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About La Grande evening observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1904-1959 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 13, 1945)
EDITORIAL-PGE La Grande Evening Observer Frank Schiro, Publisher SATURDAY HVKNINfJ, (KTOKKR 13, 1945 Page Two Who kilted Cotk Robin? e'VKNINtJ GtfKKHVEK'H I'KOCRESS PROttRAM IRRIGATION Complete the Grande Itmide Val'ey irrigation project. I. A (iRANI)K A citv of lO.OIirt Kxtrnd the city iimIN THOUGHT FOR TODAY Some maladies are rich and plvcioli and only to he iiciiuireri h.v the rijrlil of inheiiliince or purchased with sold. Jlawthoind. Coin for ii n. (j Conversion Prolmbly the feclinjc each new Rcn cration has about its scientific and mechanical achievements is natural. We of today turn a pitying jtlance upon the past, wondering how grandpa got along without our wontlerful gadjrets of speed, convenience, efficiency and iMiiuseiiKMil. No doubt our ancestors of a hundred and two hundred years ago fell (he same way about their grandfathers. There is some perplexity, of course, mixed with the present generations pride. For all our satisfaction in the atom bomb, in superior planes, elec tronics and complicated, effective means of slaughter, there are times when the more thoughtful become a little frightened at contemporary in tfemiity. As an antidote for that vague dis quiet, we recommend the announcement by the (irumman aircraft people that appeared in the papers the other day. It seems that (Inimnian, which did such a good job of building fighter planes foe the navy, is beating its fuselages into Canoes aluminum ones. They sound pretty go'od, too. For one thing, they're lighter than the present 'canoe. They're also sturdy. It's claim ed that you'd have to fire a bullet through one in order to puncture ii. That should allow daring woodsmen to shoot rock-filled rapids with greater confidence', and still not interfere with the eanoefs more usual chore of toting' young men and their best girls over hiOonlit lakes. What's more, the alumitmi canoe is advertised as porcupine-proof. That's interesting. But what interests us more is the Grumman people's pos sible reaction to their new product. The (Irumman people, like other air craft manufacturers, have" spent the last five yeah in a race against obso lescence. War's swift pace sometimes made a new airplane outmoded before it ever got into the air. The test Of battle and the enemy manufacturers' ingenuity called for constant improve ments and refinements, or basic changes in design, power or armament. Now, converting to canoes, the Grum man people can relax. Their scheme of making them from aluminum is the sec ond improvement in the caiioe since Hia watha's time. The only previous chailge was also in material, from birchbnrl; to wood and canvas. The design has re mained the same. So the ttrtimman engineers won't have to alter the alxiriginal blueprints or worry about obsolescence. We rather suspect that the (bumman people find some comfort in contemplating their new model and reflecting that, for all our cleverness, perhaps we moderns aren't so all-fired smart that it needs to scare us. Funny Business 10 IS e.-.vI SO THEY SAY While it is important that we trv to protect ourselves atainst exhaustion of petroleum reserves, it is ;i KlHui idea to remember that ml producers are continual ly unraveling new fields and new method to keep p e t r a 1 1 u m seuiivs ample tor our needs. W infield, Kan., Courier. 'v-i'-'1:." f;f; v. v.: for months thr Administration has Wen naming our own peo ple th.t: this country has neither the coal nor trait-portation to supply fuel needs Vet lne seem to have no difficulty in finding fvooo.iioo tons of coai (or Kui-ope. includinit the nans. -Sen. Styles Bridges, of New Hapshire. "Could you use lhrso to till for a luncheon bridge, lady?" The Rtitish government is dc tdoiined to do its utmost to pro mote in conjunction with the leaders, of Indian opinion t h e early realisation of full self.gov eminent in India. Vise Uu WaJl, Viceroy of In dia. ' , .