Evansville Courier and Press from Evansville, Indiana • 37

EVANSVILLE INDIANA SUNDAY MARCH 9 1941 A WEIRD STORY OF PLUTONIANS AT DECKER END Oscar presides at a meetlug a( Min Decker LHerury HHeuee a ad Hobbles C'InK Oseer In the storied looking Mlow at the head ef the table beleg offered a light by Bill Hlsson aai a aoft Irlak hf FaaL Vania Waning la the eae alfh the plpt at the front left Opposite him la Tlaeeat Nanning Jane Darin ether member ef the rlab aet present I If Man From Find Mars Landed There He Clubhouse All Fixed Up Tea are standing la the elaliheaae where la dlaaa'a'ealy zHence-fictloi faa magazine published The geglle at a a concocting "some tile polka la aoae ether thaa Hank Hanning oho really thought ap Bank alleaded ladlaaa 1' and the ladlaaapolla School of Pharmary aad haa eatablkhed hla laboratory la a eoraer ef the clnbhouaew Though not bonaflde member of the Literary Science and 1 lab-hies Club Kaye Manning wife of Man Is la the beat liked eoutrlhaler la ether science faalasy a fart bemoaned by Darker club members Faya hers holds one of tha original artist's shetrhea (far adraea flrtlon magaziaea eeverpages) which the Hub memliera bsugbt Jn at tha Chicago contention af irieare-fietfan font TRI-STATE TALES Bloomington Ind haa played a part in the eonatructlon of the National Gallery of Art In Washington which la to he opened to the public March 17 In fact 82 monolltble Indiana llmeatone columna aupport the roof of the two garden courta They were cut from an 800-Um block of granite In a Bloomington quarry They are 21 foot high and three and one half feet in diameter Thla gallery la a gift to the American people made by the late Andrew Mellon and tncludea hie collection of masterpiece got together and built a (tout coffin According to old cnatom eorpae must nevsr be left alone It wau early In the morning and two young girl were uitting In the room (convening In low tones) while the rent of the family wsa at break but By JAMES MARGEDANT Bunsijr Courier an mu Bull Writer DECKER Ind March 8 Carefully X-42 the Martian Atom-smasher opened the duro-metal porthole of hia powerful spaceship and peered intently into the eerie darkness of the strange world which was inhabited by a monstrous race of batmen Quickly stepping gun and tha torn air screamed as ray arter ray was fired at tha monster Closer swooped tha awful thing Its akin wings beating madly Its foam flecked cruel beak mapped hungrily and the monuter hissed "This my little friends la what happens to you If yon read too many of theao scientific fiction atorlea before going to bed' Honestly I am scared of my shadow since visiting tha "Pin of Decker Ind I keep thinking of fantastic racket sere of fourth dimension s-tubes of cosmic x-reflectors of erased alchemists and atomic whoaita and whatsits Another Orson Welles program on "Tha Martians Hava Landed'' would mako me an apt subject for mattress-padded cell However there ate some persona who like a reading diet of fantastic science fiction get a whang out of it Included among theao are five gentlemen In Decker Ind an ordinarily quiet and peaceful small town who became so enthusiastic about science-fiction they founded fan magacine devoted entirely to science-fiction realm activities Their names are: Marvla Manning Manrlca Pant William 81a- out of hia Hpuceaiiit made of shimmering spectral oogelit-tum be called aoftly to Zeepa the dainty Moon Maid to follow him Cautiously each carrying their deadly penetrating h-ray guns In readiness they walked alowty toward tha phosphorescent blue light that glowed weirdly on tha horlaon There tha rocketeers had been told lived tha rutbleaa scientist Doctor Saturn who through a aeries oC un-Godly fourth and fifth dlmenalon experiments had attained a bodiless existence and placed tha residents of the half-dead planet Irak tn slavery to hla distorted scientific mind Once tha Iraklana had revolted Coldly Saturn had subdued them trampled them down with mighty bombardments fired from a super-vapor gun Over hla spacious castle-like home the clentiat had blown an Impenetrable bubble of qulntllliona of spinning electrons each carrying the blasting pressure of eight million volts! Buddcnly Zeep screamed Turning X43 saw staring down at them hideous saucer-sized eyes set on long halry-eye stalks Grimly he triggered hla b-ray Suddenly the raised to a sitting position And tho well they ran screaming from the room Helm made a quick recovery and soon returned to hla home In Btewartavllle He brought with him as a souvenir his coffin Tha glory la told that the coffin was turned into a sort of playhousa for the Heim children Still later It waa used as feeding trough out in the barn Prom that almost fatal experience Mr Heim grandfather of Mrs Ella Defur Wade living between Poaeyville and Wudesvllle developed an odd custom Ho never failed to attend every neighborhood funeral just' to satisfy hla own fear that tha "corpse" might not he one Would By His Fans erns" allowed "Sleepy" Paul who aa the treasurer has managed to no gum up lha hooka that the clnb haa an overage of $327 Instead of being Just plain broke like moat clubs Paul might have added but didn't that western atorlea In