The Era -- Day By Day

[LizzieMaine]

Poor Harold. Even when he thinks he's doing the right thing, he's still a chump.

 

[LizzieMaine]

A routine inquiry into a petty larceny case by authorities in Suffolk County has brought a twice-deported alien of many aliases to Ellis Island for questioning, after evidence was found in his apartment suggesting his involvement in Nazi espionage. The suspect, known to Suffolk police as "John Brown," refused to disclose his true name, but has thrice been convicted of felonies, and has served prison sentences both in Sing Sing and in an Austrian prison, and has been deported both from this country and from Ecuador. Found in "Brown's" apartment by Suffolk County Deputy Sherrif Walter Seaman were copies of letters addressed to the German Consulate in Manhattan, in which the suspect offered his services as a spy "in any of the American republics." Also found in the apartment was letterhead stationery naming "John Santiago Brown" as General Secretary of "The Overseas Division of the Central Executive Committee of the National Reconstruction League of the Archipelago Island of Galapagos," with an office in Port Jefferson. "Brown" has been identified by fingerprints as being the same man as "Santiago Colomon," who was convicted in 1925 of grand larceny, and was deported from the United States following the completion of his prison sentence, and as "Kolomon Santiago," who served a two-month sentence for swindling in Vienna in 1930, and as "John Seda," who served two years at Sing Sing following a forgery conviction in 1933.

(Aw, c'mon, we wanna see the mask.)

The publisher of the Chicago Tribune testified today that he believes it would be "fanastic" to claim that the United States is in any danger of invasion by any nation in Europe, Asia, or Africa. Appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Colonel Robert R. McCormick delivered a lecture presentation featuring charts and maps which, he argued, demonstrated the futility of any hypothetical invasion route.

Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh was scheduled to follow Colonel McCormick on today's schedule of testimony.

The most severe criminal code in modern history has been imposed in Rumania, with acts ranging from the drawing of anti-government cartoons to proposing the redistribution of wealth subject to an immediate penalty of death. Gen. Ion Antonescu, in announcing the new code, also announced that penalties for all violations will be doubled in cases involving Jews or Communists.

("Oi, gov! Let's see yer money! Tuppence farthing a time!")

An honest cabbie has a hard time of it these days, especially when conversation with passengers can be politically fraught, so when a passenger asked thirty-six year old Charles Kurent of Long Island City what he thought of the Lease-Lend bill, the driver made a noncommittal reply. That reply caused his passenger to take down his name, on the suspicion that he looked German, and might be a German agent. But when that passenger got out of the cab and realized that she'd dropped a $2000 diamond and platinum bracelet, she immediately called the police. A patrolman went to Mr. Kurent's hack stand -- where the driver was already waiting to hand over the bracelet. He also advised the patrolman to tell the passenger he isn't German -- he's Jewish.

Cardsharking methods by which a ring of crooked gamblers headed by fight manager Hyman Caplin fleeced pigeons out of $2,000,000 were bared in court today in testimony from one of Caplin's accomplices. Adolph "The Count" Ruskin, elderly confidence man, was brought from Sing Sing Prison to describe how Caplin ran operations from behind the scenes, while using professional gamblers to do carefully-selected marks out of their money in high-stakes games staged in Brooklyn hotel rooms, and often convincing those victims that even if there was a "shark" working the table, that "shark" was working on their behalf to help them recover lost money.

In Berlin, the official Nazi newspaper Volkischer Beobachter reports that sixty Polish Jews are being used to feed a colony of 1,000,000 lice, being cultivated by German scientists to produce vaccine against spotted fever. The Jews are being paid three Polish zloty a day in exchange for being infested by the insects.

(General Wood is the president of Sears, Roebuck and Company. John T. Flynn is a journalist and former New Dealer who will soon become the most militant anti-Roosevelt voice on the public scene.)

The "released time program" allowing Brooklyn public school students to be released from school for a designated period each week to receive religious instruction in the faith of their choice began today in Bay Ridge, with 935 students enrolled in the program. Participating students left school at 2 pm, one hour ahead of the regular dismissal time, to attend religious classes held away from the public school buildings. Students must have written permission from their parents to participate in the program. Six hundred of the participating students enrolled in Catholic school programs, more than three hundred enrolled in programs conducted by various Protestant denominations, and ten Jewish students signed up to attend classes conducted in their faith.

