THE PLAIN DEALER . SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1998 5-D OURCENTURY 1934 ATA GLANCE Risking life and limb for a thrill PD FILE A shantytown at Whiskey Island, east of E. 9th St. Politics mirror bad U.S. economy Never had there been so much political agi- tation. Louisiana Gov. Huey Long, who gloried in the nickname “the Kingfish,” proclaimed “Every man a king!” until he was assassi- nated. Gerald L.K. Smith led the isolationist America First Party. The elderly rallied behind Dr. Francis Townsend’s Townsend Plan to pay them $200 a month so they could spend the nation into prosperity. From Detroit, Father Charles Coughlin, “the radio priest,” assailed bankers and Jews until his bishop silenced him. The school superintendent of Gary, Ind., de- clared that he had been offered $1 million to lead a Communist plot to seize the govern- ment. In San Diego, a fascist group calling it- self the Silver Shirts planned to attack the Communist May Day Parade, then seize City Hall and “liquidate” a Jewish deputy sheriff. On Oct. 28, about 150 Communists stormed the doors of Cleveland City Hall during a City Council meeting in an effort to present de- mands for greater relief for the poor. Police blocked their entrance, but arranged for their leaders to meet with Mayor Harry L. Davis. Party members vowed to demonstrate at the homes of council members. WESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY Still, a Chamber of Commerce survey Barnstorming pilot Roscoe Turner, right, mugs for the camera with Frederick Crawford, left, after winning a showed manufacturing employment up 5.5 Thompson Trophy race. Crawford was president of Thompson Products, which made auto and aircraft engine parts. percent over 1933. And at the shantytown at the city dump on the lakefront, residents told reporter Roeliff Loveland they believed 1935 would be better. Barnstorming aviators help relieve drudgery of Depression under 1,000 cubic centimeters. His grab parts from the wreck as souve- · By Fred McGunagle speed of 306 mph was a record. nirs. A small boy tried to pull the avi- Manager Walter Johnson didn’t get along On Labor Day, two days later, Da- ator’s cap from Davis’ head. As the with sportswriters or his own players, but the They lived in fame or died in flame. vis was the favorite in the 100-mile, National Guard tried to load wreck- Indians rallied in September for a third-place On Labor Day weekend in 1934, Doug 10-lap, $10,000 Thompson Trophy age on a truck, the mob broke finish and he was rehired. Mel Harder won 20 Davis did both. race, sponsored by Cleveland’s through the lines and took all but the games, in addition to the All-Star game in New At 3:46 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 31, Thompson Products Corp. Extra engine. “The crowd seemed to be York’s Polo Grounds. stunt pilots and parachutists were in- grandstands and chairs had been mad with excitement,” a police lieu- Monte Pearson won 18 games, while first terrupted as Davis landed in front of rushed to the airport to bring seating tenant said. baseman Hal Trosky batted .330 with 35 home to 100,000, at $1 for adults and 50 Davis was 33, and had been the runs, an Indians record. Earl Averill batted 38,000 spectators at Cleveland Mu- nicipal Airport. He had made the trip cents for children. Along the course, youngest Army Air Corps pilot in .313, and reached base nine straight times in a an estimated 150,000 more watched. World War I when he was commis- doubleheader. The keystone combination of from Burbank, Calif., in nine hours, Farmers in North Olmsted and Mid- sioned at 17. He had joined the barn- shortstop Bill Knickerbocker and second base- 26 minutes to win the Bendix Trophy. dleburg Heights charged a dime to storming circuit when the war ended. man Odell Hale hit .317 and .302 respectively. He had flown through storms that park in their fields. He had won the first Thompson Tro- But the League Park stands looked nearly as Davis jumped off to a quick lead phy in 1929, which created a grim empty as those in the Stadium had looked the and after seven laps appeared to have statistic: Of the winners of the first previous year. the race won. But in a moment of con- five races, only Jimmie Doolittle sur- fusion, he missed No. 2 pylon north- vived. Four others had died in · west of the airport. He threw his crashes. The Work Projects Administration provided plane into a tight upward right turn to The aviators were a colorful group, the country