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About La Grande evening observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1904-1959 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 2, 1945)
EDITORIAL PAGE La Grande Evening Observer Frank Schiro, Publisher THURSDAY EVENING, AUGUST 2, 1945 Page Four- A Change of Taste A Veteran's Hospital For Eastern Oregon For almost four years now, a com mittee of the La Grande chamber of commerce has been working for the establishment in this area of a veter ans' hospital to serve the needs of its soldiers. Complete brochures and information have been submitted to various gov ernmental bureaus and to our repre sentatives in congress. Sometimes au thors of these have been told that every consideration will be given this area should the need arise, but to date noth ing has been done and no encourage ment of definite nature has been re ceived. Lowell Stockman, to whom the mat ter was presented immediately after his first election more than three years ago, the late Senate MeNary and for mer Senator Holman, and now Senators Cordon and Morse have taken some in terest in the matter and have presented the situation to the proper authorities, but to no avail. Stockman, particularly, if eel in g the need for a veteran's hospital in east ern Oregon and recognizing the prior ity of the La Grande claim, in view of the availability of a site and all the necessary appurtenances and require ments, has made effort to get some sort of action which will lead to ultimate result. We note now that Portland is empha sizing its claim for additional hospital facilities for that community in urging the expansion of its present hospital at the Sam Jackson park, and points out the increased need for facilities there. Portland's claim, is, of course, justi fied and our needs here conflict in no wise with hers. However, it can be pointed out that several points: in the western part of the state have facilities for veterans' hospitalization at pres ent in Roscburg and projected in Med ford, but no where in eastern Oregon are such facilities available. This is a matter which needs imme diate attention. Kastern Oregon has provided more than its quota of men and women for the armed services, perhaps as many per capita as any section in the nation. Eastern Oregon now deserves consider ation in the establishment of hospital facilities for those servicemen. There is no reason why our servicemen should be forced to go elsewhere to receive the medical attention which the people of this nation owe them. A veterans' hospital here will be of great convenience to the men and more important perhaps from point of view of peace of mind to their fam ilies who will not be forced to travel long distances to visit them. Here in eastern Oregon they can be given every advantage they have else where, including the therapeutic ad vantage of being close to home and family and being in their own area. We believe our representatives Unv eil Stockman. Guy Cordon and Wayne Morse should take immediate steps to investigate our needs and to present them most forcibly to the governmental agencies which have the final say. If. ur soldiers are to have every benefit let us see that they get them, and in their own area. Funny Business uv wrmn 111 I LI f 1 SO THEY SAY We hire war veterans only, and if they are disabled, that doesn't matter. If a man cun't stand, we find him a bench job. Maj. Douglas Y n 1 e, Quincy, Mass., plant operator. The WRA (War Relocation Au thority) officials have so often acted arbitrarily and without re Hard for local public opinion in their management of alien Jap anese that their rulings are now generally under suspicion. Ontaria, Calif., Daily Report. The Jap is a tough, determined soldier. Japs will not surrender in masses like the Germans. We must even count on fanatical op position from the civilian popu lation. Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell. "A little thing he thought up to he caa (flax when he'i talking to the girl friend!" It looks like Japan is going to have a corner on the scrap iron supply in the Orient as the pres sure of the air war continues. It is a corner no one covets. Danville, Va Register. Washington Merry-Go:Round Side Glances Br DREW PEARSON WASHINGTON One of the greatest economy-howlers in congress is Rep. Jed John son of Anadarko, D., Okla., who, chairman of the sub-appropriations committee, insist ed on cutting the interior department so drastically its officials can scarcely make a long-distance phone call. Johnson, however, when it comes to a little trip to Alaska at the tax-payers' ex pense, is not so economy-minded. Johnson was appointed lust winter to be judge of the customs court In New York City, u job which pays him $10,000 and u fut pension for life. He hjis been officially confirmed by the senate, and New York customs court officials long have been waiting for the Ok lahoma solon to take his job. However, Jed is in no hurry. Not only did he sit out the current session of con gress, but he is taking one last fling at the taxpayers' expense before donning judicial robes. He and his sub-committee on inter ior department appropriations are now in Alaska on a so-called "inspection" trip. The sub-committee includes Mike Kirwan of Youngstown, O., John Rooney of Brooklyn, N. Y., Ben Jensen of Exira, la., and Henry Dworshak of Burley, Ida. Congressmen Love Alaska President Truman has cracked down on congressional junkets when taken free in army planes, but Jed Johnson has got around this. His committee traveled to Alaska on "official business" and congress is footing the bill. , In fact, there is a lot of official business up in Alaska this summer. Three congres sional committees is enjoying the cooling breezes, the fine fishing, and the lovely scenery. Rep. Hugh Peterson of Alley, Ga., is go ing to Alaska in style. Peterson is chairman of the house territories committee, and is takin gwith him Mrs. Peterson, their son, Hugh, jr., and their nieces, Sue Smith Pet erson. They arc going by boat along with 11 other congressmen; some, members of the territories committee; some, members of the public roads committee. ' . The congressmen scheduled for the Alaska junket include: Will . Robinson of Provo, Utah, chairman of the roads committee; eJn nings Randolph of Elkins, W. Va.; Paul Cun ningham of Des Moines; Ed Cosset of Wich ita Falls, Tex.; Gus Kelley of Greensburg, Pa.; Homer Angell of Portland, Ore.; A. L. Miller of Kimball, Neb.; Harold Hagen of Crookston, Minn.; Charles Robertson of Bis marck, N. D.; and Marion Bennett of Spring field, Mo. In addition, Reps. Henry Larcade, jr. of Opelousas, La., and James Greelan of New Haven, Conn., got a head start, along with Harden Peterson of Lakeland, Fla., by stop ping in Texas and California to inspect beach erosion as members of the rivers and har bors committee. After this they headed for the cooling breezes of Alaska. ' Why the three committees couldn't pool their efforts, instead of all taqing up val uable travel space, is a question to be an swered only by congress. Merry-Go-Round Watch Publisher Manchester Boddy of Los Angeles as the nlext; flrobable Democrat candidate for senator from California,. Roosevelt once invited him to Washington, asked him to become civil defense adminis trator for the nation, later wanted him to be commissioner of internal revenue. But Boddy couldn't leave his Los Angeles Danly News . . . Now, with aged Senator Hiram Johnson ailing, Democrat leaders both in Washington and California hope Boddy can be persuaded to run . . . Once before, when Hiram Johnson was under an oxygen tent in the naval hospital, word that Governor Warren would appoint Herbert Hoover to his senate seat caused the spunky, cantank erous California senator to recover. This was the story carried to FDR by naval doc tors Ross Mclntire . . . Emil Schram, one time head of the reconstruction finance cor poration, now head of the N. Y. stock ex change, was invited to take Jesse Jones' old job as federal loan administrator. Schram came to Washington to look things over, went away shaking' his head. Tenure of of fice was too insecure in Washington, he mumbled. Jim Farley Mourns Churchill Jim Farley came back to his old haunts last week-end and had lunch with, among others, Tommy Cochran, head of the older FDR brain trust with whom he did not al ways agree. A dozen senators also were pres ent, guests of South Carolina's Burnet May bank. Chief topic was the defeat of Winston Churchill. Several senators blamed the de feat on Beaverbrook. Some said Churchill was too old and too tired, hadn't sensed the temper of the British people, was a victim of his incompentent friends. Jim Farley deplored Churchill's defeat, but dropped this warning to his senatorial friends: "You are going to get some real competition now." Jim went on to explain that previously the only radical ideas came from Russia, but now American politicians would have to compete with radical ideas