The Era -- Day By Day

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

"Dies of Rage?" Yeah, I've had days like that. And somehow, y'know, I just don't think young Eleanor is being entirely sincere in her statements. I mean, that nightgown doesn't even button up to the neck.

Well you guys aren't any fun.

Rizzuto too? Bah.

You could write an entire academic thesis on this.

And why should we even care? Bring back Jerome Strohs riding on a giant dog.

Um, I'd watch your tone, kid. If Raven can tell the Dragon Lady where to get off and live to tell about it, she's not going to pop much of a sweat slapping you down a peg or two.

Let's take a moment, shall we, to reflect on the glory that is Mr. Andrew Gump. A skinny, bald, beady-eyed, toothless middle-aged man with no chin whatsoever. And yet Min, a reasonably intelligent woman, willingly married him. What's the deal? Never mind, I don't think I want to know.

Hey Nina -- why not sign up for a job on the draft board? You know, just in case.

Isn't it about time Social Services got involved here?

Yep, Senga's kid sister.

 

[Fading Fast]

...
(Out in Sunken Heights, Mrs. Josephine Bungle unfolds her copy of the Eagle, and explodes triumphantly. "OAKDALE! THAT BOLD FAKER! I KNEW IT! GEORGE! SEE! NOW YOU'LL ADMIT I WAS RIGHT ALL ALONG! SEE?")..

There's something not right about this story. One, there is nothing "unique" about his actions - even back then, it was a pretty common fraud to deposit a large (fraudulent check) and, then, immediately draw a smaller amount out against it. Second, the amounts stolen, $35-$50 a pop (~$650-$925 in 2021 dollars), are laughably small to be an item Hoover, the head of the FBI for God's sake, is spending his time on. There's more to this story. Maybe, to Lizzie's point, he's an international spy (at least in his own mind).

...The nineteen-year-old girl rescued from an inner tube floating off Raritan Bay in New Jersey will make a tour of Pentecostal churches to describe her story as one of divine retribution for the sin of being seen in public in a bathing suit. Miss Eleanore Maldonado, daughter of Pentecostal minister Rev. Louis Maldonado, will begin her preaching tour in her father's Brooklyn church. Miss Maldonado told reporters the last time she ventured to go swimming was in 1937, and having thus been rebuked, she has vowed never to do so again. Asked by reporters if she would pose for a photo in the sinful bathing suit, her mother Theresa Maldonado abruptly terminated the interview. "That," she declared with finality, "would be indecent."...

This entire bathing suit kerfuffle could have been avoided had she just gone to Valley Stream State Park.

... View attachment 347642
("Huh!" snorts Joe. "Well, 'at's 'at t'en. Wonna if 'at Rizzuta's streak's still goin'? Howcum ain'nutt'n 'bouttat?" "Y'know," says Sally, "I bettat Frankie Gustine's a helluva jittabug. Lookit'tat aerial!")...

While the streak went for 56 games, since the press didn't really get interested until it was in the mid 30s, it seems like it flew by.

I didn't see it mentioned today, but earlier in the week, I think we read Whirlaway runs tomorrow in a big stakes race.

...
(She should have asked Slappy to relay the message. We know he'd have no problem with it.)...

Yup. Separately, away from all the stuff that doesn't fly today, wouldn't the drink company that makes Yoo-hoo have an issue with the kid's name? Or was the term too generic to trademark broadly?

...
(As far as I'm concerned, this storyline can go on forever.)

As we've chatted about, I'm all for just changing the strip's name to "Kay Fields, Secret Operative 49" and retire from policing hack-driver Mr. Dunn. Just today, she's even running in heel and a fitted skirt and keeping up.

...[ "Dies of Rage?" Yeah, I've had days like that. And somehow, y'know, I just don't think young Eleanor is being entirely sincere in her statements. I mean, that nightgown doesn't even button up to the neck.....

Maybe she's just a confused and sincere kid (having a reverend as your father definitely has its unique challenges), but even yesterday, it also felt like she might be playing us.

.... You could write an entire academic thesis on this.....

Buhbuhbuhbuh, didn't Bill Slagg do something self-sacrificing today? Lizzie, it looks like you were right yesterday and Gray has (hopefully) finally moved on from that insanity.

... Let's take a moment, shall we, to reflect on the glory that is Mr. Andrew Gump. A skinny, bald, beady-eyed, toothless middle-aged man with no chin whatsoever. And yet Min, a reasonably intelligent woman, willingly married him. What's the deal? Never mind, I don't think I want to know.....

Allow me to answer it this way: Do all the other married couples you know make sense to an outsider?

 

[Harp]

Burma and Raven. Paws & Claws.

 

[ChiTownScion]

Gonna be honest here: Andy Gump really creeps me out. He reminds me of those old photos of facial reconstructions from Civil War or World War I wounds where some poor soul lost his jaw in battle.

 

[LizzieMaine]

This is Mr. David Hoag of Canandaigua, New York, who in 1915 had lost his lower jaw to oral cancer. In 1928, he sued Sidney Smith, creator and original artist of "The Gumps," for $1,000,000 in damages, claiming the appearance of Andy Gump was based on his own. Mr. Hoag claimed that he had known Smith, and that Smith had known him when both lived in Canandaigua. In addition to his distinctive facial features, Mr. Hoag was also tall and lanky in build and wore a conspicuous moustache, suggesting that Smith had used him as the model not just for Andy's face but for his entire appearance. Smith, naturally, denied the charges and Hoag was unable to prove his case.

