r
“Prayers for the Dead”
By FLOYD GIBBONS
Famous Headline Hunter
V^OU know, folks have gotten themselves into adven
tures doing almost everything under the sun, but Meyer
Smookler of Brooklyn, N. Y., got the big thrill of his life
out of the one thing you’d never suspect would get a man
into trouble. Some birds go out to meet Old Lady Adven
ture in automobiles. Monkeying around with explosives
has led a lot of other fellows into first class jams. But it
was saying prayers that tossed Meyer into the most exciting
ten or fifteen minutes of his life—and if you can find a
stranger thing to cause an adventure, or even think of one,
I’d doggone well like to hear about it.
Meyer is a dealer in scrap metals, and he travels all over the con
tinent buying and selling the stuff. Sometimes business is good, and
sometimes it’s bad. It was bad in September, 1928, when Meyer ar
rived in the little town of Madden, North Dakota. Meyer was broke,
and he was hungry, so he walked into a little Jewish restaurant and
asked the proprietor to stake him to a meal.
Meyer got the meal, and while he was eating it a man walked
in and asked the proprietor If he knew anybody who was familiar
with the Jewish prayers for the dead. The proprietor scratched
his head. “Maybe that fellow does,” he said. And pointed to
Meyer.
Yes, Meyer Knew the Prayers.
Meyer said he did. The man said his name was Berstein. His
father had just died and he wanted someone to sit up all night and pray
according to Jewish custom. He offered to pay Meyer well if he would
come to his house at eight o’clock that evening and perform that office.
Meyer agreed. At eight o’clock he arrived at Berstein’s house and
was met by his family. They showed him into the room where the
coffin was. and as Meyer looked at the dead man he remembers think
ing that it seemed as if he were just taking a nap, so lifelike were his
features.
About eleven o’clock, the family departed, and Meyer was
left alone with the corpse. There was a desk near the coffin
with a telephone on it. Also there was some fruit and a bottle
of whisky which the kindly Mrs. Berstein had left for him.
Meyer sat down and waited.
Dead Man’s Hand Sticking Out.
About midnight the telephone rang. It was the dead man’s son.
He told Meyer he had forgotten to shut off the steam in the heater that
produced the hot water, and he was afraid the boiler would-explode.
Would Meyer do it for him?
Meyer told him he couldn’t do it. The heater was in the cellar,
and he couldn’t leave the corpse alone. But he offered to step into the
kitchen and turn on the hot water. That would keep the boiler from
exploding until someone arrived to shut it off.
“About fifty feet from the house," says Meyer, “ran the Wabash
railroad. As I went into the kitchen to turn on the water, a freight train
started going by. The whole building shook and vibrated, and the
coffin, being on rollers, shook and rocked, too. As I returned from
the kitchen I noticed the DEAD MAN’S HAND STICKING OUT
OF THE COFFIN.”
Meyer didn’t like the looks of things. Maybe it was only the
vibration—but how could vibration make a dead man's hand
reach upward and out of its coffin? lie remembered how lifelike
the corpse had looked when he first viewed it, and his imagina
tion began working overtime. lie went over to the desk and look
a good drink of whisky from the bottle Mrs. Berstein had left
him. Then, still shaking like a leaf, he went over and put the
hand back in the coffin.
He Was Grabbed by the “Corpse.”
The task unnerved him completely. “I was still trembling.” he
says, “and I went over to where the whisky was and finished the
whole bottle. By the time it was gone I was a little unsteady on
my feet, so I decided to say the prayers while sitting down. I pulled
a chair over to the coffin. Right then and there my stomach took a
turn and I felt my heart sticking in my throat. For the dead man
was trying to get up out of the box, and his glassy eyes were looking
straight at me!"
All at once, Meyer’s senses left him. “I staggered toward the
box,” he says, “and without realizing what I was doing, I tried to push
him back in again. HE GRABBED ME BY THE NECK and hantl and
began motioning to me to take him out. I felt my knees giving way,
and I was trying hard not to lose consciousness. For a full minute 1
didn’t know what to do. Then I realized that the man was not dead.”