from British politicians. WE, THE WOMEN By RUTH MILLETT Here's good news for G. I. Joe. Some of the concern over his future welfare has un derstandably been a trifle annoying to him. After all, he doesn't wunt to be regarded as a case problem when he gets home. But he'll certainly be pleased to hear that his little woman is getting some sound advise on how to make his home, even if it is just a two-room apartment, comfortable enough to make him forget the discomforts and regi mentation of army life. One decorator, with G. I. Joe's comfort in mind, is telling wives the living room ought to be built around a piece of furniture as comfortable as a day bed or couch, with books and a radio within easy reach. Here a tired husband can rest when he gets home from a hard day at the office. This same decorator is rooting for twin chests in the bedroom so that the man who has been used to having a place, however small, for his own things won't have to crowd his clothes into the bottom drawer of a dresser which is unfortunately what hap. pens to most husbands. If wives take such advice seriously, G. I. Joe is going to be a lucky man. For most of the new ideas in the furnishing and dec orating of homes have in the past been de signed to please women, not men. It is women who go for tricky ideas that make a house look like a page out of a wom an's magazine. And it is women who ben efit from stream-lining of kitchens. But it is the men who will enjoy a living room furnished so that a man will have a comfortable place to stretch out while he reads the evening' paper or indulges in an after dinner snooze. And it is the men who will be made hap pier by more storage space in the bedroom since women usually manage somehow to get at least three fourths of any closet or dresser they share wtih a man. That's one way women might profitably spend their time while they wait for their men to come home in making sure their homes are comfortable from a man's point oi view. Then home will be something Mr. Jones instead of Mrs. Jones will envy. Behind Scenes in Washington By PETER EOSON. La Grande Evening Observer Washington Correspondent (Editor's note: The following analysis of building and building costs, prepared from various sources, it substituted today for the usual Washington Column by Peter Edsoa.) In 95 percent of our cities, houses are sell ing for 50 to 80 percent more than they cost in 1939. Typical is a Kansas City house built for $8,300 in 1938, sold for $11,000 last year, and on the market now for $13,000. In the five years from 1931 to 1935, we built fewer houses than in one year of the twenties and our population incerascd nine mililon in the thirties. Result: one of the most critical housing shortages in our history. To get a house that's fit to live in, a man is often forced to buy. Since you haven't been able to build in the last three years, building costs haven't held down the sale price on old houses as they do in normal times. So you pay $8,300 for a 12-year-old $4,480 house and hold your peace. From the studies of the national housini; administration, it is concluded it will take two or three years after, victory over Japan to reach the million houses a year rate that is iM'cessary to fill the demand. With an in come twice that of 1940 a boom year 100 billion in their bank acounts and 45 billion in war bonds, the American people have the money for these homes. Their in come h.is bee nalmost double the output of consumer goods the rest has been war ma terial Price controls and ration points have held off a violent rise in price, but haven't completely held off inflation. When we do go back to strict dollar economy, we will have even higher building cost. Because of building's dependence on skill ed labor, the long-range costs trend is decid edly upward. The result is that even if we do have a slight inflation, building costs may still go up a little. Some analysts anticipate a rise and no dropping off for at least five years. Buy now? If you're living in a crowded city where houses are selling for half again more than before the war, and you must buy to get a place to 1 ive, th e n buy, for used house prices will be high until building gets under way. If you don't need to buy, keep in mind that recently built houses are selling at 30 to 40 percent more than it would cost to build them. In a war boom town like Bridgeport or San Diego, two things can happen when war contracts are canceled. Postwar increase in families may take up the