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Flight o' Time
Medford and Jackson County
History from the flits of The;
Mail Tribune 10, 20, 30, 40
and 50 years ago.
10 YEARS AGO
July IS. 1952 (Friday)
Dirt slide near Savage Bap-
ids dam covered the railroad
tracks and delayed a south'
hound train from Portland lor
about 4V4 hours.
Reward for information
IciHinng to the apprehension
of Medford man wanted for
murder, offered bv local busl'
nessmen; $250 collected.
?n YEARS AGO
Jt'lv 18, 1947. (Saturday)
Franks Roelandt. Jack
Brown Bnd Bobby Churchill,
who played with the Medford
Craters In 1941, are named to
f'e slate all-star semi-professional
baseball team; all play
fo- the Portland Firemen.
From Arthur Perry's "Ye
Smudge Pot" column: "Ray
mond Fish of Phoenix has a
beautiful tan on the top of his
head that is the envy of the
fair sex who wish it was on
their forearms."
?0 YEARS AGO
Julv 18, 1932 (Monday)
The first forest fire of the
season is prevented when the
state police discover by acci
dent a crude, home made lire
bomb near Ashland.
The theater interests of
George A. Hunt, Grants Pass
and Roseburg promoter, are
consolidated with those of
Walter Leverett, who owns
theaters in Medford, Grants
Pass and northern California
40 YEARS AGO
Julv 18, 1922 (Tuesday)
The Citizens' committee for
Justice and Economy ex
presses regret for the "unscru
pulous methods" being used
by persons trying to achieve
the recall of the sheriff.
Evangelist T. L. Theumler
preaches thnt the world en
tered its last 2,300 years In
1844.
50 YEARS AGO
July 18, 1912 (Thursday)
A former Medford resident
Is arrested and Jailed In Oak
land, Calif., for white slavery.
Mail Tribune editorial ad
vances the pig as the best
choice for a symbol for Theo
dore Roosevelt's Bull Moose
parly.
What's Your I.Q.7
Nina or ten correct is superior
seven or eight is excellent five ei
six is good.
1. Do most rivers In North
America flow northward, or
southward?
2. What drug, used In ma
laria, is obtained from the
dried bark of a South Amer
ican evergreen tree?
3. Name the chairman of
Ihc U.S. Senate Judiciary
committee.
4. How long did President
'Dwiilit Eisenhower serve in
the United States Army?
5. After sundown, will a
deflort cool off more quickly
than a forest?
6. Was Omar Khayyam an
Oriental poet of China, Iran,
or India?
7. Do seals bray, bleat,
bark, or honk?
8. As you look at It, does
the eagle's head on a quarter
dollar look to the Irft or the
right?
9. What bird can kick hard
enough to kill a man?
10. Do you connect the
name dtiPont, Curie, or Nobel
with the discovery of dyna
mite? Answers: 1. Southward. 2.
Quinine. 3. Jamas Eastland,
Miss. 4. Thirlyseren years.
5. Yts, 8. Iran. 7. Bark.
8. Lafl. g. Ostrich. 10. Nobel.
5'ASSOCIATION
NATION A I EDITORIAL
lAc8T,gN
w"yyWHi.ni.'.n.'.ni.a
WEDNESDAY, JULY 18, 1962
Trade Restrictions
The current difficulties of the softwood in
dustry in the Pacific Northwest provide a graphic
illustration of how an ancient, restrictive practice
can threaten the welfare of a large number of
people and hamper the governments efforts to
exoand international trade.
As recently as 1959
of the lumber shipped, largely by water, to the
Atlantic Coast came from the states of the Pa
cific Northwest with British Columbia supply
iner most of the balance.
Since then the shares
stake is the production
board feet of American
more than 3,000 jobs.
THE difficulties of the
attributable to three
of the Canadian dollar
vantage of the British
slightly more favorable
adians can purchase government-owned timber;
and the shipping cost advantage which the tan
adians enjoy.
