The Era -- Day By Day

[LizzieMaine]

Powerful German submarines and battleships today swept the Atlantic for new victims and in defiant challenge of the British Navy, a day after announcing that Nazi raiders had destroyed at least 33 cargo-laden ships in the North Atlantic. The Nazi communique claimed that among the cargo ships sent to the bottom were the first vessels carrying Lend-Lease shipments to Britain from America. But in Britain, naval officials are discounting the German reports as an attempt by the Nazis to "lure the British fleet out of its home waters."

Chancellor Adolf Hitler today issued an ultimatum to Yugoslavia demanding that nation join the Axis within two days -- and urged "the speediest reconstruction of the Yugoslav cabinet" to accomplish that purpose. Meanwhile, envoys from the United States, Britain, and Russia all appealed today to the Yugoslav government to reject the ultimatum, but it is generally conceded that these will amount to futile efforts.

"Probably greater than any crime committed by any of its inmates," declared Brooklyn District Attorney William O'Dwyer yesterday, "is the crime against the people of Brooklyn committed and maintained by the city itself in the form of the loathsome Raymond Street Jail." With the statement, Mr. O'Dwyer added his voice to the rising call to rid Brooklyn of one of the most inhuman institutions in the world. "Confining human beings in that pesthole may result in the loss of health, or even death," continued the District Attorney. "Even in the most cruel pages of penal history there is every evidence that the health of prisoners was guarded in one way or another, except in rare instances."

The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce has endorsed the Board of Education's resolution to purge Communists and Communist sympathizers from the public school system, warning that "the pliable minds of the younger pupils offer the most fertile field for the work of these saboteurs of American democracy."

A campaign to draft Mayor LaGuardia for a third term in office has begun under the auspices of the City Fusion Party. Fusion chairman Ben Howe told an audience at the Hotel Capitol in Manhattan that "the city needs a War Mayor as much as the nation needed a War President."

In Wilmington, Delaware a new record for the flogging of prison inmates was set this week by New Castle Workhouse Warden Elwood Harry Wilson, who applied a total of 240 strokes to the naked backs of six Wilmington men convicted on robbery charges. Each man was required to receive 40 lashes from a cat-o-nine-tails before beginning their five year prison sentences. The previous record of lashes applied in a single session was 200 strokes.

("Nothing to see here, nothing to see here at all...")

("Well," says Joe, "Nex' week I fin' out if I gott'at job inna skimmin' depa'tm'nt. Atsanutta five beans a week!" And Sally sighs and looks over at the kitchen counter where sits a coffee can a quarter-full of pennies.)

Reader Franklin J. Anderson writes in to say that the only way to preserve freedom and liberty in America is to require that all political parties be officially registered by the government, and required to submit full membership rolls, all financial records, personal dossiers on all party officials, minutes of all party meetings, and complete copies of all literature issued.

Old-Timer Debbie O'Shaughnessy wants to hear from her old friends from Carlton Avenue, especially Maggie DeVoy from Sacred Heart. "Remember how we hitchhiked rides on Keenan's Pork Wagon?"

The fate of Toto the Ape, wife of the famed Gargantua, remains a matter for resolution in Federal Court, with U. S. officials charging that the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus deliberately understated Toto's value for tax purposes in order to evade import duties. The circus placed a dollar value of $1000 on the gorilla, but the Government contends that records show the ape was actually purchased at a price of $8700. Circus president John Ringling North, in posting bond for Toto's release from Federal custody, declared "we will fight this case to the end of the earth."

The last surviving horse auction in New York City takes place at 331 Rutledge Street in Williamsburg every Friday afternoon, where buyers may purchase anything from a Shetland pony to an enormous worn-out animal that once hauled a brewery wagon. Many buyers are looking for pacers, trotters, or saddle horses for out of town customers, but most of the equines go to small-time peddlers who still use horsepower to haul their goods around the city. The auction once moved as many as five hundred horses a week, but the decreasing demand for horses in the city has reduced that number to around one hundred.

