Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 11 September 1942 — Page 19

Hoosier Vagabond

LONDON, Sept. 11.—This is to be a column about eggs. Or rather, a column about no eggs. In Britain the egg has become a symbol of the _prainbow’s end. You see eggs only in your mind's eye, through a lovely dream into the Utopian future. Blessed be the egg, for it existeth not. The ministry of food warns, i of new shortages, saying ‘that in! i -the months to come eggs will be even: ‘scarcer. That has puzzled’ me a great deal, for how can you £0 below zero.:on scarcity? When. there already ain't nothin’ of something, how can there be less . of it in the future? { There is a certain high army officer over here who is head of the army’s procurement division. It is his oh to buy army supplies in astronomical figures. Before the war he had been head pur-; chasing agent for the A. & P. stores for 15 years; In his time he has spent millions of dollars on food. He has probably bought a hundred million. eggs in his day. But the other morning a friend of mine ran across him in the lobby of a hotel, looking glum and dark. “What's the matter?” said my friend. down in the mouth this morning.” “Aw, it's these damn breakfasts,” the officer said. “I'd give my right arm for an egg, but I don’t know how to get one.” My friend was touched. He himself is a man of considerable reconnoitering ability. I don’t know how he did it, and wouldn’t dare ask. But he went on a scouting expedition, and the next morning the man who had bought eggs by the trainload but couldn’t get one for himself, had eggs for breakfast.

Yes, He Probably Is Dead

ONE AMERICAN government employee arrived over here recently under peculiar circumstances, He

“You look

2

: CHRONICLES BLANKS, who has presided over the shoe shine department of the Merchants Bank building barber shop the last. 11 years, 'is probably one of the best salesmen in the building. Chronicles, who is better known as Speedy, is a college man— Wilberforce and Howard—and is quite a music lover. Recently he listened to an informal radio program presented by the Indiana Committee for Victory, and became interested. Approaching Easley Blackwood, one of those on the program, Speedy inquired if he ‘ could become a member of the committee. “Sure, it only costs a dollar,’ explained Mr. Blackwood. Speedy forked over a dollar and .~ joined. That was the first of this week. Then he started in giving his shine patrens sales talks, and already he has signed up five businessmen that no one else had been able to sell. And he’s still going strong. Bring on Your Bombs THERE'S AN AMUSING story making the rounds about the sad plight of W: J. (Bill) Pee, of the Sinclair Refining Co., Who became interested in the air - raid preparations in the vicinity of his home, 416 Berkley rd. According to the yarn his friends tell, he got some ofithe neighbo go in with him, and ordered a load of sand. was no one home ‘when the sand was delivered, so the trucker just dumpell it in the Pepe garage. ‘And then the neighe bors showed no interest in carrying away their share. : Now he can’t get his car in the garage. Miss Reinke’s third grade class at school 86 was studying the era of tree dwellers and after careful study, the

Washington

WASHINGTON, Sept. 11.—Second thoughts in congress on President Roosevelt's Labor day demand for prompt action on price inflation and taxes are much more constructive than the first irritable ex-

plosions.

Hardly had the clerks finished reading the presidential message when a flood of comment was released iaising the dictatorship question. Some thought they had another issue like the supreme court fight. Within a few minutes after the mesage was read, Senator Taft told the senate that if the president tried to act without waiting for legislation, it would be the patriotic duty of citizens to defy his authority. : Now, after cooling off, members of both houses are taking a more reasoned attitude. Even two of the most incorrigible critics of the president, Rep. Ham, Fish of New York and Rep. Rich of Pennsylvania, urge prompt action hy con-' gress. If for no other reason, Rep. Rich wants to avoid .a showdown that might result in President Roosevelt assuming dictatorial powers. The more deliberate reaction in congress undoubtedly is the result of common-sense taking hold. It was natural that the first effect in congress of the president's blunt message should be one of resentmient. But not much sympathy was forthcom- _ ing/ to congress. Even the Republican New York Herald-Tribune, which is more interested in winning the war than in finding some way to put Mr. Roosevelt ;in' a hole, felt that his insistence upon prompt congressional action was justified.

