MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD, ORE.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 28, 1860
"Everyone ln Southern Oregon
Published Dally except Saturday br
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ROBERT W RUHLs Edlter
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ERIC W ALLEN JR . MnK Editor
EARL H ADAMS. City Editor
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RICHARD JEWETT Sports Editor
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March 3. 1897
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EDITORIAl
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AS(sbcaTiojr
Flight o' Time
Wredtord a"d Jackson County
History tro.n the tiles ot The
Mail Tribun. 10. 20, 30, 0
and 50 vean 0-
10 YEARS AGO
Aug. 28, 1950 (Monday)
Omar Pinson, 32, one of the
nation's 10 most wanted crim
inals, and a 1949 escapee from
the Oregon State prison, was
captured today in Pierre, S.D.
An Ashland man was fatal
ly injured yesterday when he
fell inlo a sawdust burner at
the While Cily Lumber com
pany. 20 YEARS AGO
Aug. 28, 1940 (Wdnday)
Dick Hancn, 19-year-old
golf star from Marshfield, ar
rived in Medford yesterday
for the Southern Oregon
Northern California Golf
championships.
From Arthur Perry' "Y
Smudge Pot" column: "The
usual shortage of water, and
surplus of wind for this time
of year now prevails here."
30 YEARS AGO
Aug. 28, 1930 (Friday)
Ford Potter of Sams Valley
has found a bee-tree that
yielded 150 pounds of honey.
A large crowd from all parts
of the valley attended the ded
ication vesterday of the new
Grange hall at Central Point.
40 YEARS AGO
Aug. 28. 1920 (Sunday)
A local autoist has been
fined in justice court for fail
ure to dim lights and an ap
peal to the circuit court will
be made, he said.
Medford Bartletts average
$5.74 per box in Chicago.
50 YEARS AGO
Aug. 28, 1910 (Sunday)
The District Attorney ha
asked the county clerk to of
fer a $500 reward for informa
tion leading to the arrest and
conviction of the persons who
started the forest fires which
burned in the county all last
week.
The Crater Lake highway
committee reports that it has
collected $30,000 from per
sons in both Medford and
Portland for construction of
the proposed highway.
What's Your I.Q.7
Hici tea correct it superior;
srre w eisWt ii excellent; fir i
six is QOOO-
1. The number of points on
the antlers of a deer is. or is
not. a reliable indication of
b:s age'
2. T h e V. S. Constitution
was signed in New York,
Philadelphia, or Washington,
DC
3. The part of a sentence
which makes an assertion
about the subject ii called
what?
4 What u the international
rd)0 distress regnal for shipi"
5. An author f narrative of
ha own hie u called an ?
6. Name the three great di-
vij.or.s of the Fedetal Gov
ernment wt up by the Consti
tution of the U.5.
7. Who succeeded General
George C. Marshall as Chief
of Staff?
8. D.A.V. is the abbreviated
name of which veteran's orga
nization? 9. Would you find penguins
ln the Arctic?
10. On what day of the
week did the Japanese sneak
attack occur at Pearl Harbor?
Answers: 1. Is not. 2. Phila
delphia. 3. Predicate. 4. S.O.S.
i. Autobiography. E. Legisla
tive. Executive and Judicial.
7. General Dwight D. Eisen
hower. 8. Disabled American
Veterans. 9. No. South Pol.
10, Sunday.
""TrfjZNfWS PA P H
jJp'ASSOCIATION
The "Gentleman"
A newspaper reporter in Los Angeles re
cently was given an assignment to do a bit of
researching on a former Congressman from there.
Here are some of the facts he found :
Tho nrio-i-psjrnari started in nublie life when
a certain group of important Los Angeles busi
nessmen, anxious to beat Congressman Jerry
Voorhis for re-election, put a want ad in the L.A.
Times, asking for candidates.
The congressman in question, then out of a
job, answered the "ad" and in reply to the first
question as to whether or not he was a good Re
publican, said:
"I guess I am. I voted for Governor Dewey at the
laat election."
