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THE SUN, NEWBERRY, S. C- FRIDAY. AUGUST 25, 1939 ADVENTURERS’ CLUB HEADLINES FROM THE LIVES OF PEOPLE LIKE YOURSELFI “Wild Night Alloat” H ello everybody: You know, sometimes Old Lady Adventure puts you through the paces in a second or two, and then lets up on you. I’ve told you boys and girls a couple of yarns, at least, that didn’t last more than five or six seconds at the most. But there are also times when the old girl with the thrill bag seems to take delight in teasing her victims, as a cat would tease a mouse —tossing one bit of hard luck after another at them, until she has them worn down and ready to quit. Floyd Smith of Chicago could tell you a yarn like that. A tale of terror for hours on end. And as a matter of fact, Floyd will tell you that story. For we’ve got him here with us at the Adventurers’ campfire tonight and he’s all ready to go. It’s a story of the World war—and, incidentally, Floyd wants me to announce that if any of the three fellows who went through it with him should read this story—well—he sure hopes they’ll drop him a line. The scene of this yarn is Brest, France, where Floyd was attached to the U. S. naval air station. He was one of a crew of four on a speed boat—the type of craft that is known as a gig in the navy—and it was one day in August, 1918, that the gig and its crew was sent out for an all-night battle with Old Lady Adventure. Men Ordered Taken Off Pensacola. It was about eight o’clock in the evening when the officer of the day brought their orders. The U. S. S. Pensacola had weighed anchor a short time before and was putting out to sea. Aboard her was a 15-man detail from the air station, which had been helping to unload the ship. They were to have been taken off before the Pensacola sailed, but the orders had been mixed up, and there they were, getting a ride they were never intended to have. The gig’s orders were to catch the Pensacola and take the men off. Says Floyd: “We took out after the ship, which was already in the narrow channel that leads from the bay to the open sea. In about 10 minutes we were a hundred yards astern of the Pensa cola, when suddenly our motor quit. Well—it goes without saying that we did not catch the Pensacola. As luck would have it the tide was going out, and it swept us out to sea.” The water out there was too deep for the anchor line, so they kept right on drifting. It was growing dark by that time, so no one ashore saw their predicament. With no means to stop the boat from drifting, Speaking of Sports— Old Man Grove, 39, Still King in Portside Ranks By ROBERT McSHANE DOBERT MOSES GROVE, who came out of the hills of Lona- coning, Md., back in 1920, is pitch ing his fifteenth season of major league baseball. Lefty was 20 years old when he joined the Martinsburg team of the Blue Ridge league. In 1921 he went to Baltimore, where he won 108 games in five years. In 1925, when he was 25 years old, he went to Philadelphia, where in his first two years he won 23 games and lost 25 for the Athletics—an unimpressive record, but one which taught him how to pitch with his head as well as his portside arm. The Lonaconing lancer’s life-time major league record, brought up to date, is likely to stand for many a year. At this writing Grove has pitched 3,392 innings in 565 games. He has won 282 of those games as against 126 losses for a percent age of .691. On May 3, 1938, he joined the list of pitchers who struck ROBERT MOSES GROVE out 2,000 or more batters. His pres ent strike-out total is 2,117. In that time he has given up 3,474 hits and 1,080 bases on balls. In a four-year stretch, 1928-1931, Grove won 103 games and lost 23 for an average of .836. In 1931 he won 31 games and lost only four. This is the best single season pitch ing record in modern baseball. In a seven-year span, 1927-1933, he won 172 games and lost 54 for a percentage of .761. Grove’s record is one of the greatest of all time, and is especially impressive in view of the fact that his pitching was done with a lively ball. those four lads worked frantically, trying to get the motor started again, but they only made matters worse. They ran the batter down and then they were left without lights. i The Gig Drifts Slowly Out to Sea. ' “By this time,” says Floyd, “it was pitch dark and it had started to rain. There was nothing to do but drift, so we drifted.” And under that casual statement, there lies a world of terror. Those four lads—every one of them—knew what it meant to drift out to sea. If they were lucky they might be picked up by a passing steamer. But on the other hand, it was all too easy to drift unsighted for days on end, and finally perish of thirst and exposure. “We drifted until about 2 a. m.,” Floyd says, “and then the