slack as workers leave or the dislocation may be severe and the scarcity will aim into plenty. If your town has never boomed with war work and has never been short of houses, better buy now. unless folks are moving away, for prices will go up with building costs. Over the long run, this is not a favorable time to buy or build anywhere. Prices drop, and you're still paying for vour home at a high rate, it will be tough. But if you have to have some place to. live, you can't wait years for costs to hit bottom again. Selling also depends on where you live To get top prices, hold on until scarcity and inflation have carried prices to the peak, but sell before nw building gets under way and knocks scarcity values for a loop. In a boom town, prices may drop with the cancel lation of war contracts, but il your town will hold its own in postwar life, hold on the value of "yur huse will rise with building costs. . :'. . 1 &-m .-,,,,., L COHt 1W IY KtA tIRVlCf. IHC. T. M. Ma U. S. WT. Off. 8"3 "With all the great engineers this war has produced, wouldn't you thing they could figure out some way to do away with these traffic lighisl" O McKENNEY ON BRIDGE By WILLIAM E. McKENNEY America's Card Authority ONE CRAZY BIO PRODUCES OTHERS Sometimes one Who tries to push someone else around may get himself info troublp. Tha,t AKJ10 IS 6 AJ964 J A963 V J98 K5 98764 W E s Dealer AQ842 VK743 Q82 K3 4 None VAQ1052 10 7 3 AQ1052 Duplicate Neither vul. South West North East IV 4 Pass Pass 5 9 6 Pass Opening 4 K. happens in bridge, too. We can blame West for trying to shut everybody out of the bidding with his jump to four spades. South was afraid that West could make O BARBS Postwar homes will have every modern convenience except low rent. four spades, and bid five clubs. If West had bid five diamons he might have scared North out of the bidding, but North, with his perfectly worthless hand, except in clubs, made what he thought was a sacrifice bid. In the actual play, South made six clubs. He trumped the open ing lead of the spade king and led a small diamond. West went in with the ace and returned an other spade, which South trump ed. Now a diamond was played to the king, a small club led, and the queen finessed. The ace pick ed up the trump, a diamond ruff ed in dummy, and the heart finesse taken. O IN FORMER YEARS Thirty Years Ago . Dr. Joseph Ingles, lately grad uated from a Los Angeles Oste opathic college, has been granted a certificate to practice in this state. . . "The Clemenceau Case" star ring Theda Bara is advertised at the Arcade theater. An ad offers a woman a job in an orchestra playing second fiddle. They don't come that way! Fourteen chickens have been brazenly stolen from the John Ladd coops on the north side of town. Over a million musical instru ments have been sent to our boys overseas. We'll sure hear about it when all of them are brought back home. Fifteen Years Ago Water pressure has been unusu ally low in Union for several days and a crew of men has been employed to put a new cement floor on the intake tank. The J alp radio has admitted that the nation is doomed unless the American offensive can be stopped. They've been reading our mail. An elevator in a building in a Missouri city dropped three sto ries and the operator was fired. He fell down on the job. A large delegation of people trekked to the La Grande airport to see the air circus today. Bus iness was unusually dull for a few hours with some of the bus iness houses shutting up shop for a time. Give a man enough rope and he'll smoke himself to death. Gunder Hagg may run the four minute mile this year, equalling the record set by several house wives from home to butcher shop. Ton Years Ago Women's summer vacation camp which was to be held in Mill Creek canyon above Cove has been indefinitely postponed because not enough women have signed up for the camp. Night football probably won't be very successful this year too many day coaches. The only new construction work being done on county roads this year is the work that is now pro gressing on the Pumpkin Ridge market road between Summer ville and Elgin. This Curious World S ANIMALS THAT ARE ( fpv VVl Sl W- WUU ( HUNTED CAN QUICKLY V LtV r?-l lrVMl ( GATHER GRASS OUT IN ) v5i I 34 ttE ) THE OPEN, THEN RETIRE C I NV IwJiFh lifP' S TO A 6UARDED SROT ( T l'-lll', Mi COPR. 1a IT NCA UHVKt. MC AT rVXtlSAOt; COtOftAOO, PSACM TREE POJNERJ WORK ON THE OUTSIDE at WIS! Dow pane; cah BE WASHED THE INSlDEJV "EXT: The daily diet of a dinosaur.