comparison to science fiction were Mother Goose tales All algna point to Marvla Man-alug na the gent who thought up the uejenca fiction fan magazine Just why ha did no one seems tn know hut tha other four Hub members fell anthual-asilnally In line Pluto Isn't tha first science fiction fan magaxlne Thera are gobs of them But Pluto Immediately cams to tha front as tha moat elaborate fantasy magazine In print The reputalloa waa gained by hard work on tha part of the Hub members and virtual neglect of their jobs They purchased a mimeographing outfit and proceeded to turn out A 40-page bi-monthly booklet In six colors Kan dopeatera In other cities gasped Their moat ambitious efforts on mimeographing machines (tha traditional printing vehicle for (Hence fan clubs) bad been In ona or at the most two colors And hare waa a tnagaxlna with six colors That meant every sheet In the magazine waa run through the mimeographing machine aa many times as it bad various colors on It It meant printing nt least 60 per cent more numbers than were actually needed because of spoilage through Imperfect register At any rats tha effort created a sensation Science fiction fans flocked to get their own outbursts In Pluto for the role aeemu to ba that fantasy fans writs for their own publications Rather they write for other fan magazines and depend upon the outpourings of other fans to fill their own msgjt-zinea And how was Pinto received In Decker With varying degree of success 1 It la said that six persona were Immediately converted to science fantasy and plunked out a quarter for three mors of Pluto There were others who charged that Pinto waa something dreamed np nut of a hot- mags like Kaye's writings heller than onra" Most of the Plutonlana have triad in a mtuor way to crash tha professional science fiction field But without aucceaa got quite a rejection slip rnllecilun" admitted Vincent Manning At that only accepted bit In the professional Hue waa a poem about Oevar 1st last we're getting to that bird) It went like this: hangs on wall by a ring III his head The remain of man who's these many years dead Bones wired together and bolted In place "With tha trace of a grin on hla skeletal face Lika he'd beard a good Joke on tha whole human Oscar the skeleton la tha Hub's prized holding Year ago there were several lodges In Decker Ind One of these lodges which met over tha old Decker bauk quarters had a skeleton which prcaumalily waa used Id Initiation ridlng-tho goat rites As tha alory goes Ihe lodge dM and the old lodgo equipment and rui'iibihingN war a moved over to tho church basement and forgotten Oscar In hla wooden box went along There according to Mai via Manning the locked box holding Oscar served as a sort of bench seat for the childrea Jn the Junior Sunday School class But lira klda didn't know )L Rill Sisson rummaging among (Turn to ft Column (I) THE ADVENTURES OF MR POOLE inn Vincent Manning and Clauds "Juno" Da via Jr To meet them you'd- never dream they were the gifted authors of that aclence-fontaay magazine which rate as the "moat beauttrully fun magazine In the stairs No you'd never gueua their cranlunis are packed with such nightmarish stuff as the opening paragraphs of thla story Rut they are And these five think no more of sitting down to tasty night's reading of "sclence-not-so-tlfie" as yon do to read tbs latest ayrnpy love atory in Colliers Saturday Evening Post and American Do they believe what they read? Heck no! Science fiction magaslnes don't even go to tho trouble of printing that well-known fog line at the conclusion of each "Tha characters tn thin story are entirely Imaginary and have no referenca to persona living or dead Brother If you don't know they are fictional after the first two paragraphs there's not much much hope The Decker Ind Literature Science and Hobbies Club com posed of tho five waa not founded with tho Idea of publishing science fun magazine Rather the club grew out of the tree houses and river bank ahacka that the five used to have when they were kids Alt of them can tell stories about the shacks they built and the good tlmea they hsd in their neighborhood clubs Vincent for example had one of tho flret radio ahnekn In the county Between tboee days and Nov 1818 when the Decker Literature Science and Hobbles Club waa organized tho five cronies gathered a few years of age nil well within whnt Uncle Bum regard! aa tha perfect draft range Marvla Manning attended Indiana University and later tha Indianapolis School of Pbar-macy Two years each place Then with hla brother Vincent he became farmer Manrlca Paul farms too though he tinkers around lot with being an electrician Bill Sisson la In tha Decker drug store with hla father Juno Da via is also farmer What wau club without a club house? The first enterprise of the five members of Decker Literature Science and Hobbies Club was along that line They bought for $100 sandy lot at tho edge of Decker end proceeded to Invest something Ilka $270 in throwing np a two-room frame club house The $270 they admit did not entirely cover the coat of construction and materials Some of the building aupplles they openly swiped from their fathers Though ullll not entirely