Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1942-12-30
tack Pickering
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-
1.-THE cakes burning. In the
.oven---whaf'n I. do" g
~; sis Ii, y all rEight to to serenade
- "Boes n straight beat full
house ."
"How Is the best way to COM
nit suicide ."
How old is General MacAr-
thur ."
There you have fair sample
Of the telephone calls that come
flooding into this. or any other
big newspaper office. Silly as
some of them sound, each ques-
ton is important 10 somebody
so he telephones 10 his favorite
newspaper 10 get the answer.
The ones listed above are a
few typical samples of thousands
that food in.
It's dull night when the men
on the city desk don't run into
NJ least one new one. OF course,
the desk men are more than
normally rushed these days, hut
they can answer some of the
questions almost automatically.
General Macarthur IN so years
2 old; yes, there VIII he "A presi-
dental election regardless Of
whether war II On-remember,
Lincoln was elected I'm a war
wear; no. the soc locks are net
one of the Seven Wonders Of
the World.
Tn the women'S department.
which is organized 10 handle vast
numbers Of calls, questions are
welcomed. II was Prudence
Penny who heard that first ques-
ton
"The cakes burnlng-what'll
I doe"
Go take IL out right away,
quick" said Prudence. and ex-
planned afierward 10 the woman
that she might have had the
oven TOO hot-that you mustn't
cook a cake for any given length
Of time just because the book
says 50. When it's hot enough
10 burn. its done.
Least welcome are the WOODY
DRINKS who start out:
"Shay, we're having n lii ar
Cument over here In the tavern"
Also IN the ought 10 be
spanked class are school pupils
who try 20 get the paper 10 do
their algebra. grammar or spell
ing for them
Any experienced newspaper
man can recognize those calls
"A mile Off.
But it's not 80 easy 20 guess
what inspired this question:
IF q man Is 81 and eight
tenths years old tonight, when
was he born"
Herb Brean figured that II
would be In February. 1880, hut
refused 10 try 90 work IL out to
the day.
On another paper. a reporter
was assigned 10 talk 10 a woman
who wanted 20 know the best
way 20 kill herself. He discussed
various methods bat warned that
they all were pretty messy and
she wouldn't look nice. Pre-
sumahlN il worked. and she gaze
up the whole idea.
People are forever getting
mixed up with bridge scoring.
or whether a straight beats a
full house. and one late lamented
Spnrts writer. when he got such
calls. used 10 say:
You're sure YOU don't know
whether n straight beats a-full
house, Well. suppose YOU come
down here and play poker, then"
4 romantic young man de-
manded OF Betty McNamee
whether il was proper etiquet 10
screnade his girl.
"Yes. IL she doesn't mind, and
Won can sing" Betty told him.
Jim BoyntOn recently settled
an argument about Syrians.
They come from Syria. Of course,
and not Sicily. as one disputant
insisted. Another was:
What do you call the horns
on n reindcer's head ." (antlers) !;
and another: what character
didn't want 10 grow up?" CHATS
Peter PAM
Cooking questions range from
How do you mash potatoes?
to how 10 cook a bear. a snipe.
or Get the burned taste out OF
chilli sauce. One helpless bride,
who couldn't untangle her cook