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About La Grande observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1959-1968 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 12, 1959)
Spooky Starters l.dynO'J', -ft " ( I '.' I'' I WM. UH .KM! IM rl flSf 7 I J .7 ' FT swnTW w mm t- i l r-i i n n i NEA Jtrtkt, Ine. EDITORIAL PAGE IXGRANDE OBSERVER Wednesday, August 12, 1959 "A Modern Newspaper With The Pioneer Spirit" RILEY D.ALLEN PUBLISHED BT THB Uk. ORANDB publishing company GEORGE S. CHALUS TOM HUMES Publisher Adv. Director Circulation Mgr. The Season Of Shooting Stars This is the season of "shooting stars." Vacationists at mountain camps, away from the bright lights of cities, will see possibly as many as 50 of these objects in a single hour. They will be moving fast. Some will be tailed. And they will appear to radiate from the same part of the heavens, the con stellation Perseus, low in the northeast when darkness comes to the Oregon country. The "falling stars" are the Perscids, a swarm of meteors. Each year at the same time the earth, swinging around the sun in its orbit, slashes through the orbit of the Perseids. Some 60 or 70 miles up, the Perseids blaze into incandescence as they bore into the earth's atmosphere. Tonight the earth will be near the center of the Perseid stream, and the celestial show should be tops. There should be a moon in the western sky, but it will not be bright enough to dim the sky show. Amateur astronomers are looking forward to a fine night. Some of the amateurs w ill make an hourly count of the Perseid for the American Meteor Society. Back of the Perseids is a story. Astronomers believe the Perseids are remnants of a comet which'disintegrated long ago, leaving in its old path a "fly ing gravel bank of meteors. Most of tfiem are tiny, not much larger than a grain of sand. Of course, some meteors are vastly larger. A few have reached the earth. Some of those, including one found in Oregon, the Willamette meteorite, weigh tons. These big ones, however were not members of the Perseid stream. Meteors may appear of no significance to earth people. At least this was the belief in former years. But in this space age, the bits of sand and their larger companions are of much interest. Some fear that man's attempt to reach the moon will be slowed by a meteor barrier, components of which may destroy space ships. In probing the outer atmosphere, scientists have noted that their equip ment has recorded the impacts of some Ixxiies with their rockets. Yet these bodies apparently did not dent the rockets. This has- led to a new theory: Rem nants of comets are composed of frozen gases. If this is true, there are three types of meteors iron and nickel, stone and solidified gas. But regardless of the stuff of which Terseids are made, they are interesting to watch. They will be impressive against the summer stars and planets, with great Jupiter blazing near Scorpius with its distant suns. Even Most Partisan Should See Light Opponents of an effective union regu lations bill in Congress argue that it would be wrong to give rank and file union members the right to take legal action against union officers who mis use their powers. They say soreheads in unions would misuse such a right by taking their petty grievances to court. While this kind of argument is pre sented, the Senate Rackets Committee turns in its evidence that James Hoffa used $3,000,000 of Teamster funds to pay off an underworld obligation. Hoffa could divert funds at will, just as Dave Bock did, because he had nothing to fear. There is no law against it. Further more there is no way that a member of the Teamster union can get at Hoffa for what he does. His position has been and is secure. Beck toppled, not because of his misdeeds against the union, but because he violated Washington state statutes relating to theft. The House is in the midst of debate on various versions of a union rackets control bill and it is inconceivable that the object lesson furnished by Hoffa will be lost on even the most partisan of the Congressmen. More Friendly Climate For Future Dick Nixon did a lot of good for him self on his trip to Russia. Public opinion polls show he rates better than ever as a presidential candidate as a result of the able way he handled himself while deal ing with the world's most difficult inter national figure, Premier Khrushchev. But the vice president must be credited with having done the cause of Mter re lations between Russia and the West considerable good also. For one thing the visit was well timed. It came just as the Geneva foreign ministers conference was heading for a dismal failure. But so one is thinking almut that. They think of the warmth of the greeting given Nixon in Russia, Silx-ria and Po land, and of the forthcoming exchange of visits betwen Ike and Khrushchev an exchange that might not have been agreed to if Nixon hadn't gone ahead and broken the ice. No problems were solved bv the Nixon trip. That must be admitted. But it may well be that he helped create a sufficient ly more friendly climate to permit the solving of some problems in the near future that otherwise would have gone unsolved. , DREW PEARSON SAYS: Lobbyists Swarming Over Capitol Hill On The Labor Bill WASHINGTON Big business and labor lobbyists are pulling out all the stops on the House of Representatives as it approaches a showdown vote on the labor bill. Congressmen are being button holed by businessmen and labor leaders, deluged with let ters and telegrams. The latter come chiefly from the National Association of Manufacturers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce urging the passage of the tough Landrum tirillin bill. Democratic Congressman John Dent of Pennsylvania, for in stance, has averaged 100 letters a day, 70 per cent of the mail coming from business ' firms and bankers outside his coal mining district, almost unan imously favoring the Land rum Griffin measure. The re maining 30 per cent, from his own constituents, overwhelming ly opposes the restrictive bill. Most big corporations don't show their hand in congress, though some, including General Electric Corp., Western Electric and the Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., sign their names to tele grams. General Electric lobby ists also made phone calls to some congressmen. One of the most active U.S. Chamber of Commerce lobbyists has been Jack Reich, executive vice president of the Indiana chamber. Reich put the pres sure on Indiana congressmen and even attended a hearing by the House rules