LAMB COW MNI MIMU
AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER
ALTON F. BAKER, Publisher, 1927-1961
ALTON F. BAKER JR.
Editor and Publisher
EDWIN M. BAKER
General Manager
RICHARD A. BAKER
Managing Editor
ROBERT B. FRAZIER
Associate Editor
A. H. CURREY
Associate Editor
The Register-Guard's policy it the complete and
impartial publication in its news pages of all
news and statements on news. On this page, the
editors of the Register-Guard offer their opinions
on events of the day and matters of importance
to the community, endeavoring to be candid but
fair and helpful in the development of construc
tive community policy. A newspaper is a
CITIZEN OF ITS COMMUNITY.
Published every evening and Sunday morning
by the Guard Publishing Co.
8A
EUGENE, OREGON, SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 1962
Success Story ,
Esy Rubenstein rose from pushcart
vendor to become one of the West's lead
ing furniture dealers. Actually, that is,
not figuratively.
Mr. Rubenstein's early business ven
tures in this country included selling
wares from street-to-street in New York,
his stock displayed on a cart which he,
himself, pushed to where he might find
customers. Then he moved to Eugene to
find greater opportunity.
Through depression times and all,
Esy Rubenstein kept moving ahead,
seeking customers, especially satisfied
ones. He was a dealer in hides and wool,
in second-hand goods and in small-town
furniture offerings before he developed
the financial means and the reputation
which enabled him to expand the Ruben
stein Furniture Co. into one of the most
complete furniture markets on the West
Coast.
Nor was this the complete measure
of his success. Born in Poland, he had
not come to the United States until he
was 23 and did not settle in Eugene until
he was 31. Yet he became a community
leader, prominent in service, fraternal
and religious organizations.
It must have pleased Esy Rubenstein
to see his sons and grandsons continue
to develop his furniture firm after ill
health forced him to retire. The declin
ing years prior to his death at 80 must
have been made easier for him as na
tional retailing awards and national pub
licity were accorded the company that
carries his name and the stamp of his
character.
Eugene lost one of its most excep
tional citizens when Mr. Rubenstein died
Thursday. But, as the good works of a
man live on, his memory will not be
soon forgotten. Generations yet to enter
the affairs of this community will be told
the story of Esy Rubenstein, will be
shown the business he built, will see the
wide-ranging delivery trucks which have
long since replaced his pushcart and
will be heartened to attempt things in
life which they might otherwise have
thought impossible. "
Deserve a Chance
Two weeks ago, writing on events in
the Dominican Republic, we observed,
"The most perilous hour of any nation
is the hour of its birth." Ensuing events
have proved this true. For a day or two
It appeared that the new government,
which sought to establish a legitimate
regime, was dead, the victim of an old
style Caribbean junta. But as this is
written, the "good guys" are back in
office.
, "But," asks a skeptic, "are we sure
they're good guys?"
No, we're not. However, appear
ances are promising. The Balaguer
Bonnelly group, now led by Bonnclly,
appear to have the greater popular sup
port, appear to be moderate where
others are extreme, appear to offer dig
nity where the others offer repression.
True, appearances can be deceiving.
Look at the Castro example. In De
cember of 1958, when he was kicking
the old dictator out of Havana, Castro
had the admiration of many Americans.
However, it wasn't more than a week or
so after he assumed power that his in
tentions became clear.
The Bonnclly group in the Dominican
Republic, however, looks much better
than Castro looked, even before he came
to power.
Especially because the situation in
the island republic is so mercurial, the
moderate group needs all the help it can
get in this most perilous of its hours.
This help, apparently, the United States
and other American nations are willing,
even eager, to give. Our recognition of
the Balagucr government was speedy.
Other Latin nations, which had given
the Dominican Republic the deep freeze
for many months, also expressed their
good will.
At any rate, the moderates deserve a
chance. If they prove to be Castros, then
the rug ca-s be pulled. But if they don't
get support, they can't possibly survive
lire km! of streag-arm politics their ne
mo: villi K aQtt iwm.
Interlude
Lately, while most of the rest of the
nation has been battling blizzards and
near-historic low temperatures, our area
has, by comparison, been a banana belt.
Now we have snow. We've had it be
fore, and we'll have it again from time
to time, a few inches at a time.
True, a little' of this stuff is enough.
But this weekend should be proof that
even our worst weather is good weather,
relatively speaking. It has been five
winters since last we had snow that
stayed on the ground more than a week
before it melted away. Official climato
logical records show that, on the historic
average, the Eugene area has had more
than 1 inch of snowfall on but three
days each year.
