The Era -- Day By Day

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Barrymore clearly needs a psychiatrist. And a better press agent.

Broke the shift-lock key again, didn't you Carlisle? That's coming out of your paycheck.

Is that a regulation haircut, Captain McKinley?

Please don't go too far, Vera, you're the best part of this story.

Because rough and tough oil truck drivers always say "what in the name of heaven?"

"They're right HERE," smiles Mamma, her eyes dropping invitingly to her decolletage as Bim falls over dead from a massive stroke.

Future U.S. Senator Wilmer Bobble.

"Oh, and do I look OK? Is the ascot too much?"

Harold discovers class consciousness.

"Mushmouth", who is no relation to the Bill Cosby character of the same name, is one of the few regular black characters to be featured in a comic strip in the Era. He is, obviously, an egregious racist stereotype both visually and in his general characterization -- but, at the same time, he and Moon are often portrayed as genuine friends, if not social equals. He is also unique among the black-caricature characters of the Era in that he actually has his own point of view and often an agenda independent of that of the white characters -- he doesn't merely exist as a sidekick, but joins in the adventure of the moment for purposes of his own. He doesn't exactly shatter stereotypes, but in his own way he does peek around the sides of them to suggest the possibility of something more. Of such small steps was progress made.

 

[Fading Fast]

King Carol of Rumania, under fire from his nation's new pro-Nazi military dictatorship, has abdicated his throne and fled the country aboard his private yacht. Accompanying the former king is red-haired Magda Lupescu, the ex-monarch's longtime associate with whom he spent years living in gay exile in Paris. Replacing Carol on the Rumanian throne is his son Prince Michael, who in one of his first official acts called for the return of his exiled mother, Princess Helena, the divorced wife of the ex-king. The Princess is reported to have arrived today in Bucharest from Dresden, Germany. ...

Nice to see that the Romanian Royal family has its house in order the same way every royal family seems to - they are all just fodder for the News' page four.

...Gasoline-powered buses will replace the trolley lines along Fulton Street following a decision made today by the Board of Transportation. That decision has not yet been formally announced by the Board, but emerged from a meeting this afternoon in which contracts were let out for the purchase of the buses. The end of trolley service on Fulton Street will allow demolition of the former Fulton Street L structure to begin by next March, since there will be no need to first erect new trolley poles to carry power lines now suspended from the L's framework. The arrival of the buses will mean the end of trolley service to Fulton Street, Gates Avenue, Putnam Avenue, and DeKalb Avenue, all of which lines run along portions of Fulton Street and 3rd Avenue. The Board in reaching this decision rejected the alternative of trolley buses, trackless vehicles drawing power from trolley lines, and also rejected the recommendation from the New York City Riders Association that trolley service be retained as the most efficient and reliable surface transportation system....

...United States Treasury agents today broke up a family-run counterfeiting operation specializing in the manufacture of lead dimes. The raid of an apartment at 153 Wyckoff Avenue led to the arrest of 53-year-old unemployed longshoreman Joseph Luna and his 41 year old wife Josephine Luna. Agents had followed Mrs. Luna along an extensive shopping trip where she was observed to be passing the bogus coins, and followed her to the apartment, where she was detained and questioned. When Mr. Luna arrived home, a struggle with the agents ensued, and Luna fell to the floor, spilling hundreds of counterfeit dimes across the floor from his pockets. Mrs. Luna and the couple's two daughters assaulted the agents in an effort to break up the raid, but police radio cars were summoned, and patrolmen aided in subduing the family. The Lunas were taken to an adjacent apartment where a complete lead-casting setup was discovered with molds for the manufacturing of dimes. Mr. Luna seized a ladleful of molten lead and flung it in the direction of one of the agents, but missed his target. In addition to the fake dimes, a total of $80 worth of nickels and pennies were also seized by the agents....

Talk about a family not going down without a fight.

Also, "Dan Dunn" or "Dick Tracy" should have a version of this story out within weeks.

And let's not forget poor Horn an Hardart just trying to earn a living and being stuck with all those fake nickels. H&H didn't want to sell all its huckleberry pies this way.

... (And so dawns 1941...)...

That is awful copy. It's hard to believe it was approved. It wouldn't be worthy of more than a "C" in a high-school English class and would be marked with red ink everywhere.

...The Dodgers beat the Phillies 8 to 5 in ten innings at Shibe Park, for their seventh win in the last eight games, with the margin of victory coming on the basis of a botched Philadelphia double play that would have ended the inning. Rookie Pete Reiser, who has taken over at third base for the sidelined Cookie Lavagetto, had a spectacular day in the field, with nine assists and three putouts, and knocked a triple and single with his bat. Ducky Medwick extended his hitting streak to fourteen games with a home run and a single.

Absent from the Dodger lineup yesterday was rookie catcher Herman Franks, who's been getting a lot of playing time lately. Durocher says there's no particular reason why he played Babe Phelps behind the plate yesterday, and that "Franks hasn't hurt us" during his recent stretch as the regular backstop. Franks is notably aggressive with the pitching staff, a rare trait in a rookie catcher, and he raised quite a rumpus the day before yesterday when he stormed out to the mound and chewed out Luke Hamlin for crossing him up on a pitch to Phillie rookie phenom Danny Litwhiler. Franks isn't all that much of a hitter, which has limited his playing time this season, but he may be just the thing to light a fire under the Brooklyn mound staff, and he is likely to figure in Durocher's plans for 1941.

(Leo thinks a lot of Herman Franks. Eleven years from now, it will be Herman Franks, as a Giant, who lurks behind a telescope in the Polo Grounds clubhouse to steal opposing catchers' signs, an arrangement that will play a vital role in the "Miracle of Coogan's Bluff.")...

Medwick genuinely and finally seems better. Hope Durocher learned a lesson here.

I thought Herman Franks' named sounded familiar for more than just being a catcher.

...[ ("I don't even OWN a purple shirt. I do, however, have this keen tennis sweater from Davega!")...

Clearly, it's wear-a-pattern day at the Worth household.

.. Barrymore clearly needs a psychiatrist. And a better press agent....

"I don't deserve any of those comments Mr. Barrymore," says the miffed famous racehorse.

... View attachment 259008 Broke the shift-lock key again, didn't you Carlisle? That's coming out of your paycheck....

... Future U.S. Senator Wilmer Bobble....

know your onions
BRITISH, OLD-FASHIONED

If you know your onions, you know a lot about a particular subject. She really knows her onions in the historical field.Note: This may derive from the rhyming slang `onion rings', meaning `things'.
See also: know, onion

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012


I like "egg in your beer" better in our obscure-expressions contest.

... "Oh, and do I look OK? Is the ascot too much?"...

As they dive down to the rescue, I hear the theme from Indiana Jones playing.

Oh, and I did a quick search, couldn't find a single picture of Yul Brynner wearing an ascot.

