BY BECK
Capital AJournal
An Independent Newspaper Established 1888
GEORGE PUTNAM, Editor and Publisher
ROBERT LETTS JONES, Auittant Publisher
Published every afternoon except Sunday at 444 Che-
meketa St., Salem. Phones: Business, Newsroom, Want
f Ads, 2-2406; Society Editor, 2-2409.
. Full Leased Wire Service of the Associated Press and
. The United Press. The Associated Press is exclusively
entitled to the use for publication of all news dispatches
credited to it or otherwise credited in this paper and also
news published therein.
4 Salem, Oregon, Tuesday, February 14, 1950
An. Invocation to Hysteria
A last-dog-in-the-manger gasp against the selected
Marion street site for the new state highway bridge lead
ing to West Salem by the advocates of a Division street
bridge seems apparent in the warning issued by Brig. Gen.
Ralph P. Cowgill, engineer for the state military depart
ment. He disapproves of the site because it is only one
block distant from the existing Center street span and
would make both bridges an easy target for enemy bomb
ers. Cowgill, who commanded the state (home) guard in
World War II. also said traffic would be honelessly con
gested in the Salem area if there were mass evacuation of unicc vpncc
-:. ..!,., - u..,. ..,,. 4i. ,.,,-., tv, ,,ni;nn aiijj-aiwjj
viviuaiio ji ucavj aiwijr mum iiiurciiicuvoi aiic dviuhvh)
he said, was to give up the proposed site on Marion street,
and construct the bridge on Division street. That would
allow a three-block separation of approaches in Salem, and
a circuitous, wide separation of approaches in Salem, he
said.
Actions You Regret
M( SCHL. LUNCHES FOR THREE Kwlar ' '-' 'i'JR
imb, weeks so i could buy ydiMsmimEWw,
'lilm "ER THAT EXPENSIVE
m m ravins about in tub J lA EJMWWmw&
5 m
WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND
Recall Instituted by Gamblers
On Officials Who Won't 'Play'
(Ed Note Drew Pearson's columns on how the national
gambling network is gripping; certain of our big cities have
aroused nation-wide comment. Here is- another column in the
series).
By DREW PEARSON
Washington Of all the great metropolitan sucker joints dotting
the U.S.A., none, perhaps, furnishes easier picking for the
gambling fraternity than southern California and the correspond
ing coast of the Eastern United States Florida. And no place
In Florida has become a more lush sporting ground for the un
derworld than
BY CARL ANDERSON
Henry
the strip of cas-f'"- "5jk'"
tint- 1 tl nc- n H , M "
called MlamiJ" ?
Beach. .m
There Joe Ad
onis, partner of
Frankie Costel-
lo, who in turn'
is a partner ofj
Bill Helis, thel
good friend of
President Tru
man's military
hi
Drew Pearion
Cupid Taking Beating on
Valentine's Day in Salem
ByCHRISKOWITZ, Jr.
Cupid took a beating on Valentine's day morning in Salem . . .
County clerk's office in courthouse was busily engaged recording
divorces, but no one had applied for a marriage license by noon
. . High school boy, walking with girl down country road on
way to school this a.m., said to girl, "You know, watching those
there rub
Of the Marion street site, Cowgill said :
"One conventional type aerial bomb would knock out both
bridges. Dropped between the bridges' approach in Salem, it
would destroy them. Dropped on the under-overpass connec
tion proposed in West Salem, it would render both bridges use
less." This is doubtful. There is no likelihood of Salem be
ing a target for the long range bombing from Russia. But same thing." To which girl re- day
it anDlies to anv site that miirht be selected for the bridcre. plied, "Go ahead, it's your cow." day off,
If there was any such enemy bombing, it would be by Cupid, where art thou?
atomic or hydrogen bombs, which are too costly to use ex- " '-(
cept on war targets, such as Bonneville, Grand Coulee, and wlnd we re nay-
uwici uvnci uoiiid, vu aiLiiiam ,hi.ivkoi DiuijaiuD aim . .
