Shamokin News-Dispatch from Shamokin, Pennsylvania • Page 4

SHAMOKIN NEWS-DISPATCH, SHAMOKIN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 1941 V. PAGE FOUR Have You Been Following the News Lately? Peter Edson "Behind the Scenes" Shamokin News-Dispatch Combining BeptembH 18, 1033 -V, "1HAMOKIN DAILY NtWS SHAMOKIN DISPATCH ifrubllnhed I83) (Fnuudfd 1886) jl'j PuDIUhfd Every Evening Except Sunday Oj Vt NtWS PUBLISHING AND PRINTING COMPANY, Inc. l1' Hock una Commerce Streets Shumnktn IT Robert Mallck. Premdent and Managing Editor Raymond Clapper "In the News" to I want you to know you are never forgotten, That the old, old days hid in memory sweet Are still a part of my life that I cherish, Without them so much would be incomplete. Anon (Am still trying to work up interest in that "Auld Lang Syne Day" idea; a day when we would all get In touch with as many of our old pals as possible to show we were still thinking of them.

One day last week I was thinking of a friend I hadn't seen for fifteen ynrs. And had no idea where he was. Next day I met him on the street. Ever have anything like that nappen to you? EVD) Am a little late in getting started turning out this deathless prose today. I have been trying to read the future with an egg.

Somebody sent in a book on how to read the future with eggs so I thought I would try the idea out. The book said you must first hold the egg over a glass for five minutes and concentrate on what you want to know. After that you stick a pin in the egg and let out the white part and from the way this settles faQ the glass you read the future. What I wanted to know was: "Will Bull Reign win the Kentucky Derby?" Well, sir, I was concentrating on this and holding the egg over the glass when my girl friend came in the kitchen and said: "What in the world are you doing standing there with an egg in your hand and a silly look on your face?" This interruption threw me all off my concentrating. But I am going to try again tomorrow.

Maybe I should start reading the future with tea leaves and work up to eggs. PASSING BY Mrs. George Schley. Of the World of Fashion. Professionally known as Valentina.

She designs clothes for Katherine Hepburn, And for Lynn Fontanne Dick Richards. Bridge champion from Detroit which town with what seems some justice calls itself "The City of Champions." How many champions has your town given the world? And here's a query for a sport quiz expert: "What national champion of what game came from Honesdale, Muriel Lester. Social Worker. Says, "Even leading Christians consider ten minutes a day for prayer enough, although they spend ten hours eating and sleeping." I have no ideas as to how much of each day should be devoted to prayer but a prayer I like is Pope's: If I am right, help me In the right to stay. If I am wrong, Lord, Teach me that better way.

And then there's Harry Kemp's: I kneel not now to pray that Thou Make white one single sin, I only kneel to thank Thee, Lord, For what I have not been. Tony Pelleteri. Horseman from New Orleans. When In the hundred thousand dollar Santa Anita Handicap Bay View crossed the finish line Mr. Pelleteri turned to his wife, who was so nervous she couldn't bear to look at the finish, and calmly said: "Mama, I think your horse has won the race." It takes a man of very steady nerves to thus gently break the news to his wife that they have won a hundred thousand dollars.

I wonder how I will take it when my horse wins the Santa Anita Handicap. PLEASE NOTE That sometimes women are in the mood for love, and sometimes are not is well-known. But now one expert on love states men have moods for love. And that a woman who wishes to succeed in love and marriage should not annoy a man with love when he wants to discuss the European situation, his business, or what he thinks of the income tax, Keep that in mind, young woman Young matron of Roseville, says her birthday is March 8, and their wedding anniversary date is March 8, and asks "Isn't that unusual?" Very unusual, ma'am. And does your husband give you two presents on March ASIDES "What does a fellow like you know about hard work?" says a New York truck driver, sarcastically.

WeU. maybe not much, sir, but something. Don't forget I've worked on a farm. I've been a waiter, too. And a night clerk.

As a matter of fact I once drove a truck. Dr. Aileenrt Burton, eminent psychiatrist, adds another one to the long list of definitions of love. Says she: "Love is when the satisfaction or the security of another person becomes as significant to one as is one's own satisfaction or security." "Fifteen-year-old slayer faces life term" says headline. Who remembers the case of Jesfe Pom-eroy? As I recall it, Pomeroy was jailed at the age of eleven and stayed in jail until his death at eighty years of age.

