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Ad Astra, v. 1, issue 5, January 1940

Page 6

Page 6.     MID-WEST Fan News

MID-WEST MARKY Says:-
It seems to be in the vogue now, for people to "say". It also seems to be remarkable that more is often left unsaid than [[underline]]said[[end underline]], and that in most cases, the "said is greatly influenced by personal bias,  misinformation, or both. So let it be with MID-WEST-MARKY.

Fan statisticians will kindly note the tremendous S-F mileage Chicago fans have totalled during the last nine months. Possibly this is no record, but it would serve to indicate how really active rekindled Mid-west has become.
To begin with: the New York Convention trip Korshak and I took last summer. Counting out-of-the-way cities we touched especially for fans residing there (Fort Wayne and Philly), the round trip represented 2000 miles apiece. Total: 4000 miles. Add 2000 more miles to that figure, for Jack Darrow was there, too. Shortly after, Erle Korshak and Richard . Meyer journeyed down to F. Wayne again for a Sunday afternoon visit. Sum for both: 550 miles. Then, i made my first hitch-hike trip to see Tucker in Bloomington (staying over three days!) which amounted to 240 both ways.
Things got far more active than[?] that. A week after my return from Bloomington, Erle and I hitch-hiked to Jackson, Mich., where EESmith resided (infringing on his hospitality three days). Our mutual total was: 800 miles. Shortly after returning, Erle and I launched on our hitch-hike to Bloomington (my second). That was the one on which we were duped into unloading 5 1/2 tons of lumber by a shrewd truck driver, who "kidnapped" us off the highway and ultimated: "[[underline]]work or....walk[[endunderline]]" (ten miles of dirt road back to the main route)". We "worked", and arrived in Tucker-town so late that evening that we had to stay up all night to clear of all we wished to say. This was the trip which climaxed into the "1st Barnyard Conference in S-F. Oh, yes: 480 mls.
The same day Erle got back into Chicago, he started for New Yrok City where he was to reside permanently, temporarily. 900 miles. During the summer W.L. Hamling had vacationed out west, but since this included no science fiction to speak of, I won't tabulate the ground covered. I also believe Howard Funk and Neil DeJack, two fan-dealers of the original Chicago SFL, toured the U.S. in search of Black-#-magazines, but am not sure of the trip or where they went. Their mileage would add to the total, if the trip was taken. 
Things quieted down for a while, but meanwhile, Bob Tucker had been laying plans for a trip to the Philco. Tentative plans were advanced for a hitch-hike to Philly, before I knew of Bob's intention of going to that city, too. But, after a lot of helter-skelter, last-minute arrangements (in which the staff of AD ASTRA put out #4 overnight to bring along to the Conference), Richard Meyer, myself, Bob, and his wife piled into his car and blazed the historic saga of Mid-Western Journeys. Total, after we had gotten home, was about 2000 mls. apiece. This included stop-overs in Ft.Wayne, Decateur, Dayton, and Hagerstown en route. So, between Rich and I, we had 4000 miles to our credit. If I were to count Korshak's hop from NYC to the Philco, it would add around 200 miles or so to Chi-travels.
The climax came this Xmas vacation,when Erle visited Chicago and his friends therin. He stopped over in Ft. Wayne both ways,there by adding a little to his mileage, which was about 2000.
Tentative plans were laid for a Meyer-trip to LA this Feb., but it had to be called off until early this summer, whien Rich, Erle, and I will visit the west-coast together.
So, the total fna mileage for 9 months of Chicago fans alone equals: [[underline]]15,170 miles[[end underline]]! That figure contributed mainly by three fans!

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Page 6. MID-WEST Fan News MID-WEST MARKY Says:- It seems to be in the vogue now, for people to "say". It also seems to be remarkable that more is often left unsaid than [[underline]]said[[end underline]], and that in most cases, the "said is greatly influenced by personal bias, misinformation, or both. So let it be with MID-WEST-MARKY. Fan statisticians will kindly note the tremendous S-F mileage Chicago fans have totalled during the last nine months. Possibly this is no record, but it would serve to indicate how really active rekindled Mid-west has become. To begin with: the New York Convention trip Korshak and I took last summer. Counting out-of-the-way cities we touched especially for fans residing there (Fort Wayne and Philly), the round trip represented 2000 miles apiece. Total: 4000 miles. Add 2000 more miles to that figure, for Jack Darrow was there, too. Shortly after, Erle Korshak and Richard . Meyer journeyed down to F. Wayne again for a Sunday afternoon visit. Sum for both: 550 miles. Then, i made my first hitch-hike trip to see Tucker in Bloomington (staying over three days!) which amounted to 240 both ways. Things got far more active than[?] that. A week after my return from Bloomington, Erle and I hitch-hiked to Jackson, Mich., where EESmith resided (infringing on his hospitality three days). Our mutual total was: 800 miles. Shortly after returning, Erle and I launched on our hitch-hike to Bloomington (my second). That was the one on which we were duped into unloading 5 1/2 tons of lumber by a shrewd truck driver, who "kidnapped" us off the highway and ultimated: "[[underline]]work or....walk[[endunderline]]" (ten miles of dirt road back to the main route)". We "worked", and arrived in Tucker-town so late that evening that we had to stay up all night to clear of all we wished to say. This was the trip which climaxed into the "1st Barnyard Conference in S-F. Oh, yes: 480 mls. The same day Erle got back into Chicago, he started for New Yrok City where he was to reside permanently, temporarily. 900 miles. During the summer W.L. Hamling had vacationed out west, but since this included no science fiction to speak of, I won't tabulate the ground covered. I also believe Howard Funk and Neil DeJack, two fan-dealers of the original Chicago SFL, toured the U.S. in search of Black-#-magazines, but am not sure of the trip or where they went. Their mileage would add to the total, if the trip was taken. Things quieted down for a while, but meanwhile, Bob Tucker had been laying plans for a trip to the Philco. Tentative plans were advanced for a hitch-hike to Philly, before I knew of Bob's intention of going to that city, too. But, after a lot of helter-skelter, last-minute arrangements (in which the staff of AD ASTRA put out #4 overnight to bring along to the Conference), Richard Meyer, myself, Bob, and his wife piled into his car and blazed the historic saga of Mid-Western Journeys. Total, after we had gotten home, was about 2000 mls. apiece. This included stop-overs in Ft.Wayne, Decateur, Dayton, and Hagerstown en route. So, between Rich and I, we had 4000 miles to our credit. If I were to count Korshak's hop from NYC to the Philco, it would add around 200 miles or so to Chi-travels. The climax came this Xmas vacation,when Erle visited Chicago and his friends therin. He stopped over in Ft. Wayne both ways,there by adding a little to his mileage, which was about 2000. Tentative plans were laid for a Meyer-trip to LA this Feb., but it had to be called off until early this summer, whien Rich, Erle, and I will visit the west-coast together. So, the total fna mileage for 9 months of Chicago fans alone equals: [[underline]]15,170 miles[[end underline]]! That figure contributed mainly by three fans!