The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 2

IliJ 1 I 'j i A M.i. 1140 Veterans I eaied monthly of Downtown Clink ID -v i iciv-ia Medical Experts Wire Disapproval ocnoo 4 fa 4 I. Move Blocked Anti-Desegregation Amendment To Construction Bill Defeated committee to the, VA hospital has been clearly demonstrated, An alert and keen medical scientific ii nd clinical consultation close at tdrfeat the niraaure" because he Th.Ui(l "those who are against it arc V'-'- rlA Jt m. mi aenlnst It anyhow." Anti-NAACP Bill Dies In Florida Committee TAT.TJWIASSEE. Fla.

-T A hill tn rpnnire the National Assoei- ntinn tnr the Advancement of Col ored People to file financial and membership records with the secretory of state died in a Florida legislative committee yesterday. Tha hnina tudirfarv committee gave it an unfavorable report, with only one member voting to annrnv tha hill. by the legislative investigating commiuee wnicn investigated me Staff photos by Bill Preston Another function of the downtown out-patient clinic is dental work. Miss Willie Grass, one of the clinic's two dental assistants, helps Dr. K.

M. Sutton, assistant chief of dental surgery, examine a patient, one of the 1140 patients treated there each month. With no out-patient facilities at Thayer VA hospital on White Bridge road, veterans requiring that type of treatment use the facilities of the out-patient clinic of the VA in the federa.1 building. William C. Terry, chief audiologist at the clinic, runs a hearing test on a patient.

VU Gets Many Wires Protesting Switch By LEWIS GULICK WASHINGTON l-T rinn a education committee yes- terday turned down a move to put an amendment Into the big federal school con at ruction bill. Rep. Jamei Roosevelt (D-Calif.) reported the closed-aettion vote wai 16-10 against the amendment. It was offered by Rep. Stuyveiant Wainwright R.N.

with backing from Roosevelt and Rep. Roy W. Wier The amendment, similar to on proposed by Up p. Adam C. l'owell (D-N.

would have barred federal funds under the bill from going to school districts not obeying the supreme court mandate against public school segregation of white and Negro puplla. Succeeded Last Year Anti-segregationists now plan to offer the amendment again when the bill comes to the house floor. A similar move by Powell succeeded on the floor leust year, and the measure went down to defeat. Powell said in a statement issued by hit office that he was deliberately staying away from the committee sessions until the anti-segregation amendment was disposed of. The New York Negro congressman said he was absenting himself because ha did not want to support "the Towell amendment" before the bill got to the house floor.

Adoption of the rider in committee, he said, could cause the bill to be killed In that committer or by the rules committee and I want federal aid to school construction." Executive Session Called Chairman Graham A. Barden D-N. called the committee hack Into an afternoon executive session as the group neared the nd of Its work on the bill The house group has already given tentative approval to main provisions of the measure to set up a 2 billion, five-year federal aid program to help build classrooms. At it now stands the legislation Is a compromise between versions pushed by President Eisenhower and by Democrats. It would distribute $400,000,000 a year for public school building, Half according to need end half according to the number of school age children in a state.

Eisenhower and some other pro ponents of school aid have said an ntl-segregatlon provision has no place in this measure. Wainwright denied he had any intent to hurt the bill's chances of passage when he offered his amendment. Also, Roosevelt said an anti-segregation proviso "won't penalty" if the structure Is con structed at the present hospital; site. Won't Stand By Idly Magnuson said he was "fighting mad" over the plan which he described as "conceived in stupidity." "I am not going to stand by Idly and see a new hospital built out in the sticks instead of putting It next to Vanderbilt as I promised the doctors there 10 years ago," he said. Asked what ha Is doing about it, Magnuson said he has conferred with some members of congress, urging them to use their Influence to restore the original plana.

On June 29, 1956, Veterans Ad- ministrator Harvey Hlgley announced the SOO-bed hospital would "definitely" be constructed close to the medical school. He said that the VA definitely had aban doned the Thayer site and added his chief medical officer, Dr. William S. Middleton, also was strong ly In favor of the decision. Service Groups Protest Shortly following Higley's an nouncement, the various American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars posts here began adopting resolutions, all worded alike, to the effect that tha VA should build the hospital at the present site.

