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About La Grande evening observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1904-1959 | View Entire Issue (July 31, 1945)
Side Glances Washington Merry-Go-Round EDITORIAL PAGE By DREW PEARSON La Grande Evening Observer Frank Schiro, Publisher TUESDAY EVENING, JULY 31, 1945 Page Two Better Be Careful With That Bottle, Brother! THOUGHT FQR TODAY Fear is not a lasting teacher of duty. Cicero. Back to the Party Line It wasn't surprising to learn that the . American communists hnvo switched back from a "political association" to a political party. The change had been expected ever since a French commun ist attack oiv Earl ISrowder's wartime policy of capital-labor collaboration set the stage for the American party's re pudiation of its veteran leader. The American CP's plan for revolu tion here seems as hopeless as ever. In spite of grievous inequalities in our society, which can and should be cor recteH under our own system, the Amer ican way of life and standard of living surpass anything that the communists can offer to the great majority of American citizens. Yet the American CP probably fig ures that this is a ripe time to get back to the party line. And there are rea sons to support this conjecture. First, the defeat of Germany ended Kussia's great war crisis. And since American communists' allegiance is to the Kussian government, they can re sume their divisive and .subversive work here without being concerned with its effect on our prosecution of the Jap anese war. Second, the American people realize that the need for close and friendly re lations with Itussia is of the utmost importance today. Keeausc of this, and because of admiration for the lied army, many .seem to have the idea that nnv opposition, or even criticism, of Amer ican communists is unfriendly to the Soviet government, even though the American communists' avowed goal is the overthrow of our capitalistic econ omy and the government under which it functions. Third, we are nenrlng- the end of a great war which has thrown our econ omy out of gear and strained our tem pers as well as our resources. The American CP undoubtedly hopes that the readjustment and temporary un employment which are inevitably ahead will produce the ferment of discontent in which class warfare breeds. But, for these advantages to the com munist party, its timing hasn't been perfect. For it may very well preju dice American opinion against Russia at a time when, for all her strength, she will need help in the form of Amer ican skill, American materials and American dollars. The American communists have al ways shaped their policy on orders from Russia, and it can scarcely be consider ed that the present move was not dic tated from the same source. And it might strike the American government as a little cynical, to say the least, if polite requests and friendly gestures from Moscow were accom panied by the efforts of a cell of Mos cow's political adherents to antagonize and, if possible, destroy the system un der which were produced the materials, dollars and skill Russia needs and the United States, under the present cor dial Russo-American co-operation, is happy to give. Funny Business I hJK vNI fl $k o SO THEY SAY An editor or writer or speaker wlio is conscious o his lofty vo lition and its responsibilities al ways is alive to I lie obligation ho has tn thousands or millions of people who may tie strongly at tested by his words to Rive them the truth and nothing but the truth. l'opc Pius XII. Synthetic rubbers already are out -performing natural rubber parts on specific applications. Klwood F. Riesing. chief engi neer. Firestone Industrial Rub ber Products Co. Democracy as a form of gov ernment is suited only to a de vout and disciplined people. Supreme Court Justice Frank Murphy. "Halt, or you II ht paik .hop!" While he (Uncle Sam) will con tinue to share everything he has, there will be a point where he has to tighten up a bit. Pomona. Calif, PiugriailHUlc- tm. WASHINGTON The first lay of the land, like a lot of other people, is having servant troubles. Just at the moment, Harrison J. Irving, 24-year-old negro of 501 West Mill ave Independence, Mo., is threatening a walkout. Irving has served as caretaker of the Tru man lawn fori the past eight years. But with the weather hot and the Trumans risen in the world, he has been thinking seriously of bolting the summer White House staff be cause the