Ttotyd (fifa&OHsL
ADVENTURERS' CLUB
HEADLINES FROM THE LIVES
OF PEOPLE LIKE YOU RS ELFI
“The Madman With the Bottle”
Hello everybody:
You know, they say troubles come singly—which is
just another way of saying that Old Lady Adventure is
never content with giving you just one sock on the jaw. I
don’t know how true that is, but it certainly worked out that
way in the case of Hattie Rohr of Chicago.
Hattie’s big bout with Old Lady Adventure came in the
winter of 1917. There was trouble enough in the world then,
without having the old girl with the thrill bag on your neck.
The war was on and the influenza epidemic was sweeping
the country. Hattie, in those days, was just an eleven-year
old girl, living with her mother and dad and three sisters
on a farm between Clare and Dodge City, Iowa. Her name
then was Hattie McLaughlin.
The flu epidemic struck the McLaughlin family in Janu
ary. It brought down Hattie’s dad and her three sisters, and
that left Hattie and her mother to do all the chores around
that big farm. It was one of those days when everything
seemed to go wrong. Mother had just come from upstairs to
call the doctor. Dad and the three sick girls were worse.
While they were waiting for the doctor the party-line phone
rang. It was the school teacher, down with the flu herself, who wanted
Hattie to go to the schoolhouse and post a notice saying there would be
no school that day.
Already tired from her morning’s work, Hattie struggled
more than a mile through the snow to post that notice. She found
two small children shivering in the cold, waiting for the school
to open, and took them to her home and phoned their father to
come and get them. And no sooner had he come and gone with
his pair of kids than Hattie heard another knock on the door.
Stranger Comes In for Tea.
A strange man was out front. He said he was a telephone lineman
from Clare, and wanted to know if he could come in and get warm.
Hattie and her mother asked him in and gave him a cup of tea to warm
him up. While he was drinking his tea and eating a piece of corn
G./Zc/A'/r/m
“She was out of her chair and darting across the room. Reaching
out quickly she grabbed the knife!"
bread, Hattie and her mother went on with their work. Nothing unusual
happened until he had finished eating and drinking. Then the stranger
got up and walked over to the stove.
It was such an unusual movement that Hattie stopped to watch him.
He backed up against the stove as if to warm himself, but Hattie saw
one of his hands slide into his pocket and come out holding a tiny bottle.
There was a pot of beans boiling on the stove. Slowly, shielded
by his body, the stranger’s hand crept up and emptied the con
tents of the bottle Into the pot of beans!
Her mother hadn’d seen it, but Hattie was standing in such a position
that she could see every move he made. She was startled—frightened.
An older person might have said nothing, for fear of precipitating
trouble. That mother and child were defenseless, with dad ill in bed up
stairs. But kids of Hattie's age don’t stop to think of those things. She
let out a scream and then, impulsively, she darted across the room and
knocked the bottle from the man's hand.
Out Comes a Long, Thin-Bladed Knife.
Her mother turned to see what was the matter. At the same time,
the stranger reached inside his coat, pulled out a long, thin-bladed
knife, and slashed Hattie across the legs. Blood began to flow from a
long deep cut. Dazed at the turn affairs had taken, Hattie backed
away, staring at the man. The man stood, knife in hand, staring back
at Hattie. Her mother was staring at both of them. For a minute there
was a deathly silence.
The man made no other move—said nothing. Hattie and her mother
were too frightened to speak. They began to realize the fellow was stark
mad. Hattie sat down, took off a stocking and tied it about her wound.
The man stood looking, first at her, then at her mother. Hr, waited
until she was finished tying up her bleeding leg, and then he walked
across the room to where her mother was standing, breathless and para
lyzed with fright, AND RAISED THE KNIFE.
And again Hattie acted impulsively. In an instant she was out of
her chair and darting across the room. Reaching out quickly, she
grabbed the knife!
The man gave the knife a quick pull. It came out of Hattie's
hand, cutting it clear to the bone at the base of the thumb. Cry
ing out in pain, she grabbed at her wrist with her other hand.
The madman shoved her away, and knocked her mother down.
For another moment Hattie stood dazed. The man fell on her mother,
sat on her chest and began choking her. And at last, a sudden change
came over Hattie. Before, she hail been frightened—trembling. Now
she became furious. A red mist seemed to drop before her eyes. She
grabbed up a piece of wood from the pile beside the stove, raised it over
her head and brought it down, as hard as she could, on the madman's
head.