"Jen" writes in to Helen Worth to wonder why so many people her age -- she's in her early twenties -- can't seem to go out and have a good time without drinking. She doesn't drink herself, and finds that because of that none of her "first dates" ever seem to lead to a second, because all the boy ever wants to do is go to a bar. Helen urges her to "try to broaden your circle of acquaintance," and hope for the best.

("Oh yeah? Well, in that case, buildin' men an' women starts at $22 a week.")

(Well, at least you don't have to worry about that when you date Harold Teen.)

Heavily-upholstered outfielder Joe Gallagher is the latest Dodger to get in his contract for 1941. Gallagher, who carries more suet than a bootleg hamburger, figures to be no more than a fourth-string outfielder this year, what with Pete Reiser and now Paul Waner standing ahead of him, and is going to have to make some real changes to escape Leo's doghouse after his extremely disappointing 1940 campaign, in which he batted only .264 after being picked up in mid-season from the Browns.

Also signed is Gallagher's physical opposite, pitcher Max Macon, a lame-armed lefty who is built like a lath. Macon went 7-4 last year for the Montreal Royals, and is among a crowd of lesser pitchers who will battle at training camp for the bullpen/spot-starter role vacated by the trading of Vito Tamulis.

Ace Parker will be the highest-paid player in the National Football League this year, under a $9000 two-year contract that requires him to report to the Football Dodgers training camp no later than August 15th. That clause spells the effective end of Parker's big-league baseball aspirations, but it does not bar him from playing minor-league ball, and Football Dodgers owner Dan Topping continues to boost Parker to Larry MacPhail as a useful addition to the Brooklyn minor league system. Parker's baseball rights at present remain with the Pittsburgh Pirates, who are rumored to be offering him a spot with Portsmouth of the Middle Atlantic League, where he would have a chance to manage once he's had enough of playing.

Jackie Cooper takes on the role of everyone's favorite adolescent in "Life With Henry," the latest of the Henry Aldrich pictures from Paramount. In the latest installment, hapless Henry is trying to raise $100 in order to pay for a "free trip to Alaska," and you can imagine the results.

Meanwhile, Henry's radio adventures are tops with young listeners -- a survey by the editors of Young America magazine places "The Aldrich Family," in which Brooklyn's own Ezra Stone stars as the trouble-prone teen-ager, as the number one program among its readers. Last year's poll, reflecting something of a shift in adolescent tastes, put the blood-and-thunder crime thriller "Gang Busters" in the top slot.

("Fine! I'll see if my personality dominates him!" Hmph, overconfidence is never appealing.)

(Up in Binghamton, a high school sophomore named Rodman E. Serling can't get enough of George Bungle and his weird obsessions.)

("And in the meantime, KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE ROAD!")

(On December 20, 1940, "Captain America Comics, No. 1" hit the newsstands in New York, featuring the first appearance of a Nazi villain called "The Red Skull." From this fact we can now determine exactly how far ahead Norman Marsh works.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

This Bronx case looks like a job for Ellery Queen. And somebody at the News is gonna get a call from Betty Grable's press agent, because they've GOTTA have a better picture of her than that.

If there's one thing the advertising business doesn't need more of, it's wise guys.

"Ya get that, Jimmy? Woil's Fastes' Typis'! Make sure ya get that in!"

Well, if it's the real Daddy, he'll take that fin and in a week he'll wheel and deal it into cornering the world market for alligator skins.

Ohhh, Terry. Terry, Terry, Terry.

Goodgawdawmighty.

"I hate to break it to ya, booby, but bear acts are a dime a dozen in vaudeville. Strictly five-a-day. Come back with a panther or a crocodile or an elk, maybe, and then we'll talk."

CALLED IT. Maybe Terry ought to get in on this, too.

"And I've GOT EVERYTHING ALL PLANNED OUT! But no need to rush! What are you two doing next Tuesday?"

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

 

[Harp]

Scoped the guy without counsel? Invalidated confession. Cannot recall if Skull is Scary Skeleton.....

All worries for sweet exquisite rose Lana anyway, throw all these damn criminals in the calaboose.

