Chicken Stew

Better chicken stew than the old Brookhart boloney.

That slogan last week helped Henry Field, 61-year-old storekeeper and broadcaster of Shenandoah, to defeat Senator Smith Wildman Brookhart for the Republican Senatorial nomination in Iowa by 46,000-odd primary votes. A political neophyte. Nominee Field was handsomely supported by Iowa farmers to whom he sold seed, overalls, "gents' " hosiery, dress goods, prunes, coffee, hymnals et al, farmers to whom he begins his intimate radio talks from his station KFNF each day with: "Howdy, folks. This is Henry Field talking, folks. It's Henry himself."

Famed throughout Iowa is the Field chicken stew.* During the campaign it was made up in great cauldrons and served to all comers. Senator Brookhart attempted to deride Mr. Field as the "chicken stew politician" but the voters liked chicken stew, smacked their lips. Mr. Field attacked Senator Brookhart as a nepotist (TIME, May 30), accused him of being off on Chautauqua circuits when he should have been sitting in the Senate earning his keep.

The Brookhart defeat was the first of any sitting Senator in 1932. For six years the chunky, sharpshooting Irregular from Iowa had roared & ranted against Wall Street and Big Business. Republican conservatives in the Senate were pleased that his rasping voice would soon be stilled. His Progressive colleagues smelled a plot in the fact that his opposition was divided among five candidates. Senator Brookhart might, they hinted, even run as an independent this autumn.

To make good his boast and actually sit in the Senate, Republican Field must next beat Louis Murphy, the able, hustling Democratic nominee, in the November election.

*Mrs. Field's recipe: "I cut the chicken up in usual pieces and stew it slowly in water until it's tender. I season it well with salt, pepper and a little paprika. I add one onion, one potato, one turnip, one pound of cabbage, one half pound of carrots and two ounces of rice. Then I cook it for another hour or so, adding 1 more or less water. Generally I pick the chicken off the bones and break it up before adding the vegetables, so it will be mixed all through."

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