An Errand of Mercy

In the Spring of 1963 the Red Cross came to U.S.Lines to assist in moving medical supplies from mainland U.S.A. to Havana, Cuba. This was post-Bay of Pigs and Castro was willing to release approx. 1400 civilians in return for the medical supplies. Our vessel S.S. AMERICAN SURVEYOR made two round trips and the Captain wrote of his experience thirty years later. The Swiss consul was our liaison and extremely helpful. The crew was permitted to go ashore but only under escort. They had armed guards on all the hatches who accompanied the pilot upon departure. We had cots in all five tween decks and while the trip to Port Everglades, Florida was a short one it was a rough passage with the Gulf stream against the wind. The ship pitched and the cots were upset and the nurses had their hands full. In all we took in approx. 8000 Tons of Red Cross material and brought out approx. 1400 refugees and a dozen dogs. After two round trips we had to get the ship cleaned up and the Red Cross removed their coffee urns and portable toilets. It was a tense and difficult time for all concerned.
tjs
Next - Shipboard Entertaining

Tennis, Anyone.

Some years ago I had the opportunity to attend Davis Cup matches at the Germantown Cricket Club outside Philadelphia - the courts were on grass. The Australians were playing Italy and the Aussie team included Lew Hoad and Ken Rosewall - both champions in their own right. It was a doubles match and midway thru it it began to drizzle - the players were slipping on the wet grass. The Aussie team changed to spikes - similar to what a track runner would do. The Aussies proceeded to tear up the turf and to decimate the Italians. Upon close examination I noticed Lew Hoad's right wrist was much thicker than his left  side. These boys had been training since an early age in their Harry Hopman academys and were very good. This was an era of wooden racquets and the one hand backhand. I have not touched a racquet in many years and today I would need two bounces. Game -set and match!!!
tjs
Next - An Errand of Mercy

Sales meeting

Being that's it Saturday.........It was early 1970s and our business was in the doldrums. The sales manager decided to call a Saturday meeting to get us to focus. Joe D. was a tall ex-Marine with an agressive manner and guys who were on the road all week had to leave their families and fly to New Jersey for this woodshed session. He got our attention but hardly raised our morale. During a break in the morning's session, while the room was empty, I wrote on the blackboard "On the sabbath day, God rested." When Big Joe re-entered the room he wrote under my phrase "Only after HE made his quota"! Semper Fi, Joe.
tjs
Next - Tennis, anyone?

Absolution

Easter is very late this year - April 24th - which reminds me of the following story: Pat lived on an island off Cape Cod and took the ferry to the mainland annually to make his Easter duty. Then they abruptly cancelled the ferry service. When next he ran into his priest friend the priest noted that he had not seen Pat in a long time. Pat begged off citing the cancelled ferry service and the priest reminded him there was air service to the mainland. Pat's answer was : "Father, as for flying to the Cape, for venial sins it's too expensive and for mortal sins it's too dangerous.!" Patty, say a perfect Act of Contrition.!
tjs
next - Sales Meeting

Celebrity

The USLines passenger heyday ran from approximately 1948 to 1969 when the airlines put a dent in the trans-atlantic traffic. The big liners carried a limited number of passengers' automobiles and they also had kennels on deck to accommodate pets (i.e. dogs). They placed both these departments under one man - Frank K. - the Manager of Automobiles and Livestock. Frank was an old pro from Brooklyn who had seen it all - monkeys loose in the pier rafters, dormant snakes who awakened in the warmer waters of the Panama Canal, exotic birds from Australia and camels in the hold in twelve inches of sand. He had a desk in the open third floor of One Broadway in Manhattan. One day a First Class passenger was sent up to see the auto manager for a formality in connection with her auto. It happened to be the glamorous motion picture star of the day - Yvonne DeCarlo. She sat down next to Frank's desk, threw open her fur coat and crossed her legs. His phone began to ring off the hook as everyone on the floor was calling his extension. He wasn't impressed - no request for autograph. He satisfied her requirement - and bid the lady "bon voyage". By 1969 the new management laid up the S.S. UNITED STATES and our passenger service ended and my friend Frank took the subway home to Brooklyn.
tjs
Next - Absolution