sea began to get rough and we really had something to worry about, for there were mine fields all about the entrance of the harbor and w’e figured we had drifted into them. The mines were moored 12 feet below the surface, but with the high swells bobbing us up and down, we stood a good chance of hitting one of them. We began holding our breaths.” About an hour later, they sighted a blinker light—and that was the signal for more panic. “It was too high to be on a ship,” says Floyd, “so it must have been on a cliff. Were we going to be washed against this cliff? We all prepared for the worst. We put on life preservers and let out the anchor. But the anchor didn’t hold. The boat still drifted. After a while we had drifted to a place where we could see lights in the distance. Could it be true that we were in the channel, heading back toward Brest?” Boat Drifts Back to Starting Point. Speed Ball Artist Lefty started out as a fire ball pitcher. No other southpaw could touch his fast ball, and he depended largely upon it. He was strictly a speed ball artist. But even the great est pitchers can’t go on forever smoking them over, and he finally felt his speed slipping. Grove then developed a curve ball and a change of pace. He studied his batters, learned their weaknesses, and out smarted them. He saved his arm, | and when the occasion demands, can still summon plenty of speed, which he uses sparingly. Tom Yawkey, owner of the Boston Red Sox, bought Grove from Connie Mack in 1934, paying slightly more than $100,000 for him. Lefty had re ported at the training camp with a dead arm, and the experts were congratulating Mack for a smart operator. Grove wasn’t much help to the Sox that first season, his arm failed to respond. He finished the season with a record of eight won and eight lost. And that’s just where they were. The boat had drifted right back to where it had started. Luck? Sure, it was. But those lads still had the worst of their ad venture to go through. Back on shore, someone had spotted them. The blinker on the cliff was signaling, but in a code they couldn’t understand. “Would they open fire on us?” says Floyd. “That’s what we were afraid of. They kept searchlights on us until we were half way through the channel, and then we saw a swift-moving vessel coming in our direction. When it got with a hundred yards of us I could see that it was a torpedo boat. Its searchlight beamed on us, and it came straight for us.” Straight at them it came—full speed ahead, and with no intention of Stopping. It just grazed the stern of the boat—but with a force that spun it around and almost knocked its four occupants overboard. “By the time we had come to our senses,” says Floyd, “it had turned and was coming back to take another ram at us. All fou/ of us began yelling at the top of our lungs, ‘Americans— Americans!’ ” The boat came on. It came within a few feet of the gig, and then, suddenly, it turned sharply aside. The boys kept right on yelling, “Americans,” then from the French torpedo boat came the answer, “Oui, oui.” “We told them our engine had broken down,” says Floyd, “and they said they thought we were a German submarine. They towed us back to our station, and when we were ashore again we all agreed it was one night we would long remember.” (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) [ay-Pauncefort Treaty Protects the Panama Canal The Panama canal was built by the U. S. and is owned and con trolled by this country. Both Amer ican and foreign vessels using it pay tolls for the privilege. The United States by treaty with the republic of Panama has a perpetual lease of the Canal Zone and has exclusive control of it. According to the terms of the Hay-Pauncefdrt treaty of 1901, which prepared the way for its construction, the canal “shall be free and open to the vessels of com merce and of war of all nations ob serving these rules, on terms of entire equality." The treaty stipu lates that a belligerent’s war ves sels may have transit through the canal with the least possible delay and withput taking on stores or troops. Panama has no right to take possession of the canal and is not likely to undertake to gain it by force. The following year Mack wasn’t so sure he had put over a good deal. Lefty was back in form, winning 20 games for Boston and losing 12. His career seemed ended again last year when his arr" went dead while he was pitching against De troit. But once more he returned to form, and through the early part of August this year, had won 11 games and lost two. Not at all bad considering that the crepe-hang ers saw the end of his big league pitching days back in 1934. Great Portsiders The former Blue Ridge lad is one if the most consistent, reliable play ers in the game today. Unlike Rube Waddell, one