Interestingly, Sid Smith's father had been a dentist, and was in a position to know a great deal about Mr. Hoag and his case, so many comics fans believe the jury should still be out on whether or not Hoag had a real claim.

And this is Mr. Andy Wheat of Bloomington, Illinois. He also lost his lower jaw to a bone disease, and he also knew Sid Smith, whom he met thru Smith's brother -- who was also a dentist, and was, in fact Mr. Wheat's dentist. Mr. Wheat also had a wife named Minerva, and a son named Chester. (There is no indication, though, that he had a billionaire uncle from Australia named Bim.) Mr. Wheat claimed that Sid Smith had used *him* as the model for Andy Gump, and decided to make the most of it -- he had his name legally changed to "Gump," and he made a good living touring the country as a side-show attraction billing himself as the actual Andy Gump in person.

And this is Joe Murphy, a vaudeville and silent film comedian who came by his looks naturally. When Universal signed with Sid Smith to make a series of "Gumps" two-reelers in 1922, Mr. Murphy was an absolute natural for the role of Andy, and stayed with the series for five years. He ended up typecast, of course, and when the series ended in 1927, he spent the rest of his film career as an extra. Look for him in crowd scenes -- he shouldn't be too hard to spot.

 

[Harp]

Gonna be honest here: Andy Gump really creeps me out. He reminds me of those old photos of facial reconstructions from Civil War or World War I wounds where some poor soul lost his jaw in battle.

When I was with the Veterans Administration Regional Counsel I handled a case for a sailor
whom had had deck plates slammed on him during aircraft carrier operations in the South Pacific,
and he was suing the ship's manufacturer. I was walking with him outside the office-he was wheelchair
bound and the sight of this kid missing his left leg and half his left arm caused several civilians
to become quite unnerved. I spoke with these ladies afterwards, not condescendingly but reminding
them that freedom isn't free and service related accidents occur.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Nazi sources stated today that German panzer divisions have trapped a number of Soviet units in "rings of iron" as they make their way past "the charred and burning city of Smolensk," and is now "hammering them mercilessly." The latest communique from the German High Command states that Soviet defenses have been penetrated at three sectors, and claims that the 713th Soviet Infantry Regiment has been "annihilated." Berlin authorities are also circulating rumors of uprisings and mutinies within the Red Army in the face of the "deaths of hundreds of thousands" of Russian troops along the vast battlegrounds of the Stalin Line.

An early termination of the non-aggression pact between the Soviet Union and Japan is anticipated in American diplomatic quarters, as a consequence of this week's shakeup in the Japanese Cabinet. Veteran officials and others familiar with the Far Eastern picture place little credence in rumors that the elevation of Admiral Toyoda to the post of Foreign Minister will cause Japan to adopt a more moderate foreign policy.

Senator Burton K. Wheeler (D-Montana) responded today to President Roosevelt's refusal to "pull a Wheeler" by discussing movements of United States troops in Iceland by calling on the President to "pull a Wheeler" by renewing his election pledge to keep the United States out of the war. The Senator also called upon the President to "pull a Wheeler" by resisting calls to extend the service time of Army trainees, reservists, and National Guardsmen by "holding to the promise he made to draftees" to release them from military service at the conclusion of their one-year training period.

Meanwhile, Senator George W. Norris (Independent -- Louisiana) called today for the payment of a bonus to Army selectees who voluntarily extend their military service past the one-year limit. "I very much dislike breaking the contract we have made with these boys," declared the Senator. "After all, we told these boys they would only be in the service for one year. I believe we could offer them a bonus to re-enlist after their first year of service. Of course, I believe most of them would re-enlist anyway if their services were needed."

Low-hanging fog last night over LaGuardia Field forced an Army training plane into a melodramatic blind landing thru clouds yielding a ceiling of just 200 feet, and with its gasoline tanks nearly dry. The pilot, whose name was not revealed, was aiming for the Army air station at Mitchel Field, but found that base to be completely fogbound and decided to try landing at a civilian field instead. He first considered Newark Airport, but determined he had insufficient fuel to reach that destination, and was forced to attempt landing at LaGuardia, despite crowded commercial traffic. By the time airport controllers were able to clear an approach path, the little monoplane had only fifteen minutes' worth of fuel left.

Detectives from the Missing Persons Bureau are working with police from the Poplar Street precinct in the search for a 54-year-old Brooklyn Heights hotel manager now missing for ten days. Lee N. Chalmers of 86 Orange Street was last seen on July 9th as he paid in a deposit for the Franklin Arms Hotel at the Montague Street branch of the Manufacturers Trust Company. According to Chalmers' wife, he is five feet seven inches tall, weighs 145 pounds, has brown eyes and brown hair and a ruddy complexion, and was last known to be wearing a brown and green coat, brownish-green gabardine trousers, low brown shoes, a white shirt with collar attached, and green socks. He was said to have been "in good spirits" when he left for work on the 9th. The Chalmerses have one son, Lee Jr., who attends school in East St. Louis, Illinois.

A 60-year-old Long Island man faces a double murder charge after he shot his estranged wife and his son and law last night on the porch of his wife's home in Mineola. Pasquale D'Avano was said to have become enraged when his 60-year-old wife Josephine D'Avano refused his overtures toward a reconciliation, and opened fire with a 22-caliber pistol, killing Mrs. D'Avano and 35-year-old Anthony Passarella. Wounded in the attack was the D'Avanos' daughter, Mrs. Mary Passarella, mother of five children. Police say D'Avano, who is employed as a dock worker in Roslyn, L. I., has confessed to the shootings.

