Feb. 24-25, 1942: Two days before the so-called Battle of Los Angeles, a Japanese submarine shelled the Elwood oil fields,  12 miles north of Santa Barbara, according to The Times, which added that the attack came halfway through President Roosevelt’s weekly “fireside chat.”

The only damage was rigging and pump equipment a quarter of a mile from the beach, The Times said, but Southern California residents were warned to be extremely vigilant in case of another attack the next night.

"Particularly heavy reinforcements were reported assigned to guard the huge oil tank farm area of El Segundo, a few miles southwest of Los Angeles, from which all alien Japanese have been ousted for the duration of the war," The Times said on Feb. 25.

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Another Good Story Ruined: Saucers Over L.A.! – Part 1

Another Good Story Ruined: The Battle of Los Angeles 

March 8, 1961: Matt Weinstock updates an item about a man at “McWestlake” Park who was seen putting a duck in a shopping bag and carrying it away. It turns out that the man has been nursing the injured duck and carries it in a shopping bag to fool his landlady.

March 8, 1961: Paul Coates has an item about the possibility that the new postmaster general, J. Edward Day, might run afoul of obscenity laws because he wrote a racy novel that could be unfit for the U.S. mail. Day joked that he wrote the novel out of boredom during World War II and sent it home to his mother to proofread!

March 8, 1941: Lee Shippey has a great item on Frank Capra – be sure to read it … and Tom Treanor has another column on the problems of young men looking for a place to race their hotrods. 

Carole Landis has given a final "no" to ex-husband Willis Hunt's reconciliation plea. Carole, by the way, suffered severe cuts in 20th Century's tank the other day, not serious, Jimmie Fidler says. 

Feb. 22, 1961: Jim Murray writes about Gaspar Ortega, a perfect opponent.

March 8, 1961: Be sure to read  Murray’s attempt to interview Casey Stengel – It is a jewel. 

Today, we have a very tall mystery guest, a petite mystery companion, a mystery stalker and a mystery fountain!

Our friend Eve asks for a close-up. Here you go!

Searchlights rake the nighttime sky over a blacked-out city on Feb. 25, 1942, in the so-called Battle of Los Angeles. A powerful image, to be sure. But is it real? That is a short question with a long answer. The best we can say is that the photo has been greatly altered, but beneath the paint, some portion of it may be authentic.

We don’t know who took this Times photo. We don’t know which Times artist retouched it and we don’t know what editor decided to use it. What we do know is that the photo was published in the Feb. 26, 1942, editions of The Times to illustrate  what was believed to be an air raid over the city. 

I have the old and battered 1942 print in front of me as I’m writing this and I can confirm without question that much of what you see in this photo is painted: The beams from the searchlights are airbrushed. The supposed bursts of antiaircraft shells are blobs of paint. And the entire bottom quarter of the picture, supposedly showing a darkened skyline, is a combination of black paint outlined with the faintest edge of airbrushing.

First, some background….

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Another Good Story Ruined – The Battle of Los Angeles

March 7, 1961: The DWP magazine reports on a broken water main at Ventura Boulevard and Coldwater Canyon that spouted 100,000 gallons of water per minute. It took a crew of 12 working in pairs 2 1/2 hours to close about 25 valves and isolate the broken section and four more hours to drain the residue.

"If anyone wonders why it took so long -- I did -- the main line valves require 550 turns for full closure. Otherwise there would be serious damage from water 'hammer' caused by the pressure," Matt Weinstock says.

March 7, 1961: Paul Coates looks at the problem of a family caring (or not caring) for an ailing parent who is on welfare and a veteran's pension.

He writes: How any society but a degenerating one can mesmerize itself into believing that it's perfectly normal and moral to kick your parents out of your lives when they're no longer functioning at top efficiency, I'm not going to begin to contemplate.

But I can tell you one thing.

That the attitude, in our society, is a growing one.

March 7, 1941: Lee Shippey writes about the Asia House, a group open to anyone who has lived "somewhere east of Suez for six months or more" and he publishes a letter from wartime Britain by one of columnist Alma Whitaker's relatives.

"Take a look some night at the science room in the public library and you will see the cruel consequences of war as being suffered by muscular but ambitious aircraft employees... For God and country they are battering their brains against some of the most stubborn and complicated problems in modern science, the aviation techniques. It's the first time the library has had best-seller demand and a real shortage of this type of book," Tom Treanor says.

HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD AT A GLANCE: Fat girls in loose slacks and loose girls in skin tights ... Autograph hunters eagerly looking for stars and stars eagerly looking for autograph hunters... Extra (appraising a diamond in a pawnshop window) "Gee, I'd buy that if I was a star!" Ex-star (staring at the same gem) "Wonder if I can ever redeem it?"... A cafe waiter glumly regarding a tablecloth covered with figures in the millions -- and a one dime tip ... Milliner's clerk: "Has anyone ever told you, madame, that you resemble Kay Francis -- much prettier, of course?" Customer:" I AM Kay Francis?" ... Chorus shapelies defying the anti-silk stocking campaigns.