of the greatest left handers, he has developed no eccen tricities. Rube’s screwball charac teristics kept him from being the greatest. The 1939 season is seeing a south paw famine. Right now it looks as if Robert Moses Grove, the 39-year- old gray-haired Sunday pitcher, will be the only one to win more than 15 games. Other left handers in both leagues are having more than their share of difficulties. Gomez, Vander Meer, Lee, Hubbell, Krakauskas, Melton, Whitehill—in fact, all of them, are running far below expectations. So chances are that the Lonacon- ing lancer, who has been pitching on borrowed time for five years, will be the only southpaw to come through with a creditable record when the 1939 season is ended. Sport Shorts A BASEBALL umpire not only can throw a player out of the park, but has the power to put spec tators out, too . . . Designer George Pocock built all 19 of the racing shells used in the Poughkeepsie re gatta . . . Hugh Duffy, whose .4311 batting average is still an all-time major league record, often wonders what his average would have been if he had batted against the rabbit ball . . . Lefty Go mez recently ex pressed the senti ment of the Yanks regarding the Na tional league race: “The pennant won’t be cinched in that league until the club in first place has a seven - game lead with only six games left to play.” . . . Bob Pastor says he bet $2,500 of his’ own money that he’ll beat Joe Louis . . . Light harness racing devotees of New Jersey are discussing the possi bility of pari-mutuel machines at county fairs, but special legislative action will be necessary . . . Notre Dame’s football team will open with Purdue at Notre Dame September 30 in what shapes up as the out standing first-day game . . . Tom Yawkey, Boston Red Sox owner, has spiked rumors that his club will train next spring in Hawaii. The club will return, he says, to Sara sota, Fla. ... If Maxie Baer at tempts a comeback it will be against his wife’s wishes. She wants him to quit the ring . . . Max Schmeling has signed to defend his European crown in a 15-round bout against Walter Neusel October 1 at Dort mund stadium in Berlin . . .Joe McCarthy believes that Babe Dahl- gren, successor to Lou Gehrig, would improve greatly as a first sacker if he were more aggressive . . . the Burnt Mills, N. J., polo team is a complete family affair, featuring Benedict, Collister, Frank and Rob ert Johnson . . . There are eight pitchers on the Cincinnati roster and seven of them have beaten the Bos ton Bees . . . Jack Hurley, who managed Billy Petrolle, the Fargo Express, for years, thinks he is managing his successor in 135-pound Billy Marquart . . . Augie Galan played 154 games without hitting into a double play in 1935—a major league record. Billiard Champs 'T'HE National Billiard association, now busy on plans which call for national amateur tournaments in pocket billiards, straight-rail and three-cushion, recently announced its recognized world’s champions in those three fields of billiard play. Welker Cochran of San Francisco, Calif., is recognized as the king of the balkline billiard players. Ac cording to Clyde A. Storer, presi dent of the very active N. B. A., Cochran won the last world’s balk line tournament sponsored by the association and still is regarded as champion by that official group. The N. B. A. places the pocket bil liard crown on the brow of Jimmy Caras of Wilmington, Del., while the three-cushion title belongs to Joe Chamaco of Mexico. Chamaco won the angle game title last winter, finishing far ahead of nine other billiard masters in a round robin tournament played in nine cities. In addition to the proposed na tional amateur meets, the N. B. A. plans world’s title professional com petition in pocket billiards and three- cushion this coming season. Storer expects 75,000 simon pure amateur cuemen will compete in the pocket, straight-rail and three-cushion bil liard tournaments, working their way up through local, state and sec tional play to the national playoffs. Diamond Hero TP HE courage of Tom Sunkel, rookie Cardinal southpaw pitch er, has thousands of St. Louis fans cheering for him every time he makes a mound appearance. Sunkel is practically blind in his left eye, the result of an injury suf fered 23 years ago when he was four years old. His eye was saved, but he was left with little better than half-normal vision. Showing his courage, he did not allow this to interfere with his fu ture. He went ahead and played good enough baseball to become a member of the Cardinal organiza tion. Last year he ended a success ful career in the minors by winning 21 games and losing five with At lanta. In Atlanta his condition became much worse. Cardinal officials, knowing the situation, recalled him and had him examined by