A 29-year-old former screen and stage actress killed herself last night by asphyxiation in her Manhattan home. Brooklyn-born Claire. J. Maynard, who appeared in several films made at the Fox studio in Hollywood in the early 1930s, was said to have been distraught since the death of her mother three years ago. A maid told police she smelled gas coming from the apartment and when patrolmen forced the door, they found the actress dead inside. Near the body were found three farewell notes -- one of them addressed to Miss Maynard's late mother.

A Bensonhurst man faces Federal charges of impersonating an Internal Revenue agent after mulcting dozens of doctors in Brooklyn and Queens out of supposed "overdue tax payments." Alfred J. Wing of 1261 75th Street is being held on $1000 bail, accused of pocketing "several thousand dollars in cash" paid by his victims.

Paving workers will set to work Monday, removing the scars remaining on Fulton Street from the removal of the "Black Spider." Now-abandoned trolley tracks will be torn up along Fulton Street from Myrtle Street to Flatbush Avenue, and the surface of the roadway repaved. The Pamanak Asphalt Paving and Material Corporation will do the work under a $45,997.59 contract awarded by Borough President John Cashmore.

(Did you have Mr. Amen look that contract over first? Just sayin'.)

(There used to be a thriving industry over in Brooklyn for the making of two-reel comedies. I think when they left town, they forgot someone.)

Today marks the second anniversary of the murder of waterfront labor activist Peter Panto, and his followers marked the occasion by demanding that District Attorney William O'Dwyer make a priority of bringing his killers to justice. Longshoreman Pete Mazzie, who has succeeded Panto as head of the reform movement within the Longshoremens Union and outspoken foe of dockside racketeers who extort money from longshoremen in exchange for work, pointed out that more than a year has gone by since O'Dwyer, now the Democratic Party candidate for Mayor, pledged to break the case. "Unfortunately," declared Mazzie, "strong statements, unless carried out can do more harm than good." Mazzie pointed out that extortion rackets will again thrive in Red Hook unless strong action follows.

("I'd Walk A Mile For A Camel -- Until My Foot Falls Off!")

(Certainly a fine sentiment. But the EE here misses the opportunity to recommend to his readers that they head out to Dexter Park some Sunday, and look over some of the outstanding talent that isn't available to Dodger fans because of -- "reasons.")

(I was just wondering what ever happened to that kid with the handcuffs...)

The body of a "prominent Negro educator," missing since last December, was identified yesterday, three days after it was fished out of the Hudson River. Dr. Willis N. Huggins, the "only man of his race to hold a Ph.D from Fordham University" was last seen at his home on December 22nd, and his coat was recovered the following day on the George Washington Bridge. His wife Rosetta received a letter, purportedly from him, that same day -- warning that "something is going to happen." Dr. Huggins taught history and economics at Bushwick High School, and when appointed to that position in 1924 became "only the sixth person of his race to hold a position in the city school system." Dr. Huggins also served as the assistant principal in the night school division at Harlem Union High School. He was formerly the president of the New York Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, edited "The Searchlight," a Negro magazine, and operated the Blyden Book Store in Manhattan.

(Dr. Huggins was a far more significant figure than this brief story suggests. He was an activist of long and distinguished standing, on both the national and international stages, and was the first educator to push for the integration of African and African-American history into the curriculum in the New York City public schools -- in the 1920s. And yet until today -- and in spite of reading quite a bit about racial activism in the 1920s and 30s -- I'd never heard of him. Lost history indeed.)

("T'NOIVE!" yells Joe. "'Ebbets Feel is not suitable fa' a game a't'is -- uh -- mag-na-tude!' T' Heral' Tribune! Who reads t' Heral' Tribune! Ol' men wit' stahch collas on, 'at look atcha when ya go inna bank like ya gonna stick it up!" "Ahhhhh, who cares 'bout football anyways," grumbles Sally. "Buncha fatheads wit' no necks runnin' inta each utta. Fit right in wit' allem kin'a people goes ta t' Pola Groun's.")

(What to make of the logo on Sparks' bathing suit? In 2021 this symbol has extremely unpleasant connotations, but in 1941 it's either the astronomical symbol for Earth, a Bronze Age ideogram denoting the worship of the Sun, or an indicator in schematic diagrams denoting the attachment of a component with the newly-invented Phillips screws. Take your pick.)

(Well now, "cad" is maybe a little strong...)

(That's right, COLLEGE! Connie had four years at the Norma Shearer Academy of Dramatic Arts.)

(In addition to her advanced detective and special-operations skills, Kay is also really really good at not laughing out loud.)

 

[Harp]

Connie's a looker.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

I wonder where Mrs. Pell buys her ties? And if George Clark wants to draw "Harold Teen," maybe he should just go ahead and do it.

AXEL??? Jeez, you'd never know him without the whiskers. Better grow 'em back, bud, you look kinda prissy without 'em.

"The bums" has not quite caught on yet as a nickname for the Dodgers, but it's coming, and this is the season that will cement it.

Meanwhile, Terry wonders whatever became of April Kane.

Now you've done it, you dirty cur! Messing with a mailbox is a FEDERAL RAP!

I wonder how much Punj gets paid?