According to the
1920, known as the Jones
between Pacific and Atlantic Coast ports must
be earned in American
This ancient practice
serving the coastal trade to American vessels,
originated in the reign of Edward III of England
(1327-1377.) The British
this practice long ago, but laws barring the use
of foreign vessels in the American coastal trade
have been in force since
A S a consequence, the
ducers must pay
board feet on shipments
River ports and Brooklyn, while the Canadians,
who are permitted to charter ships in the highly
competitive woria marKei, can snip at rates rang
ing from $4 to $11.
Clearly this is a case in which the welfare
of the many is being sacrificed in order to pro
tect the interests of the few. .
There are now only
on the coastal lumber run which employ a total
of 455 men. Thus 455 jobs in the maritime in
dustry are protected at the cost of more than
3,000 jobs in the softwood industry.
'
UE hope the current efforts to repeal or mod
ify the restrictive provisions of the Jones
Act will succeed and that the recent appeals to
establish a "temporary" import quota for Can
adian softwood will be rejected.
The erection of another trade barrier can only
work to the disadvantage
and Canadian economies, for such an act would
surely touch off a series of retaliations.
I he public interest will be better served by
permitting the Northwest softwood producers
to compete on a more equal footing. Washing
ton, D.C., Post.
Political Debate Pattern
The question of removing the barriers to po
litical debates on television and radio is, basic
ally, one of using the public air waves for a pub
lic purpose.
The chief arguments for modification or re
peal of Section 315 of the Federal Communica
tions Act come from the broadcasting industry.
But the primary benefits would go to the candi
dates, in terms of free radio and TV time, and
to the voters in terms of more complete informa
tion about the personalities and the issues in
volved in the campaigns.
Congress can scarcely avoid the conclusion,
therefore, that the lifting of Section 315 for the
1962 campaigns would be a good bargain.
IN the past Congress has been reluctant to free
broadcasters from the legal requirement of pro
viding equal time to all candidates running for
an office because it has feared that abuse might
develop.
Given full discretion in the matter, some
bror '"asters might favor one candidate over an
otht. and thus exorcise undue influence upon
the electorate. Important minority parties might
be shut out trom television and radio coverage.
It is generally conceded, however, that the
Kennedy-Nixon debates in I960 were eminently
fair, and the general record of broadcasters for
nonpurtisanship in the presentation of candidates
is good.
IF the necessity of extending "equal time" to
1 fringe candidates is relaxed for the campaigns
this fall, political debates will be heard in Cali-
. , , ,
forma, Michigan, Massachusetts and various .
other states.
The pattern of debate
lislied leaves the broadcasters very little chance
for favoritism even if they were so disposed.
There is also strong precedent for fair treatment
of third parties and fringe candidates if this can
be done without putting thorn on a par with the
major contondei-s.
Io our way of thinkinrr. the advantages from
relaxation of the present rigid rule are great
enough to justify Congress in extending that pol
icy and relying upon other moans of coping with
abuses when and if they should develop. Wash
ington. D.C.. Post.
ICE CUBE RECORD
Andrrson, Inrt IPP- J. D.
I Phelps. 14. and his brother
Davi, 11, today claimed a
more than 60 per cent
have been reversed. At
of about a half billion
lumber and the loss of
softwood industry are
factors: the devaluation
which works to the ad
Columbia lumbermen; the
terms on which the Can-
Merchant Marine Act of
Act, all cargoes shipped
flag vessels.
of "cabotage," or re
have wisely abandoned
1808.
American softwood pro
about $36 per thousand
between the Columbia
13 American flag vessels
of both the American
that is now well cstab-
world record of sorts for tow
ing an ire cube back and
forth 743 times before It
melted.
Picket Line
... Communications ...
Letters to the Editor must bear lha nam and address ot the writer, although under
certain circumstances lha use of a Den name or initial for oublicalion is permissible.
The Mail Tribune reserves lha right to adit all letters with a view to clarification and
condensation. Letters submitted for oublication must nai exceed 400 words. The letters
printed in this column do not
contrary is olien Ine case.