Numbers, please

You've read about horse racing but now let's talk about the poor people's outlet - the numbers racket. Every neighborhood had its numbers writer who usually hung out at the local bar. He would employ runners to carry the "slips" at the end of the day. You bet your lucky three digit number - your birthday or perhaps your address. There were memory books that would attach a number to any dream you could think of. There were no ping pong balls popping up - the number was arrived at by a mathematical calculation using the payoff prices at the local race track. If you were in the know - and if you knew which track and which races they would use then you could figure the number for the day and be waiting for your payoff. They didn't dare welsh and you could bet as low as ten cents. Yes, there was Bingo at the church but that was weekly - the numbers gave you action daily. The jingle of the day went like this:
"Now I lay me down to slumber - pray to God I hit the number - If I die before I wake - put a dime on 308." Hallelujah!
tjs
Next - celebrity

The Sport of Kings

My brother introduced me to horse racing at a young age. We were renting a cottage at the Jersey shore and he invited me to attend the races at Delaware Park. If you ever want to see human nature in the raw just go down to the rail with the two dollar bettors and observe and listen. After due diligence with the Racing Form he proceeded to hit a four horse parlay - i.e. four straight winners multiplied. After taking care of the tax man he netted several thousand dollars and since it was a weekend he stashed his cache under the mattress. My mother, making the beds the next day, almost had a heart attack. He had a dream of owning a horse and dragged me over to Marlton N.J. to a horse farm to look at a son of COALTOWN.
COALTOWN was a relative of the great CITATION he of Calumet Farms - but the "son" had a bad knee.
 I told my brother to lie down until the fever passes and we got out of there with our wallets intact. We once attended a yearling sale at Garden State Park in N.J. The young colts and fillies each have a number pasted on their hind quarters - called a "hip" number to coordinate with the program that outlines their breeding - sire -dam -sire of the dam - breeder - owner etc. - it is a very heady atmosphere - klieg lights - a walking ring behind the red velvet ropes - and the auctioneer in a tuxedo. If you even scratched your ear you could own a thoroughbred. I made sure to keep my hands in my pockets.
The popularity of the sport has waned with the advent of casinos and betting parlors. And many of the wealthy families - Phipps - Whitneys - Vanderbilts - have left the scene. These folks were the backbone of the Jockey Club. As owners they were also breeders and they had their colorful silks on the jockeys. And their social scene would peak in August at Saratoga. Alfred G. Vanderbilt had a unique way of naming his horses. Once he bred a stallion POLYNESIAN to a mare GEISHA and the resulting colt was the great NATIVE DANCER nicknamed The Gray Ghost of Sagamore Farms. And now you know more than you ever wanted to know about this subject.
tjs
Next - Numbers, please?

Post WWII Recovery

When WWII ended we set about putting Germany and the rest of Europe back on its feet. The initial effort was the Marshall Plan circa 1948. Soon after, Drew Pearson, a prominent columnist of the day inaugurated the Friendship Train - starting out on the west coast and picking up boxcars of food all along the way. One segment of this train arrived in Philadelphia to be loaded on our vessel S.S. AMERICAN LEADER which for this voyage was named the FRIENDSHIP with a large banner on her side. Next came the charitable organizations - notably C.A.R.E. who leased their own pier on the Delaware River and we once put our ship in there to lift 100,000 CARE packages. Over the years you could follow the geo-political scene by observing where the CARE packages went - 1940s to Europe - 1950s to Korea - 1960s to Southeast Asia. Other religious groups followed - Catholic Relief - Lutheran Relief, Church World Service, etc. One of the most memorable was a group from the midwest who set about to replenish the herds of cattle that had been decimated by the war. We had the S.S. AMERICAN IMPORTER  outfitted with stalls and every six weeks she would load approx. two dozen head from N.Y. to Germany. It was known as the "Heifer Project". If a calf was born intransit they paid half fare.
And if we lost one during the voyage we had to produce the ear. During this time the New York port went on strike and we in Philadelphia were open. We were told that WE would be handling the next move of cattle and we city boys were shaking in our boots. Then our livestock manager came down from New York to handle the U.S.D.A. - pens - corral - hay - attendants etc and saved us. More on him in a later posting.
tjs
Next - The Sport of Kings

