The Cass County Sun (Linden, Tex.), Vol. 64, No. 52, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 28, 1939 Page: 3 of 8
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Atlanta Public Library.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
f^rV'vv jfi' ,•■'I,(
—______
THE CASS COUNTY SUN
The Honorable Uncle Lancy
O BobU-M«rill Ca
fiy ETHEL HUESTON
WNUSwvic.
THE STORY THUS FAB
Left orphans by a tragic automobile accident which claimed the live* of their
mother and father, three sisters, Helen, Adele and "Llmpy," are visited by their
Aunt Olympia, politically minded wife of Senator Alencon Delaporte Slopshlre.
She insists that the girls return with her to Washington, to make their home
withi them. In addition to loving the girls. Aunt Olympia knows they will be a
wiii i P° !c? asset. Senator Slopshlre has as his political opponent one Brother
wiuue, a minister, whose political campaign is furthered by seven "unspeakable
brats who sit on the rostrum with him while he makes speeches. Aunt Olympia
and the Senator, kind and loving, nevertheless know that their three nieces will
mean votes for the Senator. Senator Slopshlre, a pleasantly foggy individual who
depends on the astuteness of his wife, prepares for their coming. Though Llmpy,
the youngest, is 16, and Helen, the oldest, is 21, the Senator buys them all the toys
h®can flnd feeling that "children" should be occupied. When they first
meet their Uncle Lancy," as he is to be known, the girls take him to their united
Dosom. Soon Adele, most beautiful of the sfsters, meets Len Hardesty, publicity
man for Brother Wilkie. Though it is Len's job to help defeat the Senator, he
promptly falls in love with Adele.
CHAPTER IV—Continued
The Senator coughed deprecating-
;ly. "She's joking; Adele. This is pre-
-election stuff. Before election day,
[she'll be telling me, with force-
!ful, if inelegant, expletives, that if
I ever run for anything again she'll
divorce, and probably de-neck, me.
This is before-the-campaign stuff."
"My very words," said Aunt
Olympia complacently.
"I forgot my quotes," admitted
Uncle Lancy.
"What a cocky little fool I was,
Brick," Helen wrote home to Iowa,
"to think I could learn this racket in
one year. Aunt Olympia's been in
it right from the cradle—or at least
from the marriage altar—and she
says it's still so much haywire to
her. It seems to be mostly luck
and 'getting the breaks,' and of
course, seizing Opportunity before
the Opposition gets hold of it. Aunt
Olympia says if she didn't watch
every breath the Senator draws, he'd
get himself impeached before break-
fast. But I am learning a little, I
think.
"There's one thing I've learned,
and this is important. We've got to
get over that provincial feeling that
political opponents are social lepers,
to be snubbed and ostracised and
passed by on the other side. Aunt
Olympia says it is a sign of superi-
ority to hobnob with the Opposition
i—except at the polls, of course. She
says it is only little fry who carry
political animosities further than the
Congressional Record. And I must
say, she lives up to her philosophy.
I've met quite a number of Repub-
lican wives and they are very nice
to me and ask me to their meetings
and teas, and Aunt Olympia encour-
ages me to go. Sometimes she goes
with me.
"Really, Brick, they are amaz-
ing, Uncle Lancy and she. Take
Len Hardesty for instance. He is
here half the time, mooning over
Adele mostly, but always showing
up at the dinner table and the cock-
tail tray.
And last week who should breeze
in unexpectedly but Brother Wilkie,
the Governor, running against Uncle
Lancy. He 'phoned and Auntie asked
him to dinner and he came. They
were lovely to him and Aunt Olym-
pia asked him to ask the blessing."
Aunt Olympia was far deeper ki
the campaign than either the girls
or the Senator realized. She spent
two hours every morning carefully
conning the important dailies from
home and making notes of things to
be attended to; cards of congratula-
tions from herself and the Senator
to everyone having babies or getting
married; condolences for illness and
death; approval of the activities of
clubs and church organizations,
with pertinent suggestions and of-
fering co-operation; and she pai s-
takingly, with well-concealed bitter-
ness, received every constituent who
happened to be in Washington and
telephoned or called.
By the first of April Olympia had
completed plans for the campaign
entourage; deciding on a motor
trailer to insure the domesticity of
the family, with beds, kitchen and
cozy dinette.
