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|\l| DREW P^**soH
HOOVER AND REPORTERS
WASHINGTON. When Herbert
Hoover staged a press conference
after his talk with President Tru
man and Secretary of Agriculture
Anderson, newsmen immediately
asked what President Truman had
told him.
The former chief executive —who
had as rough a time with the press
as any United States President in
this century—replied with deep feel
ing;
“There ought to be a law,”
he said, “against anyone re
peating what the President has
said to him.”
Hoover also refused to answer
any questions about administration
measures to meet the European
emergency, and would not give any
opinion when asked if U. S. ration
ing might be necessary.
♦ * •
ARMY DENTISTS
At long last Maj. Gen. Norman
Kirk, who has the reputation for
hoarding more medical manpower
than any other surgeon general in
history, has decided to let a few
more doctors slip through his fin
gers and go back to civilian prac
tice.
He has decreed that all medical
corps officers who have served 30
months as of May 1 can be released
from the army before June 30.
However, this does not apply to
army dentists, who are now getting
to be the forgotten men of the U. S.
army.
For some strange reason best
known to General Kirk, general
service doctors can get out of
the army after 30 months, but
a dentist must remain in 39
months. And today there are
hundreds of patriotic dentists
who gave up good practices to
Join the army, now marking
time at army posts, unable to
get discharged.
Furthermore, the brass hats have
permitted the discharge of many
younger dentists, while older men
have to stay on. Many of the young
sters, educated at army expense,
have been declared “essential to
civilian practice” and discharged,
while older men with families to
support, can’t get out. This means
that younger dentists get their civil
ian practice firmly established be
fore older men can even begin to
look for scarce office space.
♦ ♦ *
HOW TO HANDLE LEWIS
Towering Gov. Bob Kerr of Okla
homa, who packs close to 250 pounds
and a droll wit, tolls this story about
a chat with a “prominent Repub
lican” during a recent visit to Wash
ington.
“Why doesn't Truman do some
thing about John L. Lewis,” com
plained the GOP-er, “instead of sit
ting around on his hands while Lew
is ties up production in the entire
country?”
“Lewis is a tough man to handle,”
said Kerr. “What would you sug
gest that the President do?”
“I could give him plenty of ideas
if I had the chance.”
“Okay,” said Kerr. “I’m go
ing to give you the chance. I’m
a close friend of Harry Truman.
In fact, 1 am going to see him
tomorrow morning. And I hap
pen to know that right now,
more than anything in the
world, he wants the answer to
this coal strike. So you just sit
down and write out the solution
and I’ll give it to him the first
thing in the morning.”
The discussion ended right there.
♦ • •
RAIL BITTERNESS
For a long time, bad blood had
existed between the trainmen-engi
neer brotherhoods and the other
three—conductors, switchmen and
firemen. It has been somewhat like
the CIO-AFL row, but the bitter
ness deepened after the Roosevelt
arbitration dispute.
Whitney, at the time, sent a let
ter to all his trainmen excoriating
the other brotherhoods for refusing
to arbitrate—a letter which doesn’t
put him in such a good light today.
Among other things, he made up a
little poem which read:
“Three blind mice—hear how
they talk!
They all refuse to arbitrate—
They’re gambling with their
country's fate—
Though the hour is getting
late
For the three Wind mice.”
“Were they afraid to trust the
President?” Whitney asked his fel
low trainmen in the round-robin let
ter. “Or is it possible that they
(the other three brotherhoods) were
playing organization politics in the
hope that they may strengthen their
numerical and financial condition?”
• • *
CAPITAL CHAFF
Candy made in Fascist Argentina
is now sold in the house of repre
sentatives’ restaurant. . . . Senate
Majority Leader Alben Barkley
grows in stature daily as a result ol
his difficult battles in a hard-head
ed senate, . . . John Pehle, just re
signed from the treasury, will go to
work for the French government
. . . The Soviet government is now
permitting the state department t«
up the circulation of its Russia)
language magazine Amerika fron
10,000 to 60,000 copies a month.
BREAD LINES BEGINNING TO FORM . . . Not the depression soup lines, but bread lines caused by the
rationing of flour to bakeries, has resulted in bread lines in most cities and before the doors of most bak
eries. Photo shows a bread line in Detroit. The baker says he has 600 loaves daily, soon to be cut to 450
loaves, but the line-up each morning soon buys up the entire allotment.
HOW ALLIED AIR FORCE WRECKED FRANKFURT , . . Bombs from American and British air forces
rained from the skies caused a vast panorama of ruin at Frankfurt, Germany. Photographs show Five Fin
ger Place as it appeared at end of war. Insert shows same location as it appeared on a prewar German post
card. Only the little statue is unmarked. Few cities took a more sustained beating than Frankfurt.
