Volcanoes-Rotation of Earth

Originally Aired: March 11, 1938 Lum #6, "Volcanoes-Rotation of Earth," Abner minds the Jot'em Down Store while Lum travels to the county seat to view their first motion picture footage. Young Cedric Weehunt stops by, eager to see the films and confessing he secretly photobombed a romantic proposal scene by making faces in the background. The lighthearted atmosphere shifts when Abner receives a frantic phone call from his wife Lizabeth, who is terrified because Squire Skimp plans to drill an oil well in their side yard. Pearl, their educated daughter, has warned her mother about volcanoes and the molten fire supposedly burning at Earth's center, convincing Lizabeth that the oil drilling might puncture through and create a volcanic eruption right in their yard. Despite having purchased an interest in the well himself, Abner tries to calm her fears while admitting he finds such book learning nonsensical. The conversation spirals into a comical debate between Abner and Cedric about what holds the Earth up in space, with Cedric puzzling over a calendar image of Atlas supporting the globe and wondering what Atlas himself stands on.