Lowell Thomas1 Broadcast
for The Literary Digest.
Friday, January 16, 1931.
DIGEST
Good Evening, everybody:
Here’s a slogan I thought you might be Interested in.
That slogan is:
CONSERVATIVE PROSPERITY. It’s being repeated
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around quite a bit among business men and financial experts just
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now. This year the prophecies about business conditions are not /
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so carelessly optimistic as they were last year. Business men
are examining and analyzing. And \$iat do they expect? Well,
they expect -- conservative prosperity. That’s the term.
Mark Sullivan, in the lew York Herald Tribune, tells us
that the economic leaders of the country have a deep-seated con
viction that conditions will be better, but they also believe
that the country has been suffering not only from over-production
but also from over-predict ion.
The New York Evening Post has just made a survey and
gotten opinions about prosperity from a list of the biggest
business men in the country. 51 of these captains of industry
said they thought recovery would begin some time in 1931.
10 put
ib in the first half of the year, 6 put it in the second half.
DIGEST - 2
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thought the recovery would occur in 1952. About half of those
that replied said they didn*t want to venture any prediction at all.
The magazine called Business Week made an analytical
study of every phase of business depression, and the result that
came out indicated that the recovery will begin in March of this
year and that things will continue to pick up gradually until
March of next year at which time conditions will be back to normal.
The Harvard Economic Society expects the turn of the
tide to take place early ±
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this year. On the other hand, David
Lawrence, of the Consolidated Press, believes the change will be
last
gradual and that the/quarter of the year will be the time of
definite improvement, and that 1932 will see prosperity back in
full swing.
I wish I had time to give you more of these really
important opinions about prosperity. However, you can find them all
is an illuminating article in this week's Literary Digest. There
is striking information concerning C0MSEHVAT1VE PROSPERITY in the
new Digest, It gives a comprehensive resume of what financial
thinkers are expecting for 1931. And I am making this my first
Hem tonight because I think it's of great interest to all of us.
fUHHEL
New York was the scene of an accident today in the
famous Hudson Tubes. Two cars jumped off the track, and there
was a roar of buckling steel as the rushing cars piled on each
other. Nobody was killed luckily, but fifteen people were hurt.
The New York Svening Post informs us that most of the injuries
were slight. Nevertheless, It was one of those weird
subterranean accidents.
BRIDGE
And, by th.e way, there* s a lively argument on in New
York over the naming of that new giant bridge which hurls its
span of steel across the Hudson* The authorities have decided
that it is to be called the George Washington Memorial Bridge,
but that name has aroused the furor of opposition*
Nearly all the New York newspapers are against it, and
say it's much too long and that it would eventually be turned into
the Washington nridge, and there are already two Washington
bridges in New York. Bo why add a third to the confusion?
Many people think that the bridge ought to have the
name which the public has already unofficially given it - the
Hudson River Bridge. But of course there are plenty of other
bright ideas. You know the arguments that you can have about
choosing a name for the latest arrival in the family. Well, you
can have just as much controversy about baptizing bridges.
CHICAGO
Now let’s see - what’s this? Sixteen candidates. Yes,
sixteen. And they all want to be mayor of Chicago. Midnight
of last night was the dead line for entering your name as a
candidate for Chicago’s approaching city election.
Among the sixteen candidates listed by the Associated
Press is King George’s old friend "Big Bill." Bill Thompson is
running for re-election. And there’s Judge Lyle who has made a
reputation for being rough with gangsters
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who are hauled before
him.
There also was a late hour sensation when Representative
Oscar de Priest entered his name. Un de Priest happens to be the
only negro representative in Congress.
Well, with those sixteen candidates, that coming
election should help to maintain Chicago’s reputation for being
a lively place
WITNESS
A strange story comes from Oregon today. A woman
witness at an important trial was stabbed and badly burt.
According to the Associated Press a man attacked her in her
home with a knife. And this is the second attack made on her.
A little more than a month ago a man beat her and
threatened her with death if she testified at the trial.
Well, she is Krs. H. W. Howard, and the case, in which
she is a witness for the prosecution is one in which a young
Portland millionaire and his former secretary are accused of
being responsible for the death of the young millionaire's wife.
Indeed a strange and bewildering case
gEVlL
I suppose we migh.t say that this next item is about
CATCHING THE DEVIL — OUT IN MINNESOTA I mean. They caught him
all right, Old Nick with his horns and hoofs and tail.