with plenty of jokes about WPA circle back around it. and none more than Roscoe Turner, workers leaning on shovels or being mistaken He was out of sight from the airport who went on to win the race after Da- for statues. But it also provided more than grandstand, which faced east. Sud- vis’ crash. Turner had a flare for self- PLAIN DEALER FILE 40,000 unemployed Cuyahoga County resi- denly, the announcer in the airport promotion; he wore uniforms of his dents with jobs paying $60 a month. tower shouted: “Davis is out of the own design and often flew with his A plane banks sharply around the And it expanded the airport, renovated Pub- race! He is going to crash!” pet lion cub, though not in races. home pylon during the National Air lic Hall, built roads and bridges, laid sewers, Two minutes later, he told the Turner had been a contestant in Races in 1929. guarded school crossings, built three public crowd Davis had parachuted safely to Friday’s Bendix race, but an oil leak housing projects, the City Greenhouse, the PD FILE the ground. Minutes later, he had to prevented him from taking off. He Donald Gray Gardens by the Stadium and announce that the first report had and two other contestants who failed killing himself and a couple and their Monkey Island at the zoo. It conducted public Crowds jam a field for a good view been false: Davis was dead. “With a to take off got a second chance when 13-month-old son. That was the end of health surveys, planted trees, painted murals of the air races. spontaneous movement,” The Plain backers put up $3,500 for a race the air races in Cleveland, though since and even wrote and put on plays — all projects Dealer reported, “the spectators next day to New York via Cleveland. 1964, the National Air Show has been beyond the means of strapped local govern- bared their heads and stood in silent He won it, landing at Municipal held on Labor Day weekend. ments. forced him to hold on to the controls tribute to the daring Southern boy Airport for six minutes en route to re- The races of the 1930s did more · to keep from being thrown out of the who had flown his last race.” fuel. He reached New York in a re- than provide entertainment for a plane. He nearly had crashed on Witnesses near the pylon described cord cross-country time of 10 hours, 2 Depression-weary city. At a time Radio was the cheapest entertainment — at takeoff from a refueling stop in Kan- what had happened: Davis was at 800 minutes, 51 seconds, covering the least for those who could afford to buy one. when the military had little money for sas. But he stepped onto the runway feet when something fell from the 2,475 miles at an average speed of research, they led to advances that WTAM, WGAR, WHK and WJAY each were to accept the trophy from movie star plane. He went into a tailspin, pulled 246 mph. Turner later won the 1938 on the air from 12 to 18 hours a day. All of the proved vital during World War II. Mary Pickford and a check for $4,500 out momentarily, then suddenly and 1939 Thompson races, retiring A shaken Roscoe Turner had put it shows were live and most were local. Perform- — four years’ pay for a factory dived straight toward the ground. He the trophy, and then retired himself. this way minutes after Davis’ death. ers like the Singing Stranger, the Barnbusters, worker — from the Bendix Corp. crashed into a field near Lorain and The National Air Races began in Accepting the Thompson Trophy, he Gumming’s Band and Clara, Lu and Em had The next day, on only three hours Gessner roads in North Olmsted and Los Angeles in 1920. They were held their regular 15 minutes a day. of sleep, Davis mounted a smaller was killed instantly. in Cleveland in 1929, 1931-32, said: “People go through sacrifice to Housewives could catch “Ma Perkins” in the motor on his Wedell-Williams No. 45 It was determined later that a sec- 1934-35 and 1937-39. After World advance aviation — sacrifice of time afternoon. Youngsters home from school could and darted six times around an 8á- tion of wing had come loose from the War II, they returned from 1946-49. and money and labor — and life.” listen to “Freckles” and “Jack Armstrong (the mile course to win the $1,700 Greve plane during the tight turn. Crowds In the 1949 Thompson race, Bill McGunagle is a Cleveland free- All-American Boy).” Jack Benny and Kate Trophy race for craft with engines rushed to the scene and fought to Odom crashed into a house in Berea, lance writer. Smith were among the stars in the evening.