McCormick messenger. (McCormick, S.C.) 1902-current, December 25, 1941, Image 3
McCORMICK MESSENGER, McCORMICK, S. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1941
Portrait of a Hero:
One of the unsolved mysteries of
history is how Custer hurdled the
military promotion system and over
night rose from a mere lieutenant
to a general ... All anyone knows
is that he returned to headquarters
one day after being out on a mis^
sion, and chums greeted him as
“General’' . . . Custer thought they
were kidding, because he always
boasted that he’d be a general be
fore the war was over, and he was
all set to start punching. One of
his friends grabbed him by the arm
and took him to his tent where he
found an envelope containing his
commission addressed to “Briga
dier General George Armstrong
Custer” . . Custer, who was only
23 years old, turned pale and passed
out cold.
—Buy Defense Bonds—
Custer is the man who turned the
tide of the Civil war by saving the
Union army from defeat at Gettys
burg. At the time of the Battle of
Gettysburg he was about 15 miles
away. His brigade had been or
dered (along with the rest of the
cavalry) to wait at Big Roundtop,
where Jeb Stuart and his Confed
erates were expected to attack . . .
Stuart fooled the Yankees by at
tacking from the opposite direction
instead . . . Hearing Stuart’s gun-
. fire, Custer disobeyed the orders he
had received, headed straight to
ward the sound of the guns and,
charging four times, stopped the
Confederate forces dead in their
tracks . . . But for Custer’s trigger
thinking, the Union armies would
have been routed at Gettysburg . . .
The bitter irony is that the man
who was defeated (because of Cus
ter’s coup) was Fitzhugh Lee, the
divisional commander of the Con
federate attack. Lee was the in-
structor who had saved Custer from
being expelled from West Point by
reducing his demerits.
—Buy Defense Bonds—
One of the greatest military wiz
ards of all time, Custer was almost
expelled from West Point “for hav
ing the worst record” of any stu
dent there . . . Any cadet who
gets 100 demerits (over a period of
six months) is automatically tossed
out of the military academy. Dur
ing his first half year at West Point
Custer piled up 129 demerits. (He
was saved by a sympathetic instruc-
_ tor who reduced them) ... In his
studies he was at the bottom of his
class, and probably the only reason
he was graduated was that the Civil
war started and the Union army
needed officers. /
• f -■ « , . <
—Buy Defense Bonds—
Custer always believed in fighting
an enemy when he saw one, with
out stopping to consider the cost
. . . When he was a kid, he once
attended a dance and noticed one
of 4 his enemies poking fun at him
outside by making faces and ges
tures through the window . . . Cus
ter rushed up to the window and
pushed his fist right through the
pane into the guy’s snoot.
■ .. r-Day Defense Bonds—
Custer was a showman who knew
how to do things in a manner that
hit people between the eyes. (At the
end of the Civil war, the army pa
raded in review before the Presi
dent and other dignitaries in front of
the White House . . . Just as he
approached the reviewing stand, his
horse reared and started to run
away . . . With a flourish, Custer
mastered it and' onlookers cheered
wildly as Custer galloped back into
his place in line and passed the re
viewing stand a Second time . . .
He insisted it was an accident, but
rivals argued that his horse never
acted up before or after that parade.
—Buy Defense Bonds—
It took a month to make Custer’s
last stand for the film, “They Died
With Their Boots On” . . . Histori
ans believe the actual battle couldn’t
have lasted more than from half to
three-quarters of an hour, Custer’s
men were so hopelessly outnum
bered . . . Although Sitting Bull is
usually credited with having been
in charge of the massacre, actually
he was as far away from the battle
as his horse could get him. As soon
as he heard of Custer’s defeat, Sit
ting Bull returned, claiming that
he had been in the hills using his
power with the Indian gods to bring
about victory . . . The Indians
didn’t know until after the battle
that it was Custer they had been
fighting.
—Buy Defense Bonds—
In the picture this repartee gets
a howl . . . The commandant at
West Point summons Custer and
(threatening to expel him for hav
ing a fist fight with a fellow cadet)
asks him if he has anything to say
... “I didn’t know,” says Custer,
“that you could get fired from the
army for fighting.”
