davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-06-14
Daily Short Story
The Medicinal Hundred

'enouch 10 bite the head off q
bogie II he ever met one.
Fortunately the course was de-
serted az this hour, except for the
two old men. They kept grimly
al il. their caddies recommending
the correct clubs each stroke, and
sometimes venturing a little IN
IStructlon regarding stance or
swing.
But Shane. at least, got into an
almost frantic perSplratlon. only
once did he really hit the ball
That was on tee No. 6, which was
a short hole of 1872 yards.
There his terrific clout caught
the sphere squarely. sending 1t on
a long straight parabola fully 30
yards so or more yards beyond
the bowl-shaped green
Van RobayS was looking rather
anxiously al him. and Immediately
called a halt when the balls were
putted into the cup. That would
be enough for one day.
POCKETS BET
He pocketed the s. bill which
Shane thrust at him with a
frenzied curse, and led the way
back TO the clubhouse. The score
of nine holes had been 107 10 lSS,
Van RobayS winning.
Before leaving, after a shower
and a long drink had cooled him
down Shane Grimly sought out
the club secretary, made appllca-
ton for membership.
Then he found the club pro, and
dated himself for a lesson a day
for the next week.
I'm going to learn this game,
II amt quite so easy as
thought" he admitted. when
Van Robays drove him back 10
town.
"Doggone you, l challenge you
to another round week from
today. You can get your grand
son TO teach you IL you want.
But I'm going to beat you. doc,
or bust a rib. Then I'm going
TO smash 100
"AIaybe we could make II
foursome." suggested the physl-
clan guilefully. Does your
Molly play golf?"
well. II she doesn't she can
learn" growled Shane. Her
uh-husband-t o-be plays a round
in 20, doesn't he"
THE END.
Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-06-14
DIGS 4 DINoT

Shane began 10 get sore then
lie crouched, and dug a diVot eight
inches long from the smooth grass
Of the tee. But hi, ball actually
did roll about Is feet, so 1t was a
start.
There is no use detailing the
agony of that round. but by the
time both little white balls were
sunk IN hole No. ] Dr. Van
Robays had won with 10 as
against "a strokes.
Dennis Shane was trembling
with the terrific exercise OF
ifoozling, perspiring, and angry
Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-06-14

the first nine holes and see how
that comes out" smiled Van
Robays.
That's = 70, doc" Crun,ed
Shane. and held out a huge hand
for a grip when can You get
loose from here. and 20 10 buy
sticks We can talk over
arrangements while we're doing
that"
Il have no more patients this
afternoon. We can 20 now. just
a moment, till I speak with my
grandson about the cards for
tomorrow"
He left the office. stopping II
for two minutes at the chromium
and tile office OF young Dr. Bart
Van RobayS across the corridor
Tho old man talked briefly but &c
the point,
No SISSY GAME
so YOU will fin the cards"
he said cot course I'll give
YOU n check for all the expense.
But IL just might happen that
tomorrow might change "A stub
born old Irishman's mind for
him-make him realize that
golf il not such sissy game.
II do not think that he has
walked Ave miles--abOut what
is necessary To play l8 holes
i'm 80 years"
You're n swell old devil.
grandad. Lordy. l hope your
prescription works. Molly and
will get married anyhow, i
suppose. hut she doesn't want
60 without his permission.
"The medicinal hundred. You
figure that by the time he
reaches i00-If ever--he1l be
sold on the game"
one Of the most ludlcrous and
golf games ever staged,
took place on the Red Coarse Of
the Burning Bush Club. beginning
at quarter of nine that Wednesday
Bart Van Robays had made all
arrangements 49, which included
an extra dollar tip
apiece 10 two of the best caddies.
These boys knew they had TO
guide two complete tyros, and
formally would have been dis
yuSted at the prospect
But 10 start out with two rich
Did men, and gwen dollar tips in
advance, there was no telling but
what the morning might be eX-
,eedingly lucrative.
Ii was needed.
Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-06-14
LUGS BIG BAG

