Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About La Grande observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1959-1968 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 30, 1959)
Proofreader Eiil (pi m V K fin PI MLifiJiB -Tn :' lit EDITORIAL PAGE LA GRANDE OBSERVER .. Friday, October 30, 1959 "Without or with friend or foe, we print your daily world as it goes" Byron. ' RILEY ALLEN, publisher Grady PannelL managing editor George Challis, advertising director .' . ' Tom Humes, circulation manager Personal Economy Due Overhaul At, the rate personal debt is piling up in 'this, country economists are beginning to wonder when we will reach a danger point. ' A recent roundup by the Wall Street Journal reveals that personal debt load i of Americans has climbed more than twice as fast as disposable Income in the 19r()s. Personal debts fall into two main cate gories: consumer credit and home mor tgages. Consumer credit covers such items .'as debts owed on autos, appliances and , home repairs, personal bank loans and - charge account credit. Americans owed more than 21 billion - dollars in consumer credit when laso end ed. The figure has grown to its present level of nearly 48 billion dollars. Moi -tnae,e debt outstanding on one-to-four family houses, mainly individual homes, ;ii t In close of 1950 was 45 billion dollars; the figure now is nearly 128 billion. The total for consumer credit and home mortgage at over 172 billion dollars today la up 160 per cent since 1950 ; This increase can be compared with dis posable income which currently is at the 335 billion dollar mark or 61 per cent above the 1950 level. - Returning to the original point of what is the danger level in the relation of debt to Income, economists frankly admit they don't know. They do believe, however, that today's heavy personal debt loud is not dangerous. They cite the fact that mortgage hold ers, switching from paying rent, arc as suming no dangerous new burden; it's just a change in the type of payment they make. This, the argument goes, applies to yesteryear's ice money which now pays for the refrigerator; the bus and train fares that now helpmeet the, car pay ments. The economists tell us there is more "discretionary" income income above needs for basic necessities in circulation to offest increased indebtedness. The huge government social security program and spiraling private pension funds makes going into debt less hazar dous than formerly, it is also contended. These arguments neglect the fact that living on the cuff costs money. A $4,000 car bought with $1,000 down and the bal ance to be paid in 36 monthly installments may cost $4,550 or more; a $30,000 house wiih a six per cent, 20-year mortgage may end up costing over $47,000. Total yearly interest cost for consumer credit and home mortgages in this country has been roughly computed at 11 billion dollars or 50 per cent more than the pub lic pays on the federal debt each year. Willi personal debt now at 51 per cent of the public's disposable income it is not too soon to ask about what happens when you reach the point when payments ex ceed disposable income. No one knows when or if we will reach that mark, but the economy will be in for an overhaul long before that debt to-income ratio is reached. Methods Differ; Only The Result The Same it t. i!.; t i 1. . . i t . i i i . We have all been conditioned bv nam ful experience to be suspicious of shilts in the Communist party line. They turn out to be simply new ways of seeking old ob jectives. The Reds realize this, so now, when they shift, extraordinary efforts are made to overcome such suspicions. The latest shift calls for the Russians to urge the world to let by-gones be by gones and go on from here in peace and mutual trust. They urge total disarmament and are trying hard to convince the rest of the world that they are serious. A story from Moscow today relates some of the things the Russian government is doing to pro mote the peaceful co-existence policy. For one thing, it sets out to discredit any notion that disarmament would cause an economic crisis. This smacks of a sly . propaganda move. An old Communist tactic was to blame wars on the munitions makers. Defense is major industry In this country and if ev ery job related to defense were suddenly wiped out, there would be