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Southern Star, v. 1, issue 1, 1941

Page 7

        From the STARPORT
                      by
                        
             Fred W. Fischer

   I have been invited to write a gossip column. Not wishing to usurp any Winchellian privileges I shall merely write a column, quoting high, wide, and handsome from my correspondence -- if you readers will only send me letters from which to quote. But right now, let me start the conversational ball a-rolling: 
          "the Pleides, cluster of bright stars, has 
           been been known for several thousands
           of years as the 'Seven Stars,' yet there
          are only SIX visible to the naked eye."

   This rather presupposes that far back in history there must have been a civilization capable of inventing and utilizing telescopic methods of star charting. Did the Egyptians have telescopes or the Chineese, or the Phoenecian sea farers? If so, the rumor of the correct number of stars in the Pleides could quite easily have gotten around. 

   Dr. Charles L. Barrett, M.D., the roving medico of fandom, paid me a recent visit and we swapped lists of favorite stories. Here are his five: INVADERS FROM OUTSIDE by ?; THE WORM OURBOUROUS, by ?; and THE GODS OF MARS, by ?. THE SIXISTER BARRIER, by ?; and THE TIME STREAM, by ?. Just for fun, suppose you supply the names of the authors. It should be easy, but in case you can't you'll find all five listed in order later on in this article. 

   On a recent Bob Ripley radio program a sketch was presented, purportedly true, which at least makes one stop and think. Ripley made the comment that the story was familiar to most Arizona folks, and then the following weird playlet was enacted: 

    A certain W.S. Williams and three friends are prospecting for gold. One night they begin discussing religion and Williams tells the others that he has spent many years of his life among the Ute Indians who are believers in reincarnation. He explains that he not only has faith in this philosophy, but is sure that he will, after his death, be reincarnated as a bull elk. He will appear in this guise to perform a good deed for his three present companions at a time when they are in dire need of guidance. In order that they may be sure of his identity he tells them that the initials WSW will be branded or tatooed on the left foreleg of the elk, just as they were to be found even then, on his own left arm. 

   Within a year, Williams dies. His three friends go on prospecting and are one day progressing warily down a narrow canyon trail leading to a mine they believe is located at a certain spot below them. Rounding a turn in the dizzy path which clings so tenaciously and dangerously to the preciptious walls of the canyon, they find their way blocked by a bull elk. While debating upon the advisibility of either killing the animal or waiting for him to move on, they see upon his left foreleg the unmistakably branded letters WSW.

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From the STARPORT by Fred W. Fischer I have been invited to write a gossip column. Not wishing to usurp any Winchellian privileges I shall merely write a column, quoting high, wide, and handsome from my correspondence -- if you readers will only send me letters from which to quote. But right now, let me start the conversational ball a-rolling: "the Pleides, cluster of bright stars, has been been known for several thousands of years as the 'Seven Stars,' yet there are only SIX visible to the naked eye." This rather presupposes that far back in history there must have been a civilization capable of inventing and utilizing telescopic methods of star charting. Did the Egyptians have telescopes or the Chineese, or the Phoenecian sea farers? If so, the rumor of the correct number of stars in the Pleides could quite easily have gotten around. Dr. Charles L. Barrett, M.D., the roving medico of fandom, paid me a recent visit and we swapped lists of favorite stories. Here are his five: INVADERS FROM OUTSIDE by ?; THE WORM OURBOUROUS, by ?; and THE GODS OF MARS, by ?. THE SIXISTER BARRIER, by ?; and THE TIME STREAM, by ?. Just for fun, suppose you supply the names of the authors. It should be easy, but in case you can't you'll find all five listed in order later on in this article. On a recent Bob Ripley radio program a sketch was presented, purportedly true, which at least makes one stop and think. Ripley made the comment that the story was familiar to most Arizona folks, and then the following weird playlet was enacted: A certain W.S. Williams and three friends are prospecting for gold. One night they begin discussing religion and Williams tells the others that he has spent many years of his life among the Ute Indians who are believers in reincarnation. He explains that he not only has faith in this philosophy, but is sure that he will, after his death, be reincarnated as a bull elk. He will appear in this guise to perform a good deed for his three present companions at a time when they are in dire need of guidance. In order that they may be sure of his identity he tells them that the initials WSW will be branded or tatooed on the left foreleg of the elk, just as they were to be found even then, on his own left arm. Within a year, Williams dies. His three friends go on prospecting and are one day progressing warily down a narrow canyon trail leading to a mine they believe is located at a certain spot below them. Rounding a turn in the dizzy path which clings so tenaciously and dangerously to the preciptious walls of the canyon, they find their way blocked by a bull elk. While debating upon the advisibility of either killing the animal or waiting for him to move on, they see upon his left foreleg the unmistakably branded letters WSW.