 

[Fading Fast]

...
(Aw, c'mon, we wanna see the mask.)...

...An honest cabbie has a hard time of it these days, especially when conversation with passengers can be politically fraught, so when a passenger asked thirty-six year old Charles Kurent of Long Island City what he thought of the Lease-Lend bill, the driver made a noncommittal reply. That reply caused his passenger to take down his name, on the suspicion that he looked German, and might be a German agent. But when that passenger got out of the cab and realized that she'd dropped a $2000 diamond and platinum bracelet, she immediately called the police. A patrolman went to Mr. Kurent's hack stand -- where the driver was already waiting to hand over the bracelet. He also advised the patrolman to tell the passenger he isn't German -- he's Jewish....

In today's dollars, that's an ~$35,000 bracelet she lost. Every single thing we know about this woman says she's a mean idiot.

...$2,000,000 were bared in court today in testimony from one of Caplin's accomplices. Adolph "The Count" Ruskin, elderly confidence man, was brought from Sing Sing Prison to describe how Caplin ran operations from behind the scenes, while using professional gamblers to do carefully-selected marks out of their money in high-stakes games staged in Brooklyn hotel rooms, and often convincing those victims that even if there was a "shark" working the table, that "shark" was working on their behalf to help them recover lost money....

"...often convincing those victims that even if there was a "shark" working the table, that "shark" was working on their behalf to help them recover lost money"

Look, the guys running these games are crooks and belong in jail, but it's kinda hard to feel sympathy for the victims as they are idiots for thinking for a minute these games are honest.

...[
(Up in Binghamton, a high school sophomore named Rodman E. Serling can't get enough of George Bungle and his weird obsessions.).

No kidding. As we say here all the time, just about nothing is completely new as there are antecedents to almost everything.

Separately, what does George do for a living? Does he ever go to work? How do they pay their bills?

...
"Ya get that, Jimmy? Woil's Fastes' Typis'! Make sure ya get that in!"....

When I read the question, I expected a lot of negative responses. It was nice to see so many positive ones.

... Goodgawdawmighty....

This is frighteningly dark and adult. Tough stuff for kids.

 

[LizzieMaine]

George's primary career seems to have been as an investor in whatever harebrained scheme came along, but he does have a generic "office job." At one time he was connected with a firm that manufactured dent-proof rubber fenders, which gives you an idea of the scope of his accomplishments.

My local paper dropped "Tracy" in the mid-seventies after enough people complained about the violence -- "Annie" disappeared a couple years earlier, for similar reasons. But neither strip was as rough as they were in the Era, which, as we have seen, can be pretty rough indeed. Mr. Gould, in particular, seems to have a streak of actual sadism when it comes to dealing with his villains. The penalties of the law are rarely enough -- they must be made to suffer for their crimes.

That lady in the cab only proves that in every Era, you will find Karens.

 

[vitanola]

That lady in the cab only proves that in every Era, you will find Karens.

Would make a good subject for a TRUE documentary. “The Eternal Karen”

 

[LizzieMaine]

A strike called early this morning that stopped all service on the North Shore Bus Lines in Queens, leaving 125,000 commuters without their usual transportation, was settled early this afternoon after three hours of conferences at City Hall. City Labor Secretary Ethel Epstein led representatives of the company and of the Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway, and Motor Coach Operators of America, A. F. L., into a brief meeting with Mayor LaGuardia shortly before 2 PM, and shortly announced to declare that the strike was over and the men were heading back to work. The previous contract between the company and the union expired on January 29th, and efforts to reach an accord on a new pact had failed to produce results. Terms of the new agreement will be announced later, but it is anticipated that the buses will be running in time for this evening's commute.

Italy's last big stronghold in Eastern Libya has fallen to the British, with all Italian troops at the military and naval base at Benghazi now in British custody. As many as 125,000 prisoners may have been taken in the capture of the base.

The House of Representatives today rejected a proposed amendment to the Lease-Lend bill that would have barred Soviet Russia from any eligibility for American aid under the program. By a 185-94 vote, the House defeated the amendment put forward by Rep. George H. Tinkham (R-Mass.), who charged that Russia "is against civilization as we know it." Opponents of the amendment warned that such a ban would only serve to push Russia "into the arms of the Axis." "This is no time," warned Rep. Lyndon B. Johnson (D-Texas), "to write in an amendment which is merely a gratutious slap in the face."