Sacred Scripture

The following reprinted from Eagle Blue Vol. 1 Number 2 February 3, 2006. and this being Sunday........
S.S. AMERICAN GUNNER - 1959 - mid-winter on a westbound Transatlantic voyage for direct arrival to Philadelphia. Direct arrivals for us from Europe were rare. Three days before scheduled arrival Big Mike our Operations Manager requested from the captain his estimated arrival time to facilitate the required planning with U.S. Customs, immigration, pilots, etc.  The captain radioed back the following message: SCRIPTURES  - JONAH 1:4-6.......Mike, realizing this was out of his league, put in a call to the Port Chaplain who turned to the Old Testament for the following reading - "but the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea....so that the ship was like to be broken." Mike didn't bother the captain for the next 72 hours.
tjs
Next - Post WWII recovery

The Roundtable

When I lived in New York I occasionally liked to visit The Algonquin Hotel  on W. 44th St.  It had an old school lobby with stuffed winged chairs and little bells on the tables for summoning the waiters. After WW I a group of literary persons began to gather there for lunch. There were playwrights, authors, critics and in all cases very witty people. Including Robert Benchley, Robert Sherwood who wrote about FDR, George S. Kaufman who spent a brief time in Hollywood as a script writer for the Marx Bros. who drove him crazy and back to New York. Also such as Alexander Woollcott & Heywood Broun were in the group. In the midst of all these Alpha males with their literary brilliance was one woman - Dorothy Parker who possessed an acerbic wit and a sharp tongue. One time she approached a restaurant door at the same time as a female "acquaintance" who deferred with an Alphonse/Gaston bow and said "Age before beauty." - to which Parker retorted "Pearls before swine." Ouch. Out of this group was born the famous Algonquin Roundtable and they were enabled by the hotel with their regular table and waiter.  And from this group was spawned the New Yorker magazine and all hotel guests are given a complimentary copy on arrival.
tjs
Next -Sacred Scripture

The Clinic

Due to the indelicate nature of the below material it is suggested that it be read after breakfast.
When I worked in Manhattan circa 1976 we staff people had a few modest perks that included a complete physical examination yearly at a clinic on the upper east side. We all looked forward to these outings as they served orange juice and coffee after taking your blood. There was one down side - the proctology examination by a stranger we had just met. A colleague reported the following experience. After a perfunctory greeting the doctor told him to get up on the table, lie on your right side and let your left arm hang down. All was quiet as the doctor peered and probed. The silence was broken as the examiner said "I see you went to Fordham." My friend replied "HOW CAN YOU TELL?" The doc said "Oh, I saw the ring on your left hand."
tjs
Next- The Roundtable

