Lowell Thomas broadcast ^the Literary Digest Saturday, August 15. 1931. UUUA Good Evening, Everybody; Page 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 n 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 1 The Government of Cuba is singing a song of triumph this evening. It looks as if a quietus has been put on the revolt which has been raging on that lovely green isle of the tropics. Associated Press dispatches indicate that except for sporadic fighting in outlying parts, the revolution has broken down. I he most important single incident comes in the aapadi capture of General Menocal, the leader of the movement against President Machado. General Menocal, who used to be President of Cuba, seems to be the kingpin of the whole affair. The soldiers of the Government have been doing their best to capture him. The end came in the form of a dramatic little thriller. A Government gunboat cruising along the shore caught sight of Menocal and a dozen companions. ~ 2 [ Among these were Colonel Carlos Mendieta, ^ gray-haired veteran of the Cuban Vi/ar °t Independence. The gunboat got in touch with Government troops in the ^'4-31 SM 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 2b 5M - 2 Page ne i ghbor hood , and thfis© "forniQd a half circle and "forced Menocal and his party to the shore. And there the gunboat was waiting. It was a trap, and the revolutionary leaders didn't have a chance to escape. The United Press concludes its account of the incident by saying that Menocal and his companions surrendered themselves to the commander of the gun­ boat, and the next thing you know the warship with the prisoners on board was steaming for Havana. When President Machado was informed he ordered that the prisoners be shown every courtesy, but just the same the Government at Havana hrs announced that General Menocai «nd his twelve aids will be courtmartiai3d and punished. The punishment, however, will be lighter than his usually the custom in Lat in-American revolutions, which i s y\. execution by a firing squad. The statement adds that the prisoners will either be given long terms in prison or 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Page. 3 will be exiled from Uuba for life. Meanwhile, the small fry have been surrendering in wholesale lots. President Machado has declared an amnesty for all those who come in and surrender. Ihey say that today seventy local leaders of the rebellion gave themselves up to the Government authorities. And so while there is still some fighting, especially in the tastern part of the island, the Government of Cuba declares that the back of the revolt is broken and that it's only a matter of a few hours before the last vestiges of the armed i^ew^^aga i n st President Machado will be wiped out. x 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 I SM BUS&iA Page, ^ Another report comes along this evenihg and tells that things are easing up in Kussia. Stalin, the Ked dictator, has announced that the Soviets are going to abolish the system of food rat iorung. I he—Urvi-ted Press reminds us t-bat^jao far as food is concerned, the* Russians are on a severe war-time basis. tverything is rationed out and I can only be had by card. And the Bolsheviks have kept the rations down to a minimum, especially for people who are not members of the proletariat. Ihere hasn't been much to eat for them. Ihe bolshevik v/orking men have had the best of it, and the rest of the population had to take what was left. But now the Red dictator says the food restrictions will be taken off and anybody can have as much as he can buy. That's another important sign that Russia is getting away from rigid theories of socialism and is going back to the old ways of the rest of the world. RUSSIA - 2 Page Sj One important effect of the removal of the food rationing system will be that Kussia won't have so much wheat to export* I he Soviets have been giving their ©=^ people little to eat and have been accumulating huge quantities of grain to sell abroad. But now the Russians will be able to eat more and will consume a good deal of that grain which otherwise might be sent out of Russia. A drought is reported ih eastern Siberia which has ' ‘ ‘‘ ' op weather has been cutting down wheat production in the north 6aucasus. This year Russia won't have the bumper wheat crop that she had last year. And this is an additional fact or that will tend to cut down the Soviet exportation of grain. in tho se parts . 