 

[ChiTownScion]

"Mushmouth", who is no relation to the Bill Cosby character of the same name, is one of the few regular black characters to be featured in a comic strip in the Era. He is, obviously, an egregious racist stereotype both visually and in his general characterization -- but, at the same time, he and Moon are often portrayed as genuine friends, if not social equals. He is also unique among the black-caricature characters of the Era in that he actually has his own point of view and often an agenda independent of that of the white characters -- he doesn't merely exist as a sidekick, but joins in the adventure of the moment for purposes of his own. He doesn't exactly shatter stereotypes, but in his own way he does peek around the sides of them to suggest the possibility of something more. Of such small steps was progress made.

He looks like he was drawn by Robert Crumb.

 

[LizzieMaine]

That particular character design was pretty much standard for all black male characters in comics up to about the mid-1940s, and Crumb was clearly referencing that artistic trope in his own character designs. Even some of the characters drawn by black cartoonists for black papers used a similar caricature, although it dropped off sharply among such artists from the mid-thirties onward.

There was already significant pushback by 1940 about the use of such characters in mainstream comics, and you'll note as we go along that several of the artists we follow will be trying to be less offensive in the way they draw black characters -- or will simply not use black characters at all. Some syndicates enforced this by editorial policy -- King Features, the syndicate arm for the Hearst papers, issued a memo in 1944 telling its cartoonists to avoid the use of black characters in order to avoid causing possible offense. King was the big fish in the comic-strip pond, and other syndicates moved in that same direction. Mushmouth disappears from "Moon Mullins" for good in the early 1950s, but it isn't until the early 1970s that the "minstrel-style" character design completely disappears from the American funny pages.

 

[Haversack]

The silk scarf worn as a tucked-in ascot was pretty much a clothing stereotype for an aviator. It dates back to the open-cockpit days and the First World War. A silk scarf worn that way acts as a 'neck gasket' and prevents cold air from blowing down one's shirt. Also, having the ends tucked into the shirt protects the wearer from the 'Isadora Duncan Effect'.

 

[LizzieMaine]

A charge that Mayor LaGuardia "tampered" with District Attorney William O'Dwyer's investigation into the 1939 shooting death of Brooklyn police patrolman Nicholas C. Moreno by placing a spy in the Queens jail where a suspect in the case was being held is being seconded by a Queens County judge who declares that he never signed any papers authorizing the planting of Patrolman Adam D'Alassandro behind bars. Judge Thomas Downs denied any involvement in the incarceration of D'Allasandro, and stated today that he knew nothing whatever of the incident. Judge Downs has ordered all papers on the case impounded pending the outcome of an investigation. The District Attorney accused the Mayor of interfering with his investigation of the crime by planting Patrolman D'Alassandro in the jail to determine whether there was any truth to claims by Moreno's brother that two suspects in the case had been "mysteriously dismissed," and said today that he will form a Grand Jury to investigate the entire affair. Moreno was shot and killed on May 23, 1939 when he interrupted a robbery at a gas station on Leonard Street in Williamsburg. Two suspects in the shooting were arrested but subsequently released. A third remains in custody at the Queens County Jail.

Chief Deputy Inspector William Reynolds, caught in the middle of the O'Dwyer/LaGuardia confrontation, wept today as he told reporters that the affair has put an end to his friendship with the District Attorney, a friendship that dated back to the days when they both pounded a beat together in Brooklyn. Reynolds admitted that he was aware of the Mayor's intervention in the case, stating that he had been personally "sworn to secrecy"
about the matter.

German planes again raked England with bombs today, following the "worst day and night of the war" with attacks in the Northwest, the Southwest, and the Southeast while avoiding the battered capital. Docks in East London are still blazing from yesterday's raids, with spouting flames said to be visible for miles. Meanwhile, British raiders continued their attacks on Berlin, with "some personal and property damage" acknowledged by German sources.

The final House vote on the Burke-Wadsworth conscription bill is expected tonight, after considering amendments for more than seven hours. The only amendment adopted wlll prevent the War Department from inducting men into the service until adequate housing has been provided for them.

Parks Commissioner Robert Moses and World's Fair president Harvey D. Gibson are again at odds, with Commissioner Moses disputing Gibson's claim that the Fair is showing a profit in excess of $2,500,000 for the 1940 season. Moses today charged that Gibson's claim of a "net operating profit" is meaningless, and that the Fair is, in fact, "financially busted" and unable to pay back money owed to bondholders. Moses and Gibson have been at odds for weeks over Gibson's suggestion that the Fair grounds be turned over to the Army for conversion to a military cantonment as soon as the Fair closes at the end of next month. Moses is adamant that the Fair buildings be demolished immediately after closing, to facilitate the transformation of the site to the long-planned Flushing Meadows Park.

(Better get busy -- 2.6 million Brooklyn residents are waiting to draw moustaches on your campaign posters.)

The old Fort Lowry Hotel on Bay 17th Street in Bensonhurst, once the favored accommodation of famous actors playing the borough, will be demolished by the WPA to make way for a portion of the new Bay Parkway Park. The rambling 150-room wooden-frame structure has been vacant since 1924 since it was condemned as a fire hazard.

("Awwwwww," says Joe. "Somma th' best days of my life was spent throwin' rocks thru them windas." "Place is haunted," adds Sally. Meenmy fren' Mildred Dunnahy seena ghos' there oncet, a lady witta long dress anna big hat on. My pa sedditmussaben Lillian Russell, hwevva that was.")

("Is it Magerkurth? Call him "meathead." He hates that!")

The red-hot Dodgers took an emphatic two from the Phillies yesterday, concluding a sweep of their business so far this season at Shibe Park and head back to New York today to meet the Giants at the Polo Grounds, another arena where the Flock has been undefeated in 1940. Yesterday's twinbill saw Fat Freddie Fitzsimmons coasting to an easy 3-0 shutout for his fourteenth win of the season against just two losses, for a major league-leading winning percentage of .875. Joe Medwick provided the Dodger power in that game, racking Kirby Higbe for a homer and running his hitting streak to fifteen. Next time Ducky waddled to the plate, Higbe planted a high hard one in the middle of his back, causing Medwick to head to the mound, bat in hand, for a discussion of pitching technique. Durocher intervened and grabbed the bat, but the jawing continued for several minutes. The Philadelphia crowd then unleashed the bird, and razzed every move Medwick made for the rest of the afternoon. In the second game, Medwick gave the Phillie fans his love by unloading a grand slam against rookie southpaw Max Wilson, capping a 14-3 Brooklyn victory. Hugh Casey took the win in the nightcap.

Regardless of the outcome of the pennant races, there's talk of a post-season series between the Dodgers and Yankees to decide the metropolitan championship.

Billy Conn walloped Bob Pastor at Madison Square Garden last night, but he still didn't look like a fighter ready to take on Joe Louis for the heavyweight title. Conn struck at least sixblows below the belt in taking down Pastor in thirteen rounds, but observers agreed he won't get the chance to pull that against Louis.

