Tag Archives: United Press International

The governor’s Lincoln

I remember feeling a huge sense of delight over this story about Maine Gov. James Longley’s Lincoln Continental. Why? Because reporters love to catch politicians in this sort of delicious paradox. Here’s the back story: Longley ran as an independent and said throughout his campaign that the state spent way too much money on just about everything. But Longley also loved his wealth and his privileges, both as a businessman and later as governor.  And he REALLY wanted this Lincoln. But he didn’t know how to get it without appearing to violate his pledges of state cost-cutting. That’s why he put a “hold” on this Lincoln contract rather than simply cancelling it. Ultimately, once attention to all this died down, he got his Lincoln.

By ARTHUR FREDERICK

AUGUSTA, Maine (UPI) — Gov.-elect James B. Longley may be driven around the state during his term in a brand-new Lincoln Continental Mark IV.

A lease contract has been signed for the luxury car, but it was learned Monday that Longley has ordered a hold in the contract “until we can review the lease,” according to Col. Donald Nichols, chief of the state police.

Longley aide Jim McGregor at first said he didn’t know of any contract for a Lincoln, and said a decision on a new executive car might not be made for up to 90 days. Later, however, he said he had been the one to tell Nichols to hold up on the Lincoln contract.

“We haven’t reached a decision on a state car,” McGregor said early Monday.

“We might not decide for 30, 60 or 90 days. think a recommendation was made on a Lincoln by Col. Nichols, but I’m not sure of the particulars. We’re not sure now so we are not committing ourselves.”

76cont[1]Nichols said he had urged Longley to trade the Plymouth now used by Gov. Kenneth Curtis for a Lincoln.

“About a month ago he asked me for a recommendation, and I recommended that he get a heavier car,”Nichols said. “I’m familiar with the operation of the governor’s office, so I recommended a Lincoln.”

“As of this time, we’re holding on it to determine how the cost compares with that of the present car that’s under lease to Curtis, a Plymouth Fury,” he said. “On the surface, it appears that the Lincoln would be more expensive, but after checking it seems the Lincoln lease provides more.”

Nichols said the basic lease price would be $2,000 per year. “That seems to be a good deal for the taxpayers,” he said.

Nichols said Lincoln gives a low lease to many government officials, and said the Lincoln would be a safer car for the governor.

“I recommended that he get away from the lighter car,” Nichols said. “It’s going to be doing a lot of traveling and it makes sense from a safety standpoint.”

Later, McGregor said he knew that Nichols had recommended the Continental, and said he had been the one, at Longley’s direction, to tell Nichols to put a hold on the lease contract.

The contract had been signed by state purchasing agent Linwood Rods.

McGregor added that Longley would only use one state car, instead of the present two. One car is now used by Gov. Curtis, and a three-year-old Plymouth is kept at the Blaine House for use by the governor’s family.

Grave robbing and other deep subjects

UPI was absolutely in love with the strange, the creepy and the absurd. The odder the story, the more they wanted to go after it. The company believed that readers were fascinated by the peculiar, and I have to say that I saw plenty of evidence that they were right. So if I heard about some story that was macabre or unusual, I went after it. This story, about grave robbing, is an example.

By ARTHUR FREDERICK

NORWAY, Maine (UPI) – Oxford County Sheriff Alton Howe said Monday persons who robbed three graves in (the town of) Sweden may have been after skulls to sell to an out-of-state cult.

Howe said three graves were opened at the Black Mountain Cemetery more than a week ago. Other counties have also reported the opening of graves, most of them more than 100 years old.

“We found out that a cult out-of-state is paying more than $100 for skulls,” Howe said. ”Whether or not this is it, or some other stupid thing, I don’t know.”

The three graves, one of a woman and two of men, were dug up more than a week ago. The holes were six feet deep, five feet long, and two feet wide. Howe said the skulls appeared to be missing from each grave, but said the remains were in such condition it was hard to tell what, if anything, had been taken.

“We found a set of false teeth in one and a few small bones and fragments of fabric and hair in the others,” he said.