"We won't have to eat there
much," she assured the girls kind-
ly. "Just enough to get good photos
of how domestic and homey we are,
with you girls tripping prettily
around at your work. We'll have
Hilda send us a crate of cooked food
every day."
"Doesn't she campaign with us?"
"Oh, no! Except in the Scandi-
navian districts, where she sits at
the table with us . . . Not in the
rest of the state. The average voter
rthinks if a Senator can afford a
maid he's getting too much money."
There would be a sound truck for
the Senator's speeches and in addi-
tion to their own big car, a couple
of secondhand Fords for the staff,
visiting reporters, et al. She fretted
a good deal over the sound truck,
ihaving ideas of her own on that im-
portant matter. It must have
microphones both inside and on the
driver's seat: on the driver's seat
to show the Senator off in good
weather and inside "for rain; the
Senator catches cold if he gets wet."
After consulting and personally
inspecting every make of trailer
and sound truck on the market, she
decided to buy—from some home
dealer, of course—old, run-down, an-
tiquated cars that could be rebuilt.
"The shabbier the better—on the
outside," she explained to the girls.
"To take some of the gravel off that
'Alencon' . . . New cars look royal-
istic . . . But don't worry. We'll
have the best and most modern en-
gines installed under the rusty
hoods; like Uncle Joe Cannon, with
silk underwear under his homey
homespun. We'll have them rebuilt
from the tires up—on the inside.
Fortunately, the works don't show."
Aunt Olympia knew her Congres-
sional Record better than her "Al-
ice in Wonderland." She went
straight back to the campaign.
She sent up to Maysville, her
home town and the state capital, for
a motor dealer and had him come
to Washington—at the Senator's ex-
pense—to get her ideas. She had
drawn rough drafts of what she de-
sired, both in trailer and trunk, but
the expert did not comprehend them
readily.
"Why, it's as simple as a—a log-
arithm," she said irritably. "For
the sound truck we want a second-
hand, run-down delivery wagon, an
enclosed one, of course. Put in the
best works you can get hold of.
Get a good sound man to wire it,
with miles on the driver's seat as
well as inside. Build cabinets of
shelves and drawers along the in-
side to put papers and books in.
And leave room for a good easy
chair for the Senator, because his
feet swell before the end of the cam-
A
The Senator coughed deprecat-
ingly. "She's joking, my dear,"
he said.
paign. And put in long narrow win-
dows on each side for ventilation.
Isn't that simple enough?"
"What color you want this paint-
ed?"
"I don't want it painted," she
said exasperatedly. "No paint! I
want rust and mud and scratches
and dents, but no paint. If it's
painted when you get it, you set fire
to it or soak it in acid. Is that
clear?"
The month of April she devoted
pretty largely to planning the girls'
campaign wardrobes. On these, she
spared neither time, talent nor ex-
pense. She had the best dressmak-
ers and designers in Washington at
work. There were graceful, girlish
dresses for afternoon and for din-
ner; there were sport clothes, bath-
ing suits, riding costumes; there
were fetching little costumes of fin-
est gingham for their dainty house-
work about the trailer. Aunt Olym-
pia persistently referred to these as
their "cottons."
"Why cotton, Auntie?" demand-
ed Limpy. "We don't raise cotton
up there, do we?"
"No, darling," said Aunt Olym-
pia, beaming approval for her acu-
men. "We don't raise cotton, but
we have nineteen large cotton mills
and they employ at least ten thou-
sand constituents."
Although all their dresses were
what Aunt Olympia called "vote-
getters" to the last ribbon and the
smallest button, she resefved her
most passionate interest for what
she called their "wind-up ensem-
bles. The Senator winds up with a
huge rally. That's the big night. You
catch a lot of voters—floaters, they
are—if you handle the wind-up right.
Your wind-up costumes are to be
chef d'oeuvres; absolutely chef
d'oeuvres."
"It can't be the same as hors
d'oeuvres," Limpy assured her sis-
ters. "Not even Aunt Olympia
would expect them to eat us."
"I wouldn't trust Len Hardesty,"
said Aunt Olympia. "Not if Adele
looks as well as I expect . . . Let
me see, that will be the first week
of November. Fall dresses. Felt
hats. Wide, sweeping black for Hel-
en with little white doodads. Droopy
white for Limpy with long black
streamers."
"I suppose I'm to go barehead-
ed," said Adele.
"No, no, darling! Not quite. Tee-
ny black and white something or
other, with a bit of a veil and my
only regret is that Len Hardesty
won't be there to see it. He'd stran-
gle the brats with his bare hands."