Now at the AIR COOLED Patio, it's Joan Crawford and Frederic March in "Susan And God," paired with Akim Tamiroff in "The Way Of All Flesh."

(I just realized who Doc Static reminds me of -- disgraced Metropolitan Opera conductor James Levine. Ew.)

(We still haven't heard either of these neighbors say a single word. Which either displays remarkable restraint, or they're in a state of complete shock.)

("Wait, you mean they're NAZIS? I - I - I had NO IDEA!")

(Just once -- JUST ONCE -- I'd like to see a scene like this where they conk the guy and steal his uniform and the pants are three inches too short and they can't button the coat.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Of course he never throws furniture out the windows at home. They live in a basement.

Oh good, he got it fixed.

Ork-Ork!

She's been carrying that contract around for months, just waiting for the chance to do that.

Ok, serious Point Of Order -- how has the Professor been moving around during all this WITH THOSE STUPID METAL BALLS STILL ON HIS ANKLES? Maybe they'll use the tow truck to pull him up!

Bim should just keep his mouth open all the time, it'll save effort.

And I guess we know where she was, don't we Mr. Wumple?

That does it, you're DEFINITELY not getting your deposit back.

She and Mamma belong to the same bridge club.

Objects In Window Are Not As Close As They Appear.

 

[Fading Fast]

A charge that Mayor LaGuardia "tampered" with District Attorney William O'Dwyer's investigation into the 1939 shooting death of Brooklyn police patrolman Nicholas C. Moreno by placing a spy in the Queens jail where a suspect in the case was being held is being seconded by a Queens County judge who declares that he never signed any papers authorizing the planting of Patrolman Adam D'Alassandro behind bars. Judge Thomas Downs denied any involvement in the incarceration of D'Allasandro, and stated today that he knew nothing whatever of the incident. Judge Downs has ordered all papers on the case impounded pending the outcome of an investigation. The District Attorney accused the Mayor of interfering with his investigation of the crime by planting Patrolman D'Alassandro in the jail to determine whether there was any truth to claims by Moreno's brother that two suspects in the case had been "mysteriously dismissed," and said today that he will form a Grand Jury to investigate the entire affair. Moreno was shot and killed on May 23, 1939 when he interrupted a robbery at a gas station on Leonard Street in Williamsburg. Two suspects in the shooting were arrested but subsequently released. A third remains in custody at the Queens County Jail.

Chief Deputy Inspector William Reynolds, caught in the middle of the O'Dwyer/LaGuardia confrontation, wept today as he told reporters that the affair has put an end to his friendship with the District Attorney, a friendship that dated back to the days when they both pounded a beat together in Brooklyn. Reynolds admitted that he was aware of the Mayor's intervention in the case, stating that he had been personally "sworn to secrecy"
about the matter.
...

Parks Commissioner Robert Moses and World's Fair president Harvey D. Gibson are again at odds, with Commissioner Moses disputing Gibson's claim that the Fair is showing a profit in excess of $2,500,000 for the 1940 season. Moses today charged that Gibson's claim of a "net operating profit" is meaningless, and that the Fair is, in fact, "financially busted" and unable to pay back money owed to bondholders. Moses and Gibson have been at odds for weeks over Gibson's suggestion that the Fair grounds be turned over to the Army for conversion to a military cantonment as soon as the Fair closes at the end of next month. Moses is adamant that the Fair buildings be demolished immediately after closing, to facilitate the transformation of the site to the long-planned Flushing Meadows Park....

It's amazing how little things change. While the specifics are different, the O'Dwyer-LaGuardia feud has echoes of today's De Blasio-Cuomo feud and the Moses-Gibson argument comes up in nearly every public construction project where one official (who was for it all along) will say it came in under budget and the other (who was against it) will say it's egregiously over - to wit, we can't even agree on the accounting then or now.

...
(Better get busy -- 2.6 million Brooklyn residents are waiting to draw moustaches on your campaign posters.)...

Interesting. My guess, the Eagle just wants to capitalize on a biz opportunity from its excess printing capacity, but you can see the potential conflicts of interest here as well.

...Now at the AIR COOLED Patio, it's Joan Crawford and Frederic March in "Susan And God," paired with Akim Tamiroff in "The Way Of All Flesh."...

"Susan and God" is an odd movie.

... (I just realized who Doc Static reminds me of -- disgraced Metropolitan Opera conductor James Levine. Ew.)...

In the last three strips, despite feeling like it's all the same day, Sparky has on three different outfits. So he's either living there and three days have past or this kid changes his clothes several times a day.

... (We still haven't heard either of these neighbors say a single word. Which either displays remarkable restraint, or they're in a state of complete shock.)...

You know things have gone horribly wrong when, one minute, you're driving your neighbor and the next you're saying, "Oh oh, just a second while I get my neighbor out of that sand."

I think the neighbors' silence is strategy as they've figured out who The Bungles are and realize that engaging with them in anyway is a bad move.

... (Just once -- JUST ONCE -- I'd like to see a scene like this where they conk the guy and steal his uniform and the pants are three inches too short and they can't button the coat.)

Good point, but it's the shoes that always get me. Sure, if they are too big, you can usually make do, but if the shoes are more than a half size too small, you can't wear them, yet that never seems to happen in all the bonking and clothes stealing on TV and in movies and, well, comic strips.

...[ Of course he never throws furniture out the windows at home. They live in a basement....

Something so obvious just hit me for the first time reading page four: the minute Nazis were invented, we immediately invented calling our political opponents Nazis, a practice that continues to this day.

... Oh good, he got it fixed....

...
Ork-Ork!....

Challenge!

... She's been carrying that contract around for months, just waiting for the chance to do that....

She's a pip - I like her.

I feel badly for his parents, I sincerely do as it's heartbreaking to see decent people treated that way by their son, but at some point, "always see the good," becomes self indulgence and stupidity - I think we've reached that point.

... Ok, serious Point Of Order -- how has the Professor been moving around during all this WITH THOSE STUPID METAL BALLS STILL ON HIS ANKLES? Maybe they'll use the tow truck to pull him up!...

⇧ Yes and, second point of order, why did the water seemingly stop rising just at neck level as the truck's breaking a hole from above should not impact the flood of water into the basement.

... Bim should just keep his mouth open all the time, it'll save effort....

Kudos to the pickpocket on the IOU maneuver. He basically got Bim to pay Mamma $100 to tell him where the safe is. That's a "The Sting" level con - well done.

 

[Fading Fast]

 

[LizzieMaine]

The House of Representatives last night passed the Burke-Wadsworth peacetime conscription bill, voting 263 to 149 to enact the measure with an amendment deferring the actual start of the draft by sixty days to allow for further trial of the voluntary enlistment system. The latter amendment is not included in the Senate version of the bill passed last week, and there is expected to be further delay in preparing a version of the bill acceptable to both houses of Congress. The House version of the bill requires all men aged 21 to 44 to register for the draft, while the Senate version includes an age span from 21 to 30. The bill goes back now to the Senate for further debate on the amendments.