TO BE TOGETHER . . , Courage and devotion dominating one of the
truly great love stories of modern times. Maj. Hans G. Hornbostel,
San Francisco, veteran of two wars and the “Bataan death march/'
is exerting every effort to enter the Leprosarium at Carville, La.,
so that he can remain at the side of his wife, who contracted the
ravaging disease while in a Japanese prison camp. Major Horn
bostel, who is not afflicted with leprosy, is shown with his wife as they
talk with Dr. J. C. Geiger, chief of San Francisco health department.
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MOON-JUMPING COWS . . . Flying cattle to South America from New
i.'ork City leads the way to a new modern method of transportation of
high quality breeding stock. Valued at $20,000 these Ayrshire dairy
cattle are shown on plane, converted into a flying barn. The trip will
take about 20 hours, instead of several days as would be necessary
by rail and water. More exports of cattle will follow from the United
States to other southern countries.
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL. PERRY. GEORGIA
POSTAL PAY INCREASE . . .
Pres. Harry S. Truman as he af
fixed his signature to the bill giv
ing all postal employees a raise
of $4OO per year. Postmaster Han
negan witnessed the signing of
new postal pay bill.
i
FAIRWAY TO FURROW . . .
Pausing between tournaments on
his farm near Denton, Texas, golf
champion Byron Nelson relaxes
behind the wheel of a tractor. He
raises sweet potatoes, peanuts and
cucumbers.
PhiHipr Jr
jJj VNL Senior
ALL DONE BY MIRRORS
Mother Goodness, haven’t you
heard a thing on that new auto yet,
dear?
Dad—No; they tell me there ain’t
a chance of getting one for another
six months. They just ain’t getting
’em through.
RADIO—And remember, folks, to gel
one of those 20 new sedans being given
away by Twiggle’s Deodorant. You jusl
send in a four-line jingle on body odors
. . . just a four-line jingle and four cents
in stamps.... Every week 20 lucky persons
see a brand new 1946 sedan roll up to their
door.
Mother—Now how do you explain
that? If they can give twenty cars
a week away as prizes in a radio
contest I should think that you . . .
Dad—Now, please, don’t make me
go into that again!
*
Mother (a little later)—l don’t
know whether to call a doctor or
not.
Dad—What’s wrong?
Mother—All those bruises and
contusions.
Dad—What bruises and con
tusions?
Mother—Oh, I got ’em yesterday
in one of those nylon lines. It was
awful.
Dad—Did you get any nylons?
Mother No; thousands were
turned away. The supply is still
terribly limited, you know . . .
RADIO—And now, folks, for further de
tails in our wonderful contest in which
5 ,000 pairs of nylons will be distributed
absolutely free to the women of America!
. . . All you do is send in a 25-word essay
on why you use Zaflex for bleeding gums.
. . . Merely send in a 25-word essay and
the six box tops and win a dozen pairs of
nylons. . . .
Dad (with sarcasm) Supply
scarce, did you say, honey?
Mother—Now I know I’ll have to
call the doctor! Those bruises hurt
more than ever.
»
Dad (as the radio announces an
other contest in which 10,000 pairs
of suits will be raffled) —Make it
two doctors!
Mother (at the phone)—l can’t get
a doctor. They all say they won’t
be free for weeks.
RADIO—Do you want a doctor? Are
you feeling indisposed? Clip the tops of
four boxes of Byxby's new face simonizer
and . . .
Mom and Pop—Awahh-h-h-h!
* » *
Merrily We Roll Along
A National Highway Safety con
ference is being held in Washing
ton, with its main object safer auto
driving. Well, we think its emblem
would be four slices of baloney float
ing in a dish of applesauce. Every
body knows that the incredibly
reckless driving and the hundreds
of tragedies every day are due
chiefly to three facts:
1. Few states make more than a
pretense of an adequate test for
auto drivers, seven out of ten of
whom don’t even know the elemen
tal rules of the road.
2. Not a community in America
has police enough to make a real
war on reckless drivers, and the
cops now on the job are almost
helpless, due to the fact the
courts let the reckless drivers off
with piddling fines.
3. Big cities, especially New York,
permit flagrantly dangerous speeds
on crowded streets day in and day
out, with the traffic cops apparently
loving it.
* * *
“Orson Welles has written a mu
sical with forty scenes, calling for
‘much activity among the audi
ences.’ ” —News Item.
♦
If a good title is wanted how
about “Welles-A-Poppin”?
* * *
VANISHING AMERICANS
“The government won’t stand for it.”
“Let’s see, you had two beers and gave
me a quarter; you got 15 cents coming
back.”
•
“We’ll get married first and find a place
to live afterwards.”
«
“Ask for our 25-cent steak sandwich.”
• * *
Models, style parades and the dis
tribution of nylons are now features
at Yankee stadium ball games. We
expect to hear of a pitcher taken
out for a bathing beauty any day
now.