Helen did not follow the prelimi-
nary campaign activities as closely
as her sisters. Studying the politi-
cal racket kept her fairly busy. She
read the Congressional Record con-
scientiously, if boredly. She spent
hours visiting the Senator's commit-
tees and trying to make heads and
tails of things which didn't make
sense to an average inteiligence like
hers. She hung over the gallery of
the House as if she had become a
fixture there.
Aunt Olympia at last reached a
stage of her preparations where she
felt impelled to ask the Senator's
advica.
"Del, how about a publicity man
for our campaign?"
"Why, we're going to have Dave
Cooper. He's the best we can get,
since Len's tied up. I've already
spoken to him about it. He's work-
ing on it now."
"Yes, of course, for you," she
said significantly. "But how about
the girls here?"
The Senator wisely said nothing,
but the girls rose to it.
"For us!"
"We've had enough publicity to
last us a lifetime!"
"Heavens, Auntie, do we rate a
publicity man?"
"Oh. he'll only be an assistant to
Dave Cooper, but we'll need some-
one to handle our end of it. Dave'll
be pretty busy . . . We need some-
one more sentrtnental. For sob stuff.
Heart interest. Human appeal. Let
me see—um—ah! Del—what would
you think of—well, what would you
think of—say—someone like—Cecil
Dodd?"
The Senator came to with a snap.
"Cecil Dodd! . . . Cecil Dodd, my
dear!" The Senator put on an ex-
tra pair of glasses to regard her
more severely. "Why, Ollie, Cecil
Dodd doesn't know the first thing
about politics! He'd never get to
first base. In fact, he'd never even
get to bat. He's never been in a
campaign in his life. Cecil Dodd—
well, Cecil Dodd is what I call a
sofa-sitter. But I've heard it ex-
pressed more forcibly and perhaps
with more truth."
"Oh, he's not so dumb," Olympia
rose to the argument. "He's chock-
full of human appeal; full of adjec-
tives; why, he knows adjectives I've
never even heard of! He's the loud-
est exponent of youth and beauty
in Washington. Do you remember
those articles he wrote when Sissy
Graves was killed in an airplane
accident? A dozen people were
killed—and some of them important
—but he wrote about Sissy with so
much heart appeal that everybody
forgot all about the rest of them and
made it her exclusive fatality. I
know it brought tears to my eyes."
"I don't go in for tears in a cam-
paign," he said, more on the de-
fensive than the girls had ever seen
him. "There isn't going to be any-
thing milksop about this campaign.
It's going to be muddy."
"He's a fine dancer; he rides
horseback and plays tennis and golf
and has taken prizes for swimming
and diving. Del, try to forget your
personal, political aspirations for
once in your life, and think of these
poor dear children! Don't you want
them to have any amusement? Do
you expect them to listen to you
make speeches and shake hands for
six months with no exercise, no
fresh air and no—no young compan-
ionship?"
This put a different light on the
matter. The Senator took off both
pairs of glasses and set to wiping
one. "That's so," he assented. "I
didn't mean to be selfish, my dear.
The children come first, of course
. . . But I don't suppose we can
get him. I don't think he could tear
himself away from the sofas long
enough."
"We can get him," said Olympia.
"I've already spoken to him—just
tentatively, you understand; asking
why he didn't get into the political
end of it and he said he wanted to
but never got the breaks. We can
get him." A happy smile rosied Her
face. "Waft till Len Hardesty hears
this!"
Len Hardesty was not long hear-
ing it. He dropped in on them the
next night.
"Had to fly down," he said cheer-
fully. "Got to fly back, too. The
Governor's going tightwad on me."
"I'm glad you came, Len," said
Olympia heartily, almost fondly. "I
want to ask your advice about some-
thing."
A guarded expression settled over
his face. "Oh, you do eh? Then
you're up to something I'm
against." He braced himself to re-
ceive it. "All right. Let's have it.
It's d^ad wrong and you know it."
Olympia laughed happily. "Oh,
it's really nothing or I shouldn't be
asking your advice. It's a mere de-
tail. It's about a publicity man for
the campaign. You know those pub-
licity gangsters better than we do."
Len, who had thought he was pre-
pared for anything, was genuinely
surprised.
"Publicity man! Why, you dumb
cluck, aren't you having Dave Coop-
er? If you're not, you'd better get
him and get him quick. He's tops."
