Lowell Thomas1 Broadcast
for the Literary Digest,
Monday, January 12, 1931.
INTRO
Good evening, everybody:
When I groped my way down to the big city this morning
through a blinding snowstorm I found the day’s new© dispatches
full of stories about the weather. The storm seems to be pretty
general all over the country,. But you never can tell how the
weather is in one locality by a report you get from another.
.For example here’s an Associated Press flash from, the Middlewest
stating that a Canadian has collapsed today from heat stroke out
a t E ammon d , I nd i an a,
At any rate we ought to be tickled that our weather
isn’t like the weather on the other side of the world.
Northern and Central China and Japan are in the grip
of the worst cold spell since 1898. The Associated Pres©
cables that there ha%?e been tremendous snow falls in the Yangtse
Valley,
People in those parts are not prepared for such long
and bitter cold spell©, and the suffering is said to be intense.
Thousands of Chinese have already perished in the storm.
XUT.RO - 2
Korthem Japan is buried under six feet of snow this
evening# Houses have caved in .and communications are crippled.
The United Press sends us a curious note about the
weather. It tells us that storms have been playing havoc in
Palestine. Disastrous floods have been sweeping down the
valley of the Jordan* The Jordan Delta at the northern end of
the Dead Sea just south of Jericho, has oeen flooded and many
lives have been lost.
The dispatch states that 1500 persons who live in the
Jordan Valley have been rendered homeless.
This is the rminy season in that country, I have been
there at both seasons, and when summer comes you wouldn't think a
drop of rain had ever fallen along the banks of the Jordan,
Allenby's cavalry galloping north from Jericho would
raise a cloud of Alkali dust that would completely hide the
horse#©!*.. This was one part of the Promised Land that the
Billjims of the Australian Light Horse hated. And the language
they used in referring to the heat and salty dust in the Dead Sea
Country and the Jordan Valley was Biblical all right. They used
the correct words but in the wrong order.
1NIU4
Page
1
This next dispatch is advance
2I
3
4!
5
word on the problem of India. The
Round Table Conference has been dragging
along some time now and it's about
ready to issue a report.
6
?!
8
9
10
11
12
The International News Service
states that it has word on good authority
that the result of the Conference will
be an offer of Dominion rule to India,
and that England will see that the
responsibility for Dominion rule
rest^on the Indians themselves*
13
14
15
16
■1
181
19
20
211
22
23
24
251
U-I-M-
sm
B0M3AX
Hundreds were injured, twenty-five critically, today
when rioting broke out in citi-.s and towns throughout Western
India, in protest against the execution this morning of four
men who were convicted of the murder of four policemen.
IUEKEX
r
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
Page *7
Here corn^s a post-holiday note
from England, and itTs a sour one.
A lot of Britishers had turkey for
Christmas, and no# H. W. Seaman, whoTs
an expert on whatTs good to eat, denounces
the turkey as not being good to eat
at all. He says the turkey has no
place in Eng I and
1 s tasteless
and not fit for British palates.
According to the New York Evening
Post, Mr. Seaman recommends that England
hereafter celebrate* her Christmas with
the good old-fashioned English goose.
Geese, he says, are much better than
t urkeys.
,(3
M
j-
P
If
11
m
11
' '[
r S r S
i 'CC'5"-''C:
'i,
"''tc1
: frO'" E" o i~ o . and t ' s a so-r o"s.
-'A lot of r r t S " e r S "ad t r < e V "or
* C
t
i st" as , a- d ~ o *
... 5 s a" a", wc ’ s
- a" sxosrt o" is-at's oood to sat. d s - o -" c s s
3 the turkey as not csi~o oood to eat
’at all. -s save t-e turksv has no
-'oiace in Eng 1 and .and
'Xt' s tasteless
5 and not fit for British oalates.
Accord i no to the New York Evening
“ Post, r . Seaman
reco^^ends
t'n at Lng I and
“ hereafter ceIecratea her Christmas with
the good old-fashioned Engl i sh goose*
u Geese, he says, are .much better than
turkeys-
*6j
Id I
19
;
201
211
22
23
:
241
251
|^a»
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
■
^'SM
HEM
Page.
My News Item of the Day was picked
for me by Tex O'Reilly. Maybe you've
heard of Tex. He's a famous soldier of
fortune. He has fought in wars all over
the world and has been in more adventures
than most of us ever dream about* Some
of Tex's most famous soldiering was do^sa
sUrwe
A
dsim^in Mexico with Pancho Villa. Tex
was an important officer under Villa,
and fought in most of the campaigns of
that King of Brigands. Well, Tex,
naturally enough, picked a story about
Mexico. Here it is:--
Mad forces of nature are at work
along the West coast of Mexico, and therete
a dramatic story to tell. The Mesiican
government has a penal colony on
Las Ires Marias Islands, and those
islands are being shaken by some strange
power from under the sea.^ Sii* For three
days they have beenand huge
waves from the ocean are washing in.
Within a period of three hours, 27
earthquakes have been counted. And
volcanic craters near the edge of the
NEIS HEM - 2.
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
“■'■Xl-SM
Page.