armament plants. Z J'flt
m ;i:... n a 4.1 : ought not tofc
iiime i uu juuBjiblve iui waauiug Liiem uii iiunur vivuiuu jjave any diffi-
eenters, and such superbombs would wreck all the clus- c u l y blowing
lerea Driages, simultaneously leaving oniy me inaepen- the candles off
dence bridge tor transportation use. his birthdav
The Marion street site has been approved by the army cake today. He's
engineers, as well as the army itself by the secretary of 91.
war, and they ought to know as much about it as an irriga-
tIaii arirrinaaw Urtisi notm Viasl fi-rr hof luftr rv nstfiTal nvnoii Wp'tP VlParrf
ence m war. of the fisherman
. who left his pole at home, the
Cowgill'a protest comes very late. He should have made Plfber who forgot his tools
ft before decision vas reached after public hearings and fZJTnr 8
due consideration of merits and demerits. But the mili- caught w,thout 8 pencl1-
tary aspects were considered thoroughly and we can't halt Now Joe Schuetz, the city
cows over mere ruD noses
prompts me to want to do the through their usual blue Mon-
Parking meters took a
too. Nevertheless, we
counted 49 coin-fed meters out
of 52 in one block . . . Woman
goes into drug store, puts nickel
in pay telephone, calls police
headquarters and asks if she'll
have to put nickel in parking
meter on legal holiday.
More hard luck for Don Up
john family. Don about ready
to leave hospital after five-week
stay when his wife falls and
breaks wrist . . . Quiz question
in another newspaper reads,
"Which one of these words is
misspelled? Embezzlement, cres
cent, pageant, fricassee." . . .
Now that's what we call a tough
question. In fact, if you can
9 I
LASU
would receive one-fifth of the
net income through legitimate
channels.
"He described these legiti
mate channels as fees for legal
work, purchases or sales of real
estate and other methods which
could be devised.
"He told me that the net in
come from the exclusive punch
board operation was estimated at
about $750,000 per year. He told
attache. General Vaughan, runs '"c ;T,?T w.oum
the roulette wheels of the famed "H "w - .i TBw ,
Colonial Inn. There also a coun- and hf stores, in hotel.
i .Wi ha hron known to and niSht 'lubs.
get a campaign contribution of "He said that in consideration h
$20,000 to elect him to an of- Ior my gaining tne benefit of
fice that pays only $7,500. And thls income of approximately
there also the swank hotels re- $200,000 a year, I would have
ceive up to $125,000 annually to consent to the maintenance of
merely for the lease of their a 'liberal policy' in the city of
bookmaking concession. f"a'Beacn- Ve told me that ,,,,( nun rtrnnurn
And todav in Miami Beach one the S syndicate, the most POOR MAN'S PHILOSOPHER
of the most interesting politi- Poweriui gambling group in the
cal moves in the U.S.A. fs taking "ly ' J0"!! " open and com-
place-a move by gamblers and ne"ce PU m years
others to remove a Miami Beach p '
city councilman, Melvin Rich- He said that I wouU be per-
ard, who favors enforcement of mitted to level vicious attacks
the law regarding gambling. at the S & G syndicate and up-'
Melvin Richard was elected to " f fambling 5entT at cou"-
the city council with the help " " '"""!'. V0"""1'
. i,in man Richard, "but that I was
to recall him, one Harry Pliss- ' the J?8"" WItlJ
ner. This is the most interest- hl-ma"a.ger OT the cmef of
ing phase of the picture. For Phce P"vately;
the Miami Beach lesson in bi-
zarre government would seem to Fae Gambling Raids
indicate that the gambling kings 1,1 would ride with the chief
looked ahead months in advance of Police and several police of-
Ltr AHPiaw ks-ii
World's Champion Muskrat
Skinners Says He's Quitting
By HAL BOYLE
Cambridge, Md. W) The world's champion muskrat skinner
was says he's going to quit trampling the marshes.