After that, Meyer’s wits came back to him. He took the man
out of the coffin and sat him down on the couch. “He tried
to say something," Meyer writes, “but he couldn't opeh his
mouth. Finally I realized that he was pointing to the empty
bottle on the desk and I understood that he wanted some water.
I squeezed some orange juice into a glass, and using a dull knife
to pry his mouth open, I poured the juice down his throat and
made him lie down on the couch.”
Trnin Shook Him Out of Coma.
When the relatives came in, they began to scream and faint, and
Meyer had a tough job getting them calmed down. He found out then
that the man had been in a coma for nine weeks and the doctors had
finally pronounced him dead.
Later, Meyer talked to a doctor who was interested in the case,
and when he told about the train that went by, shaking the coffin,
the doctor said it was that vibration which had probably brought the
sick man back to consciousness. Meyer says the old man's son gave
him a job in his store, but he had to quit it. He got tired of having
people come from all over the countryside asking him to tell the
story over and over again until it almost drove him crazy. About four
years ago, when he was in the neighborhood, he went to see the old
xnan, and found him in the best of health and planning a trip to Palestine.
©—WNU Service.
First Pendulum Clock
In 1658 the Dutch astronomer
Huygens produced the first pen
dulum clock, the pendulum being
a means to regulate the escapement
—(it doesn't make the clock go.
as many people suppose.) This
was a great step forward, and the
type of clock developed, with its
tali case and swinging pendulum,
is a familiar piece of furniture in
the hallways of our homes. Many
of these pendulum clocks were
made in the American colonies, or
imported from England and Hol
land before the Revolution.
Derivation of Word Scaramouch
The term Scaramouch is derived
from Scaramuccia, a famous Ital
ian buffoon, who acted in England
in 1673, and died in Paris in 1694.
It is also applied to one of the gro
tesque characters of the Italian
stage who was dressed in black,
wore a mask and represented the
swaggerer and poltroon. In France
the scaramouch was used for a
greater variety of parts.
Harvest in Hungary
In Hungary the harvest season
is celebrated with village festivals
and processions in which peasants
march carrying rakes, scythes, sick
les and other tools decorated with
ribbons and flowers. Two men carry
on their shoulders a pole from which
hangs a harvest crown, made of
several kinds of grain and decked
out with pink and blue paper flow
ers and bits of ribbon, says Grace
Humphrey in ‘ Hungary, Land of
Contrasts.” The afternoon is spent
in singing and dancing to gypsy
music, and is climaxed with a great
supper of goulash, potatoes, papri
ka, onions and wine.
Strawberries as a Dentifrice
The following information is taken
from a book of prescriptions pub
lished more than 100 years ago:
“The common strawberry is a na
tural dentifrice and its juice with
out any previous preparations what
ever dissolves the tartareous en
crustation on the teeth and makes
the breath sweet and agreeable."
New Stiff Silks That ‘Stand Alone’
By CHERIE NICHOLAS
\X7ITH the midwinter social sea
» * son upon us and festivities at
southern resorts going at high tem
po, smart women everywhere are
preoccupied with new evening
gowns to add glamour to time, place
and the occasion. Greater formal
ity than in years is the rule, and
women are playing up to this edict
by wearing gowns of rare beauty
and richness.
One may belong to either of two
schools of fashion—that which fa
vors heavy stiff heirloomlike silks
with a regal air or the type which
favors diaphanous sheer silks that
float about one enchantingly as one
dances or promenades in the great
concourse of fashion.
Stiff silk satins such as slipper
satin or duchess satin are lovely
choices for dramatic gowns. The
"delicious” colors of these glorified
satins are simply entrancing—make
you think of moonlit rays that go
glimmering over rippling waves, or
icy blues that crown snow-capped
mountains or the lovely tints of the
rainbow as it enhances summer
skies.