£
water have been smoking and rumbling.
Cn the nearby mainland,the volcano
Cerobrucko is thundering and spouting
clouds of smoke. That mountain has been
quiet for a hund^rL years, but now it
seems to be about to break forth in some
huge eruption. The earthquakes on the
penal island are attributed to the
activity of the volcano.
Y«ell, the dramaidiH is in those
convicts who are imprisoned on the
trembling Islands. They are in mortal
terror. I hey believe the quakes are
caused by divine vengeance feffi&SEesa-^of a
nun who is confined in the island prison.
She is Madre Concepcion, and she was
convicted of being the moral author of
the assassination of General Ubregon in
1928
.
According to the Associated Press,
those convicts think that the doom of
heaven is descending and that the inxiti
islands are shaking to pieces. They expect
their lonely bits of land to sink into
the sea or that volcanos will explode
beneath the island and blow.them into the
a 11' • They
'-ap-es=fcr
era
trTmg:
amtepr ay»
If the newe were as sparse today as on most Mondays,
I'd te tempted to devote my whole thirteen minutes to telling
you about just one story that is featured on the front page of
erery morning and every evening newspaper in New York City today.
It’s a story telling of the passing of one of the truly great
men of our time, I first became aware of his greatness when I
was with Allenby’s army in Palestine. His name has long been
almost a legendary one out there, among people of all creeds.
The New York Times carries more than a full page of
solid type summarizing
£IRAUS - 2
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
\\
Page.
his epic life story, and quoting the
tributes
sent from
great men all over the world.
Senator Copeland wired from
Washington that America had lost 1h e
greatest philanthropist of this
generatton. former Ambassador Gerarid
calls him New York's first citizen.
John Spargo, the famous radical
economist, calls him the noblest
American of our time and one of the
world's greatest figures.
Ihe man I refer to is Nathan
Straus, whom Kabbi
Wvtfc-
calls "the best
loved Jew on earth."
Tonight's New York Telegram
refers to him as the man who made
fortunes and gave them away to make the
world a happier place.
He became famous for a score
of reasons, among them for introducing
the pasteurizing of milk. It has been
said of him that more children owe their
lives to Nathan Straus perhaps, than to
any
'irtTftnTiim' tmi;!"
i
STRAUS
At hie own expense he established plants for
pasteurizing milk, not only in this country but in many foreign
lands, until today the idea of pasteurizing milk has become well
nigh universal.
Every child in America, and of course every mother
and father, should bow in humble homage to the memory of Nathan
Straus, who came to this country an immigrant boy, became a
merchant prince, and then one of the great philanthropists
and humanitarians of all time.
On his death bed he said that it gave him happiness
and contentment beyond price to look back and feel that he had
lived a full life and done his duty according to his means.
What a marvelous thing to have a record like his to
be written against one's name in the book of life
Page
I
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
ffZAR
h
strange dispatch from Paris
tells of a new saint - St. Nicholas, and
that Nicholas was the ill-fated czar
who was murdered by the bolsheviks.
rtussian refugees in Paris are
said to have formed a movement to
canonize the last of the czars. They
demand that he be given a place on the
roaster of Russia's saints and that his
image be put in a place of honor*
in the stained glass
m
ndows of
orthodox Russian churches. There has
been a report that ^sseHwes^crf the remains
of the bodies of the czar and his family
have been brought to trance, and,
accordino to the International News
Service, the Russians who regard the
czar as a saint want these relics to
be gx honored as the relics or other
saints are honored.
Well, all
of this sounds strange
to
us -
it
must sound, a^sa to
the
Red
Communists
who
rule in Moscow.
TRAQBmtlD.
Page.
I "2-
l!m sorry to have to
tonight
that no word has been recei ved -arbotr^^the
IK tonii
1
fefc 14 -^g /
A
Tradewind. Uaptain iVicLaren and Mrs.
beryl Hart cook oft from Bermuda on
Saturday on their way to the Azores.
They should have reached Hiose islands
long since, but there has been no sign
of them. It looks as Uiough these two
brave aviators may be just two more
names on the roll of those adventuring
spirits who have tried to conquer the
Atlantic by air. Although, of course,
it may be that they, have been
JB*k
picked up by a ship.A Let's hope they
have.
iL
!
1
2
3
4r
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
QI-30-
sm
QEIBQ1I
Page.
n
And now for some^Sfiirtidi good news.
It comes from out at Detroit. The
automobile industry seems to be definitely
swinging back to normal.
The Assoc i
Press tells us that
the automobile
out there are calling their men back
by the thousands. More than 100,000
ws**Wfchave
jobsrecen 11 y
The International News Service reports
that conditions in Uetroit are almost
back to normal .
!
I I
I1 !
'*
!
III
i!
,
i
• : I
f [I
l':.' («
GfiLE
Page.
Right here I Tm going to yell
,,fore,,r-
not that I’m taking a swing at a golf
ball or anything like that. But I just
want to disagree with that Judge out in
Pittsburgh. He says that a golfer is
under no obiigation to yelI "fore" when
he dr i ves the ball.