completed (elding shingles are lacking on one wall) the one atory building la fairly comfortable Its Interior boasts a bed two radios sufficient chairs for tho entire membership cupboards for storage of hobby col lections one full wall of bookshelves (from celling to floor) a room which Marvla has fitted up with all his pharmacy school materials liottles of thla and that cruets graduated ring stands test tubes alcohol burners and Oacar Oscar le a medical skeleton (More of him later) Bill SluNon brought over uome of hia stamp collection: Marvla also contributed a (mail mineral collection something that hia wife charges he made while they were on their honeymoon Davis a few guns Tha Literary Science and Hobbles Clubhouse atop what haa since become to be known aa Plutonian Hill la a right comfy place Inio Mils gcnllc sedHle club uliiKsiphcre came the diaiurlilug Influence nt scientific fiction rending mutter first there were Just a few magazines then more and more ss the club members realized they were all kind of fond of the fantsslle science chiller "Better than reading west and si ill lively Hutak yen Professor Poole gut through Northern Iiidtanu Normal Bcliisd at Valparaiso He came home fired w-lth the ambition to do something for Kcntnrky schools and founded the Poole Academy a private school at Poole Ky In 1883 That year an a-wH-lallon of teachers from the first and second Con tie or maybe a score of bottles There were alii! more who solidly maintained lha color sketch of a spaceship on tha rover of the first Issue resembled more than anything else a millimeter hot dog" see Just lur a glance Inside (he magazine the articles are titled like "Prisoner's Planet" "Solar System's "Matrimony 2114 A I)" "Tha Amazing Mark or Zlfff" farm flhat'a the Manning farm) Creates Man tn Teat Tube" which translated means tha tor the Propagation and Understanding and Prevention of Cruelty to Pet ideas" Not to mention of course a score nr so of pages regularly devoted to praise of the magazine by other fans Pluln reached ls height shortly after the Chicago convention of science fantasy fans at which tha flecker fantastic firmament waa represented by Sleepy Paul Marvla Manning and hla wife Kaye These three took Oscar with them (Mora about Oa car later) Ho much lima waa devoted to the amateur magazine activlilea after the convention that Kaya Manning protested editorially (In Pluto) about her life on fantaay farms without a husband Her editorial bleat promptly drew fire from other 8 hmtaalana who panned It saying that It waa an old but probably Juallfiad complaint Strangely enough Kaye Manning the complalner bad In the meantime become an accepted contributor to other science fan magaslnes Mourned her husband: Klorida Arkansas North Dakota Texas Virginia Wisconsin and Kentucky It looks like 1941 will top Mrs Stroud'a 1940 figures (They were larger than 1939'a by 68) By tha end of January over 150 people had already called on Mrs Stroud Christmas brought her 99 greetings Many o( them from fellow shut-ins with whom aha haa made a pen acquaintance through radio programs and the Shut-In Missionary Prayer Band This organisation has Its head quarters In Chicago III The "News Letters'' section of It Is directed by Miss Glen Edith Maaon who la a cripple and haa spent a great part of her own Ills in bed "Doctor aaya i'll be sluing up a bit In May" said Mil Stroud happily "That may (omit? like a long time off to active after seven years In bed three or four months doesn't seem like Whenever Mrs Stroud gets weary of reading her acripiure Iz my favorite hobby she says she runa through her letters "Tbut always makes me feel heller" she said "because 1 come aeroHM name of so many people that pul up cheerfully with a lot worse than I have to liear" Him drew fnrih from her ulieaf of correspondence a typed letter postmarked Wagner 8 from a man named Glen slie pointed out "lie's been a total crippla all hia lift A SHUT-IN BUT NOT THE corns PLAYHOrftR IN TIIK 8TBW ARTSVILLBIll cemetery there lien the gray ef John Helm a native of Germany who came to the atatee when a boy of 18 That waa back in 1837 He aettled In Bobb Township The etory about Mr Helm re-volvei about the fact that ba once made a trip through 1111-nolu On that trip ha became aeriously 111 He (topped at a roadside home Thera after a abort lllneea ha dropped Into a coma and wan pronounced dead All the preparation! ware mada for hla burial Neighbors in the thinly Battled community volunteered naalstance The men POOLING POOLE Kg March (Special) Said Professor John Poole 81 know whether I'm tired or lasy" Residents of thla little town named for hla grandfather are aura tho professor Isn't lasy And they are slightly skeptical of hla fotlgua They point out tho professor la still active in hla civil engineering business and that the only concession ha has so far made to aga la allowing hla son to do moat of the field work rhlle ho stays at home drawing whll pun Mr Poola'a Ilfs haa been full of pioneering In more than one field but after all a man descended from John Paul Jones and Sam Houston would bo 1 obliged to have adventure In hla life Teaching school In rural Kentucky aa Professor Poole