(Sally clenches her teeth, walks calmly to the kitchen window, raises it with a quick, sharp motion, and drops the newspaper down three stories to the alley below. In the distance, a cat yelps with surprise as the neatly-folded paper slaps against the cold garbage-dappled cobblestones. Sally then jerks the window closed, strides briskly to her chair, sits down, folds her arms on the table in front of her, lowers her head, and begins to sob.)

(Isn't there anybody for TREND to highlight besides old men in uniforms? It's high time Barrymore did something crazy.)

(The State of the Theatre, Spring 1941. The idea of seeing Richard Wright himself as Bigger Thomas, as directed by Orson Welles, absolutely boggles the mind. As does the idea that "Hellzapoppin'" can actually manage to do two performances in a day. My heart sincerely goes out to the cast.)

Brooklyn will finally get its chance to see Charlie Chaplin's first all-talkie as "The Great Dictator" opens next Thursday at Loew's Metropolitan. It's the first popular-price screening for the political comedy after a nearly six-month Broadway run.

(What sets Mr. Ryder apart from other western heroes of the day is that he seems to take such unbridled delight in sowing chaos among his foes. EEEEEEYOWOOOOO!)

(Is this "National Horse Week" or what?)

(Hey, Bill -- what happened to that girlfriend you had? I never knew he was such a dawg. And what kind of secret operative carries a badge that says SECRET OPERATIVE? Doesn't that kind of violate the whole SECRET part? Maybe you should get one that says "Chicken Inspector" or something.)

(Y'know, it's been well over a year now since George was last punched in the snoot by a phony swami. Where DOES the time go?)

(Fortunately, when Scarlet bought that hat, she kicked in the $1.50 extra for the optional MacPhail Skull Protector Insert.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

You can always count on the News' Chicago bureau for inspirational Sunday morning reading.

And Mr. Hill welcomes as today's special guest in Panel Four, the expressive faces of Miss Fannie Brice!

Granny handles that rod like a real pro.

Poor, poor Joy. Never shoulda gone in for that trim before she left.

Somewhere, D. W. Griffith nods approvingly.

I hope poor Kayo grows up and gets a good job someday, because he's gonna need it to be able to pay his enormous therapy bills.

Little Judy's weekly escapades really do trigger strong memories of what it was like to be six years old and absolutely invulnerable to all physical harm.

"Handsome young military aide?" "Sadie?" Yes, Mr. Caniff is implying exactly what we think he's implying.

Pop is without doubt the King Of All Trolls.

Mr. Gray's riposte to his many critics who say cartoonists should keep their politics to themselves.

 

[Fading Fast]

...Reader Franklin J. Anderson writes in to say that the only way to preserve freedom and liberty in America is to require that all political parties be officially registered by the government, and required to submit full membership rolls, all financial records, personal dossiers on all party officials, minutes of all party meetings, and complete copies of all literature issued....

“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” -Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride.

....
(Sally clenches her teeth, walks calmly to the kitchen window, raises it with a quick, sharp motion, and drops the newspaper down three stories to the alley below. In the distance, a cat yelps with surprise as the neatly-folded paper slaps against the cold garbage-dappled cobblestones. Sally then jerks the window closed, strides briskly to her chair, sits down, folds her arms on the table in front of her, lowers her head, and begins to sob.)...

Sally's views notwithstanding, it does seem like Coscarart is missing a career opportunity here to step up.

...[ (Hey, Bill -- what happened to that girlfriend you had? I never knew he was such a dawg. And what kind of secret operative carries a badge that says SECRET OPERATIVE? Doesn't that kind of violate the whole SECRET part? Maybe you should get one that says "Chicken Inspector" or something.)...

Having the same thought at Lizzie, I can to use the "Princess Bride" quote for a second time today.

“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” -Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride.

...[ (Fortunately, when Scarlet bought that hat, she kicked in the $1.50 extra for the optional MacPhail Skull Protector Insert.)