severe disloca tions, but they would be temporary. No one is discouraging peace efforts because war preparations create prosperity. But the Keds would like nothing better than to create the impression that any opposi tion to its disarmament proposals stems from what it chooses to call the war profit eers. lv emphasizing its contention that dis armament would not cause an economic crisis, the Reds hope to convince many people that our opposition to the Russian disarmament proposals actuaully is based on fear of such a crisis. Asking the question: "When are you goirg to stop being afraid the disarma ment will cause a depression?" is the same kind of question as asking a milk toast type husband: "When are you going to stop beating your wife?" The Phonies We Can Do Without A television network (CHS) has an nounced it will henceforth Ik? honestVith the public which enjoys its medium of entertainment No longer as soon as the present taped shows are run, re-run and re-run again-will we hear the "dubbed in" laugh ter which has become common on TV. At least we won't hear it on the CHS net work. No longer will actors it ml actresses perform quietly in front of TV cameras, only to have the show filled with hilar i"s laughter from a non-existent aud ience when the picture finally appears en the screen. Together with the dropping- of quiz shows and big giveaways, which have lt n shown to be subject to manipula tion, this latest move on the part of CPS is a w elcome one. The phonies we can do without. DREW PEARSON SAYS: Backstage 'Rigging' Told By TV Show Contestant WASHINGTON If ou know hat went on In-hind the scenes with the biscest of the big money show. SW.0U0 Challenge, you can understand why CBS President Frank Stanton has cracked down so vigorously on quiz shows. mg before Stanton stumbled into quiz show chicanery, a small tune advertising saleman, Drake Colin, tried lo blow the whistle on the $64,000 C hallenge. His char i;es were whiskbroomed under the rug, where the producers are still trying to hide them. perhaps one reason CBS failed to follow up on form's charges is that the originator of the $64, 000 Question and the $64,000 Challenge, Louis Cowan, was a vice president of CBS and is now chief of CbSTV. Cohn was a contesant on the $64,000 Challenge whose produc ers will follow Charles Van Dor en on the corgrcssional witness land next week to answer some $64,000 questions themselves. By accident, Cohn discovered that his opponent had been fed the winning answers in advance by associate producer Shirley Bernstein, sister of the famous musical conductor. Leonard Bern stein. She was later named by Itev. Charles Jackson, the Tulla- homa, Tenn., minister-contestant, as the one who gave him advance answers. Colin described his experience in a private letter to a Irtend and sent a copy to the show's sponsor, Revlon. This column has now obtained a copy of this letter, which presents revealing glimpses of what went on back stage at the big quiz show. Salesman Gets "Sold" Cohn originally called on G"orge Abrams, then Rev Ion's vice president in charge of ad vertising, to sell him advertising space on subway cars. But the quick-witted salesman ended up instead as a TV contestant lac mg Wilton Springer on the $64,- 000 Challenge." They fought to a draw on questions about Broad way plays until Sunday night, March 23, 1958. t was called into the associ att producer's office," recounts Colin's letter. "She (Miss Bern- stein) said I looked very calm and collected. She said she wouldn't ask me any questions and wish id me good luck. She also ask d me to send in Springer. "Ten minutes or so later Springer came to the orchestra where (some friends) and I, were sitting. Springer was very upset sweating bullets. He said he was asked several questions and didn't knew any of them until Miss Bernstein told him the answers. "I then went and sat with Springer across the aisle from the rest of the folks. I asked Spring er to tell me some of the ques tions he had been asked. He re nlied. Mv gosh, she's now asking ;ihout secondary cnaraciers line Maggie Culler and the guy she was in love with. I said 1 had no idea of who she was and what it was from. Springer said he didn't know either until Miss Bernstein told him Maggie Cut ler was the love interest in "The Man Who Came to Dinner.' Alter he mentioned