Practical Action Pondered

DISCUSSION IN CONGRESS, How concerns prace tical ways of obtaining ‘prompt action sufficient to enable the executive branch to deal with the unquestioned: dangers that beset the : war-time economy. With this probably will go: strong . instructions to - check ‘rising wages as well as rising prices. The senate finance committee is moving with, more rufitlessness to. get. the faxes up Where they

y—I have two very difme oday. I know of

had an extremely convalescent stomach and was on an uncompromising diet of milk and eggs. ‘Nothing else at sll—just milk and eggs. Immediately upon arrival he went to his hotel manager, explained his peculiar state of health, pro-| duced hcspital ‘certificates to prove it, and sat down to await his. eggs. ; Three days. later the hotel manager. came to him rubbing his’ hands and beaming: It was all arranged The ministry of food had been apprised ‘of the dilemma, had thoroughly investigated, and had ‘issued| papers entitling our ailing ero to an ‘almost limitless amount of eges. : ie The hotel manager was peside himself at the enormity of ‘his accomplishment. But as he was} bowing himself out, he finally remembéred the little} anticlimax which no doubt he had been concealing even from himself all this time. He had no eggs!

He'll Kiss It, Not Eat It HE HAD THE government's permission, but he had no eggs. He had none, now, hadn't had any}: for some time, had no expectations of getting any! : ‘I haven't inquired lately into the: health of our ¢ frail friend, but I presume he is dead by now, so) : we will just let it go. There MUST be eggs somewhere in Britain, for there are still millions of hens left in the country, 3

It is all a great mystery to me. Possibly the hens are laying golden eggs and hiding them under hay-

- stacks.

Your ration card entitles you to one egg a week.|: But that is pure hypothesis, flying in the face of} cold hard fact. Hotels have been taking up my egg coupons now for weeks, but I have yet to see an egg. I hope you folks at home will begin appreciating the egg while there is yet time. The egg is a magnificent. institution, I love the egg. Personally if I ever.see another fried egg again I'm going to kiss it instead dof eat it.

Inside Indianapolis By Lowell Nussbauin

pupils were instructed’ to draw a picture of a tice dweller just ashe would appear in his tree home. Little Charles almost got the idea, but not quite. He drew a picture of a boy wearing an animal Skin— and eating a chocolate ice cream cone.

Cows Don’t Have Wings

DR. VERNON HAHN is telling his friends that he isn't going to permit any pheasant shooting on his farm this season. Last year, he said, he had to spend too much time picking bird shot out of his $300 cow. And besides, no one got any pheasants. . . . Ralph Morris, deputy state entomologist, is still boasting about his brand new son, born at 1:30 a. m. Tues day. . . . Old Inside seems to be getting around the country pretty lively these days. On Sept. 1 we had a little yarn about Carl Niesse and his cricket episode. Carl has ‘had ‘‘repercussions” already from as far away as Los Angeles. A Chicago friend who read the story sent him a watch box done up neatly. When Carl opened the box, out jumped a cricket.

Around the Town

ONE OF THE PRETTIEST sights in Indianapolis, we're reminded, is the view down river from the New

By Ernie PrieHund reds of B

1. Hundreds of survivors of the H. M. S. Dorsetshire clin 0 Sonin Wh of wisi Tolling th. Silty of "tke snip ane anor British cruiser in the Indian ocean,

: 4 to be picked up by isbons from a Beh destures. whih rushed to the rescue to save hui. ds of courageous men,

:3:0m Doard the destroyer tiie sinking now is history. As the survivors tell buddies of thelr expertences, the attitudes make it appear they are just sunning themselves on deck.