We might as well go out and enjoy
the snow while it's here. Soon it'll be
back to banana belt living for us.
i !. im vbaarliiT i iMtoftSlftterttiiir t n mm n ins&nm
He Was There
Among the misunderstood words list
"negotiation." Webster's New World
Dictionary defines it as "a conferring,
discussing, or bargaining to reach agree
ment, as in business transactions or state
matters." But in diplomacy it can mean
more than that. It can mean action as
well as chatter.
One veteran of across-the- table en
counters with the Russians is Dean Ache
son, Truman's secretary of state and a
prime target for Sen. Joe McCarthy, way
back when. He spent 10 years of his life
talking to Russians, sometimes with suc
cess,' sometimes getting his fingers
burned. In his fascinating new book,
"Sketches from Life, of Men I Have
Known," the former secretary makes
these observations on "negotiating":
To our minds international conferences
and international negotiations are so com
pletely means for ending conflict that we are
blind to the fact that they may be and, in
the hands of experts, are equally adapted to
continuing it. In the present century the
Soviet state has perfected the use of negotia
tion, including negotiation by mass confer
ence, as a method of warfare; this long ante
dates the Communists. A classic example is
the negotiation conducted at Canton by the
Chinese with Lord Napier of Merchiston, rep
resenting the British government, in the 1830s.
. . . The similar use of negotiation by the Com
munists at Brest-Litovsk in 101718 and Pan
munjon in 1951-1953 was worthy of the model.
"There is no alternative to negotiations
with the Russians" is the constant theme of a
well-known columnist and a prominent politi
cian in this country and of a large section of
the British Labor party. This is, of course,
silly. For if there is no alternative, and if
the Russians will only negotiate, as is now the
case, on their own terms, then there is no al
ternative to surrender. But there plainly is an
alternative, which is by action to change the
attitude of the other party. Negotiation should
not be, as some conceive it, mere talk apart
from action. Negotiation and action arc parts
of one whole. Action is often the best form
of negotiation. It affects the environment,
which in large part is likely to determine the
outcome of negotiation. The sputniks were
powerful moves in negotiation: so was the
Marshall Plan. Mr. Khrushchev at the 1960
Paris Summit Meeting, as at the New York
General Assembly, was affecting the environ
ment of international relations. He was using
conference and the forms of negotiation as an
Instrument of war.
Thus by Mr. Acheson's definition, al
most anything we do in international af
fairs is "negotiation." The Communists
were negotiating with us when they put
up their Berlin wall. We were negotiating
when we beefed up our military strength
there. Similarly we are negotiating even
when we refuse to meet them at a con
ference table for more of the old stall.
Medical Advice
Already 1962 has been a great year
for doctors, those ignored gentry who
must feel frustrated most of the time.
"Thou shalt not smoke so many
cigarettes," says the doc. We reach for
another.
"Thou shalt not booze it up so much,"
he intones as we reach up on the shelf
for something to ward off the cold.
"Thou shalt not eat so much fatty
food," he orders as we make a break
fast of deep-fried bacon.
"Thou shalt not this and thou shalt
not that." Yet, on we go.
But now the family physician advises,
"Thou shalt not do the tw ist."
Okay, Doc. You're the doctor.
(Courtesy of Chicago Historical Society)
The Sinking of the Alabama
In the Climactic Naval Duel of the War, the USS Kearsarge Sends the Rebel Raider to the Bottom Off the French Coast
Civil War Accompanied by a Revolution at Sea
Both Sides Used ; . , , . -j
New Weapons, '. ' f
New Strategies ' v
EDITOR'S NOTE: Some
times lost in the drama of the
Civil War's bloody land bat
tles is the story of txoo scrap
ping nawies who created their
own nautical revolution with
daring and ingenious imple
ments of war. This neglected
sector of the North-South
conflict is explored and ex
plained by an associate editor
of American Heritage.
By JOSEPH L. GARDNER
Looking back to the Civil
War, most Americans today re
member the panoramic clashes
of vast land armies at seeming
ly inconsequential points like
Shiloh, Antietam, and Gettys
burg. They recall the dedica
tion of Abraham Lincoln, the
imperturbable nobility of Rob
ert E. Lee, and the relentless
drive of Ulysses S. Grant.
