McCormick messenger. (McCormick, S.C.) 1902-current, November 26, 1936, Image 6
McCORMICK MESSENGER, McCORMICK, S. C., THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1936
By FLOYD GIBBONS,
T HIS is the story of a man, a woman and a dog—and I’ll
admit right at the start that the dog got the dirty end of the
deal.
, The woman was Ellen J. Swanson of Springfield, N. J. The dog’s
name was Bill. The name of the man, I can’t give you. I don’t know it,
and Ellen Swanson doesn’t even want to know it. Maybe he wouldn’t
want us to know it either. There you have the characters in our story.
Twenty-four years ago, on a cold, January night, Fate juggled up a
meeting between them—and most anything Fate arranges is packed full
of drama.
The scene of that meeting was the home of Ellen and her
husband on the outskirts of Summit, N. J. It was almost one
o’clock in the morning, but Ellen was still up. Her husband was
working late that night, and he’d want a hot meal when he came
home. It was on the stove cooking now—and Ellen was sitting in
the kitchen beside the red-hot stove, reading and fighting off
/ drowsiness.
Enter the Brutal Looking Tramp.
Came a knock at the door. That ought to be her husband. Ellen
jumped out of her chair, opened the door, exclaiming, “You poor
dear!” But the last word stuck in her throat. Her feet seemed to freeze
to the floor. It was not her husband.
It wasn’t her husband, but the ugliest, dirtiest, most brutal looking
tramp Ellen had ever seen. He had a long hunting knife in his hand,
and under his arm was a bloody newspaper from which the head of a
dead rabbit protruded. From a piece of clothesline tied around his
waist hung a dead chicken.
Ellen stood gazing, speechless, at this strange figure. The tramp
was the first one to speak. “I saw your light,” he said, “and I ain’t
got no matches. I w’ant to cook this here chicken.” He paused, and
Ellen noted to her horror that the tramp had planted his foot inside
the door so that she couldn’t close it. “But maybe you give me some
thing to eat,” he went on. “I been walkin’ a long ways.”
He Made Himself at Home.
Ellen had to fight to find her voice. “Ye-es,” she stammered.
“Wait there. I’ll bring something out to you.” But the tramp
pushed his foot farther into the kitchen. “It’s too dark out here
to see to eat,” he stated flatly. And with that he stepped inside,
pushed her out of the way, and closed the door behind him.
“I walked over to the table,” says Ellen, “but I did not feel the
floor under my feet. The tramp pulled out a chair and sat down. Some-
Ellen Stepped Hard on Bill’s Toes.
how I got a plate and poured him some soup. Crackers and bread
were already on the table, and he began to eat.
“In the meantime I was praying to God to save me and my two
small children. I was so frightened that my teeth were chattering, and
perspiration formed in beads all over my face. I wanted to scream, but
I knew it would be useless. The road we lived on didn’t have many
houses. There was one off to the right of us, but on the other side there
as nothing but dense woods.
“Then, like a flash, a thought came to me—and with it came
a little courage. I stepped across the room, saying, *1 must get
the dog before you go out again. He is a fierce, vicious watch
dog, and it’s funny that he missed you coming in.’ ”
One Thing Made Bill Angry.
Ellen did have a dog—a big one. But he was no more vicious than
Shirley Temple. He was just a big, good-natured hulk of a mutt that
made friends with anybody and everybody. But Ellen had a plan. She
called, “Bill—here Bill.” And Bill came running like a streak. Inside the
kitchen he spied the tramp and was all set to wag his tail. But Ellen
grabbed his collar, held on to him with all her might, and put her
scheme into action.
There was just one thing that ever made Bill get mad. When
Ellen’s youngest child was a baby, Bill used to like to walk beside her
carriage. He walked so close that the wheels would run over his big
clumsy feet. On such occasions he would growl and snap, and the hair
on his back would bristle up like a porcupine’s quills.
That was what Ellen had remembered. Now she thrust out
her foot and came down hard on poor Bill’s toes.
Bill growled and tried to pull away. Ellen held him faced
toward the tramp and tugged backward on his collar. The tramp
looked up from his plate of soup, and Ellen stepped on Bill’s
foot again.
/ Fierce Enough to Scare Any Tramp.
She stepped a little harder that second time, and Bill almost went
crazy with pain. The hair on his back stood up in true porcupine fash
ion. Bill looked like the toughest, most dangerous dog in the world
at that moment.