(tO Wdshiri'gton Merry-Go-Rdund By DREW PEARSON WASHINGTON Unlike the provcrbal wise-crack about the first hundred days of matrimony, the first hundred days of the life of any president are the easiest. Today Harry Truman begins the second half of his first year in the White House and already he has begun to feci the pinch of Increasing trouble. Here is the report card on how he has dpne so far. POLITICS Politically, Harry has out shone the "old master." He has steered a medium course between southern reaction aries and big city liberals, kept his fingers on the pulse of the country, striven for na tional unity, and leaned over so far to please congress it's almost become a sin. You can", please both sides indefinitely, however, and the time has just about come when Truman will have to choose between the liberals and the conservatives. CABINET Taken man for man, Truman's cabinet is better than Roosevelt's. Truman believes in delegating responsibility and 61imlnating too much centralized control. His cabinet, however, has one administra tive weakness. Most of its members served time! in congress; therefore, have drifted into the bad habit of spending more time shak ing hands with visitors than running their department. Important administrative prob lems are muffed because the cabinet chiefs simily don't have time both to talk to peo ple and make decisions. WHITE HOUSE EFFICIENCY Truman so far has operated a more efficient admin istration than Roosevelt. Ho likes to decide things quickly, doesn't let them hang fire. Sometimes this gets him into trouble, as in the case of his statement that all lend-lease would be forgiven a pronouncement later publicly reversed by Secretary of State Byrnes. FftlENDS This, may be Harry Truman's Waterloo. He loves convivial friends, isn't al ways loo careful how- he picks them, is in tensely loyal, whoever they are. If you serv ed with Harry in the Missouri national guard or in battery D, or helped him in the old Pendergast days or in his campaign for vice president, he doesn't forget it. Roosevelt put principles before friends, Truman puts friends before principles. One old friend, Ed ward McKim, a Nebraska Insurance man, got h i m into trouble. Another insurance friend, George Allen, the Mississippi jester, is likely to get him Into more. ARMY-NAVY As head of the senate in vestigating committee, Truman got signif icant insight into the war and navy depart ments. He knew their faults and failings better than most. But, as president, he has done almost nothing to clean house. This may cause him trouble among several mil lion GIs who know what's what inside the army arid navy. , Pearl Harbor Whitewash? Up on Capitol Hill, certain solons have discovered that hindsight is better than fore sight regarding the appointment of a com mittee counsel for the Pearl Harbor probe, the man they selected is William D. Mit chell, attorney general in the Hoover admin istration. But it is now remembered when Herbert Hoover and General MacArthur drove 15, 000 bonus veterans out of Washington, Mit chell was called upon to whitewash it which he did. Hoover sent his attorney general out to the American Legion convention at Port land, Ore. Mitchell gave such a picture of the bonus army eviction Washington police chief, Gen. Pelham D. Glassford, prepared a document, published nationally, contradict ing Mitchell. Some solons are wondering whether the forthcoming Mitchell report on Pearl Har bor will be another whitewash. Capital Chaff The war department has just received a letter from the giant Texas cotton broker, Anderson, Clayton & Co., asking permission to reopen their branch in Osaka, Japan. The War department, after considering carefully, decided it was a matter for the state de partment. So the letter was sent to the head of the economic section of the state depart ment, who is Will Clayton, senior partner in Anderson, Clayton. Wonder what his deci sion Will be ... It was only at the last min ute that the navy was given the job of tak ing over strike-bound oil plants instead of the petroleum administration for war. Orig inally PAW was to do the job, but labor leaders protested the PAW was packed with big oil company executives. So last week, navy officers spent most of one night at PAW offices, changing already prepared tel egrams to read "U. S. Navy" instead of "PAW" . . . Reconversion czar John Snyder has recommended to President Truman a set of mediation boards for each strike-threatened industry. These boards would investi gate how much wages have dropped in each industry and recommended what wage in creases were necessary to make up for in creased living costs, etc. What Truman will do about the recommendation is still unde cided . . . Maj. Gen. Stephen G. Henry, as sistant chief of staff and General Marshall's chief aide on army personnel, has been over seas making a quick study of the discharge system. War department brass hats at last have woken up to the rebelliousness