That proved to be a good start, for the group
"in search of a candidate" were very strong Re
publicans, and very anxious to unseat Mr. Voor-
Press Gallery members
west of the Mississippi
not agree with the newspaper boys who they
regarded as little better than communists at heart
themselves.
MOREOVER there was no doubt in their minds
about Mr. Voorhis being a communist. He
had voted for foreign aid, no tax cuts and a re
ciprocal tariff! 1
Meanwhile, they liked this young applicant.
He was personable, handsome and fluent. Also
he was a war veteran, having served in the Navy.
. But the young man, when accepted, protested
he had no money.
"You won't need any," the head of the group
answered, "we will supply that. You go out and
get this fellow traveller, and give us a good Re
publican record in Washington and you needn t
worry about money."
CO THE young man went out, guided so the
record goes by an extremely shrewd and
resourceful public relations man and lawyer
whose name was Murray Chotiner, and was very
highly regarded as a slick one, particularly in
Hollywood movie circles.
The thing to do, it was decided, was to follow
the Joe McCarthy line. That is, not definitely
call Congressman Voorhis a communist there,
might be a "comeback" to that but stress the
fact that a vote for the Republican candidate
meant a vote AGAINST communism the rather
obvious implication being that a vote for Voorhis
would be a vote FOR. ' : ,
This was done over and over and over again.
Not only that but in the district "concerned
there were repeated phone calls, all like this :
"Hello, 1 am a friend of yours, but can't identify
myself. 1 just wanted you to know this; man Voorhis ii
a communist." .
Then they would hang up and make another
call.
MEEDLESS to nay it worked !
It worked so well that when the "personable
young man" decided to run for the senate, the
same Chotiner and the same technique were used
against Mrs. Helen Gahagan Douglas.
They did not come out in the open, of course,
and charge Mrs. Douglas with being a commu
nist. Nothing as crude and courageous as that.
They harped over and over again on the fact
that her voting record, in many ways, was the
same as the voting record of Congressman Vito
Marcantonio, who often was identified as a communist-liner.
And then came the same anonymous
phone calls, always from a woman to a woman,
the call always to this effect:
. "She could testify she had been at Communist party
meetings at Mrs. Douglas' home and her husband, the
well-known actor, Melvyn Douglas, carried a Commu
nist party card."
"THIS "woman" was never identified. But again
that when the congressman went to the Senate
he was again assured bv the same or a similar
group of Los Angeles "businessmen," that
he need not worry as far as money was con
cerned, they would help him out.
And they did to the tune of $18,000 cash
which the reporter in question termed a "slush
fund," but which the recipient piously proclaimed
to be only a free will offering to reduce the tax
burden of his constituents.
jTTHIS wasn't the only "free will offering" to the
gentleman from California, however.
The same reporter discovered that a certain
notorious operator, known as Henry (The Dutch
man) Grunewald, had "accepted" a check from
former Senator Brewster of Maine for $10,000,
and Grunewald then proceeded to give half of
it to the "personable young man," not to help out
the long suffering tax payers this time, but to help
pay his "campaign expenses
If this was on the up -and -up, why didn't
; Senator Brewster make his contribution direct as
! chairman of the G.O.P. campaign committee,
instead of via a somewhat unsavory Go-Between?
"THAT query ha? never been answered. How
, ever, the "deal" retired Brewster under a
cloud to private life where he is today, but never,
j as far as revealed, left so much as a fleck of dust
on the lily-white moral record of the "Gentleman
from California."
What was his name? Well, of course, anyone
who has read this far must have already guessed
it of course, none other than Richard Milhous
Nixon Vice President of the United States,
and who, according to all the political wisemen in
Wocriinrrtnn nrm' D 1 'ch rr-in ' in K
(Reprinted from tha Mail
From California
as "the best congressman
river." But they did
Tribunt of Dec. 24, 1857.)
