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Fitchburg Sentinel from Fitchburg, Massachusetts • Page 4

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Fitchburg, Massachusetts
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4
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4 FITCHBURG SENTINEL, SATURDAY, MARCH 20, 1937 1st M. E. Pastor Will Conduct Boston Services Troop 11 Lily of the Valley Troop 11 held its regular meeting in charge of Capt. Gertrude L. Fiske.

We formed patrol corners, took attendance and collected dues. Capl Fiske had a class of girls in first aid and Mrs. Samuel Farrell, a class on bed- making. The following passed bedmaking: Caroline Weed, Dorothy Cutting, Ruth Mettol and Marilyn Wilbur; cooking, Barbaia McCue, knot review, Carolyn Weed and Barbara McCue. Charlotte Marden, Edith Jenkins and Shirley Gray from Troop 8 nouncements and formed a good night circle and snng Cutting, scnbe.

EAST IAFFREY A FJ I Pjir.ck's social followed trained tenderfoot "girls. We had an- the bu-'ness meeting of Jaffrey Re- bckah lodge Thursday evening in I. O. F. hall.

Games were played and sandwiches, cup-cakes and coffee were served, with green as a predominating factor. Lewis S. Record and Lewis S. Record, were the entertainment committee. The lodge will meet again April 1, when a Monte Carlo whist party will be held.

Home-cooked food will be auctioned following the whist party. GROTOH Lawrence academy will reopen March 29. Groton school closed today for the Easter The grange will meet Tuesday. The seventh degree members have charge. Mrs.

Blanche Brown is chairman. Josephine Ppore, reader, of Canton, will furnish part of the program. The Davis children, an instrumental quartet from Dunstable, will furnish music, accompanied by the grange orchestra. Mrs. Henry Bradley is able to be about again after a two weeks Mri- ous illness.

Charles Menuet has returned to his home with James Hill after spending the winter with his daugh- ter, Mrs. Jennie Brownell of Advertise vour wants in The Sentinel KEV. ARTHUR HOPKINSON An invitation to conduct a series daily morning services during Holy Week at the Church of All Nations on Shawmut avenue, Boston, has been accepted by Rev. Arthur Hopkinson, pastor of First Methodist Episcopal church. More than 400 will take part in the actual services.

The church, sponsored by the Morgan Memorial Industries of Boston, will hold services beginnirig Monday, March 22, through Good Friday. As part of the program the ser- mon will be broadcast to congregations in Athol, Lawrence, Lowell and other cities where the Morgan Memorial has branches. Rev Mr. Hopkinson will return to this city Tuesday evening to take part in the union services at the First Methodist church, but will be in Boston each morning during the week. Girl Scouts I By MARIE GAUDETTE Girl Scout Naturalist I imimnimtnnnnnmmitnmmminnuumnmniirtiniimiinmnimftii? How fast a glacier moves? What type of plant covers most of the earth's surface? What are some of the important food plants belonging to the grass family? What a weed is? Answers to last week's Do You Know questions: Oxygen.

Without it there would be no plant or animal life. They are clouds resting on the surface of the earth. Neither do we! However, a hole drilled in the earth grows about warmer every 60 feet. About miles below the surface Troop The Red Rose Troop had its weekly meeting at the Girl Scout headquarters with Capt. Mrs.

Raymond A. McConn in charge. The following girls passed their pet story for the tenderfoot test: Mary Jarves, Mabel McComiskey, Ida Crevdi, Ruth McDonald, Flora McDonald, Patricia Hession, Madeline Warden, Margaret Moran, Ruth Simmons and Barbara Parker. Mrs. Gay instructed a class on signals and St.

Andrew G. Peterson continued her class in home nursing. The meeting closed by singing the Golden Parkhurst, scribe. Troop 4 A meeting of Troop 4 was held at Scout headquarters, Thursday afternoon. Mrs.

W. I. Pernaa took the older girls in home nursing. Capt. Beverly L.

Spaulding taught some of the girls in folk dancing. Next week a few plays will be read and the troop will decide upon one to put on Also parts will be tried The meeting closed with the singing of Haven, scribe. Troop 5 Laurel Troop 5 held its regular meeting Thursday at headquarters. Second class first-aid was reviewed and first class signaling worked on. A collection will be taken up at the next meeting for the child in the Baldwinsville hospital.

The meeting closed with the singing of "Peace," and Buck, scnbe. Troop 10 Pine Tree Troop 10 held its regular meeting Thursday afternoon at the Community bouse. Patrol corners were formed, at- tcnriance vaa taken and dues were collected. Mrs. Andrew Peterson gave instruction in home nursing.