But how many know that a
Confederate submarine was the
first underwater vessel to sink
a warship in combat; that a
naval fightto-the-finish was
waged a few miles off the coast
of France; and that, two months
after the collapse of the Con
federacy, a Southern commerce
raider was setting fire to
Yankee vessels in the Bering
Sea?
Actually, the Civil War in
volved a far-Hung struggle at
sea as well as the better known
contest on land, and the war
years witnesses a naval revolu
tion that has perhaps more con
sequence today than the heroic
meetings of Northern and
Southern armies.
A Turning Point
The first year of the Civil
War coincided with a dramatic
shift in ship design, as the two
navies made the transition from
wooden sailing vessels to steam
powered ironclads.
-cris 77r ?v
-. ' -( . ."it--"'"1 J" '." . " ' ""
" . ... , . ' .
i
i 'J
(Courtesy of Confederate Mussum)
The Confederate Submarine Hunley
She Was Tiny, Primitive and Deadly to Her Crews, but Very Effective
Although the Initial encounter
between the two famed iron
clads, the Merrimack and the
Monitor, was singularly inde
cisive, it marked a turning point
in the history of naval warfare.
Its navy was small and out
moded at the beginning of the
war, but the North had a clear
superiority over the South in
the industrial resources and
manpower that would make a
naval revolution possible. And
it also had Gideon Welles.
Throughout the war the inde
fatigable secretary of the Navy
labored unceasingly to build a
new navy. Over 200 ships were
built and some 400 others pur
chased as the Union Navy
grew from a pathetic 90 vessels
in 1861 'to the 671 noted in
Welles' report to Congress in
December, 1864. All this was
accomplished despite constant
pressure and attacks from the
press, greedy contractors, con-
I In the Editor's Mailbag I
Letters intended for the
Editor's Mailbag column miut
be signed with the correct
name and address of the writ
er. No anonymous letters will
be published. Letters of less
than 350 words in length will
be given preference, as will
those in which the writer
confines his remarks to one
topic.
'(It)' Is Reported'
EUGENE (To the Editor) I
would like to say a few words
about the "turn toward peace"
effort mentioned by the stu
dent, Larry Jones, in yesterday's
Guard.
Is he suspect because he is a
university student? Let your
own conscience dictate, Larry
There is one thing about
which I can bo positive. I have
no confidence nor respect for
any person or organization
which professes one policy and
course of action, then arts out
anolher in opposition to the
first.
The "Fellowship of Reconcili
ation" listed on the "turn to
ward peace" effort's brochure as
one of their "cooperating orcan
nations." is reported to have
made the following statement to
the Senate's Investigating Com
mittee on Education:
' "This letter is to point out
that our fellowship has had a
long and consistent record of
not collaborating with Com
munist or Communist - front
groups. We are a non-part isan
religious pacifist organization."
Let us see what they are re
ported to have printed in one
of their own publications, "Fel
lowship," in regard to their executive-secretary
of long stand
ing: He. "used to be a preacher . . .
before he went straight."
Later, it has been stated, their
publication director in another
of their publications known as
"Conscripts o f Conscience"
makes this statement, "the ex
ecutive secretary deserted both
church and pacifism for Trot
styist communism."
Is that the kind of leadership
we Americans are seeking? I
think not. The "turn toward
peace" brochure lists the names
of nine members (9) of the
above mentioned "Fellowship of
Reconciliation" as memhers of
their steering committee with
another member as chairman of
their national coordinators.
You, fellow Americans, he the
jmlic If you don't like it. say
sod:
florence reed cook
156 Elkay Dr.
gressional critics, and rivals in
the Cabinet.
The South, on the seas as well
as on the land, compensated -for
numerical inferiority by daring
and ingenuity. Not only did the
Confederates continue building
ironclads, they also experiment
ed with mines (called tor
pedoes) made out of converted
beer kegs, and introduced the
world's first effective sub
marine. David Bushnell had launched
his one man submarine, the
Turtle, in the Revolution; later
Robert Fulton had experimented
with an underwater vessel. But
when Horace L. Hunley brought
his frail, cigar-shaped iron boil
er to Charleston on a flotsam in
the summer of 1863, no sub
marine had ever sunk a ship in
combat.
Htinloy's craft was ridiculous
ly primitive. It took eight men
laboriously operating hand
cranks to propel the submarine
at a speed of four miles an hour.