eye spe cialists. They advised against oper ating on the eye, stating that such a move would be fruitless. Sunkel accepted their verdict philosophical ly, and returned to the diamond, un daunted by the news which would have meant the end to most players. Despite his affliction, Sunkel re cently pitched a two-hit game and has a creditable 1939 record with the Cards. He admits his control is a bit bothered, and that he has to guess where the plate is when he throws, but is quite confident of his ability to pitch winning baseball. He also admits that bunts occasion ally bother him to some extent, but if he fails to see them with his al- most-sightless one eye, he “grabs ’em with the other.” Sunkel expects no quarter from opposition. And would not welcome it. He’s a ball player, first, last and always. (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) Finland’s Gtizens Spur Efforts To Please 1940 Olympic Visitors FINNS GO MODERNISTIC. This is an aerial view of the new Olym pic stadium erected for the 1940 games at Helsingfors, Finland. It was first built to accommodate 30,000 spectators, but has been enlarged to care for the 60,000 expected next summer. New Stadium Is Built for 0 International Sport ing Event. Prepared by National Geographic Society. Washington, D. C.—WNU Service. Finland and its capital Hel sinki (Helsingfors) are busi ly making preparations for the 12th Olympic games, opening there in the summer of 1940. Recent reports indicate that Finns are studying ' Eng lish, the official language of the Olympics, in order to fa cilitate relations with their visitors. Many Helsinki store keepers have enrolled in one- year courses in English and German, and special classes are being held for railway employees, street car con ductors and the Helsinki po lice force. Members of the “Lotta Syard,” woman’s auxiliary of the Finnish National Guard, are learning to make the favorite foods of the vari ous countries whose nationals will participate in the Olympics. Stadium Completed. The Olympic stadium, on the out skirts of Helsinki, was begun in 1934 and completed last year. Several athletic events have already been held there. It was built to accom modate 30,000 spectators, but it has been enlarged, in preparation for the Olympics, to take care of 60,000. The elliptical running track with in the stadium, where the world will perhaps see the making of new records, is 400 meters in length; in side the area occupied by the pow dered-brick track lies a large, well- kept grass plot on which football and other games will be played. The games will begin June 20, when the Finnish climate is most favorable for the contests. Near-by lakes keep Helsinki cool in the sum mer and extended daylight dur ing the summer months adds to its attractiveness as a setting for the Olympics. Paavo Nurmi Spectacular. Interest in physical culture dates from the early days of the last cen tury when Finland was made a vas sal of Russia. A Finnish gymnastic and athletic association was formed, only to be banned by the Russians as soon as it was well-established. The Finns, however, persisted in de veloping fine athletes, who were rec ognized in European sporting cir cles. In Stockholm, at the Olympic games of 1912, Hannes Kolehmainen “ran Finland onto the map.” This brilliant runner and Paavo Nurmi are the most spectacular athletes the country has produced, though Finns have won laurels in a variety of other sports—among them discus- throwing, javelin-throwing, high- jumping and shot-putting. Egyptians Construct A ll- W eather H ighway Across Biblical Sinai Across the desolate sand dunes of Sinai, historic peninsula which links the continents of Africa and Asia at the head of the Red Sea, Egyptian authorities are building a new road. This road is planned as a strategic route over which to move troops between Palestine and Egypt, with out the usual handicap of weather delays. Beginning at Ismailia on the Suez canal and reaching across the wide northern stretch of cone-shaped Si nai, the new road is expected to be less susceptible to sudden washeuis (the terror of construction in these parts) than is the present route to the south which now runs from Suez to the Palestine border. Not far away is one of the world’s most fa mous paths, the ancient and much- traveled Biblical route between Egypt and Palestine. Along this way came two Josephs of the Bible, one sold into Egypt by his brothers, the other, husband of Mary. To the south, along the pathway of the Children of Israel, lies Mount Sinai where Moses received the Ten Commandments. Today, although airplanes fly over the peninsula and trains whistle along its northern coast, life as a whole in Sinai seems little changed from the time when the Israelites first saw it. Germanic People Find New Homes On Foreign Soils ‘World-Community’ Influ ences Customs of Other Nations. Prepared by National Geographic Society, Washington, D. C.