The man rolled over and lay still. Hattie's wrist was still
bleeding and her mother tied it up tightly to stop the flow. They
got ropes and tied the maniac’s hands behind his back and then
well—then Hattie keeled over in a dead faint.
When she came to, the doctor taad been to the house. He had sewed
up Hattie's wounds and she had never known a thing about it. The doc
tor also took the madman back to town and turned him over to the
police. They found out later that he had escaped from an institution
down in the South, where he had been put for murder.
And when they analyzed that pot of beans into which he had emptied
that bottle, it was found that they were poisoned!
•Released by Western Newspaper Union.)
Maternity Death Rate Could Be Cut in Half
The lives of 6,000 mothers could
be saved every year by prompt and
proper medical care. Dr. Phillip R.
Williams, of Philadelphia, said re
cently at the first American Con
gress of Obstetrics and Gynacol
ogy.
The maternal death rate in the
United States is lower than ever be
fore in history, but it is still "dis
gracefully high" in view of the pres
ent knowledge of medical men. Dr.
Williams said.
The death rate of mothers de
clined from 57 out of every 10,000
during 1936 to 49 out of every 10,000
in 1937. Dr. Williams pointed out,
however, that this might be cut in
half if physicians made use of all
available knowledge and if pros
pective mothers asked for med
ical attention early.
In addition, the lives of about half
of the babies who die in childbirth
or soon after might be saved by
application of medical methods
which are not now generally ap
plied. During 1937. the last year
for which statistics are available.
119,931 babies died.
NATIONAL
AFFAIRS
Reviewed by
CARTER FIELD
There is talk of Roosevelt
stepping out now, and seek
ing re-election later... Case
of Theodore Roosevelt is
recalled . . . Drouth may
force TV A to use steam
plants .. . Lindbergh*s atti
tude on Canada is finding
minority support.
WASHINGTON.—Not because it is
necessarily true, but because the
type of stories going around at any
given time is always significant, one
curious yam is now being told by
certain old-timers in Washington
seeking to draw an analogy between
what Theodore the First did and
what Franklin the First may do.
It is told by men who, contrary
to the more general opinion, be
lieve that President
Roosevelt will not
seek renomination
by the Democratic
national convention
next June. But they
believe just as firm
ly that he does in
tend to run again for
President, prefera
bly in 1944.
They point out that
the anti-third term
President prejudice was im
Roosevelt portant to Theodore
Roosevelt—that he would not take
the nomination in 1908, and that he
forced the nomination of a man he
hand-picked, William Howard Taft.
Further, they pointed out that Theo
dore did seek election as President
in 1912, sought the nomination again
in 1916, and would in all human
probability have been nominated,
had he lived, in 1920.
On these points there is no doubt
whatever. T. R.’s fight in 1912, as
the Bull Moose nominee, his battle
against Charles Evans Hughes in
the 1916 convention, and his back
ing of Taft for the nomination in
1908 are matters of official record.
As to whether he would have been
nominated in 1920 there might be
an argument, but there are still liv
ing Republican leaders to whom one
of T. R.’s bitterest enemies in 1912
and 1916, the late Sen. Boies Pen
rose of Pennsylvania, conceded, just
before T. R.’s death, that he would
have to support the “Colonel" for
the nomination in 1920.
Beveridge Explained W hy
T. R. Did Not Run in 1908
The story told for the first time
recently in Washington is that at a
dinner party, given by the late Sen.
Albert J. Beveridge of Indiana,
while T. R. was in Africa, the Indi
ana senator, who was very close to
the former President was asked why
T. R. had not run in 1908.
Beveridge is alleged to have an
swered that the “Colonel” had be
lieved the Republicans were in for a
licking, but that “this fat fellow,”
meaning Taft, had surprised him by
getting elected!
What the tellers of the story are
trying to prove here is their own
conviction that Franklin Roosevelt,
realizing that there is a strong prej
udice against a third "continuous"
term for the presidency, is figuring
on stepping out for four years, after
which he hopes the country will be
almost unanimous in wanting him
back.