Seriously, Newton might have a thing or two to say about the ability of the that hat to resist the force of that falling wrench.

Also, doesn't Peggy read "Dan Dunn" or "Dick Tracy" as giving that kid the bicycle is all but inviting the police to trace it back to her.

... And Mr. Hill welcomes as today's special guest in Panel Four, the expressive faces of Miss Fannie Brice!....

Hill is usually cynical, but he upped it a few levels for today's entry.

... Poor, poor Joy. Never shoulda gone in for that trim before she left.....

Being Joy, I'm just surprised she hasn't found a reason to take her dress off yet, especially if this is her swan song.

... "Handsome young military aide?" "Sadie?" Yes, Mr. Caniff is implying exactly what we think he's implying.....

Sure, sure, I get that, but I'll also point out that Burma and Terry now have several hours to themselves in what looks like a private train compartment. You're young kid and you might be dead tomorrow, pass on the sleep and get busy.

....
Mr. Gray's riposte to his many critics who say cartoonists should keep their politics to themselves.

I miss Nick.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Interesting fact: one of the roles played by Chic Johnson in the long, long run of "Hellzapoppin'" was a gangster by the name of Big Nick "Gat."

Or *was* that Chic Johnson? Has Nick been seen around Broadway recently?

I would so like to be the proverbial fly on the wall for Mr. MacPhail's "heart to heart talk" with Mr. Mungo. And +2 if while they are calmly discussing matters of mutual interest, Sr. Gonzalo bursts in with his machete unfurled.

I don't know what's the problem with poor Petey, unless he got spiked worse by that louse Lonnie Frey last year than he let on. He was an All Star in 1940, but he fell right off the table after that.

 

[Harp]

It always amazed me that some guys can sleep before the s..t-is-definitely-gonna-hit-the-fan-and-were-gonna-get-hit
moments; however, Terry needs to finish the Junker first, escape and evasion, second. Burma, ever more enticing, is
for later, back at the ranch action.
On an off note, I went to the VA this morning for a Covid shot and saw a World War II China silk evasion map wall display,
fantastic detail; including compass directive, latitude/longitude. Exquisite detail, really a work of art.

 

[Fading Fast]

It always amazed me that some guys can sleep before the s..t-is-definitely-gonna-hit-the-fan-and-were-gonna-get-hit
moments; however, Terry needs to finish the Junker first, escape and evasion, second. Burma, ever more enticing, is
for later, back at the ranch action.
On an off note, I went to the VA this morning for a Covid shot and saw a World War II China silk evasion map wall display,
fantastic detail; including compass directive, latitude/longitude. Exquisite detail, really a work of art.

Yet no pic of it for your friends at Fedora Lounge?

 

[Harp]

Yet no pic of it for your friends at Fedora Lounge?

My cell phone is a Samsung cheapo, basic commo but zip text, camera, or secret decoder device. Sorry.

 

[LizzieMaine]

A bonus for today -- The Gang's All Here.

Drawn for "Coronet" Magazine in 1942. There's plenty of folks here we know, some go back quite a while, and some we haven't met yet. The woman behind Pat holding the kid is Normandie Drake Sandhurst, the lost love of Mr. Ryan's life, and the sad-sack just above Big Stoop is her husband, Tony Sandhurst, who is not a nice man.

 

[Harp]

Terry definitely needs to spend more time with Burma later. And get your hands out of your pockets young man. Geez.

 

[Fading Fast]

A bonus for today -- The Gang's All Here.

View attachment 320794
Drawn for "Coronet" Magazine in 1942. There's plenty of folks here we know, some go back quite a while, and some we haven't met yet. The woman behind Pat holding the kid is Normandie Drake Sandhurst, the lost love of Mr. Ryan's life, and the sad-sack just above Big Stoop is her husband, Tony Sandhurst, who is not a nice man.

