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McCORMICK MESSENGER, McCORMICK, S. C., THURSDAY, JULY 15, 1937 ADVENTURERS’ CLUB HEADLINES FROM THE LIVES OF PEOPLE LIKE YOURSELFI “Another Molly Pitcher " By FLOYD GIBBONS Famous Headline Hunter H ELLO, everybody:—This soul-stirring tale of a brave little mother who was deathly afraid of guns, but afraid of noth ing at all when corporation hirelings tried to grab a piece of her home, is the Battle of Monmouth all over again. You remember, or do you, how in that important engagement at Free hold, N. J., away back on June 28, 1778, Molly Pitcher took the place of her husband, John C. Hays, an artilleryman, after he was wounded, and served his gun, thus preventing its capture by the British. That’s a yarn that every red-blooded American gets a kick out of every time he reads itl It is mighty comforting, I want to tell you, to know there are Molly Pitchers in every generation, stepping forward fear lessly to take the places of their men when necessary. Just such a woman is this distinguished adventurer. Meet Mrs. John Doolin, of Lemont, 111. They call women the weaker sex. O yeah? Just put their backs to the wall. If you want the proof, read how Mrs. Doolin, single-handed, whipped a rather high-minded cor poration that seemed to be trying to put over a fast one. The Doolins Didn’t Need Courts. Not long after a railroad came through the village of Lemont, where the Doolins had their home, there were a number of ^accidents on a sharp curve close to the Doolin property. The company wanted to straight en the line by putting it across the Doolin yard. Surveyors staked out the new right of way; workers appeared and began digging. John Doolin ordered them off. Then he took the first train to Chicago and there con sulted his good friend. Attorney Alexander Sullivan. Mr. Sullivan told him the company had no right to put its line on Doolin property without permission. But, he continued (and here’s the catch), if the company succeeded in erecting the poles and stringing the power wire, the only thing Doolin could do would be to go to court. John Doolin didn’t have any money to pay for long years of litigation so he beat it for home, resolved to keep the company off his premises. There, sticking up in the lawn, was a nice new pole that had been put up while he was in the city. John sawed the pole half way through. Then he borrowed a rifle and ammunition from a neighbor. • A few days later, on a bright June morning in 1903, a policeman ap peared with a warrant charging John Doolin with destroying public property. John marched away with the law, leaving three children cry ing, a wife on the verge of it. Mrs. Doolin and Shotgun Command the Scene. No sooner was John Doolin out of sight than a crew of workmen swarmed on the place and began digging so furiously you would think they were being paid a dollar a shovelfull. Was little Mrs. Doolin going to let them get away with it? Up to the attic she hurried. There, forget- ting she shivered at the very sight of a firearm, she took from the wall a shotgun that had hung undisturbed for many years. With her children clinging to her and crying again, she opened the window shutters and rested the ancient fowling piece on the sill. Then, in a cold fury, she called down to the working men: “Throw down your tools or I’ll shoot!’’ They stopped working and then began to kid her. Then one bully, who appeared to be the foreman, ordered: “Come on, guys, let’s go up and take it away from her.’’ Mrs. Doolin leaned a little further out of the window and lifted the rusty shotgun. “The first man who takes a step toward my house gets shot,’* shf called. “Now all of you drop your tools, or I’ll start shooting.’* Our Lady Tells the Boys Where to Get Off. And, boys and girls, Mrs. Doolin meant exactly what she said. She was a determined mother, protecting her home and babies in the ab sence of her husband. Of course, she thought the gun wasn’t loaded, but her finger was on the trigger and she was all set to pull it if any one of those men made a move in the direction of the house. But their tools went down. The workmen sensed this was real drama, not a comedy, and they became sober. One spoke up to say the company had sent them there to rush up a couple of poles. Plucky Mrs. Doolin then explained to them that they were on her property, that the com pany had not asked permission to use it nor offered to pay for it. Well sir, when those men got the low down on the proposition they took off their hats and cheered. “You win, lady, you’re a game guy,’’ they told her. “We ain’t doing any more digging until you get a square deal.’’ With that they picked up their tools and went to town. Mrs. Doolin had won her battle, but would the men be back tomorrow? Would the ’ company have her arrested for threatening its workmen? And what had become of her husband? Another Gun That <( Wasn’t Loaded.** Pondering these questions, Mrs. Doolin went to the door and was overjoyed to see her husband coming up the walk. He hadn’t been in jail at all. The policeman had taken him before a justice of the peace, but no one in the courtroom was willing to prosecute him. He thought he understood why he had been taken away on a charge no one would press ,when Mrs. Doolin told him the men had been back. But when she told him how she had pointed the shotgun at them and really intended to pull the trigger, he felt a little faint. For that old gun was loaded! Well, there was one thing about the old-fashioned corporation, it always knew when it was licked. The very next morning the worries of the Doolin family were over. Right after breakfast two suave lawyers called to say how sorry they were it had hap pened. There had been a mistake. The company was willing to pay a good price for the land. And they paid, right on the line, thanks to the little woman who didn’t know when she was licked. This month the Doolins will be celebrating their fifty-fifth wedding anniversary in Lemont. Around the festal board will be the children who wept at their mother’s skirts while she repelled the raid on the home. They have children of their own now. ©—WNU Service. Witchball Used by Indians If an Indian wanted to be rid of a person without resorting to mur der, he had a witch doctor prepare an extra-special witchball which could be thrown at the undesirable person. While believing this was supposed to result in a fellow In dian’s death, says a writer in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the red skins were convinced this had no effect on white men and women be cause of the comparatively large amount of salt they consumed in Iheir diet. The World’s Oldest Race The world’s oldest race, the bush- men of the Kalahiri desert, nomadic tribesmen, described as “living fos sils,” are dying out. The bushmen can claim a history of 25,000 years, and they once inhabited the south of Europe as well as Africa. They have never abandoned their primi tive methods, and they hunt with bows and arrows. They cannot live unless they kill game for food. When forced to live a “civilized” exist ence they die out, says Pearson’* London Weekly. 'Way Back When By JEANNE FRED MAC MURRAY WASHED CARS FOR A LIVING "NJECESSITY is the mother of in- vention, they say; and if that is so I think someone should em phasize that “Courage is the fa- .ther of opportunity.” So many times, when things look blackest, it seems that only by drawing on re serve strength can we keep going. Suddenly we find ourselves face to face with opportunity. Everything looked hopeless before. We were really almost ready to give up. And, then looking back, we wonder how things could have seemed as bad as they were. Fred MacMurray was born in Kankakee, 111., in 1908, and spent his boyhood in Beaver Dam, Wis. He lived a normal small town life for an American youngster. In 1925, when he was seventeen, he was awarded the annual American Le gion medal for the student show ing the most well-rounded develop ment in scholastic subjects and sports. His mother worked in of fices to support them both, and Fred attended Carroll college in Waukesha, Wis., earning his way by playing the saxophone. A bro ken hip forced his mother to quit work, and Fred left college to try to blow a living out of his saxo phone. They moved to Hollywood, Calif., for her health and the boy was glad to get a job washing cars in a garage, to pay her hospital bills. Before he could collect ftis pay, the garage went bankrupt, and Fred MacMurray faced a discour aging period without a job. He tried to obtain work in the picture studios as a saxophone player, but had no luck. Things looked very black, indeed. Then, he was signed up with a band called the California Collegi ans, whiclTworked its way to New York city and was hired for the