All this has been related because
the writer believes it of interest as
showing what certain well-informed
people think. But as this writer sees
it there are several flaws in the anal
ogy. One of them is what seems a
stronger probability that F. D. R.
does not think there would be any
important danger of defeat, third
term or no third term, if he ran for
re-election. Assuming that he does
so think, it is well known how dear
to his heart is the breaking of prece
dents. Further, it is scarcely to be
questioned that F. D. R. believes,
conscientiously and firmly, that the
country would be better off tor the
four years beginning in 1941 with
himself at the head of the govern
ment than with any other person,
whether hand-picked by him or not.
Drouth May Force TVA
To Employ Steam Plants
The severe drouth which has af
fected the entire Tennessee river
valley promises to produce some
very embarrassing results for TVA
unless there are record-breaking
rains this winter. Already TVA au
thorities have cut down the amount
of run-off water from Norris dam
to a mere fraction of that considered
vital to maintain navigation on the
Tennessee river. Complaints are
plenty, but are not being heeded.
Water in the lake held back by
Norris dam is still above the 963
foot-above-sea-level figure at which
the maximum efficiency can be
maintained. But it is held there,
even now, only by "cheating” on
the navigation requirements. And
even with that it is not quite being
held. It has been dropping despite
the cutting down of spillway water.
The joker is that unless torrent al
rains fall this winter Norris and
other dams in the TVA system will
not be able to supply enough electric
power next spring to maintain their
contracts without resorting to steam
plants. This is complicated by the
fact that several of the steam plants
taken over in the recent deal by
which TVA, and local authorities
purchased the Tennessee properties
of the Commonwealth St Southern
are not as efficient as the TVA ex
perts had figured.
The truth seems to be that the
Commonwealth St Southern, working
for the last few years with an ax
over its head, had not spent any
money on these plants. They had
not been kept in good condition, ac
cording to information here, much
less brought up to date. Hence while
they can be operated they are not
efficient. Cost of producing power at
them is very high.
So to be compelled to use these
plants to produce enough current to
carry out the TVA contracts next
spring would mean, according to ex
perts, that the TVA would be selling
current for less than it costs to pro
duce.
Impossible for Layman to
Know Which Side Is Right
Of course this is an old charge.
It was alleged by Dr. Arthur E.
Morgan during the hearings before
the special congressional committee
which held hearings last year. But
it is so complicated that it is almost
impossible for a layman to know
which side is right. One little ele
ment. for example, is whether in
terest should be charged on the
government’s investment — and
whether the amount of this invest
ment allocated to power—as com
pared with navigation and flood con
trol—is adequate.
It would seem from the present
performance, where the channel has
been lowered below the figure
agreed upon in order to preserve
water for power purposes, that per
haps not so much ought to be
charged to navigation. Summer be
fore last it seemed to some engi
neers that the amount of water be
ing held back by the dams was
dangerously high if flood prevention
insurance were properly considered.
At that time the water level in the
lake behind Norris dam was so
high that if heavy rains had fol
lowed the dam would have been
useless for flood prevention pur
poses.
So maybe the figure allocated in
the cost for flood prevention was a
little high. If both these are too
high it seems entirely possible that
considerably more of the original
cost of the project should have been
charged to power.
But even without making any such
changes in the actual cost of cur
rent which these two elements would
pioduce, and taking the TVA’s own
estimates, there is no doubt what
ever that TVA will be selling cur
rent below cost next spring unless
record-breaking jains come this
winter.
Lindbergh's Attitude on
Canada Finding Support
Col. Charles A. Lindbergh’s sug
gestion that the United States should
dominate Canada’s foreign policy,
or at least that Canada’s foreign
relations should conform to Pan
American standards, thus severing
the Dominion’s tie with Great Brit
ain, struck many
hearers as merely
impolitic, but for a
substantial minority,
it has developed, it
struck a responsive
chord.
This minority is
not clear-cut as to
its objectives beyond
a certain point, and
is very evasive
■ about how it would
Colonel reach them, but it is
Lindbergh important enough to
merit consideration.
There is passionate agreement
about the first point—that Canada
should not be allowed the right to
drag the United States into a world
war—or any war for that matter—
growing out of Canada’s connection
with the British empire. Hence there
is general agreement—among this
minority—that Canada should with
draw from the British Common
wealth of Nations.
The same desire to have Old
world ties severed goes for Jamaica,
Bermuda, the British, French and
Dutch Guianas, British Honduras,
Martinique, Curacaco, and all the
rest of the Americas which at pres
ent fly European flags.