"Man, I've handled many a muskrat in my time, and I have
less now than I did when I started out 40 years ago," said Cur
tis Insley.
Insely, a tall,,
powerful man ofj
53, is to the fine
1 A
and planted their man alongside flcers ln a squad car on certain art of muskrat
the future councilman who later occasions and we would raid Winning what
would help to run the city. certain important gambling lo- Joe DiMaggio is
cations, ne assurec, me mese to Daseball. At
Gamblers Look Ahead
raids would be highly dramatic,
least he is along
Roses are red,
Violets are blue.
In twenty-nine days
Your taxes are due.
give us correct answer, well
necessities for dread supposition of war hysteria, of scary CP- comes up with a new form take you out to fricassee dinner.
Willies or we'll never get anywhere, for there is no de- o absent-mindedness. Joe, while . . . whatever happened to all
fense, we are told by scientists, against fhese superbombs "duty. yesterday, was seen those comic valentines that used
which are too lethal probably ever to be utilized wal "n down H,gh street mlnus to bri"g a, tlnt 01 red to 80
With regard to Gen. Cowgill's statement Tuesday, R. H. h,s badga- , , , many faces?. . .
Saldock, state highway engineer, said that a high officer
of the army air corps had advised him of the great diffi- Two factions were in force in
culty in hitting a bridge with aerial bombs and the rela- Salem yesterday those observ
tively few even damaged in the last war. in the Lincoln's-birthday holi-
"With reirard to handling of traffic, whether it be mili- dav. and those who "truggled
tary or civilian," Baldock said, "the bridge plan between
Salem and West Salem developed by the highway depart- OPEN FORUM
ment is far superior to that advocated by General Cowgill n i ni
and in addition will save the taxpayers of the state a ma- CoWoill Oil Sdlem BriOQ6 PI 0 IIS
terial sum of money." 3 3-
To the Editor: Representative citizens of Salem, Ore., having
re;.tl lU. asked whether as engineer for the Military department, State of
lOnSISTenriy iriCOnSISrenr JOnnSOn Oregon, I would approve the plan for a new bridge at Marion
How can Secretary of Defense Johnson be willing to go street as against a Division street location, I herewith submit my
along on a paper-thin draft proposal and at the same time testimony given to Mr. Barnett, chief urban branch, bureau of
encourage the setting up again of a World War II vintage public roads, at the state house 7 "
air-raid warning system? on February 9, 1950: ls Just to critlcal for me to aP"
Take the case of the draft law which expires in June. The pians as submitted seem PThave discussed this situation
Johnson has suggested his willingness to go along on a u, be complete and well done, with various military leaders
compromise "standby extension" of that law. This com- but in selecting Marion street 0f world Wars I and II and they
promise would amount to having the law on the books as the final choice for the loca- approve my stand,
but that's all. tion of the new bridge, the most So far as safety is concerned,
Johnson apparently chooses to overlook the time it would important factor, that of safety, it is more of a necessity now
take to put into actual operation a draft law that was only was entirely forgotten or by- than ever in our history. Oregon
on paper. Johnson overlooks the admission of his top Passed. is 0n the front line this time,
military command that, if war comes, it will come with a In case of local emergency, or In my Pnion. '-he bridges
swiftness that would leave no time for fumbling and de- national emergencies requiring should be separated even farther
lav. evacuation. mas rnnvnv anHnp than Division street.
Where would Johnson find time lo build military posts bombing attacks, the clover leaf
(barracks, mess halls, etc.) when his air warning system construction in West Salem and
was reporting on planes or missiles that were spotted lhe eo"eestlvc lraff'c in down-
and doing damage? town Salcm ln a one-block area
What would Johnson do about the thousands of reserv
ists and national guard personnel who would be called MacKENZIE'S COLUMN
immediately to active duty .' Present camps might be
it r,t. ,n hfr mi- and 'here would be glowing , h
vin Richard began running for , r ,7; J 7, , of Maryland's
office, Harry Plissner made him- Publ,c wou!d be satlsf'ed hf t famed eastern
self his political adviser and J was bendlnS ?very effort to snore
later his virtual campaign man- jjiumu.. K came as n0
ager. Councilman Richard, however, to him ,ast Saturday
We spent so much time to- , u , -7 . " when he won the national musk-
one minute, 50.4 seconds. As
usual one of his chief rivals was
George North, an older trapper.
