June 24, 1942 was a hot, dull, newsless day at San Francisco police headquarters. The reporters were: bored, thirsty, broke. Then one had an idea: "Let's throw a party. This is Booker T. Washington Day." There really is no such thing, but the energized reporters called every politician they knew, gravely informed them that Booker T. Washington Day was passing uncelebrated. (They explained to doubters that Booker T. was the "founder of the American Newspaper Guild.") By mid-afternoon 64 quarts of assorted liquor, one case of champagne, scores of politicos, plain-clothes men...
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