Protestant church leaders in Brooklyn have halted the distribution of small lapel buttons among borough schoolchildren participating in the early-release program for religious instruction, after complaints were made accusing them of attempted proselytization on school property. The buttons, which bore a white question mark on a red background, were intended to spark questions to the wearers, who were instructed to give the inquisitor a description of the religious classes they were attending off school grounds. A member of the Board of Education, Mrs. Johanna Lindlof of Queens, noticed the buttons being worn and called them to the attention of fellow board members as a violation of the prohibition of all religious proselytization on school property.

A former Communist claimed that he failed to appear in court last week because he was "afraid of his life." James Garcia of Manhattan had been ordered to appear to give testimony in the case of Miss Doris Stahl of Williamsburg, who is suing the Department of Welfare for reinstatement after she was dismissed from her job for unsatisfactory performance of her duties. Miss Stahl charges that in fact she was fired because she failed to carry out the policy of "600 Communists" who, she claims, dominate the Home Relief Office. Miss Stahl's attorney Leonard Rossi stated today that Mr. Garcia came to his office in Manhattan and asked for protection, but Mr. Rossi told the witness that he could not give such protection. The attorney further stated that when he attempted to call on Mr. Garcia this morning, he was told that the witness had "disappeared," and Mr. Rossi asked the court to swear out a warrant for body attachment to compel Mr. Garcia's appearance.

Detectives are investigating an $1800 payroll robbery this afternoon in Brownsville, the first such major holdup in the section since the power of the Murder Inc. syndicate was broken. Shortly after 12 noon, three gunmen accosted clothing manufacturer Samuel Uhlang, near his company's factory at 181 Belmont Avenue, and stole the payroll he had just picked up from a bank at Pitkin and Stone Avenues. The three fled in an automobile which had been parked nearby with its motor running. Since District Attorney William O'Dwyer began his crackdown on the activities of the Murder For Money gang last year, only minor candy-store and gas-station robberies have taken place in Brownsville, once the center of organized crime in Brooklyn.

A sixteen-year-old "Negro youth" from Savannah, Georgia who escaped to the North after fleeing a chain gang in his home state has been remanded to the custody of dancer Bill Robinson. Jay Cotton Gould was released last night, when the famous entertainer, presently appearing for a week's engagement at the Flatbush Theatre, appeared in Night Court along with a bail bondsman, and told Magistrate Vincent J. Sweeney that he would take full responsibility for the youth and would produce him for future court appearances when required. Magistrate Charles Solomon had earlier requested the aid of Governor Herbert H. Lehman in blocking any efforts by Georgia authorities to extradite the youth back to his home state. Gould had been sentenced to ten to twenty years on the chain gang for stealing $50.

(It's great to be in demand.)

(I'm pretty sure this ad isn't supposed to be "blackface," nor is it supposed to be a photographic negative. But whatever it is, it's unsettling. Especially because these gals are so skinny and elongated it's obvious that they're just wearing corsets out of force of habit.)

Army officials are trying to save the life of a 10-year-old airedale dog who has been pining away since his master enlisted into the service. Arrangements had been made to send the dog, named Laddie, to Fort Ord, where he might be reunited with his master, Private Everett Scott of Chanunte, Kansas, but since Mr. Scott's departure Laddie has refused to eat, and an Army veterinarian has ordered a regimen of glucose injections and feeding by tube in order to strengthen the dog for the airplane trip to California. "If he doesn't die," said the doctor, "he might be able to make the trip on Saturday."

("And if this doesn't work, we'll have to burn down the warehouse!")

("Wazzis dame tawrkin' 'bout?" growls Sally. "Soich me," says Joe.")

Addicts of Charlie Chan, Mr. Moto, and The Thin Man have a new screen detective to capture their fancy, as Ellery Queen makes his movie debut at the Brooklyn Strand this week. Mr. Queen, long known for his intricate literary mysteries, is impersonated for Columbia Pictures by Mr. Ralph Bellamy, an actor who may well become a rage, in a mild sort of way. He is joined in the first film of the new series, " modestly ttitled "Ellery Queen -- Master Detective," by Charley Grapewin as crotchety old Inspector Queen, the detective's father, and Margaret Lindsay, who is required to furnish plot, comedy, and romantic interest as an innocent young lady caught up in a murder probe.