The crux of the resolutions was: Thayer is located on 142 acres of land already owned by the federal government with plenty of room for parking, and recreation grounds, and where, in case of a national emergency, additional hospital expansion would be pos sible without additional land. Thayer is a "fresh air" area (Continued From Page One) Dr. John H. Long, Brooklyn, N. Dr.

Carl A. Moyer, chief of surgery, Washington university's medical school, St. Louts; and Dr. H. Frldell, professor of radiology, western Keserve university, Clcve land, Ohio.

School Has Two Concerns Branscomb said: "Vanderbllt has two concerns In this matter: one Is to give the veterans the best care possible and the other is to let Nashville have the makings of one of the finest and highly concentrated medical centers in the South." "We do not stand to gain financially in any way at all by having the hospital close to the medical school," he said. "It's just a situation where there would be the closest co-ordination needed between the school, whose faculty furnishes about 60 doctors at the hospital, and the hospital itself." Branscomb said tha present setup discourages the best of the faculty to serve Thayer, because of the distance and inconvenience involved. Getting '8' Team Now "As it la, they're getting and will continue to get the team second level team of doctors- out there," he said. Branscomb added, however, that by saying the team, he did not Imply Inferior medical care. "It's Just that they're not get ting and won't get the cream of our medical and surgical men," he said.

In his attack on the VA's decision, Dr. ilagnuaon said Tennessee veterans in need of the best medical care will "pay a heavy it 4 it fi I Hospital Thayer have to spend about an hour and a half driving from Vanderbilt to the hospital and back. As to monetary savings, Magnu son said, tho property where the present hospital is could be sold for $600,000 to $800,000. Magnuson served as medical di rector of the VA until 1951 when he was ousted after making charges that bureaucrats were gaining control of the VA medical program. Ho is credited with en listing the support of medical school staffs to affiliate with VA hospitals.

Information Officer Answers The VA's answer to where the hospital should be located came from J. Norman Lodge, informa tion officer for the VA. He said: "We're not going to spend up to $1,500,000 and oust about 70 families to build next to the university when we already have a site for our new hospital. We can't justify that expense when we already have free land on which to build so close by." Branscomb said every medical advisor he has talked to has said superior care could be given if the hospital Is located directly across the street from the medical school. "The only reason for putting the hospital back on Its present site is the statement, which I will not debate, that It would cost a million dollars additional to purchase a site near Vanderbllt medical school," he said.

"Accepting tms iigure, would like to say this: "The cost of the hospital is to be somewhere between $13 million and SIS million. If there were no other considerations, the initial million dollars to be saved would represent from six to eight per cent of the cost of the undertaking. No business would hesitate to spend that part of the total cost of the operation to get a desired and preferred location. "The annual budget of the pres ent hospital is at present 000, to which the out-patient clinic (located in the federal building at Eighth and Broadway), with an additional budget of $1 million annually Is to be added. This brings the total to nearly $5 million annually.

The additional cost cited by the VA for the preferred location, spread over 30 years, represents less than one per cent of the annual budget. Large Savings Seen "Those familiar with the operation of hospitals of this siae agree unanimously that there are large savings which will be effected in the operation of the medical care program if this facility is located across the street from the medical school. "As one medical advisor put it, 'I would get twice the service for my money, if my consultants and attendants were located across the street than if they are located across It is obvious there would be considerable saving," Branscomb said. Presuming that the VA hospital will continue to ask Vanderbilt medical school to be responsible for the medical service at VA, the chancellor said construction of the hospital five miles away from the medical school Is contrary to the good Judgement of medical men. Branscomb said there were two other considerations in the matter of location.