And I thought her name was "Normandie Drake" and couldn't get better, but it did, "Normandie Drake Sandhurst -" perfect.

Is the blonde woman showing ample décolletage Raven as it doesn't quite look like her?

It's good to see the Captain again.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Ms. Strapless there is Burma in her working clothes. I think Raven may be the slim figure standing between Hu Shee and Cap'n Blaze, where you can only see her chin. She's probably glaring at Hennick, who sharpens up pretty good in uniform.

Sandhurst is a real pill, and Pat hates him like poison.

 

[Harp]

Ms. Strapless there is Burma in her working clothes.

Reminiscent of Sergeant's Madame X

 

[LizzieMaine]

Erasmus Hall High School in Flatbush will be targeted for investigation of Communist influences as one of three Brooklyn schools named in the Rapp-Coudert Committee's report on "subversive activity in the public school system." Erasmus is to be particularly targeted for its role in "peace strikes" of which the Committee has a record. In the report, presented today in Albany, the Committee charged that "a dangerous Red minority" is engaging in "organized struggles around the schools in a truly Bolshevik manner." The investigation of local high schools follows a conclusion by the Committee that organized Communist activity exists at Brooklyn College and City College.

("BOY!" exclaims Joe in an emphatically hearty tone, "t'is SURE IS A GOOD BRISKET! Mus' be t'at radiated meat f'm Bohack's, huh?" "Fois' Petey," fumes Sally, "annow t'is." Joe is not sure, but is that an actual curl of smoke issuing from her ears?)

Meanwhile, the Legislature is again considering a measure to formally ban the Communist Party from the ballot in New York State. That bill, sponsored by Senate Democratic Leader John J. Dunnigan, and is expected to be acted upon before the Legislature adjourns for the session in two weeks.

Police say arson is suspected in an early morning fire that swept thru Public School No. 85 in Ridgewood. The blaze destroyed half the classrooms, leaving the five-story structure at 635 Evergreen Avenue unfit for use. Investigators determined that the fire began in piles of old baskets heaped in the corners of separate classrooms on three different floors, which were found to be burning in a manner that could not have resulted without deliberate action. The fire was reported by a passerby about 4:35 AM, who saw flames licking out of a second-floor window and was brought under control, after two alarms, within about an hour. With no time to assign the students to alternative classrooms, the nearly 1000 pupils who attend the school were sent home this morning on an unexpected holiday.

A 44-year-old cobbler from Bay Ridge confessed today to the murder of his brother, an act which climaxed years of petty bickering between the two over trivial matters. John Farrella admitted to police that he shot and killed his 40-year-old brother Joseph, a commercial artist, following an argument at the three-room apartment they shared at 7919 Third Avenue. The bad blood between the two began after John was discharged from the Army in 1939 and came to live with his brother and elderly father in the apartment behind the senior Farrella's shoe repair shop. The father, 75 year old Salvatore Farrella, finally moved out of the apartment last year when he was no longer able to endure the constant squabbling between his two sons. Police who questioned John Farrella at the Fort Hamilton precinct concluded that there was no reason for the shooting other than "a burst of temper."

Kings County Judge Peter Brancato has added his voice to the growing chorus demanding action to replace the decrepit Raymond Street Jail, declaring that he will order the next grand jury coming under his control to mount a full investigation into why the city has not yet taken action on the problem. Last Saturday, Judge Samuel J. Leibowitz ordered a grand jury probe of why the city has not assigned sufficient probation officers to Brooklyn to prevent backups of prisoners at the jail.

(Another sure sign of spring.)

As many as 150,000 persons flocked to Coney Island yesterday to stroll the Boardwalk and take advantage of the mild and sunny spring weather. Hot dogs and pop corn were big sellers as winter-weary Brooklynites basked in the unseasonably pleasant 54-degree temperatures and watched the last grimy patches of snow glisten and shrink in the sunshine. At the Prospect Park Zoo, lions, giraffes, and elephants did some basking of their own, and at the Botanic Garden, the first pussy-willows of spring emerged to greet a light springtime breeze.

