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About The Plattsmouth journal. (Plattsmouth, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 14, 1947)
i k "t THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 1947 THE JOURNAL. PLATTSMOUTH. NEBRASKA PAGE SEVEN The Plattsmouth Journal ESTABLISHED 1C81 I'm 1.1 is!id pm1-wof kl v. Momlitys himI Tlnirs MiivN, sit AO'.t-n?. Alain Strt-et, l'lattsmfimh, "uss 4'iniTitv. .Whrnska. RONALD R. FURSE Editor-Publisher James Moore, Advertising Manager Thrlma Olson, Society Editor. Helen E. Ileinrich, News Editor. Merle D. Furse, Plant Superintendent Patrick Osbon, Pressroom Superintendent Harry Wilcoxen, Manager Job Department lTn t-t--il at the T'ost'f f it-e lit T'hittprnoutli, NVtiiavkfi its s'-nnil class mail mnttT in a--)orl:iTi Willi tli- Act of 'otiBn-Ks of .Matcli ::. !:!. SUBSCRIPTION RATE: S3 per year, cash in advance, by mail outside the city of Plattsmouth. By carrier in Plattsmouth, 15 cer.-ts for two weeks. EDITORIALS . WHEN UNIONS MISREPRESENT FACTS : Some unions, apparently, do not hesitate to utterly misrepresent facts in an effort to gain public favor for their side. An example of that recently occurred in a short-lived railroad strike affecting one of the nation's largest railroads. One union demand was that th? minimum wage for engineers be raised from $10.02 to $1295. This point was heavily stressed, and the union did everything possible to make the public believe that engineers are woefully underpaid. The truth of the matter is that the demand was completely without prac tical significance. No engineer on this railroad earns as little as S12.95 a day and the bulk of them earn $20 to $30, with overtime in addition. Whether their wage is figured on a daily or an nual basis, railroad engineers are among the highest paid workers in the country, and working conditions are excellent in all particulars. It seems to be a fact that certain union offic ials think it a wise policy to stir up trouble at regular intervals, regardless of its effect on the country. It was this kind of thinking which re resulted in the enactment of the Taft-Hartley Bill by the last Congress. It is this kind of think ing which, if continued, will inevitably bring further restrictive legislation down upon the the heads of labor. In this country, the public in terest is paramount. It cannot be flaunted in definite ly. Business learned that many years ago, when excesses of capital were followed by a flood of regulatory legislation. It is time that labor, in all fields, learned it as well . Evey legitimate demand of labor in major in dustries can be gained without striking, under the present mediation machinery. Whatever in equalities remain can be settled by honest collec tive bargaining between the unions and manage ment. The cost of perennial strikes in money, in work lost, in the depressing effect on industry and agriculture is too great for any country to bear. WHAT THE CONSUMER WANTS At various times polls have been made of con sumer needs, desires and eccentricities. And the answers show why there is plenty of room for alf kinds of stores, from independents to chains, and from gigantic department stores to little spec ialty shops. One segment of the consuming public is pri marily interested in price. It compares the prices of competing retailers and alwrys goes where the most is offered for the money. Another segment is interested in certain trade-marked brands, and buys only in stores which carry those it favors. Still another segment places service high on the list of its requirements. It wants delivery of goods to the home, the charge account privilege, a very liberal policy in exchange, etc., and it is willing. to pay the added costs that these and other servicee entail. Under the free competitive system which is the American system there is a store to meet every demand. Every kind and character of con sumer commodity is stocked, and a long list of brands is offered. If one store can't meet some buyer's standards, another store down the street will. And every merchant who keeps up with the times will get his share of the business. American retailing is geared t5 serve the varying wishes of the 140,000,000 Americans who patro ni: ? it. The announcement that England will mater ially reduce her military forces from Germany tirely from Greece and partly from Germany and further intensify her 'austerity' program at home, has long been anticipated. The whole story behind it can be told in a sentence: England simply hasn't got the money or the resources. What the effect will be on our foreign program, remains to be seen. But, at least, it hasn't come as a surprise. Furse's Fresh Flashes DOWN MEMORY LANE Ten years ago in Plattsmouth Miss Gerda Peterson departed for a months vacation to visit her sister at Sheridan, Wyoming . . . Harley Wiles returned from hospital . . . Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Steffens and daughter Maxine of Nehawka de parted for trip to Black Hills country . . . James Boyer, 14, former resident electrocuted while playing in cellar of vacant house in Omaha ... Hugh E. Chalfant former Union resident died at Lusk, Wyoming . . . Mr. and Mrs. George C. Sheldon entertained at their home in Nehawka for members of the Todd family . . . Rosen Mo tor Company bought O. K. Garage Building . . . Mrs. Eugenia Deles Dernier of Murray departed for Colorado Springs vacation . . . Mrs. L. G. Todd, Union, fractured wrist in fall at home . . . Bernese Ault of Cedar Creek accepted teaching post in the schools of vanston, Illinois . Thirty-one years ago Nehawka Flour Mills Flipper Fanny, our dainty little contour twis ter, says its a problem to dance with some of .these Plattsmouth boys. She reports that most of them are all feet when dancing and all hands when not dancing. In one foreign country, it "is reported, they are forced to pay taxes on "baby talk" the form of language some softie lovers use. Over here they pay plenty for it too. but we don't call it taxes. Many a man wears the pants in his own home, but a great deal of the time he's got an apron over them. - A friend of ours is in very bad condition physically, the result of a powder explosion. His wife found it on his coat collar. A local sweet little girl, age about 19, says she got her pretty little round mouth from saying "No" so often. A Plattsmouth man rushed up to a church here last week when the bell started ringing and a?ked what the church bell was ringing for. "Probably because I'm pulling the rope," was the r.ply. An expert in family relations tells the girls a bachelor over 35 is a total loss as a husband. Just the same, we're telling the expert if the gal can land a man over 35. she'll take a chance. Our only suit is as out of date as the rustic of a skill. We have often wondered if it was possible to tell a hair-raising story to a bald headed man. placed under management of C. D. St. John . . . W .A. Nerd raises prize ear of corn with seven ears on one stalk . . . Gladys McMakcn enter tained a house party for classmates from Peru College . . . Hillman Stock company billed for appearance at airdrome . . . Funeral for Alfred Rouse held at home of his sister, Mrs. Warren Tu lene . . . Red Sox won game from "Murphy-Did-Its" of Omaha ... . Post office at South Bend burglarized . . . T. H. Pollock named local agent for Ford automobile company . . . Mrs Bon Elson visted here from Los Angeles enrouto to Detroit. m "i o W BALKAN r.f r:- w t EDSON'S WASHINGTON COLUMN ' BY FETEE EDSOV NEA ?.'ashintem Correspondent YTfASIIIGTON. D. C (NEA) If ever there was a congressional inquisition in which everything turned out the way it wasn't sup-.' posed to. the current Howard Hughes airplane contract probe which headline attraction before the Senate war Investigating Committee is that comedy of errors. I hats wnai makes it such a good .how. " Elliott Roosevelt, who has made more bad loans; written more bad books and articles, been in moi; scrapes and married more wives than any of Ui other children of the late President, has come oirt of this deal with the first good publicity he has hucj fi f 1 in nis me. In -Zjsi I Howard Hughes, who started out as the defend. art in tnis case, enos up ds mc uaciu. Sen. Owen Brewster of Maine started out as chairman of the committee but ends up taking the witness stand in his own defense against the HugheS charges of collusion with Pan American Airlines put the Hughes TWA line out of business. -The villains of the piece have turned out to be the heroes. Elliott, roosevelt and Howard Hughes get the applause from the crowd, nut Brewster and Sen. Homer Ferguson of Michigan who is acting a committee chairman for this investigation. r-nnrf-timp .Tnhnnv Mover, tne press agem. geis inuic fmm thP nnwri than Committee Investigator Francis Flanagan. Edson who Meye -,n ho riirt nn him When the storv DroKe charging with having sired r.n illegitimate child, he got a wire of congratulai tions because "the baby's picture looks like a senator" THE crowd that comes to these hearings is no ragtag riffraff. Women far outnumber the men, and these women are fashionably dressed. They stand in the aisles by the hour. They stand in long lines in the Senate Office Building halls, waning ior a tnantc iu 6u i... it ctartPd nut to be an investigation of why the government or $40 million for which it has as yet ha'cf received FIGHTING MEN Charles Potter, veteran who lost heroic fighting France, has won seventh Army both legs in near Colmar, the Republican CUe 7AS!!ltIfiT0i1 MERRY- (SO- ROUND By DREW PEARSON ROBERT S. ALLEN SAYS: WAR DEPARTMENT MAY BE EMBAR RASSED BY CONGRESSIONAL PROBE OF HIGH LIVING AND HIGH-HANDEDNESS OF LT. GEN. LEE AND STAFF IN MEDITER RANEAN THEATER; T. V. SOONG CONTRO VERSIAL SUBJECT BETWEEN U. S. -CHINA. WASHINGTON. One of the Congressional committees going to Europe has an unpublicizod special mission that may prove very embarrassing to the high brass in the War Department. The committee will look into the activities of Lt. Gen. John C. Lee, commander of the Mediter ranean theater and his high-living staff. Reason for the committee's check-up are nu merous complaints received by members of Con gress from GI's serving in the theater, and their parents. The latter have been particularly indig nant. Burden of these corrplaints is that while Lee and his staff are living in lavish luxury, the en listed men are ill-housed and ill-fed and subjected to un-American DOrsor.al indipnitips and a Prus sian