of en listed men over discharge inefficiency. Gen eral Henry hopes to speed it up . . . The army is keeping doctors in Panama despite 103 points and three years' service. Meanwhile the shortage of civilian doctors in the U. S. A. continues. WE, THE WOMEN By RUTH MILLETT "Don't you rather hate to see your hus band swap his uniform for civilian clothes? Most men look so much better in uniform," the bright; young thing said to the war wife whoso husband had at last won his right to a discharge button. "NOT ON YOUR LIFE," said the wife. "It was in a uniform that he left us three years ago. "It was in a uniform he said goodbye be fore sailing for overseas. "It was in a uniform I saw him when I had nightmare pictures of his being wound ed, of his never coming back. "It is only in uniform that his young son knows him and most of that familiarity is with a photograph. "A uniform interrupted my husband's career. It cost us the home we had to sell when he went into service. It put years of separation and unshared experience between us. It caused me more loneliness and wor ry than I have ever known. "But while a war was being fought I was proud of the uniform in spite of all it did to our security and established life. "But the war is over now and I'm glad to see the uniform go into moth balls. "My husband has never looked as hand some as he does now so far as I'm concern ed in that brand-new civilian suit. "It means he belongs to us once more instead of belonging to the army. "It means we can begin to rebuild our life again to make plans on our own, to share again the experience of living. "To every other woman a man may look better in a uniform. But to his wife he never looked so good as in the first civilian suit he puts on when his days of wearng a uni form are over." Behind Scenes in Washington By PETER EDSON, La Grande Even tag ObaeiTer Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON Congress is Investigating vHiether army officers who have suffered amputations are being better fitted with ar tificial limbs than enlisted men, who have lost legs and arms. Evidence that this situation might exist recently came to the attention of the house subcommittee on aid to the physically hand icapped. The war department was present ing its witnesses mostly officers who had gotten artificial limbs and reported that they were well satisfied with them to testify before the committee. A couple of ex-GIs who had been given artificial legs and were tiying to work in a steel mill in Baltimore heard about the hearings and decided to present their side of the ease. One of them charged that the men who fitted the artificial devices "catered more to officers. Unless you come from a special family who has enough money to buy you your own leg, it looks like you have to put Up with one of these." he said. He said the leg the army had given him never fit properly and it had been giving him so mch trouble he wasn't able to jnake enough money to support himself. the other veteran also charged officers got butler kgs and Utter fits. He said he had to have four operations after he left the army. He said his leg still fit poorly al though he had improved it by wlhiitiing part (if it himself. He said he knew of scores of mn, in the hospital with him recovering from amputations, who now arc eiemel dissatisfied with their artificial arms and legs. From the testimony of these two hien and other information he gathered. RP- Augua tine 8. Kelley. td., Fenii 1 chirian Of the iwinmitlte p'ans to git to !:r0 betrom of this ullftged vtefetenttli.ijivaff'..5'rs' Kelley also said that hearings before his group demonstrated that the artificial limb business was in the "horse and buggy area." Among the most informative testimony presented to the committee was that fur nished by William H. Jacobs, an attorney in the department of justice. He lost his leg a few inches below the hip falling off a w agon when he was a child. Since then, he has followed progress of the artificial leg business very closely. He says that there have been only two major improvements in artificial legs in the last 50 years. One is the use of light metal and the other is "hip control." Hip control is the use of a friction knee joint combined with a belt that goes around the body just below the belt. For persons who have amputations above the knee weight of the leg is one of the most important factors. Jacobs told the com mittee he had had six artificial legs before he found one that was satisfactory. And the one he had, he