davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Imperial Valley press., 1935-04-02

SACRAMENTO, April 2. Wp) =
Intimation that perjury or con-
spiracy charges may result from a
legislative investigation of Illicit
lobbying activities was made by
Assemblyman C. c. Cottrell today.
While a special assembly commit
tee prepared to resume tomorrow
the inquiry into charges that Ma
than j. Elliott, Los Angeles truck
ing association manager, boasted
he controlled 81 or 90 assemblymen
and could swing any bill for $33 900
Cottrell said the committee would
be justified in pressing charges if
it felt they were warranted.
During questioning of Elliott late
yesterday, Cottrell said to him:
Fourteen witnesses have told us
that you claimed control Of 81 or
% Southern California assembly,
men,"
IF there were 500 entered into
a conspiracy to discredit me, I'd
still deny 1 ever claimed control of
one or a dozen or 81 Or 100 legis-
Imperial Valley press., 1935-04-02

Sally Ann, are in town for few
days.
w. A. Meyers of New Mexico has
been visiting his son Joe Myers of
this city for the past week.
Fred Cline, who was operated on
for appendicitis the past week is
greatly improved.
Miss Jean Kenny, small daughter
of Mr.. and Mrs. E. l.. Kenny, had
the i'll luck of breaking her arm
Friday.
Mr.. and Mrs. w. II. Longsatff of
San Bernardino had a most en-
joyable visit with Mr. and Mrs.
Walter Reynolds over the week.
end. Mrs. Longstaff is Mrs. Rey-
nolds mother.
Mrs. George Bls,ckwood enter
tanned recently with bridge par
ty. Dainty refreshments were
served after an enjoyable bridge
game. Those present were: Mes
damse Melvin Williams, Fay Rock
well, Graham Rogers, Carlton
johnson, Leslie Whitlock, Billy
williams and Orville Maynard.
Mr.. and Mrs. E. L. Dreher of
Claremont, parents of Mrs. Her.
man Smith, are visiting in town for
a few days. Mr.. and Mrs. Dreher
were accompanied by Mrs. A. Gle
venger who is visiting Mr.. and
Mrs. William White of this city
and also by Mrs. Morrison who is
visiting the Smiths.
Mr.. and Mrs. Ralph Thompson
of Adele heading were Sunday Wis
itors at the home of Mr.. and Mrs
j. B. Lewis.
Misses Billie and Clara Carr OF
El Centro visited Mr.. and Mrs
Herman Smith Sunday.
The missionary society of the
Baptist church met recently at the
home of Mrs. James Little for ar
all-day meeting. Pot luck luncheon
was followed by an interesting pro-
gram in the afternoon. Those pre-
sent were Mesdames ]. B. Lewis, o
Walker Tom Sawyer, E. N. Hop
per, NJ H, Gavin, A. l.. Burns
house and daughter, Lorraine, M
A. Kendal, James Little, Mrs. Otis
Watts, E. w. Smith and George
| Little.
The World Wide Guild girls
meeting will be held at the home
of Miss Jessie and Leona Mitchell
Pot luck dinner will be served al
$3.50 p. m.
Mrs. Earl Rowlinson and sor
Billy of Los Angeles spent Sunday
in Holtville visiting Mr. and Mrs
j. B. Lewis.
Fred Clavel of San Diego spent
the weekend in town visiting
friends.
Miss Hilda Ausburger spent tht
weekend in Los Angeles.
Mr.. and Mrs. Edgar Blake are
back in town after ten days visi
to the coast. They are both yer!
much improved in health.
Geroge Buckley of Los Angeles
who is representative of the Chi
cago and Alton railway was visiting
in Holtville Friday
Mrs. Les Rogers and Ann Brigg
of Ell Centro were visitors in Holt
vile Monday.
Mrs. Harry Brown of Banning
spent the past week in Holtvill
visiting Mrs. John Kilgore.
Mr.. and Mrs. R. R.. HOFFMAN mo
tored to San Diego to spend Tues
day and Wednesday visiting Nh
and Mrs. j. T. HOFFMAN.
Mrs. Joe Holmes returned HON
this morning after spending tn
past three days in San Diego.
Mrs. C. F. Brown, house guest c
Imperial Valley press., 1935-04-02
,lOUNTYBRIEFS