There has been a scare in the country around Hitterdale,
Minnesota. People said that Old Nick himself was abroad. Yes
sir, they saw him. Motorists and pedestrians along the roads
at night saw His Satanic Majesty dancing in the moonlight, cavort
ing in the fields and skipping across ditches.
An investigation was made, and the Associated Press
dispatch that I have in my hand informs us that a farmer boy has
been arrested. He modestly admits that he is Old Nick. He became
inspired with the idea of impersonating the Enemy of Mankind.
So he made himself a costume, including horns, hoofs and spiked
tail, and then went around frightening the Yonsons and the Svensons.
Well, that1s an interesting whim, and I suppose all we
can do is to ask the classic question -- How do they get that way?
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And talking about matters diabolical
here _cojn|>s the subject of vaccination.
I meanAthe Turks think that vaccination
is dl abo I i ca I . 1\[The New York Sun tells
us that the progressive government of
Turkey wants all Turks to be vaccinated
against typhus, but they're having
trouble about it. Old-fashioned Turks
don't like new-fangled Western ideas
of medicine. They think there's something
satanic about it all, especially gWtrfc-
vaccination. They f I e,e in a panic when
the doctors appear
A still more peculiar situation
existed dur ing the World War. Wounded
Turkish soldiers commonly would not take
anaesthetic! They would Iie ■ there
unfI inchingly and have legs and arms
off and never a whimper. But the
idea of putting them under ether seemed
to fill them with terror. They thought
it was a process of being put to death,
and then being brought back to I ife. And
there was diaboI ical magic in that.
The Turks seemaal to be different
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from the Albanianaf because thereto a story about an Albanian
who was asked:— How would you like to go to the hot place --
down to Old Nick* s realm where they have all the fire and
brimstone?
His laconic reply was:
Well, how much is the salary?
STEAMER
There’s a new entry in the competition for building
tig transatlantic liners. The ship building race has been on
for some time now with one nation trying to outdo the other in
launching giant liners for the transatlantic service. And now
France jumps in with an announcement of a ship that will be more
than a thousand feet long.
The Leviathan* the largest American vessel ±x is 906
feet long. The British Majestic is 915 feet from stem to stem,
although not so broad as the Leviathan.
The two biggest German craft are a shade less than
900 feet in length. The Associated Press states that the new
French giant will have a speed of more than thirty knots an
hour, and that will be going some
PANAMA
I see by the evening papers that the new government of
Panama
has just "been recognized by Washington. And that’s wuick
work.
That government down there was^put into power a week or
so ago oy a revolutionary outbreak. Well, Uncle Sam’s policy is
not to recognize any Latin-American president who gets his job
through a revolt. But President Alfaro, the new ruler of Panama,
made the claim that he was by law entitled to the job and that
the revolt merely enforced what was legally right and just.
That claim has been okayed by the American government.
According to the International News Service, Secretary of State
Stimson announced this afternoon that it would not be necessary
for Washington to issue a formal note recognizing the government
of Panama. Our recognition of the former government would simply
be continued, on the assumption that President Alfaro went into
office according to law
FLASH
Here's a later dispatch regarding Panama; The
International Hews Service cables that President Alfaro was
inaugurated this afternoon to the accompaniment of wild acclaim
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it-
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t f s cor rect.
the United States - no.
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Well, I thought somebody must have
made a mistake in this next dispatch,
but I see
It
of America - the united States of
Europe. Of course, we've heard that
phrase before, but not in connection
with anything really happening. But this
International News Serv^j^^d^s^Jjch tells
us that the first session of .the United
States p t c^urooe (.Comm i ss i on began today
Sometime ago foreign Minister
Briand of France came out with a proposal
to form a union of European nations, in
a.
other words, tfter United States of
/V.
Europe. And now that idealistic plan
has progressed so far that a commission
is meet in-
tor the purpose
Qt ta I k i na o ver \ ays wh i ch
2^'United States
ot
curope can
Briand dominated
the
meeting
and in a fervent appeal to all nations
declared
that there must be a
United
States or nurope
in
some term or other,
or thEuropean c i v i I i zati on may
nisi) o
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ihe associated Press intorms us
j^hat .tjoih the German and the Italian
delegates urged that as a Tirst move
Turkey and Soviet Kussia should be
invited to become part or a United Stated
of Europe.
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An epidemic of influenza is sweeping over England
It has sent thousands of people to bed, and business and
transportation are being crippled a bit by Old Man Elu.