Dennis the
'AlOM, WHERE DID YA
Communications
Letters to tha Editor must baar the nam and address of tha
wrilar, although under certain circumstances tha uia of a pan
nam or initial for publication is permissible. The Mail
Tribune reserves lh right to edit all letters with a view
to clarification and condensation. Letters submitted for pub
lication must not exceed 400 words. Th letters printed in
this column do not necessarily represent tha views of tha
paper: in fact the conlrary is often th case.
Boundary Decision
To the Editor: I am one of
the people who cannot under
stand how four men on a boun
dary board can vote Medford
citizens out of the Medford
school district, when these
people who are affected were
100 per cent in favor of the
Medford district.
This is the kind of justice
you would expect to find in
either Russia or Cuba. It is
hard to understand why Med
ford should send some of their
children to Phoenix and Tal-'
ent, when Phoenix voted
against sending their children
to Medford.
Another thing, it was point
ed out to me that the reorgani
zation committee was set up
to improve conditions for the
children. Is it an improve
ment to send them to a small
er district, arid to haul them
a good many miles when they
have a school almost at their
doorstep?
I wonder how this boundary
board would have voted, had
their own children's education
been at stake.
Arthur H. Boye
Route 1. Box 193
Gold Hill, Ore.
They Like Olive and Bob
To the Editor: Girl Scout
Day Camp is over for one
more year but as publicity ,
chairman I would like to ex
press the gratitude of every
one connected with Scouting
for the wonderful coverage of
the Little Switzerland Day
Camp.
Olive Starcher and Bob
Vroman. after attending an
event at the Country Club in
the morning, came the long
way, up-up up to our primitive
camp and then back. While we
realize this is part of their:
job. they were so genuinely !
interested in everything these
girls were doing and asked
many questions not concern
ing the immediate job of pic
ture taking, we were all a
little prouder of our different
units.
So we want the Mail Trib
une's many readers to know
and appreciate these two as'
we do.
Mrs. W. W. Brawn
Publicity Chairman
Little Switzerland Day
Camp
Medford.
Thank You
To the Editor: I would like
to give our sincere thanks to
Miss Laurene Espey for the
wonderful job she has done
with the children this summer
She has taken five full days
a week, plus many hours at
home, to help the summer
pass quickly and yet happily,
for the smaller children in
our neighborhood.
Onre again I wish to say
"thank you" Laurene. and we
hope to see you again next;
year.
Geneva Bit'.le y
!)27 Dakota ave.
Medford.
Com Again, Brother j
To the Editor: Some birds,
with feathers flock together.
Welcome. Brother Helphel
from Gold Hill. It's nice to be
an amateur preacher. There
are many that have no church
-only the Medford Mail Trib
une. What a friend we have in
the editor. He is not a respect
er of persons. So. brother, you
left your scat and got your
name on the wrong page.
You must know your v. ay
around in the Bible. There is
a place it tells about condemn
ing those that are more right
eous than ourselves. I wonder
if the devil has anything to do
with th vint. I am not
Menace
HIDE THE WAWUTff?
tongue-tied. I know that two
times two equals four. You
can't find that in the Bible.
Come again, brother.
Marshall H. Waggoner
P. O. Box 753
Central Point, Ore.
Prophecy
To the Editor: We recently
heard a warning over the ra
dio from an economic com
mentator, of Washington, D.C.
who made the remark that
the present unstable trend of
price advances would con
tinue to skyrocket for the
next 20 years. So, that ad
monition given by a high of
ficial a few months or so
ago, to "all citizens to get
ready, to tighten up their
belts, is not far amiss.
Some months before the
fatal year of 1929 we listened
to a well known official of
the- automobile union make
the assertion in a public ad
dress that the time would
approach in America when
cars would litterally be sold
to buy bread by the needy.
Weli that statement was not
far from correct in 1932.
The pendulum on the clock
of time swings both ways,
that is, one extreme follows
another regardless of set
rules.