Most of the bones, Howe said, appeared to be from a foot. Another bone, which appeared to be a thigh bone, also was found.

The grave robberies were not the first in the state in recent months. Another grave was opened at the Black Mountain Cemetery last year, and other grave openings have been reported in Cornish, Waterboro and Fryeburg.

In addition, there was a twist to the previous grave opening at the Black Mountain Cemetery.

“The peculiar part was that one of the new grave openings was alongside the one that had been previously dug up,” According to Sweden Civil Defense Director Donald Laffin. “Whoever did that one filled the grave back in.”

“All we found were some fragments of clothing and pieces of the casket.”

In Waterboro, Leland Swett knew about the grave openings in that town because the robbers had dug up the resting places of some of his relatives.

The diggings there took place in the Swett Cemetery, a private burial plot on Ossipee Mountain.

“One of the graves was my great grandmother,” Swett said. “They were all relatives,. There’s three generations buried there, if not four.”

It wasn’t known if anything was taken from the graves, because the local road commissioner filled the graves back in.

Howe isn’t sure what the diggers were after if it wasn’t the skulls.

“None of them were war veterans, so there were probably no medals,” he said. “And I doubt if it is a matter of finding jewelry, so we are considering the possibility of occult practices.”

“The persons responsible worked hard for whatever they were after.”

Feature writing: “Hey, kids! What time is it?”

I bet you didn’t know Howdy Doody was from Maine, did you? Well, that’s almost true; actually, Buffalo Bob Smith retired to Maine when he was still in his 40s after the hugely popular Howdy Doody television show went off the air in 1960. I interviewed the very affable Buffalo Bob in 1986, and the resulting story was played in newspapers all over the country.

 

By ARTHUR FREDERICK 

GRAND LAKE STREAM, Maine (UPI) — Hey, kids! What time is it?

For Buffalo Bob Smith, Howdy Doody`s real-life buddy during the pioneer days of television, it may finally be time for retirement.

The old Howdy Doody show, the first children`s show on network television, went off the air in 1960, after more than a decade of entertaining millions of fledgling baby-boomers glued to their flickering black-and-white screens.

When that happened, Smith and his family moved to their log cottage on Maine`s remote Big Lake. Smith, who began in radio in Buffalo, N.Y., at age 15, bought three radio stations in northern Maine, and the family also purchased a winter home in Florida.

“I never really retired,” said Smith, who was only 43 when Howdy Doody left the air.

Now the 68-year-old Smith has sold the radio stations and is winding down. He spends most summer days fishing in Maine and much of the winter playing golf in Florida.

But the white-haired Buffalo Bob hasn`t forgotten the freckled, cowboy-booted marionette that made him one of the most famous television entertainers of the 1950s.

Howdy`s memory is still bright for Buffalo Bob, who keeps an original Howdy puppet in a glass case on top of a filing cabinet at his Florida home. Another original Howdy shares space at the Smithsonian in Washington with two other well-known puppets, Charlie McCarthy and Kermit the Frog.

Image

Buffalo Bob and Howdy Doody

“Next year is my 40th anniversary with Howdy, and we’re planning a 90-minute special,” Smith said. “We’re going to have a Peanut Gallery full of people who would have been kids back then, people like Johnny Bench and Barbra Streisand.”

Smith thinks the Howdy Doody shows still stack up well against modern children’s programming, which is often little more than animated cartoons.

“Howdy was a show that was not educational per se, although we did try to educate with songs that had themes like ‘Be kind to animals’ or ‘Cross the street with your eyes, not just your feet,’” Smith said. “Howdy was mostly slapstick and fantasy because kids like slapstick and being in on the joke.”

There was plenty of slapstick humor, and Buffalo Bob was often the butt of the joke. When Clarabelle the Clown uncorked his seltzer bottle or someone threw a pie, it was usually aimed at Buffalo Bob’s smiling face, much to the delight of the kids in the studio Peanut Gallery.

