The Era -- Day By Day

[LizzieMaine]

A row of three, within full view of the counter, just in case anybody tries anything funny. No booths, either -- you gonna say something, say it where everybody can hear.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("See now," declares Joe as he applies the key to a can of sardines for lunch, "y'don'know when ya well awff!" Stella the Cat crouches at his feet, fixing Joe in an unblinking gaze. "Ya c'd be stuck in some aiehshaft someplace, nobody t'feed ya, nobody t' pat ya, no stove t'hide undeh, no windehsill t'sit on. I wawntcheh t't'ink about'tat now." Stella continues to stare, the pupils of her bright green eyes compressed to an inscrutable slit. "I'm serious," insists Joe. "T'inka awla cats innis town, ain' got t'haffa what you got. Ya lucky! No ration stamps t'worry 'bout, no jawb t'go ta, no wawr t'deal wit'..." Stella's stare continues unabated. "Awright, I heah Hitleh don' like cats none, so maybe we leave t'at awff t'list. But still, ya got it betteh'rn mos' cats. Ain' I right?" Stella acknowledges this statement with a slow blink, but otherwise remains unmoved. "Oh awright," concedes Joe, tossing a sardine on the floor. "You win. But don' blame me if t'OPA ends up on ya tail!" Stella drags her prize under the stove for consumption, and Joe resumes making his sandwich. Momentarily he senses that he is again being watched. "OH NOT YOU TOO!" he groans, as Leonora fixes him in an unblinking gaze.)

President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill were confronted today by a bipartisan Congressional demand that a death blow be struck at once against Japan. Both Republicans and Democrats endorsed a speech by Senator A. B. Chandler (D-Kentucky), who asserted that the war will never be over until Japan is "challenged immediately." But there was also criticism of Sen. Chandler's remarks, with several senators from both parties declaring that war strategy is best left to the Allied leaders without the aid of "armchair strategists." It was conceded from all sides, however, that Sen. Chandler's speech was "well timed," with Churchill scheduled to address a joint session of Congress tomorrow. It is not expected that the Prime Minister will respond in any way to Sen. Chandler's challenge, but both senators and congressmen are expected to analyze Mr. Churchill's speech with great care in search of any implied answers.

Tomorrow's speech comes as the President and the Prime Minister begin their second week of secret conferences during which they have conducted their own personal "war of nerves" against the Axis by a barrage of veiled threats against Germany and Japan. The latest such thrust came yesterday, when the White House released the texts of messages to Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin and Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek sent in response to their congratulatory messages concerning the Allied victory in Tunisia. To Mr. Stalin, the President replied "now that we have the initiative, it is reasonable to expect further successes on both the Eastern and Western Fronts, and further supplies, including air." To Chiang, the President stated "we hope in the near future to take, together with your gallant army, the initiative in Asia and to bring an end to the war which you have for many years carried on successfully in spite of all difficulties."

An Australian hospital ship, brightly lighted and plainly marked with the Red Cross, was sunk by a Japanese submarine off the coast of Brisbane on Friday, with the loss of 299 persons, many of whom were burned to death by blazing fuel oil. The headquarters of General Douglas MacArthur announced the sinking of the hospital ship Centaur yesterday, with the General denouncing the torpedo attack as "an act of limitless savagery," and a part of an "enemy horror campaign." Only 64 persons, among them one nurse out of the twelve on board, were saved after spending 36 hours adrift in open boats, beating off sharks with boards. No patients were aboard the Centaur, which was en route to New Guinea from Sydney.

Italian soldiers stationed in Yugoslavia are deserting Axis garrisons in increasing numbers, and several organized uprisings have occured, according to reports published in Sweden. A report from the Office of War Information stated that the Swedish paper Ny Dag attributed its statements to reports from Bern. The Italians are said to have become demoralized over the Axis defeat in North Africa. Twelve Italian soldiers have been reported shot for mutiny, but two hundred others deserted a base near Novumesto last month, and many are reported to have joined Yugoslavian guerilla factions. Meanwhile, Radio Algiers reports that 300,000 refugees from Southern Italy have arrived in Rome over the past two weeks, fleeing from air raids and the threat of an Allied invasion.

In Hollywood, actor Errol Flynn is recovering today at Hollywood Hospital after collapsing on a film set at Warner Brothers studio. He is expected to remain hospitalized for at least a week.

A strike truce for the nation's coal mines announced last night by United Mine Workers president John L. Lewis held off a general work stoppage at least until the end of this month, but the way toward an ultimate settlement of contract issues appears to be as completely blocked as ever. The previous fifteen-day truce which ended at midnight was extended late last night by Lewis in a telegram to Solid Fuels Administrator Harold L. Ickes, and administrator for the mines since they were seized by the Government. The wire was seen as a pointed snub by Lewis of the War Labor Board, with Lewis continuing to insist that the WLB has no jurisdiction over the miners. The WLB responded to that snub by issuing a statement accusing the UMW president of "defying the lawfully established procedures of the government of the United States."

(How about the stage of Loew's Met? Charge a $25 War Bond purchase for admission. Maybe you can get Harry James for an opening act.)

(I'd dearly love to see Guy Kibbee and Edgar Buchanan do an act together.)

(The longer you're married, the more you start to look like each other.)