Perishable Shipments
OF perishables yesterday. according
10 B. A. Harrigan. were one car
lettuce, 16 cars carrots, one car
grapefruit. two cars peas, one ear
asparagus.
L0st-Pieree Arrow boys bicycle.
Color. req enamel and chromium
plated. Finder call MeNeece Ser
vice Station. Reward offered 29t4
Files Divorce Complaint - Aline
Bales has filed her suit for divorce
in superior court against Russell
Bales charging extreme cruelty.
They married October 5. 1881 and
separated October /. 1894.
Real Good Steaks-SherWood s.
Fifth and Main. 29to
Building Permit Issued-To j. II.
Cooper for alterations at the Bar
hara Worth hotel, $237.
Hotel California Coffee Shop -
Charcoal broiled steak dinners from
to 8. 26to
Four Police Cases In police
court this morning Robert Burger
was given a Today Jail sentence
Gn-a vagrancy charge; Luther Mar
berry drew a Today suspended
Imperial Valley press., 1935-04-02
Birthday Party
At Nixon Home

HOLTVILLE, April 2. (SpeciaD
Miss Jean Nixon celebrated her
tenth birthday recently with a
party given by her mother, Mrs.
Nixon, assisted by Mrs. George
Graeser. After an afternoon of
games, dainty refreshments of
sandwiches, jello, cake and ice
cream were served.
Guests included: Francis Nixon,
Allan Harris, Jewel Richards,
Juanita Lewis, Bobbie Maxwell,
Phillip Griffin, Claude Ruth Ack-
er, Joyce Kaiser, Peggy Nixon,
Jean Nixon and Mrs. Grace Harts-
horn.
Imperial Valley press., 1935-04-02

Henery, Mittie Knight. Mary easy,
Mary Knight. Evia Little, Matilda
Rogers, Avis Arp, Richard Merrill,
Della 10 Umphries. Callie Standi-
fer, c. E. Boren, Anna M. Taggart.
Visitors were Pearl Bird, Violet
June Whitmer. Drake, Abigail
Duncan and Miss Bernice Cox.
Imperial Valley press., 1935-04-02
ENTERTAINs QUILTING CLUB

HOLTVILLE, April 2. tSpeciaD-
Mrs. Chroma Cox was hostess for
the Quilting club which meets
weekly. After a pot luck lunch, the
ladies spent the afternoon quilting.
Members present were Mesdames
Ruth Knight, Evia Turney, Nellie
Imperial Valley press., 1935-04-02
The Weather
Is ANGELES AND VICINITY

Considerable cloudiness tonight
and Wednesday; moderate temper
azure with little change; gentle
changeable wind, mostly from the
southwest.
Imperial Valley press., 1935-04-02
Actress Attacked
BY TtUo Burglars

HOLLYWOOD, April 2. up
Barbara Leonard, motion picture
actress, was recovering in a hospital
today from injuries she said were
inflicted by two men who attacked
her in her home and robbed her
of jewelry, silverware and clothing.
The actress said her assailants
posed as newspaper solicitors to
gain entrance, knocked her uncon-
scious and after binding and gag
ging her, locked her in a clothes
closet while they rifled her rooms.
The proposed cooperative winery
at Napa has been abandoned due
to lack of support.
Imperial Valley press., 1935-04-02
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Fair tonight and Wednesday ex-
cept cloudy extreme west portion;
moderate temperature; gentle,
changeable winds off the coast.
The Washington times., 1935-03-16

