

[Fading Fast]

The photo of Medwick splayed out like that is one of the most horrifying sports pictures ever taken -- he looks dead, and he very easily could have been if the ball had hit half an inch lower.

But what I want to know is why there are no photos of MacPhail rampaging on the field. Some had to have been taken, and I want to know exactly who pulled the string to have them suppressed. The league office? The commissioner? I can't imagine MacPhail himself would have done anything to stop them -- if anything he'd want to be seen as the brave executive defending his boys from the sinister attacks of a depraved enemy. But the powers-that-be have no love for Laughing Larry, and this seems like an incident that'll reinforce that attitude. Baseball, then as now, does not like to have the spotlight shine on its bad side.

Out of curiosity I checked how this story played in St. Louis, and found that it basically didn't -- the Post-Dispatch carried nothing on the front page, which is odd considering what an institution Medwick had been in that city, and just a wire-service story on the sports page. No analysis, no columns, no commentary, and no photos. The other big St. Louis paper, the Globe-Democrat plays it the same way, but they do run a small cut of the famous photo way down at the bottom of the sports page. Hmmm.

I can't imagine any modern-era executive, not even Steinbrenner in all his glory, running onto the field to scream into a dugout or going after an opposing player under the stands, no matter what the provocation. "It was a gentler time."

MacPhail has been an advocate for batting helmets for a while now, so we may see action, at least, on that front.

Since when does Tecum own a boat or know anything about boats? I almost wonder if somebody at the syndicate called Gray in and said "we can't have this gangster character as a hero. Get rid of him."

Today's TATP is a small masterpiece. Notice the facial expressions -- especially Pat's.

I hope you're wrong but fear you're right that Gray might have been told "enough" with Nick. He's such a good character because he's such a complex and real person, but not necessarily what those in control want to see.

Agreed on TATP, the subtext and sexual tension are about as good as it gets (matched, as you note, by the skilled illustrations).Today is an all-adult day for TATP.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Jurors in Brooklyn Federal Court debated for seven hours yesterday and two hours this morning without reaching a verdict in the cases of fourteen men accused in the Christian Front seditious-conspiracy trial. The eleven man-one woman panel is continuing its deliberations at press time. Jurors were locked up overnight at the St. George Hotel after concluding the first day's deliberations at 11 pm, and returned to the jury room at 10:30 this morning.

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Robert Bowman has been cleared this afternoon by District Attorney William O'Dwyer of any criminal liability in the beaning of Dodger Joe Medwick. Assistant District Attorney Burton Turkus interviewed the pitcher, other eyewitnesses, and Medwick himself before delivering his recommendation to the District Attorney. Medwick, interviewed at Caledonian Hospital, where he is recovering from a brain concussion, told Turkus that he "knew of no threats of a 'dusting'" prior to the June 18th game at Ebbets Field, although three civilians testified to Turkus that they had overheard a confrontation between Medwick and Bowman at the Hotel New Yorker before the game. As the District Attorney's investigation continued yesterday, National League president Ford Frick conducted a probe of his own at his Manhattan office, calling in Dodger president Larry MacPhail, manager Leo Durocher, team secretary John MacDonald, and most of the roster of the Cardinals for a thorough grilling. A statement from Frick's office indicated that no ruling on the case would be issued until the District Attorney completed his criminal probe.

President Roosevelt today named two leading Republicans to his new coalition cabinet, appointing Henry L. Stimson as Secretary of War and former GOP Vice Presidential candidate Frank Knox as Secretary of the Navy. The action by the President, shattering all political precedents, comes on the eve of the formal opening of the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia.

Germany has delivered surrender terms for France, as Premier Marshal Henri Petain stated in a broadcast that France has fallen because it had "fewer friends" than it had in 1914-18. The terms have not yet been announced to the public, but are believed to include the surrender of France's entire military structure, including all men, all planes, all ships, and all other equipment, to German.

German bombers today struck over England, Wales, and Scotland with more than a hundred Nazi plans dropping over a hundred bombs in the most extensive air raid yet on the United Kingdom. The British Parliament went into an extraordinary secret session today to prepare for what is already being called "The Battle of Britain."