Former King Carol of Rumania escaped an assassination attempt last night as his special train crossed the Rumanian-Yugoslav frontier at Subotica. An assassin fired several shots thru the windows of Carol's private railroad car, and it is believed the shooter was a member of the pro-Nazi Rumanian Iron Guard. While several windows of the carriage were smashed by the bullets, the shots otherwise failed to penetrate the coach's armor plating, and the former King was reported uninjured. Carol abdicated the Rumanian throne last week in favor of his son, Prince Michael, who is cooperating with the Nazi-backed government.

Top officials of the former French Government have been placed under administrative internment at Chateau Chargeron by order of the Vichy government. Former Premiers Edouard Daladier and Paul Reynaud and former Generalissimo of the French Army Maurice Gustave Gamelin were arrested at their homes. As Daladier was taken away by police under the authority of the Interior Department, he told his son, "Whatever happens, it was not I who lost the war.

Police Commissioner Lewis J. Valentine has endorsed actions taken by Mayor LaGuardia to plant a Police Department spy in the Queens County Jail to determine the circumstances that lead to the early release of two suspects in the murder of Brooklyn patrolman Nicholas Moreno, shot and killed during a gas-station stickup in Williamsburg in May of 1939. The Commissioner, in issuing his statement supporting the Mayor's actions, declared that the police have used jailhouse "plants" for years in gathering intelligence, and praised LaGuardia for acting in accordance with his "sworn duty to cause a thorough and comprehensive investigation to be made in the interests of justice." The Mayor's intervention in the case has caused ripples in the Brooklyn District Attorney's office, where DA William O'Dwyer yesterday dismissed the Mayor's allegations of "mysterious dismissals" of the two suspects, contending that suspects Charles Farley and Louis Carsdad were held on"short arraignments" that specifically prohibited their incarceration for longer than forty-eight hours.They are presently awaiting trial on first degree murder charges for the Moreno shooting. Farley is the nephew of a former Manhattan sheriff, the late Thomas "Tin Box" Farley.

Forcibly shorn of his whiskers, and with his hair neatly trimmed and combed, Harry "Pittsburgh Phil" Strauss will appear in Kings County Court tomorrow as his usual dapper self, displaying the well-groomed appearance that once caused Police Commissioner Valentine to urge his men to "muss him up." Strauss's shave-and-a-haircut was administered yesterday by a police barber at the Raymond Street Jail, where the Murder-For-Hire suspect has been held since his arrest last March, after Judge Franklin Taylor ordered the prisoner shaven and shorn by force to prevent him from presenting an "insane" appearance in court. Strauss will go on trial this week for the murder of gangland informant Irving "Puggy" Feinstien, who was beaten and set afire a year ago in a Brownsville vacant lot.

Meanwhile, District Attorney William O'Dwyer's continent-spanning probe of the Murder For Hire gang's activities has penetrated deep into the little-known infiltration of the Hollywood movie business by East Coast goons. A formal investigation conducted by the Screen Actors Guild and the Central Casting Association in cooperation with O'Dwyer, assistant DA Burton Turkus, and Los Angeles County District Attorney Buron Fitts has already led to two arrests of bit actors with gangland connections, and a third man known to be operating now in Hollywood, former Brooklyn gangland figure Meyer Lansky, is being sought.

(An autograph hunter rushes up to the Great Man afterword. "Say!" she proclaims. "Didn't you used to be John Barrymore?")

Old Timer W. E. Kinzie of Greenpoint remembers the good old days of classroom pranks, when leaving a piece of Limburger cheese on the radiator was good for a whole afternoon of room-clearing, eye-watering stink. And don't forget the pickle works on Oakland Street where you could get "a monster pickle for a cent."

The Eagle Editorialist reflects on recent news of cats being born with seven claws to a foot, and sees an appropriate equivalence in National Defense planning, noting that any dog noticing a seven-clawed cat footprint in the dust would be well advised to keep his distance. He also notes with approval that cats seem to have controlled their development better than humans have, observing that living around humans may have caused our feline friends to realize the need for additional protection.

P. A. writes to Helen Worth concerned about her boyfriend's views on the draft. He says he's proud that nobody in his family has ever served in the Armed Forces, and notes with approval that his grandfather paid another man to take his place in the Army during the Civil War. Her parents have a problem with his views. Should she as well? Helen says she should leave his grandfather out of it entirely, and either take him for his virtues or leave him for his vices. It's up to her.

The Dodgers lost their first game all year at the Polo Grounds yesterday as the Giants, behind effective pitching from Harry Gumpert shut them down 4-1. Joe Medwick's hitting streak was snapped at sixteen games, and Dixie Walker, in the thick of the fight for the National League batting crown, was also held hitless.

Cookie Lavagetto was released from the hospital in Cincinnati today, and will join the team at the Polo Grounds tomorrow. He is, however, off the active list for the rest of the season following his emergency appendectomy.

Cookie's biggest fan, Columbia Heights restaurant owner Jack Pierce, was on hand at the Polo Grounds yesterday, and released his usual balloon barrage from behind third base to cheer the Dodgers on, but to no avail.

Vito Tamulis and Curt Davis start for Brooklyn today against Carl Hubbell and Lucky Lohrman for the Giants.

The Dodgers return to Ebbets Field on Tuesday to begin their final nineteen-game homestand of the 1940 season, with the Cubs first up.

Thirteen schoolboy football games will be played at Ebbets Field this fall, with the season opening with a tripleheader on October 5th. New Utrecht will take on Stuyvesant in a morning game, followed by Erasmus Hall versus Brooklyn Tech and Manual versus Midtown in the afternoon.

The man who made it possible to send those destroyers to Britain is the cover boy for Trend this week...

After an absence of ten years, Al Jolson returns to Broadway this week when "Hold Onto Your Hats" opens at the Shubert Theatre. The new musical comedy presents Jolson as a hapless radio actor who portrays a kiddie hero called "The Lone Rider" who finds himself riding and roping for real during an excursion to a dude ranch. Along the way, there's time for boisterous comedy with Martha Raye as a loudmouthed stagecoach driver, specialty acts with the Radio Aces and the Tanner Sisters, a bit of radio-style stoogery with Bert "The Mad Russian" Gordon, and of course plenty of songs by Burton Lane and Yip Harburg. Jolson has no plans to tear up the script and spend two hours just singing all his old numbers.

("I'll burn this whole prairie to the ground 'afore I'll let you get away!")

(Somehow I think Noel Coward and Marlene Dietrich could come up with better ways of attracting attention if they really put their minds to it.)

(When you want to dabble in androgyny but aren't really sure how.)