"One is that the congress last year passed a law appropriating jjo minion annually for construe tlon of medical research facilities by medical schools. The VA thus is planning a location of its new hospital, with magnificent equip- ment, which will militate against the research both of its own staff and of the Vanderbilt medical fac ulty, in order to save $1 million once." Other Is Long-Range The other consideration, Brans comb said, Is a long-range one. "By location across from Vander bilt medical school, the veterans hospital will help create here in Middle Tennessee a great medical center, from which It, In turn, will derive many advantages as the years go by. Nothing would be gamed hy the dispersal of our medical facilities," he said. "Vanderbilt has nothing to sell nor gain financially in this instance.

Presumably, the VA wishes us to continue to provide the medical direction across town. We can do a better job close at hand," he said. "I am not waging any political light, but simply a matter of con science on behalf of veterans for many years to come." VA Had 3 Sites Branscomb said the VA had three sites in mind when the plan was to nuild the hospital near Vanderbilt. The site of first choice was residential property between Garland avenue and Dixie place, just south of the school. The second choice was Anderson field owned by Vanderbilt and tha third choice was Vanderbilt property and other property on Forde avenue, just off West End.

The last is the furtherest from the hospital. cranscomD said Middleton was very much in favor of the site closest to the hospital for medical reasons. "The property between Garland and Dixie would be the best, be cause it's so close," he said. "The homes in that area are mostly old homes, and I'm sure the VA would not have much trouble acquiring it. Under the present VA hospital setup, the out-patient clinic for veterans is operated on the second floor of the VA offices In the fed eral building.

Kenneth Craft, regional VA manager, said an average of 1140 patients are handled there monthly. ine present hospital has no out-patient facilities, Dr. Wilson C. Williams, hospital manager, said, because of its physical setup. He added that the out-patient work has been handled In the downtown offices before Thayer was Duiit as a temporary hospital during World War IL and that it has remained there.

"It's a matter of record, however that that clinic will be consoli dated with the hospital when it Is built, regardless of Its he said. Cartoon by Tom Little Wins Pulitzer Prize This is the text of sonic uf the telegrams received by Vanderbilt university's medical school from leading medical authorities In the country, concerning the VA hospital site change: "Distressed to learn that Veterans Administration proposes to build new VA hospital at the old site rather than in the immediate proximity to your other teaching activities. From what I know, this would seem to be a tragic mistake. Constant communication throughout the teaching, research and patient care Is essential for best medicine. GEORGE PACKER BERRY, M.

D. Dean, Harvard Medical school." "Well documented evidence to prove higher standards of medical care are reached In a hospital most closely associated geographi cally as well as functionally with university centers. Furthermore, under such cir cumstances there Is greater assur ance that highest standards of patient care will be maintained over the years. In the long run, It will prove the most economical location and setup. W.

R. BERRYHILL Dean of University of North Carolina Medical school." "As chairman of the committee on Veterans Administration medical school relationship and of the advisory committee on research to tne VA, I am much disturbed at the proposal to build new Thayer at a distance from the medical school when an adjacent site is available. High standard VA medical care so directly affiliated with medical schools, the closer the physical proximity, the closer the affiliation. Sincerely hope for future care of Nashville Thayer veteran (hospital) be built close to the school. J.

M. Mayman Jr. Dean, Tufuts Medical school. "Believe strongly If medical schools are to continue to provide the effective guidance and stimulus to the care of patients in veterans hospitals that has been provided In the past and have so materially raised the level of medical care, it Is essential that the VA hospital be as near as is feasible to those medical schools and pre-erably closely integrated with them physically. Tha great value of the deans' sheer delight keep it cool, NYLON in sizes: Misses 12-20 and half sizes 14 Vx to hnnd to further implement the effective work of tho deans' com mittee is of great value Close co-operation of veterans administration and medical school fnculty will work out greatly to the ad vantage of patients.

Dr. Shields Warren Harvard Medical school." "It Is of the utmost Importance that VA hospital be built closest proximity to university medical centers if tho highest typo of medical supervision and medical car Is to be given to veterans. I urge most strongly that con sideration be given to building the new VA hospital In Nashville as close as possible. H. L.