At Yankee Stadium tonight, Joe Louis will again defend his heavyweight championship against challenger Arturo Godoy. Louis defeated Godoy February 9th in a bout widely criticized for its technical sloppiness, and is expected to take a far more aggressive approach in the rematch. The defending champion weighed in today at 199 pounds, the lightest weight he has brought into the ring in his entire career, spotting Godoy a 2 1/2 pound advantage. Louis is a 5 to 1 favorite to retain his crown, and oddsmakers are giving 2 to 1 that the Brown Bomber will dispose of Godoy in a knockout.

The Federal food stamp program will begin in Brooklyn this summer, as a more efficient means for distributing the nation's farm surpluses to those in need. Brooklyn, with 39,766 families receiving home relief, was selected as the first borough of New York City to participate in the program, which has been well-received in trial markets upstate and in New Jersey.

("What?" bellows Sally. "PETEY WAS AT SCHRAFFT'S!" Joe looks over with a wry smile. "Never shoulda quit ya job there, huh?")

("Dari-Blend" is a "reconstituted" dairy product made from dry milk protiens and whey. And since it's not straight milk, it's not subject to any of regulations that pertain to milk. Yum!)

("My Son, My Son" is a fine picture, but I have to admit I'm more enthusiastic about a picture where you get to see Hugh Herbert doing the conga. Woo-Woo HEY!)

F. M. Umlauff writes in to suggest that once the Fulton Street L is out of the way, something ought to be done about those shabby, dirty buildings underneath it. Time for a "Spruce Up Brooklyn" campaign!

(Brinksmanship, neighborhood style.)

As predicted, tensions were at the breaking point at Ebbets Field last night as the Dodgers and Cardinals wrapped up their series with an 8-3 Brooklyn win. But the game itself was overshadowed by more scrapping between the clubs, as Cardinal catcher Mickey Owen got into a fracas with Leo Durocher that ended with Owen taking several swings at the Dodger manager. None of the fisticuffs found their mark, but Owen was ejected from the game, fined $50, and suspended for four days by league president Ford Frick. Owen had just been forced out at second base and was trotting back to the dugout, when words were exchanged with Durocher at shortstop. Owen turned back, and came at Leo with fists swinging, and as umpire Bick Campbell jumped between the two combatants, the benches emptied. Cardinal Johnny Hopp, the last batter, arrived at the battle scene with bat in hand, but did not use it. Durocher explained after the game that Owen had slid into Pete Coscarart with spikes high -- and with Pete having just recovered from a severe spiking, Leo yelled criticism of the play at Cardinal manager Billy Southworth, who had earlier denied that his team plays dirty ball. Owen interjected his own sentiments, and Durocher says he replied with something along the lines of "who the hell is talking to you?" And then the fight began.

Dodger president Larry MacPhail, still fuming over the beaning of Joe Medwick, stormed into the Cardinal clubhouse after the game, demanding to know if any of the St. Louis players have a problem with Brooklyn, and if they don't think they can play at Ebbets Field as the visiting club. Cardinal manager Southworth hastened to state that MacPhail's post-game visit was made with his permission.

Meanwhile, Medwick continues his recuperation from the beaning at Caledonian Hospital, where MacPhail says he has been told he will require "48 hours of complete rest." Durocher is confident that the Duck can return to the lineup as soon as he is released from the hospital, but MacPhail admits he's not so sure about that.

Pitcher Bob Bowman was conspicuously absent from Ebbets Field last night. Southworth says he told the righthander not to report for the game for his own safety.

With the Cardinals finally on their way out of town, the Dodgers turn their attention to the Pirates, who sail in for a three game series beginning tomorrow.

The Dodgers are silent on a rumor that pitcher Luke Hamlin has jumped the club and gone back home to his potato farm in Michigan. A Manhattan tabloid, "no doubt jealous of our Dodgers," claimed that Hamlin's absence from Ebbets Field last night followed a confrontation with Larry MacPhail, in which the Red Headed One made sarcastic comments about Hamlin's recent performance. Neither MacPhail nor Durocher could be reached for comment today, and a message left at Hamlin's Columbia Heights apartment brought only the cryptic response "tell that reporter I'll talk to him later."