Former Magistrate Jeanine G. Brill, whose twelve years on the bench constitute the longest term of any woman jurist in the city, begins her new duties today as assistant corporation counsel in Queens Family Court. The former magistrate was quietly appointed to the post and sworn in by Mayor LaGuardia last Friday, in a surprise move to fill a vacancy in that office. She will be paid $3500 per year, and it is understood that her assignment to the Queens court is temporary. Mrs. Brill was the first woman appointed to the bench in Brooklyn, and had previously served as a deputy assistant State Attorney General and vice president of the late John H. McCooey's Democratic organization in the 18th Assembly District. Since her term as magistrate expired in May 1941, she has served as a justice in the Court of Domestic Relations and as the head of the Legal Aid Department for the American Women's Voluntary Service. She has a grown son and daughter, both of whom are attorneys.

(One of my favorite things about baseball is abbreviations in box scores. "Bord'y. CF. Vaug'n, SS. Medw'k, LF." But I think when you have two brothers playing for opposing teams in the same game, you should use their first names to avoid confusion: "Harry, CF." "Dixie, RF.")

Our old friend the Blimp has been deflated for the next two months by order of the Commissioner. Judge K. M. Landis today suspended Babe Phelps, lately of the Pirates, for refusing to sign his contract within ten days of the start of the regular season. The suspension will be good for sixty days.

The boys in service camps positively dislike entertainment programs made up of one war song after another. So reports singer Beatrice Kay, former star of WABC's "Gay Nineties Revue," who adds that what they really want to hear are "comedy songs, the lighter love songs, and good classical music."

(Well, to be fair, knowing Slim, that's probably exactly right.)

(THE BAILIFF WILL KINDLY FOLLOW THE LEGALLY-PRESCRIBED FORM AND ENOUGH ALREADY WITH THE "ETC.")

(C'mon, arrest this guy and get it over with. Supper's getting cold!)

(THAT'S RIGHT FOLKS, AMERICA'S NUMBER ONE HERO DOG IS PROUD TO PRESENT "EDUCATIONAL NATURE FACTS!")

(War is Hell.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

And let's not even get into who he's flying everywhere WITH...

This isn't helping.

It would serve Pat right if his landlady turns out to be Cheery Blaze.

Mr. Keyes doesn't strike me as a particularly "jive" pianist. I'm thinking more like Eddy Duchin.

"Oh, and incidentally, there might be one or two OPA agents down there mixed in with 'em..."

Well, it's a legitimate question.

"Never mind, just more Italians."

From the "Folies Bergere" Collection at Davega.

"Nah, they're all working at Western Electric."

The skilled troll breaks in new material by taking it on the road.

 

[Fading Fast]

...

(I'd dearly love to see Guy Kibbee and Edgar Buchanan do an act together.)
...

Those two definitely have a compatible vibe.

After Sally and Joe see "Edge of Darkness," they should take in "This Land is Mine." Both are outstanding "occupation resistance" movies. "This Land is Mine" is meaningfully underrated today.

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(THE BAILIFF WILL KINDLY FOLLOW THE LEGALLY-PRESCRIBED FORM AND ENOUGH ALREADY WITH THE "ETC.")
...

Exactly which law school did this prosecutor go to that he wears a suit like that to court (or anywhere)? Who's doing the hiring in the DA's office these days? Perhaps Jeanine G. Brill's son or daughter is looking for a job - I'd bet they'd present the State's case dressed better.

...

(THAT'S RIGHT FOLKS, AMERICA'S NUMBER ONE HERO DOG IS PROUD TO PRESENT "EDUCATIONAL NATURE FACTS!")

...

"America's Number One Pampered Pet is about to starve to death if he doesn't get rescued soon. Only real dogs can channel their inner wolf to survive in the wild like I have done time and time again in my well-documented adventures."

"Sandy, your cucumber face mask is ready as I know you said you wanted to take down some of the puffiness around your eyes."
"Shh! Not now."

And in the Daily News...

And let's not even get into who he's flying everywhere WITH...
...

If that's not the case, then Ann is asking for a divorce based on the argument that she loves her husband too much. Hmm. I'm going with Lizzie's angle.

...

This isn't helping.
...

...

It would serve Pat right if his landlady turns out to be Cheery Blaze.
..

She had a thing for Pat, right? An unrequited thing if memory serves.

...

"Never mind, just more Italians."
...

"But be careful, boys, as you never know which side they'll be on today."

 

[LizzieMaine]

Patrick ruthlessly manipulated Cheery in order to facilitate his, April's, and her father's escape from a dangerous situation -- and she will never, ever forgive him for it. If she does turn up again -- and this would, indeed, be a brilliant moment for that to happen -- he can be assured that she will not fool around.

 

[Fading Fast]

View attachment 518504
Patrick ruthlessly manipulated Cheery in order to facilitate his, April's, and her father's escape from a dangerous situation -- and she will never, ever forgive him for it. If she does turn up again -- and this would, indeed, be a brilliant moment for that to happen -- he can be assured that she will not fool around.

"Heaven has no rage like love to hate turned, nor hell a fury..."

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

The DL is La Choi San, known and feared thruout the China Seas as The Dragon Lady, ruthless leader of a pirate band turned commander of a vast guerilla army who has been fighting the Japanese invaders since 1937. She and Patrick have what can be described as a complicated relationship -- Pat has been, at various moments over the past nine years, her enemy, her prisoner, her lover, her compatriot, and her agent. She is Hu Shee's mentor, she is the one who cut out Big Stoop's tongue because he annoyed her, and she is the one who taught then-seventeen-year-old Terry how to dance.