Michel Nostradamus was a
prophet who saw the rough
time 1555 to 1999, and so far
he has foretold the creative
age of things to be accurate
ly. Nostradamus was not a
religious heretic.
Bert Kissinger
520 Boardman st.
Medford.
God and Satan
To the Editor: In reply to
Mr. Reando'a latest effort: I
find it very difficult to un
derstand a man saying there
is a God, and then saying
that God doesn't know what
he is talking about.
I don't know who Mr.
Reando's God is. but mine
is ' the author of the Holy
Bible as well as the creation.
He tells us himself of Satan's
existence, as does his beloved
son Jesus.
Now He didn't say it was
just an evil force in our own
minds working. He tells us
who he is, where he came
from, what he it doing, and
what is going to happen to
him, as Mrs. Wyatt pointed
out.
It's true there are hundreds
of religions (another thing
prophesied in the Scriptures),
and it separated the men
from the boys when you learn
to quit taking for granted
everything some preacher
tells you. and start saying
"prove it." If it can be prov
en from the Bible, I believe
it, if not, I discard it.
But. Mr. Reando, Satan Is
spoken of from Genesis to
Revelation, and you are go
ing to have to discard the
whole Bible, if you discard
Satan.
I suggest you study Romans
3.34 which says, in effect.
' Let God Be True, though
every man be found a liar,"
and also I think James 2:19
applies. It reads "So you be
lieve there is one God, do
you? You do well, and yet
"the demons believe and trem
ble." 1 think if Mr. Reando be
lieves in God he should back
up His Holy Word of Truth,
not knock it down, and if he
doesn't do this he is serving
the God of this old world,"
S:an.
Mrs- Barbara Mus
Trail, Or.
Matter of Fact y jo.Ph aioP
THE JOHNSON EFFECT
Washington - In politics,
what does not happen is more
often meaningful than what
does happen,
but it gets re
ported very
much more
rarely.
This re
minder is in
order, because
of the contrast
between what
has been hap
p e n i n g in
Washington and what has not
been happening in the South.
It is a fair bet that the unpro
ductive special session now
grinding to its close has had
almost no influence at all on
the political prospects of ei-1
ther party. But it is clear that
both parties prospects have
been strongly influenced by
what has not been happening
in the South.
What has not been happen
ing is the Southern explosion
which would certainly have
occurred if second place on
the Democratic ticket had not
been offered to and accepted
by Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson
of Texas.
FEW major political events
have produced practical ef
fects which were so widely
misinterpreted or misunder
stood. On the one hand, de
spite contrary claims, John
son's Vice Presidential nomi
nation has not conciliated the
rank and file of Southern vot
ers. They are still angry as
hornets about the Democratic
platform. And Johnson's nom
ination has not enraged the
Northern Negro voters. They
are mainly preoccupied by the
shortage of job opportunities.
On the other hand, howev
er, the Johnson nomination
was quite directly responsible
for an obscure but significant
process which reached a kind
of climax two days ago, with
the announcement by Gov. Er
nest Vandiver of Georgia that
he intends to support his par
ty's nominees this year.
Because of Lyndon Johnson,
in fact, almost all the officers
of the Southern Democratic
army have relunctantly, un
happily but decisively, fallen
into line. The process began
in Louisiana, where the Demo
cratic State Committee decid
ed, after hot debate, not to
enter independent, unpledged
electors this year.
GOV. Vandiver's announce
ment almost certainly
means that Georgia will reach
the same decision as Louisi
ana, in a state-wide referen
dum on independent versus
Democratic electors which
will soon be held. The strong
est man in Georgia, Sen. Her
man Talmadge, has not yet
taken a stand; but the Gover
nor would not have done what
he did without the Senator's
approval. After Georgia's de
cision, the independent elector
movement will be effectively
dead in the deep Southern
states.
Without Lyndon Johnson,
all these states would have
entered independent electors.