"KANS---" Hmm. It was pretty clear in the days when Skeez was growing up that he lived in one of those little towns around the outskirts of Chicago, and Nina grew up on a farm outside of that town. So we have to conclude that they are, in fact, blowing off their families altogether and heading out instead to enjoy the wild night life of the jazz clubs of Kansas City. Enjoy the barbecue, kids!

The sad thing is, that's actually one of *her* hairs that fell into the stew.

"Harold? Harold who?"

Hey, be nice. With Edna May Oliver retired, she just might have a chance.

 

[Harp]

Sky King's looking to make a move. Terry's looking to make his bunk.

 

[Fading Fast]

...Low-hanging fog last night over LaGuardia Field forced an Army training plane into a melodramatic blind landing thru clouds yielding a ceiling of just 200 feet, and with its gasoline tanks nearly dry. The pilot, whose name was not revealed, was aiming for the Army air station at Mitchel Field, but found that base to be completely fogbound and decided to try landing at a civilian field instead. He first considered Newark Airport, but determined he had insufficient fuel to reach that destination, and was forced to attempt landing at LaGuardia, despite crowded commercial traffic. By the time airport controllers were able to clear an approach path, the little monoplane had only fifteen minutes' worth of fuel left....

What the heck is "low-hanging fruit" doing at an airport and how is that getting in the way of landings? That's just stupid. [Checks first sentence again.] Oh, "low hanging fog," well now, that makes sense.

...A 60-year-old Long Island man faces a double murder charge after he shot his estranged wife and his son and law last night on the porch of his wife's home in Mineola. Pasquale D'Avano was said to have become enraged when his 60-year-old wife Josephine D'Avano refused his overtures toward a reconciliation, and opened fire with a 22-caliber pistol, killing Mrs. D'Avano and 35-year-old Anthony Passarella. Wounded in the attack was the D'Avanos' daughter, Mrs. Mary Passarella, mother of five children. Police say D'Avano, who is employed as a dock worker in Roslyn, L. I., has confessed to the shootings...

I've mentioned it before and it's purely just how it "feels" to me, but it sure "feels" like this type of crime - killing an ex/cheating spouse - was much more common in the '40s than today.

...A Bensonhurst man faces Federal charges of impersonating an Internal Revenue agent after mulcting dozens of doctors in Brooklyn and Queens out of supposed "overdue tax payments." Alfred J. Wing of 1261 75th Street is being held on $1000 bail, accused of pocketing "several thousand dollars in cash" paid by his victims....

Apparently, based on what we learned yesterday, the head of the FBI, Hoover himself, should be personally involved in the investigation of this crime.

..Paving workers will set to work Monday, removing the scars remaining on Fulton Street from the removal of the "Black Spider." Now-abandoned trolley tracks will be torn up along Fulton Street from Myrtle Street to Flatbush Avenue, and the surface of the roadway repaved. The Pamanak Asphalt Paving and Material Corporation will do the work under a $45,997.59 contract awarded by Borough President John Cashmore.

(Did you have Mr. Amen look that contract over first? Just sayin'.)...

I had the exact same thought Lizzie: somebody should check the balance in the construction slush fund.

...
(I was just wondering what ever happened to that kid with the handcuffs...)...

I'd have sent only one letter and to the Oomph Girl - sometimes you get lucky and get your first choice. Sweater Girl wouldn't even have received one of the first five letters I sent.

...The body of a "prominent Negro educator," missing since last December, was identified yesterday, three days after it was fished out of the Hudson River. Dr. Willis N. Huggins, the "only man of his race to hold a Ph.D from Fordham University" was last seen at his home on December 22nd, and his coat was recovered the following day on the George Washington Bridge. His wife Rosetta received a letter, purportedly from him, that same day -- warning that "something is going to happen." Dr. Huggins taught history and economics at Bushwick High School, and when appointed to that position in 1924 became "only the sixth person of his race to hold a position in the city school system." Dr. Huggins also served as the assistant principal in the night school division at Harlem Union High School. He was formerly the president of the New York Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, edited "The Searchlight," a Negro magazine, and operated the Blyden Book Store in Manhattan.

(Dr. Huggins was a far more significant figure than this brief story suggests. He was an activist of long and distinguished standing, on both the national and international stages, and was the first educator to push for the integration of African and African-American history into the curriculum in the New York City public schools -- in the 1920s. And yet until today -- and in spite of reading quite a bit about racial activism in the 1920s and 30s -- I'd never heard of him. Lost history indeed.)...

Very impressive man to have accomplished what he did in the era that he did it in. It's a shame that something clearly and sadly went wrong in his life that it ended the way it did.

... ("T'NOIVE!" yells Joe. "'Ebbets Feel is not suitable fa' a game a't'is -- uh -- mag-na-tude!' T' Heral' Tribune! Who reads t' Heral' Tribune! Ol' men wit' stahch collas on, 'at look atcha when ya go inna bank like ya gonna stick it up!" "Ahhhhh, who cares 'bout football anyways," grumbles Sally. "Buncha fatheads wit' no necks runnin' inta each utta. Fit right in wit' allem kin'a people goes ta t' Pola Groun's.")...

Re the sportswriters' dustup, I learned in the enjoyable book, "Summer of '49" (comments here: #8689), that the teams, like the Dodgers, subsidized the sportswriters', covering their team, traveling and lodging expenses. No surprise, this resulted in more favorable coverage. The two sides still "fought" as we see here, but it was a "control" fight where everyone knew the lines not to cross as this scratch-my-back relationship worked well for both sides.

...
(That's right, COLLEGE! Connie had four years at the Norma Shearer Academy of Dramatic Arts.)..