Sounds like a noun in dative case wrapped inside an indirect object. My interest is peaked.
I've a beard meself. Couldn't wear one in the service though, suppose the war had its privileges like facial hair.

I believe the Serb naval cmdr in Annie quoted As You like It. So much Bard blasted herein. I love it.!!!

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

View attachment 518504
Patrick ruthlessly manipulated Cheery in order to facilitate his, April's, and her father's escape from a dangerous situation -- and she will never, ever forgive him for it. If she does turn up again -- and this would, indeed, be a brilliant moment for that to happen -- he can be assured that she will not fool around.

So Ryan deliberately hurt her. But he had valid reason to do this per their escape? Could they talk it over?
Seems like a decent chap and all.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Cheery was the daughter of Pat's old ally Captain Blaze, an English pirate, who hated her father like poison, and was plotting to turn him, and his gun-running operation, over to a warlord named Singh-Singh -- and also planned to hand over young April Kane to Singh-Singh as his latest wife. Pat engineered events so that Singh-Singh got Cheery instead, as he and April and the Captain escaped in disguise. We haven't seen Singh-Singh or Cheery since all this happened about three years ago -- but presumably, Cheery got the upper hand and is running Singh-Singh's organization herself. Singh-Singh, you see, was kind of an idiot.

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

Presumption is just that, a supposition predicated, predictably on hope, envy, hate, or love; or all at once.
Terrence is certainly top shelf even with all its Yanks blitzed by hormonal overdrive.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("Hmph!" hmphs Ma Sweeney with a shake of her head. "Bloody aaaaaamateurs. But," she observes to Hops Gaffney, leaning against the wall leafing thru a copy of "Spicy Detective," "what do ye expect in Ridgewood. Sooombody ought to go out tharr and....AH! Daughter!" "Hiya Ma," greets Sally, as she holds open the screen door for her companion. "Well Ma Sweeney!" thunders Alice Dooley, looming close behind. "Imagin' seein' YOU again! An' Hops Gaffney!" Alice slaps Hops a mighty blow upon the shoulder causing him to drop his magazine. "WHAT'S BUZZIN' COUSIN?" she roars. "Whatcha say, Alice. I'll be goin' now," mutters Hops, gathering his dignity and hustling to the door." "Hello, Alice," nods Ma. "It's beeen a laaang time, it has." "Five yeeahs n' change," agrees Alice with a hearty grin. "How the time does fly," agrees Ma. "Sally, deeear, y'll find Leonora upstairs, she should be joooost about ready to wake up f'rm her nap." "Awright," Sally acknowledges. "I'll leave t'two'a yez t'get cawght up." "So," begins Ma as Sally's footsteps clatter up the stairs. "So," agrees Alice. "Ye ain't said anything to me daughter, have ye?" inquires Ma, her mouth a thin line. "Aw, soitenly not," smiles Alice. "She's a swell kid. She on'y heehs what she wants t'heeah, an' I ain' sayin' nut'n." "Well see that ye don't," Ma commands. "I'll not have her, nor me dear little granddaughter involved in any of this. Nor me son-in-law neithaar. Hard enough it is to keep him fr'm aaaskin' too many questions, me takin' caare of the baby an' all. I'll not have me faamily interfered with, an' you can take thaat f'r what ye will." "Aw," shrugs Alice. "Ya got me awl wrong, Ma. Doin'at stretch made me t'ink about a lotta stuff. T'eah's betteh ways'a makin' a livin'." "If yarr suggestin' I'm to pay for ye silence, young lady," glares Ma, "ye be vaaaary mooch mistaken. Ye took that rap for me Michael, an' I'm graateful farr that, but ye poosh me, an' I'll not hesitate..." "Take a rest, Ma," chuckles Alice. "I'm just home t'be one'a t'bunch again. Hey, whatcha heah fr'm Jimmy Leary? He still the same as he --- heh -- was?" "Ye just mind ye step, Alice Dooley," warns Ma. "I'll say no more. Ahhhh! Daughter! And there's me little Leonora -- would ye have a bit of ice cream before ye go home?" "Nah," replies Sally. "Do'wanna sperl'eh suppeh. You an' Alice gettin' reacquain'ed?" "Oh yes," nods Ma, as she locks eyes with Miss Dooley. "Vaaary well acquainted indeed."

A raid personally led by Mayor LaGuardia on a midtown Manhattan barber shop suspected of dealing in black market potatoes has led to the impounding by the city of 17,000 pounds of the rare vegetable, and will likely lead to charges against the barber. The Mayor led police patrolmen and agents of the Department of Markets in the raid this morning at Charles' Barber Shop, 6th Avenue and 48th Street, and while a patrolman guarded the door, an agent from the district OPA office examined the hoard. The shop itself was ordered closed for violations of the building code. The raid was orchestrated after the Department of Markets received at least two score telephoned tips from persons from the surrounding neighborhood reporting that they had seen sacks of potatoes being loaded into the shop from the back of a truck. 40 year old Benjamin Caplin of 28 W. 47th Street, Manhattan, acknowledged that he was the owner of the potatoes, and described himself as a jobber who had bought them from an upstate farmer at a price of $343.75 plus $120 for trucking charges, and admitted that he had stored the potatoes in the back of the barber shop while he "investigated prices and market conditions."