Television production costs have skyrocketed so much, Smith said, that it would be next to impossible to duplicate the Howdy show now.

‘You just couldn`t afford to do Howdy today because it appeals to such a limited audience,’ Smith said. “Unless you have Ford or General Motors making big grants for something like Sesame Street, you just aren`t going to get much more than cartoons, something you can put together for $200,000 and which will get played maybe 200 times.”

Continue reading →

Feature writing: Small community in Maine boasts unique film society

Another feature story in the UPI/wire service style. Maine was an absolute treasure trove of offbeat stories…

By ARTHUR FREDERICK

MOUNT VERNON, Maine (UPI) – The Strange Fellows Film Society, consisting of two seventh graders and a 31-year-old scrap metal worker, hangs up a makeshift screen every other Friday and brings the likes of Marlon Brando and W.C. Fields to the Mount Vernon Schoolhouse.

The film society was born around Christmastime, when the scrap metal worker, Joe McLaren, decided that good movies would be way to beat the winter doldrums in Mount Vernon, which consists of a general store, a small hardware store and about 400 people.

“Besides, there have only been about four movies worth seeing around here this year,” McLaren said. There are movie theaters in Augusta, Farmington and Waterville, but all are about 20 miles away.

Mount Vernon offered a unique facility for movies, as well, a fine old Odd Fellows Hall, complete with ticket window. McLaren made tentative arrangements to rent the hall, and then went to see about securing the films.

“We had some trouble,” McLaren said. “We found we could get the films if we were a film society and didn’t make a profit. That was okay with us, and now we accept donations, enough to cover the cost of the films. Actually, so far, I’ve lost money every week.”

The worst part after McLaren got the films: the Odd Fellows decided not to rent the hall because of insurance restrictions.

“It would have been great at the hall,” McLaren said. “But this really hasn’t worked out bad. Mr. Gordon, the principal, has been helpful and so has everyone else.”

McLaren’s partners are John Jones, 12, and Mark Kelley, 13, students at Mount Vernon School. Mark’s sister, Dale, made the movie screen out of artist’s canvas, and both Mark and John help McLaren set up the screen and projector.

The first movie was “Requiem for a Heavyweight” with Anthony Quinn, and the showing was something less than a raving success.

“It was a real cold night and the school had shut off the heat,” McLaren said. “We had about 50 people here and it was about 45 degrees in the room. A lot of people left early.”

So far, the Strange Fellows Film Society has managed to solve its problems and bring good films to Mount Vernon. McLaren feels that if the venture succeeds through the winter, The going will be easier in summertime when the summer residents come back to town.

“We’re having ‘One-Eyed Jacks’ with Marlon Brando next Friday,” he said. “If you come, you better bring your overcoat.”

Sailors need love, too

Museums are great sources of news stories. This exhibit at the Bath Marine Museum resulted in a United Press International story that was carried in newspaper nationwide in 1988.

By ARTHUR FREDERICK

BATH, Maine (UPI) — The old photograph of a woman holding a stuffed bird to her breast is not the sort of fare usually found at the Maine Maritime Museum, a showcase of memorabilia from the golden age of sail.

The museum, normally a hushed place of artifacts from the days when commercial sailing ships were king, is offering a bold and slightly bawdy look at the sex lives of 19th-Century sailors.

“Sin, Sailors and Salvation: Seaport Seductions and Social Reform in the Age of Sail,” includes drawings and descriptions of waterfront bordellos and barrooms, as well as warnings on the dangers of vice in port.

The exhibit – a mixture of artwork, clothing, books and even a set of brass knuckles – paints a picture of a raucous lifestyle but also seeks to portray how sailors of the time were ravaged by alcohol and sexually transmitted disease.

Cut Off for Weeks at a Time

Dr. Charles Burden, a founder and trustee of the museum, said sailors would go to sea for weeks at a time, cut off from friends, family and stable relationships. As voyages drew to a close, sailors became obsessed with spending their pay on the sex and liquor they would find in port.

One drawing shows sailors on a sandy tropical beach with women dressed only in grass skirts.