One, how long do you think it will be before Connie and Tom are caught passionately kissing?

Two, I don't know about it today, but even into the '70s, a lot of the, mainly older, small-business owners and local politicians who had (maybe) graduated high school, but did okay in the real world, had a derisive attitude toward college and college graduates in general. It was definitely a thing back then.

... (In addition to her advanced detective and special-operations skills, Kay is also really really good at not laughing out loud.)

Just before leaving the locker room to pitch against the Pirates, Freddie Fitzsimmons sat quietly chuckling as he read the Eagle and could be heard muttering to himself, "now that is a fat man."

Connie's a looker.

She's a tall drink of water. I don't know if you remember, but Connie is a contract player for "Terry and the Pirates," but T&TP management wanted to defray some of her development costs, so they loaned her out to "Mary Worth." Now that she's becoming popular, though, that looks like a bad decision.

... I wonder where Mrs. Pell buys her ties? And if George Clark wants to draw "Harold Teen," maybe he should just go ahead and do it.....

Fair point, but it's a heck of a good illustration.

.. I wonder how much Punj gets paid?....

Whatever he wants.

...
"Harold? Harold who?"...

Every single thought I had about this one is inappropriate for our forum.

Sky King's looking to make a move. Terry's looking to make his bunk.

You'd think the boy would learn from example.

 

[Harp]

I've mentioned it before and it's purely just how it "feels" to me, but it sure "feels" like this type of crime - killing an ex/cheating spouse - was much more common in the '40s than today..

Army post in the southern United States. A couple found upstairs bedroom, dead, woman slouched atop male,
a single bullet fired close range apparently killed both.

Downstairs. In the kitchen the woman's husband dead by self-inflicted gun shot wound.

The couple were slain by a .38 caliber bullet. The man downstairs suicided with a .45 Colt 1911A1 automatic.

Upstairs male and female slain by the man's wife armed with a .38 Smith&Wesson revolver.

___________
Agree, spousal murder seems more yesterday than today.
Criminal Law class question: Does the Felony Murder Doctrine apply to the suicide?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Conflicting reports arrived last night from the Moscow front, with a Nazi communique claiming that the Red Army is "rapidly breaking up" with Panzer forces pushing forward on the main highway from Smolensk are now just 200 miles from the Soviet capital. But a Red Army communique maintained that Soviet forces, "fighting furiously," are not only intact but checking the German drive toward Moscow. It was further stated that Smolensk itself, a vital communications link between the capital and the front, remains in Russian hands. It is also reported by Moscow that eleven Nazi troop transports were destroyed in the Baltic Channel.

In renewed daylight sweeps across the English Channel, Royal Air Force bombers today destroyed a convoy of four German supply ships and hit the docks of Dunkirk, as Britain stepped up the pace of its sky offensive. An Air Ministry communique stated that up to one third each of the industrial capacity of the German cities of Muenster and Aschen has been destroyed by RAF raiders.

(...- ...- ...- ...- ...- ...- ...- ...- ...- ...- ...- ...- ...-)

The German ambassador to Bolivia has been declared persona non grata by that South American republic, after Bolivian authorities cracked down on Nazi-driven subversive activity in that country. The Bolivian government is expected to declare "a state of siege" in that country in response to the discovery of a Nazi movement there.

In the most drastic Government order yet issued for the placing of American industrial capacity on a National Defense footing, Federal Price Control administrator Leon Henderson today ordered the production of automobiles, electric refrigerators, and laundry equipment slashed by fifty percent due to shortages of raw materials required for defense work. Mr. Henderson, who also serves as Administrator of Civilian Supply, also warned that additional reductions in production of other types of civilian goods are forthcoming, with sharp cuts anticipated in the manufacture of air conditioning equipment, furnaces, stoves and ranges, metal furniture, and miscellaneous small household appliances. Under today's order automobile production by all American manufacturers will be capped at about 200,000 units a month, or 2,400,000 a year -- down from present production levels of more than 5,000,000 vehicles per year. The order also places sharp restrictions on the number of model and style variations permitted to be produced with a view toward forcing manufacturers to shift toward the production of "more economical designs." Cooperation with the new orders is compulsory, noted Mr. Henderson, pointing out that manufacturers will be allotted only quantities of raw materials sufficient to meet the restricted output. Particularly hard hit will be the production of civilian trucks with capacity of less than one ton, but trucks with higher capacities will not be subject to restriction given the need for such vehicles in the defense industry.

The U.S. Coast Guard is calling upon owners of yachts and other motorized pleasure boats to turn them over for Government service in order to meet a necessary quota of 270 reserve boats for Coast Guard patrol duties. In the New York district 2000 such boats have already been volunteered for Coast Guard Reserve service.

The Long Island man who killed his estranged wife and his son in law, and wounded his daughter in a front-porch confrontation in Mineola Friday night has been pronounced legally sane. Pasquale D'Avanzo was examined by Dr. Foster E. Kennedy of Manhattan after confessing to the murders of Mrs. Josephine D'Avanzo and Anthony Passarella. Passarella and his wife, the D'Avanzos' daughter, were shot as they struggled with D'Avanzo for the possession of the gun after Mrs. D'Avanzo was shot. Police say D'Avanzo had a permit to possess the revolver given his duties as a road foreman for a supply company. D'Avanzo is being held without bail for the grand jury.