To be style-correct these stately
satins should be fashioned along
graceful lines with quaint artfully
gored skirts that sweep into wid
ened hemlines. See the model to
the left in the illustration. It is a
frock of Edwardian period influence
done in ice-blue satin with the new
shirrid bosom styling. The puffed
sleeves and princess lines achieve
a charming youthful silhouette. The
diamond sunburst worn suggests an
heirloom that accords harmoniously
with the type of silk used for the
gown—a silk so grand and stiff it,
as was the boast in grandma’s time,
would ‘‘stand alone.”
Some of the newest silk satins
are studded with gold or silver se
quins or rhinestones. To the right
in the picture stands a modern
Juliet gowned in gardenia white
satin, all - over starred with gold
paillettes with halter neck of match
ing pailletted banding. Accessory
highspots include a Juliet cap and
a handbag done in gold paillettes,
together with an exquisite white er
mine coat.
Warp printed silk taffetas have
new looking patterns such as col
orful bow-knots in vivid hues on
white or green. Centered in the
group a modern Jenny Lind greets
us in a rustling silk taffeta frock
warp-printed with red bow-knots.
With it this lovely lady wears pale
pink kid gloves embroidered in gold
and pearls. The new and fashion
able gloves featured this season are
veritable works of art. There are
pearls at the throat of this fair
lady and she wears a swank pearl
bracelet.
Other charming versions of the
princess dinner and dance gown are
done in stiff Lyons velvets with
puffed sleeves and buttons all the
way down the front. Rich silk da
masks are also fashioned in prin
cess lines made square-necked, in
puff-sleeve styles which look like
Edwardian ladies come back to life.
© Western Newspaper Union.
FUR AND FEATHERS
ll» CHERIR NH IIOl.AS
For high-style this midwinter sea
son let your hat be either fur
trimmed or feather-trimmed. The
model at the top is a stunning fez
turban of black felt and persian
lamb designed to complement a fur
trimmed cloth costume or a fur
coat or cape. Smart vogue calls for
fur trimmed millinery. With the cor
onation in sight ostrich feathers are
enjoying increasing popularity. A
lovely British film star wears the
delightful hat shown in the picture.
It is an exquisite black felt with
twin ostrich feather plumes in two
shades of rose. Another cunning
new style for young girls that takes
on an ostrich trim is the little felt
shape that is somewhat a Juliet
type, being a shallow round skull
cap. This is worn far back on the
head with two wee ostrich tips
posed perkily at the front.
BLACK SHEERS FOR
DAY AND EVENING
For daytime sheer black woolens
are smartly in fashion, and for eve
ning the vogue for black nets and
chiffons is everywhere apparent.
Just now fringe trimming is im
portant on the afternoon black
sheer. The narrow fringe, placed
row and row, forms cunning short
cap-like sleeves with accents of
fringe elsewhere on the bodice or at
sash ends, or that which is tre
mendously chic—outlining the skirt
hemline.
In the early showings the new
daytime black sheers are feminized
with the daintiest of white lingerie
details in form or frilly jabots, and
novel cuffs and becoming collars
and bib effects.
The party-frock nets in black
are made up in full-skirted styles
with just yards and yards floating
about.
Mustard Yellow and Beige
Favored Colors for Spring
Look for these colors in the new
spring fashions. In fact the vogue
is on at this very moment for these
flattering and very new-looking col
ors.
Best dressed women are favoring
tweeds in beige and gowns of light
weight woolens in beige or golden
hues are the “last word’’ for mid
season, worn under the not-yet dis
carded coats, in the daytime.
For evening simply styled frocks
of "old gold” satin are very pleas
ing. Some of the newer brocades
are also in this color.
Peasant Jewelry
Carved in brilliant peasant reds,
greens, yellows, and blues, minute
Tyrolean figures are set in a red
and white catalin frame a fourth of
an inch thick. The pins and clips are
one-and-a-half-inehes square.