The Disappearance

A while back I introduced you to Salvatore M., a volatile Philadelphia waterfront personality. He had a step-son whom he persuaded the company to hire as a gofer/chauffer - call him Arnold G. With such limited duties Arnold had considerable idle time on his hands. The pier office also housed a medical clinic staffed by a local hospital to minister to the needs of the dockworkers. When no ships were working this clinic was usually unoccupied. One day Arnold slipped into the clinic, donned a white coat and summoned the new hire for his "physical". He had the young man stripped to his skivvies doing jumping jacks with the entire office staff watching this act from the balcony. Several days later the new hire resigned and no one ever knew why. Arnold had a boyhood friend from South Philadelphia who turned out to be a pretty fair middleweight boxer, Joey Giardello, who fought for the title. Arnold considered himself to be one of Joey's "advisers" and would disappear for a week at a time and the next time we would see him was on the TV screen from Las Vegas working the corner wearing his white sweater and carrying the bucket for Joey. He was advising! Several years went by and his boxer friend retired from the ring but Arnold kept his finger in the fight racket. It was rumored he was managing several Puerto Rican fighters. One day Arnold failed to report for work at the pier. They found his Cadillac at the Philadelphia Airport. He had really disappeared this time. It was believed that something did not go as planned in the ring. The local hunch was that he had taken up residence in the Tinicum Wildlife Preserve. So first it was Merton, now Arnold, which gave us two alleged homicides in our little outport office. Enough to give a guy a complex.
tjs
Next - The Clinic

Shrinkage

Has anyone else noticed the apparent shrinkage in the size of toilet tissue? The sheets measure 4 -2/16 inches wide and my spool measures 5-2/16 inches  - or a full inch (2.54 cms) differential. In the past it didn't seem that much. This seems to be a trend - bags of salad greens seem to have more air in them.   Some cartons of cereals seem to have more void space. And the New York Times Sunday magazine has reduced its size - and print - even tho we recycle the paper. And the airlines have reduced their knee room because they must think our anatomy is shrinking. With all the talk of obesity in society how can this be? Anyway the shrinkage I see is not very "charmin". Do the math!
 (Does this sound like an Andy Rooney rant?)
tjs
Next - The Disappearance

The Zodiac

Scientists are telling us that our planet is wobbling on its axis and a debate is under way between Astronomers and Astrologers. Some are advocating a thirteenth constellation and Zodiac sign. They want to change me from a Scorpio to a Libra after all these years. I should be pleased to change from a Scorpion to a balance of the scales i.e. a desire for fairness and harmony. My wife and son who have been Taurus (the Bull) are now Aries (the Ram) - both have horns. (the animals, that is). And a lady I know as a Virgo is now a Leo but she doesn't roar like a lion as yet. But don't panic - we are who we are. As a resident of Dogpatch, Kentucky used to say "It's amusin but confusin." But not very stellar. (You can check on your own horoscope sign in articles of Jan. 15 in both the New York Times and the Florida Times Union.)
tjs
Next - Shrinkage

Family Tree

Recently, several of our cousins - at midlife - began asking questions about family members and ancestors to form a family tree. In olden times there was a family bible that was passed on through generations. Today, with mobility, auto and air travel, many families have become separated. Some people still visit Ellis Island in New York harbor perusing ships' manifests, an entry port where sometimes the immigration inspector shortened the European surnames. Other folks scout out the cemeteries checking the tombstones. My own parents were born in 1890. My maternal grandmother arrived in this country from Ireland circa 1880. The practice over there was the oldest son inherited the farm and the rest of the siblings scattered. So it was that Alice and Ellen Sullivan took the boat to America becoming upstairs/downstairs maids - and the two sisters married two Mallon brothers  - a rarity today. My paternal grandfather was in the energy business - ice and coal - around the turn of the century i.e. 1900. He had a horse and wagon and might be considered an entrepreneur of that era. Folklore has it that if the driver stopped for a few beers, old John Horse knew the way home. Sort of an "equine GPS". So, save your old photos, slides and home movies as someone in your family will come along some day asking questions. America - the great melting pot.!
tjs
next -The Zodiac