(Snookie wonders if it's too late to get her old job back in the chorus.)

Reader John Whitted says it's a good idea for the Dodgers to require that visiting teams stay in Brooklyn, and he says they also ought to require Mr. Durocher to lead by example and take up a local residence as well. And while he's at it, Mr. Whitted says he's tired of these special "Days" being thrown for ballplayers who make more money than any working man, where they get showered with presents from their admiring fans. It ought to stop.

("Fat, huh? I'll show you monkeys fat!")

Despite having the Flock's lowest draft number, Cookie Lavagetto is confident he won't be taken in the draft this summer. The swarthy third baseman has applied for an exemption on the grounds that, though he is unmarried, he has three family members back home in Oakland, Calif. who are dependent upon his income. Cookie is also confident that his 1940 troubles will be behind him in 1941, with the removal of his badly-infected appendix last summer having resolved a whole host of physical complaints that plagued him during the season. Cookie says the doctor gave him the scarred appendix floating in a bottle, and he often looks at it as a reminder that this year is going to be a very good year indeed. The infielder has been working out over the winter in a gym, and is expected to report to Havana in the best shape of his career.

Expense checks have gone out to signed Dodgers to pay for their transportation to training camp, but one not receiving such a check is Dolph Camilli, whose holdout last year revolved around his wish that the team pay the cost of shipping his large family east from California for the spring. It isn't likely to happen this year, either.

("Oomph," says Ann Sheridan. "Wait'll they start slapping handcuffs on you.")

(Never mind the parlor tricks, George -- tell us about The Future! Did they ever manage to tear down the Fulton Street El?)

("H-h-he DID??? You'd think he woulda EXPLAINED ALL THIS TO ME!")

(Wait, Scary Skeleton Head Man has a perfect super-villain face, and a perfect super-villain name, and a perfect super-villain setup, and all he can come up with is a dopey arson racket? Jeez, Marsh, can you imagine what Gould would do with this?)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News....

"Lya Lys" is officially the Greatest Second Rate Movie Starlet Name Ever. And a moment of silence for poor Maxie Annenberg, who remembered the days when being the "Circulation Manager" for a daily paper meant having a truckload of goons going around blackjacking other truckloads of goons distributing rival papers.

"Thynmints!" Yeah, that'll keep the Girl Scouts off your back.

Look, it's half built already. What if you just take the Perisphere and cut it in half and put it on tracks? There's your retractable dome right there. And you can use the Trylon for a light tower.

"Well, know-how and this nifty pair of loaded dice. Hey, check out my diamond stickpin!"

Sometimes it's fun to rub it in.

"And besides, once the sepsis sets in you won't have to worry about going anywhere."

Amateurs. Never count the house before going on, it's bad luck!

Boy, Warbucks sure gets around!

Look, now you've gone and hurt the poor boy's feelings.

Nah, Dad, you were right the first time.

 

[Harp]

Seems as though Terry has appointment with Teutonic interrogation. The kid really is out on a limb.

Lana, exquisite pearl, rose of loveliness, ruby beyond price....I was afraid this would happen.

And all the legal embroglio. A married mistress but who is not a wife. I would advise this gentleman
not to take the chair or be subject to a rather salacious cross. The Fifth invoke is the only way out.

 

[Fading Fast]

...
Army officials are trying to save the life of a 10-year-old airedale dog who has been pining away since his master enlisted into the service. Arrangements had been made to send the dog, named Laddie, to Fort Ord, where he might be reunited with his master, Private Everett Scott of Chanunte, Kansas, but since Mr. Scott's departure Laddie has refused to eat, and an Army veterinarian has ordered a regimen of glucose injections and feeding by tube in order to strengthen the dog for the airplane trip to California. "If he doesn't die," said the doctor, "he might be able to make the trip on Saturday."...

The Eagle better have a picture of the reunion for us.

...
("Wazzis dame tawrkin' 'bout?" growls Sally. "Soich me," says Joe.")...