Continued next Saturday,
Copyright by Elsie Robinson. Distributed
BY King Features Syndicate. Inc.
The Washington times., 1935-03-16

Presently under the hot, quick
magic of the Californian sun, that
vision burst into fragrant petal,
twining tendril, all about us.
Roses, heliotrope, mignonette, An.
nunciation lilies; blue Spanish
figs, silver olives; bougainvillae
flinging its magenta web over
gray adobe walls; cactus, thrust
ing black-barbed blades through
green moonlight.
And through it all, that odor
that was the West-that mingled
odor Of orange blossoms, gold
tailings from the smelter, sour
wine, blurring loveliness of gum
trees in the rain. Wet mats Of
Christmas violets.
Beatty! About everything else
I was curious, questioning, peSter-
ing. But about that secret, magic
world of Beauty I asked no ques-
tions. It was then, as it is fer
me now, ecstasy and escape.
CHAPTER III
Dreaming, reading, watching
the show-these were the only
things I wanted to do. And
against all pleas and punish
ments, for the first IL years Of
my life I did these three things
and these three only.
Then, flaring like a comet
across that vague, shadowy world
of childhood, came another in
terest. An Absolutely Reprehensi-
BILE interest according to the
standards of those times; a de-
light which could only be in
dulged in furtively. I became
crazy about Boys. An ardor
which, regret to add, they usu-
ally failed to reciprocate, so it
wasn't either comfortable or con-
Venient.
With that, of course, came an
all-absorbing speculation about
babies. Where did they come
from? And how? Naturally, I
was we'll aware that no Nice Little
Girl would wonder about Such
Subjects.
Yet I kept right on wondering,
and tried to find answers in the
dictionary for the franker por-
tions of the Old Testament. But
I never could find any really
satisfactory explanations.
A horrid picture of a disgusting
little girl? Or is it, perchance,
just an honest picture? And are
you, possibly, shocked simply be-
cause you have never before seen
an honest picture of a real little
girl? Decide for yourself.
Growing up. Growing up
against the most dramatic back
ground in America, yet not realiz-
ing that it was dramatic or even
unusual. Absorbing it all, with
out knowing what it meant or
speculating as to what 1t would
do to me.
Even as I watched, the scene
changed. An old world passed; a
new world was in the making.
The gold boom was over; so was
the wheat boom.
Oil stocks took all Dads spare
The Washington times., 1935-03-16

Read This Epic Narrative
OF a Woman s Fight
For a Career

lfather,s creed. They were price
less gifts to a child. Wherever
those two are now, God grant
her still her flowers. And him,
his fighting flame!
So Socialism was added to
Pigsticking as a character builder.
And I began to wonder as well
as watch.
About this time I made a Bar
gain with God. Certain people
evidently got the lean end of
things. I had no intention of
letting that happen to me. had
never heard Of Go-getterS but 1
determined to be one. 1t wouldn't
be my fault if Fate overlooked
me. God, at least, should be re-
minded Of my presence.
A Bargain
We lived in q lonely house on
q hill outside the town. Beyond
our house, on still higher hill
at the end of a sinister, weed
tangled road. was the Graveyard.
I was scared pink of the Grave
yard. But by my youthful rea-
Soning it was the only proper
place to make my bargain with
God, and midnight must be the
time.
Promptly at midnight, with my
skinny young legs shaking and
my terrified young eyes popping,
I went to meet my God. sat
me down on the highest point
Of the hill and told Him what I
wanted. (Candor compels me to
add that the conference was
brief.) Covered with confidence,
and goose.pimples, I informed
God that I wanted to Know Life.
I wouldn't ask to have fun and
be rich and beautiful. But I
must find out everything about
Life; feel all there was to be felt.
In short-in laterday slogan
wanted God to Give Me the
Works.
Would God do that for me If I
was good? He would. He did!
But I've never regretted our bar
gain.
CHAPTER w
There were Wonders in those
days, too. One Of them came to
The Washington times., 1935-03-16