Think of a man being in Jail for nearly seventy years! DOG STORIES "Am collecting dog stories. Know any?" asks a Oeli-fornian. Plenty, sir. But maybe they are the same ones you know-. One that appealed to me I read in an article by a doctor who had practiced in Cairo, Egypt.

In that city there are many stray dogs. This doctor, hearing a whimpering outside of his house one night, found a dog there whose leg was injured. The doctor fixed this dog up. On a night three months later the doctor heard a scratching on his door. He opened the door; and there was the dog whose leg he had fixed, with another dog tliat had an injured leg.

Looking Backward Twenty-five Years Ago 1916 James H. Straub, president of the Croninger Packing Company, was feted by a number of friends on the fiftieth anniversary of his birth. Stanley Mickel, Exchange, leceivea a fractur of the right leg in an accident at Locust Spring Colliery Fifteen Years Ago 1926 Shamokin Boy Scout Council announced It had added 63 boys to its organization in a membership campaign. Orville Campbell was elected noble grand of James Garfield Lodge of Odd Fellows. Five Years Ago 1936 George Marshalek, Jr, 23, of Marion Heights, died of injuries sustained In an accident at Natalie Colliery.

A lot of us wouldn't be content witb our lot even II it was a lot. Nothing takes a man right off his feet like seeing comfortable chair. E. V. Durling "On the Side" WASHINGTON There are at least 400 organizations and no telling how many Individuals in Washington intent on influencing public opinion, Congress and every department of government.

In spite ot ihls surplus, however, there is or should ue room for one more pressure group the National Society for Keeping Your Shirt On. Also your pan ty waist This observation is made, gratis, as, a result of one recent, unfortunate misunderstanding which, given official misinterpretation by an Office of Management spokesman, nearly threw an entire American industry into a panic, caused a price rise scare among dealers and consumers and will take Edson unlimited time to correct. Here's the story, and though it concerns pots and pans, it might Just as well have been porkchops or prunes: A short time ago, manufacturers of aluminum ware and cooking utensils were called to Washington to determine what could be done about cutting down consumption of metal, thus releasing more for defense industries. Twenty of the leading manufacturers in this branch of the industry used about 10 per cent of the national aluminum consumption last year. Currently, the industry is using about 4 per cent of production, and has about three to five months' supply in stock, supplementing' about two months' stock on dealers' shelves.

There is, therefore, enough aluminum ware available to take care of normal consumer demand for the rest of the year. a Just a Small Misunderstanding At the Washington conference, however, one manufacturer was overheard asking in effect, "Well, 'f we go out of business, what are we going to do?" It was this question, apparently, which in slightly garbled form was passed on to Robert L. Mehornay, one of the dollar-a-year men in O. P. M.

Mehornay, in Cleveland to make a speech, held a press interview in which he gave the impression that the aluminum uter.sils industry was out of business for the war, and with his remarks the fat was out of the aluminum frying pan and into the fire. The 13,000 workers in the industry read it and wond ered about their jobs. The dealers who sell the ware took a look at their stocks and started to rush in orders for a reserve. A few stores may have been led to raise prices. Consumer demand increased, which had the effect of hoarding aluminum.

Now. all this tangled daisy chain of events was totally unnecessary and it could have been avoided if a few men, the manufacturer who asked a needless question or others who gave it credence, had not started a panicky rumor. Aluminum is of course a strategic material, and there is not an overabundance for all purposes, but by careful rationing, there is no reason why there should be serious shortage for any industry yet if the supply is well managed. Skillets for National Defense Defense production naturally gets first call, but defense production in aluminum can mean manufacture of soup kettles for army field kitchens, or pots and pans for navy destroyers or mess kits for both. Therefore, after defense industries have had their quotas allotted, whatever is left will be divided up proportionately among other industries.

In this connection, it should be borne in mind that the 2-S and 3-S grades of soft aluminum which go into pots and pans are no good for the 17-S or 52-S grades of hard aluminum or duralium alloys which go into the manufacture of airciaft and engines. To throw the entire aluminum utensil industry or any other similar industry out of business riciit now would be the height of folly. It would throw tens of thousands of workers out of jobs and the economic upset thereby suddenly created would be impossible to rectify in months. The plants could not be adapted to war work, for they are tooled to handle soft metal and could not begin to stamp out airplane parts of hard alloys. One trouble is that aluminum to most people means only pots and pans.