2. These men of the Dors::

York st. bridge or thereabouts, at night. The varicolored lights shimmering on the water cause many a motorist to stop and pause a while for a look-see. , . . Harry S. Joseph wants to know why, with the crying need for scrap metal, we don't hurry up and shoot those old cannons on the World War Memorial plaza to the axis with the compliments of the taxpayers. So do we. ... , On his desk at the school board offices, Bill Evans has an ash tray that’s labeled ga souvenir from Windsor, Ontario. Bet Bill'ld be embarrased if he looked on the bottom and saw where the tray was made. Tsk-tsk, Bill. Better shoot it back, 1: a with those old cannons, Hong Nullify 1939 Pact in Milk Case.

By FRED W. PERKINS Times Special Writer

WASHINGTON, Sept, - 11.—The

By Ruymond Clapper

will scoop in the excess spending money that will| national war labor board Las agreed aggravate price trouble if it is allowed to remain on|that the war may justify the gov-

the loose. Most of the recent complaining about Leon Hen- ernment in nullifying coniracts be. derson as price administrator has died down. It is|tWeen employers and labor unions. being more generally recognized now that his job is| The notification was given yesa thankless one and that if he does it effectively{terday by Chairman William H. many people will be hurt. He is trying to do it ef- a Tr fectively and gradually support both from the public Davis do 2 erg easing oa a and congress is growing in recognition of his cour-| ik distributors of New een Sge0us ailemipt to do his Jui. city and adjoining New: Jersey areas e same reaction is setting in with regard to and the milk-wagon drivers’ union. President Roosevelt. In the long run he will be more The milk companies pleaded that |" criticized for failing to do what needs to be done the row, which had its root. in an than for taking action, however painful the action order of the office of defense transmay be fo some sections of the public. Confidence portation prohibiting special delivgrows, not around a leader who is pampering the pub- eries of milk and calling for an lie, but around one who is doing his duty regardless|,4qitional 25 per cent cut in milkof fear or favor. truck mileage, could be settled im-

It's a Healthy Attitude a 7 Ze board wo ud zs

THE SAME. GOES for congress. Thin-skinned|tract entered into in 1939. members of congress have felt very much hurt at Resist Cut in Payroll recent criticism. Some of them professed to see a plot to get rid of congress. The Rokr arose from|: Under the, contract the employers disappointment and impatience at the inability of} pledged themselves to donsult with congress to take adequate action, and at its lack of the union on major operational backbone in crawling to lobbyists like the Farm Bu-| changes, but retained final authorreau federation lobbyist O'Neal. Pensions and X-cards dramatized and focussed ity in management of their Busi. public dissatisfaction. = Criticism has been equally DeSSes. rough on ‘the president for temporizing with wages,| - The union, resisting the projected on WPB for its sluggish failure to get on top of the|discharge of more than 1000 milk raw materials difficulty, and on all of the slow-moving|drivers, said the companies “want inadequacy that has permeated this arsenal of bu-|to turn the mileage curtailment]. reaucracy. plan into a payroll" Sptaliment There isn’t a shred of evidence anywhere that I|plan.” know. of to indicate that people want to get rid of| Chaiman Davis, - supported - by] congress or lose any of ou" democratic methods. They|other board members, called ‘atten-

Jost want them to work. They want democracy to be|tion to a statement of policy by} a success, and to be adequate to this crisis. Every|the. ODT accompanying its order]

survey of public opinion breaks down into that to the effect that curtailment of motive. truck mileage should be worked

which both the president and congress seem to be|employees. ] 8 Cites Sunday Double Time Cass.