The search for missing Brooklyn Heights hotel manager Lee N. Chalmers has spread to nine states, as police revealed today that a shortage of $4500 exists in hotel accounts for which the missing man was responsible. Chalmers, manager of the Franklin Arms Hotel, 66 Orange Street, was last seen paying in a deposit at the Montague Street branch of the Manufacturers Trust Company on July 9th.

Hunter College summer students are spending a lot of time at the movies -- but it's all part of their classwork. A course in the history and the art of the motion picture is being taught under the auspices of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association of America, and as part of their study, students are assigned to view selected current films and provide detailed reviews.

("MAin 4-7030," says Sally. "Hah?" hahs Joe. "MAin 4-7030," repeats Sally. "MacPhail's phone numba! I want you should go downa cannystoah, an' call 'im up an' tell 'im if he knows what good for 'im, 'e's gonna do sump'n bouttis." "Ain' you gonna do it?" "No -- OW! Kid's kickin'. Kid's hoid 'bout allis, an' is gettin' soah! I dowanna make it any woise. You do it. Heah, I wrote down onnis paypa what ya otta say." "Um," says Joe. "I dunno if ya allowed ta say some 'a 'tis onna phone." "JUST GO! OW! SETTLE DOWN KID, HE'S GOIN'!")

The Chairman of the Board of the Pfizer Chemical Company, Brooklyn pharmaceutical concern, has died at the age of 78. Emile Pfizer was one of two sons of the late Charles Pfizer, who co-founded the company 91 years ago, and had been associated with the firm for 55 years. He also maintained a racing stable at his estate in Gladstone, N. Y.

(WHY IZZIT every time Fitz is supposed to pitch, it rains? WHY? WHY? WHY?)

The hard-hitting Baltimore Elite Giants aren't easily stopped, but the Bushwicks will try again today in a twinbill at Dexter Park. The last time the Elites were in town, they walloped Bob Miller 14-2, but Miller is game for another try. He'll pitch one of the two games for the Woodhaven team, with clever southpaw Bill Scott expected to start the other. The Bushwicks are not happy to see their prime nemesis on the Baltimore squad, Elites shortstop Pee Wee Butts, who slapped the local pitching without mercy the last time he faced it.

(No one man will have more of a direct impact on everyday American life in the years just ahead than Mr. Leon Henderson. Somehow I thought he'd be taller.)

She won't be accompanied by her pet lion, but Miss Tallulah Bankhead will otherwise be present and accounted for on the stage of the Brighton Theatre this week, as she opens tomorrow in "Her Cardboard Lover," farce play by Jacques Deval in which she starred on the London stage back in 1929. Miss Bankhead has been absent from the American boards for several years, but her appearance at the Brighton is part of a long-awaited summer tour that has rekindled her stateside reputation as one of the most pandemonious personalities in the theatre today.

Old Timer James Riordan remembers the days when it wasn't a real family unless there were at least ten children running around. He himself was one of eighteen, but, he notes, his father married twice.

(Whatever else you may think of the Jungle Lord, you gotta admire his ability to sleep thru anything.)

(Um, what new hairstyle? Must be one of those $2 permanents. They never take.)

(Hey Senator Bilbo, aren't you afraid those shoes will clash with your white robe and your pointy hood?)

(Little Sunny is a pretty impressive kid. I couldn't handle a jump rope when I was four. And "Dan told me about this trick?" Whoa, Kay, say no more. Please. Say no more.)

(Somehow the fact that we can only see this in silhouette makes it even more hilarious.)

("She fell for that writin' stuff!" Media manipulation in America goes way back.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Seems to be quite the season for missing persons.

Yeah, that's me at the ironing board. Took off my glasses because they keep fogging up.

Behold what's probably the first depiction of waterboarding in the funnies. Always can count on Mr. Gould for the latest innovations.

Well, that brings us up to date. I'm sure Pat and the DL are having some interesting conversations about the present state of international geopolitics...and all. And Raven doesn't really wear glasses, she just put them on to intimidate Burma.

"What does an artist like to draw best? HIS SALARY!" All right, now it's Gray himself who's trolling us.

"It was a gentler time..."

I suppose we can be thankful he didn't go skinny-dipping. I hope.

Jeeeeeeeeeez, Mosely. I supposed we should be thankful we don't get to see this in color.

Skeez and Walt are not related by blood in any way. But nevertheless, they have exactly the same cowlick. I've always wondered about that.

True fact: Back in the twenties, "The Gumps," with Chester's Sunday page globe-trotting, was the first really successful adventure strip. Every now and then Gus likes to remind us of that.

 

[Harp]

Sky King's a busted flush, Raven's all shirtfront tie-tied-too-tight poker, and Burma's Acey-Deucey wild.
It's all menage a trois sans menage, Caniff chastity within editorial restraint, and the coffee pot is kept
simmering on the back burner until it boils undrinkable mud; metaphorically a caldron of passion
stirred counter clockwise. All that is needed are the witches from Macbeth.

Nevertheless, our boy has some wiggle room, some room to maneuver. The kid needs to break
out of barracks, grab Burma, and head straight to Macau. Play some strip Mah jong with the lady
from St Louis.

 

[Fading Fast]

...
("MAin 4-7030," says Sally. "Hah?" hahs Joe. "MAin 4-7030," repeats Sally. "MacPhail's phone numba! I want you should go downa cannystoah, an' call 'im up an' tell 'im if he knows what good for 'im, 'e's gonna do sump'n bouttis." "Ain' you gonna do it?" "No -- OW! Kid's kickin'. Kid's hoid 'bout allis, an' is gettin' soah! I dowanna make it any woise. You do it. Heah, I wrote down onnis paypa what ya otta say." "Um," says Joe. "I dunno if ya allowed ta say some 'a 'tis onna phone." "JUST GO! OW! SETTLE DOWN KID, HE'S GOIN'!")...

