May 17, 1941: Allen Rivkin fills in for Lee Shippey with a column about problems at the post office in Westwood. Notice that even in the glory days of the streetcars, traffic was still a problem.

Tom Treanor, on a press junket to Venezuela, attends a benefit for British Relief at the Caracas opera house featuring the Jooss Ballet.
 
Sensational if True: Veteran press agent Mike Newman's claim that he recognizes Rudolf Hess — that Hess, under another name, was once Mae Murray's stage dance partner, Jimmie Fidler says.

May 15, 1941: Harry Bedford-Jones, “one of America’s most prolific writers” (and no, I’ve never heard of him either,) is filling in for Lee Shippey, who is recovering from surgery.

Nobody lives in Texas anymore. They've all come to Venezuela, says Tom Treanor, who is on a press junket sponsored by U.S. oil companies.

Dorothy ("Citizen Kane") Comingore, after furnishing a new home, must move out because of her hay fever, Jimmie Fidler says.

May 14, 1941: Harold Lamb fills in for Lee Shippey, who is recovering from surgery.

Tom Treanor files a report from Caripe, Venezuela, where he manages to find a cold beer kept in a refrigerator that runs on kerosene.

Guy who never forgets to say thanks for a favor: Clark Gable, Jimmie Fidler says.

May 13, 1941: Rudolf Hess, the Nazis’ No. 2 deputy, bails out  of his Messerschmitt over Scotland. He will commit suicide in Spandau prison in 1987.

Ralph Bellamy fills in for Lee Shippey, who is recovering from surgery.

Tom Treanor, who was killed covering World War II for The Times, visits an oil field in Venezuela and says the employee facilities  built by Standard Oil are cheap and dreary.

ON THE CONTRARY DEPT. (The boldface type is mine): From a Hollywood daily: “George Raft and Edward G. Robinson, after feuding for days, went at each other with blood in their eyes. Marlene Dietrich separated them,” Jimmie Fidler says.