The rhumba craze may be fading, but the next big dance fad is ready to take its place -- with the Hawaiian hula already catching on among Brooklyn's figure-conscious women. Hula dancing is recommended as an invigorating exercise for the waist and hips, and you can sign up to learn the dance from official Arthur Murray instructors, in weekly classes offered at the Oppenheim-Collins department store, Tuesdays from 2:30 to 3:30 PM and Thursday nights from 8 to 9 PM. Among the prominent Brooklyn women learning to hula is Brooklyn Borough Gas Company President Mary Dillon, who says she dances "for diversion."

(The Eagle is a crusading newspaper, and there's no time like the present for a new crusade. I look forward to front page cartoons of Sparky knocking the jail over, and Bungle making it disappear into the fourth dimension.)

(A peek behind the scenes at BMI.)

Whether Leo Durocher's announced plan to take over at second base and Mr. MacPhail's coming trip to Los Angeles to try and pry Billy Herman from the loving embrace of Philip K. Wrigley have anything to do with or not, we can't say -- but Pete Coscarart looked his old all-star self yesterday as he paced the Dodgers to a 7-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds at Tampa. The Bounding Basque turned three double plays just as neat as you please, flashing the glove that was once the envy of the National League, and poled out a long two-base-hit besides. Curt Davis looked good in five innings of work, and Hamlin pitched the last three without giving up a single home run.

Despite Pete's fine performance yesterday, Durocher still seems committed to his plan to take over the keystone sack, and he continues to work himself into shape for the job -- playing the last four innings of yesterday's game at shortstop in an effort to limber up his 35-year-old bones.

MacPhail is in Macon, Georgia today where he plans to inspect the Montreal Royals training camp and talk things over with the adventuresome Van Lingle Mungo. Meanwhile, new facts have emerged concerning Van's headlong flight from the combative attentions of Sr. Gonzalo. It seems when Gonzalo appeared in the lobby of the Hotel Nacional brandishing a machete and demanding Mungo's skin, several Dodgers sensing the gravity of the crisis conspired to hide the escaping hurler in a vegetable bin in the hotel kitchen until the Senor could be subdued by police. When the coast was clear, the Dodgers extracted Mr. Mungo from beneath a heap of potatoes and spirited him out of the hotel and onto a Miami-bound boat without a moment to spare.

("I'm from Brazil -- where the nuts come from!")

("Eat" the "Ears" off a brass monkey? That ain't the way I heard it.)

(Soon as she makes Oakdale disappear, she'll be back for these two.)

(Put your glasses back on, toots, and maybe you'll see what's going on.)

(OH BOY BEEFCAK.....oh.)

 

[Harp]

Buddy of mine in the Army was from Brooklyn and went to Erasmus. The things you remember...

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

George Clark is in the office right now, begging the editor to take him off Page Four until the Conroy case is over.

White Castle hamburgers were once a lot bigger than they are today. And a lot cheaper.

You missed your calling, Bill.

Mr. Gray is, you will pardon the expression, acting like a bit of a snowflake these days. But I do want to see more of this angry "rouff rouff rouff" dog with the French accent.

William Powell isn't the only one going around in drag --- I think we've finally discovered what became of Nick Gatt.

It's not like Min to just jut her face under Andy's nose without making a withering riposte. I think her new hairstyle is on too tight.

Twenty years from now, when Kiel dies of carbon tetrachloride-induced liver cancer in some comfortable West Berlin penthouse, Terry Lee will remember this moment with a certain degree of satisfaction.

Stick him good, Angie, stick him good.

Willie always gets nervous when spring arrives, because the coal pile's getting pretty low.

I don't know if Senga's back in New York or not, but if she is, we'll never see Paul again.

 

[Harp]

Stopped at CVS last nite and grabbed two White Castles slider boxes with Crispy Cheetos.
A Chicago staple still around town.