The Power of Congress

A civilian reserve sergeant who retired as a Lt. Colonel was handling military cargo to be loaded on our vessels in Philadelphia. He related the following incident: When he as a Lt. Col. was stationed at the Brooklyn Port of Embarkation, a young Army private arrived in New York preparatory to embarking to Europe. He had with him his dog which he placed in a kennel and proceeded to drink his way to Brooklyn. After sobering up in Germany he wrote to his congressman in Iowa to seek help in locating his dog. By and by a large envelope appeared on my friend's desk with a big stamp reading "M.C. (member of Congress) reply in 48 hours. He then related the scene of three Colonels going thru the Brooklyn yellow pages to locate the kennel housing the man's dog. As we have recently sworn in a new congress I hope they know the power that the stamp M.C. can generate. Bow Wow!
tjs
Next- The Family Tree

On Aging

A while back when I turned 80 my extended family feted me with a quiet toast/roast. In rebuttal I offered the following:
- They say that the memory is the second thing to go - but I can't remember what the first thing is.
- My mother had a friend who would exclaim to all within earshot - "And I still have all my organs!"
- As we move along there are certain choices to be made - one can be considered a geezer and be tolerated - or one can turn into a curmudgeon and be avoided - or one can become a codger whose definition I prefer "white hair conveys a certain majesty. A touch of thickness around the waist connotes substance. Being a bit crotchety speaks of experience." Some say that 80 is the new 60 - if so then I have to replay the last twenty years! Egad! A perennial groundhog day!
The singer Margaret Whiting who recently died at 86 had the following line in a play - "Age doesn't make you boring - boring makes you boring." I hope I have not caused the latter.
tjs
Next - The Power of Congress

Scotland's Finest

The S.S. AMERICAN FORWARDER was on the Dublin/Glasgow run and on one return voyage the captain brought Big Mike a full bred Scottish Terrier - male - with all the pedigree papers - a descendant of Ch. MacDuff etc. - It's easier to get a dog out of the U.K. than to bring one in.  Mike was proud of this animal and paraded him throughout his neighborhood. One day he received a phone call from a woman who had a female of the same breed who was interested in mating her "bitch" to Mike's male - and she began to grill him on his dog's sexual experience, stud fee, etc.  Mike began to squirm - he said he felt like he was being interviewed for a possible "assignation" - and he - a man of the world - felt uncomfortable. Anyway, we never did find out what the stud fee was.........
On a personal note I had a female Scottie for thirteen years - she bonded to the family and snapped at everyone else she met.
tjs
Next - On Aging

Radio Days III

One of the loveliest voices to grace the airwaves in the 1930s was that of Kate Smith. Her theme song was "When the moon comes over the mountain - every beam brings a dream, dear, of you......" her style and lyrics were suitable for the 1930s.
Her rendition of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" during wartime touched everyone in a united country. Today you hear it played/sung at many athletic events but none can approach Kate's original. In circa 1974/1975 the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team (known  as the Broad Street Bullies) was vieing for the  Stanley Cup Trophy. They invited Kate to sing at their critical home game at the Spectrum Arena. She was then 68 years old. On the appointed evening they rolled carpet on the ice and escorted the lady to the microphone to sing her specialty. She blew the roof off the Spectrum which was filled to capacity est. 12000 raucous fans plus the TV audience. The team won the cup and Kate Smith became their good luck charm. You may have heard the phrase "It aint over til the fat lady sings." I think perhaps that slogan was born that night.
As an aside, last month, thirty-five years later the Spectrum Arena was demolished having outlasted Miss Smith by twenty-four years.
 tjs
Next - Scotland's Finest