... "Lya Lys" is officially the Greatest Second Rate Movie Starlet Name Ever. And a moment of silence for poor Maxie Annenberg, who remembered the days when being the "Circulation Manager" for a daily paper meant having a truckload of goons going around blackjacking other truckloads of goons distributing rival papers.....

Yes, that is an insanely good name.

...
Look, it's half built already. What if you just take the Perisphere and cut it in half and put it on tracks? There's your retractable dome right there. And you can use the Trylon for a light tower.....

Boy, they only asked people who would support it - hardly a cross-section of the public. I think we know how the Eagle editors feel about it.

That said, about fifteen years ago, NYC gave serious consideration to putting a football stadium on the Westside where the old rail yards were. I thought it would be a great idea - but alas, we ended up with a "mix used" complex of office towers, condos and (wait for it) more retail space.

... "Well, know-how and this nifty pair of loaded dice. Hey, check out my diamond stickpin!"....

Were there any other kind of dice back then? The cheating was so gratuitous, I picture a store called "The Dice Store: for all your loaded-dice needs."

... Sometimes it's fun to rub it in.....

Why hasn't Wumple fired this guy already?

 

[ChiTownScion]

You know that it's too good to be true, and you know that he'll screw it up. You just KNOW it. You can feel it rolling in like a thunderstorm.....

 

[ChiTownScion]

"Well, know-how and this nifty pair of loaded dice. Hey, check out my diamond stickpin!"

Hmmm. Not sure that's just any stickpin.

Harold Lincoln Gray was a charter member of Lombard Lodge No. 1098, Lombard, Illinois (A.F. & A. M.).

He once dropped this hint about Daddy's activities. Annie is perplexed: Sandy gets it, as do I and a number of others.

 

[Harp]

You know that it's too good to be true, and you know that he'll screw it up. You just KNOW it. You can feel it rolling in like a thunderstorm.....

And here I was thinking Terry was in over his head. Harold is definitely out of his league with sweet Lana.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I don't think Lana's met Shadow yet, but once she does, will she be able to resist his uncontrollable sex appeal? Not even Sparky Watts is that hot. Better keep her away from the Sunday page.

Wilmer's dad must be blackmailing Wump --- it's the only explanation.

This week's guest star in TATP -- Mr. Conrad Veidt.

A few years ago, Cookie Lavagetto's family auctioned off a bunch of his memorablia on eBay. I'd love to know how much the bottled appendix went for.

 

[Harp]

I don't think Lana's met Shadow yet, but once she does, will she be able to resist his uncontrollable sex appeal? Not even Sparky Watts is that hot. Better keep her away from the Sunday page...

Dunno whose Shadow or Spark plug. But I do know that Lana is pure as driven snow, exquisite sweet rose,
lustrous pearl, ruby beyond price, and Love thinks with the mind, therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.
A little Gaelic scribble penned by that eminent Irishman William Shakespeare.

I only hope she comes to her senses.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Shadow is Harold's mooching soda-shop sidekick, who's about four and a half feet tall, has buck teeth, is prematurely balding, and is absolutely irresistible to women, to the point where he makes Downwind Jaxon look like a eunuch. I'm sure he'll be along any day now to give Harold some good solid advice for the future...

 

[Harp]

Shadow is Harold's mooching soda-shop sidekick, who's about four and a half feet tall, has buck teeth, is prematurely balding, and is absolutely irresistible to women, to the point where he makes Downwind Jaxon look like a eunuch. I'm sure he'll be along any day now to give Harold some good solid advice for the future...

Sounds like my college roommate freshman year. Bill was a chick magnet goof, never studied, and initially
voiced reservations about our rooming together since I was an overly serious nerd bookworm. Probably
thought I would be a bad influence. I gave up the room countless times, usually slept out. Bill was a
dog ass ugly ba***rd, whom none of the other guys in the dorm could figure.
An interesting aspect to Bill which astounded me was his Chess playing. A master with innate game.
Crashed grades, put on probation, and was the campus Lothario.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The 1936 Republican presidential nominee today condemned the pending British aid bill as "a guess and be damned policy" for the United States. Former Kansas governor Alfred M. Landon is testifying this afternoon before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in opposition to President Roosevelt's Lease-Lend Bill. Gov. Landon in his testimony has also accused the President of attempting to politically "gag" Senator Burton K. Wheeler (D-Montana) over his vocal opposition to the measure. Mayor LaGuardia and journalist Quentin Reynolds were originally scheduled to testify today in favor of the measure, but it is unclear if they will appear. Senate hearings are expected to end on Monday, with 1940 Republican presidential nominee Wendell Willkie and Harvard University President James B. Conant testifying in favor of the bill.

