1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Lowell Thomas* Broadcast for The Literary Digest. Thursday. January 29. 1951 Page. We I I, Great ScottI Everybody. I certat nIy am in a Good Evening nov/I whole pile of beairc-iful jam d ispatches gSEtisr sliding off on the floor, ana they’re scattered alI around. Thanks, old Boy. Just hand them up end we’ll manage somehow. that certainly was a bright stunt of mine in letting them tall like that. Great Caesar’s GhostI This is life's darkest moment. u.K. give me the one on top. Let!s see what ix is. Och Might have guessed it. ih i s is I intended to read last. Well, what1s the dirterence, begin with the end. ihis is one ot those letters that V/e II, I che itern let’s f o I ks^ have been sending me. get letters but lTve i cer tai n I v like to T\/a never started off the IKTRO - 2 evening with one. Anyway, here goes:- Channcey Twyford, of SieterYille, West Virginia, tells me of a West Virginia farmer v/ho made a trip into Ohio# He drove in his car to the ferry# The Ohio River is the boundary between West Virginia and Ohio# When the ferry-boat got out in midstream, the farmer stood up with tears in his eyes and hat in hand. He looked back at West Virginia, and groaned, *So long, you good old U *S# A#" said he* "But if nothin* don't happen to me. I'll be back soon#" I*ve heard Kew Yorkers sa^ they were going "abroad" when they crossed the river to Hew Jersey* But I never knew that Ohio and Hew Jersey were in that same "foreign" class. What's next Frank? ■ I C 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 18 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 “•*■30- SM EBMEE11 ? L ^fci -O'- sf : 3 ^^curiou3 sight was seen today atnong tiie ruins of ancient Pompeiidi. A girl, dragging a forked twig, walked over ground under which ancient ruins may be buried. They say she has extraordinary powers with a divining rod-^- the o I d-f ash i onedilf orked twig that points downward when it passes over something buried below the surface of the earth. She's named Maria Mataloni, and already she has bewildered Italian scientists with her powers. Not long ago they put her to a formal test in northern Italy. She dragged the divining rod along and when it turned down she said that ancient ruins would be found if they would d i g ^ 3 iE=£&eHt- They got pickaxes and shovels bu=3SF ar|d found an ancient Roman tomb. And now, according to the New York Sun, they're giving her another test in the country near Pompeii, whete buried ruins mav be found almost anywhere. U> Vv02_ V'VA. ^ V- XA - 1 -jy (Tw\ ' t: ' j . 1 f)li * I __ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 10 17 18| 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ilBALL Page Oh yes, tnis is the one about the whale. This whale isnTt where he belongs. but whales that way in real I ife~-always coming around and upsetting the boat when youTre not looking. Anyway, scientists have discovered the skeleton ^of which they say is more than/^SS^^SS years old. And, according to the International News Service, that whale was dug out of a hillside near San Francisco. Itfs just some more proof of what the scientists already believed, that our whole Pacific Coast, as far ini and as the Rocky Mountains, was at one t ime part of the floor of the Pacific Ocean. So much f or the whale. N ow w h at 1 b next? i ____________ ______ ___ AigPLAML 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 10 17 18 19 20 21 Page. Oh, yes. but there’s another dispatch that ought to go ahead of this Anyway, this one says that England has just decided to defend the Schneider Cup this year. The Schneider cup you know is what the aviators for : ! in the® high speed international air races » and at present the British are the champions At first it was intended that England should nox enter this year. Econom' was given as the reason. But the I Internati onal Hews Service informs us That toda'' Prime Minister macDonald announced Commons that the Bri xish 23 24 25 i n the House of _______ will be on hand to defend heir championship. ^ a We I I , Athere 1 s anoxher dispatch somewhavifein xhe pile xhat oughx to go alone, with this bit of news. ltTs about Prime to inis ter toac Jona I d 1 s viexory in xhe House *■ of Commons lasx night. I gave you the a I ate flash,and news yesxerday evening all I Tve got to add i ng ts xhat the Labor Government in Great Britain lo safe unti I next April, when i ^ will face another big test. 1 2 3 4 5 8 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Vi 16 U 2 ( 2 ] 2 ! 