—WNU Service. Who and where are the members of the “German world community,” frequent ly referred to in the German press? If by German, one means German-speaking, of Ger man parentage or near descent, the world’s total population under this classi fication would be roughly between 90 and 100 million people. Within the political boundaries of Germany, according to official fig ures, are some 79,- 600,000 inhabitants, not counting the citi zens of Memel (also largely Germanic) and those of the for mer Czecho-Slovaki- an provinces of Mo ravia - Bohemia ( al most entirely non- Germanic.) In other European countries, the Reich Dr. Heinrich claims blood kinship Bruening wit h so-called Ger man minorities of France, Poland, Rumania, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Italy, Latvia, Denmark, Lithuania, Estonia, Belgium, the Crimean Soviet Republic. German speaking inhabitants of these lands are estimated anywhere from a mil lion and a half in France to about 16,000 in Estonia. Russian Settlement. Yet the inhabitants of these coun tries, developing outside Germany, have evolved a cul ture and tradition of their own, different from that of their racial cousins. Such, for example, is the German group set tled along the mid dle Volga river of Soviet Russia, and comprising more than half the popu lation of the autono mous Volga-German republic. Another, nearer to the Reich, is the independent little principality of Liechtenstein, which is so well sat isfied with its ruler and the country’s present economic ties with Switzer land, that some 95 per cent of its 2,600 voters went on record this year in a public declaration against any economic union with Germany. Of foreign stock in the United States, the Germans are by far the predominant ele ment, amounting to more than 17 per cent of the total foreign population. There are over 6% million people of German stock in the United States, in cluding those born in Germany and those of German pa rentage on one or both sides. New York State leads the Union in the number of German-stock inhabi tants, with more than a- million. Among Germans who have made the United States their permanent home are outstanding figures in all phases of national life. In govern ment there is Dr. Heinrich Bruen ing, former chancellor of the Ger man republic, now teaching at Har vard university. In the arts, Lot tie Lehman, famed Wagnerian so prano, has taken out her final citi zenship papers. Marlene Dietrich, German-born movie star, has also become a United States citizen. In Latin America, where the Swas tika competes for front-line trade po sition against the Stars and Stripes and the Union Jack, there are roughly 1,000,000 people of German I Dlood. Marlene Dietrich Lottie Lehman Designed for Night and Day Smartness! /^LIRLS planning to go away to college will be particularly de lighted with these gay and youth ful patterns—day and night, night and day—these are the ones you want! But everybody with an eye for style and a flair for sewing will like them! The pajamas (1794) are just as easy to tailor as they are comfortable to wear and charming to look at, with the quaint square neckline and trian gular pockets. Flat crepe, silk print, broadcloth and flannel are nice materials for them. Slimming Basque Bodice. A dress that will send your mo rale and your spirits soaring, whether you wear it to an office. classroom, or just on shopping trips, is 1797. And why? Because the basque bodice makes your waistline look about as big as a minute, the skirt has a delight fully piquant flare, and the collar and cuffs give you a fresh, appeal ing, little girl look. Choose flat crepe or silk print for this—or thin wool. The Patterns. No. 1794 is designed for sizes 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20. Size 14 requires 51(4 yards of 39-inch material with long sleeves. With short sleeves 4% yards; 4 yards to trim. No. 1797 is designed fer sizes 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20. Size 14 requires, with short sleeves, 3% yards of 39- inch material. With long sleeves, 4% yards; % yard for collar and cuffs, with % yards pleating. Send your order to The Sewing Circle Pattern Dept., R6om 1324, 211 W. Wacker Dr., Chicago, 111. Price of patterns, 15 cents (in coins) each. (BeU Syndicate—WNU Service.) For quick relief—always use this accurate aspirin. St.J6sepli GENUINE PURE ASPIRIN Bringing Happiness To watch the corn grow, and the blossoms set to draw hard breath over plowshares, to read, to think, to love, to hope, to pray—these are the things that make men hap py.—John Ruskin. 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