Two Long Islanders testifying against the Lease-Lend bill before the Senate committee yesterday warned that America will face "a second Civil War" if the bill is enacted. Domestic Court Justice Herbert A. O'Brien and Democratic Party zone leader William J. Goodwin, both of Queens, argued that the debate over the bill is already galvanizing tensions among various racial groups in the city, especially among persons of Russian, German, Italian, Polish, and Irish ancestry, with racially-driven political boycotts already reaching levels of "dangerous intensity." Mr. Goodwin also testified that he believes that the city government is "riddled with Communists," and argued that city officials and the newspapers have failed to give sufficient attention to such matters.

Meanwhile, the House is conducting a rare Saturday session today in hopes of passing the British Aid bill, following a Friday session which debated proposed amendments at length while adopting none of them. Still pending are proposed amendments that would cap spending under the bill at sums ranging from $2,000,000,000 to $7,000,000,000, but it is hoped by House leadership that a vote on the full measure can be taken by this evening.

A dangerous deadlock in relations between France and Germany continues today with the revelation that Pierre Laval has refused a political compromise, and is holding to his demand that he be made Premier of the Vichy Government, to serve with a Cabinet of his own choosing, and responsible only to a hand-picked National Assembly. M. Laval is also demanding full control of the Vichy Government's foreign policy, and thus control of unoccupied France's relations with Germany. The Germans are believed to favor a government headed by Laval on his stated terms, over the opposition of Marshal Henri Petain.

Heavy rains today caused damage at LaGuardia Field, cutting off all telephone service to the airport, and flooding highways in Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau, and Westchester. In midtown Manhattan, backed up drains led to flooding in the shopping arcade at the Times Square subway station, and in Brooklyn a 15-foot section of track on the Long Island Railroad near Grant and Altantic Avenues was washed out. Temperatures yesterday soared to a record-setting 52 degrees, with melting snow and slush compounding flooding problems. In addition to the loss of telephone service at the airport, water penetrating underground telephone cables also cut off an estimated 800 telephones served by the NEwtown and HAvemeyer exchanges in Jackson Heights.

The successor of crusading Longshoremen's Union activist Peter Panto confirmed today that he had identified the body excavated from a lime pit in New Jersey as Panto's, and declared that responsibility for Panto's murder lies in the hands of the leadership of the International Longshoremen's Association. Peter Mazzie stated that he also told District Attorney William O'Dwyer that "the same stool pigeons who told him where to find the body can tell him who paid for Panto's killing." Panto vanished from his home on July 14, 1939 after telling his friends that he was going to "keep an appointment with some men I don't trust."

The president of Brooklyn College's Student Council today denounced the school's daily newspaper as "Communist-controlled," and declared that he will lead a campaign to purge its present leadership. Council president Arnold Rivkin charged that the Daily Vanguard's opposition to the Rapp-Coudert Committee and its support of the American Student Union are "not in harmony with the sentiments of the overwhelming majority of the undergraduates" and stated that under its present leadership the paper has gone from "an abyss of crude propaganda to a high level of mediocrity."

A 40-year-old Jamaica man was hauled into Brooklyn-Queens Night Court on a disorderly conduct charge after he got into a fight with a traffic policeman after another man pushed him out of a taxicab he had hailed. Michael Bellington of 134-38 174th Street stood in the rain waiting for a bus for nearly an hour yesterday before he found out that the drivers had gone on strike. He told Magistrate John F. X. Masterson that he then hailed a cab, and allowed several school children he recognized to get in before him. But he said that when he himself tried to get in the cab, an undentified man rushed up, pushed him aside, climbed into the seat, and then, when Mr. Bellington tried to pull him out, the other man sent him sprawling into the gutter with a kick to the chest. The cab then drove away, leaving Mr. Bellington to argue with a policeman that something ought to be done. When Mr. Bellington refused to accept the policeman's advice to move on, the officer ran him in. "I was only standing up for my rights," the defendant protested, and Magistrate Masterson, while finding him guilty of the charge, agreed to suspend sentence.