—Buy Defense Bonds—
Custer was nuts about onions and
ate them as though they were ap
ples. The last gift he received from
his wife before he died was a sack
of onions . . Whenever he was
away from his wife, he’d sit up
until all hours of the night writing
long letters to her. During one expe
dition, he wrote her a letter 89 pages
long . . . When Custer died at Little
Big Horn, the Indians who killed
him paid him a tribute that showed
the respect even his enemies had
for him. Every man killed in that
battle was scalped—except Curter
Eleanor Roosevelt
At the Capitol on the day war was
declared I had a curious sense of
repetition, for I remembered very
vividly the description of the same
gallery, when Mrs. Woodrow Wilson
listened to President Wilson speak
to the assembled members of con
gress. This time she sat beside me,
as the President spoke the words
which branded.a nation as having
departed from the code of civilized
people.
Everyone in this house was up late
last night. Early the next morning
the President was on the telephone
and, with every bit of information,
the situation in the Pacific showed
more clearly what damage had been
done by surprise.
Some will think that the people
of Hawaii and the Philippines and
our other islands should not have
been taken by surprise. They have
to think back to the day before, how
ever, to realize how impossible ac
tual war seemed to us. Even today,
I heard people say: “Oh, well, those
islands are vulnerable, but we here
on this continent have nothing to
fear.”
How hard it is for human beings
to learn that the only safety there
is, lies in being prepared for any
eventuality. When people are mak
ing desperate efforts, they will try
things which seem foolhardy to more
secure people. If you are going
to die anyway, you might just as
well die with a grand gesture which
stands a chance of winning high
stakes for you. That is what Ger
many has planned today, for this
attack is German strategy.
* • •
EVERYONE HAS A JOB
If you live along the East coast,
don’t be too sure that you are out
of the danger zone. Sign up today
and do a job, because if you have a
job to do, that responsibility will
see you through any situation.-
I opened our staff meeting in the
Office of Civilian Defense that
morning by saying that I thought
this was no moment for any of our
able women to accept the invitation
of Great Britain to go over and visit
them. There was no one in the
room who was not alert to the fact
that their work had ceased to be
the work of preparation and was now
work which required action imme
diately.
After the short time spent at the
Capitol, Director LaGuardia held
his staff meeting. Since then I have
been contacting regional directors
and obtaining all the information I
need for the work on the West coast.
We left Washington one day with
the usual rush of last minute things
which must be done. Three of us
had supper in my sitting room be
fore we left. With us were Jimmy,
Elliott and two friends with whom
Elliott had flown from the school
in San Antonio, Texas.
* • *
LOS ANGELES ACTIVITY
The governor of California and the
mayor of Los Angeles met us on
arrival. The governor drove off with
Director LaGuardia. Mr. Gilbert
Harrison and I followed with the
mayor. I was astonished to find
that, even now, some people can’t
believe our shores are actually a
possible target for attack.
We went straight to the state
building, and in a very few minutes
the state council of defense met in
open session. All the seats in the
room were filled and people stood in
the aisles as the fnorning wore on.
I felt extremely virtuous, because
I had not gone to the hotel to dress.
I usually feel that this is essential
after a night trip. I patted myself
on the back and felt that, since this
was not entirely comfortable, that
this was my first real job for civil
ian defense.
• • •
WAR CHANGES EVERYTHING
It is remarkable how a real threat
will change the whole aspect of a
situation overnight. The state de
fense council met, found an execu
tive secretary, decided to establish
a central office in the state capitol
in Sacramento and two branch of
fices in San Francisco and Los An
geles. The local council of defense
was setting up its volunteer office
also.
Guards had already been placed
on watch at all strategic places
such as bridges in the state. The
need for money was already being
canvassed and the governor was
making necessary preparations to !
meet the requirements.
Director LaGuardia made an ex
cellent speech and it was splendid
to see the response to concrete sug
gestions. In the afternoon, the meet
ing was divided and. Mayor La- j
Guardia went to a meeting of the !
section of police and fire patrol,
while I went to the section of health
and welfare.
• • •
ACTUAL DANGER
I found that there were many
very excellent plans on paper, but
the actual assignment of people to
specific posts and their training in
what they should do on those posts
had not yet been undertaken. It
seems to me that, with real danger
hanging over our heads, when we
discuss the actual work that has to
be done, we discover that the pro
tective measures are really very
closely allied to the volunta y par
ticipation
(Released by Western Newspaper Union.)