 

[Fading Fast]

...
View attachment 320985 (The Eagle is a crusading newspaper, and there's no time like the present for a new crusade. I look forward to front page cartoons of Sparky knocking the jail over, and Bungle making it disappear into the fourth dimension.)...

In the book and movie "The Fountainhead," you get a real feel for how crusading papers think and operate. Flying under the bigger philosophical issues of the main story in "The Fountainhead" is a parable about a crusading paper believing it can lead its readers anywhere and learning it can't.

...MacPhail is in Macon, Georgia today where he plans to inspect the Montreal Royals training camp and talk things over with the adventuresome Van Lingle Mungo. Meanwhile, new facts have emerged concerning Van's headlong flight from the combative attentions of Sr. Gonzalo. It seems when Gonzalo appeared in the lobby of the Hotel Nacional brandishing a machete and demanding Mungo's skin, several Dodgers sensing the gravity of the crisis conspired to hide the escaping hurler in a vegetable bin in the hotel kitchen until the Senor could be subdued by police. When the coast was clear, the Dodgers extracted Mr. Mungo from beneath a heap of potatoes and spirited him out of the hotel and onto a Miami-bound boat without a moment to spare....

I assume the Eagle illustrators are busy drawing the hiding-in-vegetables Mungo for tomorrow's paper.

... (OH BOY BEEFCAK.....oh.)

He's no Sparky Watts.

... George Clark is in the office right now, begging the editor to take him off Page Four until the Conroy case is over.....

The Evan's story is pretty brutal too.

And still no Mungo.

...[
White Castle hamburgers were once a lot bigger than they are today. And a lot cheaper.....

All "Inflation Adjusted" comparisons are estimates with a bunch of assumptions, etc., that may or may not be correct, but here goes anyway:

According to the ad, in '41, a regular hamburger cost 5 cents which is 89 cents in '21 dollars. Today (based on the internet), a regular hamburger at White Castle costs 72 cents. So, theoretically, today's burger is a bit cheaper, but if, as Lizzie notes, they reduced the size (which I'd bet they did, and probably several times over the past 80 years), then the analysis is flawed.

A bag of five, as in the ad, for 10 cents costs $1.79 in '21 dollars or 36 cents a burger today. Clearly, that's cheaper than today's 72 cent individual slider price. The best comparison I could find for the "volume" price today was a bag of 30 sliders for $20 or 67 cents a burger - clearly more expensive on a per-burger basis than the 1941 bag of five.

So, it appears that single slider to single slider, they are a bit cheaper today, but the '41 bag of five is much cheaper than today's bag rate. Again, all this assumes the sliders are the same size today as in '41, which is probably not the case.

... Mr. Gray is, you will pardon the expression, acting like a bit of a snowflake these days. But I do want to see more of this angry "rouff rouff rouff" dog with the French accent.....

On some days, like today, the strip is painful to read. How 'bout a Nick Gatt spinoff, "The Adventures of Nick Gatt," or "Nick Gatt's World."

... William Powell isn't the only one going around in drag --- I think we've finally discovered what became of Nick Gatt.....

It's all part of Nick's plan to get his own strip. He's doing a gig at Tracy's to get exposure - he's also active on Twitter and Insta and has a series of podcasts coming out soon. Being a bit old school though, he's also working the phones right now.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Mr. Hamlin's nickname is "Hot Potato," and the now-departed Vito Tamulis was known as "Tomatoes," so in that vein I suspect that the unfortunate Mr. Mungo will soon be known as "The Great Zucchini."

A bit of hamburger research reveals that the tiny square five-holed White Castle patty only dates back to the early 1950s, but there doesn't seem to be any clear statement that I can find of the actual weight of the original 1920s-40s version. It certainly looks a lot bigger than what you get today based on the photos in the ad, but the Boys could also be taking a bit of license. Note also the "Be sure the sign says WHITE CASTLE" -- that's a dig at those sleazy imitators over at White Tower.