Alphabet on Blouses
Letters of the alphabet are spilled
all over the fine cashmere blouses
that are worn with winter street
suits. The letters are usually in
bright colors over a dull back
ground.
Making 1937 a Safe Year.
SANTA MONICA, CALIF.
—This time last year we
were all dedicating ourselves
to a crusading campaign to
make 1936 a safer year for
motorists.
We were going to cut down the
volume of traffic disasters, going to
reduce the appalling
mortality toll which
j had marked the pre
! ceding year.
So what?
Well, here’s what.
The end of 1936 j
showed an all - time
top for deaths on the
public highways—
roughly 37,450, or
approximately 450
more than in 1935.
so now we II pious- Irv|n s. Cobb
j ly resolve, all over
again, to do something about this
hideous destroyer which kills by the
thousands and maims by the hun
dreds of thousands and makes our
fatalities and casualties in the world
war seem, by comparison, puny.
And what will come of the re
newed agitation? The National
Safety Council will wage a gallant,
hopeless fight, various local organi
zations and civic bodies will do what
they can, newspapers will rail and
statesmen will deplore—and the
ghastly record of slaughter will keep
right on mounting.
* * *
The Value of ‘‘Experts’*
¥ HEARD a supposed expert advis
1 ing a director, bound for Africa
to shoot a big game picture, that
practically everything about his kit
was wrong except possibly his rear
collar button.
It reminded me of the pampered
millionaire’s son who was heading
for the arctic circle. He called in
a veteran of polar expeditions and
told about his outfit. All went well
until he started describing his parka.
“It’s fine,” he said, "made of seal
skin and the hood all fringed with
wolverine and—’’
“One moment," said the profes
sional, “is the hairy surface of the
pelt worn next to your body?”
“No,” said the youth. “The fur is
outside, of course.”
“All wrong,” pronounced the crit
ic. “Thermal demonstration has
proved that to conserve the bodily
heat the hide should be turned so
the fur is used as a lining and the
smooth, or naked side is exposed,
thus cutting the wind.”
The youngster burst out laughing.
“Have I said something to excite
your mirth?” demanded the special
ist.
“Oh, not at all.” said the amateur,
"I was just thinking what a darned
fool a buffalo is.”
AAA
Americans in England
TO ENEWED excitement has been
aroused in the British isles by
the discovery that yet another mem
ber of the royal family—this time
it’s the young duke of Kent—not
only shows a regrettable tendency to
enjoy himself as any normal nat
ural, healthy youngster might, but,
what is even more distressing, has
lately been seen in the company of
an American woman.
Oh, these pestiferous Yankee
women! In spite of all that can be
done, it’s almost certain some of
them will witness the coronation,
and several thousands of them will
break their girlish necks trying to
do so.
* * •
Militarizing the. C. C. C.
TO EPRESENTATIVE NICHOLS of
Oklahoma is trying to accom
plish something which should have
been done long ago. He’s preparing
a bill to make military reserve units
of the C. C. C. boys, which would
mean discipline and morale for
thousands of young Americans and,
if needed, would provide the nucleus
of a trained citizen-army.
Seems to me there is every reason
why congress should enact the leg
islation, not as a warlike gesture,
but as a peace-time move for na
tional defense and national protec
tion. But watch the professional
pacifists fight it—professional paci
fists being well-meaning folks who
believe in Santa Claus, turning the
other cheek, and the beautiful, if
slightly impractical theory, that a
white rabbit will be perfectly safe
among a pack of greedy coyotes.
. . .
Actors Trading Careers.
TT ALF-WAY across the continent,
* actors who have succeeded in
Hollywood and are headed east, hop
ing to break into the legitimate
stage on Broadway, pass actors
who, having succeeded on Broad- I
way, are heading west, hoping to
break into the movies in Hollywood.
It is a two-way traffic which grows
heavier all the time.