(Meanwhile, none of you meatheads actually know where Tootsie is. Think about it.)

("Wakeup call for Mr. Blackston...")

(The head hood goes Full Axel! THROW HIM IN THE SEA!)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

The "Reverend" Winrod was a completely noxious piece of work. His son Gordon is still an active figure in neo-Nazi/white nationalist circles today.

Everybody wants to get in on the act.

Despite this editorial endorsement by the most widely-circulated newspaper in America, batting helmets will not become compulsory until 1971.

If I were Annie, I'd never get on a boat again in my life.

The guy in panel two is wondering what the world is coming to.

Look at that punchable, punchable face.

I just realized who Igor reminds me of -- he's physically a dead ringer for my father. Which is disturbing to me on so many levels.

Ok kids, start scheming.

And guest starring as the Sheriff, none other than William "Hopalong Cassidy" Boyd.

Don't waste your time on Plushie, kid -- I hear the Frosches are back in business.

 

[Fading Fast]

Jurors in Brooklyn Federal Court debated for seven hours yesterday and two hours this morning without reaching a verdict in the cases of fourteen men accused in the Christian Front seditious-conspiracy trial. The eleven man-one woman panel is continuing its deliberations at press time. Jurors were locked up overnight at the St. George Hotel after concluding the first day's deliberations at 11 pm, and returned to the jury room at 10:30 this morning....

They seemed to sequester juries more back then than now. About six years ago, my girlfriend was on a high-profile gang trial in New York City and all the judge did was advise the jury members not to watch the news, read the papers, log-on to news sites, etc., and it was a trial that was covered everyday in the news.

...
St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Robert Bowman has been cleared this afternoon by District Attorney William O'Dwyer of any criminal liability in the beaning of Dodger Joe Medwick. Assistant District Attorney Burton Turkus interviewed the pitcher, other eyewitnesses, and Medwick himself before delivering his recommendation to the District Attorney. Medwick, interviewed at Caledonian Hospital, where he is recovering from a brain concussion, told Turkus that he "knew of no threats of a 'dusting'" prior to the June 18th game at Ebbets Field, although three civilians testified to Turkus that they had overheard a confrontation between Medwick and Bowman at the Hotel New Yorker before the game. As the District Attorney's investigation continued yesterday, National League president Ford Frick conducted a probe of his own at his Manhattan office, calling in Dodger president Larry MacPhail, manager Leo Durocher, team secretary John MacDonald, and most of the roster of the Cardinals for a thorough grilling. A statement from Frick's office indicated that no ruling on the case would be issued until the District Attorney completed his criminal probe....

The MLB wagons seem to be circling successfully.

...
("What?" bellows Sally. "PETEY WAS AT SCHRAFFT'S!" Joe looks over with a wry smile. "Never shoulda quit ya job there, huh?")...

Peewee and Petey were right here inside the Schrafft's on Flatbush Ave:


And Ms. MacKaill herself in one of her best "talkies," 1931's "Safe in Hell" (comments on the movie here #27097)

...Dodger president Larry MacPhail, still fuming over the beaning of Joe Medwick, stormed into the Cardinal clubhouse after the game, demanding to know if any of the St. Louis players have a problem with Brooklyn, and if they don't think they can play at Ebbets Field as the visiting club. Cardinal manager Southworth hastened to state that MacPhail's post-game visit was made with his permission....

MacPhail is either playing a strong meta-game to garner his players' support or he is simply genuinely angry about what happened to Medwick (I hope it's the latter).

...Pitcher Bob Bowman was conspicuously absent from Ebbets Field last night. Southworth says he told the righthander not to report for the game for his own safety....

De-escalation '40s-MLB style.

...The Dodgers are silent on a rumor that pitcher Luke Hamlin has jumped the club and gone back home to his potato farm in Michigan. A Manhattan tabloid, "no doubt jealous of our Dodgers," claimed that Hamlin's absence from Ebbets Field last night followed a confrontation with Larry MacPhail, in which the Red Headed One made sarcastic comments about Hamlin's recent performance. Neither MacPhail nor Durocher could be reached for comment today, and a message left at Hamlin's Columbia Heights apartment brought only the cryptic response "tell that reporter I'll talk to him later."...

???