The tramp jumped out of his chair. Ellen could see that he was
beginning to be afraid. Then she put on the finishing touches to her
little act. In a breathless voice she said to the tramp: “I think you’d
better go now. I can’t hold him much longer, and I’m afraid his collar
will break.”
And with that, Ellen stepped once more on Bill’s toes.
Bill let out another deep-throated growl—tugged furiously at
his collar again. The tramp began gathering up his bundles. He
got them together and slunk out of the door—reluctant to leave
his half-finished dinner behind him, but not any too anxious to
stay in the same room with that snarling, vicious dog.
When he was gone, Ellen was shaking like a leaf. She bolted thw
door, and then fell to patting Bill. He wasn’t much of a dog as far as
protection was concerned—but he sure could put up a swell bluff if you
stepped cn his toes a little.
^ ©—WNU Service.
Laurel Leaves
Laurel leaves once were believed
efficacious in preventing illness and
the shelter of the tree was believed
to ward off lightning. Early physi
cians held it in great esteem and
considered it a panacea. In an
cient Greece, when one had a dan
gerous disease, a branch of laurel
was fastened over his door to avert
death and drive away evil spirits.
Young physicians were crowned
with laurel berries (bacca lauri)
and from this and the Latifl bacca-
laureus (laure - berry) came our
words “bachelor” and “laureate.”
The former designated a person not
allowed to marry and the latter.
Word was attachea to official poets.
Hypnotism
Hypnotism was probably used by
priests of ancient cults to perform
seeming miracles, but the state was
not recognized by medical men un
til the middle of the Eighteenth cen
tury, when Franz Mesmer tried to
cure patients by putting them into a
hypnotic trance. The state is a form
of dissociation whereby the brain is
no longer able to control the body
except at the suggestion of the hyp
notist. It is induced by stroking or
by gazing fixedly at an object at
close range. Once experienced, it is
entered into at the command of the
hypnotizer. By a similar sharp com
mand the subject is aroused and
resumes the normal state.
'Twas This Way
• •
By LYLE SPENCER
© Western Newspaper Union.
The Father of Chemistry
W HAT makes a fire burn? If
you were asked this question,
you might be hard put to give a
reasonable answer. As a matter
of fact, no one in the whole world
could answer it until Laurent La
voisier, the famous French scien
tist. discovered oxygen in the Eight
eenth century.
Besides giving oxygen its name
and explaining its properties, La
voisier was the first man to show
v,hy hydrogen and oxygen combined
to form water. Because he made
sc many fundamental contributions
to the world of science, he is now
generally known as the “Father of
Chemistry.”
But Lavoisier was far more than
a famous scientist. Handsome and
witty, he was also a prominent
courtier in the Courts of Louis XV
and XVI. He was a friend of Marie
Antoinette and was always in the
thick of royal intrigues and politics.
When the Frencn revolution broke
out, he was in the thick of that.
He witnessed the roaring fall of
the Bastille. He invented a new
way of making saltpeter, the es
sential element in gunpowder. Fa
mous chemist though he was,
Lavoisier was finally thrown into
prison by the fanatical Robespierre,
who said he had no use fot any
scientists, especially aristocratic
ones.
Those were the days when Paris
streets w'ere running red with hu
man blood. Being an aristocrat,
Lavoisier was soon on his way to
the guillotine. He died as he had
lived, laughing and unairaid. A
friend who witnessed the execution
wrote his memorial: “It took but
a moment to cut off his head, but
another like it cannot be produced
in a hundred years.”
Military Uniforms
L OUIS XIV, the depraved French
king, really brought on the
French revolution through his ava
rice and cruelty to his people. A
most disorderly man himself, his
gx eatest contribution to posterity
vas his reintroduction of the mili
tary uniform, the forerunner of
modern standardized goods.
Although regular uniforms had
been worn by Greek and Roman
soldiers, the art was lost during the
Middle ages. Since soldiers fought
in small bands, they could either
recognize each other personally or
wear some identifying badge which
distinguished them from the enemy.
But Louis XIV built up the larg
est army Europe had ever known
up to that time, a huge force of
100,000 men. He gave orders to
his generals, “Drill them to act
as one, discipline them to respond
a- one, uniform them to look as
one!”
The generals could do the drilling
and disciplining without any
trouble, but when it came to the
uniforms they were up against a
new problem. Making 100,000 uni
forms that all look exactlj alike
is no small problem. The generals
were finally forced to build up a
whole new textile and clothing in
dustry and install the first modern
system of standardized goods and
sizes.