The Great Escape

I was visiting the Philadelphia area during the recent holidays and found myself driving thru the Fairmount section of the city which housed the former Pennsylvania State Penitentiary - now vacant except  for occasional visitors and curiosity seekers viewing Al Capone's earlier quarters. But on an early spring morning in 1945 as the milkman was making his rounds he saw bodies literally popping up from outside the walls of this formidable structure. It was the day that a dozen inmates tunneled out of the prison and scattered into the surrounding urban neighborhood. Most were rounded up in short order except one - Willie Sutton - an infamous bank robber - who melted into the surroundings. He was known as "Slick Willie" and was a master of disguises who often used uniforms and costumes to catch victims off guard. When asked why he robbed banks it is said he replied that that's where the money was. Fast forward to February 1952 when a young clothing salesman and amateur detective - call him Shuster - recognized Willie on the Brooklyn subway and followed him home - and later went to the police. Now the unwritten rule for subway riding in New York was dozing - reading - panhandling - but never staring. Anyway, young Shuster was not content to be an anonymous hero and sought publicity in the newspapers and on TV which angered the New York mob. A few weeks later I was riding the Seventh Ave. subway enroute to the old Madison Square Garden - it was March Madness week for the basketball tournament - when I opened the New York Post and there was a picture of young Shuster - he had been gunned down outside his home - a brutal example of gangland retribution. The moral is if you find yourself performing your civic duty - please, no pictures, names, addresses or interviews -(Cable News will hate you) -   just have them wire the reward money to your Swiss bank account.
tjs
Next - Radio Days III

Numerology

Today is 1-11-11 which may be of particular interest to gamblers, horse players and lottery followers. But if today is your birthday you are a Capricorn and may want to check your horoscope. The numbering system aboard ship runs as follows: Even numbers on the port (left) side. That means odd numbers on the starboard (right) side. So if you are searching for your stateroom after the midnight buffet and wandering down the corridor, if you see even numbers then you are on the port (left) side of the ship -  a way to remember is that - even - port - and left all have four letters - to keep you straight. Of course, you have to be on the correct deck - they used to run - boat - main - promenade - A -B - C - D. With the new huge cruise ships I am sure they have fancier names for their decks. Make friends with the pursers and cabin stewards and they will take care of you. The same system prevails for the lifeboats - even numbered boats on the port (left) side so don't be late for the lifeboat drill. And happy sailing.
tjs
Next - The Great Escape

Veterans at Work

When I first apprenticed to a steamship agent most of the men had been in WWII but they rarely talked about their experiences. Hank the Traffic manager had been a captain in the Air Force flying B25s over the Hump in Burma 1941-1945. He told me that when there was a lull between missions he would take the plane up to a suitable altitude to chill the beer and then land - forget about fuel consumption. Young Ed at the Maritime Exchange had graduated from high school in June 1944 and by December he was in the Battle of the Bulge in the snow. This was Hitler's last ditch attempt to cut the allies lines in two. Ed told me the Germans were using women in their ranks.  Of course we were drafting 38 year olds with flat feet at the end of the war. Lastly, there was Big Mike, a charming Irishman with a quick mind and a tongue to match. He was to be my mentor and I  his gofer for several years - he was our Operations Manager. One day he casually mentioned being torpedoed off Cape Town - adrift in a raft for X days - rescued to Argentina to await repatriation. At first we were skeptical but then he came in with news clippings from a Buenos Aires newspaper showing Mike in his Purser's dress blues being treated like some hero. We will hear more from him as we go.
tjs
Next - Numerology

What's in a Name

A colleague I worked with in Philadelphia is now 91 and still pretty sharp. Seventy years ago she was taking a drama course at Northwestern Univ. in Illinois. The chairs were arranged alphabetically - she was letter H - the gal in the next chair was letter I - name - Phylis Isley. At the end of the course my friend decided the stage was not for her and chose accounting. Miss Isley went off to Hollywood, changed her name to Jennifer Jones and won an Oscar for her role in Song of Bernadette. Fame is sometimes just one chair - one letter - away.
tjs
Next - Veterans at Work

