THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS—Friday, August 25, 1961-24
Applications for Absentee Voter's `The Custard Boys' by John Rae Exposes
Ballots May Be Made Until Sept. 9; Evils of Anti-Semitism; Reviewer Calls
Novels of This Year
Hare Regrets Election Date Choice Book One of Best
unfriendliness. John himself charged from the school's teach-
John Rae, the British writer
who now teaches history at Har- narrated: "At 13 I knew only ing staff.
About the judge it was re-
row, England, is the author of that Jews were people to be
one of the most stirring novels avoided because they were evil, vealed that "he hates Jews,"
and, worse still, they were dirty; that "his family came over with
of the year.
His "The Custard Boys" has not with the clean dirt of Chris- the Conqueror and they've been
received a splendid reception tian earth, but uncleanliness Jew-baiting ever since . . . with
in England and 'has just been inborn, an olive pigment of the him it's a fever . . . he often -
published in this country by skin that could not be washed says that if it hadn't been for
Christ and Marx the world
Farrar, Straus and Cudahy (19 away."
One of the instructors, in would have been a respectable
Union S'q., W., N. Y. 3).
To understand the title of a class discussion, offered a place to live in."
Thus, a story about young
the book it is necessary to quote defense—"Christ himself was
from the quote from the jacket a Jew"—but one of the boys boys emerges as a powerful
of the book the following, from insisted: "God's probably a study of anti-Semitism. Skil-
"The Lore and Language of Jew, too . . . these Jews get fully narrated, splendidly writ-
Schoolchildren," by Iona and in everywhere." And John, to ten, John Rae's "The Custard
retain status with the gang, Boys" is a powerful psychologi-
Peter Opie:
"The boy who will not
cries out: "I don't know any- cal analysis of prejudice as it
thing about any bloody Jews." affects youth. There is a moral
jump from a wall which every-
one else has jumped from, or
To John, the issue is brought lesson in it—encouraging proper
who will not take part in a in its true light during the teaching of common decencies
prank or accept a challenge tragedy when his Uncle Lau- inherent in accepted codes of
is 'yellow,' a `yellowbelly,' rence, a missionary who was morality and human behavior
`eggy' or `yolky' . .. He who visiting with his family at the to youth.
So much good could be at-
lacks the necessary resolu- time, questioned why the Jew-
tion is styled .a 'cowardly ishness of Mark should have tained by encouraging youth to
custard,' and desperate-faced, influenced the case. It was the read this story! So much more
shuffle-footed, he beats his uncle who brought up a thought could be achieved if teachers
ignoble retreat to the tune of: regarding the feeling of the could be gotten to absorb the
"Cowardly, cowardly cus- dead boy's father, who, by that lesson of "The Custard Boys."
—P. S.
tard,
time, already had been dis-
"Your bones will turn to
mustard!"
This applies to the title. There
also is an element of inherited
anti-Jewish prejudice that is
*
*
*
depicted in the story in which
GOOD PROPERTY AND GOO PAINT
is depicted a tragedy involving
an Austrian-Jewish r e f u g e e
APPLICATION FOR ABSENT VOTER'S BALLOTS
youngster.
Do Not Return This Application More Than '75 Days. Prior to the
"The Custard. Boys" is a tale
Primary or Election in Which You Desire to Vote
be sloppy anal st
A •v e queen
about teenagers in an English
community who are biding their
't
ut, the some
FOR THE PRIMARY OR ELECTION TO BE HELD
morous . .
time until they can join the
SEPTEMBER 12, 1961
rop-
vacant ap•ent. That's why
army and fight for their coun-
which
you
Qual-
address
from
MERCURY
Detroit
erty
owner;
sure
to
give
the
CAUTION—Be
try. All their thinking is geared
are registered.
or and
ity PAINTS . . . They protect,
to war games, encouraged by
YOU CANNOT VOTE UNLESS YOU ARE
erty up
can increose t `va
the nostalgic talks of their
REGISTERED IN DETROIT
to 12%.
elders who had retired from the
Army.
Into their school came an Aus-
ober-
rs, th
For m •
t
(GIVE NAME)
trian-Jewish r e f u g e e, Mark
manu-
any
man & Mil
Stein, whose father accepted an
a duly qualified elector of Detroit, registered from
s ! You'll
quo
factured
instructorship. It develops, in
e every time
ur experi
profit f
the course of the narrative, that
I NTS.
RCURY
you us
his mother had been killed by
DETROIT RESIDENCE (STREET AND NUMBER)
the Nazis in a concentration
tterhead or business
rite on yo
Checked by
WARD
camp.
MERCURY Professional
"The Custard Boys" story is
showing complete color
PCT.
related in the first person by
CUSTOM QUALIT Y
selections and product descriptions.
City of Detroit, County of Wayne, State of Michigan, hereby John Curlew, one of the boys
Manufactured by
make application for an official ballot, or ballots to be voted in the school who was in a gang
SOBERMAN & MILGROM CO..
that stuck together. It was to
by me at such election.
7741 LYNDON AVENUE
John
that
the
schoolmaster
as-
The statutory grounds on which I base my request are:
DETROIT 38, MICHIGAN
signed the task of watching
I expect to be absent from Detroit for the entire time the over the Jewish boy.
polls are open on election day.