("T'em people in Queens," laughs Joe. "I ask ya." "Nutt'n but a buncha helots," says Sally. "Rememba lass summa out'a Woil's Fair, allem helots outside t'at Twenny T'ousan' Legs Unna T' Sea mess?" "Yeah," says Joe, uneasily. "Nutt'n but helots.")

"A Bitter and Disllusioned Wife" chimes on the matter of "Disillusioned," and says she ought to wise up and leave her husband immediately. She says her husband flirts and carries on at will, has had several affairs, and has beaten her when she has protested, to the point where she has on several occasions required a doctor's care. She says she is past middle age and has no way to escape other than death, for which she prays daily, while her husband "parades as a perfect husband" before the public. Helen can only thank her for sharing the tragedy of her experiences.

(Sure is a lot of encouraging feel-good news in the paper today.)

("Oh shut up, and suck in that belly. And must you wear that cardboard dickey? When it flies up it's SO embarassing.")

Race Relations Sunday will be observed tomorrow in Brooklyn Protestant churches, marking the start of Interracial Brotherhood Month with an exchange of pulpits and choirs among representatives of all races from the various denominations, as well as interracial gatherings of members of various denominational young-peoples' societies. The observation is the 19th since it was initiated by the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America in 1923.

Chicago Bears professional football star Sid Luckman, an alumnus of Erasmus Hall High School in Flatbush, may be offered the position of football coach at Long Island University next season. Luckman confirmed to the Eagle last night that he has received an offer to take over the Blackbirds next fall, but stated that the salary would have to exceed that offered by the Bears for the 1941 season in order for him to accept. Luckman also stated that he has yet to receive a contract offer for 1941 from Bears owner George Halas.

(Joe riffles surrepetitiously thru Sally's high school yearbook, and finds that Sid was just a freshman when she was a senior, and he exhales a sigh of relief.)

The Dodgers can expect a grand welcome when they arrive at their new training base of Havana, Cuba, with the Cuban Minister of Propaganda having arranged for a celebration featuring 5000 school children, and an assortment of bands and dignitaries to greet the Flock. There will be no 21-gun salute, however, lest the Cubans fear that another insurrection has broken out.

Cookie Lavagetto must've learned a few tricks from his pal, Judge Samuel J. Leibowitz. After the Dodger third-baseman spent some time relaxing in the gallery of Judge Leibowitz's courtroom yesterday, he headed over to Montague Street and after a brief exchange of legal pleasantries with Mr. MacPhail, emerged fully signed for the 1941 campaign. Cookie didn't disclose terms for the new season, but he did emerge from Larry's office with a smile.

Former Dodger pitcher, and Flatbush native, Waite Hoyt might be headed for a role on the Brooklyn broadcasts in 1941. Hoyt, who retired from a twenty-year pitching career after the 1938 season, and has since dabbled in radio work, was summoned to the Dodger offices yesterday and asked if he'd ever done any play-by-play work. He hasn't -- but that may not be an obstacle to his future employment depending on how the Red Barber situation works out.

(Gerard Darrow, with an IQ of 146, will die impoverished, bitter, and alone, at the age of 48.)

(In case you've lost track of the plot.)

(A week's engagement at the Flatbush? And for the topper, you could make Tootsie reappear!)

(The badge reads "Dopey Dad of 1941.")

("A mill on a river near a patch of heather?" Gee Dan, you didn't tell us you were writing songs for BMI.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Radio engineer, huh? Well isn't that a surprise.

Ah, Tommy Manville, The Asbestos Kid himself, unquestioned king of the wastrel playboys. I'd love to know what he kept in his safe.

Ya bum, ya.

"Madame Lustre?" If that's your *real* name....

A howling blizzard and their hats don't blow off?

Wait'll you meet Punjab.

Soda right out of the bottle? Classy joint.

Yeah, that's what you get for booking a "Fally Markus" act!

No, you saw her in "Dick Tracy." Remember? She used to be married to Jerome Strohs. Be careful in the shower!

**The organ sounds an ominous chord in G-minor.**