Alphabetically Speaking

When I was District Sales Mgr. for USLines in Philadelphia early 1970s I decided to give token gifts to my top clients. The company had purchased silk neckties with the USL monogram which was tastefully done and the customers admired same. One of my friendly competitors in the Far East Trade was agent for the then Japanese Line - Yamashita Shinnahon Line - and when he heard of my gift giving he purchased similar neckwear from Yves St. Laurent - which had the monogram YSL - which coincided with his shipping line monogram and gave them to some of the same clients as I had. I commended him on his cleverness. Fast forward twenty years and I am now in Jacksonville with a different carrier. It was a common custom for transportation companies to hire professional athletes to glad hand customers, play some golf and cultivate the clientele. This company had hired a former member of the Oakland Raiders, a burly fellow, played fullback and had two Super Bowl Rings - one on each hand to keep him on an even keel - named Pete B. I didn't see much of Pete as he was on the road most of the time. His wardrobe included custom made silk shirts cut to his ample body torso. One day he appeared in my cubicle and I noticed his shirts were monogrammed - not with PB - but YSL.
I reached back twenty years, leaped up and shouted "Yamashita Shinnahon" - must have sounded like a battle cry -  but my Polish friend from Wisconsin had no idea what I was talking about. When he semi-retired I sent him the following message "Pete, I'm glad I met you here and not at the line of scrimmage."
tjs
Next - What's in a Name

Lost in Translation

I promised a dedicated reader that I would try to inject some humor on Fridays so here is my effort for this week:..........A Japanese businessman made frequent trips to Germany. Each time he approached the currency window at the Frankfurt airport to exchange his YEN for D-MARKS - (this was pre-Euro) and each time he got fewer Dmarks for his Yen. When he protested the answer was always "fluctuations". After the third time being rebuffed with "fluct-u-ations" he rose up on his toes and yelled "fluctuGermans".  (Asian humor.)
tjs
Next - Alphabetically Speaking

Crossing Up

The recent phrase in the headlines "Don't ask - don't tell" reminded me of an incident that occurred more than forty years ago.... At a certain time our cargo claims were backing up because our claim agent was spending so much time defending the company from personal injury suits. So the decision was made to hire a clerk/stenographer to relieve the backload. Enter Merton S. a male stenographer who typed forty words a minute and reveled in the male atmosphere of the waterfront pier environment. It was a time when gayness was still in the closet and Merton made a dent in the backload of claims. Then one day Merton did not report for work. He had no next of kin so his landlady was contacted and when she looked in on him she found Merton on the floor with five slugs in his torso and a closet full of women's clothes. Our boy had another life after work and it appeared he met the wrong John in his after dark enterprise. We made the news for one day as this was well before 24/7 cable news. Eventually the police came down to interview Merton's fellow employees as they had no leads in the case. Our claims agent being distraught of losing his crackerjack
steno misspoke to the detective saying "Merton was my friend." They hassled him for months until the police finally acknowledged that their suspect was probably a transient carnival type passing thru who unfortunately met our steno between paragraphs. So our small outport chalked up a homicide but we couldn't compete with the New York Pistol Local who controlled the Hudson river piers.
tjs
Next - Lost in Translation

On the Waterfront

If you saw "On the Waterfront" with Marlon Brando you can appreciate the tough working conditions of these longshoremen back in the 1950s B.C. (before container). In my frequent visits to the docks I had occasion to observe them in the flesh - loud, profane but fearless as they practiced their hazardous occupation. I can only think of two things that could unnerve them - one - to see a hearse rolling slowly down the pier stringpiece -all the chattering ceased and that coffin got on board faster than any other cargo. And second, when the Bloodmobile appeared  - and the unsuspecting volunteers saw those needles come out. The white folks grew paler and the dark folks grew lighter. But all their blood was accepted and they received some coffee and danish and went back to work.
tjs
Next - Crossing Up