None of the minority so far dis
covered by this writer consider that
force would be necessary to impose
this.
Admit Administration
Has Not Been Neutral
Curiously enough, nearly every
one of this minority desiring to di
vorce all the Americas from Euro
pean ties are New Dealers, and
nearly every one of them, though
agreeing with the New Deal on ev
erything else, disagrees violently
with President Roosevelt’s foreign
policies since the outbreak of the
war. They will admit, with sad
ness. that the administration has
not been neutral—that virtually ev
ery action taken by Roosevelt or
this government since the war
clouds began to hover has been dis
tinctly pro-British and French.
The much talked about 300-mile
zone around the Americas is, how
ever, one of the things these “Pan
Americans” do no agree about.
Many of them are enthusiastic about
it, though agreeing that it would be
a distinct help to Britain and
France, and a headache for Ger
many.
The “Pan Americans” admit that
there is a sharp division inside the
administration about the whole war
policy. Some of the New Dealers,
they insist, are on their side.
(Bell Syndicate—WNU Service.!
WHO’S
NEWS
THIS
WEEK
By LEMUEL F. PARTON
NEW YORK. — This department
flushes a swarm of rumors
about drastic changes in our naval
building plans, said to have been in
d < duced by new
British Disasters problems of de.
Bring Check on fense against
Our Naval P/an*planes and »ub*
marines as dis
closed by British disasters.
So far as we can learn, there are
Impending some possible changes in
personnel, and a general check and
overhauling of work on new ships to
date, but nothing revolutionary. It
is indicated that there will be in
tensive studies and training in co
ordination of ships, planes and sub
marines.
At the highest peak of Ameri
can naval construction in peace
time history, Rear Admiral Al
exander Hamilton Van Keuren
Is made chief of the bureau of
construction and repair. That
puts him right In the wheel
house of the navy efficiency
drive, as this is the acid-testing
bureau for fighting ships, and it
bears the responsibility for their
being sound and fit, structurally
and in design. Defects have
been found, and are being reme
died in several 10,000-ton cruis
ers.
Admiral Van Keuren, a navy tech
nician for 36 years, is one of the
most highly rated specialists in na
val construction. He smokes a drop
stem pipe, carries on easily and in
formally, and marshals engineering
data with a precise mastery of de
tail. His previous post has been
that of industrial manager at the
Philadelphia navy yard. He is a
dependable safeguard against pitted
or pithy armor plate, such as we
heard of years ago. He is a native
of Michigan, graduated from Annap
olis in 1903. His predecessor in the
bureau, Rear Admiral W. G. Du
Bose, becomes commander of the
new model basin at Carderock, Md.
MAJ. GEN. DANIEL VAN VOOR
HIS, assigned to the supreme
command in the Panama Canal
Zone, is an officer up from the ranks
_ _ , . _ . who has been
Our Gold Guard entrusted with
Now Gets Canal many critically
Zone to Watch
signments in
the past—among them the guardian
ship of the bulk of the nation’s $17,
000,000,000 gold reserve, at Fort
Knox, Ky. The fact of his selection
is evidence of the crucial impor
tance of the canal defenses, in the
eyes of the high command. .
From Zanesville, Ohio, he en
listed in the Tenth Pennsylvania
infantry in 1898 and won a com
mission as second lieutenant in
the Philippine insurrection. He
is the army specialist in mech
anized defense and attack, and
just now the canal is a concen
tration of swift mechanization.
In the World war, he was chief
of-staff at Brest, and holds the
Distinguished Service medal,
the Navy Cross, the Silver Star
and the Legion of Honor decora
tions.
IN HIS new book, “The Defense of
Britain,” Capt. Liddell Hart, the
British military expert, says, “Our
chief risk of losing a war lies in try
, . , _ ing to win the
Britain’s Danger war.» His gen
Is in Trying to eral finding is
Win, Says Hart c"
supported in the style to which it
has been accustomed, and observes
that "War will only be ended when
the power-lusting nations recognize
its futility. The growing power of
modern defense is bringing that
prospect in sight."