Welfare State Arrives
To the Editor: Many doc
tors number among the rich
est men in their communities.
Yet they do not deal with in
animate objects made of steel,
wood or cloth, but instead as
everyone knows with human
beings in their direct need,
sickness and suffering.
I for one, have alwayi class
ed physicians with clergymen.
and have also believed that
both groups should have in
comes comparable with those
of other professional groups.
But some people went to be
richer than others.
The air is filled with argu
ments against the welfare
state, when the whole trend
of civilization is to raise the
standard of living of the
many submerged human be
ings. There is bound to bo an
equalization of wealth, as
more and more people become
better educated, better train
ed and better organized. De
nounce it as you wish the
welfare state has arrived.
David Frisch
P. O. Box 292
White City, Ore.
Living by Excuses
To the Editor: Still living
by excuses, religious minded
people say television is cause
of sin. Cigarettes cause can
cer and alcohol and beer is
death of man. Then I shall
add another excuse of evil
ness and a cause for stomach
In the Day's News
By FRANK JENKINS
From Washington:
Federal spending for re
search and development is ex
pected to rise in 1863 to about
$12.4 billion - up from $10.2
billion In 1962 and about $3
billion In 1956.
Of the $12.4 billion total,
more than three-fourths (or
about $9.3 billion) will go
for national defense research
and the remainder for other
purposes, including space ex
ploration research.
I WISH we could nick our
rich old Uncle for a few
millions for silvachemlcal re
search, Including the lignin
molecule and how to break it
down and ninke It useful.
There Is little doubt in this
part ot the country that the
lumber industry needs some
help. Cracking the lignin mys
tery would help a lot. It will
take research to do the Job.
IET'S get back to Klamath
1 Lake and the fascinating
possibility that the algae thnt
have been marring Its beauty
in recent years may be on the
way out.
In a previous installment
of these sketches, it was noted
that where daphnia (water
fleas) are present in large
numbers the green water
plants known as algae lend
to disappear. This fact first
came to uriu in i.iii,M. ui
project to grow aigae as
fcrtiliier fell on Its face be-
c,l"cot"" daPhni'-
riMUS situation was described
by Japanese scientists, and
their findings came to the at
tention of the North Coast
Water Pollution Control
Board of the state of Cali
fornia, which came to the con
clusion that this might be the
solution of the algae problem
in the Klamath area and the
lakes of California's Lake
county.
Daphnia had been noted In
sewage lagoons in California,
especially at Santa Rosa. So
an inoculation from the Santa
Rosa lagoons was made. It
was first tried In Klamath
lake in 1958. The next year,
about the middle of July,
there was i sudden die-off of
m u if
necessarily represent lha
ulcers and certain death. One
which has been proven to take
away life, automobiles.
Automobiles are every
where, On the road, in the
field, in someone's yard, even
causing death setting in your
own garage. The exhaust
fumes can kill you.
I say survival comes from
sitting In ones house watch
ing TV, relaxed, enjoying a
cigarette and cool glass of
beer. Anyone who dares go
outside where automobiles are
needs a stiff drink indeed.
As religious minded people
go their way from day to day
they sing beautiful songs with
beautiful meanings. In church
they sing "Lord I can t get
there by myself," meaning
they are passing a little basket
your way for a $1 bill. Riding
in the auto they sing, "I can
not bear my burden alone,"
meaning "Help me Lord to
get my Cadillac across River
Jordan." Also speeding down
the highway another popular
song is "Lord if I can just
make it home." Their faces
light up like they were com
ing into the promised land.
If relaxed, one will live
longer and be more healthy.
And as mentioned in last par
agraph they seem to strain
every nerve. Mother Nature
has done her best to help us
relax. Worked hard to perfect
our finest tobacco, to grow the
finest grapes for our wine, to
yield the hops for our beer
the algae. It was estimated at
about 50 per cent.