Enthusiasm ran high and a perfect attendance was recorded. The meeting closed with the sing- inj? of the Golden Leger, scribe. DO YOU KNOW? iimittflnmtininiiiiumtiTiiiiiimniiiinniiiiiiiiiin imiiimmiiiiiim.MiimininiMimiimimiiiim iiiuiin mini "SASS" VERY stagehand on the circuit knew the clown-faced Boston terrier, tyrant of the realm of footlights and grease paint, and more than 'one manager said that if the canine spilBre had been an actor he'd have had" a sandbag dropped on him long ago. If "Sass" had been a performer instead oi a performer's pet. he might have attained the prominence of a "Flush" or a "Rin-Tm-Tin.

At is was, his fame was limited to the mysterious area beyond the curtain-line and his public was comprised of the unsung, shirt-sleeved heroes who move the show. Like many another trouper, Sass had been born to the exciting atmosphere of guy-lines, pin-rails, tormentors, grids, and other names by which stage crews identify the things they work with. He had been the most promising pup in litter belonging to "Queen," member of a dog-and-pony act When was two months old he became the property of a little girl who appeared in a family act on the same bill with the animals. Becky O'Connor was 13 then, and she had Cried on Saturday 'when the time came to say goodby to the baby Boston terrier. That night, old Tony Morosco had come to the cheap hotel where the O'Connors were staying, and in his overcoat pocket was Sass.

That wasn't the dog's name immediately. He earned it gradually. The O'Connor act was ordinary fare even for the family time, but their dog was oblivious to this fact. As far at he was concerned, there was nothing on the boards half so splendid at this vaudeville rum. He "talked back" to orchestra leaders if an fcrgument arose between the O'Connors and the musicians during rehearsal.

He "told off" stage managers and even house managers when there was a dispute about billing or the position of the O'Connor act on the house boards. In fact, Sass lifted bis voice every time there even was a hint of an argument TTE seemed to sense the tide of battle, and although the O'Connors lost most of their debates with the theater managements wherever they played, their dog never knew the meaning of the word defeat. Usually they had to drag him away from their antagonists and slap hiro smartly to stop his sharp retorts. pup his moniker and said he had the stuff that are made of. Mrs.

O'Connor dared husband to train the terrier, reminding him that the first requisite demanded that the teacher be smarter than the dog. Becky daily led Sass past the fronts of the theaters where they perused the billing and the picture layouts, and promised her dog that "someday we'll be m.the big time!" The girl was 21 and Sass had attained the ripe old age of 8 when hit mistress' magic feet had tapped their way out of the family turn and into the iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiJiitjiiiitiittiiiiiitiiiiMuiiaiinuitiiiiinimDiiiLiiiiiiiiiiiuiiitmiiimiiuiiijmtiiitimnuiuiiuuuiiifUiiufiimin tuiiuuiuiimit jiumimiuuuiron DUCHESS By FRANCIS BEVERLY KELLEY Illustrated By H. GUNDBR HPHAT night they carried Saw through the stagedoor and into the O'Connor dressing room. The trip across that stage, smelling faintly of the lioness, annoyed the dog. but once inside the dressing room he almost happy.

Here were the smells he liked: powder and grease-paint and perfume--and Becky. When he heard the cue-music for his mistress. Sass forgot the that lurked outside the dressing room door and he started to follow her to his accustomed place in the wings, just outside the door, he sniffed and remembered. Back into the room he went, defeated. Something terrifying and completely beyond the comprehension of a mere dog had restricted this old trouper's activities to a star'i dressing room.

Sass was bewildered and hurt It showed in his face when his mistress came back from her turn. "Poor old boy! But it's going to be okay now; you'll see!" she promised, throwing on a dressing gown and carrying the dog with her to the edge of the stage. curtain had lifted on "a circular steel cage extending almost to the back wall, inside it was Frank Larson and against the delivery door on the far side of the stage was the shifting den that housed the lioness. Click! The delivery door rose and Duchess immediately bounded into the arena, mauling the trainer in a manner so realistic that it brought a huge audience to the edge of their chairs. Sass, ID the sheltering arms of his mistress, watched this business.

He wriggled and he made queer little whining sounds. He quivered for a full half hour afterward, but gradually- after being forced to witness the lion act a few times--his terror subsided. In its place grew a thorough hatred of the big cat and of its odor which permeated the whole stage at times. The dressing room really was the dog's only haven of refuge and there he brooded hour after hour during that endless week. Not once did he bark or in any way resemble the old Sass.