... (Meanwhile, none of you meatheads actually know where Tootsie is. Think about it.) ...

Very good point Lizzie. Also, just noting, Uncle Zip is still alive

... ("Wakeup call for Mr. Blackston...")...

If Blackston and Tecum swapped their small brains, would anyone but their wives notice (or care)?

... The "Reverend" Winrod was a completely noxious piece of work. His son Gordon is still an active figure in neo-Nazi/white nationalist circles today....

Re the East Side Drive (a really necessary road): Sounds like an insanely sloppy and thoughtless opening. Now, there are overpasses at reasonable intervals all along the drive for the northbound traffic.

Re local 137: Some version of that union-corruption scheme is, sadly, evergreen.

Re the Stratoliner to Chicago: Unfortunately, this is what the handwriting on the wall looks like for The Twentieth Century and Broadway Limited trains between NYC and Chicago.

...
Everybody wants to get in on the act.....

That is complicated as heck. Also, do you only get air-conditioning at the 95-cent-and-above price point.

I've always wished I could have gone to a Schrafft's, but going out to dinner isn't suppose to be a puzzle to be solved.

... If I were Annie, I'd never get on a boat again in my life.....

I'm probably reading too much into Annie's comment, but if Nick really was offed because the powers that be didn't like him, then Annie's words (and Sandy's "amen") make a lot of sense. I think I'm Lizzie-level mad that Nick was killed off (if he was).

...[ The guy in panel two is wondering what the world is coming to.....

Conniving, scheming, evil and angry people often assume that everyone else is like them.

...[ I just realized who Igor reminds me of -- he's physically a dead ringer for my father. Which is disturbing to me on so many levels.....

That's funny/odd Lizzie. Any pics of your dad around?

Also, $200 in '40 is about ~$3600 today. Not a small amount of money, but if it was all you had in the world and you were unemployed, would you be spending it on a fancy dinner and champagne?

And I don't care, Harold might be eating a hotdog in the rain, but he is still lucky as heck to have escaped from Senga.

.... Ok kids, start scheming.....

Anybody going to visit April in the hospital?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Meanwhile in the hospital, that Crispin guy is making his move. "Pat who? Terry who? Never heard of them."

Mr. MacPhail may be the most insane executive baseball ever had or ever will have. Granted, most of his insanity comes out of the bottom of a bottle, but only Charles O. Finley could ever even approach his level of antic-ness. I still want to see film of him threatening to punch out Johnny Mize.

I don't have a single photo of my father, although I guess my mother must have some down at the bottom of a shoe box somewhere. He had exactly the same nose and hair as our friend Igor here, and a very similar profile. The only trace of him to be found on the internet is his short and ineffective record as a canvasback boxer in the late sixties.

I hope that's a good hot dog, at least. Poor kid deserves a break.

 

[Fading Fast]

...
I hope that's a good hot dog, at least. Poor kid deserves a break.

The shame is, right now, he can't see how lucky he got. Years in the future, he'll get it, but not right now. Several things in most people's lives that seemed bad at the time - a job you didn't get, somebody who said no to a date, even a medical diagnosis (something caught early - you take steps to prevent it from getting worse). - can turn out, years later in a look-back, to have been fortunate. But again, we rarely feel that way at the time.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Adolf Hitler today presented France with terms for an armistice, on the same spot in the Compiegne Forest where Imperial Germany surrendered to France in 1918. The old railroad dining car used for the World War surrender ceremony was removed from the museum that had housed it, hauled to the forest clearing, and placed exactly where it sat nearly twenty-two years ago. Hitler himself sat in the very chair used by Marshal Foch as he presided over the ceremony. Outside, the statue commemorating the French victory of 1918 was veiled by an enormous swastika flag.

The surrender terms were read to the French delegation by Gen. Wilhelm Keitel, and include demands that France provide "all guarantees necessary" for continuation of the war against Great Britain, "which Britain has forced upon Germany," and the payment of reparations to Germany by France "for the wrong done to the German Reich by force." There is also a stipulation that France must pledge to Germany that "it will not take up arms against her again."

Meanwhile, while the fighting in France has slowed considerably with armistice negotiations underway, it has not entirely stopped. From the French-Swiss frontier come reports that French troops have pushed back Axis forces north of Grenoble, but with heavy losses.