England went through this experience, when it began to feel an aluminum snortage and somebody started a great crusade to have housewives give their cooking utensils to the government for the good of the cause. Scrap piles rose to make good pictures and propaganda, but the metal was no good for pistons or crank ceses, so it was melted down and made into new pots and pans. The point of all this is that if an hysteria of this kind can be created over aluminum, is can happen to long woolen underwear, or shoes, or hamburger. Later on, there may be calls for sacrifices, and shortages which will mean higher prices. In the face of that, bus'ness as usual can't go on forever but as Harriet Elliott, chairman of the consumer division in the defense commission, has pointed out, consumer rumor is a needless epidemic, for at present there is no danger of shortages in the necessities of life.

Hence the need to keep on the national collective shirt and pantywaist. So They Say Hitler did not release the workers of Germany from bondage to the bankers but forged anew chains to enslave the working class. Matthew Woll, A. F. of vice-president.

We have to choose, and for my part I think it is a less evil that some criminals should escape than that the government should play an ignoble part. Justice Holmes, as quoted by President Roosevelt on the wire-tapping bill. We may put in the place of today's world a new civilization, different from any that we have hitherto known, but based upon those values which democracy las discovered and proved to be good. Russell Davenport, editor and erstwhile Willkie backer. We are now, for the first time, approaching quantity production in the sense that the term applied to Uic auto industry of many years ago.

Richard W. Miller, president of Vultee Aircraft. The condition for democracy and for art are one and the same. John Hay Whitney, president, New York's Museum of Modern Art. The part that nature did is wonderful, the part that man did is terrible.

Henry Miller, writer, and until recently seir-maie xile" in Parks now returning the U. S. and commenting thereon. Phnna-11204, 1206. U07 Served by Pull Leaned WUa ul the United Presa 4 liiiuilMitn Kl (U I I rBtlUB lirn-lioitl ut i v.

i two- vi Membi American Newspaper Publlanerc Atcial)on Served B.v Kull Service Newspaper EnterDrUa AMnciatmo The SMumnkln la uo h1 at newuunda and delivered oy regul.it earner in Shamokin and adjacent territory lor three cent a copy in IS cent a week Delivered by mall tn ell point in 'he Halted State and Canada at S7.0 tear strictly in advance. Entered vecnrd-clas mall matter at th Pot Offlc at inmokm Pa 1 National Advertixina Representative UrLISMCK-BOYD. INC. 10 rtorkei-ller 'laza New York O80 N. M.chlKkn Ave.

hlrago 1421 Chestnut Phtla. Otrrce In Httsourgh. Boston, Mass Lo Augelea Cahl.i 6a FraiiriKcn CjIII Denvei Col Omaha Neb Seattle Wah Portland Ore. Rochenter tlL- A THOUGHT FUK I'UJJA S- Anch the anger of the Lord was kindled against them; and he departed. Numbers 12:9.

It is less to suffer punishment than to de-" serve it. Ovid. OUR DEMOCRATIC FEDERAL REPUBLIC We're all talking about democracy these days. Eut we don't always mean the same thing. We speak of the United States as a djftpiocracy, and so it is in the broad sense, Ihu that isn't the same thing as merely having a republic.

Let's try to define some of these things more closely, so that when we use the words we'll all know precisely what we're talking about. First, democracy. Democracy is a general condition of society, a way of life, not a mere. form of government. It is a condition in Which all men have equal rights, none has spiiKial privileges, and equal opportunities arCopen to all; in which all men join freely In governing themselves.

Thus England, Norway, and Sweden, all monarchies, have been ihuch democracies as the United States many believe that Norway and Sweden have been more so. jfc i'J The United States is a democracy. It is n'6t a perfect democracy, of course, for it is here on earth, not in heaven. To the extent that all men do not have equal rights, that they do not have equal opportunities, that any has special privileges, to that extent we have failed to achieve democracy. But we have achieved a great and democracy is simply a struggle to achieve the democratic ideal.