Dennis Shane had lugged out a
14-inch leather bag in which were
Is shiny stainless steel matched
clubs, an outfit which had cost him
something like Sl6O.
The spare. whlte-halred doctor
had invested in a canvas Sunday
bag containing Just driver. mid
iron. mashie and putter. His
caddy had a light load.
The topped ball hoped forward,
right down the center of the fair
way Of hole No. |. but did not
travel more than go yards.
Huh" Snorted Shane. you'll
have TO put more muscle In 'em,
doc, il you're going TO play along
with me-"
With a baseball grip on his
driver, and his big feet splayed
apart. Shane swung with all his
weight and strength Al the
dimpled pellet there on the Tee
There was a whooSh of air and
the hall remained right where II
had been
Shane swung clear around, al
most sitting down. Then he
frowned at the ball
"One," counted Van Robays
in a mild voice.
Huh: D'you mean II counts
II don't hit II at all? pro-
tested Shane.
Whoosh! He swung again anC
missed. the club head passing 2
good eight inches above the bal
on It's tee.
The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1941-03-28

This credit idea has already been
introduced by some railroads. You
can take a transcontinental choo-
choo ride now on the so-much-down
and-so-much-a-month basis, and the
idea is proving popular. Americans
like to travel on the cuff, and there
is something highly satisfying in be-
ing able to owe railroad money.
When you have to plank down your
money before you even get by the
iron gates at railroad terminal it
takes something out of the trip.
No matter how good the scenery is
you discount it on the ground that it
ought to be better for that much
money.
If you are jerked out Of an upper
berth by a green engineer or bad
brakes it is all the more exasperat-
ing when you know the discomforts
have been paid for in advance.
But if you owe the railroad for
the trip it's not so annoying.
The same will be true of airplane
travel. Your hair may stand on end
at the thought of a cross-country
flight, but it becomes much easier
to handle with a brush and comb
when you know the company can't
take a dime of your dough in adj
vance.
And If you are dropping down by
parachute, think of the satisfaction
Of knowing that it's all being done
on the deferred payment plant
49,
There will be the kick, too, Of get
ting bill from the air lane COM
pany with a "please remit" nota-
ton and dashing off a little note:
Gentlemen:
"Your bill for flight to Chicago re-
ceived and in reply I beg to state
that I did not enjoy the trip. It
was very bumpy, the plane was two
hours late and it was so cloudy that
/ did not see half the scenery / was
entitled to. was not satisfied and
hope there can be an adjustment.
''P. S.-The hostess wasn't good
looking, either. I should say she
wasn't within $40 Of the good looks
of the hostess on my previous trip
so you ean take something off my
bill for this, too"
The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1941-03-28
AIR TRAVEL ON CREDIT

Seventeen air lines have an.
nounced an installment plan for air
travel. No down payment is re-
quired. You get ticket to 60 up
If your credit rating proves you are
the sort Of person who will come
down and make good.
The idea should bring many more
customers. Lots of people would fly
il they knew it wouldn't cost them
a cent until after they had landed.
This is the first time in flying his
tory that it has been possible to risk
your neck on a credit basis.
It is almost like hoping, collect
on-delivery.
And it is going to seem strange
but highly satisfying to get out of a
clipper and just say, "Put it on my
BILL"
The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1941-03-28
Had Hen but Been Long on
Legs and Short on Mech!

The landlady glanced round the
table at her twelve hungry board
ers before starting to carve the
rather sad-looking chicken.
In rapid succession she asked
each which part of the fowl he
preferred. Ten of them decided
on legs.
The carver dropped her knife
with clatter on the dish.
'What do you imagine this is?"
she said, sarcastically, pointing to
the chicken. "a centipede, or
WHAT"
ooh, no." replied the boarder
who had been served. Judging
by the piece of neck I've got, I
should imagine it was a giraffe. -"
The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1941-03-28
INSTALLMENT XIII