Magistrate Abner Surpless today challenged Mayor LaGuardia to a formal debate on the Mayor's handling of the city's food situation, and offered to pay the entire cost of hiring a hall for such a debate if the Mayor is agreeable. Magistrate Surpless yesterday refused to fine a Flatbush grocer for selling potatoes at 9 cents a pound, approximately 3 cents higher than the ceiling price, and after declaring that no one in the city is selling -- or buying -- potatoes at 6.22 cents a pound, the jurist asserted from the bench that "the trouble lies in the incompetency and political maneuvering in Washington. That is responsible for the mess, and the sooner the American people realize it, the sooner we will get out of the mess." Asked by reporters about Surpless's comment, the Mayor replied "I can't believe any magistrate said that. I will certainly look into the story." Told of the Mayor's reply, the Magistrate reiterated his remark, and offered to pay for an auditorium where "we may discuss his handling of the food situation in New York City. I don't know how to be more straightforward than that."

(I'm surprised there isn't a black market in stirrup pumps. Check some more barber shops.)

A former member of the Jehovah's Witnesses headquarters staff was grilled today by the attorney for former sect legal counsel Olin R. Moyle in Moyle's $100,000 libel suit against the two Watch Tower Bible and Tract Societies that serve as the sect's legal entities. Defense witness Charles R. Hessler, a member of the sect since 1917, facing cross-examination in Brooklyn Supreme Court by Moyle's attorney Walter Bruchhausen, declared that "when one becomes a Christian he becomes subject to the rules of Christ Jesus," and he asserted that "the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society is the agent of God Almighty to help his people on earth. One who complains of what is none of his business violates the scriptures, which say one should not be a busybody." Moyle charges in his suit that he was libeled in the pages of the Watchtower magazine after he criticized the late head of the sect, Judge J. F. Rutherford, for allegedly encouraging loose and lewd conduct at the "Bethel Home," headquarters of the sect in Columbia Heights. Moyle was branded a "murmurer and a complainer," and as "a Judas," in the magazine articles, and in statements made to Witness congregations by an agent of the Watch Tower Society sent to Wisconsin after Moyle returned to his home there.

("Besides, if we let the grass grow up a bit more, maybe we'll get some rabbits.")

(Mr. Wyatt is 36 years old. I don't like to say it, but it's true. And he doesn't just lob the ball like Fitz, he's a flinger. Back up the truck.)

(Pffft. You'd think a successful chain of fortune-telling shops would have a more impressive logo.)

(Close the window, you're letting the flies in.)

("Millions For Defense But Not One Cent For Tribute!")

(Look, kid -- crack him over the head and push him in the water, he'll float downstream, and bingo, dinner for the dogs. SOLVE EVERYBODY'S PROBLEM AT ONCE.)

(The OPA was going to raid George, but they decided he was small potatoes.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

I'm sensing a pattern....


This didn't end up the way I thought it would.

"In the old country, they called me 'George The Plumber.' Because, you see, I knew how to -- fix -- leaks."

Somehow it figures Mr. Keyes is the kind of a man who'd call all porters "George."

"Let's call it an accident." Wow, Bimbo, didn't think you operated like that.

Where are we now? Red Hook?

"Hey, ever had pizza?"

Awwww....

He's still got it.

And yes, Goofy's An Idiot.

 

[Fading Fast]

...

Magistrate Abner Surpless today challenged Mayor LaGuardia to a formal debate on the Mayor's handling of the city's food situation, and offered to pay the entire cost of hiring a hall for such a debate if the Mayor is agreeable. Magistrate Surpless yesterday refused to fine a Flatbush grocer for selling potatoes at 9 cents a pound, approximately 3 cents higher than the ceiling price, and after declaring that no one in the city is selling -- or buying -- potatoes at 6.22 cents a pound, the jurist asserted from the bench that "the trouble lies in the incompetency and political maneuvering in Washington. That is responsible for the mess, and the sooner the American people realize it, the sooner we will get out of the mess." Asked by reporters about Surpless's comment, the Mayor replied "I can't believe any magistrate said that. I will certainly look into the story." Told of the Mayor's reply, the Magistrate reiterated his remark, and offered to pay for an auditorium where "we may discuss his handling of the food situation in New York City. I don't know how to be more straightforward than that."
...

Legislating from the bench 1943 style.

...

A former member of the Jehovah's Witnesses headquarters staff was grilled today by the attorney for former sect legal counsel Olin R. Moyle in Moyle's $100,000 libel suit against the two Watch Tower Bible and Tract Societies that serve as the sect's legal entities. Defense witness Charles R. Hessler, a member of the sect since 1917, facing cross-examination in Brooklyn Supreme Court by Moyle's attorney Walter Bruchhausen, declared that "when one becomes a Christian he becomes subject to the rules of Christ Jesus," and he asserted that "the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society is the agent of God Almighty to help his people on earth. One who complains of what is none of his business violates the scriptures, which say one should not be a busybody." Moyle charges in his suit that he was libeled in the pages of the Watchtower magazine after he criticized the late head of the sect, Judge J. F. Rutherford, for allegedly encouraging loose and lewd conduct at the "Bethel Home," headquarters of the sect in Columbia Heights. Moyle was branded a "murmurer and a complainer," and as "a Judas," in the magazine articles, and in statements made to Witness congregations by an agent of the Watch Tower Society sent to Wisconsin after Moyle returned to his home there.
...

Dear Lord, there's a war on, can't they solve this one out of the courts. Finally, we've found a good use for Twitter, as they could fight this out all day on that site to their hearts' content, just have to first invent that internet thingy.

...

(Mr. Wyatt is 36 years old. I don't like to say it, but it's true. And he doesn't just lob the ball like Fitz, he's a flinger. Back up the truck.)
...