Joe sits on his bench this noon at the Crown Pickle Works, nibbling another cold brisket sandwich, and wonders why there are no White Castles in Brooklyn.

Mr. Gray has an unsettling habit of going off on these multi-day rants of political self-justification whenever his views and how he presents them have been challenged by an editor or a reader. Recall earlier this month a News reader wrote to the Voice Of The People with such criticism -- I think we're now seeing Mr. Gray's response to that. Of all cartoonists of the Era he was the one most frequently in trouble with editors and readers, as Nick Gatt can no doubt well attest.

 

[Harp]

White Castle licensure prolly, sliders have always been small but good to my recollect.
Passed on some frig thawed frozen pork chops last nite in favor of the plate slide, but my plebeian palate didn't mind.

Passed a former White Castle the other day, closed, and demolish process underway; understand that the WC corporation
leases all site property so a Covid commercial default gets cut from the team quick.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Police clubbed eight pickets at the McCormick Works of the International Harvester Company in Chicago today, as 7000 CIO members and sympathizers attempted to march in front of the factory to protest its reopening with A F L workers. Police also used tear gas in an attempt to disperse the pickets, and one police officer was hit by a thrown brick. A 33-day strike had shut down the factory before management brought in A F L-aligned workers to replace the striking CIO men.

In Bethlehem, Pennsylvania police dispersed 200 CIO pickets from the Steel Workers Organizing Committee as management at the Bethlehem Steel Company brought in strikebreakers to keep the plant operating after the union called a walkout last night. Police fired at least one tear gas shell into a milling crowd of about six thousand workers and union sympathizers outside the plant. The sheriff of Northampton County appealed to Pennsylvania Governor Arthur H. James for aid in controlling the situation.

Yugoslavia joined the Berlin-Rome-Tokyo Axis today on the conditions that Axis troops not march thru its territory, and that Yugoslav sovereignty and territorial integrity be respected. It was understood, however, that under the agreement, Germany will be given transport facilities allowing the passage of war materials across Yugoslav territory in preparation for a march on Greece.

A total of five Brooklyn high schools will be investigated as possible hubs of Communist activity, following yesterday's announcement that the first part of the probe will focus on Erasmus Hall High School in Flatbush. Added now to the list to be investigated by the Rapp-Coudert Commitee are Thomas Jefferson High School in Brownsville, Lafayette High School in Bath Beach, New Utrecht High School in Bensonhurst, and Abraham Lincoln High School in the Coney Island district. The High School of Music and Art in Manhattan is also to be probed, as are three schools in the Bronx.

("Maybe I shoudln'a signed up," sweats Joe. "I didn' sign up f'nuttin' political, honest. I ain' no Red, I voted f'Roosevelt TWICE. T'ey can' git me f't'at. Can t'ey?" And Sally just shrugs. "Jus' keep ya mout' shut, an' don' say nuttin' 'bout politics t'nobuddy. An' don' bring t' Daily Woika home no more when y' fin' it onna trolley." "Aw," says Joe. "I swear I on'y lookattit t'see what happ'ns ta Pinky Rankin!")

Earl Browder surrendered this morning to Federal authorities to begin a four-year prison sentence for violation of passport laws. The 49-year-old secretary of the Communist Party arrived by taxi at 10:30 AM at the Federal Courthouse in Foley Square, Manhattan, accompanied by his successor as party head, Robert Minor. Mr. Browder was quickly and quietly ushered into the building for initial processing, and paused only to shake hands with a reporter from the Daily Worker newspaper. He will serve his sentence at the Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia.

Kings County Sheriff James V. Magnano says there is no financial reason why the city cannot replace the notorious Raymond Street Jail. The Sheriff has for years been agitating to replace the pestilential old structure, and after revealing that an inmate at the jail had tried to hang himself last night from a bedsheet in his cell, he declared that now that there is plenty of money available, "Mayor LaGuardia can advance no legitimate excuse for saddling Brooklyn with the Raymond Street Jail, that pesthole from which prisoners seek escape in suicide."

