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Died. Bishop Francis John McConnell, 82, controversial Methodist exponent of "the social gospel"; in Lucasville, Ohio. Son of a Methodist clergyman, he studied at Ohio Wesleyan and Boston universities, and as a young pastor, shocked orthodox churchgoers by insisting that aggressive good works were more important than theological niceties. As head of the unofficial but influential Methodist Federation for Social Action (1912-44), the bishop espoused labor's cause, always encouraged his fellow clergymen to do likewise: "You can't be a Methodist without putting things strongly."
Died. Cameron Morrison, 83, wealthy one-term governor of North Carolina (1921-25), onetime U.S. Senator (1930-32) and U.S. Representative (1943-45); while vacationing in Quebec. Morrison lost the 1932 Senate Democratic primary race by some 100,000 votes to roaring Bob Reynolds, who followed him in a model T and, imitating Morrison's dignified strut, described to shocked North Carolina hillbillies Cam's favorite dish: "It's caw-vee-yah . . . It's little black fish eggs, and it comes from Red Russia . . ."
Died. Mary Stollard-Purnell, 91, widow of "King" Benjamin Purnell, founder of the bewhiskered, ball-playing House of David, whose followers claimed to be descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel;† near Shiloh, the religious cult's realm, in Benton Harbor, Mich. After "King" Benjamin died in 1927, while appealing his famed conviction on morals charges, the House of David became a house divided. "Queen" Mary got half of its several-hundred-thousand-dollar property, gathered 200 loyal followers and established a new colony, where she awaited the millennium by supervising the colony's dairy farms and souvenir shops.
* During the 1944 campaign, anti-New Dealer Knutson unwittingly played the foil to F.D.R.'s wit by spreading an unfounded rumor: Roosevelt's pet Scottie, Fala, had been left behind during a presidential tour of the Aleutians, and a destroyer had been dispatched 1,000 miles just to bring the dog home. For F.D.R., this was a golden opportunity to add a homey touch to his famed Teamsters' Union address: "Republican leaders have not been content with attacks on me, or my wife, or on my sons . . . They now include my little dog Fala . . ."
† For other news of "Lost Tribes," see RELIGION.