committee, at which the labor bills were discussed. Though they showed up a lit tle late, Capitol Hill also has been aswarm with AFL-CIO lob byists opposing the Landrum Griffin bill. In a desperate effort to offset the NAM-Chamber lob by, AFL-CIO President George Meany summoned union offi cials from a number of states in order to get support for a bill sponsored by Rep. Jack Shelley of California aimed primarily at stopping racketeering without in lertering with the basic rights of union members. Mr. Sam Lobbies Speaker Sam Rayburn also was working feverishly against the anti-labor Landrum-Griffin bill He made individual appeals U 30 or more doubtful House members from the South and Midwest, urging their support for Congressman Ellhrtt g anti-racketeering bill, which was approv ed by the House Education and Labor committee. It is far less restrictive than the Landrum bill, though not as liberal as the Shelly bill. The speaker frankly informed Shelley: "I disagree with this legislation you are sponsoring, Jack, but I will help you all I can to get it to the House floor for a vote. You and your asso ciates have a right to that, though I doubt than you can win. I al so think you have performed a service in helping to open up a full debate of this labor reform isrue." Shelley has been a trade un ionist all his life, once served as head of the Xeansters union in San Francisco, and led a move against both Dave Beck and Jim my Hoffa. While his bill is too liberal for Rayburn and many other Democrats, it wasn t liberal enough for the Teamsters union, whose financial operations trig gered the strong demand for la bor reform. A Teamster lobbyist called on Shelley to suggest that he change his bill to provide greater lee way for secondary boycott and "hot cargo" practices in union agreements. "You can go jump in the lake," Shelley replied. "Jimmy Hoffa is not writing my program. Ik Breakfasts President Eisenhower told a breakfast of GOP congressmen the other day that he is convinc ed Nikita Khrushchev will re turn to Russia even more a "man of peace" after his visit to the U.S.A. Ike explained to the 25 Re publicans led by Tom Curtis of Missouri, that a "firsthand view" by Khrushchev of what free en terprise has done for America should go a long way toward pro moting world peace. "Hi visit will have much deep er ramifications than those of Mfkoyan and Kozlov," said the President. "When they return ed to Russia, Khrushchev could tell them that they were 'taken in' by what they saw here. But it will be different when he him self is able to see firsthand, and for the first time, the true pic ture of what we have. 'He can't help but be impress ed with our enormous produc tive capacity, our greatest boon for preserving world peace. The President added that Khrushchev had received a pre view of this at our exhibition in Moscow, which no doubt had whetted his curiosity for a full er, firsthand look. "The more Soviet people tour America and conversely some thing like 16,000 Americans will visit Bussla this year the eas ier it will be to keep our coun tries at peace," Eisenhower told the congressmen. "But it U even more important for Khrushchev hmself to see what freedom has accomplished here in improving living standards, as comparen with the recommended life of his uwn country." Capital Chaff rVirrwtinn- Ttimicfh th Phesa- lieake and Potomac Telephone fomDanv ha maHn reservation at the Sheraton park hotel for a dinner and reception during ine nieeting of the Army Association. Ihii was ranrpllpH This column which reported the original res crvation, is delighted to make this correction . . . Tne Army assigned four nuhlie relations men to be on hand constants during the Army Association con vention ... It costs $1,000 for a business concern to join the Ar my Association. The Association in turn helps both the Army and lU members by lobbying on Capitol Hill for appropriations which help the Army. LETTERS Maximum length 300 words. No anonymous lotttrt but tree nam will bo withhold on request. To The Editor Never have time and opportun ity favored a man as it did Rich ard Nixon on his visit to Rus sia. It was like Washington crossing the Delaware just in the nick of time. Millions of us have been praying for peace, our prayers are being answered. Uncle Charley Cleaver. QUOTES FROM THE NEWS United Prtu InternatiofMl La Grande Man Receives Aid For Education Marvin H. Beeson of La Grande is among 26 students in Oregon to be awarded a graduate fellowship under the National Defense Educa tion Act passed by Congress last year. Beeson attends the University of Oregon and under the program will receive $2,000 in the first year. $2,200 in the second year and $2,400 in the third, plus a $400 al lowance annually for each depend ent. The college will receive $2,500 per year fftr each student under the' program. Fellowships were awarded to 097 graduate students in 272 graduate programs throughout the country. The type of shoe known as bluchers was named for a Prus sian field marshal, Blucher. LITTLE ROCK, Ark. Gov. Or. val Faubus, denouncing integra tion plans on ine eve of integra tion at two Little Rock high schools, but advising against vio lence: "To all of you who love Christ, who love freedom and who love your children, I see nothing to be gained tomorrow by disorder and violence." CHICAGO Msgr. Joseph Cus sen, charging that an arsonist set the Our Lady of Angeles school fire last Dece. 1 that killed 92 children and three nuns: "There's no doubt in my mind that somebody set that fire. There's some nut loose." SANTIAGO, Chile Secretary of State Christian A. Herter, ex pressing confidence that the American Hemisphere foreign ministers conference will help the seoples of the hemisphere develop a better life without sacrificing freedom: "We have the opportunity in the spirit, friendship and respect char acterizing our relations to give aw view to the inter-American system and progress to our hem isphere. DES MOINES, Iowa Four, year-old Billy Curtis, speaking from a hospital bed after he had been dug out of a sewer ditch cave-in where he had been buried for 40 minutes: "It sure was dark in that dirt." MARGARET TO HONOLULU HOLLYWOOD (UPI) Newly, weds actress Margaret O'Brien, 22, and art student Harold Robert Allen Jr., 24, sail today for a month-long honeymoon in Hono lulu. The former child star and Allen were married Saturday in St. Martin Tours Catholic Church. V t V 1 . ( J ' l t - s - rv ', ill t 5 " , I tit? et V 4ar '-J" - -T -mmr- - . . .... 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