(So how many transport ships did it take to bring over all this stuff? "Those ships? They are loaded with -- bananas. That's it. Bananas. Everybody likes bananas.")

(When you consider everybody else who lives around Sunken Heights, you have to admit George isn't really all that crazy at all.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

The Waynesburg case: When W. E. Hill characters go bad.

Hey, Carlisle -- have you considered using cartoons? People like cartoons.

What, no guests peeking in the medicine cabinet?

Jeeez, Chief -- that radio is the state of the art if it's 1925. Maybe you need to ask for a communications upgrade instead of a new suitcase.

I wonder how much Lilacs had to pay to get that horse blanket made over into a sport coat?

As the Ghost Of Nick Gatt sits enigmatically at the table -- watching, waiting...

I knew somebody in school who could fit a pool ball in his mouth, but I don't think he ever tried an alarm clock.

You guys can't do anything the easy way, can you?

Phyllis has always had a hard row in the family, what with Walt being the constant underminer of all discipline.

"Ever wonder why my father and my uncle have no lower jaws at all? You're about to find out!"

 

[Fading Fast]

... View attachment 259493
The Dodgers lost their first game all year at the Polo Grounds yesterday as the Giants, behind effective pitching from Harry Gumpert shut them down 4-1. Joe Medwick's hitting streak was snapped at sixteen games, and Dixie Walker, in the thick of the fight for the National League batting crown, was also held hitless....

One of the joys of baseball this year is that I get to watch the two teams I've been rooting for, the 1940 Dodgers and the 2020 Yankees, flounder badly after early promise.

... (Somehow I think Noel Coward and Marlene Dietrich could come up with better ways of attracting attention if they really put their minds to it.)...

In 1940, all Dietrich needed to do to attract attention was walk into a room.


And the gold-mine heiress' $4000 dollar sheets in 1940 would cost, get ready for it, ~$74,000 today. (I'm wondering if the $4000 wasn't a typo and really was $400, a still crazy high number in 1940).

... (So how many transport ships did it take to bring over all this stuff? "Those ships? They are loaded with -- bananas. That's it. Bananas. Everybody likes bananas.")...

(Pounding the table) Very big point of order, I sincerely doubt the Fazians* speak English.

* I thought the Fazians were surrogate Japanese, but that guy there looks like Hollywood's favorite Nazi, Conrad Veidt

... (When you want to dabble in androgyny but aren't really sure how.)...

Back then, they did manage to sneak a lot in despite it all.

Caught a few minutes of "The Seven Year Itch" the other day and, while nothing was ever explicitly said, it was very clear that the two gentleman who live on the top floor and who are interior decorators are gay.

... The Waynesburg case: When W. E. Hill characters go bad....

Ernest Westmore's twin, Perc, shows up in the credits as makeup artist in a billion films from the era.

And Peggy Ann's father had better keep that checkbook open as he'll be spending plenty on little Peg for many years to come.

... Hey, Carlisle -- have you considered using cartoons? People like cartoons....

I'm just throwing it out there, could that be Tootsie?

An elephant's gotta earn a living too and with the election, there's probably plenty of work available for elephants (and donkeys) to model for illustrators.

... View attachment 259520 Jeeez, Chief -- that radio is the state of the art if it's 1925. Maybe you need to ask for a communications upgrade instead of a new suitcase....

I thought the truck was going to break through and blast the entire construct apart. Oh well, this is kinda good too.

Didn't we all agree to never mention the suitcase again?

... View attachment 259522 As the Ghost Of Nick Gatt sits enigmatically at the table -- watching, waiting......

If the Eagle would let us send in a dollar to help bring Nick back, I'd be sealing the envelope as we speak.

I had one of those silly rubber-band powered planes as a kid, which was a step up from the glider. In that day, it was a good inexpensive toy.

...[ You guys can't do anything the easy way, can you?...

The Dragon Lady earns her name ever single day.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The Dodgers have the second best record in the major leagues right now, in spite of it all. And meanwhile, the American League race is insane -- four teams out of eight have a shot at it. All things considered the 1940 season hasn't been remembered or written about nearly as much as it should have.

If that elephant is Tootsie, Uncle Zip needs to spring for some dental work, the poor thing. Or the RNC, or whoever's paying her bills.

As inspiring as the baseball pennant races are in 1940, the Presidential race is decidedly uninspiring as far as campaign excitement is concerned. I understand why FDR chooses not to do it, but debates would be fascinating. As history will ultimately reveal, Mr. Willkie is a lot brighter than his present political handlers allow him to be.

I bet Stoop gets sick of always being the guy who has to row the boat/break down the door/knock down the guards/etc.

The reason Terry didn't take that helmet off is that he knew he'd end up in the drink before this is over, and he gets swimmers' ear really bad.

Pat doesn't care about any of all this. Doesn't even unbutton his coat.

 

[LizzieMaine]

District Attorney William O'Dwyer is a "breast-thumping Pharisee," according to Queens County Court Judge Thomas Downs, who denounced the Brooklyn DA for "improperly, unjustifiably, and illegally" suggesting that he signed papers committing a police patrolman to jail to act as a spy for Mayor LaGuardia in connection with the investigation of the murder of a Brooklyn policeman by gas-station robbers in 1939. After swearing in the new September grand jury, Judge Downs launched into an attack on O'Dwyer for drawing him into the case and in doing so accusing him of participating in "a conspiracy to thwart the administration of justice." The Judge urged the Grand Jury to summon O'Dwyer and require him to explain exactly why he thought it necessary to mention his name in connection with the case. O'Dwyer has stated that Judge Downs signed off on the commitment of Patrolman Adam D'Allasandro, under the name of "Anthony Russo," to the jail cell, but the Judge insists he signed no papers to that effect at any time.

London's war-wise population took to air raid shelters again late today as sirens sounded for what appeared to be the start of a third consecutive night of grim Nazi bombings of the British capital. The series of raids has killed 600 persons and left 2600 seriously injured.

Jury selection began today in the trial of Harry "Pittsburgh Phil" Strauss and Martin "Buggsy" Goldstein for the 1939 incineration murder of underworld informant Irving "Puggy" Feinstein. An attempt by Strauss's attorney to seek a new ruling on his client's sanity was rejected, on the grounds that the matter had been settled by a board of psychiatrists in June. Strauss, with a heavy stubble already visible on his forcibly-shaven face, stared ahead with a vacant expression on his face as jurors were examined

Flag-salute ceremonies marked the start of a new school year for more than 400,000 Brooklyn schoolchildren this morning, as classes opened across the borough with call by New York City school superintendent Harold G. Campbell requiring the city's 37,000 school teachers to "stress Americanism" in their classrooms. Today was declared "Brooklyn Children's Day" by proclamation of Borough President John Cashmore, with display of the flag specifically requested under the terms of that order.

