Daily News from New York, New York • 21

a rr 1 i i DAILYO NEWS The Inquiring Tel. MUrray Hill 2-1234 Friday, May 18, 1943 Totograpber By JIMMY JEMAIL The A'eirs will par $5 for every timely, interesting question submitted and used in this column. Today's award goes to A. Keller, 454 Gregory A re, ST eehau ken, N. J.

THE QUESTION. Mark Twain once described a banker as "a man who loaned you an umbrella when the sun was shining and demanded its return when it rained." What is your description of a banker? THE PLACE. Various spots. THE ANSWERS. Frank M.

Brooks, 82d Brook Published dally excrot Suadaj tT Km S.Tmlirata Co. 12 E. 2d Rormirt Manhattan, tirm Toik. 17. N.

T. liaibr mail ram: I). Canarta. Jir, a ar. or tfta Daily and Bunrtr.v Neva.

II. Sli.5 oer Tear: Canatla. .00. President an treasvrar. 2 M.

Patterson: aerretary. It. R. McCormick: second vice Dresiient and reneral aaanaaar. Raw C.

HolliM as'istant atwtary. M. Flrnn. all of 52(1 E. 424 New Turk, 17.

N. MF.MBF.R OF TUT. ASSOCIATED PRESS -The Associated Pi- is exclusively wititled fn the ae Inr republication of all mw dispatches creilitet! to it or not otherwise erfdited in this naner and also the lo-al iiewa vuhliHhpd herein AM richta of remiUication ot KPpri aI rlisoavheglcrein arr also reserved "WHO DO YOU WANT FOR MAYOR?" The question on The News mayoralty poll ballot is worded that way "Who Do You Want for Mayor?" and some sticklers for pure English have written in to ask don't we know it ought to be "Whom," etc. Abstractly, yes, we do. But if our canvassers were to go around asking people: "Whom Do You Want for a lot of people would get the impression that The News was being pretty high-hat.

This "who" and "whom" business is only one of numerous cases where the popular tongue is out of tune with the grammarians rules. There is, for another example, the difference between "shall" and "will" "shall" denoting simple futurity, "will" determination. The difference is illustrated by the story of the Frenchman who didn't know quite enough English, fell in a river, and after some wild struggles shouted in despair: "I will drown, and no one shall save when a ill lyn, cigar store manager: "My description of a banker might not be considered good literature, but I'm sure it is equally effective. I'd describe a banker as 'a man who'd I -saw if lend you the shirt off his back when vou're fully clothed, "but will take a strip-teaser's last G-string to satisfy a Cy Flaster, Morris Plains, N. office furniture dealer: "A banker is 'a magician who can float on his own bond You would soon know what I mean if you tried to float on the same bond issue! Chances are that you would sink to the bottom like "A VOICE OF THE PEOPLE Vletu givt nmm mm mddress with ymur letter.

We fill withhold both cm re que ft. WHY THE BLACK MARKET? 8 OLD REFRAIN a rock! Some bond issues could float, they're so watered!" Clifford B. Evans, E. 47th Elizabeth, N. The Inquiring Fotographer, asking six persons whether they thought the black market could be licked, got from pressman: I think that I can improve on Mark Twain's description.

A banker is 'a man who will lend you all the money vou need for Cayuga: By the way, what ever became of that song, "Therell Be a Hot Time in the Town of When the Yanks Go Marching AMERICA F1RSTER. HE CALLS 'EM COWARDS Manhattan: Terror attacks out West by American hoodlums against Americans of Japanese ancestry are old stuff. Attacks against these people have been going on for years. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why we are at war with Japan today. If these yellow-bellied American megalomaniacs really want to fight Nips, why the hell don't they join Mac-Arthur? Oops, I forgot, though in that case thev might get hurt.

VICTOR YOLLMAR. UNCLE SAM, CREDITOR 4 Tiirniruro hii 1 will take the bed away later when vour wife OPA Chief Woolley in New York the answer: "Yes, by refusing to buy black market." The correct answer would be: "Yes, by giving people a break on red points so that they won't have to buy black market." For example, butter has gone up from 8 points to 24. The increase at first was because of a butter scarcity, but when butter became more plentiful were the point values lowered proportionately? Certainly not. Similar things have happened to evaporated milk and to cheese. Things like this are what make many people think: "What the hell; they are making it as tough as they can, so I'll get it my way" and they buy black market stuff.

Most people are willing and even anxious to go without something if it will help the war effort, but they do not like to be bungled out of necessities. E. M. is going to have a baby and you're in a Dunninger, Fifth entertain drowning actually was farthest from his hopes. win, however, is rapidly driving out "shall" in popular usage.