form of discipline. The following are some of the charges contained in the letters. That Lee has three private residences in Rome, Florence, and Viareggio, the last place, a resort town, out of bounds for GI's; that he also has for his exclusive personal use a small fleet of automobiles, a specially equipped C-47 trans port plane and a special train. The laUer in charge of an officer who does nothing else among ether luxuries, has a special car for show ing movies. That more than 500 GI's are jam-packed in quarters equipped with fewer than 15 showers, some of which don't work; that there is no "Day Room" (lounge) or other recreational facilities for the men; that their food is poorly prepared and unappetizingly served; that GI's are required to act as drivers for officers' wives and take care of officers children including a nursery; that Lee and his staff are "salute crazy," imposing heavy fines for the slightest infraction o f this rule; and that a disciplinary camp is running full blast at Pisa. This last charge is particularly serious. The Army denies it is operating any more of these no torious camps. But the committee is in possession of considerable evidence not only proving the ex istence of the Pisa camp, but certain very un savory thiugs that have taken place there. "GOD-ALMIGHTY" LEE Aside from the question of Lee's alleged antics, the matter is very serious because of its possible adverse repercussions on the Universal Military Training issue here. The fate of this urgently needed defensive mea sure is very much in doubt. To further its enact ment, the Army last year announced far-reaching .changes in its traditional caste system, and set up a model training camp at Ft. Knox. This camp has won high praise from numerous outstanding civilian leaders. If the reports of what is transpiring in Lee's theater are confirmed by the Congressional com mittee, it will provide devastating ammunition to UMT foes. Lee was Chief of Supply in the European theater during the war. He was not a populfer figure. He was widely known as "God-Almighty" Lee because of his high handedness and luxur ious living. In nomination for the Michigan seat held by the late Representative Fred Bradley . . . Loss of a leg in the assault on Guam is not keeping ex-Marine Tommy Breen from realizing his ambi tion to be movie actor. He has just won a stellar role in MGM's new super-musical. "Luxury Liner." . . . Col. Oscar Koch, who fought his way back from a death's-edge illness due to vigorous combat service, has been made head of the Army's crack Intelligence school at Ft. The greatest G-2 in the Koch was Patton's Intelli chief from Africa to V-E more than $100,000,000 on ! it.'" K. O. KAISER Howard Hughes had a good ex ample on how to treat Washing ton C'fficials when he clashed head-on with Senate War Inves tigating committee. The example was his friend and former bus iness associate. Henrj' J. Kaiser. The story has never been told before but the redoubtable builder on one occasion admin istered a physical roughing to none other than Lt. Gen. Brehon B. Somervell, former War De- Riley. Army, gence Day. SOONG MILLIONS Stormy petrel in the stormy complex Chinese problem is and T. V. brother Soong, U. S. -educated of Madame Chiang Kai- Shek. A key figure in the Na- tionalist regime, Soong has long j been the subject of bitter con- troversy both in U. S. and Chi- j nese quarters. j Currently, Soong is very ac- tive behind the scenes in the Na- i tionalist pressure-drive to wan- j pie a S2.000.000.000 loan from the U. S. A significant commentary Soong. and on conditions in Chi na. comes from Gardner Cowles. able plain-talking publisher of of the Des Moines Register-Tribune newspaper, who recently returned from China. This is Cowles' "story: "China is filled with gossip. A favorite subject is speculation about the alleged growing wealth of the Soong family. At a dinner party in Shanghai, an irate critic of the present government said to me, 'China will never find her self until she gets rid of the Soong family. Why, they have more than a billion dollars in their personal accounts in Wash ington, London, and Amsterdam banks.' "When he walked away a mo ment later, a high official of the Central Bank of China said to me: 'Don't believe such foolish ness. The Soongs don't have partment chief of supply. The encounter occurred over Kaiser's proposal that the gov ernment finance the construction of cargo planes to lick the U-boat menace. This issue is one of the subjects now being probed by the Senate committee. Word reached Kaiser that Somervell not only was opposing the pro ject, but had stated he weuld "run Kaiser out of town." Kaiser invited General "Hap" Arnold, then chief of the AAF. to lunch to discuss the matter. Arnold accepted. Later, he called hack to ask if he could bring a friend and if the luncheon could be held in the Army-Navy club. Kaiser acreed. To Kaiser's surprise. appeared with Somervell, the late Gen. Leslie J. McNair. then head of Army Ground Forces, on ! and Ferdinand Eberstadt, of the Hollywood Film Shop; Bv PATRICIA CLARY ' United Press Staff Correspondent ! HOLLYWOOD (U.R) Henryi Fonda, farmer has been neglec- j ting his compost heap. Too many ' movies keep coming up for Hen- ry