And that stirred her Ruddy into
still more frantic action. He bum
died his nurse off to an isolation
tent in q clearing at the edge of
the Wiebel farm and commanded
her to carry on as best she could.
"This is like stamping out a prai-
RE fire." he announced. We've got
to check it before it starts
Katie went without murmur.
think she would have. gone to the
north pole if her distracted man-of-
medicine had ordered it. He boiled
with indignation at the carelessness
of the colony mothers. One neglect
ed child, in spite of his warnings,
developed pneumonia. And that
brought a hurry call to me.
'.We've got to have help here" he
said when I confronted him in his
crowded little tent office. 'And as
I'm stopping all public assemblage,
your schoolwork peters out and
leaves you free"
So ! was not only a day-nurse
and scrubwoman and deputy-mar-
shall but also a human laundry and
stove-stoker and milk-distributor
and oiler of desquamating little bod
les. ! took temperatures and
changed sheets and doled out a gall
lon of cathartics. ! kept the shed
warm at night and the sunny side
screened by day. patted soda So
lutions on itchy little torsos and
swabbed out spotted little mouths
and baked sheets and played check
ers with the convalescents and
shooed overinquisitive urchins away
from the door and went to bed so
dog-tired that seven hours sleep
seemed nothing more than seven
ticks of my alarm clock.
But behind my back, all the while,
life was going on as life has the
habit of doing.
For the colony wasn't without a
valor all its own. Every mass mi
grafton, felt, must have had its
casual mishaps and touches Of
misery.
The misfits might rail at Ruddy
and his health rules and the mall
contents might squat about the Com
missary porch and crate at the bu-
reaucrats who were turning Mata-
nuska into something worse than
Soviet Russia But the real home
seekers were already out on their
plots getting bit Of land ready
for belated seeding or lending a
hand at building shelter for their
belated stock. They were the hope
of the Project.
And among the women. found.
The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1941-03-28

"Are you all right" he asked.
'I'm all right" told him. And
attempted to prove it by going out
and bringing in the mud-smeared
and forgotten blackboard.
He stood watching me as wiped
the mud, and then what was UNI
mistakably a bloodstain, from that
ignobly acquired symbol OF author
ity. Then, still without speaking,
we stood rather foolishly looking
into each others eyes.
''This won't happen again." he
said with a steely sort OF quietness.
He glanced down at his bruised
knuckles. ''You know, OF course,
what that rabble-rouser wants to
do? He wants to throw scare into
you, to brighten you out Of your job,
to make this valley intolerable."
"Why should he?" ! asked.
At think" answered Lander, tits
because he has Trumbull behind
him. There's more than one way,
remember, of fighting a mine
claim
A ghostly voice was telling me
that it would be sweet to lean
against wide shoulder like that,
whatever the outcome, until life lost
q little of its uncertainty.
A car horn sounded outside the
shack. The door opened, and we
stared at the rough and mannlsh
figure of Katie O'Connell.
"You're the bozo want" was her
grina-noted announcement. We've
got to get action here or there'n be
hell to pay. There's three clear
cases of measles in that tent coll
ony, and about two hundred kids
who've been exposed to it. Colonel
Harris gone over for the Anchorage
doctor, but that doesn't solve our
problem"
"what is it you want?" asked
Lander.
1T want Doctor Ruddock here" "
said Katie's prompt proclamation.
''And inside of twenty-four hours
I've got to have hospital OF some
kind"
"Then you'll get it," Lander said
with reassuring curtness. We've
got the material and we've got two
hundred workers"
"What workers." challenged Ka-
tie. "Those bind1e stiffs in the CCC
camp have just told me they're
walking out. They say they're on
strike. And the building-gangs claim
they have orders to stick to houses"
''To hell with ORDERS" barked
Lander, sat time like this. / say
you'll get that hospital. And you'll
get it, lady, before take these
boots off,"
The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1941-03-28

there was the same division be-
tween the misery-mongers and the
homemakers. While the triple
chinned Betsy Sebeck sat on chop
ping-block and rallied at the Com
missary for ladling out coffee that
wasn't dated and butter that smelt
cheesy, a more energetic group Of
housewives were down at the salmon
stream, with pitchforks, ladling out
half ton OF fresh fish, where the
water was almost solid with red
meated bodies, which were prompt
ly dressed and sailed, or processed
and canned and slowed away
against a rainy day. Some Of them,
! noticed, had already planted sweet
peas along the black-earthed ter
races in front Of their still unfinished
houses.
They made my own humble wicky-
up, when Ruddy's prairie fire was
finally stamped out and I moved
back to my home on the Jansen
clearing, seem very small and
antiquated affair. The quietness OPP
pressed me.
/ was glad when Katie dropped in.
But her spirits, for once, seemed
anything but light and airy.
What's on your mind?" I de-
manded.
"A couple Of snapshots" was Ka-
ties rather cryptic answer.
Snapshots of what?" asked.
"Of snip of a surgical nurse
down in that Seattle hospital" the
gloomy-eyed Katie replied. "Rud-
dy just showed 'em to me. He
seems to think she's the last word
in womanhood.
Life, I felt when Katie went on
her way again, was a dolorously
muddled-up affair.
It didn't make a good beginning
for my first night back in the wicky-
up. And, a little later, it was
crowned by a still more unpleasant
thing.
For most Enthusiastically, on that
first midnight Of my new loneliness,
somebody came to my cabin and
tried to force the door open.
! wasn't sure just how much pres
sure my crossbar would stand. So
! CROPPED about in the darkness, aft
er slipping out of my bunk, and
made search for Sock-Eye's re-
volver.
! waited, with the big six-gun in
my hand, until the sounds began
again. Then I deliberately fired
shot at the wall, as gentle remind
er of what that would-be intruder
might expect.
The warning, apparently, wasn't
wasted. For nothing but silence,
after that awful roar of sound, came
to my ears.
But, even though took Sock-E Eyes
six-gun to bed with me, it was a long
time before / could go to sleep.
The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1941-03-28
CHAPTER XVII