In 1960, the die-off of algae
in July was probably in the
neighborhood of 75 per cent.
In 1961, it was higher still.
This year, the algae die-off
started several weeks earlier,
and it is presently estimated
that It may run as high as
95 per cent.
No odor from the dead and
rotting algae has bee noted,
and the water of the lake is
far clearer than it has been at
this season at any time in re
cent years.
KEN McLEOD points out
thnt while the thinking
was based on daphnia it
wasn't daphnia that did the
actual job. What did the job
was the inoculation from the
Santa Rosa sewage lagoons.
Ken thinks the killing agent
is either a bacterium or a
virus. But he doesn't know
yet.
Nor, of course, docs anyone
know yet whether the present
practical disappearance of the
upcr-abundant algae that in
the past have so messed up
the waters of our lovely and
historic lake will be perma
nent. UR hopes are bolstered.
owevcr, by the midge
and spider Infestation of the
early 1930s. The midge
plague resulted from a low
water condition that prevent
ed the minnows from reaching
and eating the larvae of the
midges. So they multiplied
fantastically, filling the air
around the lower end of the
lake.
The spiders came along to
eat the midgos that were
trapped in the nets the spiders
spun to catch them. These
webs were so numerous that
they ruined the beauty of the
lakes shores. When the
midges were Ml eaten, the
sptoers aisappearea ann ine
shores of the lake were re
stored to their natural beauty.
In that case, the balance
of nature was restored and
tl-e midge nuisance was end
ed. We have reason to hope
that the same will be true in
the case of the algae.
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFOHD, OREGON
Changes May Be in Works in Communist
Czechoslovakia, According to Reports
By PHIL NEWSOM
UPI Foreign Newt Analyst
Some changes may be in
the works in Communist
Czechoslovakia, beginning at
the top
A recent Prague dispatch
reported that
President and
First Party
Secretary An
tonin Novot-
ny has been
rebuffed b y
his party Po
litburo and
managed t o
remain in of-
Newiom fice 0nly af
ter a warning from Moscow
that his removal might touch
off an upheaval.
If Novotny goes, It will
provide an apt illustration of
the dog-eat-dog nature of
Communist politics and an
example of a man impaled on
his own sword
Anion: Communist satel
lite leaders Novotny has been
among the most reluctant to
I accept the de-Stallnizatlon
Ml
viewa of the paper; in fact tha
and trickling down mountain
ous terrain comes the spark
ling cool water that makes
the beer good. We should sup
port Mother Nature, for her
sturdiest hard efforts and not
let her work herself to death
for nothing. Let us all partake
our share of her perfection.
Cigarettest are most desir
able for peace of mind and re
laxing among all things, not
just one good thing among
many. The greatest injustice
one can do about this great
gift of God is speak ill of it.
We gained all our knowl
edge from Adam and Eve.
Mother Eve, whe nshe had
finished eating her apple,
reached out for a tobacco leaf
and it was good. The apple is
a sinful fruit, it made her do
it, that is if cigarettes are sin
ful. In our modern fast mov
ing world, our women find
little time for apples. So they
take a diet pill and then grab
their cigarette. And so like
mother like daughter.
E. Dykes,
Box 58,
Eagle Point, Ore.
Breaking A Habit
To the Editor: I have been
interested in a couple of let
ters to Communciations by
Mr. Williams, who told of
how one can be broken of the
cigarette habit. I know what
he is talking about.
My father, who died when I
was just a girl, had smoked
a pipe from the time he was
10 years old. After becoming
a man, he realized the filthy
stinking weed was of no bene
fit to his health and was ob
noxious to others. But try as
he would, he could not break
the habit.
We lived in a small country
town and there was a special
meeting being held in the
little community church one
winter. One night my father
went forward for prayer and
dedicated himself to the Lord.
He came home feeling he real
ly had a new spiritual birth.