improved after it came from the factory by drilling holes in it and re ducing the weight. Other persons appearing before the com mittee said that they had made many im provements in their artificial legs with little gadgets they had invented themselves. One man described a oVvire which locked his kne joint when he stood up. He patented it and soon expecta to put it on the market. Rep. Kelley believes that the government must aubsidiit the artificial limb business and pay for research in improvements or veterans will continue to be dissatisfied with the arms and legs they to substitute for the ones they lost. f he National Research council is working o See BEHI SCENSE . . . Page 6 Side Glances CO ML 1W BY MtA SI BVICf . IhO.' T. M. HCO. U- 8- PT. Off. "OH, there are lols of things to talk about with a returned soldier tell him how you appreciate the nice thiigs victory brings us, nylons, for instance!" O McKENNEY ON BRIDGE By WILLIAM E. McKENNEY America's Card Authority CZECHS PLAY SMART HAND OF BRIDGE I want to thank Dr. Paul Stern, general secretary of the Tourna ment Bridga association of Lon don, England, for the hands he sent over to us during the wan A J 10 9 8 l QJ2 KQJ10 7 AQ2 VA107 A 10 9 8 8 4 3 2 W E . S Dealer K5 KJ85 7034 905 A A 7 6 4 3 VQ96 32 K3 4. A Rubber E.-W vul. South West North East 1 2 2 Pass 2 V Pass 3 Pass 4 1 Pass Pass Double Opening K. 15 Let us hope that, before long, English and American players will have an opportunity to com pete against each other. Today's hand is or.s of a new group from Dr. Stern, and was played by Dr. P. Grosser, former O BARBS People who bet usually find out that most race horses go 'round in circles that get nowhere. The first batch of 1345 income tax returns has been released and the only change is a slightly dif ferent type. You can, however, still read 'em and weep. " Puzzled over the price ceiling, the New York State Farm Bureau representative player of' Czecho slovakia. The ace of clubs won the first trick, a spade was led and won by East with the king. The nine of clubs came buck and South trumped. The ace of spades was cashed, but the next' spade, ruffed with dummy's seven, was over-ruffed by East with the eight. East returned another club which South ruffed with the three of hearts. King and ace of diamonds were cashed, and the third diamond ruffed with the six of hearts. Declarer led the nine of hearts to the ace and cashed the ten of diamonds, dis carding the six of spades. Eight of clubs was played, and South was able to make his queen of hearts for the tenth trick. O IN FORMER YEARS Thirty Years Ago A party of. 13 La Gran'ders to day ignored the fact that it w;l the 13th of the month, and en joyed the drive to Beaver creek which in recent weeks has be come almost purely a 'pleasure trip,, replete with scenic attrac tions. There has been shipped out of Cove and Union during the past 12 days 40 cars of fresh Italian prunes. Tax payers held a mass meet ing in the city hall last night to discuss the Sunday closing law. As has been the tenor of discus sion throughout the whole propa ganda for Sunday closing, the ob jections raised were not aimed at the main features or the princi ples involved, but at that phase which seems to permit drug stores and bakeries to compete with the cigar dealers and con Federation wants the lid taken off of sauerkraut. Is that being nice to the neighbors? The elevator strike in New York brought one main thought: let's get it over witli and give the riders a lift. President Truman received an ancient peace pipe from the Sioux tribe of South Dakota. No, the Indians givers do not intend to take it back. Fifteen Years Ago Directing a strong oral attack on Senator Charles McNary and presenting his platform, Elton Watkins of Portland opeSed his senatorial campaign inteastern Oregon yesterday, delivering two talks. , Ten Years Ago Jean Ann Richards of. Union was doubly rewarded at Portland when her Herford was. judged grand champion steer in the 4-H club division of the Pacific In ternational. Besides the title she won high praise from Governor Martin. "his Curious World Of SOUTH AMERICA i UNLIKE. V-'-'c?!! ii tlPI 1 OTHER CATS,tMES TOSWM, C''iHl lP 1 AND PREYS UPON FISH IN THE iLttVinr! I I RIVERS AS WELL AS UPON fjT' I M , MONKEYS HI6H IN THE TREETBPS. If 1 RELATIVELY FEW IN5CCT MOTHERS EVE SEE THEIR. jROVVN-UP CHILDREN . T.M.KQ.Ull'kT.On'. fOU PUSH A CORK OiVA IN A BOTTLE TO GOK IT U, ZiifS TS&T. HARRY C.ZIMMERWAN, w.ii i m NEXT: What Aristotle didn't know about birds.