Jury deliberations in the Christian Front seditious conspiracy trial are in their third day, with reliable reports stating that there has been, so far, no "wrangling" and no evidence of serious disagreement among the jurors, suggesting that the panel is considering the fate of each of the fourteen defendants one at a time.

A Brooklyn-born woman and her two young children are back in the borough following a harrowing sea voyage thru the U-Boat infested waters of the North Atlantic. Mrs. Naomi Flax Bakstansky and her two daughters Ruth and Nina arrived today aboard the liner Washington, along with 1790 other grateful passengers fleeing the European War. Mrs. Bakstansky is the wife of a British subject connected to the Zionist movement who has remained in his native country, and says the most memorable moment of the voyage was a full-scale U-Boat scare on June 11th, an alert which found her and her children placed in a lowered lifeboat. "It was an experience," she states, "that I never want to go thru again."

Today marks the first day of summer, but you wouldn't have known it from the temperature this morning. Brooklyn recorded a temperature of 50.2 degrees at 9:37 AM, the moment of the summer solstice, marking the coldest June 21st on record. Believe it or not, upstate there is snow on the ground.

A thirty-two year old taxicab driver found a bundle of money containing $3590 left by a fare in the back of his cab -- and gave it back. Joseph Guarino of Red Hook, who in a good week earns maybe $15, discovered the roll of bills in denominations up to $500 and immediately turned it in at the Fort Hamilton police station. "It was so much cabbage I didn't even count it," said the bewildered cabbie. The money was subsequently claimed by elderly retired tailor David Goldman, who had hired Guarino to deliver a radio and several small articles to his daughter's home. Goldman told police he had hidden the bankroll, representing seven years' savings, in the back of the radio and had forgotten it was there.

(A new store in Flushing, and no World's Fair tie-in? I am, in fact, amazed.)

Bob the Dog has won at least a few more days of life, with a hearing before Supreme Court Justice John McCooey on an injunction to stop his execution having been adjourned until next Wednesday. The attorney representing the city against the five-year-old fawn-colored Spitz and his mistress, Mrs. Helen Browne of 809 Ditmas Avenue asked for more time to prepare a response to new evidence presented by Mrs. Browne's attorney in support of the claim that Bob did not in fact bite three persons, and that it was another fawn-colored Spitz in the neighborhood who did the biting.

"Tennis Anyone?" The well-dressed sportsman ventures onto the court this summer in bright colors, flowing scarves, and linen Bermuda shorts ending just above the knee.

Enjoy movies in the cool of the evening atop the St. George Hotel in downtown Brooklyn. Films will be shown Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, weather permitting, on the hotel's rooftop on a screen suspended above the St. George "Play Deck." Pictures to be shown will be revivals of films "the older generation once thought were something-or-other."

Now showing at the AIR CONDITIONED Patio, it's Humphrey Bogart and Ann Sothern in "It All Came True," paired with Zorina and Richard Greene in "I Was An Adventuress."

("And get that penny off the track. You think we're made of money?")

The inventor of the famous Thompson sub-machine gun has died at his home in Great Neck at the age of 80. Brigadier General John T. Thompson invented the weapon while serving as head of the Army's Small Arms Division, and after his retirement from the military in 1919, became vice-president of the Auto Ordnance Corporation of New York. General Thompson designed the gun, originally named the "Annihilator," for military use, but lived to see it become the favorite weapon of the Prohibition-era gangster as the infamous "tommy-gun."

The twenty-five-year old Coney Island man sentenced eight months ago to learn to cook after a marital dispute was back in court yesterday on charges of assaulting his wife. Alex White and his wife Frances are now legally separated, and Mrs. White has charged him with attacking her at her 86th Street home on June 16th and striking her in the face. White told Magistrate C. H. Flynn he just wanted to see his son, now fourteen months old, but Flynn ordered him sent to Kings County Hospital "for observation."