Meanwhile, Brooklyn is now the official headquarters for the Board of Education itself, with the educational administration for the entire city now based in the former Elks Club building at 110 Livingston Street near Borough Hall. Some 1000 Department of Education employees will work out of the newly-renovated 12-story citadel in the heart of Downtown Brooklyn, bringing all of the Department's administrative functions together under a single roof.

(Greetings, low paid office workers!)

(We know you resent having to come all the way to Brooklyn to work when you live all the way up on 162nd Street! So why not live HERE instead! Three squares a day!)

A 17-year old Midwood youth was convicted of juvenile delinquency for going around in a U. S. Navy uniform though he is not a member of the Navy. Harry Myrand of 922 East 17th Street was arrested August 17th for the second time in three months on the same charge, and he appeared in court today again wearing the uniform of a second-class Gunner's Mate. Myrand explained that he had tried to join the Navy but was rejected due to his age, so he decided to wear the uniform anyway "and show them." The youth was sentenced to six months probation, and the uniform was confiscated, leaving him waiting in a jail cell in his underwear until his mother could arrive with civilian clothes.

Democrats-For-Willkie in Brooklyn are asking the Board of Elections to grant them a line of their own on the November ballot, distinguished from the Republican and Democratic Party lines, under the title "No Third Term." In a telegram seeking support from prominent members of the two established parties, the members of the breakaway faction accused Third Term supporters of "a real outright attempt to destroy our democratic institutions, set up a dictatorship under the stimulus of war hysteria, and overrun the ramparts of a great political party with a group of leftists whose only aim is to continue to suck the blood of America's economic substance and to fatten like parasite buzzards on the corps of opportunity of American youth."

More than 247,000 persons passed the gates at the World's Fair yesterday, for the third-best Sunday of the 1940 season. Helping to swell attendance were 4000 Flatbush residents turning out for "Flatbush Day," even though the Fair offered no ceremonies or any other special activities in their honor.

(Next stop for Childs' marketing director.)

The mathematical situation in the National League pennant race currently lays out like this: as of today, any combination of Reds wins and Dodger losses adding up to seventeen, will give Cincinnati its second consecutive flag. In other words, if the Reds play .500 ball over their remaining 24 games, the Dodgers will have to win no less than seventeen of their remaining 22 games to overtake them for the pennant.

Those are the figures. But as daunting as they seem, the Dodgers themselves are convinced they remain in the race, following their sweep of Sunday's doubleheader at the Polo Grounds in which the Flock topped the Giants 4-2 and 7-2, thanks to batting heroics from Dolph Camilli in the first game and Jimmy Wasdell in the second, with Curt Davis and Hugh Casey logging the pitching victories. Brooklyn has won eleven of its last thirteen contests, and is now just 6 1/2 games behind the Reds. Frolicking across the turf to the center-field clubhouse following their victory in the nightcap, the Dodgers echoed manager Durocher's favorite battle cry: "Let's rack 'em up!"

Tomorrow the final western invasion of the season begins at Ebbets Field, led off by the Chicago Cubs. Dizzy Dean, recently summoned back to the Wrigleymen from his exile to Tulsa in the Texas League, is expected to start one game of the Chicago series, probably Wednesday.

Will Durocher manage the Dodgers next year? That ought to be an easy question to answer, but it's no secret that Larry MacPhail is not happy with some of Lippy's recent decisions, most notably his failure to play shortstop in every game since Pee Wee Reese was injured last month. Durocher has claimed problems with his shoulder, but MacPhail is not convinced, and there are rumblings he may try to slice Leo's pay for 1941 if he doesn't intend to continue as a playing manager.

Meanwhile, the tumultuous American League pennant race figures to see new developments as the Cry Baby Cleveland Indians host the onrushing Yankees at League Park, fresh from a new round of complaints from the bassinet about the managerial strategies of Oscar Vitt. Indians players last week declared they would form their own strategy for the rest of the pennant race, without regard for Vitt's directions, but the manager then received a vote of confidence from team owner Alva Bradley, leaving the future course of the Tribe's season in question.

The Lux Radio Theatre begins its new fall season over WABC tonight at 9pm, again hosted from Hollywood by Cecil B. DeMille. The opening program features William Powell and Don Ameche in "Manhattan Melodrama." Tune in here --

(You might want to shield your jaw from that bulb, Doc. You are growing prognathous.)

(There's one in every audience.)

(You better listen in, Leona, because you know he's gonna botch it.)

(CUT! Look, Veidt, the line is "SHOW ME YOUR PAPERS!" Stop ad-libbing, we've gotta shoot four more scenes today and you're wastin' footage. And you with the title card -- a cheap chalkboard just don't cut it. Go to the art department and get it done right!)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Usually I get annoyed when they put the Capitol column on page four, but given the Ewww-quotient in the stories we see today, it's an improvement.

If they're good enough for Lord Plushbottom, they're good enough for you.

As erratic as poor Carlisle can be, he at least adds spice to what is otherwise a pretty generic page. Hope his typing fingers feel better tomorrow.

Most biblical scholars agree that Jesus never said "Kids Today..."

Nah, let the old soak have the other bottle. Imagine the tip you'll get.

When Bim is reduced to "AWKing" you know he's about to pop.

For those who came in late...

Mrs. Wumple found the old boy out. "For god's sake, William! You're old enough to be her grandfather! You the big business man! You the sugar daddy more like it! You'll hear from my lawyer!" *door slams.*

Odds that Mr. Pipdyke, when we finally meet him, will be portrayed by a disgusted Eugene Pallette now running at 1-1.

Now these are REAL cops, not like you get with Tracy and Dunn.

 

[Fading Fast]

District Attorney William O'Dwyer is a "breast-thumping Pharisee," according to Queens County Court Judge Thomas Downs, who denounced the Brooklyn DA for "improperly, unjustifiably, and illegally" suggesting that he signed papers committing a police patrolman to jail to act as a spy for Mayor LaGuardia in connection with the investigation of the murder of a Brooklyn policeman by gas-station robbers in 1939. After swearing in the new September grand jury, Judge Downs launched into an attack on O'Dwyer for drawing him into the case and in doing so accusing him of participating in "a conspiracy to thwart the administration of justice." The Judge urged the Grand Jury to summon O'Dwyer and require him to explain exactly why he thought it necessary to mention his name in connection with the case. O'Dwyer has stated that Judge Downs signed off on the commitment of Patrolman Adam D'Allasandro, under the name of "Anthony Russo," to the jail cell, but the Judge insists he signed no papers to that effect at any time....

One, doesn't it seem like a ridiculously crazy conflict of interest to have Judge Downs overseeing this grand jury? And, two, did they keep those type of papers (the committing papers) as records as that would seem to be O'Dwyer's next move: produce the papers.

...
(Greetings, low paid office workers!)...

"Whipped cream green apple pie" and "whipped cream green apple sauce," it seems Childs is in the same position with green apples that Horn and Hardart was with huckleberries. As big a fan as I am of upside-down pineapple cake, I'd have to go with the whipped cream green apple pie, just cause.