He didn't even enjoy his meals, although the dancer made a special effort to bring him the things he liked best Sass, like many another old trouper who had found the obstacles too much for him, had simply given up. If he had not been so indifferent to everything, be might have attached some meaning to the fact that his mistress and the THE STORY OF A LITTLE FOUR-LEGGED TROUPER WHO HAD WHAT IT TAKES He hesitated not at all as he met tha big charging cat at the door. Snarling, ne leaped at her throat, burying his teeth in the tuft of fur. front row of vaudeville's mythical hall of fame. And it must be said for the Boston that temperamentally he kept pace with the rise of the little hoofer.

In his backstage demeanor was every inch a headliner. He knew his way around every stage in the loop and his routine upon arrival for rehearsal in a familiar house became a ritual. First he would greet the man at the stage door and ask politely in a respectful bark if there was any mail for Miss Becky O'Connor. Then he'd trot over to the switchboard and ask the electrician if he had his light cues in order. rie would greet the man at tha stage door and ask politely in a respectful bark if there was any mail for Miss Becky O'Connor.

The boss prop man and the carpenter then were honored with a brief greeting, a her which Sass would settle himself beside the stage manager to argue any little point that might arise between this power and the little dancer. ETITE, raven-haired Becky O'Connor easy to get along with, as stars go, but tveryone talked back to hei dog because they knew he loved an argument Some of them went to considerable lengths to pretend respect for his authority and all looked forward to visit to no other during the season. You wouldn't have to know much about dogs to understand that the Boston took distinct pride in the stardom of his mistress. Hadn't he climbed step by step with her and didn't he protect her interests better than the best agent available There was that time when the once-great Broadway star, grasping at the straws of a vaudeville drama sketch in the decline of her reign, insisted on top billing over Becky. Sass had barked so insistently that the frantic house manager finally had thrown up his hands and agreed to equal billing if the dancer only would take her dog out of his office.

And then Sass had hurried backstage to nip the dramatic star's big German police dog so that everyone would know just how matters stood. During Becky O'Connor's acj, her dog would stand in the wings, very quietly and with his head cocked on one side, listening to the O'Connor taps rattling off the boards like machine-gun fire. In the briei moment between the end of a number and the wave of applause that broke over the shore of the stage, he would cock his head on the other side and wiggle what passes for tail in that particular breed of canine. Then, satisfied that the spectators appreciated his blue-eyed goddess, he would trot proudly back to the dressing room with all the pomp of a Roman herald clearing the path for a victorious Caesar. Sass was well on the way to becoming a legend as the undefeated champion of backstage debate when his title was wrested from him suddenly and without warning.

It was in Columbus and the dog was hurrying to the theater with his mistress for a morning reKcarsal, high- hatting all such ordinary folk as stray street dogs, keen in anticipation of meeting old friends backstage. They turned in at the alley and opened the stage door. The friendly bark that Sass had for Pete stuck in his throat He stopped short and sniffed. 'HPHERE was a most peculiar odor. It per- sisted, becoming more pungent as the dog impatiently led his mistress across the stage toward the dressing rooms.

Scarcely noticing the stagehands who dropped their work to hail him, Sass breezed right up to the place where the strange odor wu big crate with a little iron- barred door in front. Sass in all his life never had encountered a lion, and there was a lion in (that shift- ing crate. The animal was "Duchess," half of a sensational act in which a young man wrestled with a lioness in a steel arena. The other half of the act was tall, blond Frank Larson, "World's Foremost Lion Tamer and King of the Steel Arena." The billboards said so. Quuermg with excitement, the dog sniffed all around the big box.

Then he planted himself about three feet from the small grated window and barked. Inside the den a magnificent tawny head jerked a sound slumber. Some of the stage crew, drawn by the promise of seeing Sass read the riot act to the queen of beasts, nudged each other and grinned. Duchess fastened an indifferent eye on the dog and yawned. Sass, still quivering and not mindful of his audience, barked again.

At this, the big cat emitted a roar that seemed to start somewhere in the depths of the theater and spread like rolling thunder through the entire stage area, dissipating useH at last in the lofty reaches of the fly-gallery. For one awful moment the terrier froze in his tracks. Then, without ceremony and to the amazement of all present, he turned and sped across the stage like a streak of brindle lightning. At the stagedoor he begged to be let out, and here it was that his mistress caught up with him. Those who had witnessed the dog's flight from the voice of the Duchess were rolling on the floor, almost, in their hilarity.

Becky O'Connor realized that the spectacle of Sass fleeing from qnseen terrors probably was pretty amusing, yet she sensed something frightening in the frantic shivering of the dog. Swiftly and surely, this thing had broken his nerve. Suddenly he had become an old dog and there was nothing left of the spirit that had ruled his little world behind the footlights. "Tell the orchestra leader I'll be Back in ten minutes," she ordered. "I'm taking Sass back to the hotel." you better call him "Sis' from now jeered a stagehand.