To this day, whether it works or not, the double play is still one of the most exciting plays in sports.

...

("Millions For Defense But Not One Cent For Tribute!")
...

It's hard not to be on the side of the victims of a kidnapping, but these two are making it easy.

I'm sensing a pattern....
...

Adding more details to the same cat's cradle of a story, doesn't make it clearer. Shame about Barts as that was a heck of a career he seemed to have going at a time when that was particular hard for a black man to do.

...

This didn't end up the way I thought it would.
...

This could be a storyline from, and these could be characters in, either a "Dick Tracy" or "Dan Dunn" strip.

Sometimes the parents are right when they tell their kid not to marry someone.

...

Where are we now? Red Hook?
...

"Soft and pink."

...

And yes, Goofy's An Idiot.

He is, but she's cold blooded.

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

Spotted the Pauline Silva 14 story recounting her emotional school grades suicide by firearm. And all of fourteen.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("May I help you sir?" purrs the unctuous voice of the impeccably-groomed floorwalker, as Joe ponders the main-floor directory at Namm's Department Store. "Da!" fusses Leonora. "Yeh," replies Joe. "I need t'buy a chaieh."
"A chair, sir? Very good. Furniture department, fifth floor." "Da!" fusses Leonora. "Well," continues Joe, "it's a pa'ticuleh kin'a chaieh. See, me an' me wife, we'eh bot' woikin'. Wawr woik, y'see? I'm onna night shift at Sperry's, right, an' me wife woiks days f't'phone comp'ny out'n Joisey. An', well, b'tweena two'vus, we ain' got a whole lotta time." "Da!!" fusses Leonora. "An' we got t'is lit'l goil, see, an' she's goin' on two, an' still in -- you know -- diapehs, an' I gotta wash'm. Ev'ry day I gotta wash'm. An' she's -- well, I mean, awl t'ings considehed, we t'ink it's time ta -- we need t'is p'ticuleh kin'a chaieh t'at..." "DA!!!" fusses Leonora. "...t'is p'ticuleh kin'a chaieh t'at's got -- well, a hole inna seat? Y'know?" "Very good sir," replies the floorwalker. "Babies' department, on the second floor." "DAAA!" screams Leonora. Heads turn. "An' lissen, misteh," whispers Joe, his face reddening. "You gotta place in heeh wheah I c'n, you know..." "Retiring lounges on the eighth floor," replies the floorwalker. "The matron will be pleased to assist." "Oh," huffs Joe, just a bit offended. "I don't need no 'ssistant! I'm pretty good at doin' it meself! I'm a t'ree-B SKILL'T WOIKEH!" "DAAAAAAAAAAA!" bellows Leonora, and several passengers nudge and snicker, as the elevator operator pulls closed the door.)

Rigid regulations prohibiting pleasure driving have clamped down on eight million motorists in twelve eastern states and the District of Columbia. Under the order imposed by Price Administrator Prentiss Brown, effective at noon today, any person in the states extending from Maine to Virginia found to be guilty of using their gasoline ration for non-essential purposes will face the immediate revocation of their ration -- for a period of time up to and including the duration of the war. Brown noted that there has been a steady increase in gasoline consumption by passenger cars since the "honor system" concerning pleasure driving went into effect in March, this despite repeated warnings that the gasoline situation is becoming critical, and despite a reduction in the value of "A" coupons at the time the previous pleasure driving ban was rescinded. In announcing the strict new regulations, the Price Administrator tacitly admitted that the "honor system" proved to be a failure, although he stressed that the main reason for the present fuel shortage is increased demand for gasoline for military use. OPA agents and local police will begin rigid enforcement of the new regulations this afternoon, and motorists are warned that the burden of proof will be upon them, if challenged, to demonstrate that they are driving only for essential purposes.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill's promise to fight alongside the United States until Japan's cities are reduced to ashes failed today to quiet the demands of those Congressmen who want action against Japan now. Senator A. B. Chandler (D-Kentucky), who has long argued that America's number one enemy right now is not Germany, but Japan, turned the Prime Minister's argument in his speech yesterday before a joint session of Congress for concerted effort in continental Europe into an argument for increased attention to the Pacific. "Germany is not now in a position," declared Sen. Chandler, "to knock out either Great Britain or the Soviet Union." Despite such arguments, however, Congress expressed general approval of Mr. Churchill's pledge to fight shoulder to shoulder with the United States in the Pacific, and felt that he had made clear that there has been no change in the over-all Allied strategy to crush Germany first.

Further relief to the New York City potato shortage arrived yesterday in the form of 52 carloads consigned to local wholesalers, with the promise of an additional 52 carloads now on the way. The normal potato consumption in the city is about 100 carloads a day. The reduced quantities mean that, while potatoes will be less scarce than they have been in recent weeks, consumers cannot have all that they want. The OPA has ordered from one half to one third of this year's potato crop set aside for Government use, depending on where the potatoes are grown, meaning civilian consumers will just have to get used to fewer spuds on the menu.

(Leave out the onions, and this actually sounds pretty good!)

("She's Dead -- Yet Alive! She's Alive -- Yet Dead! She Works -- At Western Electric!")

(Awww, tell it to the chaplain!)