In his preceding book, “Europe
in Arms,” published in August, 1937,
he thought there was hope of ending
war in the limitations of the mili
tary mind. Fat-headed generals
would cling to gaudy mass attack
and make war so stupid and ridicu
lous that anybody surviving would
just forget it. But the trouble with
a war expert is that you can’t bottle
him up, and other nations in the
past have used him as a military
consultant.
In the World war, a stripling
Just out of Cambridge, a captain
and a war correspondent, he
gave the generals a lacing to the
limit of the censorship, and, al
though they growled menacing
ly, they took him into their
counsels. He invented a lot of
new trick plans, including the
"indirect approach" and the “ex
panding torrent” system, and
his reputation was well on its
way before the war ended.
He has scolded many of the main
panjandrums of the big war, in the
post-war years, apparently with
public approval, judging from the
sale of his books. He was a war
buddy of Lawrence of Arabia and
insisted that this human cryptogram
knew more about war than all the
generals put together.
(Consolidated Features—WNU Service.)
ASK ME
ANOTHER
A Quiz With Answers
Offering Information
on Various Subjects
The Questions
1. What is the difference between
a contest and a tournament?
2. Why did George Eliot, the
English novelist and poet, not live
to be an old man?
3. How many time changes from
Chicago to San Francisco?
4. What is a trade dollar?
5. For what do the following
abbreviations stand: Ad lib.; e.g.;
i.e.; viz.?
6. Would you call a person liv
ing in Rome a Roman or an Ital
ian?
7. Was the “Star Spangled Ban
ner” originally entitled so?
8. How many Indians are there
in Alaska?
The Answers
1. A contest is any battle for
supremacy; a tournament usually
refers to some test of athletics or
card skill.
2. George Eliot was a woman.
3. Two—one to mountain time,
and one to Pacific time.
4. A U. S. coin not minted since
Useless Wisdom
If wisdom were offered me on
condition that I should keep it
close and not communicate it, I
would refuse the gift.—Seneca.
1885, made for trade in the Orient.
5. Ad libitum, at pleasure; ex
empli gratia, for example; id est,
that is; videlicet, namely.
6. “Roman” generally implies
the early Roman empire. “Italian”
is used.
7. The “Star-Spangled Banner,”
which became the national anthem
of the United States in 1931, or
117 years after its composition by
Francis Scott Key, was originally
entitled “Defense of Fort McHen
ry.”
8. There are about 11,000 Indi
ans and 19,000 Eskimos and Aleuts
in Alaska. The total population
of the territory is about 60,000.
CLOTHESPIN'
NOSE
Sensational extra help for
colds—with Luden’sl These
famous cough drops not
only help soothe throat, but
release a menthol vapor—
which, with every breath,
helps penetrate clogged na
sal passages, helps relieve
“clothespin nosel”
LUDEN’S St
Menthol Cough Drop*
the ^
[ TOBACCO THAT }
EXPERTS FOUND
COOLEST IN TESTS
IS THE ONE I'VE
| ALWAYS ROLLED
FOR MJLD,TASTy
WlAKIN'S' f
V SMOKES! )
In recent laboratory “smoking
bowl” tests, Prince Albert burned
86 DEGREES
w
U>
UI
UI
IT
O
UI
O
?
than the average of the 30 other of the largest*
selling brands tested—coolest of all I
ES, SIR-EE—“makin’s”
smokers—there’s a big tip
for you here! Experts in a na
tionally known independent
laboratory recently made
“smoking bowl” comparisons to
find the COOLEST-SMOKING
TOBACCO! Automatic smok
ing and heat-registering ma
chines registered and printed
the findings every step of the
way. Results—Prince Albert
burned 86 degrees COOLER
than the average of the 30 other
of the largest-selling brands
tested...coolest of alll
Thousands of “makin’s” fans
have always praised PA. as the
cooler-smoking brand. PA.’s
choice tobaccos smoke full
bodied—richer-tasting, YET
EASIER ON THE TONGUE.
Prince Albert is “no-bite”
treated! The famous P A.“crimp
cut” smokes cooler, draws easier.
Besides, it rolls up faster, neater
—without bunching or spilling—
because it lays right. There’s no
other tobacco like Prince Alberti
GetPrince Albert for your papers
today. (So cool in pipes, too!)
CoDTrisht. MM, B. J
Tofcoooo Co., WboWo-SHaD. W. O.
flna roll-your-own cl*
arattas In evary handy
tin of Princa Albart
