Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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McCORMICK MESSENGER, McCORMICK, S. C., THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1936 Irvin S. Cobb 'in M about Twilight of Ex-Debutantes S ANTA, MONICA, CALIF.— Should the king marry Mr$. Simpson or should it be vice versa and Mrs. Simpson marry the king, in either event the happy out come is bound to prove blighting upon a large coterie of slightly weather-beaten ex-debutantes of the crop of 1925. Anyhow, it was a great vintage year for debutantes, because that was when we had the most mem orable of royal visits. And ever since there have been ever so many now somewhat ma tured buds who, season after season, have maintained front rank in society by being reminded, about once in so oft en, of the supreme hour when they danced with the then prince of Wales and speaking of him in a fondly senti mental tone as “Dear David.” But even such a precious remi niscence suddenly becomes mighty pale, mighty puny alongside a pro spective achievement which may change the ancient slogan of maj esty to “Honi soit qui Wally pense!” • • • • Passing of the Train Batcher T HERE’S melancholy in the news that the railroad “train butcher” is vanishing. Soon, like so many fixtures of the passing generation, such as the dried-pota to as cure for rheumatism and the drooping sidewhisker, he’ll be an extinct species. In my earliest recollections of travel he has a fond place, along with the lunch put up in a congress shoe box, the cinder in the eye and the smell which made every day coach remind you of a woodpecker’s nest. <. On almost the first car trip I ever made unaccompanied ’twas he who sold me a sealed volume entitled “The Jolly Old Drummer’s Spicy I Library,” with a whispered warn ing not to break the wrapper be fore leaving the train for fear of arrest. I remember my guilty feel ing, my youthful thrill of anticipa tion. I got my money’s worth right there. I didn’t get it, later, because there was nothing in that book you couldn’t read at a meeting of the ladies' aid with impunity. He was indeed an engaging scoundrel and engaging scoundrels grow increasingly scarce. There’s nothing picturesque about an “in vestment counselor” doing business with the aid of a sucker list and a new issue of Bull Con. preferred. • • • Ugly Railroad Stations ’VTO MATTER which way you’re going, it seems you must change trains in Chicago, and near ly always, change stations as well. Chicago proudly boasts of more railroad stations and uglier ones and situated at more remote and inconvenient intervals from one an other than any city anywhere. It’s as though once upon a time she set out to collect the largest covey of truly homely stations in the world and then the bunch flushed and scat tered on her. Yet as far as I can find out—cor rect me if I err—there’s no struc tural reason why through cars on most lines could not be switched directly to the connecting lines with out being brought into the heart of the city. Maybe Chicago loves the distinction of being the largest junc tion point on earth. • • • Hungarian Duels Y OUR correspondent has been quite calm about that Budapest 1 doctor’s string of nine duels. I lived through several Kentucky primary elections, so a scrap where you don’t have to replace any divots afterward leaves me comparative ly calm. There’s an average of 300 duels every month in Hungary, but to date the only fatalities are among those who were bored to death waiting for something to happen. It’s fine to be able to appease your sacred honor without losing any of your sacred epidermis. If, in the old days, we’d only had that system for adjusting political differences, I can think of at least one uncle and several cousins of mine who might still be alive and voting the regular Democratic ticket. IRVIN S. COBB. WNU Service. » Legend of the Augean Stables The legend of the Augean stables is that Augeas, Greek king of Elis, had a stable of 3,000 oxen which had not been cleaned for 30 years. Hercules was given the task of clearing the stables in one day with the promise of one-tenth of the cat tle, if he succeeded. The god ac cepted the challenge and turned the River Alpheus through the stable, which immediately carried awaj the filth. On the refusal of Augeas to keep his word a war ensued. Hercules conquered and put Augeas to death. Lace Is in Every Phase of Fashion By CHERIE NICHOLAS 'T'HE story of lace continues to A unfold enchantment to an ad miring world. It is not only that than lace there is nothing lovier with which to adorn as an expression of the “eternal feminine,” but the significant thing we are coming* to learn about lace is that in many of its modernized types it is ab solutely practical for general wear. Through convincing demonstration in present-day