John and Mark became very
I am physically • unable to attend the polls without the friendly and John developed a
love for Mark, to an extent that
assistance of another.
he was called a homo.
I cannot attend the polls because of the tenets of my
When word came that one
To Your Relatives and Friends
of the city's boys had won the
religion.
I cannot attend the ia
oils on the day of any election in the Voctoria Cross on the battle-
Through the Columns of
precinct in which reside because of being an election front, the youngsters were in-
spired
to
seek
glory
on
a
battle-
precinct inspector in nother precinct.
front of their own, and they
challenged the village boys,
(CHECK APPLICABLE REASON)
their age, 13 to 14, to a fight.
Send absent voter's ballot to me at:
It was to be an even battle of
ICHIGAN
I=E -1- R01 -1"
seven against seven.
ewish Events
A Weekly Review
As the battle was to begin,
Mark ran away, creating an
For a small cost, you i II be able to reach
unevenness in numbers, and
the victory of the village boys
all of your relatives nd friends . . . and
I hereby declare the foregoing statements to be true.
was ascribed to Mark's cow-
ardice, his being "cowardly
wish them a Happy 'ew Year !
custard."
Date
A court martial, was held, it
(SIGNATURE)
Fill In This onv lent Coupon TODAY!
was decided to scare the boy
Any person making a false statement in this declaration upon conviction by pretense of shooting him,
— IN MN NI ME all
III
•• 1.1 N. =I
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
John is delegated to bring him
Return this application to
for the punishment, but one of
This Application Not Valid the
boys changed a live for a
THOMAS D. LEADBETTER
Later Than 2 p.m. of the Sat-
ile Rd.
17100 West
City Clerk
urday Preceding Primary or blank bullet, and Mark's death
igan
Detroit
35,
threw
a
pall
upon
the
commu-
Room 202, City-County Bldg.,
Election Day.
nity and revealed the anti-Jew-
Detroit 26, Michigan
Please insert our New Year
ish element in the tragedy.
As a result of the exerted
greeting.
We enclose check for
Form C of D-5-AP (Rev. 3-60)
pressure, the boys were re-
$70
leased, except for two who were
ABSENT VOTER'S LIST
$5
$3
placed on probation — not on the
(TO BE FILLED IN BY ELECTION COMMISSION)
charge of murder, but for il-
and Family
Mr. and Mrs.
Serial No.
legally making use of armory
guns.
I Address
Date App. Rec'd
-Ballot No.
But as a result, John became
► monammos
a pacifist and a conscientious
Date Ballots Mailed
Ballot No.
This will be the only means of obtaining a form
objector, He learned the futil-
to send in your greeting.
ity of the standards under
Date Ballots Ret'd
Ballot No.
which he lived and he learned
BE SURE YOUR CHECK
a serious moral lesson.
(Called for
Ballot No.
It was upon the arrival of
Ballots (Mailed
ACCOMPANIES THIS COUPON
Mark that his Jewishness at
once
was
used
as
a
reason
for
Remarks
Announcement was made this
week that Absentee Voter's Bal-
lots for the Sept. 12 election may
be made until Sept. 9.
Applications will be accepted
until 2 p.m. on Sept. 9, but on
that day they will have to be
made in person at the office of
the County Clerk in the City-
County Building in Detroit or the
other county seats throughout
the state.
Secretary of State James Hare
expressed regret that the Sept.
12 Con-Con election date should
have been set on a day that co-
incides with Rosh Hashanah. He
said, in a statement issued in
Lansing:
"Unfortunately, when the Sept.
12 date was set for the Con-Con
delegate election, the religious
significance of this date this year
was overlooked by the Legisla-
ture. As I recall it, Sept. 12 was
selected to coincide with the city
elections in Detroit as an econ-
omy measure.
"The date of this Jewish New
Year is not the same each year.
In 1960 it fell on Sept. 22, and
will be observed on Sept. 29, in
1962, built on a lunisolar base.
"In any case, the right to an
absent voter ballot on religiOus
grounds is a basic one, and all
who plan to observe Rosh Ha-
shana may apply now for their
ballot. Deadline is 2 p.m., East-
ern Standard Time, on Saturday,
Sept. 9."
The final date for application
for Absentee Voter's ballots oc-
curring on the Sabbath, Michi-
gan's Jewish citizens are urged
to make their application prior
to that date, and as soon as pos-
sible.
At the Sept. 12 election, the
Detroit voters, in addition to se-
lecting Con-Con delegates, will
nominate candidates for Mayor,
Council and other Wayne County
officials.
* * *
Absentee Voting on
Religious Holidays
Permitted in Illinois
SPRINGFIELD, ILL. (JTA)
—Gov. Otto Kerner, Jr., signed
a new bill, passed by the State
Legislature, permitting voters
to cast absentee ballots in elec-
tions falling on religious holi-
days observed . by those voters.
Until now, Illinois voters
could cast absentee ballots only
if they planned to be absent
from the city on an election day
or were too ill to come in per-
son to the polling place. .
MERCURY
PAINTS
%IMO
El
SAY HAPPY NEW YEAR
El
THE JEWIS EWS
I THE J
SH NEWS
$25