Riggers' school prepares locals

A parachute riggers' school, only the second one of its kind ever attempted in the United States, was being arranged for McCook in April, 1942. It was something brand new in aviation technical training and was being put on by Merlyn and Faye Cox.

Faye Lucille Cox was a world's champion woman parachute jumper, originally from Oxford and the author of the only existing manual of instructions for rigging parachutes. Russ Dowling remembers her making parachute jumps in McCook in the late '20s. My father, Buss Booth knew her ... this is one of those many times that I would love to pick my Dad's memory again.

Mr. and Mrs. Cox thought the training would be especially helpful to men planning to enter either the Army or the Navy because of the acute shortage of riggers that was available to serve at that time. The classes were open to both men and women and every student was guaranteed a government license, obtained from a federal inspector at the conclusion of the course, or they would not have to pay.

Enrollment would be limited to thirty students. Tuition was $57.50 and terms could be arranged. Three classes were offered each day with student permitted to attend the one most convenient for them. It would run from four to six weeks, depending on the number of class sessions the individual student attended. The school was conducted out of the Sutton garage building at the corner of West First and B Streets.

Mrs. Magrath asked in a March 28, 1942, ad in the Gazette Personals, "Why not send that soldier boy a box of peanut brittle, wrapped carmels or a cake for Easter?"

The Burlington train schedule in and out of McCook in March of 1942 included No. 39, the westbound Exposition Flyer bound for San Francisco, the Denver Zephyr from Chicago, the Pioneer Zephyr from Lincoln as well as No.15, No.9 and No.3 westbound. The same trains also ran eastbound out of McCook. Six passenger trains a day!

The order numbers for the third draft of eligible men in the 20-44 age group who registered in Red Willow County on Feb. 14 and 16 were published in the Gazette on March 31, 1942. They were listed with an initial following their name indicating if that man was from (M)cCook, (Ma)rion, (D)anbury, (B)artley, (I)ndianola or (L)ebanon.

There was a wonderful story in the March 31, 1942, Gazette about an eager group of Chicago women who were taking part in a first-aid class for the advancement of our country's cause. The ladies recruited a 16 year-old bellhop, Roy Jenkins, to be their guinea pig for bandaging practice. First, "Roy was bound at the head, neck, shoulders, elbows, hands and midriff. Then the ladies spread him on a table and bound down his left leg." One of the women rigged a pulley around his ankle and another pulled the rope ... Roy heard and felt something snap! The enthusiastic class made the discovery that their victim had passed out and that his leg was broken. He awoke to find himself being carried along by what seemed to be the entire first-aid class who were, "calling out to one another and seemed kind of panicky."

The last thing Roy remembered before he blacked out again was being pushed into the rear door of the ambulance. It seems that, "with the enthusiasm of artillerymen ramming home their first shell against the enemy, the ladies had thrust Roy into the ambulance so vigorously that his head collided with the back of the seat.

Accounts differ as to whether his skull was fractured or he merely suffered a concussion." I'll bet we can get a local group of women together for such a class ... now, if we could just entice Osama bin Laden to somehow volunteer for us ...

The war production board made some more decisions which would impact McCook's Main Street business district in March of 1942. They banned production of vacuum cleaners after April 30. They said no metal could be used in such items as coat-hangers, shoe-trees, pot cover holders, picnic stoves, curtain rods, cuspidors, candlesticks or cake coolers. These were just the latest additions to the list of things which Americans would sacrifice in the interest of speeding production of war materials. Production of mechanical refrigerators was set to end April 30 with the production of old-fashioned ice-boxes of the non-mechanical kind to be produced again. When I was downtown the other day I noticed the "Gierhart's" still spelled out in tile at the entrance to My Favorite Things. Gierhart's in March of 1942 had ads in the paper for Formfit brassieres, as advertised in "Life" magazine which offered the Sports-Life, Day-Life and Night-Life bras, to be fitted by their own Bra Specialist. They also offered a little straw bonnet with "poised wings" on both sides and sporting a huge bunch of purple violets ... all for $5. Listed in an April 1, 1942, Gazette ad as selling Chitwood's DeLuxe Tender Hams (from McCook's own factory) were: Bill's Café, DeLux Grocery, DeForest's Grocery, East McCook Grocery, Fred's Market, Handy's Café, Keystone Hotel, King Fong Café, Kleins Grocery, Lopers Cash Grocery, Lyon's Grocery, Mitchell's Café, Modrell's Café, Moore's IGA Store, McCook Grocery, Olympia, Rouch Grocery, Safeway Stores, Storey's Café, Websters Café, Withams Delicatessen and Whitehouse Grocery ... All in McCook.

The War Department offered a suggestion in March of 1942, "that The Star Spangled Banner be made more effective in bolstering war morale by making it more singable" There was a problem with some bands not allowing for the differences in fitting the words to the music for the various stanzas. At that time there seemed to be three separate versions of our nation's tune in use by the Army, Navy and Marine bands. Thanks to everyone who worked on Heritage Days and all that it involved this year. The weather completed all your hard work. McCook's Main Street looked good packed!