ante is too low. "I cut the lawn eight years ago, when I was a boy in high school," confides Harris on Irving. "And I got $4 for the job. That was big money then, 'cause I lived with my folks. But I think I should get more money now and I'm gonna quit. , "Besides," he added as if he had almost overlooked one grievance, "Mr. Truman for gets to pay me." Gardener Irving looked down at the lawn he had Just finished cutting. He was in con templative mood. "She wants me to dig dirt and weeds away from the sidewalk," he continued, now more plaintive than contemplative. "But I'm afraid some car will hit me. There's nobody gonna look after me after a car hits me, and besides I think the city should take care of these weeds." Irving was referring to a strip of sidewalk that runs parallel to west Van Horn road on the north side of the Truman estate, where in order to pull the weeds, he has to stand on the edge of the street. However, this was not all of Irving's troubles. He complained that before the pres ident arrived in Independence, Mrs. Truman had asked him to whitewash the basement. But workmen, then painting on the outside of thchouse, warned he had better not do it. or he would get in trouble with the paint ers' union. However, Irving, no great believer in unions, waited until the painters had left and then whitewashed the basement. Irving says he does not intend to leave Mrs. Truman in the lurch. He is going to find somebody else to cut the lawn, then he will turn in his resignation. Working for important folks holds no glamor for Har rison Irving. It's the wages that count. Churchill Bucked U. S. Military Though they admired his great force of character and revelled at his wit, Winston Churchill's passing as prime minister brought no great regret from top U. S. army and navy strategists. Too many times they felt they were over ruled by Churchill. Too many times they left military meetings with the fear Roose velt was too much swayed by Churchill's dominating personality. Some of the secret battles waged, between ' Churchill and U. S. generals and admirals can now be told. One of the most important was Churchill's adroit move to transfer Gen. George Marshall out of the job of chief of staff. Another was to transfer Gen. Al Wede meyer out of Washington. The latter suc ceeded; the first failed. - First military clash with Churchill took place at Casablanca in January 1943. Church ill wanted to strike from North Africa against the soft underbelly of the axis through the Balkans. The U. S. general staff wanted to invade on the shortest road to Berlin across the English Channel to Nor mandy. It was not a question of invading at once, but of beginning preparations at once for invasion. The argument lasted for hours. Churchill stood out for the Balkans. He was almost unmovable. Finally5 he played his trump card. He announced Britain could supply only 30 percent of the troops against 70 per cent U. S. troops in any cross-channel inva sion. Britain, he said, was not willing to lose "the seed" of her manhood. Since it would have taken too long to transport enough American troops across the north Atlantic for an early cross-channel invasion, a compromise invasion of Italy was agreed. Wo already had the troops in north Africa to handle Italy, and so did the Brit ish, Argument at Quebec The men who stood up to Churchill strong est during that Casablanca discussion were Generals Marshall and Wedemeyer, the lat ter a member of the U. S. general staff. Another vigorous discussion over war plans took place at Quebec in the summer of 1943 at which time General Marshal stood up before the general staffs of both nations and vigorously rebuked Field Marshal Sir Allan Brooke, British chief of staff, for per mitting publication of the appointment of See WASHINGTON . . . Page 4 WE, THE WOMEN By RUTH MILLETT A bill has been introduced into the sen ate to designate Oct. 31 as National Arthritis Day. It gives you aches and paints just to think what that kind of thing might lead to. If National Arthritis Day why not National Common Cold Day? Or National Diabetes Day? Or even National Hangover Day? If we get started naming special days for the focucing of attention on the disease man is heir to, there will be no place to stop. Every day will be a special day for some dread disease. And instead of curing the world of its ills, we'll probably just turn into a nation of hpyochondriacs waking up each morning to the problem of one