fashions the theory has been utterly done away with that lace is a luxury to be reserved for “occasions” only. The following might seem mere ly a pretty fairy tale to entertain. It is, however, a really and truly true story which has to do with the recent arrival from Paris of a prominent American who brought with her a perfectly exquisite and thoroughly practical wardrobe fash ioned all of lace. Of course this collection embraced laces of versa tile type for the lingerie as well as sports and evening clothes are each and every one of lace. The thrill uttermost and the argument con clusive as to the practicality of lace is a raincoat of handsome close- woven waterproofed lace. We has ten to assure that the raincoat has been put to the test time and time again, proving to be water repel- lant, and a sure protection. To be sure, every worthy tale must have a moral or deliver a message and here it is—the happy possessor of this most charming and replete lace wardrobe is telling her friends that for travel lace clothes are eminently practical and satisfactory. Not only does lace prove flattering at all times but a vitally important thing about lace clothes is that pack them as hur riedly as you may they come out unwrinkled, maintaining a well groomed appearance without the necessity of pressing. There is no end to the types of lace now available. You will find a lace tuned to your every need and to every mood of fashion. In the lace story for winter, it is the daytime dress made of wool lace that is making the headlines. A stunning model is pictured in the foreground of the illustration. It is of suede-finished brown wool lace in a heavy fabric type which makes the perfect thing for daytime street wear. To trim this handsome frock, Piguet uses a stitched sheer fabric woven of wool the same as made the lace, bordering the square neck, for the sash belt and to finish the side seams. We venture to predict you’ll be deciding on a wool lace frock for your “fashion-first” this winter. You can see from the beguiling dance frock shown to the right that designers are doing delightfully original things with lace. Chanel’s evening and dinner dresses in ankle- length were a feature of her recent showings in Paris. She has a par ticularly charming dress as pic tured with a dipping hemline start ing from the ankles in front, done in Chantilly lace in pink and in black. The tiers of the skirt are matched by the cap sleeves in al ternating ruffles of pink and black. The decolletage is especially charming and youthful. The dress illustrated to the left was one of the hits in the Lelong collection, and considered by him one of the best of his creations. He did it in several fabrics includ ing lace. For the lovely gown here shown he used one of the lovely filmy laces now so modish in an interesting delicate patterning. The feature of the pleated sleeves is also carried out in the little back peplum which stands out in quaint bustle effect. The girdle is matching suede. €> Western Newspaper Union. REVERSIBLE CAPE By CHERIE NICHOLAS Complete tweed ensembles are excellent style. The model pictured is a Creed masterpiece done in terms of select wool weave such as declares its style supremacy. The cape is made reversible, which is a feature to be commended as it adds to the adaptability of the ensemble to occasion. Tailored outfits of this type, with jacket suit and top cape, are a whole wardrobe in one. RED IS IN FAVOR FOR EVENING WEAR By CHERIE NICHOLAS The fashionable set literally “saw red” at the brilliant first night func tions of the winter season. Red vel vet wraps, gowns of red taffeta and slipper satin, the gleam of red in nails and lips—the shades varied all the way from the subtle smoky reds to the brighter tones of ruby, coronation and mountie, or orange red. . Particularly effective is a red vel vet gown, ermine-trimmed and worn with a white ermine wrap, and an artful Juliet cap of red over sleek blonde hair. The sleeves were long and bound with ermine at the wrists. An ankle-length wrap of faille taffeta in mountie red, very slim of waist and broad of shoul der was worn by a striking bru nette. Muffs are worn demurely small or large and debonair. A girl in bouffant black net under a slim black velvet wrap carried a large muff of white ermine tails, decorat ed with a spray of gardenias. All-black splashed with color is again repeated and is second in fav< or to the predominating red. Paris Sponsors Spots A fingertip sports jacket made on boxy lines and recently shown in Paris was made of rabbit “mouette,” a black and white spotted fur pre sented in several collections. Under it goes a belted waistcoat of the fur. High Hats New highs are marked by many new hats. A youthful mode by Agnes is of black antelope, draped and twisted to a high - point cone held by three long royal blue coq feathers. Twas This Way By LYLE SPENCER ® Western Newspaper Union. When Democrats Were Republicans ’T"* HE first convention of the Dem- ocratic party was held in May, 1832, at Baltimore under the name “Republican Delegates from the Several States.’’ In those days, the only Republicans were Democrats. What is now the Democratic party was then officially known as the Republican party, a name handed down since the time of Jefferson. In popular parlance, it was known as the “Democratic Republican par ty.” Their sworn enemies at elec-, tion time were the Whigs. The terms “Democrat’ 1 and “Re publican” were used interchange ably in the early conventions. It was not until 1840 that the word Republican was dropped entirely and the official title became “Dem ocratic National party.” Even after that, public speakers continued to use one word almost as frequently as the other. But the term “Republican” was far too fine a word to be lost to politics. When a split began to appear in the old-line parties about 1855, the insurgents quickly in troduced it again. The Republican party has carried on continually since that time. The battle cries of party plat forms nave shifted back and forth rapidly in the last 80 years. The legislation passed by one party when in power has been almost indis tinguishable frofn that of the other. Circus Tights T HE daring young man on the “flying trapeze” always wears form - fitting tights “as he floats through the air with the greatest of ease.” Everyone expects trapeze artists to wear circus tights nowa days, but their invention was the result of an incongruous accident. The inventor of tights. Nelson Hower, was not an aerial artist but a bareback rider in the old- time Buckley and Wicks show. In 1828 the troupe was playing a series of one-night stands in the small towns along the eastern seasboard. At one evening’s performance, Hower discovered at the last mo ment that his costume, short Span ish jacket, knee breeches, and long stockings, had accidentally been left at the last town. He frantically ransacked the dressing room for an old makeshift costume. He found nothing, and the call boy was im patiently shouting that his act was due on next. Hower decided that the show must go on, costume or no costume. So he ran out in the arena and leaped on his horse wearing nothing but his long knit underwear. Strangely, no one in the circus crowd tittered. It dawned on Hower after his act that long underwear was an eminently suitable costume for bareback riding, and he had himself knitted a suit with feet in it. And so was born the regulation costume for trapeze artists and acrobats. The Detachable Collar M EN are supposed to know more about designing clothes than women. The great modistes of Par is, New York and Hollywood, who dictate the tilt of milady’s hat and the length of her dress, are mostly males. Yet one of the most important ar ticles of male haberdashery, the de tachable collar, was invented by a woman, Mrs. Hannah Montague, of Troy, N. Y. Like thousands of other housewives, she noticed every wash day that her husband’s shirts were dirty only around the collar. They took longer to scrub and iron than any other part of the family wash. Mrs. Montague was a resourceful woman. One Monday morning in 1825 she decided to do something about the collar problem. She took a pair of scissors and with a couple of snips performed the necessary amputation. Thereafter, Mr. Mon tague tied his collar around his neck the best way he could, but his wife had no more trouble with the wash ing. This new device appealed to so many housewives that by 1829 Ebe- nezer Brown was able to set up a collar factory. He manufactured what was known as the “string col lar,” because it tied around the neck with a string. Much to the de light of laundrymen, Ebenezer soon introduced the hard-starched collar, and a little later that male abomina tion, the collar button. It has taken men almost a century to rid them selves of these inconveniences. But history runs in cycles, and before long another time-saving wife is likely to get out her shears again. Great Power of Lightning One of the most astonishing things about lightning is the power behind a bolt, according to an authority. It requires an electromotive fcree oi about 100 million volts before the discharge can take place. The cur rent in an average bolt is 100,000 amperes. This represents a power of ten billion kilowatts. Each light ning flash we see has the power of a thousand Boulder dam hydroelec tric plants. And lightning flashes on the average of a hundred or so times each minute in this country. XtnjcLe JsgjuA: (n Good Company Company is one of the greatest pleasures of the nature of man, for the beams of joy are made hotter by reflection when related to another. Theories might work, if human