Fonda, actor. The chickens are running out j of their coop, he complained, and the vegetable's need hoeing. But the farmer's busy kissing Joan Crawford for 20th Century-Fox' "Daisy Kenyon." On week-ends, he's even busier. "Sundays are my hare'est days." he said. "I'm making compost now. That's beter than manure. spent $30 mill. on little or nothing. . Then it digressed into the Johnny Meyer episodes a mere side show though it is a perfect demonstration of how a business should not conduct its' public relations. Hughes turned the emphasis oH that phase of his operations by his charges against Senator Brewster. Hughes handled himself lifte a lawyer. ... Senator Brewster made a good rebuttal when he took the stand In Ms cwn defence however. He had transcripts of telephone calls and other conversations and a pretty well documented case against the Hughes charges. - . t. But what the once great Senate War Investigating Committee oing to get out of this is doubtful. The whole thing has backfired. Brewster will probably get a clean bill of health from the com mittee That's the way these things usually end up. Brewstar doesn't have to run for office until 1952. A lot can be forgotten by then Ferguson is up for re-election next year. Unless he can score pretty complete indictment ot nugnes, nis ptuiucui iunuu.-; have been done no particular good. ,mmm 'SiSWS1 N'Wi" ' .---- GETTING a refund for the government of some $50,003 or $75,000. while it will pay the expenses of the committee for a year, stilj won't be any great triumph, vr m - ' Ten senators are on this committee. Their combined salary js $2500 a week. The cost of their staff is extra. The time and Ihe talent of these great statesmen has so far been taken up by whl largely a matter that could be handled by one good district attorney and a morals court for juvenile-minded delinquents. . . ""7r " The investigation hasn't added a thing to the stature of Chese senators. There are so many other things on which their time tnd talents could be spent so much more profitably. . Furnishing the people with a circus to keep them amused when the cost of bread and meat is high was considered good politics by the Emperor Nero in ancient Rome. It was also one of the reasons why Rome fell. His wife cues him in his lines when he memorizes them. Then he lets the director tell him how to play them. When Fonda reports for work mornings, he looks like an auto rabbits and chickens, tending two orchards, running a truck garden, building and painting fences, re pairing the chicken coop and get ting that compost mixed, fering with his real work: raising you know. Last Sunday J worked t mechanic. He wears a slack' outfit War Production Board. The luncheon started off pleasantly, but soon Kaiser and Somervell were engaged in a heated ex change. This was ended abruptly by Kaiser. Jumping from his chair, he dashed around the table, seized Somervell by the shoul ders and shook him violently. "You've been saying you're go ing to run me out of town.V blazed Kaiser. "I'd like to see you or any other blankety-blank try it." Somervell also rose and in try ing to free himself from Kaiser sent dishes flying in all direc tions. The others finally re stored peace and the luncheon was resumed. Kaiser, thereafter, had no more trouble with Somer vell. (Copyright, 1947, the Bell Syn dicate, Inc.) from sunup to sundown. I'm us ing the New Zealand method." Fonda, who looks much more like farmer than an actor, can find half an hour out of his work day any time to discuss the New Zealand method. After that, he'll talk a Lttle about acting, maybe. "I'm not much of an actor," hi: says. "I don't even try to be an actor. I just get up before the cameras and do the scene the way that seems easy and natural. Little Advance Work "I guess I do less work in ad- Arnold 1 vancc a Picture than anyone. I Know rignt on wnen i reaa a script whether I can play the part. After I get a role, I read the script two or thre times. I don't try to figure out how I'll do the scene or work up any fan cv mannerisms or classv diction." like a gas station attendent's and carries and old-fashicned lunch pail. "I raise lots of vegetables," he explained. "My wife says I've got to eat them." Since he got out of the navy Fonda has been busy making "My Darling Clementine"' in Arizona. "The Long Nirht"! in Hollywood, 'The Fugitive" in 'Mexico and "A Miracle Can Happen" in Holly wood. Such byplay, he said, is inter- SUDDUTH WATCH SHOP Watch & Clock Repairing! 421 Main St. - Plattsmouth DEPENDABLE INSURANCE f ALL KINDS at a SAVING ARUNDEL Insurance Agency Office of Mutual Loan and Finance Co. 112 North 5th Street Phone 57 ehind These Hands Baseball Game! ATTENTION EAGLE FANS LET'S BEAT SPRINGFIELD Be in the Bleachers When the Plattsmouth Eagles Swing Into Second Place in the DSC League Eagles at Home! IN ATHLETIC PARK Game Starts 2:30 Sunday afterdaay - v ) is SEVEN YEARS EXPERIENCE IN THE FLOOR COVERING BUSINESS To you, the prospective customer, this means an assurance of expert craftsmanship and reliability. Skillful hands are fast working hands, because they make no errors. Translat ed, this means -savings to you, Mr. Customer. Floor Coverings for Homes Stores Factories Matney Furniture 424 Main Street Phone 174