Long before this colony was
thought of there was small school
at Matanuska Village. It was housed
in what had once been a wooden
fronted trading post. It's floors had
heaved with the frosts of many
long winter, its walls had sagged,
and its roof leaked like sieve. Sam
Bryson, its owner, soured by his
removal as district superintendent,
refused to lift a hand in repairing
the old wreck. The CCC workers
were equally recalcitrant. So Lam
der marshaled corps of volun-
teers and tackled the job. The UNI
dulating floor was made level once
more; the side walls were patched
and Strengthened; two new windows
were put in, and the roof was made
waterproof. They also built dou-
BILE row Of rough little desks and
replaced the rusty old drum stove
with a new and shining air-tight
heater, to say nothing of four equal
ly bright and shining gas lamps.
The Project officials may have
been short on labor but they proved
prodigal enough with supplies. For
they promptly shipped in six gross
Of blackboard wipers and half
truckload of chalk boxes and enough
paper and pencils to run a state
university. They also, ironically
enough, sent a nickel and enamel
water-cooler and an electric fan,
both Of them, of course, quite USE
less. But all shipments Of textbooks
must have fallen by the wayside.
S'lary, openly defying her acidu-
lous old dad, helped me sandpaper
the rough little chair desks and
sweep up shavings and brighten the
windows with chintz.
When asked S'lary, as we worked
there side by side, if it wouldn't be
easier to pursue her studies in such
surroundings, she startled me by the
vigor Of her revolt.
me plant my carcass in one o.
them kid seats?" she Indignantly de-
manded. ''Me squat here and do
sums with bunch of understood
cheechakos who amt able t wipe
their own noses? Not me-"
She was conscious of my frown of
disapproval as ! watched those full
and rose-red lips framing language
so unsuited to the seeker Of culture.
Pops been wonderful" she OBJ
served with new meehness in her
smoldering eyes, Elf you couldn't
come and teach me private. And
once ! got t handlin' a pen as easy
as ! handle a rifle, he allows, I'd
be ready t 60 outside and have q
winter in the States"
ITO BE CONTINUEDJ
The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1941-03-28

Action is eloquence, as Shake
speare once said.
Lander didn't fail the valley in
it's time of need. And Katie got her
hospital.
All she got was a board shed in
terlined with plywood and rooted
with tar paper, bald-looking build
ing with square windows and a row
of army cots along one wall. But
twas shelter for Katie's patients.
It didn't come easy. When Lam
der put his pride in his pocket and
talked to the transient workers he
got nothing but jeers. For Eric the
Red, obviously, had been working
on them. They declared they were
already imposed on and underpaid.
But Lander didn't give up. He
hurriedly canvassed the colony tents
and unearthed three men who had
once done carpenter work. Then he
went after the old-timers. He got
Hans Wiebel. Then he got Sock
Eye, and the quick-handed father of
Ollie Eckstrom, and a stalwart ex-
cabinetmaker who knew the mean
ing of edged tools. The acid-spirited
Sam Bryson, it's true, fatty refused
to come to our help. But Salaria
just as fatty defied all paternal in
functions and joined UP with the
group.
Then the dirt began to fly. Half
am hour after the site and size Of
the building had been decided the
pillars were bedded and the sills
laid. While helped to lug two-by-
fours from the track side lumber
piles the wide-shouldered Salaria
strobe back and forth with twelve
foot boards on her back. She glo-
ried in dumping her gigantic loads
at the feet Of the busy Lander. And
almost as fast as we could carry the
allotted timbers they were caught
up and measured and shaped while
the sound of hammer and saw filed
the valley.
Northern nights, at this time Of
the year, are not long. But, when
darkness came on, fires were light
ed and lanterns were swung above
the busy workers. They neither
grumbled nor rested.
It wasn't until the sun began to
show over the peaks of the Talkeet-
mas that Katie and took time off
to serve them with coffee and hard
tack. But by then the floor had been
laid and the walls were up and the
roof was ready and waiting for its
covering of taxpayer.
BY noon the roof was finished and
Katie's brand-new Red Cross flag
was flying from its peak. Then the
windows were screened, and the
drugs and dressings and towels and
instruments and enamelware were
carried in from the emergency tent.
Everything looked so shipshape that
The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1941-03-28