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Elil&IiAL Page. to At Valier, Illinois, on August 30th, five preachers are going to preach a funeral sermon, and the subject of their eulogies will be S. R. Patton, pioneer of the old days, and a farmer. And Mr. Patton is going to be there A listening while those five preachers preach a funeral sermon over him. harner Patton is 80 years old now, and alI his Iife he has wanted to have a fine funeral. He is especially keen about the sermon. When the preacher tells all about the virtues, of the Dear Departed, farmer Patton^wants it to be eloquent, full of big words, and resounding phrases. And l-armer Patton^ has decided he isn't going to take any chances on having a minister officiate at his funeral who isn't a real orator and who c an't preach in rolling, eloquent style. He's going to have a try-outi i his fu ner a I , directing it. five preachers there He's going to have a rehearsal of w it h I i ve and And he 1 s going to have He's going to S-'kSl-SM Eim£KAL_^_£2 Page__£_____ sit and listen while the five get up, one after another, and preach the funeral sermon • The one that holds forth the most eIoquentIy,and I suppose the longest, and the loudest, will get the job. Anyway, as the Associated Press tells the story, tarmer Patton is going to have a rehearsal of the funeral ceremony for himself .with five preachers preaching . I 1 ! '• wwwbwk ' v i „ -Srrji&is&Sim; 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 15 16 17 13 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 COLIflM Page ■£&. 'S' It looks as if that plan sponsored by the Farm Board to reduce the cotton crop is on its way to the waste-paper basket. Four of the most important cotton growing states have turned "thumbs down" on the idea which originated in Wash i ngton,Aof destroying one third of the present crop by plowing under every third row of cotton. And the Associated Press reports that the fifth big cotton state has expressed doubt. This is Texas, the largest cotton-producing state in the country. Texas would have to join in that movement of destroying a third of the cotton crop or the plan certainly wa&iixlRxxXi wouldn't mean anything much. Gov ernor Stepling of I exas denies that he is for the Washington Plan. He explains that he wired the Farm Board, offering his general cooperation, but that didn1t mean he was in favor of the idea of plowing under every third row in the cotton fields. it | think," says the Governor of *^31 5M Texas, "that it would be just as reasonable to ask the harm Board to burn up a part of the cotton they are holding as it is to ask the farmers to destroy a part of their crop. And so it looks as if the people in the South won't see the strange spectacle of farmers going through the snow-white fields of cotton plowing up every third row, Cv fcskafc fcSnP Page--- a-zJtov\ <? Page. M/d Last evening i told how a squadron ot HPmy b otn b i n g planes had set out to sink a ship. lonight that ship lies on the bottom of the sea. but wait a minute — it wasn't the squadron of bombing planes that did it. Well, there was a rain of bombs from the sky. Those great war birds swooped down on that old craft, the Mount Shasta, which had been given to them as a target. Une after another theses huge high-explosive missiles came whizzing down from the sky. They hit and exploded with terrific detonations. The only trouble was that dip they didn^t hit the ship very often. The- Ass oo i-£tte~d hress~ says~ that 8,000 pounds of high-explosive bombs were dropped. When the noise washover the Mount Shasta had a slight fcffaa to starboard and her bridge was wrecked, but she was still afloat, as big as I i fe . 0 j : Army officers say thatyxhe 8,000 pounds of high-expIosive bombs, two II A1£ELM££ - 2 // Page ^ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 bombs hit the ship. iCL ^ but as i said, the iviount Shasta lies at the bottom of the sea. After the bombing squadron had finished its tremendous bombardment and flown away, why a Coast cuard cutter and a Navy tugboat had to go out and sink the Mount Shasta with gun-fire. I don't know what the Army experts are saying about the technical results of the experiment, but I can guess what the boys in the Navy are saying. In fact, it seems to me I can hear echoes of a loud nautical I augh from the general direction of the U. S. Navy. 23 24 25 Page _ The wcr d from Karagin Island tonight is thc-.t two young people are just taking it quiet and easy. The biggest part of their^job is done. And they are going ahead with the rest of it just as quietly and efficiently i as they have done thus far. Of course I mean the Lindberghs. The Colonel apd the Mrs. landed at Karagin, after having, made the longest jump of the i r f l i ght^^They winged their wa^^a'cro ss Bering Sea "kbrxOdJcgth from AI askaj-We I I , efficiently, that's all. The name Lindbergh means "efficiently". According to thei r usual wor king scheme the Colonel was at the controls and the Mrs. operated the radio. Throughout the long flight from Alaska wireless stations of Asia and America and of ships on the sea picked up the calls from the young society woman who is doing her brave bit on a long and dangerous sky voyage. Kar ag i n , as the Associated Press describes it, is a small bleak volcanic island about 25 miles off the ____ i LINDB SECrK - £ coast oi tLe equally bit k oeninsula of Kamcliatka. it is ItOO mil zs flow. Tokio, Vvli cn is the immediate destine tion of the Lindberghs. During the rest of their tri to the Japanese caritsl, the adventurous young counle will fly along the coast of Kamchatka, with gre't cliffs and snow-canned peaks and grass covered hills and volcanic mountains and then further on they will clay lean frog over the snouting volcanoes of the Kurile islands, some of which are inhabited by a strange, rrimitive race known as the hairy Ainu. On their flight down to Tokio they will be flying most of the time over exactly the same route covered in the reverse ti direction by the United States Army Air Service Round-the- V/orld flyers in 1904. But very few aviators have ever flown over that wild stretch and it ^ rob ably will be one of the most fascinating hons of all for the Lindberghs. They exnected to take off on the next leg tonight and wake their next stoo at Petrooavlosk on the mainland of Kamchatk EANG£U££i_MU_.tl£fiimflti i 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 ! 