Lighter Than Air

Back at USLines in New Jersey I sat at lunch with a senior ship's captain who had been reassigned to shore duty. He told me of an incident that occurred circa 1937 while on a eastbound crossing from New York to Southampton aboard the passenger liner S.S. WASHINGTON. While he was duty officer on the bridge he heard a frantic yell from the forward lookouts. There was something unidentified that seemed to be coming directly toward them. Looking thru binoculars he observed the zeppelin HINDENBURG  at a low altitude which passed directly over the vessel in the opposite direction headed for Lakehurst N.J. Lighter than air dirigibles were very popular in that era carrying such as Max Schmeling to the USA for his fight with Joe Louis. However, it was several months later that the HINDENBURG had that fatal fire and crash at Lakehurst which ended the use of hydrogen for helium. I have a friend who was about ten years old when his father took him to Lakehurst on business that fatal day. He grew up to become a third mate on a USL freighter that was involved in a collision in the Delaware River in 1949. I told him he reminded me of Forrest Gump with such notoriety.
tjs
Next - On The Waterfront

In the Hood IV

During WWII there was considerable rationing - gasoline on the need for same. But each family had a book of ration coupons for each member of the family - so a family of nine had more books than a family of four and there was much trading of ration stamps i.e., coffee for sugar. On the Saturday trip to the butcher, after requesting the hamburger and pork chops, you whispered your need for a quarter pound of butter. And if you were female the butcher might squeeze your hand. At age thirteen I had a newspaper route - thirty customers  - the papers cost two cents and sold for three cents - so I made thirty cents per day x six days or $1.80 per week. I tried selling on a corner but learned an early lesson of "location - location - location" and soon abandoned this effort. One day I was sick in bed and rather than deprive the neighbors of their afternoon news, my mother picked up the papers and delivered them to the surprised neighbors. Since she couldn't fold and hurl the papers between the flower pots, she had to climb the steps. I think I know now where I got my work ethic. At age fifteen I upgraded to become a soda jerk/dishwasher/messenger for a pharmacist - the upside to being a soda jerk was that you got to eat your mistakes. This job paid seventy-five cents an hour plus tips. August 15, 1945 was V-J day - the end of the war in the Pacific and while I was hoping the druggist would close up, we were obliged to stand outside and watch the neighbors parading around the block beating on pots and pans and blowing horns - the end of a long and painful war period. As the troops came home to the G.I. Bill we listened to Doris Day singing "Sentimental Journey" and the Greatest Generation was home to populate all the campuses.
tjs
Next - Lighter Than Air

The All Purpose Limerick

Some Hollywood script writers compose two different endings to seek premiere viewers opinion - I believe that was done for CASABLANCA.  Daringly still, some Broadway playrights let the audience decide on the play's finish. I am fond of limericks and will share one I heard a long time ago - but the reader can choose the punch line to suit the particular occasion - or make up your own. As follows:

It's easy to grin - when your ship comes in -
and you've got the stock market beat -
but the guy/gal worthwhile - is the one who can smile -

A - when your shorts are too tight in the seat.
B - when your shoes are too tight on your feet.
C - when H.R. tells you to hit the street.
D - when the landlord turns off the heat.
E - when you have to ask "where's the meat".
F - when they tell you your grade's incomplete.

I once used letter C at a retirement roast.
tjs
Next - In the Hood IV

O Dem Golden Slippers

O to be in Philadelphia on New Year's Day to watch the Mummers parade up Broad Street as they have done for over a century. First come the Fancy Division with their jockeys and floats. Then the Comic division with their satirical parodies skewering anyone in the news. They celebrate King Momus similar to what the Dutch settlers did shooting off their blunderbus guns and welcoming in the New Year. Lastly come the string bands in their costume finery with the saxophones and banjos blending with the glockenspiels in the cold January air. The twenty or so bands come from surrounding neighborhoods whose members are of several generations - fathers, sons and now sisters and daughters - the addition of women has kept them on the street. Each band has a theme and they drill in front of City Hall and vie for prizes, after which they return to their respective neighborhoods where the real parties begin. And if you are lucky they will serenade outside your door. There will be six Bowl Games on New Year's Day and some folks may go "bowling" but this household will be glued to the TV set or on the sidewalk with a cup of hot chocolate watching the Mummers strut - heads bent, arms pumping, two steps forward, one step back - you can do it too. Happy New Year!!
tjs
Next - The All-Purpose Limerick