“The average voyage was anywhere from two weeks to four months, so by the time they got to shore they were very excited about the prospect of wine, women and song,” said Burden, a pediatrician. “There were prostitutes and salesmen and barkeeps, and the sailors might get drunk and spend all their money in a couple of days. Then they would have to go to sea again just to be able to have a place to live.”

For many sailors, it was a cycle that would end in poor health, Burden said. Sailors eager to spend their money in a hurry would often end up beaten, robbed or jailed.

Many times, Burden said, the debauchery would end only when the sailor’s money ran out, and he signed on for another voyage. Then the pattern would begin again.

Syphilis and other venereal diseases were rampant among the sailors. Because there was no cure at that time for syphilis, infection generally meant deterioration and death.

“Ships would carry so-called `gonorrhea medicine,’ but it wouldn’t do any good,” he said.

Sailors spent their free time at sea practicing scrimshaw, the elaborate carving of bones and tusks. Some of the artwork got a little off-color. Several examples of pornographic scrimshaw were left out of the exhibit because they were considered too explicit.

“There were some objections,” Burden said. “There were concerns that if we were more explicit than we have been, we might have some problems, since we do have school children that come through here.”

Bordellos prospered in the last century, which prompted sailors’ aid societies to warn crewmen about dangers lurking ashore. One booklet in the museum’s display, entitled “Advice to Sailors,” warned of dishonest shopkeepers, landlords and grog shop operators.

“But there is still another danger on land against which I must warn you,” the booklet said. “It is that which arises from bad women. It is difficult to say which ruins most sailors, drunkenness or badness.”

 

Cowsnatching and other Maine tales

I’ve been looking through the Google News Archive and I’ve found a number of my old stories from my days with United Press International. This is a valuable find for me because these stories illustrate the wire service style of writing — tight, short and bright. I spent a lot of my days with UPI in Maine covering government and politics, but when I wasn’t doing that I was looking for features stories, like this one about cowsnatching.

By ARTHUR FREDERICK

AUGUSTA, Maine – There’s a lady in Levant who won’t let her cows out of the barn. Rustlers got one of her heifers and she  doesn’t want it to happen again.

In Mount Vernon, Milton Hall noticed three heifers missing. After checking his pastures, he called the sheriff. The cows had been rustled.

Rustling isn’t limited to the Western bad guy type.  It’s been reported in the Maine counties of Kennebec, Aroostook, Sagadahoc, York and Penobscot.  The incidents range from the theft of a single grazing cow to daring cowsnatching right from the farmer’s barn.

In Belgrade, someone made off with a single Hereford after cutting a tether rope. But in Albion, one ambitious fellow made off with six milking cows.

“The guy drove a truck right into the barn and drove out with six of them,” said Kennebec County Sheriff Stanley Jordan.

Sheriff Darrell Crandall of Aroostook County said there have been three incidents in recent weeks, but he said he wasn’t sure if two of them were the real thing or not. The third incident was rustling, all right, he said, but the farmer didn’t know whether he lost two cows or four.

“The guy drove right in with a vehicle and took off with the cows,” Crandall said. “But the owner didn’t know whether he got two or maybe four.  Now, just how he came up with those figures I don’t know.”

Most of the cases are one-shot, or one-cow, deals. But a couple of years ago some enterprising rustlers used a bit of local technology in bagging their bovines.

The thieves used a “pulp truck,” a big stake truck with a huge hydraulic claw which is used to pick up logs and place them on the truck bed.

“These guys used to get a cow near the pasture fence, bop it over the head with a hammer, then move the claw over the fence and pick the carcass right over,” said Sheriff Jordan. “We never got ‘em.”

Jordan thinks the increase in rustling is a result of the increase in beef prices. And he thinks it’s going to get worse.

“See, a friend of mine said they’re selling beef cattle for 80 cents a pound on the hoof,” Jordan said. “Now if a guy can go out and knock one off that’s 200 or 300 pounds or so dressed out, he’s got it made.”