It had always been his
habit to smoke just before
retiring at night, then laying
his pipe under the edeg of the
heating stove and again smok
ing the first thing in the morn
ing. The next morning mother
noticed his pipe was still un
der the stove after he had
gone to work. When he came
home that evening, she asked
him if he had forgotten it.
I can remember well his spy
ing no, he hadn't forgotten
it, he had started to pick it
up that morning and the sight
of it made him sick, and he
laid it back down. He had
felt no desire for it all day,
but was feeling so happy with
a clean heart. He picked it
up and put It away never to
use it again.
Yes Mr. Williams you ere
so right. I know It works.
Mrs. Ernest Santo
204 Lozicr lane
Medford.
Mispellcd Words
To the Editor: I believe my
poem Episode was the only
local entry in the Poet's Cor
ner Sunday. July 18. Though
truly grateful for the outlet,
as well as the editor's in
terest and endeavor, I was
most unhappy with the print
ed result: three mispellcd
words snowy, labored, and
mysterious didn't help much ' n't eaten for five days,"
to glamorize a sincere, if am- he confessed. "What hap
ateur. poetic composition. This 1 pened to the 50 bucks I
is not very encouraging, and gave you?" demanded his
may be one reason why there , friend,
are so few local poems print-; "Well," said Al, "when
"d. ' T showed it in
ShmilHn'1 b nn! nt JxiHa
for artMlc 1Ucr(irv
"
ii i .
have a little extra considera
tion in the printing room?
Thelma Carson
Prospect, Ore.
Juvenile Crime Remedy
To the Editor: Many today
are alarmed at the very rapid
increase in juvenile crime in
concept first announced by
Nikita Khrushchev at the
twentieth P'rty congress in
1956 and reinforced at the
22nd congress last year.
Matter of Fact Jo..Ph ai.op
(c) New York Herald Tribune Syndicate
OLD MAID'S CACTI
Washington - Among the
new men -in the Kennedy
Cabinet, none has won more
applause than
Secretary o f
Defense Rob
ert McNam-
ara. Nonethe
less, McNam
ara is now the
target of what
looks very
like the first
ranging shots
Aisop in a major
barrage. The ranging shots
are being fired from Uncle
carl Vinsons House Armwl
Services committee, where re
sentment still smolders be.
cause of McNamara's sturdy
refusal to increase spending
on the B-70 long-range bomb
er. But there are plenty of
omer people, all the way from
the National Guard to the
Navy, who may be tempted to
Join the attack on McNamara
later on.
In these circumstances, It is
worth trying to understand
what McNamara Is trying to
do in the Defense Depart
ment, and to see why this
effect is bound to make great
numbers of highly placed ene
mies for the formidable De
fense Secretary.
.
1VHAT McNamara is trying
to do has only been at
tempted twice before, in thp
whole course of modern his
tory. After the Boer War,
Lord Haldane reformed the
British Army. At about the
same time Ellhu Root re
formed the U.S. Army.
Without the Haldane and
Root reforms, the British and
American Armies would
never have survived the test
of the first World War. But
both armies were then minis
cule, easily manageable or
ganizations, by modern stand
ards. These, moreover, are the
only armed forces that have
ever been reformed in modern
times, except by that great
root-and-branch reformer, de
feat in war.
Yet McNamara has now set
out to reform all three of the
U.S. armed services at once.
The nature of the task, as well
as its magnitude, is best con-
our country, and are wonder
ing what the remedy might
be.
The following facts taken
from POWER, July 8, 1962,
(Wheaton, 111.), will suggest
the answer.
Judge Sam Tatum of Nash
ville, .Tenn., has been juven
ile judge for about 20 years,
during which time about 43,
000 youngsters under 17
have been brought before
him.
Of the 43,000, only 122
were going to church and
Sunday school regula-ly.
In only n cases had the
parents been regular attend
ants. And not one of the 43,
000 came from a home where
there was a family altar - i.e.,
where they read the Bible
and prayed together daily.
these figures indicate:
The boy or girl who is sent
to church and Sunday school
regularly has a chance of 350
to 1 that he will keep out of
juvenile court.