The remark brought hot tears to the little dancer's eyes as she cuddled the Boston against her shoulder. She started to reply, but was interrupted by a low. friendly voice behind her. "I like dogs," it said evenly. She looked into the eyes of Frank Larson, who had come from his dressing room in time to see his lioness put wings on the feet of the little terrier and who now laid a friendly hand on him (Couj right by Ukjcaslnt) "Oh.

do you? I'm glad," was all Becky O'Connor could think of in reply as she studied the strong, boy-like features of the lion man. "Sure. I had a dog like this when I wai kid. Had him pretty well trained, too, but I couldn't make money with a dog act. The yokels want to see you risk the old neck with the big cats." Sass suffered tortures anew from the caress of the man.

Clean though he was in his smart practice uniform, he carried the scent of the lioness. evening, when the dancer and the lion tamer took Sass out to dinner with them, the man did not smell of the big cat But he still was not too acceptable to Sass because the dog associated him with the painful experience of that morning. "Poor dog. He won't have much fun this week," the dancer said, reaching down to pat the disconsolate canine. "The only air he to breathe is backstage air." "Too bad Duchess frightened him.

Really she's just like a big kitten. Never hurt me badly just a few scratches you'd expect from wrestling with a Hon. Say, where do you play next week?" "Dayton. Then Cincy, Louisville. Indianapolis--the usual.

You?" "The same. Guess I'd never have run into you if they hadn't held me over an extra week here, would "Maybe not. Would you mind it very much?" she asked. In answer the lion tamer held the dancer's eyes a long lime, and there was a lot of versstion in that look. "But poor Sass won't enjoy your visit (imply won't go near theater that has your lion in it," she remembered.

"He might." the man said slowly, "if make him." "Force him? Oh, I couldn't do that! Why this dog's like person. He can't be tossed around without any regard for hu feelings." "I know, but if he could see the cat work with me at some performance, he might not bt so scared. You see. he'd know then where the roar comet frfitti. He's never really seen the Duchess outside that little crate, you know." Becky looked at the dog.

it'i worth try. I can't leave you in a hotel loi the rest of the season just because we've had the misfortune to rurl into a wild animal ict, can boy?" lion lamer were togeltier most of the time that week. They watched each other's acts, and even though trs girl had stopped taking the dog with her when she watched the man wrestling with the lion in the big cage, she unfailingly was there.in the wings, when the curtain went up on the Greatest" The boss prop man said it couldn't happen, but it did. It happened at the late morning fhow on the last day. The curtain had just rung down on Larson's act when a section of the steel arena fell away.

Whirling and ing to the animal, he tried to beat her to tho opening, but she was too quick. She got there first Out into the wings she bounded, knocking over a stand-lamp and heading straight for the flash of white that was Becky O'Connor, screaming in her flight from the big cat Sass heard that scream. Forgotten were the fears and defeats of the week as he leaped from his place on the couch. All at once it was the OLD Sass. boss of every other backtagt and guardian of a headliner, who sped through the dressing room doorway at the very moment when his mistress frantically pushed it open to let herself in.

Behind her was the Duchess and at the moment there was nobody to halt the pursuit Stagehands were climbing the rigging and Larson was not quite near enough to grab the big cat in time to prevent her from plunging into the little room. HERE was only Sass, and he hesitated not at alt as he met the charging cat at the door. Snarling, he leaped at her throat, burying his teeth in the tuft of fur. Duchess, startled although wholly uninjured by the little terrier, jumped aside, enabling the dancer to get into the dressing room and slam the door. The lioness had almost no opportunity to harm Sass, so quickly did her trainer take matters in hind.

And that was all right with the Duchess, too, frightened as she was, and confused and glad to get back into the familiar shipping crate. She was safely inside in than a minute after her escape from the arena, and Sass had only a mouthful of fur to show for bis trouble. But is hit heart he knew that he had tri- trmphed, tnd he barked his defiance in front oi the lionen' crate until the house manager phoned backstage to tell them to "keep thrt blasted dog quiet so the customers can hear the newireell" In the dressing room, the lion lamer and dancer were in a tight but even the sight oi this did not make the dog jealous. Nothing could spoil this day tor him now. Sass had done the thing that beaten old troupers live for: HE HAD COME BACK.

Tearfully, his mistress cuddled him while Larson examined him for any tears he might have received rrorn the Duchess. And if you ever play that particular theater, the will tell you about the silver plate that Larson had fattened on the Boston terrier't cellar that night' It read: "To SMS, World's Greatest Lion Tamer, from Frank Second Greatest," I.

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About Fitchburg Sentinel Archive

Pages Available:
317,153
Years Available:
1873-1977