I Note that the totalitarian ideal is the di-T rect opposite. In Russia, a single class, the proletariat, is conceded all power, and there are no inherent rights for anybody else ex-J cept as the only permitted party, which claims to represent that proletarian class, chooses to grant them. In Germany and Italy a single party has all the powers of govern- ment; whole races and classes are excluded I from having any political and social rights as that privileged class (party) chooses to 1 grant them. The ideal, the goal, is diametri- 2 cally opposite to our own. I Now, a republic.

A republic is simply a scheme of government by elected representa- tion. It might or might not be completely democratic, though today the two usually go together. There have been republics in which only small classes had any political or social I rights. Our republic is a democratic republic. I Further, it is a special kind of republic a federal state.

That is, like Switzerland, one in which various political units (states here, cantons in Switzerland) are joined to-; gether in a central government made up of those units. A federal state might be neither a republic nor a democracy. I The United States is all three. It is a federal union of states, forming a central publican government that is, a government run by popularly elected representatives of all the people, limited by a fundamental law or constitution adopted and modified by all the people. But most important, the United States is a democracy; a society consciously committed to struggling always toward the shining goal of equal rights for all, special privileges for none.

Long live our democratic federal republic i Traffic Congestion Is Costly Everybody knows that traffic congestion is a -nuisance. Everybody knows it is infuriat-iing. But not everybody knows it is costly. The annual economic loss to Detroit, for instance, from traffic congestion, is estimated at $18,000,000 by the Michigan state high-; wayldepartment, reports the American Pub- 3 lie Works Association. That doesn't count economic losses due to accidents.

It is based on easoline wastage, estimated ah third, extra wear on brakes and motors and lost by drivers. A value of 3-4 cent was 1 placed on every minute lost by passenger cars, 1.47 cents for buses and commercial cars, 1.38 cents for taxis. We put up with traffic congestion as long as nothing was lost but lives and nerves tempers. Maybe now that we're begin- to find the cost in terms of cash, we may something about it. I Leonard Lyons "Broadway Medley" Frank Carson, the editor who died last week, was a newspaperman whose exploits have become legendary.

Some of them were recorded in the Hecht-MacArthur play, "The Front Page," others were hushed, tuch as this one which involved a technical violation of the law On the day Colonel Lindbergh released to the press the photograph of his kidnaped son, he specified that Carson's newspaper was not to receive any copies because one of his reporters had pursued the Lindberghs on their honeymoon Carson, however, dispatched reporters to the various railroad mail cars. Each reporter carried a photo of a child, taken from the files of the Beautiful Baby. Contest, and explained to the mail clerk that he was from the Associated Press, and that the news service had mailed the wrong picture. One mail clerk was convinced and permitted the picture swap. And so Carson had his front-page photo of the Lindbergh baby that night while an innocent N'ew England editor published the photo of the son of a Queens fireman.

Marc Blitzstein, who won a Guggenheim Fellowship last year, applied for a second one this year and won it. Last week the composer received a letter from the Guggenheim office, opened it excitedly, and a quick glance revealed that it was a mimeographed notire He set it down before him, and stared at it, with fixed, unseeing eyes, for five hours. Then he read it, and first jealized that it was not a rejection form. It merely informed: "Your first Guggenheim Award is not taxable." The promoters of the Joe Louis-Abe Simon fight had such little confidence in the number of rounds it would last that no movies were taken of that 13-round bout Warner Bros, have purchased Edna Ferber's "Saratoga Trunk," now being serialized in Cosmopolitan. It's the highest price ever paid for a work in advance ol complete publication.

Norman Krasna, the scenarist, enrolled for a $100 course at Arthur Murray's in Hollywood, and paid $70. "Murray owes me $30," he told the cashier. "I never collected my final week's salary when I was his press agent." A man sat alone at the bar of Cafe Society Uptown waiting for some friends who were late in arriving. A glamorized blonde, wearing furs and Jewels, entered the club. She was trailed by doting escorts, who rushed to help seat her at a ringside table.