Low-paid work in 1940, but today, with benefits (I'd kill for their healthcare and pensions) and job security (kill for that too) after some seniority, those are much-coveted jobs.

... In a telegram seeking support from prominent members of the two established parties, the members of the breakaway faction accused Third Term supporters of "a real outright attempt to destroy our democratic institutions, set up a dictatorship under the stimulus of war hysteria, and overrun the ramparts of a great political party with a group of leftists whose only aim is to continue to suck the blood of America's economic substance and to fatten like parasite buzzards on the corps of opportunity of American youth."...

[Bolding mind]

I'm guessing it would have to be edited down to fit Twitters 262 character count, but otherwise, that's a perfect 1940 Tweet.

... View attachment 259748
(Next stop for Childs' marketing director.)...

...
Meanwhile, the tumultuous American League pennant race figures to see new developments as the Cry Baby Cleveland Indians host the onrushing Yankees at League Park, fresh from a new round of complaints from the bassinet about the managerial strategies of Oscar Vitt. Indians players last week declared they would form their own strategy for the rest of the pennant race, without regard for Vitt's directions, but the manager then received a vote of confidence from team owner Alva Bradley, leaving the future course of the Tribe's season in question....

This story doesn't go away; there's something real going on there.

... (There's one in every audience.)...

Assigned seats in a neighborhood movie theater? He asked for "four together," so it sounds that way - odd, no?

... (You better listen in, Leona, because you know he's gonna botch it.)...

Had the same thought. Heck, if I was Screed, I'd have told Leona and not John. Leona should've bopped John on the head when he gave her that "sorry..." line.

... (CUT! Look, Veidt, the line is "SHOW ME YOUR PAPERS!" Stop ad-libbing, we've gotta shoot four more scenes today and you're wastin' footage. And you with the title card -- a cheap chalkboard just don't cut it. Go to the art department and get it done right!)

(Who's that guy over there pounding on the table shouting something about the "Fazians" and "speaking English?" And why is his face so red?)

... Most biblical scholars agree that Jesus never said "Kids Today..."...

To be fair, at least the son has become successful and pays his own way in the world. Based on the description of his upbringing, I'm surprised he isn't a failed something or other still taking money from his parents and angry at the world.

Also, "shellackin" is a term that seems to be disappearing, which is a shame as it's a darn good word.

... Nah, let the old soak have the other bottle. Imagine the tip you'll get....

Point of order again: that water level keeps moving around from neck high to knee high, but shouldn't it just keep going up as more water floods in?

Since it's all going to end in tears anyway, it's almost fun to watch Yogee indulge in a Scrooge McDuck moment.

... For those who came in late.......

Men's suits must have been made of heartier stuff back then.

Pat's a little too confident about his ability to "settle with" the DL later. My money's on her. She has the advantage of a win-at-all-cost philosophy; whereas, Pat's practically a Marquees-of-Queensbury-rules guy by comparison.

...
Mrs. Wumple found the old boy out. "For god's sake, William! You're old enough to be her grandfather! You the big business man! You the sugar daddy more like it! You'll hear from my lawyer!" *door slams.*....

⇧ Quite possibly or Godiva herself got too demanding and / or stopped "performing" until she got what she wanted. She wouldn't be the first one in her position (tee-hee) to overplay her hand.

... Odds that Mr. Pipdyke, when we finally meet him, will be portrayed by a disgusted Eugene Pallette now running at 1-1.....

⇧ God yes. An alternative though would be if this was the crazy author's wife and all his publishing proceeds goes to support her lavish lifestyle. Hence, Harold there stumbled into working for both halves of the same crazy couple. That would be a neat comic-strip coincidence.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The 1940 Indians are a team I wouldn't want to have to be a fan of. Ben Chapman (the same guy who will make Jackie Robinson's life a living hell a few years down the line) and Jeff Heath are loudmouthed hotheads who disrupt every club they play on. Bob Feller is a brilliant talent who has "boy wonder athlete" syndrome -- he never learned to keep his mouth shut about anything and everything because he never had to. Johnny Allen, the relief pitcher, had the most violent temper in baseball, and was known to pull locker doors off, shred uniforms, and wreck hotel lobbies if his breakfast didn't taste good. Rollie Helmsley, the catcher, is a desperate alcoholic who likes to throw lit matches at people on trains. Hal Trosky, the first baseman -- a great ballplayer who could have been a Hall of Famer if he hadn't played in Cleveland -- suffers from crippling migraines, probably because of being around these guys.

I don't know why they lump Kenny Keltner in with this crowd -- he was the kind of guy who kept his head down, played the game, and stayed out of trouble. But the rest of them -- ouch.

And to top it off, they're probably right about Vitt. Durocher could have handled this club, but Vitt, a smart-mouthed type of character without the force to back it up, was way out of his element.

The Bungles and the poor, poor neighbors must be going to see one of those neighborhood engagements of "Gone With The Wind," "not to be shown at popular prices until 1941." Imagine sitting next to George Bungle for four hours.

Pat's been dealing with the DL for six years now, and he has yet to learn that he will never have the upper hand.

 

[PrivateEye]

Flag-salute ceremonies marked the start of a new school year for more than 400,000 Brooklyn schoolchildren this morning, as classes opened across the borough with call by New York City school superintendent Harold G. Campbell requiring the city's 37,000 school teachers to "stress Americanism" in their classrooms. Today was declared "Brooklyn Children's Day" by proclamation of Borough President John Cashmore, with display of the flag specifically requested under the terms of that order.

How very different from schools today - can you imagine the backlash?!?!

 

[LizzieMaine]

There was a backlash in 1940. There were letters in the Eagle earlier this year, and an editorial, criticizing compulsory flag saluting as being Nazi-like. There have also been riots over the summer, in which persons who declined to salute the flag for religious reasons had their meeting halls sacked and burned by mobs of Christian Front-style "patriots."

In 1943, the Supreme Court will rule that compulsory school flag salutes are illegal, which remains the law today.

Note that the kids are using the military salute in the photo. It's just around this time that Americans decided that the straight-arm "Bellamy Salute" is a bit too Fascist-looking for the times.

 

[LizzieMaine]

A string of four consecutive waves of German planes soared over London today before subsiding in the early evening hours, but there was no renewal of the heavy bombing that pounded the city over the three previous days. It is believed that today's sorties were scouting expeditions sent out to determine the extent of damage from the recent attacks.

Last night, Nazi bombers showered bombs at random over the British capital, "abandoning all pretense" of confining the attacks to military targers. A barrage of bombs fell on the neighborhood surrounding St. Paul's Cathedral, where warehouse were set ablaze threatening the high-domed church. But authorities say the cathedral escaped the attack "without a window cracked."