did 10 years ago waa adventure There -were no public schools to the state at that time nothing hut subscription schools Not for year after Mr Poole began to teach were there public schools and those were supported only partially by public taxes Professor Poole remembers hla fourth school at Cairo Ky made an nnnanal contract with him Ho wau given the public money and the deficit waa pro-rated among tha patrons of tho school He had to collect that deficit If he wanted hla full salary of $25 a month "But I had no trouble collecting it" be says proudly 'Talrone offered me more" That 325 was really big money to the young school teacher He had started teaching at 18 for a salary of $14 a month and board Hla school was a little log room with a wood fireplace and puncheon benches There were children from kindergarten age to hia own age in that room and he taught them the various aerlea of McGuffey Readers the Blue Back Spelling Book and Ray's Arithmetic The young schoolmaster soon recognised that the great defect In Kentucky schools waa a luck of a grading system Under such conditions It waa Impossible to do more titan Just give Ills pupils what they could take He laid great stress on pronunciation and phonetic' markings he strove for perfection tn the thlnas he taught And ona memorable day tha gressional districts met In Mor-ganfield and It was there that the professor formulated the bill for graded public schools in Kentucky which wsa passed at tha next legislature' That waa not however tho only Kentucky law for which Professor Poole waa responsible At college ho had majored in civil engineering Ho began to do surveying along with hla teaching and ha dtacovered the ditch laws of Kentucky were baaed on old English drainage laws and were obsolete The present Kentucky ditch laws were drawn according to the professor's recommendations after he had made an extensive survey In Union County When Kentncky publfe schools Increased and began to cut in on hla private school Professor Poole gava up hla academy Ha taught In various western Kentucky high schools and for four yearn at Oakland City College Ind In the meantime he married and had four children It la In the science of farming rather than education and engineering that Profeasor Poole thinks Kentucky haa made tho greatest strides It la tho forming that he likes beat When tho professor waa a boy hla family rained everything they ate The land they lived on had been bought by hie grandfather from a Revolutionary soldier The soldier feared to take up hla claim lice suite Indian trouble waa Imminent So Grandfather Poole bought hla 2400 acres for a horse and rifle On part of that acreage Poole had the community mill where wheat and corn were ground by horse power But that was Just the end of the labor that the flour had coat Wheat was sowed by band from sack alnng oq a man's shoulder It was cut with sickle and one acre waa all that a man could cut In a day "When a man cut into a loaf of bread in those daya earned Professor Poole says "But 'so Imd the women They cultured tlicir own yeual and linked the bread wlili wood fires" At the height of Ills career Professor Poole decided his children should have the privilege of learning the work he'd done it a boy He didn't think they could (Turn la Page i (ulema 1) 1 LONELY and he types by means of a paddle held between hla teeth" Mrs Htroud In 1940 read her Bible through twice "1 plan to read ft through more than once in ahe said figure it's time I did some active missionary work my self with all these people who come to see me They cheer me up maybe I can give them 8 Utile spiritual lift" -wje' r'M MT CARMEL III March (Special) How would yon Ilka (o have callers In a year? Something Ilka callers each dayT Mrs Margaret Stroud $27 West fifth street hud that many visitors in 1940 She knows the exact number because she's kept a registry of visitors aver since 1937 "I've been In bed for seven years now" aha explained "and ona day I Yt to wondering Jnat how many friends I everyone haa been no good to me So I decided to keep a register It's been fun totaling the different little of visitors for thla laat year" "My oldest visitor" alia said "waa Mrs Matilda Benliam of English Ind She la 93 years old" Several parents tried for first place as bringing the youngest child to visit Mrs Stroud "Llndel Ray Doty who rams to see me when he was Just 11 dart old held the record for quite a while" Mrs Stroud said flipping the pages of her registry book "But then Mrs Jacob Holloway brought her baby Janice to see me when Janice waa Just seven daya old And Junleo liolila flrsl place for the Altogether there were 232 young visitors calling on Mr Slroud in 1940 ranging from Janice to children of 12 ytara bad visitor from 12 she saiil "Most of (hem from Tlllnola and Indians hut some from Ohio Michigan Missouri Prefrtwnr John Poole HI pnlrnua of Professor Poole's Cairo school vnlunlurily In-rreuMed Ills sulnry mid told hint he wouldn't have to collect any or II That waa the day he decided to save hla money and go to col Icrp With the aid of sntnmer tobacco crops and catcher's Jolt on tha Corydon baseball team Mrs area ret HI read abuse had 2115 rallrrf lust cur.