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
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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.