disease or anther. Can't you picture us slowly dragging our selves out of bed to face not a glorious Tuesday or bright Wednesday but Nation al Headache Week or National Fallen Arches Day Haven't we got enough National Days al ready without taking on any more? Don't we need all the plain Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, etc. we have left just for the working out of our own individual prob lems? How are we ever going to solves these, if we are asked to take more and more days for the contemplation of problems that should be in the field of specialists, anyhow? After all we've got doctors. Let them worry about our diseases for us. If we're going to have any more National Days it looks as thought what we harassed human beings need sorely now is a National Don't Worry About Nothin' Day. Behind Scenes in Washington By PETER EDSON, La Grand Eyenlng ObsarTer Washington Correspondanl WASHINGTON, July 30 One of the most intensive manhunts in U. S. criminal history has been the nine and a half year search for the kidnaper and murderer of 10-year-old Charles Fletcher Mattson of Tacoma, Wash. In federal bureau of investigation rec ords and in loqal police headquarters all over the country this Mattson kidnaping has be come known as the Malnap case. FBI hasn't given up trying. There arc three slender clues to go on. When the kidnaper broke into Dr. Maltson's home Dec. 27, 1!)36 and abducted his oldest boy, a note demanding $50,000 ransom was left on the chair! That provides a handwrit ing specimen. The kidnaper left fragmentary fingerprints on the glass of French doors through which he entered the house, and again at a phone booth from which he called to make a second ransom demand. The kid naper was seen by the other Mattson chil dren who were in the room listening to the radio with their brother at the time he was kidnaped. A sketch was made from compos ite descriptions of the Mattson children and that has been used for a guide in examining suspects. In all the years since Charles Mattson's body was found murdered in the snow near Everett, Wash., two weeks after the kidnap ing, 25.402 suspects have been reported. Of these, 23, 833 have been eliminated. But the remaining 1,569 suspects are still pending in an open file. A steady flow of handwrit ing specimen, finger print records and pho tos comes into FBI and local police crime laboratoi ics fur comparison. Some of the suspects haw been taken to Tacoma for pos sible identification by the other Mattson children, now nearly grown up but still re membering that face. While none of these suspects has thus far been linked with the Matnap case, the drag net of 25.000 possibilities has brought in hundreds of criminals wanted for other crimes. Hobo towns and jungles and shacks all over the country have been combed and the combings have brought in men wanted for arson, larceny, bank robbery, and nearly every crime on the calendar. This is one of the' incidental reason tor keeping the Mat- nap case open. It has yielded a rich haul of men wanted for other offenses. The Mattson case is one of the two unsolv ed kidnapings to come within FBI jurisdic tion since the federal kidnaping act was passed 11 years ago. The other unsolved case is the kidnaping of 12-year-old Peter David Lcvine of New Rochelle, N. Y. in Feb ruary 1938. A squad had been kept 'working on this Lcvine case in the intervening years, but so far entirely without success. There is no clue, no scrap of evidence on which to go. It will be solved only by a confession or by an informer wh was in on the crime. While these two cases have remained un solved, 277 other kidnapings since the pass age of the so-called Lindbergh law have been solved. The back of the racket which once made the country's most glaring head lines has now been broken. In all, there have been only 16 kidnapings involving ransom. In the 12-month period ending July 1 there were 18 kidnapings, none of ransom and all solved, with the conviction of 34 kidnapers for terms averaging better than 15 years each. Such kidnapings as arc reported today are usually acccsory to other crimes. Robbery is ordinarily the first motive. Usually there is an automobile involved. The cases are pretty sordid, the victims average people going about their everyday business or pleas ure. They just happen to cross the paths of lowlifc characters w h o take their money away from them, then steal their ear and take the owners alon for the ride. Whc.i