24 26 % Page /•? It's costing Pangborn and Herndon a bit of money. They've got to shell out 4100 yen. 2.0S0 arrch^Se yen eaCh, that's I , CQG do I lars each. ^ n That's their fine for having made a sky voyage to Japan without permission, for having flown over Japanese fortifications and for having taken photographs. The Judge said "Boys, it's going to cost you 2,000 yen each for violating the aviation laws and an extra 25 yen each for flying over those fortifications." The Associated Press describes the two American flyers as being a bit stunned by the size of the fine. Well, I'd be a bit stunned too if somebody walked up and socked me for 4100 yen. There was some talk of ji confiscating their airplane, but the Judge said No, they could have their plane. The question now is whether they'll be allowed to do any more flying in Japan. The Government authorities indicate that the two American aviators may have to stick right down to the 6',6-31~-5M Page___ 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 surface of Japanese soil. If that's the case, why the only why they'M be able to get up into the sky again^will be to climb f-ujiyama on foot. So that plane of ifemiBMi theirs is liable to be somewhat useless for a while. If they aren't allowed to fly again in Japan all they can do is to pack it up and load it on a ship and go somewhere else. However, as the United Press cables, Pangborn and Herndon, although they have to kick in with those 4100 yen, still have a yen to fly the Pacific from Japan to Seattle. They're hoping the Japanese authorities won't insist on keeping them grounded, and will allow them to take off for a flight across the immense spaces of the Pacific. Msw**&^one thing is certain. Pangborn and Herndon are hereafter going to suppress any yen they may have to fly over Japanese fortifications. I he two of them might make a bayonet charge against the Japanese fortifications, but as for scooting over them in an airplane, j ‘•'‘•ll-SM m 2'f 3 i 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 tl4-31-5M Page. -- why NO SIR, not lifter the trouble they have had and the 4100 yen iiiHftftMB theyWe got to pay. I I if I ■fi I si £Ufi£5I £S>w ~fc^J£ Page------Z/7 fyTAf**, 1 remember reading once an amusing yarn which told what happened when a well-known hymn was translated into Japanese. The hymn in question was that old favorite "Rock of Ages." The Japanese language, it appears, is such that when figures of speech are translated into it they're liable to j sound peculiar. For example, take the first Iine of that hymn -- "Rock of Cl Ages cleft for me." The translator turned it literally into Japanese, and when they sang it the effect was somewhat funny. Instead of the highly symbolical sound of "Rock of Ages cleft for me," the Japanese words were very literal and if translated back into ordinary tnglish, it would go something I i ke this -- "Very old stones SooeT for my benefit." /v , However, the Japanese do go in Tor European and American songs. This week's Literary Digest, quoting the ilaaaB AdyaniiSfiL tells us that phonograph records of popular songs selI at the rate of about a million and a half a IllfiESI - 2 Page . /S' month. The well-known University of Maine 5>tein Song is one of the prime favorites, dnd then down the I ine comes a series of tunes that are familiar to ■■ all of us. They're all translated into Japanese and are sung with enthusiasm. The Literary Digest tells us that most of the Geisha girls can sing them in both Japanese and English. And the Digest goes on to give us the Japanese name of one popular number. In Engl ish the name of the song isr- "That's O.K.n Well, how do you say O.K. in Japanese? "just that way.-- O.K. It appears that our popular American expression for "Al I Right" has made its way into the Japanese language, and a Geisha girl is likely to tell you that this or that is quite O.K. I I ike the Japanese version of a song called "You, Dear." Well, "You, Dear" is a sentimental expression, and I suppose the next question is, HOW DO YOU SAY IT IN JAPANESE? The Literary Digest tells us that too. Here it is -- PlGrcT - 3 "Kimi Koishii.” \es, that’s the way you say ’’You, Dear" ' n Japanese -- "Kimi Koishii,” sounds rather pretty doesn’t it? One thing d II kb to hear ould by the Japanese translation of that orerent nooular ditty:- ’’When Yuba -nleys the Tuba Down in Cuba.” That lyric line ought to sound good in the mellifluous tongue of the ancient Land of Nipnon. But my Japanese is limited to just one phrase. I learned it from a newspaper nan on the Japanese American. Here it is -- Ah sheetah Mehdey oh yah soo may na sail. SO LONS UNTIL TOMORROW.