nature didn’t interfere. The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything. Luck usually favors the man who doesn’t count on it. The Present Moment Try to be happy in this present moment, and put not off being so to a time to come. Wages of sin is death—and the wages of foolisoness is paid out of the same purse. Many men when asked for their candid opinion, make up some thing on the spur of the moment. Three Things Reading makes a full man— meditation a profound man—dis course a clear man. In order to make a friend, you have got to like a man well enough never to want to give him a dig. Many men never make any. The prodigal son came of a good family. That is why he came back. A man may frequently think and say he is misundei stood, but the man who thinks he is and doesn’t care sufficiently to say anything about it, is the most admirable. Your Best Always do your best, and every time you will do better. A good provider never lacks an admiring eye. Fame is one thing that sophisti cation can’t take the savor out of. A voung intellectual tries to get along without emotions and pres ently makes the horrible discovery that he has lost them. Coarseness isn’t much better than outright immodesty. • Tht 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 faster than the costliest types of plain all-vegetable shortening. Character-Building An absolute surrender to all that is better, purer, truer is the secret of character-building. Penetrating Eye The curious questioning eye, that plucks the heart of every mystery.—Mellen. WHEN WARM SPELL COMES LOOK OUT FOR SKIPPERS IN POORLY SMOKED MEAT wm* * Skippers,” She larva of a fly, tvbtcb batch in meat not properly smoked. Greatly enlarged During cold weather, keeping meat on the farm Is a simple mat ter. But when hot summer comes, or a warm spell in winter, look out! You suddenly find your meat, into which so many hours of hard labor and feed have been put, crawling with “skippers”! This little worm (shown in photo above) is the larva of a fly, which has laid its eggs In the meat. At the first warm spell, they hatch. But there are other troubles be sides skippers. Green mold often de velops, or rancidness near the bone. The meat dries out, gets too hard to eat. ONLY ONE PREVENTIVE Thorough smoking is the only known way to prevent all these troubles. But how? Everyone knows how uncertain the old smokehouse method is. Other so-called smoking methods, or substitutes for smoking, are likewise risky. How can yon tell whether or not the meat Is thor- onghly smoked? But If you want to be absolutely SURE your meat will come through the hot summer months sweet and wholesome and eatable, don’t take chances. Brush every square inch ^ith FIGARO Condensed Smoke. It is a liquid; and it penetrates every crevice and pore of the meat surface. It positively PREVENTS skippers, green mdld, rancidness, or hardening. And fla vor? FIGARO-smoked meat is the finest you’ll ever eat. AND COSTS NOTHING! Actually FIGARO-smoking costs you nothing. The average farm loses 50 pounds of meat every year through Improper smoking. At 30 cents per pound, that’s $15.00! To protect your meat, to guarantee ev ery pound of It keeping perfectly, will cost you less than one-third cent per pound, the FIGARO way! And using plaia salt in the cure, then brushing FIGARO on the meat afterward, actually will cost you only HALF the cost of using “smoke salt.” HAS SMOKED OVER TWO BILLION POUNDS OF MEAT More than 30 years ago, S. Eugene Colgin, Texas farmer boy, discovered what it was in the old smoke' house that pr» served the meat. This secret led to condensing e( smoke in quanti ties, and, with certain addition* to improve the flavor of the S. E. COLGIN. who discovered FIGARO meat, this is FIGARO Condensed Smoke. It has smoked more than two billion pounds of meat since that time. Your dealer has FIGARO, or can get It The 32-oz. size smokes 500 pounds, and costs only $1.50; the 16-oz. size smokes 250 pounds, and costs only $1.00.—Adv. FIGARO Co. THEriUMItlS i DALLAS,TEX. Manufacturers of Smoke Products FIGARO Condensed Smoke-Barbecue Smoke Sauce-Sausage Seasoning CHAIR CUMBING By GLUYAS WILLIAMS "in i lEnS JUNIOR NO, HE CAN'f 6Ef UP IN HI& LAP , DADDV WANffr -TO READ HIS NEW BOOK BECOMES UWEASllV AWARE iftAf JUNIOR IS CLIMBING UPON CHAIR, BUf DECIDES f£> PAY NO AffcjWoN t> HIM DECISION Tb VM NO AttDNfiON IS mvlSTRAfCD BY JUNIOR'S MAKING A PASS At fHE BOOK 10 SEE If 1HERE ARE PlClURES SEYS JUNIOR DOWN AND RE- YURNS <0 BOOK. BEYS A KICK BEHIND EAR AS JUNIOR, WlfH A fRlUMPHANY *100K , DADDY'* CLIMBS UP BACK OF CHAIR junior forbidden yo aiM& any more, GRASPS ARM Of CHAIR AND ROCKS BACK AND FoRYH, SHAKIN6 CHAIR AND ASKING. QUESTIONS PUTS BOOK DOWN AND PICKS JUNIOR UP IN LAP AS, HE MiOhT HAUE known HE'D HAKE 1b DO ANYWAY (Copyright, 1934,, by Thi Bed Syodkiu. In*.;