Frldell, M. Professor of radiology Western Reserve unlversltv.H REAL ESTATE" Biscoe 1 GRIFFITH 9 1 Company 4 JshGOUNSELORSi VODKA HIGHBALL mode with any rovorife ioll dr'mkl Qmtnoff. thi greatest nami in VODKA 80 snd 100 Proof. Olit from grsln. Sts.

Plsrre SmfrnoftFls. (0I. Hsublslni, Hartford, Conn. for Mom! make it MESH 22 Va 10 95 as Hi. igood for the tubercular patients there Real estate will "triple or more" In value around Vanderbilt hos pital if the "concerted plan" to move Thayer there materialized.

The government would have to purchase this property. Relocation of Thayer will place "all the major hospitals in an area not more than one-half mile wide, and this will jeopardize the safety of all In the case of a national emergency." The proposed area is "already crowded with parking meters, crowded thoroughfares," and three of Nashville's colleges and universities Vanderbilt, Peabody and scarritt. Tabled at Convention An attempt was made to have the resolution adopted by the state American Legion convention here last year, but Legion officials tabled It on grounds the matter was "too complicated" for the state group to consider. On Feb. 25, Higley, a former high ranking official in the American Legion, announced that the Vanderbilt site was abandoned and the hospital would go up at the present site.

Magnuson said the decision to build the new hospital at Thayer is a breach of the policy developed by the VA more than 10 years ago, That policy Is to locate new VA facilities in the proximity of medi cal schools. Policy Carefully Planned He said the policy was very carefully planned and "was the wisest decision the VA ever made. It has given our veterans the best medical care they have ever enjoyed." Magnuson said Vanderbllt doctors serving as consultants at started to call his office. I cut the telephone wire and then got ride to another house about half a mile away. We scooped them on that one.

Little's early police reporting days were shared with Ralph Mc-Gill, now editor of the Atlanta Constitution. "We ran around together and whooped it up together," Little said, "but when we were on a story It was all fight." Recalls Unique Experience One experience of Little's, which Is probably unique in the history of Journalism, occurred In the early 20s. "I was In the office when a man called me and said that a bank on Ninth avenue and Monroe was going to be held up In 10 minutes. "I told the boys In the office and they laughed at me. But It wasn't a Joke.

When I got to the bank the police were having a gunbattle In the street with the holdup men. "The fellow who called me was one of the robbers. I don't remember his name now, but he was sent to prison for a long time. I always helped him whenever I could after that." In an era when murder was common fare to the reading public of Nashville, one killing still stands out vividly in Little's memory, the murder of Harry Lehman. "Lehman was kingpin of the bootleggers until he lost favor with the authorities and went broke," Little said.

"Rival bootleggers got a woman to lure him over into Cheatham county. They had a big drinking spree and they killed Lehman bv shooting him several times. They shot a toe and then a finger and kept on until he died." "They had some good Little recalled, "and to my mind Sgt. Ed Wright was the best. He was always a reporter's friend.

He tipped us off when something happened." Hat Rides in Casket Little remembers how a new hat he had bought out of his skimpy salary took a final ride In the casket of a convicted murderer. "I'll never forget It." Little said. "Ben Fowler was a religious man from East Tennessee. He was always trying to get bootleggers and moonshiners to attend camp meetings. "Somehow he got Into an r-guement In a theater with a doctor and he killed him.

"The killer was convicted of murder and sentenced to the chair. I was visiting him in the death house when his father an old fellow from the mountains came to see him." The father asked Fowler which way he wanted to "go home" after the electrocution, "The long way by sister's house," the condemned man said. "And, pap, I sure would like to wear a hat like Tom's got." He got the hat. Fhtcert Anywhere I re point out something bad on the other side. "Good cartoons are not funny," he added.

"They are serious business. People don't laugh at them. They get mad at them." The serious business of police reporting started for Little in 1919 with the famous Robin Cooper murder. The murder, gtill unsolved, was Little's first big story. "It was about 7 o'clock one morning when somebody called the office and said that Cooper had been killed.