2 ; 2 2 5M ^lEELAIi£_r_£^ Page------------- b According to the United Press, this will come when the budget is dis­ cussed. il;any a government meets its iaterloo when it puts in its financial statement. _____ _______ rocket Say. tfrank, while I reotf this next one. will you please spear that dispatch over there under the piano? Well, while Frank crawls under the piano, let^s see about this wonderful flying machine that’s supposed to navigate to the moon. It seems they’ve tried it out, and it developed amazing speed -- but it went in the wrong direction. According to a United Press wire from Los Angeles, Maurice Poirer has invented a small airplane that is propelled by rockets. The rockets blaze away at intervals and hurl the contraption through space. In trying out the invention they launched it from a mountain over looking San Francisco Bay. It made amazing speed - but instead of going up it went down* It took one long, dizzy, desperate dive into the waters of the Pacific. Maybe it would have gone all the way to the moon, if it had gone up instead of down. Thank you, Frank. Well, Frank Knight is a great chap. He not only introduces me. tut he picks up my news dispatches when I spill them alx over the place. ROCKBT - 2 Let’s see vdaat page it was that went sliding under the piano. Of yes, it’s an item that tells us what people are thinking. DISK ST — COMItUMISM I mean what people are thinking about one of the Important recent political happenings - that report of the Hamilton Fish Committee on the Communist situation in the United States* You'll recall that the Committee brought in a report which recommended the outlawing of the Communist party* I read some interesting comments about that today, conflicting opinions, both sides of the controversy* I saw them ------- in the Mew Literary Digest that came out today. The Digest gives a comprehensive summary of how the report of the Hamilton Fish Committee was received* The Washington Evening Star says that the Anti-Communist report is okay, and adds that it should be reprinted and spread as widely as possible over the country* On the other hand, the Mew York World thinks that the Communists are quite pleased to see their strength, influence, and general capacity for mischief rated so highly. Of course the reactions of the Soviet newspapers over in Russia are sure to be interesting. One of them calls the report DIGEST - COMMUNISM - 2 ■ s-.- a skyscraper of insolence. Another states that the 90 pages of the report are based on forged documents. - In other words, there seems to be plenty of dis- agreement, and hy far the hest plan would he for each to read the Digest article and make up his own mind PLANET Well, I wish that last dispatch had been a bit sentimental, something about romance, because the next thing I’ve fished out of the scramble is about love - young love* No I'm wrong - I mean, very old love* Love is 17 miles in diameter and is 16,000,000 miles away, but it's nearer the earth than it has been in a long time. I mean the planet Eros, and Eros in Greek means love. Well, Eros is a little sister of the earth and the other planets. It's a very little sister in fact, but it revolves around the sun like the rest of the planets. And, according to all the papers tonight that tiny planet Eros is nearer to the earth right now than at any time since 1898. No - there*8 no chance for most of us to see it* Eros is visible only through powerful telescopes. So tonight the astronomers have wiped off their lenses and are busy scientifically studying the sentimental planet called Love, LONDON Sure enough here's that other one from London, that dispatch about the victory of the Labor Government last night that I was looking for. No. Wrong again. It»s about whiskers, side whiskers, good old-fashioned bushy side bums. A few days ago a convention of American tailors came out with an announcement of a new kind of wearing apparel. They call it a host's suit. Dress clothes in weird and wonderful colors - pink, maroon, and green. The idea is that a host should wear that fancy rig so he won't be mistaken for the head waiter. Now the British also are busy with this same problem, and that's where the whiskers come in. The International News Service informs us that several of London's big hotels have ordered their waiters to wear big bushy side ourns, so tat the well-dressed guests won't fee taken for waiters. London hotel keepers say they've been bothered for years by those humiliating mistakes, when somebody walks up to a very distinguished looking gentlemen in evening clothes and orders ham and eggs and the out to be Lord Tooting of Tooting-on-Thames. supposed waiter turns LOUPOfl - 2 Well, the problem of how to tell a guest from a waiter is a difficult one, and 1 wonder what the solution will be — a host togged out like a harlequin clown, or the waiter wearing side whiskers? liy vote's for the side whiskers long, red and luxuriant COLUMBIA Here’s a hot item, straight off the floor, I mean from underneath the table. It