Another tough one is the use Popular Speech; of "was" and "were" with "if." Correct Grammar Most of us say, correctly, "If I were you but most of us don correctly, "If it were not true." The usual version of that is: "If it wasn't so." Then there is "like," whose current uses annoy many a purist. "It looks like it's going to rain" is grammatically incorrect; but how many use the correct "It looks as if it were going to rain" "Do it like you did it before," too, is more popular than the correct "Do it as you did it before." A pet hate of the grammarians is "ain't" yet to us it seems a natural in one category, at least. "He ain't" and "Ain't he?" may be poor substitutes for "He isn't" and "Isn't But how about "Ain't "Am I not?" takes too long to say; "Am't never has caught on, probably because it rounds so prissy; "Aren't is grammatically incorrect itself, because it calls for the answer? "I are." We think the grammarians would do well to give up the struggle and declare "ain't" O. K. The people are going to go on vising it, anyway in which connection we are reminded of the late Will Rogers' crack that "a lot of them that ain't saying 'ain't', ain't eating." The same goes for "It is as against "It's me." The former may be grammatically virginal but when you knock on the door of your wife, mother or any one else near and dear to jou, and she calls: "Who is the natural reply is: "It's me." The written word follows the spoken word, though sometimes quite a distance behind which is one reason for these popular violations of the rules of grammar.

Another reason is that 100 or 150 years ago few people could read and fewer could write, whereas nowadays in civilized countries most people learn at least to read. The oldtimers could grasp the niceties and nuances of language, and had time to study them, and to apply rules in their writings. Most people these days have neither the time nor the ear for language to be so precise. 11' Similar remarks apply to spelling. Spelling ana.

We now have various dictionaries con-Some Spellers taining approved spellings of hundreds of thousands of English words. Yet this is a relatively new thing in the English-speaking world. William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was a good writer in fact, a very good writer but so poor a speller that he spelled his own name at least three different ways. His contemporaries were similarly slipshod about their spelling, apparently considering it unimportant. When you get back to Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-1400), you have to make a special study of him before you can tell what he was writing about.

Generalbr, we're in favor of simplified spelling, with some reservations. We've gone so far as to use "tonite" for "tonight" in some parts of the paper, and "fotographer" and "foto." But we never could like "thru," for some reason, though it is a perfectly legitimate substitute for "through." "Borough" and "thorough," it seems to us, can well be shortened to "boro" and "thoro" IF those who use these forms would resolutely refrain from adding apostrophes to them "boro' "thoro to show that they are culturedly aware of the original spellings. Maybe President Andrew Jackson, a notoriously punk speller, summed up this whole subject something over 100 years ago. Being twitted one day about his spelling, Gen. Jackson 13 said to have replied: "Well, sir, it is a damned poor mind that cannot think of more than one way to spell a word." er: One who will give you the most when you need it the Add to this definition the high hat, the cane, the frock coat, and the smile which he has discovered can go a long way, and you have the popular conception 9t of the successful Oakland, N.

Russia has received, through Lend-lease, goods worth enough to buy us enough crude oil to run our refineries for a generation. Russia has a lot of crude oiL We have been draining our reserves like mad during this war, also our iron deposits and Russia has lots of iron ore. How about some crude oil and iron from Russia free of charge, as a littla return on our $9,000,000,000 worth banker. Ambrose P. Ayers, Second newsdealer: "Well, the Inquiring Fotographer is a walking question mark, so a banker is a walking NO the guy who 'accentuates the You can say it in another way 'as definite as a bank POSTWAR WACs Bronx: If, as many people feel, the Army is excellent training for men in peacetime, why not continue the WACs after the war, too? LORRAINE Du BRON.

DEFENDING DE YALERA Richmond: I would like to take exception to the slur of England's Churchill on the policy of Eire's De Valera. De Valera took a stand of neutrality in the beginning of the war. He laid before his own people and the people of the world the principles by which he intended to govern Eire. He stuck by these principles through thick and thin because he believed this was best for his country. Very few leaders have acted as honestly as De Valera.

Britain has nothing owed to her by Eire. Rather, hers it is to pav for the blood and tears inflicted by her on a Godfearing people. AMERICAN IRISHMAN. CATERING TO STALIN Manhattan: Why do so many people in this free United States want us to baby the Russians and meekly submit to every Russian demand? We have shed enough blood and given enough money and irreplaceable resources to save Russia and Britain, while asking nothing for ourselves. Are we vassals to Britain or Russia or both, or are we a free nation? VETERAN.

er's NO! He doesn't care how you say it!" 01 Lend-lease courtesies to Russia? And let's not allow foreign governments with heavy bank balances here to beat us to the draw by using these balances to buy-American machinery which is needed here after years of deferred maintenance, especially oa railroads and in power plants. S. H. LATVIANS MOWN DOWN Nassau: The other morning I heard a radio commentator say that anti-Communists in Latvia were trying to escape to Swedea by boat, but the boats were being sunk by the Russians. Could this not be classified as an In 1939, Russia, was criticized adversely for her filth and for her cowardly attack on Finland.

Now Russia is called gallant. You can fool all the people some of the time, etc. Russia didn't fight our war we fought hers. EDNA H. LIND.

WHO GETS THE BUTTER? Brooklyn: My husband writes me from his Pacific station that he and his pals are positively getting none of the butter which has such a high point value here. Isn't it about time to start Lend-leasing some of such supplies to our own E. 53d St Walter O. Petersen, rapher: "'A banker is a man who will lend vou money when you' re prosperous, out will turn you down when you need money the I know I've just been turned down. To get the money I want I'll have to hock my job or some of fighting men? DOT,.