According to the Associated Press,
Leon Benjamin was hit by a golf ball
driven by Maurice Nernberg. So Benjamin
sued Maurice and the Jury awarded him a
thousand dollars damages. But Judge
Swearingen reverses that and says that-£oe+t
if you don’t yell ’’fore"--ifert^fc8 no
proof of negligence.
So hereafter when you're on the
\ 4
links, you.better duck when you hear
’
J
A i .
Q
"fore"--and
when you danil.
i V
Page
/ ^
Now for one of those marvels
of science that takes our breath* away.
The Associated Press informs
us that Professor Ross of Stanford
University has been making X-rays do
all sorts of marvelous things, and now
an
he has succeeded in devising/X-ray screw
dr i ver.
and those mysterious waves of
uk
ether
proceed to turn that screw and drive
it in.
won't help you in your household
carpentry because when you use that
X-ray screw-driver it costs just Five
Thousand Dollars to drive each screw -
He just turns the X-ray on
No, this new scientific marvel
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
Page
11
?
We wi II just address a tew words
at this point to Officer McGuire.
\t
n
j
:
j
:
•
eo-ygu
t©
Yes, Officer, you js^.leave
the witness stand for a moment and throw
that chew of tobacco out cNt the court
room w
i
ndow.
All of which means that,
according to the Associated Press, the
great Midwestern Metropolis of Kansas
City, has passed a rule that hereafter
policemen
chew
tobacco while on the witness stand.
TOPICS BJ BRIEF
The Literary Digest this week quotes a line from the
Passaic News:- A SCIENTIST SAYS THERE IS HO SUCH THING AS A
PERFECT CLIMATE. CALIFORNIANS WILL RETORT THAT THERE IS NO
SUCH THING AS A PERFECT SCIENTIST.
The Digest quotes the Chicago Evening Post as saying:
"A GOVERNMENT HUNTER IN ARIZONA HAS KILLED 2e300 COYOTES, 700
BOBCATS, 28 WOLVES, AND EIGHTEEN MOUNTAIN LIONS.*’ Then ados the
Chicago Post, "THAT MIGHTY HUNTER SHOULD BE TRANSFERRED TO CHICAGO."
From the Detroit News, the Digest quotes as follows:
A DETROITER WHO IS STILL UP TO THE EARS IN THE STOCK MARKET SAYS
KE MAY HAVE TO GET IN TOUCH SOON WITH A CERTAIN HEATHEN TO WHOM
HIS WIFE SHIPPED A BARREL OF OLD TROUSERS, ETC., IN 1928.
And then there's a wintry note in this line which the
Literary Digest gives us from the Milwaukee Journal:
THE SNOW
1
2
3
4
5
6
y
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
1
IGE1£S Ik
MILL -
2.
It
Page.
[S'
IS BEAUTIFUL IF YOU ARE ..ATGHING THE
OTHER FELLOW SHOVEL IT.
Florida chimes in with what sounds
like a plaintive E^ier^ from the orange
growing belt. TheAbigest gives this one
from the Key West Citizen:
IF ONLY
BURBANK COULD HAVE LIVED TO SEE HOW MANY
GALLON.S OF KRKMKH ORANGEADE ONE ORANGE
CAN MAKE.
gUD
I have a letter here from F# Gregory Hartewich, the
sage of Pamwood, Hew Jersey, Well, Gregg's an old friend of
mine and he sends me a clipping that's got him all steamed up.
Gregg goes on to tell me how much he likes spaghetti.
He thinks about a yard of spaghetti is the next thing to heaven,
and so he's a bit indignant to find somebody delivering a news
paper blast against the delicacy which he inhales with such relish.
Well, it's an Italian who denounces spaghetti, the wild
futuristic Marinetti who paints futuristic pictures and writes
futuristic verse. Marinetti has t± informed tne Italians that
spaghetti is bad for them « and that's news. He says the
Italian people are lacking in fire and blazing temperament and
don't get excited easy enough — and that's news also. Anyway,
he blames it all on spaghetti, and, as Gregg Hartswich writes,
that's Dad news.
But Marinetti goes on to say that the Italian people, or
for that matter any kind of people, should eat futuristic dishes.
These alone, says Maripetti, can satisfy the sense of taste and
also the aesthetic sense of man* Then he goes on to tell what
futuristic dishes are.
Here* e a sample of a futuristic dish:- It is called
"equator and north pole", and Marinetti says it*s composed of
a platter lull of raw eggs with salt, pepper and lemon. This
forms the equatorial sea. In the middle of it stands a cone,
something like a mountain. It's made of whites of eggs and
inside are circular slices of orange. These represent the
sun. At the top of the cone are pieces of truffle, that savory
kind of mushroom. The pieces of truffle are cut in the shape of
airplanes, and they symbolize man*s conquest of the zenith. So
that’s the famous futuristic dish called "equator and north pole
Well, I’m going home to dinner now, and I’m not going
to have any futuristic aesthetic dish like that "equator and
north pole". I'm hoping my wife will have my favorite dish -
corned beef and cabbage. At any rate, here’s hoping, and
SO LONG UN^IL TOMORROW