Maggie Cutler, I ran across the aisle and repeated the question to my friends, saying that here was one we didn't study." Cohn continues his account. "Then I went back to Springer and asked him some more questions he was asked by Miss Bernstein. He said Peggy O'Neil and so-and-so were the characters in 'The Moon Is Blue.' Once again I repeated the ques tion to my guests. I tried to get other questions and answers from Springer, but he was too upset. He said he had been studying the wrong questions all week. Simply Coincidence? "Suddenly I am in the booth nd handed a copy of Springer's $4,000 question. My first reac-l tion was, 'My God, it is the exact question and answer that the as sociate producer, Miss Bernstein had given Springer two hours earlier!" "It couldn't have been coinci dence that the love interests he had to answer were exaclly the secondary character named Mag- ;ie Cutler in 'The Man Who Came to Dinner' and Peggy O' Neil from 'The Moon Is Blue.' There were thousands of ques lions lhat could have been ask d. How come the exact two names? "I was thrown for a complete loss and wild thoughts flooded .n v mind like 'should 1 blast the whole dirty, cheating thing to the public?' " Cohn s letter reports i would certainly be through in ihe advertising business, because .1- L t . I . even inougn nonei, no one !ikes a trouble maker and no one would have any truck with me ! Besides it was the fault of Knter-j ainment Productions Inc., the i producers of the show. They were the louses. I decided to ac-: cept Springer's answer. Hell, at ;hat point, I didn't even hear what he said. I knew he knew ihe answers, "After the show my guest. Al Simms. said, 'Let's go to court. Hie damn cheats,' walking out of the theater, I said, 'It certainly was crooked, but I can't sue as I probably signed my life away when I signed all the releases with Entertainment Productions before they would allow me on the program.' "Later that same evening I called Miss Bernstein, accused her of a dastardly trick and re quested a copy of the releases I had signed. I concluded by say ing, 'I hope you sleep after to night's performance.' "Of course she denied it. then told her the biggest mistake she made was telling the ques tions and answers to Springer, because he had told me (as well as witnesses) the exact $4,000 question. She didn t know how to answer that one, because I took her by complete surprise. "Miss Bernstein said it was just an 'amazing coincidence' and she could well imagine how I must feel. However she certainly wouldn't have chosen sides, that I must believe. She hoped I wouldn t make trouble. Cause For Insomnia "Tuesday evening, Miss Bern- stein called me at home. She said she hadn't been able to sleep since Sunday evening. She just couldn t imagine how those par ticular questions and answers were put on her 'warm-up and contestant sheet. Again, an "am azing coincidence.' Wednesday afternoon I re ceived a call from Revlon. It seemed that a vice president from one of Revlon's advertising agencies heard me on the way out of the theater say I was go ng to sue. Revlon asked me to please visit them at their offices. "They heard my story from start to finish. They agreed with me that the isolated characters of Peggy O'Neil and Maggie Cut ler were far, far more than an amazing coincidence.' They went so far as to say that it looked like an apparent 'fraud.' Yes, they used the word, not I. What Cohn never knew is that Revlon called Harry Fleischman, then boss of Entertainment Pro ductions, on the carpet to ex plain what had happened. Fleisch man assured the sponsors that the questions had been listed on Miss Bernstein's warm-up sheet by freak accident. This despite the Moscow Has Smash Movie Hit, Khrushchev Playing Star Role MOSCOW l CPU Moscow has a smash movie hit on its hands today and the man who steals the show is none other than Nikita Sergeyevitch Khrushchev. There are prominent Americans in the movie Frank Sinatra. Mar ilyn Monroe and President Kisi-n hower but they are just upstaged bit players. Khrushchev first full length color film opened in two dozen theaters in Moscow and getting tickets is as difficult as it was the first year "My Fair Lady" burst upon the New lork scene. The supercolossal production N. S. Khrushchev in America has everything from humor to a luscious closeup