So when you go into a department
store to buy a size seven shoe or
a fifteen collar, remember that it
was old Louis XIV and his aides
who first thought up the idea.
Invention of Ice Cream Cones
G eorge Washington liked to
eat ice cream. He had a spe
cially-built freezer in which his
servants made ice cream for him
whenever they could get ice.
But no one ever tasted an ice
cream cone before 1900. The honor
of its invention goes to the girl
friend of Charles E. Menches, a
young ice cream salesman in St.
Louis. Menches was doing his
courting during the St. Louis ex
position in 1904.
On one occasion he brought his
fiancee a bunch of flowers and an
ice cream sandwich at the same
time. Lacking a vase, the resource
ful lady took one of the layers of
the sandwich and rolled it into a
cone to act as a vase. She then
rolled the other cone in the same
way, and so was invented the ice
cream cone.
The ice cream sundae is of an
earlier origin. About 1870, the city
council of Ithaca, N. Y., passed
xi law prohibiting saloons from sell
ing drinks on Sunday. The law,
however, did nothing to prevent bar
customers from getting thirsty on
Sundays the same as any other day.
The pharmacist in a drug store
across the street from the city’s
leading saloon was not slow to
capitalize on this human fiailty. He
devised a Sunday concoction made
of ice cream to provide relief for
thirsty customers on that day in
place of stronger fare. In almost
no time, his idea had spread to all
the other towns in the country that
also had Sunday closing laws for
saloons.
Adriatic Coast of Yugoslavia
The Adriatic Coast of Yugoslavia
is rugged with fiords and some
600 large and small islands. Most of
these islands are rocky and unin
habited. !
The Chic New Princess Silhouettes
By CHERIE NICHOLAS
C O FAR as the silhouette of the
^ autumn and winter frock, coat
or ensemble, is concerned, anything
in the way of startling innovations
is apt to happen these days, in fact
is happening. The whole scheme of
things is changing. For one thing
it is back to short wide-at-hemline
skirts that current fashion has dared
to go—fourteen inches from the floor
if you care to follow the extreme.
The present wide swing hemlines
are indeed a radical departure from
the sleek sheath skirts of past-sea
son vogue. Take note of the word
“swing,” if you please, for it is a
word that is a big word in con
nection with the newer fashions.
Your costume to be chic must have
“it” (meaning swing) and it is the
new wide-at-hemline skirts that are
giving exactly the style-right swing
in demand.
To recount further the changing
moods of the mode, comes now into
the style picture high-waist, square-
neck, puff-sleeve directoire trends,
also quaint Victorian fashions, also
Spanish themec, likewise pictur
esque Tyrolean costumes and that
which is perhaps making the great
est impression of all — the very
cljarming new princess “lines.”
The princess influence is as
everywhere present in daytime
clothes as it is in formal evening
clothes. From the formal evening
angle the message is of regal black
velvet gowns cut exquisitely a la
princess, the long unbelted lines of
classic simplicity sweeping out into
expansive hemlines. The very beau
tiful moire silks so favored for din
ner and dance gowns yield glori
ously to princess styling, as do also
the fashionable metal cloths and
brocades.
With all due recognizance of the
importance of the princess silhouette
in the evening mode, it is in the
daytime fashions that the most
exciting events are taking place.
The youthful, flattering little prin
cess gowns tailored of swanky wool
weaves, preferably broadcloth,
duvetyne or suede cloth are fash
ion “firsts” for day wear. The ma
jority of them button dow. the front
from neckline to hemline and they
are enlivened with dramatic touches
of color—perhaps a banding at the
throat and on the sleeves and about
the wide hemline of braid in the
now-so-much-talked-of coronation
colors or in the vivid Tyrolean reds,
greens, blues and yellows.
As to the new coats styled along
princess lines, you will agree that
the accompanying illustration con
veys the message more eloquently
than words. The models pictured
also exploit the use of Persian lamb
in ways that are most attractive.
The coat to the right goes extreme
in the matter of the new princess
lines. It is made of beige broad
cloth. The buttons and young-look
ing collar of Persian lanjb are typ
ical of the manner in which design
ers are handling supple and thin
fabriclike furs. Developed either in
gray or beige there is no smarter
coat to be found in all fashiondom.
The “swing” model to the left of
black broadcloth is just the gen
teel type that makes best dressed
women look better dressed. As we
all know by this time the all-black
costume leads the style parade.