"I dunno if ya allowed ta say some 'a 'tis onna phone." And Sally's gonna be a mother soon, for shame.

...
(Whatever else you may think of the Jungle Lord, you gotta admire his ability to sleep thru anything.)...

Dagga Ramba will soon learn why he should have been paying attention in class when they studied The Fedora Lounge Rulebook for Killing a TV, Movie or Comic-Strip Enemy, which states: "Always kill your enemy as fast as you can and, then, check carefully to make sure he or she is dead."

...
(Little Sunny is a pretty impressive kid. I couldn't handle a jump rope when I was four. And "Dan told me about this trick?" Whoa, Kay, say no more. Please. Say no more.)...

Oh Dear God.

... Seems to be quite the season for missing persons.....

What would be a "gaudy" shave?

Constance Shipp would not have done well in today's world off 24/7 social-media preening.

"Yellowed-wheeled automobile." That's all you got? No make, model, general style, description of the man? The friend does not have a future as a police investigator.

Why no update on the bigamist and the hula girl? How has Page Four not assigned a team to this story?

.. Well, that brings us up to date. I'm sure Pat and the DL are having some interesting conversations about the present state of international geopolitics...and all. And Raven doesn't really wear glasses, she just put them on to intimidate Burma....

Caniff knows what he is doing - Raven's entire getup is no accident.

Sky King's a busted flush, Raven's all shirtfront tie-tied-too-tight poker, and Burma's Acey-Deucey wild.
It's all menage a trois sans menage, Caniff chastity within editorial restraint, and the coffee pot is kept
simmering on the back burner until it boils undrinkable mud; metaphorically a caldron of passion
stirred counter clockwise. All that is needed are the witches from Macbeth.

Nevertheless, our boy has some wiggle room, some room to maneuver. The kid needs to break
out of barracks, grab Burma, and head straight to Macau. Play some strip Mah jong with the lady
from St Louis.

I don't know, Burma wants to "thank him [the Sky King] personally." It looks to me like he's still in the game and, based on the last-panel look from Raven, with both of them.

...
"What does an artist like to draw best? HIS SALARY!" All right, now it's Gray himself who's trolling us.....

And off goes Warbucks to knock some heads at the mine.

 

[Harp]

I don't know, Burma wants to "thank him [the Sky King] personally." It looks to me like he's still in the game and, based on the last-panel look from Raven, with both of them.

Exactamundo. Terry needs to A. Act quickly; B. Arrange air transport to Macau C. Break up this trifecta quick.

 

[Harp]

^^Post Script^^

Dude Ranch seems all too complacent beneath that garrison cap. Raven is too withdrawn, a smug
tightly wound and sexually frustrated patrician gone China missionary. And Burma is her self same knock
around gal who makes do, the proverbial alley cat using up her allocated 9 lives as fate dictates.

Terry is the kid. More adolescent than adult, clearly miscast in the strip among seasoned characters
but time for him to be schooled to far harsher rythyms aroused within the heart.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Official Nazi reports today claimed that six Russian divisions on the central and northern fronts have been wiped out, and that "operations for the further annihilation of encircled Soviet forces are in progress." German military dispatches reported by the International News Services claimed that Soviet losses in the war so far exceed "the staggering total of 2,000,000 men."

Meanwhile, a Soviet war communique stated that the Germans are "throwing men lavishly" against the Moscow and Kiev fronts in "an effort to restart their stalled blitzkrieg," but their attempts so far to break thru the Red Army lines have been in vain. It was indicated that heavy fighting in the Pakov area, near the Leningrad front, had subsided overnight. It is also claimed in Soviet dispatches that guerilla attacks far behind the German lines are "taking a heavy toll" on the invasion troops.

Swarms of British planes raced across the Dover coast today in one of the greatest daylight raids of the war, with RAF bombers pounding German defense installations now under construction along the invasion coast in the belief that the British may be planning an invasion of their own into France. It is also reported that British raiders again struck German industrial installations in the Rhineland and the docks at Rotterdam.

President Roosevelt is making a direct appeal to the American people for the retention of selectees and National Guardsmen now in active service for the duration of the present emergency -- and is using unusual methods in order to ensure that his plea is disseminated as widely as possible. The President's plea will come in a message to Congress today, and the President will also deliver his appeal before newsreel cameras and recording microphones, with plans to ensure that the films and recordings are distributed as widely as possible to all parts of the nation. Distribution of the the motion pictures and radio transcriptions will not begin, however, until the President's message has actually been delivered to Congress. "The President believes that the message is of such special significance," declared Press Secretary Stephen Early, "that he feels it should be put before the country thru every possible medium." The use of newsreels and radio transcriptions is a compromise between the usual method of delivering the address in a formal speech to Congress and merely sending it as a text to be read by a clerk.

Mayor LaGuardia is expected to announce his candidacy for a third term in a radio broadcast this evening over station WNYC, on the heels of a meeting today of City Fusion Party leaders expected to announce their endorsement of his candidacy for reelection. While Brooklyn District Attorney William O'Dwyer has been selected as the Democratic Party's candidate for Mayor, the campaign is expected to cut across conventional party lines. The Mayor's broadcast will be heard at 8:45 pm.