social reckoningS, I was a Nice
Little Girl. But by every secret,
savage, selfish young impulse, I
was Anything But.
Yes, I had golden curls. And
lovely mannerS-Sometimes. And
I went to Sunday school in q
leghorn hat trimmed with forget
me-nots and recited texts about
Jesus. And cried about my sins.
And got converted. And wrote
poetry about God and violetS.
And loved everybody.
Belated Warning
But this was only as long as 1t
suited my convenience-and I
could have my own way. The mo-
ment it didn't-or I couldn't
hated them poisonously and spent
long hours planning delightful
tortures for them and messy
deaths.
At this point, let me issue a
belated warning. If you are a
parent and are counting on using
this article as q Shining Example
for a rambunctious youngster, let
me advise you-don't! That is,
unless you're willing to back 1t
up with equal honesty Of your
own. For at practically no point
did I do those things which a
Proper Child is supposed to do.
I did not study. I did not love
my teacher. On the contrary, I
considered them StupeS and
Meanies, and did my best to an
noy and heckle them and thWart
The Washington times., 1935-03-16

AS q writer Of classical English,
I'd doubtless be the worlds worst
flop. But as a quickener. chiller
and bristler have my points.
And so I, with my outlaw tech
nique, may be able to do for you
what mightier minds might fail
to achieve; make the years
actually live again in you; pass
on the truth to you as Life passed
it on to me, raw and red-hot,
without form or settled meaning.
If I can do that, then this will
be worth reading.
I was not a Blessed Event" I
was just another Robinson kid"
born in a poor mans house in
q poor mans town on whas was
then your Americas extreme west
ern frontier. Benicia, Cal.-deep'
water harbor 80 miles up the bay
from San Francisco, where the
wild waters OF the two great cen
tral rivers, Sacramento and San
Joaquin, unite to pour through
the Carquinez Strait and Golden
Gate into the Pacific.
Tough Town
The year 1888. Gold.boom days
were passing; oil-boom days had
not yet come. Wheat was at its
height-those incredible virgin
The Washington times., 1935-03-16

harvestS from inland ranches as
big as the British Isles. Benicia
and Port Costa, built on neighbor-
hood piles, were loading points
for fleets Of Windjammers from
England, Germany, Spain, Aus
tralia, putting in for the grain
that poured down in a saffron
tide.
Warehouses on the waterfront,
with ships from the Seven Seas
doing business raising hell
at a common stand. Back of the
town a big army post, where
wounds were still healing from
Indian SkirmisheS.
Benicia-" -"the bleSsed''-So Gen
eral Vallejo, romantic Mexican,
had named it, after his lovely
wife. Actually, it was as tough
a little tule town as one might
find in the whole West.
The scene itself-that was the
first sock in the jaw. California,
yes. But California before she
got q marcel. No rose.wreathed
bowers: no cream-puff clouds;
no avenues Of palms. Instead, a
landscape as crude as a cave
mans Scrawl.
Bare, round hills bumped like
sleepy cats about a bowl of bay.
Above, a sky that swept in one
long SWoop from sea line to
Sierra-a sky that made the
cockiest pioneer feel like an in
truding louse. Always that sky
was there, mocking us, dwarfing
us, with the sunlight crashing
and the great winds lashing and
the gray fogs filling it, weeks
on end, with their moaning blind
ness.
Scattered aimlessly about the
hills, along the beach-glimmer-
ing vague as a mirage through
the constant sitting of white dust
lay Benicia. Here and there a
crumpling Mexican adobe. Here
and there an ambitious tWo-story
affair with frenzied fretwork
bordering the veranda, iron dogs
on the Scraggly front lawn, nude
bronze ladies on the rickety front
stairs-and no bathroom. But
mostly whitewashed, red-roofed
Shacks standing stark in baked
earth, their paint peeling under
V41e nfsterlng sun.
Hot, blue sky; BARE, yellow
hills; ruSt-red marsh; bright
green bay. Cutting straight
across them, from skyline to
tideline, ran one long street-a
rutted dirt road, unpaved, un'
shaded.
Across the high end Of the road
The Washington times., 1935-03-16

