"This New York"
a regular column written by Lucius Beebe
published in the Sunday, November 6, 1938 Washington Post — Section VI, page 2, column 4, last paragraph
Only a few years ago an institution known as "the ghoul pool" flourished in any number of the city rooms of New York papers. The names of a hundred leading citizens who, because of age or infirmities were known to be skirmishing with the Grim Reaper and whose obituaries, therefore, were prepared up to date, or even standing in type, were drawn from a wastebasket usually a ribbon reading "Miss Charon" and distributed to members of the staff who had subscribed to the pool. The winner, of course, was the reporter holding the name of the first "loss to State and Nation" to appear on the obit page. Irving Hoffman reports to this department that at the present writing the ghoul pool is, with slight variations, in the better Hollywood studios. Instead of banking on death, the inhabitants of Sunset prefer simple disaster and subscribers to the pool hold the names of resounding big shots, the prize going to the holder of the first name to lose his job. The turnover is reported to be tremendous. |