The boy or girl whose par
ents take him and go regular
ly has the chance of about
4000 to 1 of keeping out of
trouble.
And if, in addition to this.
the parents have farrily wor
ship, the children are not
likely to ever be accused of
crime.
John C . Stille
Shady Cove, Ore.
Try and Stop Me
By BENNETT CERF-
A RT BUCHWALD tells of two old friends who met for
l- the first time in years. One obviouslv had prospered
the other looked terrible. Proposed the prosperous one- "Al'
you've got to come to '
work for me. I've got a
good job for you. Now
cheer up and here's $50
on account. Get some
food for your family and
have a jolly weekend."
Al turned up for work
Monday morning looking
worse than ever. "I have-
i i . .... ..
i v
ana xias inrv a i umi pd tnr ihn
s0- smce we alj Jerked happv
photographer's and had our picture taken!'
Joe Consolino, famous book salesman, rot a seat on one of
those 'economy" railroad diners recently. "Do you like split pea
soup?" a.ked the waiter. "No." said Joe. "Chicken croquettes?"
"No." "Prune pie?" "No." The waiter took the paper r.apkm
off the tAble. "Good day," he said. "You is had your lunch."
C tr Seaaatt Cert. Distributed, if Kuut reauiru Syndicate
In Czechoslovakia, streets
named for Stalin and statues
In his honor have remained
unchanged, and as late as
February of this year the
veyed by an image.
ARMED services, like a 1 1
long-enduring bureaucratic
organisms, have their own
habits of growth, like plants.
The history of the American
armed services long ago im
posed on them the habit of
growth of desert plants, which
die down to dry roots for
years on end, and then put
forth enormously lush growth
when the rains come.
For desert plants, this lusti
ness is a necessity. The sur
vival of their race depends on
making as many seeds as pos
sible, so that a few at least
will germinate
For the U.S. armed services
in the old days the same rule
held true. A service cannot
grow, almost overnight, from
a couple of hundred thousand
men to several million, with
out growing lushly and even
in some measure wastefully.
And this was what the U.S.
services were traditionally re
quired to do in war time.
THIS formerly useful lush
habit of growth is highly
unsuitable for a cold war,
in which large forces in being
must be permanently main
tained. As a result, the Amer
ican services today rather re
semble an old maid's cacti,
which always tend to be puffy
and off-color because they are
overwatered. McNamara is
out to banish lustiness, and to
impose a new habit of growth
that will be more spare,
tough, and wiry.
As no bureaucratic organ
ism can ever reform itself, the
job must be done from with
out, by the Secretary of De
fense. The job cannot be done
at all without a sharp cen
tralization of authority in the
Secretary's own hands, which
is one thing McNamara s crit
ics are complaining about.
Three huge problems have to
be solved if the job is to be
done successfully.
First, the Pentagon ma
chinery must be tightened up,
and forced to do its work, in
the sense of producing clear
decisions. This McNamara has
accomplished.
CJECOND, the armed serv-
U ices' ingrained habit of
adding new weapons systems,
without ever junking old
weapons systems, has got to
be broken at all cost. In or
der to pay for the best new
weapons system, the older
systems replaced simply have
to be abandoned, thereby
causing all the pangs among
big bomber-generals, for in
stance, that were formerly
felt by battleship -admirals
and cavalry-generals. McNam
ara has made a bold start
here, and this has largely
sparked the present attack.
Third, super fluous ele
ments, like the more political
elements of the National
Guard, have got to be sacri
ficed. And more difficult still,
it is urgent to correct the
civilianizatlon of the perma
nent armed services, by the
proliferation of huge head
quarters, by the PX life, and
by other such post-war phe
nomena. McNamara is only
beginning to tackle these cul
minating tasks.