But with the officers of the
Democratic army in line in
these states, the anger of the
troops is unlikely to be effec
tively expressed. Thus the
probability is strong that the
Johnson nomination has given
the Democrats an initial gain
of the 57 electoral votes of
South Carolina, Georgia, Ala
bama, Louisiana, Mississippi,
and Arkansas.
In the rest of the Southern
states, with the probable ex-
Why That
By ERIC SEVAREID
Vice President Nixon is one
of the shrewdest politicians I
have known. But there is a
f3T(ff-3 difference be
tween snrewa
ness and wis
dom, and my
horseback im
pression -subject
to change
-is that Nix-
iK on is most un
Mm M 1 wise , the
" as nprcnnal t v
stvireid appeal" he
was sketching out for himself
as the campaign began and
prior to the first poll results.
Reporters in his entourage
agree that he deliberately
chose the underdog role. In
other words, he initially took
the defensive position. He has
gone further. Sen. Kennedy
has used harsh words about
Nixon's principles, so Nixon
intends to campaign in a
more lofty manner, avoiding
"personalities."
Kennedy is tough, so Nixon
intends to give the impression
of a "nice guy." Kennedy was
born rich, so Nixon will em
phasize his own grocery store
childhood, when he made
hamburgers that were cheap
but honest. In other words,
Nixon is cutting his cloth to
Kennedy's measure.
This is extraordinary stra
tegy for a man who for eight
years has held with distinc
tion the second highest posi
tion in the land, who has been
intimately identified with the
very source-spring of power,
involved in th most conse
ception of Florida, the effect I
of the Johnson nomination has I
been to give the Democratic
national ticket a serious:
chance to win, though a
chance that varies from state
to state. And this is important,
too, because the "Democratic
platform, plus the religious is
sue, had previously left the
Democrats with almost no
chance at all in Texas, Vir
ginia, and North Carolina, and
with a pretty poor chance in
the border states.
In these other states, as in
the deep South, the nomina
tion of Johnson has made a
difference primarily because
of Its effect on the officers of I
.
the party army. In Texas!
alone rank and f ile Demo-
crats have also been effected
TAKING these states in the
apparent order of Demo
cratic weakness, Florida s ten
electoral votes seem pretty
sure to go to the Republicans
since the ultra-conservative C.
Farris Bryant became Governor-designate.
Virginia looks
hopeful for the Republicans,
too, but may go Democratic if
the Byrd dynasty lend their
party a hand.
Sen. Harry F. Byrd seems
most likely to remain silent,
but Harry F. Byrd Jr. may
give the Democratic cause im
portant support, partly be
cause he is thinking about
running for Governor next
year. Even in Virginia, there
fore, the Democrats cannot be
absolutely counted out. Mean
while, Texas, North Carolina,
Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ok
lahoma are all up for grabs.
In summary, the second ef
fect of the Johnson nomina
tion has been to give the Dem
ocrats a fair shot at the 38
electoral votes of Texas and
North Carolina; to improve
the Democrats' hopes for the
29 electoral votes of Tennes
see, Kentucky, and Oklahoma;
and to make it possible,
though unlikely, that the Dem
ocrats will pick up Virginia's
12 electoral votes.
Because of the platform and
the religious issue, to be sure,
the Democrats may yet take a
bad licking in the South. But
what may be called the John
son effect remains highly sig
nificant. (c) 1960 New York Herald
Tribun Inc.
Try and Stop Me
-By BENNETT CERT
ROBERT FONTAINE, successful author himself, has pre
pared a manual that will enable fellow scriveners to
answer repetitious questions automatically. Examples:
Q. Do you have trouble
thinking up new plots?
.A. Not at all. I've used
the same one over and
over again for years.
Q. My wife and all my
relatives think my stories
are great, but I can't sell
any. What should I do?
A. Try to slip your wife
and other relatives into
the magazine editors'
chairs.
Q. When writing a
story, should one keep
one's mind on an imagin
ary reader? A. No. Keep it on an imaginary chech.