The Greatest Scout
CPEAK of a “great scout, guide
^ and Indian fighter” and the av
erage American will think immedi
ately of “Buffalo Bill” Cody. But
old timers will tell you that there
were probably a dozen men on the
Western frontier who were Cody’s
equals, or even his superiors, in any
of those three roles. If you press
them to name “the greatest of them
all,” the chances are they’ll reply
“Frank Grouard.”
FRANK GROUARD
Dr, Frackelton
When Gen. George Crook start
ed on his expedition against the hos
tile Sioux and Cheyennes in the
spring of 1876, Grouard went along
as a scout and made himself so val
uable to Crook that this famous In
dian fighter once said, “I would
sooner lose a third of my command
than to lose Frank Grouard.”
In the early ’90s he was living in
Sheridan, Wyo., and there a young
. fellow from Wis
consin, who had
gone west to
practice dentist
ry, met Grouard
and a number of
other famous
frontier charac
ters. This “ten
derfoot” was Dr.
Will Frackelton,
and his recently
published book,
“Sagebrush Den
tist,” (A. C. Mc-
Clurg and Com
pany, Chicago), written in collabo
ration with Herman Gastrell Seely,
a Chicago newspaper man, is a nota
ble addition to the literature of the
Old West. In it, “Doc” Frackelton
tells several hitherto-unpublished
stories about this great scout.
One of these is particularly inter
esting because the incident involves
both Grouard and “Buffalo Bill.”
“Frank Grouard was as taciturn
as Cody was loquacious. Grouard
was modest, Cody liked the lime
light, and there was no love lost be
tween them. I suspect that Grouard
resented the publicity given Buffalo
Bill’s exploits, many of which were
of doubtful authenticity, and the de
ference paid him by some of the
army officers,” writes Frackelton.
“They met on* night in the Sheri
dan inn barroom and it was Cody
who came off second best. Buffalo
Bill was wearing his show clothes—,
beaded buckskin coat and jacket
and enormous hat—and was swag-
geringly convivial. It required lit
tle urging to have him tell his fa
vorite story of the killing of the
Cheyenne chief, Yellow Hand. He
jumped on a stool, head thrown back
and long hair falling about his shoul
ders, while we gathered around.
“Grouard walked in with quiet,
catlike tread and asked for some
cigars. Cody paused in the middle
of his story.
“ ‘Go on, go on,’ We shouted.
“ ‘No,” said Cody a little thickly. !
‘Here is my old friend, Frank Grou
ard. I’ll now buy the drinks.’
“Grouard was not a drinking man.
Buffalo Bill grew more insistent.
‘Come on. Everybody belly up to
the bar and drink with me.’
“Grouard shook his head. Infuri
ated, Cody blustered: ‘Hey, you, bel
ly up there! Can’t you hear?’
“Grouard stepped forward and the
men faced each other. Cody, in hi*
show clothes, weighed about 195
pounds and Grouard, in his incon
spicuous civilians, about 220. They
were of equal height but Grouard’s
tremendous breadth of shoulder
made him seem the shorter.
“Grouard’s eyes sent cold chills
down my spine. Quietly, and in that
deep, determined voice' of his he
said: ‘You are nothing but a picture
book scout and a picture book show
man. That’s all you ever were and
that’s all you ever will be.’
“Then Grouard’s voice dropped
into a line of personal profanity,
very emphatic but too low for us to
hear. Cody straightened up. and
for a moment it looked like a fight.
Grouard eyed him, then walked over
got his cigars and left the ho f el.”
While living in Sheridan Grouard
met Joe de Barthe, correspondent
of the New York Sun, who urged him
to tell the story of his life. “What
good’ll that do?” asked Grouard,
“People won’t believe it.” But de
Barthe was insistent and the scout
finally consented to dictate it to the
newspaper man. The result was the
volume “Life and Adventures of
Frank Grouard,” first published in
St. Joseph, Mo., iri 1894. It is now
one of the rarities of Western Amer
icana and a first edition of it—if you
can find one—sells for anywhere
from $35 to $50 a copy!
“■“■■■■improved
UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL
S UNDAY I
chool Lesson
By HAROLD L. LUNDQUIST, D. D.
Of The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago.