Note the binding all about the edges
of Persian lamb that is a favorite
fur treatment this season. To com
plete the costume - ideal the hat
must have a touch (if not all fur)
of Persian lamb to match the trim
mings.
© Western Newspaper Union.
NEW COAT LINES
By CHERIE NICHOLAS
Prepare for something different
in the newer evening coats. The
latest models are apt to have a
Napoleonic look and there is also
a trend to borrow lines from the
dignified mannish frock coat and
similar cut-away effects with long
coat tail at the back. Formal types
of town suits art also taking on
coats of this new influence. For
these black broadcloth is the favored
material. The coat pictured is typ
ical of the new movement. It is
designed for evening wear and tops
in tins instance a light gray gown
embroidered ;in • rhinestones. The
coat is of slate gray velveteen.
CONTRAST OF COLOR
CHARACTERIZES HAT
Contrast in color continues to
characterize the fall hats. Dashes
of bright color on black hats are
frequent. Other color contrasts
gaining favor in millinery are: Co
coa felt with ivy green faille;
dark Araby brown felt with royal
blue faille contrast; dark deep green
in felt with ribbon in soft rusty
wine.
Some of the shades appearing in
velvet hats in Paris are plum, pur
plish blue, empire green, Chinese
blue, harvest grape and cocoa.
Tailored Suit With Fur
Is Ideal for Autumn Days
If you don’t have to worry about
a budget and can go ahead and buy
an outfit for now and a warmer one
for later, a tailored or dressmaker
suit with fur is ideal. It may in
clude slim skirt and jacket with fur
collar and cuffs or a plain jacket
and skirt with fur-trimmed topcoat,
swagger or fitted.
The most popiflar version of the
formalized variety comes in black
broadcloth with Persian lamb or
silver fox; brown broadcloth with
mink or brown Persian. The sports
types are finished with wolf, lynx
or raccoon collars and are made
from the new rough, nubby woolens.
Paris Hats
A number of the French design
ers—Schiaparelli, Molyneux, Talbot
and others, are sponsoring a crown
that slopes away from the face to
ward the back.
Pardon My Visor!
Paris is sending us a number of
visored hats for fall. They are the
unerring choice of women who want
to cast a shadow about their eyes.
"X
Uncle J^hll
Sau6:
the Mark Stays
Gossip is like mud thrown
against a clean wall; it may not
stick but it leaves a mark.
Things that “cannot be done”
are done within the following
twenty years.
Be natural, borrowed garments
seldom fit well.
There are people who think they
are observant, who can’t tell you
offhand what are the pictures on a
one-dollar bill or a five-dollar bill.
Ability to Profit
There is sometimes much abil
ity in knowing how to profit by
good advice.
Silence is the wisest argument
of the ignorant man and the wise
man can frequently use it to ad
vantage.
A girl’s no-hope chest is one
that begins to accumulate inter
est-bearing bonds.
Smile, smile, smile if you like,
but don’t pound people over the
head in your enthusiasm to make
them do it.
Equanimity
'“pRY it for a day, I beseech
you, to preserve yourself
in an easy and cheerful frame
of mind. Be but for one day,
instead of a fire-worshiper of
passion, the sun-worshiper of
clear self possessions, and
compare the day in which you
have allowed it to grow up;
and you will find your heart
open to every good motive,
your life strengthened, and your
breast armed with a panoply
against every trick of fate;
truly you will wonder at your
own improvement.—Richter.
Happiness should be shared.
Fear, Hope and Care
Man must have some fears,
hopes, and cares, for the coming
morrow.—Schiller.
A Three Days’ Cough
Is Your Danger Signal
No matter how many medicines
you have tried for your cough, chest
cold or bronchial irritation, you can
get relief now with Creomulsion.
Serious trouble may be brewing and
you cannot afford to take a chance
with anything less than Creomul
sion, which goes right to the seat
of the trouble to aid nature to
soothe and heal the inflamed mem
branes as the germ-laden phlegm
is loosened and expelled.
Even if other remedies have
failed, don’t be discouraged, your
druggist is authorized to guarantee
Creomulsion and to refund your
money if you are not satisfied with
results from the very first bottle.
Get Creomulsion right now. (AdvJ
Repercussions of Hate
Hating people is like burning
down your own home to get rid ol
a rat.—Fosdick.
DRESS HAIR EASILY
Rub a little pure, snow-white Moroline into
your hair and see^now neatly it stay* la
place. 10c size contains 3)4 times as much
as the 5c size. Get Moroline at your dealers*
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