"Don't be silly, Len. Of course
we're having him . . . For the Sen-
ator . . . But we've got to have an
assistant. You see, there's going
to be quite a cavalcade of us—what
with the trailer and the tent and the
sound truck and three cars. We
don't want anybody to work day
and night for us. We're not like
some candidates, who expect a poor
publicity man to live, move and
have his being with seven brats and
a trumpeting beldame."
"I smell a rat," said Len Har-
desty. "You never gave me an
assistant."
"But we're a much larger party
this year, you silly dunce . . . No,
definitely, I am for you laboring
classes and I will not have poor old
Dave imposed on and worked to
death, not even for the Senator. But
we'll expect his assistant chiefly to
handle our end of it, mine and the
girls', when the Senator and Dave
are off on their flying junkets and
we're cooped up in the trailer. We'll
need someone rather young and
fairly presentable, don't you think?
So he can be a sort of companion
to the girls when they're dancing
and riding and swimming? And you
know yourself, Len, that fairly pre-
sentable publicity men are hard to
get. I don't know that I've ever
seen one."
"I'm sorry I spent the money to
fly down," he said grimly. "If I'm
to pick out a man for you, seems to
me you ought to pay the bill out
of your expense account."
"Unfortunately we haven't a per-
centage club, like the Governor,"
she disclaimed quickly. "Besides,
darling, I don't expect you to pick
him out."
"That's what I was afraid of," he
admitted gloomily. "Now let's get
this straight, Ollie. You speak of
your cavalcade of cars. What's it
to be? A campaign for re-election,
or a specially conducted young la-
dies' tour with a presentable es-
cort?"
"The election comes first, of
course. But after all, the Senator—
Uncle Lancy—and I cannot overlook
our responsibility to these poor dear
children. We must provide for them
as best we can, even in the exigen-
cies of a campaign. Who would you
suggest?"
"I wouldn't suggest anybody. I'd
suggest putting the girls in jail till
I get rid of the Governor. They
don't need an escort. Dave Coop-
er can handle them. True, he's no
Don Juan! He's forty and fat and
married and chews tobacco. But he
can give you all the publicity you
need and more than you merit."
"I was thinking of someone like—
well, how about Cecil Dodd?"
"Cecil Dodd! Lord, Ollie, if you
upholster your trailer in purple du-
vetyn and silken cushions you'll
elect the Governor! . . . Cecil
Dodd! . . . Ollie, we've had our oc-
casional differences but I've al-
ways admired you as a straight
shooting, shoulder-to-shoulder old
trooper . . . Cecil Dodd! . . .
Do you want to shatter a young
man's fondest illusions? . . . Cecil
n
"Do you want to shatter a young
man's fondest illusions?"
Dodd! You're not taking him to play |
politics. You're taking him to gum |
up my works."
"He writes very beautiful and j
touching articles, Len Hardesty, and j
you can't deny it . . . But I admit J
I want him especially as a sort of a j
companion—a sort of chaperon for
the girls . . . When they do their
playing ... I can't keep my mind
on them every minute and run this
campaign at the same time."
"No! So you salve your calloused
conscience by giving them this—
this silk pajamaed pariah as a
watchdog . . . Well, if that's what
you're up to, you count Adele out.
She can't go. I put my foot down
on that. You can sick him onto your
innocent Helen and trusting little
Limpy if you like—if that's your
idea of Christian duty to young or-
phans—but I've got King's X on
Adele and she can't go."
"Well, I'm glad you approve,"
said Olympia beamingly. "Have a
drink, Len? Your seal of approval
relieves me a lot. I wasn't quite
sure about it in my own mind, but
you've settled my doubts."
"Aw, Ollie, be a sport! Give a fel-
low a break, won't you? Remember
what pals we've always been! Re-
member the life I'm going to lead
with the brats and the trumpet
yawping at me from every angle!
(TO BE CONTINUED)
9
and supple at the waist. Mate-
rials like faille, moire, flat crepe
and velveteen are excellent
choices for this.
If you've done scarcely any sew-
ing, this design is heartily recom-
mended as a good one to begin on,
because it's so easy. A step-by-
step sew chart is included to help
you.
Pattern No. 8576 is designed for
sizes 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, and 40. Size
14 requires 4% yards of 39-inch
material without nap; % yard con-
trasting for each collar and cuffs.
% yard ribbon.