Senator Carter Glass, who believe that "confidential" really
meant 'confidential," had a habit of mumbling tidbits to his col
league out of a comer of his mouth. President Woodrow Wilson,
recalls Senator John Parker, once chuckled, "Glaaa is the only
fellow I ever met who can whisper into his own ear!"
C HM. by Bennett Crf. Distributed by .ant Teature SyndlcaU
Underdog
quential national decisions, a
man who has done hand-to-hand
combat with the world's
most formidable leaders.
To adopt this strategy is to
conform to Kennedy's stra
tegy. It is to allow oneself to
be upstaged. It is to betray
uncertainty about one's own
meaning and public identity.
If persisted in. it will surely
play straight into Kennedy's
hands by reversing what
should be the natural roles of
the two men-just as Kennedy
intends to reverse them.
For it is Kennedy who is
creating the image of su
preme personal and political
confidence, that is to say, of
STRENGTH-whether he tru
ly has it or not.
Strength is the key to this
election. Millions of Amer
icans vaguely felt that Adlai
Stevenson was not strong
enough: millions now feel
that Mr. Eisenhower is not
strong enough. What the coun
try yearns to see in the White
House is Power; "likeability"
is not enough in this Amer
ican mood.
Beyond imp ressions of
strength or weakness, sad as
the thought may be, people
will not discriminate very
much. They will not vote for
an underdog out of sympathy;
the "soft sell'' will not deliver
the goods.
Nor will Nixon accomplish
much by humbly asking his
audiences to "study the is
sues, then vote for principles,
not for a man or a party."
There is not that much differ
nce, ia policy and princi
1P0TLUCK
(By M-T Staff and Contributors)
Everv once in a while (and
oftener than you might think),
after the paper first comes out
in the afternoon, and each staff
member has grabbed a copy,
and is scanning it to see if
everything came out OK, or
if there are any major blun
ders, or to read the work of
f e 1 1 o w-craftsmen, someone
walks into the office and says
(loudly):
"Is that all you guys have
to do-read your own paper.
" thif, h,a,PPens ,on 'Jf'
when all 11 regular staffers
, ...i, ,.,u,n hands
j clencn tiEntly in an effort to
! avoid strangling the jaunty
' jokester.
Actually, th nwspapr
staff works hard. Thy'r
ither at their desks Cpound
ing out a story or column,
or writing headlines, or
telephoning, or researching
a story), or els thy'r out
gathering the news.
If they're in, our jokester
friend comments:
"Wassamatter, don't you
ever get out where the news
is happening?"
And, of course, if they're
out covering a beat or a news
story, he has a different com
ment: "Wassamatter, doesn't that
guy ever come to the office?"
Covering all tha many
bases a newspaper staff has
to covr can b a bit com
plicated at times. Take last
week, for instance.
The church editor (who also
is part-time assistant society
editor, part-time assistant city
editor, does the society pic
torial layout, and is once-a-week
city hall reporter and
once-a-week courthouse re
porter) was on vacation.
So was the sports editor.
The wire editor, who han
dles all the United Press Inter
national copy and many of
the features, was at home in
a sick bed.
The regular city hall report
er was handling the sports
desk, and the regular regional
editor was on the wire desk;
one of our two summer vaca-
'Image' for Nixon
ples, between the two parties
or the two men.
In any case, it is an aston
ishing and revealing phenom
enon that a man in the spot
light of eminence for eight
long years should even be
thinking about manufacturing
an "image" of himself.
To a man who knows what
he is. what he wants and what
he can do, such thoughts do
not occur. He is carried past
them by the passion of his
ambitions and convictions.
Harry Truman was not at all
shrewd in 1948; he was mere
ly convinced, simple and, in
his stumbling way, passionate.
So he won.
Many of us detest what one
reader calls the "fraudulent
farrago of the calculated ef
fect," though I suppose we
must live with it. Kennedy's
self-portrait may be quite as
mechanically assembled as
Nixon's, but surely it better
suits the seasonal taste of
those millions in the gallery
who don't know anything
about art but know what they
like.
