EAST FAREWELL NEWS
Thursday, March
27, 1952 Vol. C354
LOCAL
NEWS
A TOUCH OF SPRING IN THE AIR
East
Farewell – It has been a long cold winter but last week everyone got a little
taste of spring when temperatures climbed to near 70 degrees. A warm front
settled in over the
Lake Charles valley and Sunday and Monday were delightful. The afternoon
temperatures reached 67 on Sunday and 69 on Monday afternoon. The sun was
bright both days and almost all the snow that was still on the ground
disappeared. Lake Charles started to thaw causing great cracks in the surface
and forcing most of the ice hut owners to pull up stakes on their huts and drag
them back to the shore. The huge snow plies on the Lakefront Plaza, some of
which had been sculpted into different snowmen and snowwomen, became mere piles
of snow. The streets and sidewalks were completely clear much the relief of
many pedestrians.
It turns out the spring fling was
just that,
a bit of a tease. By Wednesday night the temperatures had plummeted back
down to 42 and the wind had picked up. The forecast is for the chill to hang
around for at least another few weeks. The lake may solidify again but the ice
fishermen and women probably won’t move there huts back out. Everyone remembers
what happened to Earnest Reese just a year ago when his hut went down through
the ice after a warm spell in early March of 1951. “I am not going to let that
happen again,” said Earnest beside his hut that had been safely stashed on the
shore, “I’m not anybody’s fool. Ice fishing is great but there is always an end
to every season. I look forward to the spring and summer and winter will be
back, you bet your tail, and I will be back on the ice then. It’s a wonderful
life.”
The weather has been fairly
predictable for the past several years but there have been quirks in the
patterns and folks have experienced some good fortune like last week but also
have had to endure some very difficult times like the prolonged freeze of ’49
and the incredible heat wave in the summer 0f ’50.
Spring Flowers by Lake Charles
SPORTS
COUGARS PUT ON AN EXCITING SHOW
Capital City – The #12 seated Regional High Cougars
faced off with the #5 Southern Aces in a surprising, exciting and explosive
semi-final matchup in the State finals on Saturday. The upstart Cougars played
like they had nothing to lose, which they didn’t, and were able to defeat the
very talented Aces, 60-58 in a game that no one thought would be played. The
Cougars by any right had no place being in the game and the Aces should have
been placed higher in the rankings. But they met on the floor on Saturday and
the game was well played by both teams and one would have thought the two teams
had been matched up many times in the season by the way they read each other’s
offense and defense’s. Both teams showed a game awareness that is uncommon in
this level of competition. Both teams used exacting play execution and very
tenacious defense to stymie their opponent.
The
game matched up two of the best centers in the league, Bill Donahue from the
Cougars and Franklin Smith from the Aces, and their play was a beautiful
battled that was a classic matchup. While Smith ended up with more points
Donahue ended up with more rebounds and assists. They both ended with four
fouls. Smith was high scorer with 26 points followed by his point guard, Sammy
Davis, with 24. The Cougars high scorer was forward Franny Warner with 22.
From
the tip off the game was a contest. The ball was knocked to the floor by Smith
after Donahue and Smith had collided in the jump. The ball was controlled by
Ted Fitzgerald and he quickly passed to a darting Warner who went in for the
first basket. The tempo was established and it kept up for the entire game. By
the end of the first half both teams had shot far more shots than in any
previous game and had a very high percentage of made shot at 30% by the Aces
and 29% by the Cougars. The first half ended with the Aces in the lead by 2,
28-26.
The
second half was similar to the first but the Cougars tightened up their defense
and the Aces committed three very rare turnovers that led to the Cougars gaining
a slight lead, 54-50, with only three minutes left. Smith was able to use a well-practiced turn
away jumper to best Donahue to even the score at 58 with only 20 seconds left.
The Cougars were able eat up 15 seconds with some splendid back court showmanship
by both Fitzgerald and Welch and with only five seconds left Welch faked a pass
into Donahue and bounced a pass to a wide open Warner who turned and shot with
one second left. Thwe coolness displayed by Warner under incredibly tense
moments was astounding, he turned and tossed the ball up as if he was in his
backyard playing with friends and the ball swished through the hoop for the
win.
The
two team, who had never played each other before showed great mutual respect
for each other as they shook hands after the game. One would have thought they
were old time rivals and friends the way they lingered on the court. “It was a
great game. They played a great game but we were one basket better today. I
think the boys learned a lot today not just about basketball but about how to
play the game,” said Coach Wilson after the game.
Next
week the face the Capitol City Stars in an unexpected playoff match up. The
Stars are the number one seed in the whole tournament and the Cougars are
number 12. The Stars present a very formidable foe for the Cougars but all bets
are off. No one expected the Cougars to make it this far and there is no
telling how far they can go. The game is next Saturday in the Capitol City
Arena. It will begin at 1:00.
NATIONAL NEWS
TRUMAN FIRES MCGRATH –– NEW US ACE FRANCIS
GABRESKI BLASTS 6 MIGS – STALIN ASSURES NEWSMEN WWW III NO NEARER THAN BEFORE –
FCC TO LIFT TELEVISION LICENSE FREEZE – AT THE MOVIES
President Truman fires Attorney General Howard McGrath and Newbolli Morris - the Truman administration’s corruption investigator in a one-two punch. Morris was fired because he had tried to delve into the finances of McGrath and other high officials. Truman announced McGrath’s departure, calling it a resignation. McGrath said in a statement that it was a “penalty” for opposing Morris’ efforts to delve into the personal financial affairs of government officials, including him.
Korean War - American Sabre jet pilots blast six MIGs out of the skies over North Korea, creating a new American jet ace. Col Francis Gabreski of Giltown, PA, bagged his fifth MIG for a total kill of five and a half to become an ace.
Prime Minister Stalin assures a group of newspaper editors and radiomen that World War III is no nearer than it was in 1949 or 1950. His views were sent via telegram dispatched in response to four questions sent to him March 24.
At
the movies –
Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair - Marjorie
Main, Percy Kilbride, Lori Nelson, James Best
Death of a Salesman -
Fredric March, Mildred Dunnock, Kevin McCarthy Camaron Mitchell
Lady Possessed - James Mason,
June Havoc
The Wild North - Stewart
Granger, Wendell Corey, Cyd Charisse
Zapata! - Marlon Brando, Jean
Peters
Scandal Sheet - Broderick
Crawford, Donna Reed, John Derek
The First Time - Robert
Cummings, Donna Reed
A Streetcar Named Desire -
Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando
The Greatest Show On Earth -
Cornell Wilde
Jack and the Beanstalk -
Abbot and Costello
5 Fingers - James Mason, Danielle
Darrieux, Michael Rennie
When World’s Collide -
William Holden, Nancy Olson, William Bendix
The Marrying Kind –
Judy Holiday, Aldo Ray
Room For One More -
Cary Grant, Betsy Drake
Walt Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Many, many
thanks to www.mrpopculture.com for
contributing to this section of the East Farewell News.