(Released by Western Newspaper Union.)
Lesson for December 28
Lesson subjects and Scripture texts se
lected and copyrighted by International
Council of Religious Education; used by
permission.
THE CHRISTIAN’S HOPE
LESSON TEXT—John 14:1-6; Revelation
22:1-5.
GOLDEN TEXT—In my Father’! house
are many mansions.—John 14:2.
Hope is something this world des
perately needs, and which it has all
but abandoned. Little wonder when
one recalls that the usual meaning
of hope is hardly more than “wish
ful thinking” without any real confi
dence—and that such hope as men
have, has been only in their fellow-
men, who have so often grievously
failed them.
The Christian’s hope—ah, that is
something quite different. To him
hope is certain expectation resting
on the assured Word of God. Such
a light only shines brighter as the
darkness deepens. As the lights of
men’s promises and purposes flick
er and die out, the hope of God’s
people shines like a beacon in a
dark and stormy night.
How appropriate that we should
use the last Sunday of this year to
remind one another of that hope, to
trim the lamp, as it were, for even
brighter shining, as we cast its
beams out into the unknown year
just ahead. There are three great
and helpful things in this lesson.
I. A Sure Promise of Heaven
(John 14:1-3).
We are not forgetting that for us
who love the Lord there is the bless
ed hope of His return. He is com
ing again (v. 3). But whether we
have the joy of being caught up to
be with Him ,or go by way of death,
we have a sure promise of the eter
nal dwelling place which He has
prepared for us.
“Let not your heart be troubled”
—the very words come like the balm
of Gilead upon our restless, troubled
lives. Faith in God and in Christ—
there we have the sure anchor of
the soul. He has promised. We
may count on His fulfillment. We
show our faith in our fellowmen by
trusting their word, even though
they often fail us. Shall we not
then fully trust the omnipotent, nev
er-failing God?
II. A Safe Way to Heaven (John
14:4-6).
Our Saviour has not just gone be
fore us and bade us follow as best
we may, but He is Himself the Way.
Having Christ, we have the way.
Observe that He does not say that
He is the “way-shower,” as one re
ligious system names Him. He is
not just an 1 example, or the master-
teacher, or a martyr to.,a holy cause.
He is “the way, the truth, and the
life.”
Note, too, that no man comes to
the Father but by Christ. Dr. Wil
bur M. Smith points out that “the
apostle Paul in his epistles constant
ly erriphasizes the truth that we have
Recess to . the Father only through
■the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:2;
Eph. 2:13, 18; 3:15; Heb. 7:25; 10:
19-21). Jesus is not one way to God,
He is the only way to God. Men
cannot come to God through any
one, but only through Christ.”
Someone may say, “That’s very
true, and wonderful. I am a Chris
tian, and I have Christ who is the
way. But what is heaven like?
III. A Symbolic Picture of Heaven
(Rev. 22:1-5).
First of all there is “life”—the
river of life, the water of life. In
heaven there is no death, but only
eternal life, blessing, peace, and joy*
In this world man lives under the
constant shadow of death as the en
emy which hurts, destroys, and re
minds him of sin. But in heaven
all is life through eternity.
•’When we’ve been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we first begun.”
Then we have what Dr. A. C.
Gaebelein calls “the seven glories
of the redeemed” (w. 3-5). Let us
enumerate them. (1) “No curse”—
perfect sinlessness. (2) “The throne
of God and of the Lamb shall be
therein”—giving perfect and bless
ed government forever. (3) “His
servants shall serve him”—in per
fect, unhindered, untiring service.
Heaven will not be idleness (perish
the thought!), but blessed and hap
py service for God. (4) “They shall
see his face”—an eternal, undimmed
vision of God. (5) “His name shall
be on their foreheads”—speaking of
eternal ownership and possession.
(6) “There shall be night no more”
—God is the light throughout eter
nity. No more darkness to fear. (7)
“They shall reign forever and ever.”
Few of us would care to reign ih
this world, for that brings only sor
row and trouble, but to reign with
Him, that indeed will be eternal
isedness.