("Jessel!" snorts Buster Keaton. "I'm in town -- why didn't they invite ME?")

The nationwide drive to collect at least 20,000,000 pounds of aluminum scrap for National Defense kicked off today, with American Legionnaires, Boy and Girl Scouts, chorus girls, and other civic-minded groups going door to door across the borough to collect old pots and pans for deposit at various collection points, the largest the one set up in front of Borough Hall. The nationwide campaign is the first significant organizational test for the new Office of Civilian Defense, headed by Mayor LaGuardia.

Lew Fields, of vaudeville fame, died today in Beverly Hills, California, ending a 66-year show-business partnership with Joe Weber that spanned Elks' Clubs, beer halls, music halls, vaudeville, the revue stage, phonograph records, motion pictures, and radio. Fields was stricken at his home by pneumonia last Thursday and was placed in an oxygen tent over the weekend. He expired yesterday afternoon at the age of seventy-five. Fields, a Polish immigrant, first teamed with Weber with a blackface acrobatic act, became a song-and-dance team, and finally rose to national fame in the Gay 90s with their famous Dutch-comedy dialect routine. In 1895 they were earning $4000 a week, and opened their own Weber and Fields Music Hall in New York. The partners had only one squabble, in 1904, which led to the temporary dissolution of their act -- but they reunited in 1912 and worked together harmoniously until their final retirement two years ago. Weber was reported to be inconsolable at the loss of his partner. "We have been together so long," he grieved, "that it will be a hard thing to live without him."

In Boston, a 16 year old boy faces charges of rape and murder in connection with the sadistic killing of a 15-year-old girl, whose mutilated body was found in the parsonage of a Baptist church in the Boston suburb of Reading, where the boy was employed as a caretaker. Police discovered the body of Miss Constance Shipp after receiving an anonymous tip of unrevealed nature. She had not been seen since she left her home about two blocks from the parsonage on an errand for her parents last Tuesday. Police stated, however, that the boy, whose name has not been revealed, does not appear to be responsible for the similar murder of another suburban Boston girl, 19-year-old Frances M. Cochran of Lynn, whose body was found in Swampscott yesterday. The boy had previously been convicted of rape, but was released with a suspended sentence.

(There are quite a few valid claimants for the all-time title of "Hardest Working Person In Show Business," but Ted Lewis is certainly among them. He's still got thirty years to go. "Is Evvvvvvvrybody Happpppy? Yesssss sirrrrrr!")

("Hah!" says Sally. "Miss Subways! I'm onna BMT one time, annis guy slides upta me an sez, he sez, 'hey kid, howdja liketa have ya pitcha uponna sidea t'cah t'eah.' An' I sez, I sez, 'What, fa wise guys ta draw a moustache n' glasses on? I like 'TAT!" "Yeah," says Joe. "But I seen *you* drawin' a moustache n' glasses on onea t'em pitchas one time.." "'Ats diff'nt. 'At was a pitcha a' t'at Kilgallen. "Read Me inna Joinal-American." I should wrap up a fish inna Joinal-American wit' Kilgallen in it. I ever tell you 'bout 't time at Erasmus she almos' pushes me down'em staiahs like she ownsa place? I sweah ta tell ya!" "Zat so," says Joe. "Hey, lookit t'time, I gotta get ta school." "Ain' no school in July." "Um, itsa diff'n kinda school. Summa school. Yeah. Gotta go!")

("How d'ya think I got this job?")

(No no no no no no no..... Oh, and "...as he waddled off the field?" Jeez, Holmes, he may be fat, but the poor man's got feelings.)

(You know, the Dodgers are pretty thin in the catching department right now what with Phelps gone, Owen getting hurt every five minutes, and Franks and Guiliani being pretty good at bowling. How about this kid Campanella? He's half Italian. Camilli, Lavagetto, everybody likes a hard-hitting Italian. How about it, Larry?)

That chain of hat stores that sponsors the fights over WJZ will also sponsor WNBT's television pickups of all the remaining bouts at Ebbets Field this season, starting with the Red Burman-Melio Bettina middleweight fight tomorrow night. Sam Taub and Bill Stern will pull double duty, describing the bout over both radio and television.

(Hey Sue, you should have taken Slappy along to help with the shopping -- he knows his way around those stores.)

(Bosh! And George is all "I don't know these people. I'm just standing here minding my own business.")

("NOBODY slams a door in MARY WORTH'S face!")

(Ohhhhhhhh Marsh -- don't you DARE...)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

And we have with us today Editor O. G. Trucrime. The Eagle says the kid didn't murder the second victim, while the News doesn't yet have that angle. Either way two such killings within a few miles of each other over the space of a few days makes one wonder exactly how they reason that.

Jeez. Ain't it bad enough the poor man has to pound a beat on Staten Island?

Yeah, give some to your boy Sinatra while you're at it. Might fatten him up.

Warbucks prepares for his sojourn to the lake by cultivating a ferocious pirate beard. AVAST ya SWABS!

If you want to know the score, ask a player.

"I mean, look at Winchell. All the time at the Stork Club! I'm not Winchell!"

"Third degree burns to the scalp, Mr. Gump. You'll need massive skin grafts."

Poor Corky. The middle child. Thirteen years old, probably full of adolescent angst, and the best he can get is a minor walk-on part once a year or so.

"Um, fine, I guess you can start by turning the lights on..."

"An' would it kill you to get an El Producto once in a while?"