than the current murderers, hang
ings and cattle rustlings.
And so, being an America.in'
the Making -Nice-Little- Girl in the
'80's and '90's implied a very def
mite ordeal and status. It meant
that-in the face Of all the gypsy
allure-We were respectable
(And what normal child ever
wanted to be respectableO
Nice People
outside Of Sunday school, the
annual Sunday school picnic and
Christmas tree, graduation exer-
cises, Fourth Of July parade,
maybe the circus, we had abso-
lutely no diversions. For we were
Nice People.
OF course, we were poor. I had
one best dress, one school dress,
with aprons. Clumpy pebble
goat" shoes, half.soled until I
outgrew them. Red flannel un-
derwear that made ridges where
modern girls have ankles and
Sex Appeal.
took one bath a week, reluc-
family. In a zinc tub, from which
the yearly enameling peeled in
great scabs, with strong yellow
soap. But at that, I was one
dunk ahead Of most Of my con-
temporaries.
A harsh life? Yes. Ugly, un-
comfortable, insanitary. Yes, but
what had that to do with it?
Well.bred people weren't sup
posed to yelp about trifling hard
ships like that, in those days.
You laugh, now, at the crude
advertisements which portrayed
our mode of life. We'd have spit
with contempt at the advertise
ments which today reveal yours!
Social careers ruined by dish
water hands; big he-males blub-
bering over the curve Of a collar
or the yank Of a shave. And
regular men bled, and regular
women wept, to make the world
safe for knickknacks like these!
But getting back to my favorite
Subject-Me. BY all these outer
The Washington times., 1935-03-16

our house and set new dimen-
sion in my life.
Often I listened to the boast
ings of these Machine Age
youngsters and pity them becal e
they missed the first thrill of 1t
all. And I'm back in that dim
room where we all sat and waited
for the night to come, feeling
again the strangeness that held
us in its grip, watching my
brother Paul's sensitive hand as
it lifted towards the crude bulb
swaying by its long black cord
from the ceiling.
And once more the beauty and
terror of that first white elec-
trical flash sweeps over me!
Electricity-what was it? No.
body knew, they said. Power.
But what was lower? So we
sat watching this strange and
wonderful thing which had come
to us. And my father and brother
sat talking about it late into the
night.
The other children went to
bed. They did not notice me,
sitting in the shadows, my eyes
trapped by that globed fire.
Across the years I see my two
men, their thin faces strained
with their thought. Of all they
said I can remember only one
thing-and the pause that fol.
lowed.
But suppose, Dad" Paul
stopped. The scientific hunger
in him-which was to cost his
life at 33-despised wild surmise,
emotional speculation. But this
thing had swept him beyond his
reserves. Suppose we-a;;.. men
are made of this stuff, too?
Suppose it's-Life! Then, how
about death? This doesn't stop
If the bulb breaks. This goes on
somewhere. Then, If we're
made Of this"
They stared at each other.
The room filled with a great
hush.
Mysteries
Forty years ago. Now Millikan
and Einstein are asking each
other that question, and, out OF
its desperate shadow, the world
is waiting for an answer. Have
you found it, Paul, dear, on that
long trail ahead? Are you trying
to tell it to me now, standing
behind me as I write, smiling
over my shoulder?
CONTINUED next Saturday,
Copyright by Elsie Robinson. Distributed
BY King Features Syndicate. Inc.
The Washington times., 1935-03-16
Great Newspaperwonan
Tells of Her Struggle
AGAINST Odds
CHAPTER /