Joe Louis gave Arturo Godoy the worst beating he has handed out in eleven title defenses last night at Yankee Stadium, before taking victory by a technical knockout in the fifteenth round. There was no dancing-around-the-ring this time, as Louis gave the Chilean challenger a hiding he'll never forget. Louis himself was pleased with the night's work, stating after the bout "I gave Godoy the worst trouncing I've ever given a man." Godoy himself could only say thru swollen, cracked lips, "Louis, heez wan great fighter...but Arturo, he great fighter too!"

Harold Parrott says that Leo Durocher did not appear before District Attorney William O'Dwyer after all in connection with the Medwick beaning incident. Reports from the Dodger clubhouse state that the Brooklyn manager had "a friend fix it" with the DA, who is said to have pulled back his criminal investigation of whether Cardinal pitcher Bob Bowman intentionally struck Medwick on Tuesday after running into "baseball's 'I-won't-say-nothin' attitude." Parrott reports that there is a widespread view among ballplayers that they don't want "lawmen" involved in the rougher aspects of the game -- and Medwick's refusal to press charges against Bowman for skulling him doesn't mean he won't retaliate against the Cardinal righthander someday, "in his own way."

National League President Ford Frick has closed his investigation of the Medwick incident, declaring that he could find no evidence to support the Dodgers' claim that Bowman intentionally threw at Medwick. The powerful outfielder was discharged from Caledonian Hospital last night, and doctors say he may be fit to play as early as this weekend.

Meanwhile, the status of Luke "Hot Potato" Hamlin remains unresolved, with the pitcher and team president Larry MacPhail still incommunicado on reports of a serious rift between Hamlin and the executive. "I ain't sayin' nothin'" was Hamlin's only comment to the press yesterday, amidst rumors that MacPhail has suspended the 1939 20-game-winner "for the duration," whatever that means. All that is known is that MacPhail and Hamlin had some sort of confrontation in the locker room after Hamlin's last outing, in which he lost leads of 4-0 and 5-3 against the Cardinals due to his tendency to give up home runs, and that whatever was said during that confrontation would have to be printed on asbestos paper. While there appears to be no evident truth to the rumor that Hamlin has jumped the club and gone back home to Michigan, he is unlikely to appear again in a Dodger uniform unless and until there is an armistice reached with the front office.

This afternoon, the Dodgers welcome the Pirates to Ebbets Field for the first in a three-game set. Back in Brooklyn will be an old-time Dodger favorite, catcher Al Lopez, who is making his first appearance here in a Pittsburgh uniform.

(George is an idiot, but Sugar is a louse. I hope when Tootsie reappears, the first thing she does is stomp him.)

(FROSSSSSSTAY!)

(Howzabout we get together next Tuesday and talk it over. How about Childs?)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Well, they just *must* be innocent then, everybody knows Nazis never smile.

Tula gets an endorsement deal. And note that "many" of Childs Restaurants are comfortably air conditioned. ("Yeah," says Sally. "An' th' rest of 'em are hotter'n hell!")

COOOOOOOOOOKIE!

Y'know, John, that "fat gangster" *did* save Annie's life. Think about it.

Nertz to you, gripey hospital orderly. I hope you get a rupture.

Yeah, kid, you better look sharp or this Crispin guy will beat your time. Oh, and seriously, don't ask Pat too many questions about what's been going on the past six months. Seriously.

What's that, Snipe? A conscience? Kinda late, isn't it?

You know, Bim will hand out money like candy bars to any random sob story he meets on the street, and yet he's known Tilda for almost twenty years and has never done a thing for her. That's OK, she don't need him, she don't need nobody. Work that confidence, sister.

Elmo Otto Lummox Mullins gets the presidential suite at the Hotel rue de Raymondie.

And back home in Covina, Shadow finally realizes Harold's been gone for almost five months. How time flies.

 

[Fading Fast]

Adolf Hitler today presented France with terms for an armistice, on the same spot in the Compiegne Forest where Imperial Germany surrendered to France in 1918. The old railroad dining car used for the World War surrender ceremony was removed from the museum that had housed it, hauled to the forest clearing, and placed exactly where it sat nearly twenty-two years ago. Hitler himself sat in the very chair used by Marshal Foch as he presided over the ceremony. Outside, the statue commemorating the French victory of 1918 was veiled by an enormous swastika flag.