For a pattern of this attractive
model send 15 cents in coins, your
name, address, style, number and
size to The Sewing Circle Pattern
Dept., Room 1324, 211 W. Wacker
Dr., Chicago, 111.
Strange Facts
!
'Black-Out' Lights
Street Car Diners
Immortal Trees
!
V/1AKE yourself this pretty prin-
cess (8576) for town wear,
business and general runabout, in
a dark shade or your favorite
bright color. The double collar
and cuffs give you a chance to
work out daring and delightful
contrasts, in a season when ad-
venturous color combinations are
so extremely smart. And you can
trust this dress to make your fig-
ure look slim and youthful, small
For "black-outs" during air
raids, England has perfected high-
way and traffic lights, headlights
and police uniforms that can be
seen only by those on the ground.
Geneva, Switzerland, has street-
cars whose entire space is given
over to restaurants in which the
passengers eat and drink as they
travel through the city.
A study of marital tendencies
reveals that a much larger num-
ber of widowed and divorced men
marry spinsters than widowed and
divorced women marry bachelors.
Many navies now use a torpedo
that appears to be aimed at a point
far ahead or far behind its target
but, after going some distance,
suddenly makes a right or left
swing and strikes before its ob-
jective can turn away.
The giant redwood tre( I in Cali-
fornia and Oregon have never
been known to die a natural death.
—Collier's.
AROUND
.he HQU'P^
6 SBP
Items of Interest
to the Housewife
For Dried Fruits.—Try soaking
and cooking a thin slice or two of
lemon with your dried apricots,
peaches or prunes.
* *
Plan meals in advance, with con-
cern for the use of leftovers, which
will aid in saving energy in prep-
aration.
* * *
When making a meringue have
the egg whites very cold and beat
them until stiff enough to stand
alone. If baked in too hot an oven
meringue will be tough and shrink
when set away to cool.
♦ « ♦
Cane-bottomed chairs that have
sagged can be tightened by be-
ing well scrubbed with a soapy
mixture containing a handful of
salt. Allow to dry, then paint with
a strong solution of salt and water
and dry again, if possible out of
doors.
* * *
Washing Shirts.—To loosen the
dirt on cuff and collar bands of
men's and boys' shirts, scrub them
with a soft brush frequently
dipped in warm soapy water be-
fore putting them in the laundry
tub.
Means of Utterance
Utterance is not confined to
words. Our souls speak as signifi-
cantly by looks, tones or gestures
—the subtle vehicles of our more
delicate emotions, as they do by
set words and phrases. Indeed,
the soul has a thousand ways of
communicating itself.—Turnbull.
When baiting the mousetrap, re-
member that foods mice prefer tc
cheese include chocolate, peanuts
and pork chops.
* * *
Stored Potatoes—Potatoes stored
in too cold a place change some of
their starch to sugar, and when a
potato has accumulated consider-
able sugar it won't fry well.
* ♦ *
Chocolate and orange flavors
blend well. Add orange extract to
chocolate frosting or candy. Try
covering a chocolate cake with
orange frosting.
* ♦ *
When washing a white silk
blouse or jumper to which you
want to give a little stiffness, add
a few lumps of sugar to the rinsing
water, roll tightly in a clean towel,
and iron while still damp.
How To Relieve
Bronchitis
Bronchitis, acute or chronic, Is an
Inflammatory condition of the mu-
cous membranes lining'the bronchial
tubes. Creomulsion goes right to the
seat of the trouble to loosen germ
laden phlegm, increase secretion and
aid nature to soothe and heal raw,
tender, inflamed bronchial mucous
membranes. Tell your druggist to sell
you a bottle of Creomulsion with the
understanding that you are to like
the way it quickly allays the cough
or you are to have your money back.
CREOMULSION
for Coughs, Chest Colds, Bronchitis
Bttuina
Wisely
■n (hose days people nre buying wlnelr.
Tli^v study value* more* rlonely than
ever before, they compare prices. The
buyer today studies advertising care-
fully. and the seller can use advertis-
ing and obtain better results than
when money is more carelessly
spent. Advertising nowadays
pays—both buyer and seller.
Wm
11
\ I
\ I
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Matching Search Results
View two places within this issue that match your search.Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Banger, J. E. A. & Erwin, W. L. The Cass County Sun (Linden, Tex.), Vol. 64, No. 52, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 28, 1939, newspaper, December 28, 1939; Linden, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth341590/m1/3/?q=Lamar+University: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Atlanta Public Library.