Meanwhile, British raiders struck hard at targets around the outskirts of Berlin and in industrial areas of Northern Germany, destroying a gas works and damaging factories at Essen and Barnsdorf. British ships also shelled targets along the Channel coast.

Two hundred and fifty seven Brooklyn school buildings will serve as registration points for men subject to the draft once the conscription bill is enacted. Men will be required to register within the election district where they reside, with the Board of Elections appointing registrars to supervise the process.

A two-year-old boy was saved from certain death this afternoon when he fell from a third story window and landed in the arms of a passing fireman. George Stumpf of Engine Company 217 of 940 DeKalb Avenue was passing an apartment building at 330 Throop Avenue when he saw the boy, Robert Siegman, hanging precariously outside a window of his family's home. The boy lost his grip as a crowd of onlookers cried out in terror, and Stumpf took a waiting position on the sidewalk below, and caught the child before he could hit the pavement. The boy's parents were not at home at the time of the incident. Patrolman John O'Kane of the Gates Avenue precinct assisted in the investigation.

Mayor LaGuardia will make his endorsement for the Presidential race in a radio broadcast this week after weeks of silence over his choice in the coming election. The Mayor is attending a meeting of the Joint United States-Canadian Defense Board in Washington and has been reported as trying to line up support for a third term for President Roosevelt. The Mayor is to officially reveal his selection when he goes on the air Thursday evening at 8:30 pm.

Maine voters yesterday elected a straight Republican ticket in the first state-wide election of the 1940 season, choosing GOP candidates for Governor, Senator, and three members of the House of Representatives. Republican Presidential nominee Wendell Willkie declared that he is "gratified" by the returns, but Democratic leaders pointed out that the results of the 1936 presidential contest effectively repudiated the old saying "As Maine Goes, So Goes The Nation." In that year, Maine was one of only two states not carried along in the Roosevelt landslide.

(Sorry, no third-party candidates need apply.)

With one headline each under their respective belts, the principals in the O'Dwyer-LaGuardia-Downs feud are resting today, waiting to catch the pulse of the public before determining their future courses. Members of the Brooklyn and Queens grand juries who have been innocent bystanders in the name-calling/finger-pointing brawl have said they'd be perfectly happy if no one ever mentions the affair again.

"The Roast Beef King of Sheepshead Bay" was not evicted today from his endangered restaurant at 3133 Ocean Avenue, resisting demands from a Parks Department supervisor and a couple of Deputy Sheriffs that he vacate the premises. Roast Beef King Stan McGuinness and his mother Mrs. Elizabeth McGuinness, who owns the restaurant building, are appealing the eviction notice after Parks Commissioner Robert Moses demanded McGuinness vacate the property to make way for one end of the new Belt Parkway Bridge. Mrs. McGuinness has recently purchased another house in the same neighborhood away from the Bridge's path to which the Roast Beef King might relocate, but it is not anticipated that the purchase will close before the end of December.

The Army is considering formation of a "powder puff division" for women who desire to serve their country, with registration of women for such service anticipated soon, according to an aide to the Secretary of War. Col. Julius Ochs Adler revealed the plan today in a speech before the New York League of Business and Professional Women. Adler noted that requiring the registration of women under the Burke-Wadsworth conscription bill was considered when that legislation was being drafted, but was rejected "because it might have appeared too drastic."

(Mr. Lichty would rather just stay home and draw.)

School pupils in Brooklyn began their first day of classes yesterday with the mandated salute to the flag, but there is a wide variation in how that salute is conducted. Although the law requires the display of the flag in all public classrooms, and that all students salute that flag, there is no specific description in the law of the form that salute is to take, and at least three different versions of the salute are being used in the borough's classrooms. Some students performed a straight military salute with the palm raised to the forehead. Others began with the military salute and then extended their arms outward and upward at the words "to the flag" in the Pledge of Allegiance, and yet others placed their hands over their hearts at a forty-five degree angle before extending them outward and upward at the appropriate point in the recitation of the Pledge. The raised arm salute has been under increasing fire in recent months for being "too totalitarian," but it is the form designated for civilian use by the unofficial United States Flag Association, which confines the use of the military salute to men in uniform only.

The Dodgers and Cubs were rained out today at Ebbets Field, following yesterday's 7-4 win over the Giants up at the Polo Grounds, leaving plenty of time to reflect on the state of the pennant race as the season proceeds into the home stretch. With all but two of the remaining Dodger games scheduled for Ebbets Field -- and the final two-game series in Philadelphia will probably be transferred to Brooklyn if the Flock is still in the race -- there are still plenty of Brooklyn fans convinced that the Dodgers have a chance at the flag, and who will remain so convinced as long as there's a mathematical chance. And even those few who have given up on the pennant race are still excited about Dixie Walker's quest for the league batting title, with the long-limbed Alabaman increasing his average yesterday to .326, to take the lead over Stan Hack of the Cubs and Frank McCormick of the Reds. Debs Garms of the Pirates would be up there as well, but he still has insufficient at-bats to be considered for the batting crown.

The Dodgers and Cubs will play two tomorrow, with the highlight of the day being the reappearance of Dizzy Dean at Ebbets Field. Ol' Diz is expected to be a more subdued version of his former zany self following his season-long exile to the Texas League, with tomorrow's start his first National League appearance since 1939.

Don McNeill took care of Bobby Riggs, who protested in his high squeaky voice that he lost the match to a bad call in the final set, to take the National Men's Amateur Tennis Championship at Forest Hills. Nobody in tennis likes Riggs, but more than a few onlookers were sympathetic to his complaint, and even McNeill agreed the call in question was poor. But even without that call, McNeill had Riggs beat. On the women's side, Alice Marble surprised no one by defeating Helen Wills 6-2, 6-3, with the consensus being that Wills just doesn't have the strength to stand up to Alice's sock.

A relief pitcher for the Springfield Grays escaped serious injury in a game against the Homestead Grays at Cedarhurst Stadium because he was wearing a bakelite batting helmet. Springfield pitcher Art Smith was hit in the head yesterday by a pitch thrown by Homestead's Spoon Carter, but the ball bounced off the hard headgear. Smith was stunned for a moment, but continued in the game.

Tomorrow night the Homestead club, powerhouse of the Negro National League, will face the Bushwicks in a doubleheader at Dexter Park. By popular request, the Bushwicks will face three of the strongest Negro clubs this week, with the Toledo Crawfords -- formerly of Pittsburgh -- in next, featuring their newest acquisition, Olympic champion and world's fastest human, Jesse Owens. The Crawfords will be followed by a game against the Memphis Red Sox, who, like the Grays, have the distinction of dumping the Bushwicks on both ends of doubleheaders this season.

(I hope this dog is house trained, or you'll have a real problem on your hands.)

(The sad thing is the rest of the audience is so resigned to this. They know George all too well.)

(You gotta break some eggs to make an omelet.)

(You blew it, Dan. A real Fazian woulda shot him in the back.)