Saturday Morning Western Pulp: Gun-Swift Western, September 1938

This is a pretty obscure Western pulp. I don't know how many issues there were, since only one has been indexed on the Fictionmags Index. This is Volume 1, Number 5. Nor do I know who painted the cover. But the group of authors inside is a decent one: Ed Earl Repp, J.E. Grinstead, Hapsburg Liebe, Carmony Gove, and Clem Yore. Those hombres generally knew what they were writing about.

UPDATE: On Facebook, John Locke provided some information from the magazine AUTHORS & JOURNALISTS about GUN-SWIFT WESTERN and its editor/publisher (?) Z.S. Sklar. From the October 1939 issue:

Who Is Z.S. Sklar?

Col. John J. Boniface, who writes under the pseudonym of Wilton West and various others for the adventure magazines, sends us a heavy sheaf of correspondence which he defines as a serial entitled, "The Mystery of Z.S. Sklar."

The opening installments of this engrossing serial relate to the call of a magazine entitled Gun-Swift Western, of 19 Avon Place, Springfield, Mass., for manuscripts. The call brought a manuscript last spring from Col. Boniface under one of his pennames, Gordon Strong. Not hearing from the manuscript, the author wrote several letters of inquiry, which were never answered, although the letters were not returned. The Railway Express Agency, in whose hands the matter then was placed, had no better luck, reporting: “Unable to contact the party.”

THE AUTHOR & JOURNALIST, writing in behalf of the author, had a little better luck. In response to its inquiry, came a brief typewritten note: “Magazine has been discontinued.--Z.S. Sklar.”

Acting on this information, the author put the matter into the hands of the post office department. Though declining to take action, the inspector at Boston, Mass., informed him that other writers had complained, and reported that their manuscripts were later returned by the Double-Action Publishing Co., of New York. But Cliff Campbell of the D-A group reported when queried that he had no record of the yarn.

Final appeal was made to the police department of Springfield--and here the mystery not merely persisted, but deepened. Quoting from the letter of John L. Maloney, chief of police:

“While I have caused a thorough investigation to be made, I am unable to locate Z.S Sklar or the Gun-Swift Western magazine at 19 Avon Place, this city. Inquiries were made of the janitor of the above-mentioned address, which is an apartment block in the residential section, who informed our investigating officer that Sklar or this magazine company which you mention has never been located at that address. Inquiries were also made of the letter carrier who delivers mail in this district, who states that he has never delivered mail to Sklar at 19 Avon Place. He is not receiving mail at our local post office. His name does not appear in our city or telephone directory.”

Evidently it all never happened--but others who are in like position must join the author in wondering how come that the magazine did receive manuscripts at that address, return some, and contrive that others were returned through the Double-Action group. We hate to see a masterly and persistent job of sleuthing for a lost manuscript, such as that conducted by Col. Boniface, end up in a blind trail.

 
From the November 1939 AUTHOR & JOURNALIST:

 
Responding to the editorial in our last issue, relating to the mystery of Gunswift Western and Z.S. Sklar, Louis H. Silberkleit, president of Winford Publications, Inc., writes: “Gunswift Western was not connected in any way with the Double Action Group. It so happens that when the magazine was discontinued, the editor, who certainly did run his business from 19 Avon Place, Springfield, Mass., approached us for a job, and was hired. He asked if we would permit him to have his mail forwarded from Springfield to this office. We said yes. That's all we know about the situation.”

I'm always fascinated by stuff like this, and many thanks to John Locke for providing it.