of Miss Monroe. The plot is fairly simple: Boy loves girl (the ordinary American people); boy tries to win girl but the pair Is kept part by the vill ians (American police). Girl loves boy, so boy wins girl. Vve first see the local fellow leav ing home to fly overseas to the big city. Americans in Washing ton and New York reach out hands, smile, snap photos, cheer and applaud. But those police! Stern-faced, arguing with each other, pushing people behind barricades. Tregedy tn Los Angeles Tragedy stalks our hero in Los Angeles. The mayor refused to tell the people where Khrushchev can be seen. Palm-lined streets are al most empty except for a few sub bronzed characters in shorts. All the hero gets to do is meet Sinatra and Shirley MacLaine in a lowcut dress. (The can-can dance which the Russians saw and thought vulgar landed on the cut ting room floor). But hope returns in San Fran cisco. Cheering crowds wave signs proclaiming peace and friendship. Our hero puts his thumb up indi- fact the questions supposedly had been sealed in a bank vault and brought to the program by armed guards. When the same accidence occur red again in the Rev. Jackson's case, Revlon complained to the CBS network. But the network, whose television chief Louis Cow an originally owned "The $64,000 Question" and "The $64,000 Chal lenge," whitewashed the produc ers. eating he likes the place. So does the commentator who obviously fell in love with the bridges and cable cars, and says with pleas ure: "San Francisco has pigeons as we have in Moscow." (Shot ol citi zens feeding pigeons). The star of the movie saw some scenes of sadness in Pittsburgh a Negro hotel worker striking and struck mills. But the hero is provided with comedy relief; farmer Koswell Garst of Iowa being chased by reporters through cornfields. This scene brought hearty laughter from the Russian audience during the performance I managed to el bow my way into. Happy Ending The film has a happy ending. Our hero receives an ovation at the United Nations. He returns home to the cheers of the multi tude. . The movie shows every word of tne star oeing recorded feverishly by American journalists including a five-second close-up of Henry Shapiro, Moscow bureau manager REMEMBER WHEN . . . 25 years ago, a savage dog attacked a local four-year-old tot while she was engaged in Hallo ween festivities here. Hospitalized was little Marvel Fallows, daugh ter of Mr. and Mrs. Miles Fallows. Thirty-five stitches were required to sew up the bites. The Riveria Study group of the school's PTA met, with Mrs. Gene Walker, Mrs. O. B. Maxam, Mrs, Laurence Burnett, and Rtrj, nunz serving as nosis. ... IS years ago, the La Grande State Guard unit was reactivated with Major Lynn Larson serving as commanding officer of Com pany A 23rd Battalion. Company commander was Capt. G. L. Gre gory, with 1st Lt. George Rather and 2nd Lt. Charles Erb in com mand of the two platoons. Nine persons received ufesaving ratings under auspices of the Red Cross here. Graduating were Mor ris Richardson, Robert Madsen, Keith Hawn, Paul Gorham, Rob erta Lloyd, Marcella Neiger, Nan cy Combs, Charlotte Spiker, Lor- na Ha'lmark. Harvy Carter and Conradt Farquhar conduced the class in lifesaving. nf United Press International. The film however did not get a rave review in Pravda, the Com munist Party newspaper. The film doesn't show enough Americans waving, smiling, and cheering, a Pravda critic com. plained. "There are no shots of people fighting for places at television screens when Khrushchev made his disarmament speech,'' the crit ic said. "The greeting given him by stu dents of Iowa was shown too quickly," the critic added. The critic offered a solution for this "insufficient" picture. All cameramen who covered the his toric, tour American, British, ev erybodyshould pool their film and produce one big complete documentary, he said. QUOTES IN THE NEWS United Press International WASHINGTON Mrs.. Mamie Eisenhower, commenting on a telegram from President Eisen hower extending birthday wishes to "dear and lifelong friend of mine": "The rascal." MEXICO CITY Gen. Daniel Galvan, reporting after a flight over Mexico's storm-stricken re gion that a landslide had buried the minirg town of Minatitlaw: "Minutitlaw has ceased to ex ist." NEW YORK Vice Adm. Hy man G. Rickover, blaming bu reaucratic