Volunteering for its crew was
courting death. After several
disastrous trials in which over
20 men, including the inventor,
perished, the submarine appro
priately named the Hunley was
ready to strike. Only a phos
phorescent glow marked the si
lent underwater passage of the
tiny vessel through the waters
of Charleston Harbor on the
moonlit night of Feb. 7. 1864. A
terrific explosion sent the Union
sloop Housatonic to the bottom,
and with her the Hunley and her
crew of nine. Submarine war
fare had proven feasible.
1X9 Coastal Havens
The imagination of such Con
federate inventors as Hunley
was matched by the courage of
the intrepid Rebel blockade run
ners. It took only two successful
trips to realize a profit above
the initial investment in
ship and cargo. A net return of
$150,000 each way was not un
common. Bermuda and Nassau
in the Bahamas, where cargoes
from Europe were transferred
to fleet blockade runners,
boomed.
Along the 3.500-mile Confed
eral coaslline there were some
189 harbors or inlets in which
the swift vessels could find a
haven. Tainted the color of a
Haltcras fog and burning smoke
less anthracite coal, the long,
low, converted sidewhecler could
lose herself against a wooded
shore line and wait for nightfall
to make the final dash for a
protective harbor. If cornered,
the captain of a blockade-runner
often ran his ship aground
rather than surrender. Thus at
least some of his valuable cargo
might be salvaged.
An estimated 8.000 round
trips were made by a fleet of
1.650 vessels; and 600,000 small
arms were brought into the Con
f?deracy through the blockade.
Raiders Cover Sea
Many blockade-runners also
served as commerce raiders,
with commissions giving them a
status one step above privateers.
These raiders carried the Civil
War far beyond the continental
United States. Their instruc
tions, one captain noted, were
"brief and to the point, leaving
much to the discretion, but more
to the torch." Dashing John N.
Maffit ran his raider Florida
from the Gulf of Mexico to New
York and back to the equator,
capturing 55 merchant ships
along the way.
The most famous Rebel com
merce destroyer, however, was
the English-built Alabama, com
manded with ruthless determi
nation by Raphael Semmes. On
June 11. 1864, the Alabama-
picked up by a hovering British
yacht. The famed raider sank
beneath the waves, graceful
even in death, according to an
awed observer.
Some of the Rebel seamen
who swam away from the Ala
bama later joined Captain
James Waddell on the 60,000
mile voyage of the raider Shen
andoah that was to add a bizarre
postscript to the entire Civil
War. In the late fall of 1864,
Waddell, an uncompromising
North Carolinian, took his trans
formed British ship through tha
South Atlantic, around Cap
Horn, to Australia, and the
South Pacific islands. His ob
jective was the fleet of Yankee
whaling vessels in the Bering
Sea.
24 Ships in a Week
The Shenandoah was anchor
ed in the Carolines in the Pa
cific on April 9, 1865, when
Lee surrendered to Grant at
Appomattox; but news of the
Rebel defeat was slow in reach
ing these far-off waters. By May
21, the rebel raider was off the
coast of Siberia, and three
weeks later it entered the Ber
ing Sea.
In a single week, the Shenan-
having destroyed 58 vessels val- doah took 24 whaling ships, its
uen at e,04Y,uuu during her
two-year career put into Cher
bourg, France, for repairs. When
the Federal sloop Kearsarge ap
peared three days later, Semmes
challenged her to a duel.
No Match for Yankees
With a holiday-mood crowd of
notables from Paris lining the
shore to witness the spectacle,
the two ships moving in con
centric circles began firing
at one another at 10:57 a m. on
the morning of June 19. Al
though the vessels were equally
classed as to size, speed, and
armament, the unpracticed gun
ners of the Alabama were no
match for Captain John A.
Winslow's well-drilled Yankees
aboard the Kearsarge. The raid- exclusively to the use for republic
commander oblivious to the
stunned protests of his victims
who tried to tell him the war
was over. Not until August 2,
after the Shenandoah had left
the Bering Sea and while Wad
dell was still contemplating a
raid on San Francisco, was the
reality of the war's end accepted
by the stubborn commander.
Even then, he insisted on taking
his ship back to Liverpool to
surrender to the British rather
than to the victorious Yankees.
Copyright, 1962,
American Heritage Magazine
er's victories had been over un
armed merchantmen, and her
crew had been denied practice
ammunition. Of 370 shots fired
by the Alabama, only 28 hit
the mark, and these did little
damage and wounded only three
men.
Shortly after noon, with 40
casualties on his sinking ship.
Semes hoisted the white flag,
dropped his sword into the sea,
and jumped overboard to be
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