This my story and I'm going to tell It in my way
If want to swear I'm going to want to sing
dance weep fight make faces relate shockngy intimate
and indscreet facts thumb my at the status quoIm
going just that In Short intend to present. nearly
as can Elsie Robinson herself in person-not talkie
And that is not because Elsie Robinson herself Of
tcuar Importance But these past 30 Of American life
Of tremendous Importance They were probably the
important epoch in human history They brought deep
changes drastic adjustments in human relationships
part Of those years. was caught in those changes
And though you may not realize too are caught in
he yOu oo being whirled along in their fierce onrus
&c. if you would make the most Of your e you must
understand strange happenings which nodded mine But
that comprehension cannot be awakened in merely by
scanning pages Of correct English It be awakened only
through the quckening Of your pulse the chilling Of your
spine the brstling Of your hair along the collar line
The Washington times., 1935-03-16

their irritated efforts to educate
me.
I could see no value in those
efforts. They had not the slight.
est relationship to the life around
me. They answered none Of my
questions, shaped none Of my
yearnings. They were cut-and.
dried formulas, passed on by
bored and embittered women
whose very status as teachers
labeled them as failures in that
day, a fact which I could not
fail to know-and profited by
accordingly.
Modern educators assure me
that my conclusions and reactions
were both correct. But this
Twentieth Century discovery didn't
help me or my exasperated elders.
AS for those elders, at ten al.
ready had formed definite con.
cluSionS as to their characters
and the way they conducted their
world.
Outside Of a few idolized excep.
tions, considered them to be
silly, greedy, spoiled humans who
had made a terrible mess Of
something which should have
been shining and thrilling.
Now that I'm so and an elder
myself, I know ! was absolutely
right. II only the youngsters
were permitted to say what they
think Of US: If only we were
forced to listen and act on their
suggestionS-what a different
world this would be!
Secret Life
Yet all this time, while I was
raising every form Of Cain which
my lively imagination could con-
ceive, I was also living another
life-a secret, ecstatic life of the
senses which fed voraciously on
the adventure about me, and on
the beauty which those weary,
discouraged Nice People around
me struggled so desperately to
achieve.
That passionate pageant of the
rutted road; that blazing heave
and Swoop Of sky and hill-they
were like q trumpet calling in my
eager ears. And there were
smaller but equally poignant won.
derS:
A raw land. But the wild mus.
tard was head-high on the I'm.
plowed soil; the wild artichokes
reared thorny gray-green jungles
about their flaring purple blooms.
In the dim wilderness close to
their roots tiny brilliant bugs
led a jeweled life. There lay
for hours, drunk with delight,
hearing the wind above me in
the tangled tops.
And always, most enthralling
Of all, there was the Garden.
My mothers garden. Why do
we always mark a country's prog
resS by the battles Of her men?
Why not by the gardens Of her
women?
How did they dare dream Of
such gardens, much less attempt
to make them, those pioneer
mothers? Filling your window
box with hothouse panSieS, you
may well wonder. Seeds planted
in an arid hell where, for every
drop Of precious water, there fell
10 drops Of a weary woman'S
sweat! "Slips" and cuttings"
brought from the ends Of the
earth, along trails puddled with
blood, haunted by the sobbing
ghosts Of Scalped babies!
What courage it took to make
those gardens and what homesick
dreams they held-homesickn
that could keep tryst only through
flowers. Daffodils may be just
daffodils to you. To me they are
my lovely mothers memories OF
Ireland!
Vision
Our garden-a forlorn-enough
thing it was in those earliest
years. Bare sticks, raw clodS,
few reluctant blades. I see her
yet-my mountaineering in the
sand, her fingers busy with q
leafleSS stalk, but in her eyes the
vision Of sweet tangleS half q
world away!
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1935-01-30
BY Ahern

fusillade Of shots followed the retreating
tribesmen as they disappeared into the tall grass
and many Of the bullets found their mark. 1t
was soon over; perhaps the whole affair had not
lasted more than two minutes. But it had wrought
havoc with the company.