To skin a muskrat you first go
on the marshes and catch one
with a steel trap.
gether that my wife once inquir-
rat skinning contest at the Cam-
The skinning can be done in
two ways. Insely is a lap skin
ner, who works seated with the
muskrat between his knees.
North is a foot skinner. He skins
with one knee on the floor snd
one foot on the muskrat's tail.
In either case incisions are
made at the base of the animal's
tail. He is then shucked inside
xi : .ji i i i i i
ed whether I was married to her ;!""8. ...7J--j a J .., bridge outdoor show against ,lt anri afri 1rnm hi.
or him," says Councilman Rich- "lat "e consiaerea nissner in- trappers bom Maine to Louisi- h -.-. .M v.- i,v.
miiiusi iiiuiiwiaiciv uic " '
An1 tko nnlu iUintl thair 0111
real'ly rowed about during the ca11 of Richard fs city coun
T,ho. oio.,, oilman was started. Plissner
to know where the campaign M v:n had the "erve to bragging.1
funds were coming from
file the first petition of 47 names
"I really never have been beat ih. trannPr'a finupr AnH th
fair," said Insley, "and that ain't .,, m,ls,t hp r.mnvj in mar
ketable condition. They go into
Plissner, however,
him off. Furthermore, Plissner
did not disclose his own checker
ed career, and Councilman Rich
ard did not know, among other
things, that Harry Plissner's rec
ord in Springfield, Mass., showed
that on Sept. 21, 1935, he was
twice fined $75 for promoting a
lottery, and that on June 10,
1936, the convictions were sus
tained. He also did not know that
after Springfield became uncom
more, where he was indicted on
Jan. 24, 1938 for operating a
brushed as'tm8 fr Richard's removal
To win the $250 first prize fUr coats.
Insley skinned five muskrats in Inlv doesn,t thlnk fIva
muskrats are enough to show
VALENTINE SENTIMENTS what the contestants really can
do.
iPf..U..i. Cf..i,... "I like to skin 25," he said.
riCTff VJU JUf I ICUf lrUWCI O, ;'That way you can get a hand
in u.
I can skin 1,000 in ten hours
and smoke a few cigarets
By VIRGINIA MacPHERSON doing it, too.'-
Hollywood, Feb. 14 (U.R) Today's the day for lacy Valentines
all stickied up with hearts and flowers. But you'd never know InsJey has been out to the
it from the cards the gals here pick. marshes, the brackish waste-
They're sending their sentments in slap-stick this year. And lands that vegetarian muskrats
... ... . r - .. -nrnip th. h(,ttr iove, since ne was is.
gamming aevice; wnn anotner
indictment on June 20, 1942. In
Women Favor Slap-Stick Stuff j
RALPH P. COWGILL
Brigadier General
Engineer, Military Dept.,
State of Oregon
"How about pitching a little In a single 74-day season he
moo cud we have fun, once trapped 2,900 muskrats, or
woo-woof." about 40 a day. He works on
A prize seller was this one: a share-alike basis with the own-
"I've never learned to cook er of tne marshland,
and sew and be my mother's "I should have had a piece of
joy, marsh myself," he said a little
"But I've sure learned some wistfully. He farms and does
other things oh boy, oh day labor out of trapping sea
boy, oh boy!" son. In his lifetime he has seen
. . . the pelts sell from forty cents
. , J. , . , lo $4.00 or more.
The ladies loved em. .Tve made as h .
Other cards gussied up with in a season," he said. "But
able to care for those officers and men, but what about
draftees ?
At the same time, however, Johnson thinks a nation-wide
air-attack warning system should be set up. This order
apparently doesn't seem inconsistent to him after his re
cent statement that the threat of war is less now than
previously.