they cross a slate line their troubles begin for that permits the FBI to move in and work with local police. The Lindbergh law has unquestionably been a good thing. It has put teeth in pros ecu' ion before federal courts. By providing for heavy sentences it has discouraged "snatching" as .1 crime that pays. Since 1934 ehere have been 577 convictions. Sentences have averaged better than 10 years. Life im prisonment was given 44 and the death sen' tence to 12. to addition, eight kidnapers were killed while resisting attest, seven were murdcrcil by other gang members, two -wore iMichci and one wis declared inline. am. 1 iv w acuvicf. wo. t. m, mo. u. . wt. orr. ; 1 "Well, miss, it was rel pleasant for a while there, but since they increased the gas allowance I've got to jump Up and wait on folks five or six times a day I" O McKENNEY ON BRIDGE By WILLIAM E. McKENNEY America's Card Authority HERE'S NEW ADD TO WARREN SLAM In accordance with my practice of presenting any new develop ments jn bidding, I have written many articles on the Warren Slam Convention, which today is used by many players throughout the country. A couple of additions to this convention have now been Q J 4 K87 A 10 5 AQJ4 A2 J 10 6 4 KQ98 1098 N W S Dealer 73 32 J7642 7 6 53 K 10 9 86 5 AQ95 3 K2 Duplicate Neither vul. South West North East 1 Pass 2 N. T. Pass 3 Pass 4 N. T. Pass S Pass 6 Pas: Opening K. I bid is one spade, a response of two no trump initiates the con vention. Today's hand was sent by C. Emerson Metzger of Warren, Pa. The response of three spades showed a count of four in aces and kings and the four no trump rebid asked for queens. When South ' responded with five dia monds, showing one, the final contract became six spades, and the ace of trumps was the only loser. Questions & Answers . Q For what is July 17 noted? A Spain formally ceded Flor ida to the U. S. Andrew Jackson was its first American "governor. developed, and, while I think that the first one is a little dangerous, nevertheless you should know it. Salient features of the conven tion are: In responding to t h e slam call of four no trump, the re sponder shows all his aces and kings in one bid, an ace counting two and a king one. The negative response of five clubs shows one point or less, and the bidding in creases one step for each point held above one. The first varia tion permits the slam try at the two level; that is, if the opening O BARBS The average barber takes 250 strokes to shave a man, says a trade paper. Well, go on, how many words? Q How much damage did the Japs do at Pearl Harbor? A Official navy report says they temporarily disabled every battleship and most of the air craft in the Hawaiian area. Eigrty six ships of the Pacific Fleet were moored there, including eight ' battleships, seven cruisers, 28 de stroyers and five submarines. Q When was the first mobile torpedo successfully demonstrat ed? A In 1866, by its inventor Rob ert Whitehead, at Fiume, where he was designer for an engine works. Q How much aid wilt the 70, 000,000 inhabitants of the Dutch East Indies need after the war? A Already The Netherlands has bought more than $350,000, 000 worth of goods for the relief of those island people. Hot air tends to destroy Vita min C, they say, so don't sit around listening to fish stories. Q-pWhy are Philadelphia and a number of other cities attempt ing to rid themselves of pigeons? i A Philadelphia health offi cials say many pigeons there are infected !with pneumonia-like ornithosis. The horse population has shown a slight decrease since 1944. Has your pot roast tasted different lately? Falls are the leading cause of accidents in the United States. And with bananas scarce, too! Q How many unexploded land . mines did the Germans leave in the soil of France? A It is estimated more than 100,000,000, especially thick along the Atlantic coast and bordering the Pyrenees mountains, hinder ing agrciultural operations. Indians in the United States speak 55 distinct languages. Al most as many as the pale-faces. Q What percentage of the Soulh's cotton is shipped by wa ter? A Fifty percent. This Curious World HELIUM WAS NOT FOUND ON THE EARTH UNnL.-l895, IN THE RARE MINERAL KNOWN A5 CLEVEITE. t r""3 f"lTSNOWS UP IN THE MOUNTAINS 1 AWW1,7to n 1- ) was Fiesr DISCOVERED IN ( - I I the . . And the ( -J!2- DISCOVERY CAWEDURING ( AND OOWV IN THE VALLEYVt AVtCS. or? e5W APPROXIMATELY ANNUALLY JUST TO FEED THE 6-t NEXT; The .holiest line between- two point .