play “Three’s a Crowd.” Fred had a small bit which led to a slightly bet ter part in “Roberta.” A talent scout for Paramount saw him, brought him back to Hollywood, and he was given a contract which led to his success in pictures. • • • POET LAUREATE OF ENGLAND WAS A PORTER IN A SALOON W HAT romantic occupation could you possibly predict for a boy so adventurous that no one could control him, so reckless that the aunt who took care of him after his father and mother died inden tured him to a merchant ship at the age of fourteen to curb him? That was John Masefield’s start in life and today he holds the highest hon ors England can give any poet. Born in Ledburn, Herefordshire, England, in 1874, he sailed the seas for three years. Leaving the ship in port at New York city, he took any odd job he could get. He worked in a bakery and in a livery stable. He was porter in Luke O’Connor’s saloon at, the Columbian hotel near Jefferson Market jail. Then he moved to Yonkers, at the north end of New York city, where he worked in a carpet factory, ris ing to the magnificent position of “mistake finder” at $8.50 per week. It was at this time, in his early twenties, that Masefield started to write poetry and in 1897 he left for London. His first volume of verses, “Salt Water Ballads,” was pub lished in 1902 opening with “A Con secration,” in which he announces himself as the champion of “the dust and scum of the earth.” Books of verse and novels followed, one upon the other, and John Masefield became established as one of Eng land’s greatest poets. So, remember John Masefield be fore you pass judgment on that neighbor’s boy who is such a holy terror or that young scamp who works in the saloon across the rail road tracks. Q—WNU Service. AROUND *. HOUSE I© Items of Interest to the Housewife Cooking Sour Fruit—Sour fruit will require much less sugar, and be more digestible, if a dessert spoonful of syrup and a pinch of bicarbonate of soda are added aft er cooking. • • • To Prevent Scorching—Leave one small section of a gem pan empty when putting gem batter in pan. Fill this section with wa ter and gems will never scorch. • • • Cheese Savoury—Spread sea soned cream cheese on small rounds of previously cooked short pastry. Over the cheese place a round of tomato and a dash of mayonnaise, and top each with a Smart Lace Spread PpJ|#gj»|gg &SS •ViiS fesEiR' A true reflection of your own good taste is this stunning open work design, one easily achieved by crocheting simple, single me dallions of string. A stunning dresser or table scarf, or per chance a cloth could also be your choice. It may be done in one or a combination of colors. Pattern 1443 contains detailed directions for making the 8% inch medal lion shown and joining it for a variety of articles; illustration of it and of all stitches used; material requirements; color sug gestions. Send 15 cents in stamps or coins (coins preferred) for this pattern to The Sewing Circle Needlecraft Dept., 82 Eighth Ave., New York, N. Y. slice of olive. Place in paper containers, sprinkle with finely- grated cheese, and garnish with cress.—Miss E. Frus, Wimbledon Park. • * * Keeping Brassware Bright — Brass ornaments will remain bright longer if, after polishing, they are given a thin coat of white shellac. • • • To Freshen Coconut—Shredded coconut, which has become dry, can be freshened by soaking it in sweet milk a few minutes be fore using. • • • Banana Toast—Place sliced ba nana between two* slices bread, spread with shortening. Place in baking pan in hot oven until light ly browned. * • • Why Pans Warp—Aluminum cooking pans are frequently warped out of shape by repeatedly putting cold water in them while they are still hot. * * • Measuring Sugar—One pound of granulated sugar equals two cups. One pound of powdered or con fectioner’s sugar equals two and one-half cups. WNU Service. / Foreign Words ^ and Phrases Resurgam. (L.) I shall rise again. Presto mature, presto marcio. (It.) Soon ripe, Soon rotten. . Lis litem generat.(L.) Strife be gets strife. Hominis est errare. (L.) It is common for man to err. Contra fortuna no vale arte nin- guna. (Sp.) There is no fence against fortune. Fide, sed cui vide. (L.) Trus^ but see whom. SNOW WHITE PETROLEUM JELLY 666 checks MALARIA in thnx* day* COLDS LIQUID. TABLETS first day salve, nose dbops Headache, 30 nlnites. 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