("Chili-Sauce Red" is clearly the style trend for Spring.)

(Oh what I would have given to have seen this production. When I mentioned Wright himself playing the role of Bigger Thomas I was thinking of the 1951 movie version, made in Argentina because America in 1951 couldn't deal with it. But no matter -- Canada Lee, who mainstream audiences know best as one of the survivors in Hitchcock's "Lifeboat," is a tremendous actor. And look down the cast list and stop at the actress playing the role of the racist Irish housekeeper Peggy: yes, that's fluttery lovable Aunt Bee herself. And there we have our third Postwar Television Icon turning up in a surprising role in 1941.)

(WHO ASKED YOU?)

(America 1941 -- a contradictory land of Richard Wright, Orson Welles, Bigger Thomas, and "Beulah.")

The commander of the U. S. Volunteer Ambulance Corps in France during the World War declared yesterday that all Germans should be barred from the United States. Major Sedley Peck believes that with the danger of Fifth Column activity in this country there is no reason to allow German commercial agents, tourists, or students to enter this country. Major Peck was in Paris last summer before the Fall of France and saw the population of German "civilians" in that country as paving the way for sabotage allowing easy passage of German mechanized units across French territory. Major Peck pointed out one case in particular -- that of a "dumb German elevator operator" who was actually a Nazi agent in disguise, and who, at a given signal, took full command of a French newspaper.

The Dodgers lost to the Reds 7-3 yesterday in what was the last game to be played at Clearwater this spring by the first-string Flock. Most of the Brooklyn regulars will split off for Texas to begin a barnstorming tour North, with the remaining players heading to Georgia to begin their own Northbound tour from there. It's also very likely the last game the Dodgers will play in Clearwater for the indefinite future, as, after nineteen years, the town fathers have been unable to reach an agreement with the Brooklyn office on terms for next year.

Joe Medwick said farewell to Clearwater with a booming home run, looking for all the world like the Ducky Wucky of old. Medwick, with his confidence at the plate restored by the MacPhail Skull Protector he wears under his cap, has been taking his usual aggressive cuts again, and it's paying off with a .350 batting average for the Grapefruit League season. If there's room for criticism, and there is, Joe hasn't had quite so many extra base hits as one might expect from a cleanup hitter, but he emphasizes that this is deliberate -- he's been focused more on meeting the ball during the exhibition season, but expects to go back to his power swing once the real National League campaign unfurls.

The wayward Blimp says he's ready to float back into the Brooklyn camp for the trip back to Ebbets Field. Babe Phelps notified secretary John McDonald that he is ready to report for duty after missing all of spring training so far due to personal reasons, but has been advised to report first to the Montreal camp at Macon to "get into shape at his own expense." Larry MacPhail, out on the coast to try and get Billy Herman away from the Cubs, is said to be actively shopping Phelps as part of a possible trade with the Wrigleymen.

After auditioning 200 actresses to replace her late daughter Donna Damerel Fick in the role of Marge in the "Myrt and Marge" serial, creator-producer-writer-star Myrtle Vail has selected Helen Mack to take over the part. Miss Mack has had an extensive career on the stage, in films, and on radio. The character of Marge was temporarily written out of the daily CBS feature after Mrs. Fick died in childbirth in February at the age of 29.

(Myrtle Vail was a tough egg, the living epitome of "the show must go on." She had to be.)

(And here Boody Rogers breaks the comic-strip taboo against full-frontal male nudity, sort of.)

(On the one hand, poor Peggy is thirty-five years old and is long past the age when her mother should be controlling her life. On the other hand, Peggy's an idiot, and Jo is absolutely right. Helen Worth needs to show up here and straighten it all out.)

(And while she's at it, Helen needs to swiften up these idiots too.)

(Tie up the dog? Uh-oh. But wait, Irwin's too dumb to tie anything but a granny knot, so no worries.)