("HMPH!" hmphs Sally, scanning the newspaper. "Spoets page, huh?" observes Alice Dooley, plopping onto the lunch bench next to her. "You a fan?" "I'll tella woil'," replies Sally. "Grew up six blocks f'm Ebbets Feel. Went inta labeh in Section t'oity-seven! Am I a fan?" "T'at MacPhail was a bum," declares Alice. "An' I'll tell ya why! T'is secon' base t'ing, f'zample. T'ey had a poifec'ly good secon' baseman. Made'a Awl-Stawrs in 1940! An' what'sat MacPhail do? Trades'im to t' Pittsboighs! I ASK YA!" Sally gapes with pie-eyed astonishment at Alice, as the latter unwraps her sandwich. "An' ya know what I'd do," Alice continues, thru a mouthful of liverwurst, "if I was'at Rickey? I'D MAKE A TRADE T'GET'IM BACK!" Sally replies with a slow nod. "Yeh," she finally articulates. "Y'know -- Y''know -- y'otta give 'im cawl. T'at Rickey. Give'm a cawl. MAin 4-1030. Yeah. Giv'm a cawl.")

("Well, not quite, but I do have a few headshots from when I used to do an act at the Star. Oh, long before you were born, Tom. Why, they used to call me the Lillian Russell of Jay Street.")

(Once again we ponder the science of Scarlet's power. She's invisible and her clothes are invisble, and her clothes are somehow more invisible than she is.)

(Grog shop? AVAST YA SWABS! WHERE BETTER TO FIND A PIRATE!)

(LOOK HOW MUCH WEIGHT I LOST FOR THIS PART. DID YOU KNOW I TRAINED WITH STANISLAVSKY AT THE MOSCOW ART? BEFORE THE WAR, OF COURSE.)

(Why aren't you kids in the Junior Commandos?)

 

[LizzieMaine]

Every time they run this picture of Miss O'Brien, I want to cry.

Mayor LaGuarida = Batman.

Wonder if Pat's heard anything from Normandie lately?

Never mind the Secret Service -- somebody tell Petrillo!

Here's betting they're smarter than YOU.

Well, now, didn't you already give Mama a mansion? WHAT'S SHE THINK, YOU'RE MADE OF MANSIONS?

"That's nice, hmm. By the way, did I tell you I'm closing the shop and joining the WAVES next week?"

"I hear scungilli's really good too."

They don't call him a CONFIDENCE man for nothing.

*snif*

 

[Fading Fast]

("May I help you sir?" purrs the unctuous voice of the impeccably-groomed floorwalker, as Joe ponders the main-floor directory at Namm's Department Store. "Da!" fusses Leonora. "Yeh," replies Joe. "I need t'buy a chaieh."
"A chair, sir? Very good. Furniture department, fifth floor." "Da!" fusses Leonora. "Well," continues Joe, "it's a pa'ticuleh kin'a chaieh. See, me an' me wife, we'eh bot' woikin'. Wawr woik, y'see? I'm onna night shift at Sperry's, right, an' me wife woiks days f't'phone comp'ny out'n Joisey. An', well, b'tweena two'vus, we ain' got a whole lotta time." "Da!!" fusses Leonora. "An' we got t'is lit'l goil, see, an' she's goin' on two, an' still in -- you know -- diapehs, an' I gotta wash'm. Ev'ry day I gotta wash'm. An' she's -- well, I mean, awl t'ings considehed, we t'ink it's time ta -- we need t'is p'ticuleh kin'a chaieh t'at..." "DA!!!" fusses Leonora. "...t'is p'ticuleh kin'a chaieh t'at's got -- well, a hole inna seat? Y'know?" "Very good sir," replies the floorwalker. "Babies' department, on the second floor." "DAAA!" screams Leonora. Heads turn. "An' lissen, misteh," whispers Joe, his face reddening. "You gotta place in heeh wheah I c'n, you know..." "Retiring lounges on the eighth floor," replies the floorwalker. "The matron will be pleased to assist." "Oh," huffs Joe, just a bit offended. "I don't need no 'ssistant! I'm pretty good at doin' it meself! I'm a t'ree-B SKILL'T WOIKEH!" "DAAAAAAAAAAA!" bellows Leonora, and several passengers nudge and snicker, as the elevator operator pulls closed the door.)
...

I picture the part of the floorwalker being played by John McGiver as seen here:

...

("She's Dead -- Yet Alive! She's Alive -- Yet Dead! She Works -- At Western Electric!")
...

"The Screen" is a neat section as it's interesting to see the little blurbs about movies still in production or even pre-production, like "Going My Way," that will one day be classics.

...
("HMPH!" hmphs Sally, scanning the newspaper. "Spoets page, huh?" observes Alice Dooley, plopping onto the lunch bench next to her. "You a fan?" "I'll tella woil'," replies Sally. "Grew up six blocks f'm Ebbets Feel. Went inta labeh in Section t'oity-seven! Am I a fan?" "T'at MacPhail was a bum," declares Alice. "An' I'll tell ya why! T'is secon' base t'ing, f'zample. T'ey had a poifec'ly good secon' baseman. Made'a Awl-Stawrs in 1940! An' what'sat MacPhail do? Trades'im to t' Pittsboighs! I ASK YA!" Sally gapes with pie-eyed astonishment at Alice, as the latter unwraps her sandwich. "An' ya know what I'd do," Alice continues, thru a mouthful of liverwurst, "if I was'at Rickey? I'D MAKE A TRADE T'GET'IM BACK!" Sally replies with a slow nod. "Yeh," she finally articulates. "Y'know -- Y''know -- y'otta give 'im cawl. T'at Rickey. Give'm a cawl. MAin 4-1030. Yeah. Giv'm a cawl.")
..