In other countries too the pesky germ is busy, but
fortunately there is nothing in sight that threatens anything
like that fearful epidemic of 1917.
According to the Associated Press, the Plu in Europe
is of a mild type this time, especially in Spain and Portugal*
Just the same, Old Man Flu is a nuisance whenever he comes
aro und
T.nVERS LAMS
Let’s see -- I don’t know if the moon is shining
outside or not. At any rate, this next item ought to be told
in the moonlight.
Over in the county of Suffolk, in England, is the
village of Bungay, and it has a famous Lovers Lane, Well, the
young men and the maids of Bungay oomplalned to the District
Council that Bungay’s Lovers Lane wasn't all it should be. It
was getting dilapidated and overgrown with weeds. A stream had
started to run through it, and now when lovers wanted to sit and
gaze at the moon the only place they could sit was in the mud.
Also the sows were getting into Bungay’s Lovers Lane and a bad
tempered bull strayed in once in awhile and made things generally
uncomfortable for spooning couples.
The International News Service tells us that the
District
Council listened to the arguments of the young people
and took prompt action. They ordered that the weeds in the lane
should
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LflY£S5 LANE
be cut, and the muddy stream should be
diverted. Also, a fence with oak posts
and rails should be built to keep the
cattle out.
In other words, the moon once
more is shining brightdip in Bungay's
Lovers Lanej*3^
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M-Ji-si
MDSQUIT0E3 - SECOBD SERIES
I have been descended upon by swarms of letters
about swarms of mosquitoesj most of them containing tall stories,
real whoppers*
O* G* Howes of Parkersburg, New York, insists that the
biggest and most ferocious mosquitoes in the world inhabited the
Philadelphia Navy Yard back in 1887,
On one occasion, the balloon Great Eastern, appeared
flying low and then came down. And then the men on the ground
were dumbfounded to see that four mosquitoes had caught hold of
the giant gas bag and were pulling it to earth.
Captain Pagen who was in charge of the guard of marines,
ordered four sharpshooters to open fire on those four mosquitoes.
They wounded two of them and the other two helped their disabled
eompaaions to fly away. And when those mosquitoes let go that
old balloon simply shot skyward again,
C, E. Willis of Charleston, South Carolina, tells us
about some Arkansas mosquitoes. He saw a bunch of them attacking
a team of mules. He says he wasn't astonished when he saw them
tat the mules, but what did surprise him was when those mosquitoes
ttfiSQUITOES - second series - 2
pulled
out the wagon tongue and began picking their teeth with
it. Yes, that would surprise most any of us!
And here comets Roy Ryan of Fort Pierce, Florida, who
tells how a Jerseyite down in Florida was bragging about Jersey
skeeters. He said those Florida mosquitoes were amateurs. Well,
a Floridan bet him ten dollars that he wouldn*t lie there with
his back exposed to the mosquitoes and stand it for ten minutes.
The Jerseyite took him up on it. He removed his shirt
and lay with his back uppermost and the Florida mosquitoes got to
work. But that Jerseyite was plenty accustomed to the old Jersey
mosquitoes and the Floridan variety didn't make any impression
on him whatsoever. Eight minutes went by and the native son of
Florida saw that he might lose his bet. So he took out a
magnifying glass and focused the sun's rays on that Jerseyite's
tack. After a couple of seconds the Jerseyite began to wiggle
and squixm, and finally he said:
"BOY, THERE'S CHE JERSEY MOSQUITO ON
MY
BACK AND IF HE
KEEPS PUSHINS ANY HARDER I'LL HAVE TO QUIT."
Well, I enjoy those tall stories folks have been sending
in to me. In fact I think they're a sort of contribution to
American folk lore.
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fHECKEHS
But nov/
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.or a true one, right out of the news.
They have just had a man hunt up in Warkworth, Ontario. Two old
men disappeared suddenly. They hunted for those old fellows for tv/o
days. The New ^or.-c Evening k.orld says they finally found them
upstairs in a vacant house. What were they doing? l''hy, playing check
ers.
They had gone to that vacant room to decide a hot
rivalry. Their games seesawed back and forth and they chalked their
wins and losses on the wall, until the wall was practically covered
with chalk marks.
When found, both old bor/s were suffering from lack of
food and sleep, but they still insisted they would rather play
checkers than eat. Well, that*s one way of looking at ±t. But as
for me, l^d rather eat than play checkers, ^es, and something tells
roe it* s dinner time now — and it’s my move. So, SO LONG UNTIL
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tomorrow
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