The man sitting at the bar observed this scene, and then asked the waiter: "Who's that?" "Martha Scott," the waiter replied. "The star of 'Cheers for Miss The man who didn't recognize the movie star was Jed Harris. In his production of Thornton Wilder's "Our Town," he had given a star-making role1 to a young lady who never before had appeared on Broadway Martha Scott. The current mystery in radio concerns a Mutual broadcast Jan Valtin is supposed to make this week lor the Bureau of Immigration. Alexander Woollcott lost $75 in a backstage theft during his performance in Hershey, Pa.

Abe Feder, the lighting expert whose work included the lighting for "I'd rather Be Right," "Dr. Faustus" and the Ballets, now has been given one of the most cherished and profitable assignments of the year. He's going to Hollywood, for the Doughnut Corporation of America, which is opening a new shop there, and light the windows so that the doughnuts will look more luscious. He also will light Meyer Davis' bowling alleys in Washington, which need special lighting because to many of the customers are women. Three years ago a film scout, flying to Hollywood, became Interested in the pilot of the plane -a flier named LaVerne Brown.

The pilot was given a screen test, and was signed to a film contract. His was changed to John Trent. He appeared in a few pictures, and his career was considered a promising one. Trent's last role was in the aviation film, "I Wanted Wings," which was made at Randolph and Kelly Fields in Texas. There, back at his old flying stand, Trent made his decision that wings, and not camera roles, were what he really wanted.

And so he's quit the movies. And as LaVerne Brown he's a pilot again flying bombers to Canada. Necessity being the mother of Invention doesn't explain monocles. WASHINGTON I believe that we are on the eve of the most anxious days Americans have known since Lincoln stood at his window and gazed across the Poto mac, wondering whether the house would stand. We should, I think, steel ourselves against the fact that we shall likely be hearing bad news before we hear good' news.

There must be some hard days ahead before the tide can turn. England is bleeding badly now. A Jbw few more Plymouths and she have I difficulty in breathing. Nobody here be-k lieves the full force of Germany has been unloosed. Will England be choked, port by port? Only about five have Clapper been knpeked out.

The call for help is becoming more despprate. For the first time a London newspaper has thrown aside tactful restraint and has urged that the United States send its naval vessels in to convoy ships. England needs, said this newspaper, every American captain, every engineer, every American seaman who can be sparpd I know that some of our best-informed officials believe we must soon begin to convoy. From what hear I am convinced that this step is coming. It may be nearer than any of us think.

Berlin seems confident that American aid will be too little and too late. Colonel Lindbergh agrees. will tell. It is very late now. The sea war is growing more costly every dav Shipping losses suggest quite pointedly that the British navy is proving inadequate to the task.

The Manchester Guardian's naval expert reports that the two German battleships which have been out raiding have succeeded in returning to port. If that is correct it sharply emphasizes the need of more warships and more aggressive use ol them. Some suggest that we turn over more destroyers to England. But there is expert opinion behind -lie idea that American warships would be more useful under American naval officers. The Inclination fSeems 'lefinitely in that direction.

Mrs. Roosevelt said at her press conference that when the President returned from his cruise he would call for what would amount to total national mobilization. He made it clear in his address to the White House correspondents recently that we were out for total victory, and that there was to be no turning back. Obviously what lies ahead is a more forward advance to this situation. I think every American must be prepared for that.

This means two kinds of activity, one directed at the Immediate crisis, which is grave indeed, the other directed at the long pull. And you may be sure that it will be a long pull, whether England stands or falls. Either way, our trial has just begun. Defeat of England will mean a much longer job for us, the maintenance of an armed camp in America for an indefinite period. As to the long pull there is no need for the slightest apprehension.

Our industrial effort is certain to produce astounding results in time. We don't yet realize our size and strength. They talk about $7,000,000,000. William S. Knudsen told a Senate committee the other day that it was not much money for America.

As president of General Motors, Mr. Knudsen said, he handled $1,800,000,000 in a single year for a single firm. Big as the long-haul tEisk is, American resources, Anericart genius and the will which is growing determined every day, are more than a match for It. It is this crisis right now that will really tax us. The test is whether we can muster the immediate equipment and the will to make it most effective, whether we can supply enough in time to keep the balefront standing in Europe.

Either that or we submit to having trte bat-tlefront economic, political and military shifted to this side. If you kicked about your income tax, think of what they're paying in England and what they get for their money. It seems that the old expression, "Hands across the sea," is to be displaced by arms across the sea. 8 I.