As a flush rises in her cheeks, nobody is more confused than Sally herself about this strange stirring she feels toward Alice right now, a stirring she's never felt toward another woman before.

...

("Well, not quite, but I do have a few headshots from when I used to do an act at the Star. Oh, long before you were born, Tom. Why, they used to call me the Lillian Russell of Jay Street.")
...

Yes it's wrong to profit on others' sorrow that way, and maybe a crime depending on the specific law, but there are a lot of worse things to get worked up about as nobody is forced to go to these scammers.

Every time they run this picture of Miss O'Brien, I want to cry.
..

Yes, in our three-plus years of reading these papers, this is one of the worst stories we've seen. I hope the prosecutor goes after every single witness who perjured him or herself.

Ma Sweeney reads about the bookies at the war factories and contemplates temporarily pausing some of her, umm, satellite business operations.

...

Mayor LaGuarida = Batman.
...

Based on the Magistrate's comments, it seems like Batman (that's perfect, kudos) might have jumped the gun on this one as he should have waited until Caplan sold the potatoes at inflated prices to make the arrest. We all know what Caplan was planing to do, but legally, he might not yet have actually committed a crime.

...

Wonder if Pat's heard anything from Normandie lately?
...

"Normandie who? What happens in war-torn remotes parts of China stays in war-torn remote parts of China."

Once a dog...

...

Well, now, didn't you already give Mama a mansion? WHAT'S SHE THINK, YOU'RE MADE OF MANSIONS?
...

I don't quite understand the power De Stross has and never have. I get that she's Bim's mother-in-law and that he loves his wife and I get that De Stross can be a real PITA, but still, Bim is the one writing the checks, he could just tell her to pound sand.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Bim's a pretty meek guy for a globe-spanning billionaire. I think he just wants to get along with everybody and tries to think the best of everybody and everybody takes advantage of him. Otherwise, not only would he have given Mama the gate, he'd have booted his goosefaced nephew out on his head years ago.

If there was such a thing as Tinder in 1943, that would unquestionably be Pat's profile picture.

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

Ms O'Brien's sorrowful pensive cast tears at us through time. Still with Max Geier's The Colour of Night,
a most impressive thoroughly researched investigative writ about the murder of twenty-year old Martha James,
slain aboard a train traveling through Oregon in January 1943. I am a slow reader by habit and nature but this
horrific tale demands to be sipped slowly because the devil is quite literally on scene. Almost palpable. Utterly
evil and unbelievable as to why this incident occurred.

A lighter mood lifts my spirits whenever I see Rosalind Russell, elegant beauty of grace, class, intelligence,
and a feme fatale who could out femme fatale any gal in Hollywood or anywhere else.

Taffy really got slipped a mickey by Rouge. Whenever and if she comes out of this comatose dose I wonder
whether she'll be the same Taffy. Ryan seems alright. A bit the bounder methinks. But ok.

 

[LizzieMaine]

("Boke!" declares Leonora, pointing with concern to the hole in the seat of the little wooden chair with the smiling panda decal across the back. "No, no," explains Joe. "It's f'sittin' in." "Boke!" insists Leonora. "No, no," repeats Joe. "Not broke. Look, jus' try it f' ya pop. Sit right down now." "Boke!" refuses Leonora. "Da sit." "I'm too big, honey," explains Joe. "Look, lemme 'splain." He points to the old gray enamelware dishpan full of ashes sitting in the corner of the kitchen. "See," he says. "When Stella hasta go, she sits oveh heeh, right?" "Stell' go," agrees Leonora." "So when Leonoreh needs t'go, she sits *heeh.* Y'see?" "Le'nora go!" she replies, and plops herself down in the dishpan. "No! No!" explodes Joe, lifting his daughter out of the ashes. "Lookit heeh," continues Joe, as he gingerly lowers himself into a squat over the little chair. There is a thumping knock at the door, and with a kick it swings open. "BRUNG YA ICE!" declares the beefy middle-aged man with the wet leather pad on his shoulder. He takes in the situation, and grins wide, allowing his cigar butt to drop to the floor. "Da go!" announces Leonora. "Don' worry bud," snickers the iceman as he wrestles the ice into the box. "You'll get t'hang'uv it.")

Relief from the local potato shortage felt a new setback today with an announcement by the Office of Price Administration promising an increase in the ceiling price paid to Southern growers, leading to new uncertainty for the New York City market. An official order increasing the producer ceiling by 30 cents per hundredweight was to be signed today by Price Administrator Prentiss Brown, and Florida potato growers hastened to advance the price at which they sell their price to wholesalers. However, OPA regional price executive Donald Rich emphasized that the price increase has not yet been approved locally, and wholesale dealers in the metropolitan area indicated that it was "practically impossible" for them to buy southern potatoes at the present ceiling price. Local commission houses handling southern potatoes on a consignment basis were refusing to sell at any but the increased price, with potato shipments to the city falling off by nearly fifty percent
compared to the previous two days.