A LII padded and preened are
= \ Hattie, the hen, and her proud
rooster hubby. They've plain-col-
ored wings, tail feathers and
combs-and not one ruffled feather
on their 13-inch print-materia1
bodies.
Pattern Z9034, 15c, enables you to make
both hen and rooster into delightful cud.
die toys for the kiddies. Send order to:
The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1941-03-28

ugnung the CODurn cla1ms breaks WIN
Trumbull. But he remains engaged to
Trumbull's daughter. Barbara.
Lander becomes field manager for the
Matanuska Valley project.
Carol and he both are enthusiastic about
LNSTALLMENT XIII
Katie hurriedly donned q uniform,
as brand new as her Red Cross flag,
and gave instructions for the carry
ing in Of the sick children. There
were seven of them by this time.
And just as the last Of them was
being tucked into bed Doctor Rud-
dock appeared in our midst and
promptly announced that from that
day forward he was to be recog-
nized as the official man-of-medi-
cine for the valley project.
I could see the glow that came
into Katie's Celtic eye as she caught
the significance of that announce
ment.
That's great" she said, with a
quaver in her voice. He inspected
the building and lamented the alb
sence Of running water and laughed
at the electric sterilizer, which
couldn't be used, of course, until
the completion Of the Projects gen.
Grating plant.
They're throwing money away
on the wrong things" he said, aft
er a quick appraisal Of the sup
plies.
And that seemed confirmed, two
days later, when a motor ambu-
lance was unloaded from fiat car,
a highly vanished and urban-look-
ing ambulance designed for the use
Of the new Red Cross nurse. But
Katie promptly cottoned to that We
hicle, which because Of its sable
paint scheme, she christened "Black
Maria"
But Katie soon had other things to
think of. Two cases of scarlet fe-
yer developed in our little tent city.
The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1941-03-28
333 4:HE4z31a
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Write today for catalogue and price sist
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The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1941-03-28

the future Of the new colony.
Eric, the Red. and gang Of workers
bring Carol blackboard and becomes In
sulting. She faces them with q pistol Ian.
der arrives and knocks Eric out.
Once more Lander had been her protector.
The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1941-03-28
MERRY-GO-ROUND

That $1-a-day wage increase asked
by the United Mine Workers was o
compromise forced on John L.
Lewis. Looking for trouble, he want
ed to demand 81 a day, but other
UNIV leaders, at the secret policy
meeting, voted him down.
Although his reelection is still IS
months off, Rep. Bob Ramspeck's
denumciation of the bill in the
Georgia legislature to ban strikes in
defense industries already has
brought out an anti-labor candidate
against him.
The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1941-03-28
CAN YOU REMEMBER

Away back when an invitation to
get off the earth was practically an
isolated instance?
Defense workers are being housed
in trailers in some parts of the coun-
try. After night in trailer a
man must be pretty glad Of a
chance to 60 to the shop where he
can get good rest.
The horse seems to be finished in
the army, but it requires a lot of
imagination to picture anybody
shouting: "A tank, tank, my king
dom for a tank!"
Two hundred thousand workers in
the printing trades want radio ad-
vertising curbed. In this they have
the hearty support Of at least 80
per cent of the radio audience.
In this departments opinion ra-
dio advertising is, most Of the
time, offensive, annoying and a
darned nuisance. Elmer Twitchell,
for instance, is so bothered by it
that he lists all the products bally-
hooed on the air waves SO he will
remember what NOT to buy.
''Hellzapoppin" was performed for
the draftees recently. This gave the
boys chance to laugh at the jokes
that cheered their fathers up Is
years ago.
We can't be very close to war
yet. George Conan hasn't writ
ten song for it.
. .
An average of $50 was spent by
every family in the country for
amusements last year, mostly NOV
ing pictures. That's lot of money
to spend for souvenir soup spoons.