When is Johnson going to talk straight out instead of
in confusion ?
Destroying Nature's Balance
Central Oregon ranchers are bitterly complaining of river- is being
the ravages of rabbits, rats, gophers, field mice and squir- swePl fay tne
rels caused by the destruction at their own request of scourge of hun
the coyotes by the wild life service by their new and most A' lcast.
pffppHvft nnisnn. knmvn no IflSfl ",;,. n,n..;i 16.000.000 peo-,
Because an occasional calf or lamb falls prey to the E'e rrcnpm"d11
coyote, the campaign of extermination has been most L "a , "c(,n.
cuciuvc in ucauuyuiB me uuiHiice oi nature, mere are cv to be feeling
no coyotes left, consequently no check upon the rodents, the pinch, and
which have multiplied enormously and are afflicting many some 2,700,000
times the damage that the coyote for whom they are the are said to be
principal food. facing starva-
Charles W. Trachsel of Redmond voices the l'fliw'hpr'a tion.
disgust in the Oretronian as follows: Spring, which
Dread Hand of Famine in
China Complicates Situation
By DeWITT MacKENZIE
UfPI PorciKn Affulrs Ana!yt
The dread hand of famine again has spun the wheel of for
tune in China and until it stops no man either nationalist or
communist can see what fate lias in store for that war-torn
country.
Communist-occupied East China, north of the mighty Yangtze
DaWitt Mickenill
through the centuries. People
have died in untold millions.
Now with her population of 500,
000,000 more than a fifth of
all the people in the world
there are host of folk who, quite
apart from famine, always are
hungry. There just isn't enough
food for all, and that's a con
dition which exists in most parts
of the Far East.
So China now is very weak
as this new plague of hunger
We turned salesgirl behind a
both cases he managed to escape counter in the Valentine section
a guilty verdict, though mean- of a department store to una
while he conducted three pin- out who gets more dewey-eyed
ball machine setups near Ft. come February 14 men or
Meade, Md., during the heyday women.
of the war years. The gents win. To a man
fortable Plissner moved to Balti- they fell like a ton of candy
hearts for the gooey romantical
"Open City" for Gamblers concoctions and let the price
All this, Councilman Richard tags fall where they may.
did not know. But he did be-
come suspicious when, immedi- But the ladies haw! In the
a,aU, ... .iwiAn T3i;fcnn first rtlao. thev're cheanskates.
wanted to appoint a' friend as More than 300 women trotted fa" dancers, pink silk bloom- I'll be lucky if I clear $50 this
manager of the Bayshore Golf in lor Valentines in the morning ers, whistles, balloons and year.','
course where a bookmaking op- and not a one of 'em splurged strip-tease queens kept the cash Good pelts now fetch about
eration had been conducted more than 15 cents. registers tinkling like it was $1.25. And the skinned musk-
After the campaign also Pliss- The best sellers read: "To my bargain day in the basement. rat carcass sells for 40 to 50
ner changed his tune about law husband on Valentine's day" But the men flocked around cents. They are listed on the
enforcement. at a dime a throw. the old-fashioned valentines, menus hereabouts as "marsh
"He told me," says Council- They weren't sugared up with The ones with perfumed sachets, rabbits."
man Richard, "that this strict gooey sentiment either. No lacy borders, and big, red quilted "Man, they're good eating,"
enforcement policy, which I had lacy love-making for these gals, hearts. A regular super-duper, exclaimed Insley, "good as blaclf
espoused during my campaign, Tney swooped down on the put out by Hallmark for $5, duck. You can fry 'em, or pot
made excellent campaign ma- humorous section and elbowed went so fast we were sold out 'em just like chicken."
terial, but that if I would give each other for the corniest cards by noon. - Steady trapping and an in
it some thought, I would realize on the rack. , One gentleman ordered three crease of preying natural ene-
that it was ridiculous to carry Little ditties that went: "To My Sweetheart" cards at mies owls and racoons have
i wisn 1 wuz a cop so l couia M eacn. nna anotner guy was tui oown tne muskrat popuia-
up and jug ya, real put out because we didn't tion.