They are tired of watercol
ors in genteel pastels; "nice
guys" among the political
painters are apt to finish last.
Bold strokes in bright oils are
what is wanted, to make the
immense canvas of American
existence come to life again.
Nixon, who was not intimi
dated by Khrushchev, gives
the curiofs impression of bee
ing intimidated by the junior
Senator. Perhaps there exist
deep-laid psychological reas
ons for this. H has just b-
tion reporters was plugging
the gap on the regional desk.
and the other was working on
church materials and rushing
nere ana mere trying to cover
the other bare bases.
Then came Wednesday. ;
The society editor has a
day off occasionally, and this
was it.. Vacation-relief report'-
er wo. l also had a dav off
The regular court house re
porter (wno is also the farm
editor), was off to the boon
docks with the county parki
and recreation commission
and county court, inspecting
Howard Prairie and Hyatt
lakes. And our photographer,
who works on a schedule thai
no one but him has figured
out yet (and we're not entire
ly sure about him, all the
time) was out somewhere,
most of the day, taking pic
tures. This left the city editor,
the potluck editor, the region-al-editor-acting-as-wire-editor,
the city hall reporter-acting-as-sports-editor,
and vacation
relief reporter No. 2.
The potluck editor is a
dead loss, most of the time,
when it comes to day-by-day
newsroom operations.
But he did wander in after
lunch Wednesday, to find th
city editor and reporter-sports
editor had gone to lunch and
the regional-wire editor in th
back shop making up Page 1.
there sat vacation-relief re
porter No. 2, in solitary splen
dor. He looked up and said,
"Who would you like to see?
I'm it."
Speaking of vacation re
porter No. 2, h handed ui
a clipping th other day,
which explained that re
porters come in three vari
tits. It listad them as fol
lows: 1. The tall, dashing, rather
good-looking youngster who
can t spell.
2. The middle-aged, balding
beat man who can't spell.
3. The wizened elder-statesman
type who can't spell and
who carries it off with that
certain bravado that comes
only after generations of re
write. H declined, on grounds
of modesty, to identify
which classi f i c a 1 i o n h
comes under, when asked.
But he's neither middle
aged nor wiiened. And h
promised to bona up on hii
spelling this year.
Spelling, as such, is a fas
cinating art in itself, by the
way.
For example, we know a
proofreader who is absolutely
infallible when it comes to
spotting errors in such words
as, say, antidisestablishment
arianism, or floccinaucinihili
pilification, or even such rel
atively simple ones as ophtha
mologist. Where he falls down (if and
when he does) is on common,
everyday words.
Which just goes to prove,
probably, that the unusual is
what gets our attention. And
that's true of news, too.
We haven't heard from
That Man in Phoenix for a
long tim now. Surely
we've had our quota of er
rors. Can't w depend on
ANYBODY any mor?
gun, after all, his first real
slugging match; politically, ha
was spoiled early In life.
As he once said himself,
"Political positions came to
me because I happened to be
in the right place at the right
time."-Perhaps eight years of
self-discipline too deeply in
grained the emotional reflexes
of the understudy, the second
man.
I don't know. I do recall a
private session around a lunch
table some years ago, in the
rooms of the Secretary of the
Senate. At the end sat Gov.
Dewey: at the other end sat
Richard Nixon. Dewey was
advising Nixon about his
forthcoming trip to the Ori
ent, from whence Dewey had
just returned. He described
how Asiatic reporters and
photographers had besieged
him everywhere, as an illus
tration of the world's intense
concern with America.
"And." said Dewey, "I was
only a state governor and titu
lar head of a party. But you,"
he said, dramatically stabbing
his finger, toward Nixon,
"you are VICE PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES!"
His tone was that of ona
man desperately trying to
make another man under
stand himself-to KNOW in
his bones, viscera and nerve
ends who and what he is.
On the basis of the Vic
President's current behavior,
I cannot help wondering i(
Dewey made his point.
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