• * *
CAN YOU REMEMBER—
Away back when you could take the car
to a service station and have the carbon
cleaned for less than the cost of a new
auto?
• * *
“Anybody got a one-man power
saw they are sick of what works?
Mention your needs and I’ll take a
look out back. NHM 1909.”—Yankee
magazine.
All we can think of at the moment
is a patty of butter.
♦ * *
King Victor Emmanuel of Italy
has abdicated after 46 years on (or
under) the throne. Whatever his
tory may say of him, it can never
classify him as a fellow who
couldn’t hold a job.
TT MIGHT seem strange to say
1 that a manager whose ball club
has been doing very well indeed
could be even close to the border
line of a predicament, much less
the brink of an abyss. But for ten
years Boston, al
ways a great base
ball town with a My,..
great baseball tra- P®* |
dreams of recover- R|| -/I!
ing some of its lost &
glory. There were IP '*■
the winning days of
Jimmie Collins, Bill
Carrigan and oth- '■■ L.i * \ ~.J
ers, who carried j oe
the Red Sox banner Cronin
high. But in spite of
the millions Tom Yawkey has fed
into his purchases and pay roll, the
Red Sox thus far have been on the
outside peering in.
Now Cronin has his team winging
away at a record clip. He has come
through with the hutting and the
pitching for which only the most
rabid fan ever could hope. Outside
of Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky and
Bobby Doerr, no one could figure
that so many Red Sox would hit so
well. No one could figure Mickey
Harris winning six straight, with
able support from Tex Hughson, Joe
Dobson and Dave Ferriss.
Cant Hold the Pace
Joe Cronin’s predicament is this:
no one can expect so many of his
men to continue to blast the ball
with such deadly effect; and no one
can figure that Mickey Harris can
continue to hold such winning form,
although Mickey is a much im
proved pitcher over past seasons be
fore the war, when he failed to
break even.
If the Red Sox had broken from
the wire at a steady clip, there
would have been no such excitement
as reigns in Boston today. As it
now stands, any Red Sox slump,
which is certain to occur later on
after such early speed, is bound to
cause a reaction up Boston way.
There is the chance, of course,
that the Red Sox today have what
the old Yankees once carried when
they almost wrecked the league,
practically closing out the season in
late July or early August. It could
happen. After all, Cronin’s hired
men have shown power at bat and
power in the pitcher’s box, which
are the two main spots of the game.
However, an early rush to the front
can lead to much brooding later on.
It is still my contention that the
Tigers have the best pitching staff
in baseball, followed by the Cardi
nals. But Red Sox pitching, in ad
dition to being an improvement
over what it looked to be earlier,
also has run-making and fielding
support that will bag many a ball
game through the summer ahead.
However, Boston’s long-suppressed
supporters should understand that
it is still a long way to October.
★ * *
Chasing the Cardinals
My good friend Eddie Dyer, once
a star halfback in Texas, is shocked
over the fact that his team is still
called a 3-5 shot against the field.
“We have a good, sound ball
club,” Eddie says, “but no team .is
that good—not even the Red Sox,
today. Too many things can hap
pen in a ball game. Too many
things can happen to your best men.
There are other good teams in this
league, teams much improved over
last season. This includes the
Dodgers, Braves, Reds and the
Giants. Both Cubs and Pirates will
soon begin picking up speed. After
all, the weather has made this an
uncertain spring as far as any rat
ing goes. I don’t believe many peo
ple understand what such players
as Reese, Reiser and Herman mean
to the Dodgers. They are all win
ning ballplayers.”
One of Eddie Dyer’s greatest
thrills so far has been the fine show
ing of Terry Moore, not only a great
ballplayer but a fine man to have
on any club. After being away from
action for some time in the army,
Terry has been hitting far above his
prewar punch; and Terry is no long
er a kid. When you look at such
ballplayers as Musial, Marion, Ku
rowski, Moore and others—plus the
Cardinal pitching staff—whether or
not you are a Giant, Dodger, Cub
or Brave fan, this is the club to be
watched once they have squared
away from the summer festivities.
It might also be suggested that
Billy Southworth has turned in a
fine job with the Boston Braves, a
club supposed to be planted in the
second division. The Braves may
finish there, but they are a big im
provement over the Braves of other
years. They are a hustling outfit,
as Billy Southworth’s teams always
have been.
This can be baseball’s greatest at
tendance year, with many thousands
to spare, if the two pennant races re
main reasonably close, for it isn 1
any too easy to keep the popeyed
fan keyed up when his home club
is outclassed and far out of the race.
The danger spots here are the
Sox and the Cardinals, but both
can run into more severe competi
tion than one might look for. J" ‘
Messrs. Cronin and Dyer confirm
this observation. Few horse races
ever are won in the first quarter r
this also goes for a pennant race.