A 40 year old Brooklyn policeman, a veteran of 17 years on the force, was suspended without pay today after evidence surfaced linking him to publications involved in seditious activitites, and that he associated with such persons as Joe McWilliams, anti-Semitic agitator from Yorkville who is now reported to be active in the midwest. Patrolman James Drew of 2152 Stuart Street, attached to the Liberty Avenue precinct in East New York, has been ordered to appear today before Commissioner Lewis J. Valentine, following an investigation said to have begun months ago. Ptl. Drew is accused in a 58-page written report of contributing financially to four organizations which, according to Federal authorities, are engaged in seditious activities, contributing to or subscribing to at least seven publications accused under a Federal indictment of being instrumental in a seditious plot, contributing financially to three persons presently under Federal indictment for sedition, and having improper personal dealings with an individual under indictment and awaiting trial. That individual was identified in the report as Col. Eugene Nelson, former Army Reserve officer and known distributor of anti-Semitic literature. Other persons with whom Ptl. Drew is linked in the report include Mrs. Elizabeth Dilling, Chicago-based anti-communist crusader, Charles B. Hudson, a Nebraska publisher of pro-Nazi pamphlets, and Ralph Townsend of Lake Geneva, Illinois, accused of failing to register as a Japanese agent. All of the persons and publications named in the report, with the exception of McWilliams, were indicted on Federal sedition charges last July.

(As a collector off offbeat religious and political publications of the Era, I find "Consolation" fascinating reading --aggressive and caustic anti-Fascist commentary combined with quixotic crusades against aluminum cookware and vaccination. It's like if Earl Browder and Bernarr Macfadden decided to put out a magazine together.)

Police in Nassau County are refusing to cooperate with the Office of Price Administration in enforcing Price Administrator Prentiss Brown's new order banning all pleasure driving. While New York City police are already working with OPA agents to enforce the new regulations, Nassau police officials went on record today as stating that they will not "harass" pleasure driving motorists unless they are ordered to do so by New York State authorities. Black market gasoline dealers in Nassau County, of which there are known to be several operating, expressed their support for Nassau police in taking that position.

In the city, meanwhile, motorcycle patrolmen carrying OPA agents in sidecars ranged over streets and highways yesterday stopping and questioning motorists, and taking down license numbers for local ration board review. In the parking lot across from Ebbets Field, OPA Inspector Frank A. Miller inspected several hundred cars during yesterday's Dodger-Cardinal game, and after the game ended, questioned some 25 drivers who came to retrieve their vehicles. Under the new OPA regulation, only occupational driving is permitted to any ration card holder, in any situation where public transportation is available for non-occupational use.

A decision will be made next Monday in General Sessions Court on whether the jury in the attempted grand larceny trial of former Deputy Controller Milton Solomon will hear recordings of a three-and-a-half-hour conversation between Solomon and stirrup pump manufacturer Maurice Holt, secretly recorded by a police dictaphone at the Hotel St. George during a party there last November 23rd. Holt, who threw the party, testified today that he had served Solomon several double Scotches over the course of the evening and that Solomon's remarks during the conversation were "very funny." Solomon is charged with attempting to get $8000 from Holt in exchange for using his political influence to kill a City Council bill revoking the requirement that stirrup pumps be part of the air-raid equipment in all public buildings.

A 37-year-old chauffeur with the Department of Sanitation will serve 20 years to life at Sing Sing Prison for killing an Ozone Park man in front of his wife and daughter on March 20th. Siegfried W. Welsch of Richmond Hill was convicted on May 12th of murder in the second degree for the death of BMT employee Frank Kohler, with the jury recommending leniency. Queens County Judge Thomas Downs, in passing sentence, expressed the belief that Welsch "allowed jealousy to burn him up until it reached hate."

(And whatever you do, don't DRIVE to the racetrack!)

(Lichty's hanging around my neighborhood again.)

"Speak up like you did when you were raising hell before you got here!" demanded Queens County Judge Joseph M. Conroy to three juveniles brought before him on burglary charges. The three youths, aged 17 to 19, mumbled their response to questions from the bench after pleading guilty to breaking into the home of Walter J. Rapje of Hollis last November and stealing $1100 in valuables from a small safe.

("T'at Kampahoozis was a bum two yeehs ago!" scoffs Sally as she and Alice ride the H&M thru the tunnel on the way home. "'Bout time t'ey got wise to 'im!" "Moitaugh?" sniffs Alice Dooley. "He c'n run, but'tat's about'it. B'sides, he's gonna get drafted." "You cawl Rickey yet?" inquires Sally. "I got a betteh idea," declares Alice. "Less go SEE 'im! In POISSON!" "I uset'a do t'at wit' MacPhail," says Sally. "But he had'dat McDonal' sitt'n out front, woul'n let me in." "McDonal' ain' aroun' no moeh," notes Alice. "How late y't'ink Rickey woiks," ponders Sally. "He's a ol' man, I bet he goes home oily." "We c'n fin' out wheah he lives," declares Alice. "Nut'n to it. An'nen...." "I do'wanna get arrested," demurs Sally. "I -- um -- had some trouble las' yeeah, strickly a misunnehstanin', y'know, but..." "You leave'at t'me," grins Alice. "It's inna bag.")

Former Yankee pitching star Lefty Gomez was handed his unconditional release yesterday by the Boston Braves. The 33-year-old southpaw says he will shop around for a new job, and insists that the sore arm that plagued him last year has now healed, and he is certain he has at least a few good games left. Gomez, a Yankee mainstay since 1930, was sold to the Braves earlier this year, but never played a game in Boston livery.

(Never trust a man who wears a black shirt with a white tie.)

(Amateurs.)

(Wow, they sure do have a lot of payphones here. Check the back room before you go.)

(YOU'RE NOT EVEN FISHING LET ALONE LOOKING FOR BO. Just leave him in the woods, kid, you'll be better off.)

(You could always raise chickens. That always works out well.)