overadministration for the nation's technological lag in the race with Russia: "We bury the men who do the nation's creative work under lay ers of administrators and paper mountains of memoranda, rec ords, publicity releases and the like ... We shrivel their creativi ty by endless frustration.' MONTGOMERY, Ala. Gov. John Patterson, urging Alabama officials not to cooperate with U. S. Civil Rights Commission voter registration: I resent this interference from Washington." ,jVH Sr: Most Dogs Which Nip People Not To Blame, Survey Shows ONE TON OF STEEL Steelmaking requires handling of a great variety of raw ma', terials. Fanciful factory, above, shows the production of one ton of ingot (carbon)' steel and what it will make in terms of consumer goods. It takes 4,950 pounds of raw materials to make the ton of steel. Included in the 3,480 pounds of pig iron are iron ore, coke, limestone and scrap. By the time ingot steel is fabricated into finish ed steel, a quarter-ton is pared off which goes back into the furnaces as scrap. In " 1958, for example, ingot steel production was 85.3 million tons and finished steel ' shipments stood at 59.9 million tons. Data from American Iron and Steel Institute. thors said "probably tens of thou sands of newspaper boys aid postmen are bitten by dogs in this country annually." Females Bit More . . , Young dogs are worse bitefs than old dogs, females bite ofteo er than males, and so-called working and sporting dogs are more likely to nip than hounds Working dogs, "the worst offend ers,' include boxers, collies, Eski mo dogs, German shepherds, great Danes, Saint Bernards, and Doberman pinschers. Sporting dogs include pointers, setters, re trievers, and spaniels. Dogs bite least in winter, more often in spring, and oftenest In July and August. This supports "popular notions of dog days.' WASHINGTON (UPI) A re search team has decided that in two-thirds of all dog bite cases, the biter bites without malicious intent. When dogs bite people, the team found, the people usually are to blame, one way or another. These and other conclusions were reported in the October is sue of Public Health Reports, a monthly magazine published by the Public Health Service, in an article entitled "Epidemiology of Dog Bites." The article was written by Drs. Henry M. Parrish of the Univer sity of Vermont, Frank B. Clack and James F. Mock of the Alle gheny County (Pa.) Health De partment, and Duane Probst of the University of Wisconsin. The authors reported or Cited the following findings: Bit Mor Children Dogs bite more children than adults and more boys than girls. There is no evidence that they are more partial to biting non- INITIAL DEFENSE PACT ATHENS (UPI) Turkey Greece, and Cyprus initialled a defense alliance treaty Tuesday night, but terms of the pact were not disclosed. The three nations agreed to cooperate in defense under terms of the treaty granting Cyprus Independence. white than white persons." One-third of bites result -from dogs biting maliciously without human provocation." Another one- third occur while the victims are playing with or petting dogs. The remaining one-third are the result of "human activities which goad dogs to bite." "High-risk groups" among pos sible dog bite victims are "school children, pre school children, per sons coming to the dog owner's house in line of work (delivery men etc.), newspaper boys, mail men, and veterinarians.'' The au- Real Estate BROKERS' FORMS STOCKS) MRf rot rout coNvmiLMCi McGLASSON'S STATIONERY Banm Insurance Agency EVERYONE NEEDS AUTO INSURANCE A WRECK COULD WIPE OUT YOUR SAVINGS. Don't take chances. Accidents are not planned We -can arrange a program of auto insurance' that will give you complete protection at a' cost you can afford. Call us NOW! FAST, EFFICIENT CLAIM SERVICE . , For smooth firing 105 Depot WO 3-2125 COALS Ye, smooth os the "old briar is your stoker-fed furnace burning HOMO GENIZEO cool - perfectly blended free of rock and scrap metal. Alto, ABC Coal I water WASHED to remove waste heat DRIED for moisture control - DUSPRUF for cleanliness - BRANDED for your protection. Uok for the foil drde disc scattered through every ton. Don't settle for a substitutei Order your coal now. Li Grande Lumber Co. (ABERDEEN COAL) Van Petten Lumber (CASTLE GATE COAL) Smith Bros. Moving Service (BLUE BLAZE COAL)