The job he has undertaken
to do appeared to be utterly
impossible to do, until Mc
Namara s u d denly emerged
from the depths of the Ford
Motor Co. He has got far fur
ther forward with the job
already than anyone could
have imagined possible. It is
to be hoped that he will be
allowed to finish the job, de
spite the bitter opposition
that he must increasingly ex
pect. .. ..
iiui nine iii lw u pars.
fire j-
And
for a chance, u. wo, t i
1
Czech radio still was men
tioning the "Stalin mine."
Part of Novotny's reluc
tance to abolish the Stalin
personality cult or to relax
his harsh repressive measures
came from fears that Czech
minds might turn back to the
happier days of a free Czech
oslovakia under Thomas Mas
aryk and Edouard Benes.
In any event, his current
difficulties began with an at
tempt to kill two birds with
one stone.
To this end he would pay
lip service to de-Stalinization
and at the same time elimin
ate a dangerous rival.
The rival was Rudolf Bar
ak, 48, former deputy prime
minister and minister of the
interior, whose charm and
elastic approach to party
doctrine had gained him wide
popularity in party ranks.
On April 20, Czech broad
casts disclosed that a military
court sitting secretly had sen
tenced Barak to 15 years in
prison on charges of anti-party
and Illegal activity.
Then Novotny's plan mis
fired. Indignant politburo mem
bers demanded that Barak be
given a public trial.
Novotny in turn offered to
resign and for a time his fate
remained up in the air.
His hold on his office may
be temporary because in pres
ent day communism martyrs
sometimes have a way of re
turning. Strictly
Personal
By Sydney J. Harris
tc- Field Enterprises Ine.
MOST STUPID PEOPLE
Next to congential liars
who are easily found out
the habitual flatterers are
til Fpl V lha
KttPPfH! 1 most stunid
W- tV of people. For
.21: E-'-'.v T '
&, 4j t h e flatterer
r f c o m m o n 1 y
'ij overlooks the
x' -fi most import
V'C tant element
-H8i ' in successf"l
(uxA ar-- truly beau,
Harris tiful women
that she is beautiful, and
you bore her. She knows she
is beautiful; she has heard
it a number of times, and be
lieves it. She takes her
beauty for granted, and
wants to be admired or de
sired for other attributes.
Likewise, tell a brilliant
man that he is brilliant, and
he thinks you a fool for
making so obvious a remark.
He is fully aware perhaps
too fully aware-of his intel
lectual powers. There ara
other things about himself,
however, that he is not so
sure of; and these are what he
wants to be flattered about.
As Lord Chesterfield ob
served to his son, "Persons
are most and best flattered
upon those points where
they wish io excel, and yet
are doubtful whether they
do or not." He mentioned
Cardinal Richelieu, the
ablest statesmen of his
time, who wanted lo be
thought the bast poet, too.
Flattery of his statesman
ship was met with a shrugt
but flattery of his verse
would always turn his
head.
Even so great a man as
Goethe thought more of his
"theories of color" than he
did of his literary works
although the latter ara im
mortal, and the former
have been mercifully for
gotten. And Isaac Newion was
less interested in his pro
found scientific discoveries
than he was in lha com
mentaries he wrole on the
Bible. Ha was aware that
his scientific work was
monumental, but he secret
ly doubled the validity of
his Biblical research, and
needed reassurance on this
point.
Actors, I have found over
the years, find little stratifi
cation in being told that they
are tremendous performers;
what they really want to hear
is that they are as bright as
directors or playwrights, or
that their personal charms
are as extensive off the stage
as on. I hey are unsure of
themselves as people, not as
professionals.
Among tycoons and execu
tives, it is only the small
ones who are flattered by as
sent, by obsequious yes-men.
Most of them need the kind
of flattery provided by no
men; that is, they need to be
reassured, not that they are
right, but that they are "big
enough" to tolerate criticism.
They do not doubt that they
are crack executives; what
they may secretly doubt is
whether they are broad and
fair-minded persons.
Flattery, on the whole, is
a despicable talent; and it is
just as well that so few
really understand its emo
tional dynamics.