The surrender terms were read to the French delegation by Gen. Wilhelm Keitel, and include demands that France provide "all guarantees necessary" for continuation of the war against Great Britain, "which Britain has forced upon Germany," and the payment of reparations to Germany by France "for the wrong done to the German Reich by force." There is also a stipulation that France must pledge to Germany that "it will not take up arms against her again."...

Objectively, Hitler pulled off one of the greatest rub-your-faces-in-it moments in history with the train car surrender. Psychotic, of course, but he knew how to carry a grudge and celebrate a victory.

...A thirty-two year old taxicab driver found a bundle of money containing $3590 left by a fare in the back of his cab -- and gave it back. Joseph Guarino of Red Hook, who in a good week earns maybe $15, discovered the roll of bills in denominations up to $500 and immediately turned it in at the Fort Hamilton police station. "It was so much cabbage I didn't even count it," said the bewildered cabbie. The money was subsequently claimed by elderly retired tailor David Goldman, who had hired Guarino to deliver a radio and several small articles to his daughter's home. Goldman told police he had hidden the bankroll, representing seven years' savings, in the back of the radio and had forgotten it was there....

You knew the inflation calculator was coming out: $3590 in 1940 = ~$66,000 today. Kudos to Guarino.

...Bob the Dog has won at least a few more days of life, with a hearing before Supreme Court Justice John McCooey on an injunction to stop his execution having been adjourned until next Wednesday. The attorney representing the city against the five-year-old fawn-colored Spitz and his mistress, Mrs. Helen Browne of 809 Ditmas Avenue asked for more time to prepare a response to new evidence presented by Mrs. Browne's attorney in support of the claim that Bob did not in fact bite three persons, and that it was another fawn-colored Spitz in the neighborhood who did the biting....

Good to see NYC has so few problems that its attorneys have time to devote so much effort to prosecuting one dog.

... View attachment 242968
Joe Louis gave Arturo Godoy the worst beating he has handed out in eleven title defenses last night at Yankee Stadium, before taking victory by a technical knockout in the fifteenth round. There was no dancing-around-the-ring this time, as Louis gave the Chilean challenger a hiding he'll never forget. Louis himself was pleased with the night's work, stating after the bout "I gave Godoy the worst trouncing I've ever given a man." Godoy himself could only say thru swollen, cracked lips, "Louis, heez wan great fighter...but Arturo, he great fighter too!"...

There is something to just making it to the 15th round against one of the greatest fighters of all time, apparently, in top shape and taking the fight seriously. We saw how long Max Schmeling lasted when Joe was focussed.

... View attachment 242973 (FROSSSSSSTAY!)...

The frost lines are classic. And while John gets in a good blow in panel four, you know he'll be eating those words eventually.

.. (Howzabout we get together next Tuesday and talk it over. How about Childs?)

Come on Black Hood guy, you are suppose to appear to sincerely offer to let Dan go if he tells you what he knows. The "tell me everything and I may let you go free" offer is hardly an incentive. What second-rate bad-guy school did he attend?

... Tula gets an endorsement deal. And note that "many" of Childs Restaurants are comfortably air conditioned. ("Yeah," says Sally. "An' th' rest of 'em are hotter'n hell!")....

Childs needs to rein it in as its ads are starting to appear desperate. Today's cheesecake approach is just silly. Somebody needs to takeover and control marketing.

... Y'know, John, that "fat gangster" *did* save Annie's life. Think about it.....

It's way, way too soon for comments like that about Nick. In addition to saving Annie's life, he put Tecum where he is. Say what you will about social media, they'd be toasting Gray on it right now. They'd force him to bring Nick back.

... Yeah, kid, you better look sharp or this Crispin guy will beat your time. Oh, and seriously, don't ask Pat too many questions about what's been going on the past six months. Seriously....

April Kane is such a perfect good-girl comic book name. And Pat, you might want to think about Captain Renault's comment to Rick about being extravagant with women.

... What's that, Snipe? A conscience? Kinda late, isn't it?....

I'm not buying Skeezix's man-of-the-world act, that boy is confused and hurting.

... And back home in Covina, Shadow finally realizes Harold's been gone for almost five months. How time flies.

Just noting, there's an apparent gap in the storyline that we need to be brought up to speed on.