"Then throw away the keys have any that read; "To My "So far I've only taken about
and hug and hug and hug Second Wife." 100," said Insley wryly. "I think
ya." The store buyer, who ordered I'll stop 'ratting after this year.
Or: up 12,000 special cards for the ' Man, it is pretty hard to trample
"I hain't th' same no time, 3950 season, said they'd prob- the marshes all day long."
no place, ably bring in around $35,000 His neighbors take this de-
"Since love has kicked me In before tomorrow night. claration with a grain of salt,
the face." (Decorated with But if they had to depend, on however. They feel sure Insley
a mule). the ladies for profit, he added, will be out there trampling as
And: (Decorated with a love- it wouldn't even be worth the long as there is a muskrat still
bother. unskinned
Isn't so far descends on her.
'IC.H...1 j i ...... away, is exuetieu iu viing wui- ii is a t-iittiacicnsiiu oi many
several hundred rabbits working on a stack of alfalfa hnv , T,., , . , , . . .
can do a lot of damage, especially since the stack is at lcas 'e"in nd tions ,h,ls arca- n4ntal Peoples that they blame
five tons lighter because of rodent activity last summer on Snollld t,1e famine develop into the government when disaster
the growing alfalfa. Without the normal control provided by a maJr disster, as so often has overtakes them, even though it
coyotes our present supply of rabbits can, and very likely will, happened in the past, it could be an act of nature. The Chinese
present a very serious economic problem. This problem also have far-reaching effects on the are that way, and the advent of
involves kangatoo rats, field mice, gophers and several squirrel status of the communist offen- famine, on top of all their other
species, all of which are pronouncedly on the increase. Forage sive in the Far East, for China troubles, could easily cause an
eaten by any of these rodents will not provide beefsteak, is essential to Red success. adverse reaction to the Red re
lambs chops or woolen mittens." Sniall wondcr that the Chinese gime.
The same complaint always follows the poison destruc- communists-, who now dominate Apropos of this it is interest-
tion of so-called predatory animals, including the puma most of chlna' are straininK in note that the Chinese new
or mountain lion that keeps the deer healthy by destroy- every n"ve ,0 ,reaeb uthe rice ZT beglns on February 17.
ing occasionally the weak or crippled and insures' the "ops of Burma lndo-Ch.na and That ordinarily s a time of great
survival of the fittest-, any oldhunter will admit, of Enh,t " Ztn&Xl
black bear, the few remaining timber wolves as well as the E"ce kernels are more M T Jondhionilren't
coyote, thus destroying- not only is one of the chief wild than bullets these davs. good during this period, which
life attractions but the balance nature established to regu- China has been afflicted with lasts about a fortnight, then that
late life in the Wild. innumbl (Usafta-oua famine is a bad omen
out such a program. He told
me that with the money and
power behind gambling interests,
even if I were able to prevent
them from operating, which he
doubted, the best I could get out
of it would be my removal from
office by recall.
"He told me I had to be prac
tical and meet this problem sen
sibly, that if I refused, I would
find mvself worse off than Drinr
to my election, and that if I went sick cow)
along I would find myself an
important political figure."
Councilman Richard, however,
refused to go along; and there
was a temporary break with his
former campaign manager. Fi
nally Plissner came back, this
time with a proposition that they
open the city to punchboards.
$750,000 for Punchboards
"He told me," says Richards,
"that he had engineered a deal
whereby the exclusive operation
of punchboards would be given
to four men. He emphasized
that he would be one of the
four. He told me that I need
not become involved in any fash
ion, that I would never have to
discuss the matter with anyone
else, that I would not have to
sign any papers, and that I
REVIVAL
at
FREE METHODIST CHURCH
North Winter and Market
Feb. 14-26, 7:30 P.M.
Evangelist, Rev. W. S. KENDALL
JOHN N. WALKER, Patter Ph. 37746
a