Thus we see how human hopes
are uplifted and how curious a thing
! is human nature, not to mention
human ambition. Also it’s good for
railroad travel.
But if the jaybirds suddenly de
cided to trade their nests for wood
pecker holes and the woodpeckers
fell in heartily with the idea, we
superior creatures could laugh at
feathered friends for being such
idiots.
IRVIN S. COBB.
«—WNU Service.
They're So Simple to Sew!
IZ07
TVCR XV -
oh oar
i 1*578
OT only the sun, but the moon
as well, will rise and set on
these new styles created by Sew
Your-Own. This timely trio is one
of the most wearable ever offered
the members of The Sewing Cir
cle. Yet, and you’ll love this,
there isn’t a complication or a
single trick detail to bother with
in the whole program.
Pattern 1981—Pajamas so com
fortable, restful and entirely satis
fying that the alarm clock will
have to ring twice—no foolin’—
that’s the boast and even the
promise of this newest two piece
outfit. It goes through your sew
ing machine like a dream, and
really is one made up in satin or
one of the vivid new prints. For
lounging, the long sleeved version
in velveteen or silk crepe is a
knockout. It is designed in sizes
14, 16, 18 and 20 (32 to 42 bust).
Size 16 requires 5 yards of 39
inch material, with short sleeves
4% yards.
Pattern 1207—If your day begins
at the crack of dawn with a stand
ing invitation to prepare break
fast in nothing flat, or there
abouts, this is a house dress you
can well appreciate. It’s on in a
jiffy and is just the thing for a
two - handed, expert breakfast
maker. The lines are clean cut
and slenderizing. It has a large
pocket that’s helpful, and general
prettiness that is conducive to
one’s mental and physical well
being. It is available in sizes 34,
36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, and 50.
Size 36 requires 4% yards of
39 inch material, with long sleeves
4% yards.
Pattern 1978—This blithe little
blouse will add spice to your
wardrobe at this time. Not only
is it the essence of smartness and
the last word in style, but the first
word in simplicity, which is impor
tant to you who sew at home. It
is feminine as to collar, delicately
slender of waist and highly orig
inal throughout. You may have
it with short or long sleeves, as
you prefer. It is designed in sizes
12, 14, 16, 18, and 20 (30 to 38
bust). Size 14 requires 2Ys yards
of 39 inch material, with short
sleeves 1% yards.
Send for the Barbara Bell Spring
and Summer Pattern Book. Make
yourself attractive, practical and
becoming clothes, selecting de
signs from the Barbara Bell well
planned, easy-to-make patterns.
Interesting and exclusive fashions
for little children and the difficult
junior age; slenderizing, well-cut
patterns for the mature figure;
afternoon dresses for the most par
ticular young women and matrons
and other patterns for special oc
casions are all to be found in the
Barbara Bell Pattern Book. Send
15 cents today for your copy.
Send your order to The Sewing
Circle Pattern Dept., Room 1020,
211 W. Wacker Dr., Chicago, 111.
Patterns 15 cents (in coins) each.
© Bell Syndicate.—WNU Service.
$500,000 Price of Novel
Probably the highest financial
value ever placed on a contempo
rary publication is $500,000 a copy .
for ten copies of “The Mint,” by
T. E. Lawrence. These were is
sued by the publishers to protect
the copyright as, by the terms of
his will, the book was not to be
given to the public until 1950.
V
• The Vegetable Fat in Jewel is given
remarkable shortening properties by
Swift’s special blending of it with
other bland cooking fats. By actual
test, Jewel Special-Blend makes lighter, more
tender baked foods, and creams jaster than the
costliest types of plain all-vegetable shortening.
Sit in Your Chair f
at Home . . . and Shop •
The things you want to buy ... at the time
you want to buy them ..* at the price you
want to pay. You can find these right in the
paper. Your newspaper advertisements make
it possible to do your "looking around” right
at home .. . and then go downtown to do
your buying ... saving you time and energy.