> then we have—a sure promsie
a heaven to which we have a
I way, and concerning which we
e such blessed knowledge. But
it good is the promise if we do
accept it? What good is the way
ve do not receive Him? What
d is there in knowing about
ven unless we are going there?
rerybody talks about heaven,
t going there” sings the folk
Are you? Or are you only
id to talk sho-*
TERNS
SEWING CORCLE
13 R A VO for the new silhouette—
shaped by this long, torso
molding top, low waistline end
full, swirling skirt! If you are
out to get the world by the tail
you simply must have one of
these dirndl frocks—and it is typ
ical of the young spirit of the
times that you’ll probably be your
own dressmaker and turn out this
style perfectly for yourself! Pat
tern No. 1479-B offers nothing
fancy—merely that perfect but
ton-front top with its immaculate,
snowy white collar, short sleevw
set in with a smooth straight
shoulder line and a skirt gathered
on at a slinkily low waist.
It’s a dress for stiff fabrics,
faille, taffeta or moire if you de
sire swish. Or, if you . prefer '
flaming colors, make it in a soft-
wool crepe.
* * •
Barbara Bell Pattern No. 1479-B is de
signed for sizes 12, 14, 16, 18 and 2Il
Corresponding bust measurements 39, 22.
34, 36 and 38. Size 14 (32) with short
sleeves, bias skirt, requires y&nds
35-inch material, straight skirt 2% yards
54-inch material. One-half yard 35-inch
material require^ for dickey collar. Send
your order to: - * * •
SEWING CIRCLE PATTERN DEPT.
. Room 1324
311 W. Wacker Dr. Chicago
Enclose 15 cents in coins for
Pattern No Size.
Name
Address
Far-Sighted
“What made you decide to put
off your wedding by two days at
the last moment?”
“Well, you see, I reckoned II
out that my silver wedding would
come on a Saturday, and I always
play golf on Saturdays.”
Ready to Oblige
When the prisoner was asked if ha
had anything to say before sentence toot *
passed on him, he replied: ■
“Vm sorry I took the money, yom
honor; but you know the old saying
that the more a man has the more he
wants.”
The^ judge nodded understandingly.
“Well” he said, “you're getting twelve
months. How much more do yom
wont?”
More Trouble
dick—Do you smile at your
troubles as I advised you? .
Clack—Yeah, and the boss
warned me three times to wip*
that silly grin off my face and
get to work.
{V* (V* {V* gW
| ASK ME
| ANOTHER ■ |
J A General Quiz * |
C- {WO* 4 O* O’* O" O** O’* o* o- o* o* o* o* o* o*
The Questions
1. How many times was Wil
liam Jennings Bryan defeated for
the presidency of the Uftited
States? •
2. Members of the Caterpillar
club are what?
3. What is the weight of a base
ball?
4. The word Bible is derived
from Greek and Latin words mean
ing what?
5. How many rooms are there
in the White House?
6. What is the meaning of riposte?
7. Why are bells rarely used in
an orchestra?
8. What is the Japanese Em
peror Hirohito’s family name?
The Answers
1. Three times.
2. Aviators v who saved their
lives by parachute leaps./
3. A standard baseball weighs
five ounces.
4. Books (Biblia, after the
Phoenician city Byblos, whence
papyrus was exnorted).
5. About 50 rooms, counting
kitchens, valet bedrooms and cor
ridors used as sitting rooms.
6. A quick, sharp retort.
7. Because of the length of their
vibrations and the number of
overtones. Bell sounds are gener
ally produced by a glockenspiel or
tubular chimes.
8. He has no family name.
Other people who give till II
hurts are the folk who give n*
good advice.
That’s Stone
Diner—Waiter, take this chick
en away. It is actually so tough
it seems to be made out of stone.
• Waiter—Nothing strange about
that, sir. It’s a Plymouth Rock-
Do You Like Jingle Contests 7
Beginning the middle of January.
Raleigh Cigarettes are starting an
other series of weekly contests foe
those who can supply the best lasl
line to a jingle. Over 100 libera]
prizes each week. Watch this pa
per for details.—Adv.
AS PURE
AS MONET
CAN BUY
World’s Largest Seller at IOc
36TA3LETS 20<- IOOTAEIETS BS 1 -
Difficult Descent
The ladder of life is full of splin
ters, but they always prick the
hardest when we’re sliding down.
—William L. Brownell.
AT
6000
DIUO
STORES
HAms^S^BCessedReliet
RHEUMATISM
neuritis