tells us of the arrest of sixteen people down i..j. the South American Republic of Columbia,, They are charged with having tried to set fire to the last building left standing in the town of Buena Ventura. That town was almost entirely destroyed by tire a few days ago. It was quite a blaze as South America goes, although Buena Ventura has only one street. However, it is an important seaport on the Pacific Soast, and South American authorities say it will become one of the great harbor cities of the world. Well, it was just about turned to the ground and it was suspected that firebugs did the dirty work. And now comes this, dispatch from the International News Service which tells us of sixteen who have oeen arrested for trying to bum down the one lone building that was left in the town. That’s a weird item. There’s no suggestion of wiiy they might have set it afire. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 1 ^'•30-SM Sii3Si^_ Page. h5 Here|s one way crff on "the edge of the table. Let’s see what it is. Oh.v^, its Russia. t T he- xii s^a-t;s4::F:;t^H^:tS“-:&-s:rfrttat T he Russian railroad system has broken down / j / 1 and become so badly demoralized, under the management of the Soviets, ih at a complete^;; . reorganization psfcgB? has been ordered. Stalin, the Ked Dictator, declares that th e bad condition of the railroads is jeopardi^ tafcf the entire ..... ......... ... industrial system of Russia.' So he has ordered a complete jb Kafafe-up .j The International News Service reports that several billion rubles will be thrown into t he r a i I r o a d EUILLS. Page^ li Great Guns! ' Here's that dispatch about the victory of the Govern^e^^n ^nn I usb now. A Le tr s chuck it, a. nd try one* By Joe, itTs almost hot enough to make me want to drop it. missing Labor ltTs no the next i i; i i i The United States government today formally apologized to • for those remarks that General Smedley D. Butler made about Mussolini. All che news services carry the text of the apology It says, in part,:' THAT THE REGRETS OF THIS GOVERNMENT ARE EXTENDED TO MR MUSSOLINI AND THE ITALIAN PEOPLE FOR THIS DISCOURTEOUS AND UNWARRANTED ACTION i C 0 Mlv. IS SIGNED OFFICER OF THIS GOVERN- li BY A ME NT ili m According to the incernati onal News Service, diplomatic officials in Washington say this is the first time chat any such apology has been made by the United States. And that isnTt a 11^ by a jugful Secretary of the Navy *dams today had Butler put under arrest and ordered him I BUTLEH - 2 to “be court martialed* You’ll recall that the General, in. a recent public speech, said various unpleasant things about Mussolini, and told a story that he had heard, a story to the effect that Mussolini, while driving in his car at 70 miles an hour, had hit a child and hadn't bothered to stop. General Butler gives you the impression of a man who's always likely to shoot off something with dynamite in it. He surely did touch off the dynamite this time when he collided with Mussolini, I suppose you might say it was a case of dynamite versus dynamite 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 SM 1 WL Page. Those dispatches certainly did get ni i xe a up co perfect ion. I always try to save a curious item of some sort to end on. 4* you know, something tor a fairly snappy close. anyhow, t hat * s the theory We I I ,1 ’ A ve come to the end of my^ and instead of somethina briaht it's I ot. w - o • • -/ about the most solemn piece of the It's from India and it 's more a and he's doing just what ^ bout Gandhi . people thought he would. He's say He's doing all he can to get ft'UX'VX ing "No the Indian people to thumbs down feow that offer of something like "self govern­ ment" which Great Britain recehtl y made to India at the London Hound fable Conference. -k- c a b te t a .the as so crated P r e s s tells“us that jTeaders of the h I I - India Na ional held an informal meeting today. I hat gt£=t35d^g3 rt Uonaress the non-vio represents Gandhi's party in lent rebellion against Great Britain. Gandhi presided at chat meeting of the leaders and the discussion revealed that 24 25 8l-30-SM Page. they were opposed to accept ing Great Britain's ofte V/' T®r* ell, the BritishAreI eased Gandhi from jail, but that doesn't seem to have softened the spirit of the firery little leader. And it looks as though in the days and monchs to come we mav have plenty of news from India, news of mere trouble in that picturesque, glamorous country of Maharajahs, temples and teeming millions. .Jell, that's the end ofAmy— jumble of and since India hap­ pens to be the last item of xhe^fie^e, I suppose l might as wel I end up with an oriental flare. ,,s they say out in India^lway you never grow weary, may your whiskers never grow less -- ana solong until tomorrow.