Find Cooper Car "I left the office and was running aero the public square when two detectives who were friends of mine picked me up." Little said that Cooper's car was found on a bridsre over Richland creek on Highway 100. There was a bloody stone and hair In the ear, but no body. "George Blackwood found the body," Little said. "Somebody had thrown it off the bridne." "I heard him holler, 'Here he I turned around to run for a telephone and a rival reporter was in front of me. "He got to this house first and r'j-r 1lltl k.

(Continued From Page One) called me and told me about it somebody had to bring me a chair." Dr. Lentz submitted the car toon to the Pulitzer prize advisory committee. He now has the original drawing In his court house office. Little, whose cartoons have been reproduced for years In magazines and newspapers over the country, occupies an old scat at the prize-winning table. Headliners Winner In 1947 he was winner of the eoveted National Headliners award for outstanding editorial cartoons during the year.

In 1951, 1955, and 1956 he won the George Washington honor medal given by the Freedom foundation at Valley Forge, Pa. He has also won a Christopher award given by a national or-ganlzatlon of the Catholic church. Starting on THE TENNESSEAN as a cub reporter In 1918 when he was 17 years old, Little later was city editor for six years before becoming political cartoonist In 1937. "I'll never forget when I got that first job on the old TEN NESSEAN," Little said. "Tom Sims and I were going to school at Montgomery Bell aca'demy.

We decided to go down and ask for a Job. Berry Spence was city editor then. He told us he didn't have but one job open and Tom Sims spoke up and said: 'We'll take it and split the We did, too. Fifteen dollars a week between us." Sims later went on to King Syndicate as an idea man where he was Instrumental in making Popeye one of the nation's most popular cartoon characters. now has a daily syndicated column.

Once Police Reporter As a police reporter on the old Tennessean, Little was smack In the middle of the tooth-and-fang era of bootleggers, prostitutes and gangsters that turned much of Nashville into a city of mugs, molls and easy money during the '20s, And between scribbling notes about the latest gang killing, Little was practicing drawing largely under the tutelage, of Carey Orr, now chief cartoonist on the Chicago Tribune. "Always, I hud It in my mind to be a cartoonist," Little said. "And I think my years as a reporter and city editor were tha best background any cartoonist in the world could have." Littlo has not restricted himself to political cartooning, although that has always been his first love. He drew a nyn-dlcated panel cartoon, "Sunflower Street," front 1W4 until 3949. Draws for N.

Y. Times Since 1951, Little has been drawing cartoons to go with articles on domestic- politics for the New York Times Sunday magazine fix of Little's enrtenms on the 1950 presidential race were published In a bonk, "The People's Choice," edited by Pierce G. Frederick. He also has several cartoons tn a traveling exhibition of the National Cartoonists society. The exhibit has toured tha world.

His World War II cartoons were exhibited by the Centennial club hsre. As a hobby, Little puts down Staff photo by Joe Rudis Tom Little and his wife Lillian read the news that the cartoonist won the Pulitzer prize. the lithograph crayon and takes up watercolors. But his biggest hobby is his work In the Shrine club's crippled children's program. He has been a member of the Shriners since 1929.

When he has nothing else to do, Little works In his vegetable garden or roams the Richland country club golf course, "I guess I'm the worst left-handed goiter In the world," he said. He shoots in the high 90s. Not Satisfied As for the cartoon that won for him the Pulitzer award, Little said he drew it at home one night after midnight and was pretty dissatisfied with the Job. "I thought the drawing was so rotten I was going to tear it up," Littlo Ud. "But it was lata and I didn't have time to do another one." Little said the cartoon was not assigned by the newspaper.

The idea for a cartoon to help the Salk vaccine program was first broached by Dr. Lsntz. "1 called his wife to ask her to soften him up to the idea," the health officer said, "I knew ono of Tommy's cartoons would do more good than anything else. It really sold the program." 'Wake Up' People "My idea," Little said, "was to wake people up to the opportunity they had to give their children these shots. It was a chance they never had before and might never have again.

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