“But that,” he said, “does not. By Eleanor Roosevelt

2 have bee rue doves by thle Gt ome or as yn. Bath must share

FS35008 210 Who ig me v3 1d & Way in

RULE CONTRACT CAN BE CHANGED

WLB Members Agree to) | They've got. Henry J. Kaiser in the ] bureaucratic Turkish bath here, and

lusty employees 1 setiing Ste

By THOMAS L. STOKES " Times Special Writer

WASHINGTON, Sept. 11. —

they're sweating him, "He is finding how hard they can make it for a man who comes here and. offers: to build something else for the war, even for one with the record of performance that he has hung up—giant dams, roads, cement plants, ships to carry war cargo to fronts all over:the world. He has had two conferences already with Donald M. Nelson, WPB chairman, about his proposal to build hundreds of big cargo planes. The two are going to talk some more, probably today if a confer-

ence. can be arranged. Then, when} he is through at WPB, Mr. Nelson}

will turn him over to army and navy officials. He may be here for several dvs. He is willing: to stay here much longer to try to prove his case. \

Present Blueprints

Mr. Nelson -announced that at| the second conference, which lasted an hour and s half, engineers rep-|"

resenting Mr. Kaiser and his new|

partner, Howard Hughes, presented blueprints. for the projected cargo. flying boat, a six-motored plane, as well as data about where Mr. Kaiser proposes to obtain the raw materials. He must find new sources out{side present materials allotted to ‘the war program. In explanation of the subsequent conferences Mr. Kaiser is to have

with army and navy officials, Mr.|

‘Nelson said: : “Neither Mr. Kaiser nor. eal knows anything about, building air- |

What 1s going Bn here, in effect, is this: .

FUNNY BUSINESS

It is a healthy aftitude, and, fortunately, one to|out with a minimum of hardship on/ Vick

Mr. Kaiser has come forward with his idea for huge cargo planes, to be mass-produced on an assembly line and he backs up. his request for a contract with what he has done for the government in building ships, in which he holds all records. He does not like to be pinned down about exactly how he is going to do it. He had never built ships before. The maritime commission, believing he could, and needing ships desperately, gave him a contract and let him go ahead, and he performed, devising many new methods as he went along. He looks at the problem of building airplanes in the same way. But he does not find that readiness to trust him in this new venture which the. maritime commission exhibited.

Aviation Industry Opposed Aviation” officials in the govern-ment-—some. of them connected with the aviation industry—as well as army and navy officials, keep de-

{mending particulars , raising all sorts .'|of questions.. They say:

“Kaiser's a genius, yes, but he's vague.” Se The truth is that the aviation in-

Kaiser ‘coming into: the field, and it} is bringing pressure in every way possible to.check him. The industry | has friends in high places here; in| WEB, in the army, in the navy. It is afraid he may become a big factor in aviation after the war. The scheme is ‘to keep hamstringing him, to put him off, and the suggestion is that he be given|« ‘some sort of experimental. contract for merely designing a cargo ship, or. perhaps ‘building one or two over, a period.of a year or so.. § ‘The industry has even ruggested

for. Nelson that My. Raiser. be

dustry is dead. set against Henry}

of “enemy ar ‘and “Feclassity l.came affiliated with the

Bureaucrats Have Kaiser in the Sweat-Box; Aviation Industry Fears His Competition

gagged, that he no longer be al-

lowed to give newspaper interviews,

on the ground that this is war information = and should. be kept]

secret. , There has been much resentment of the way Mr. Kaiser has stirred the interest of newspapers and the public.. The industry also resents the way he has solicited its co-operation to do the job; it says he is ‘depending on the industry to start ‘him inthis, business, and on the government to build him a plant. It was a blow when he teamed)’ up with Howard Hughes, for the wealthy Mr. Hughes, himself no conformist by any means, has the engineering and designing skill Mr. Kaiser needs. His engineer, R. F. Ridley, was impressive in yesterday’s conference. Mr. Kaiser has become aware that he is bucking entrenched in-

terests. has has bucked them be-

fore, in cement, in magnosiim, in steel. But it is very apparent that, in| less he gets Mr. Nelson's: strong backing, he may. Te blocked this} time.

SENATOR DEFENDS

ALIENS FROM [TALY|

WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 (U. P). ~Senator Theodore i ‘Green D. R. I) has asked Attorney General Francis Biddle ‘to remove 600,000 resident Italian aliens from ‘the

them ‘a8 “loyal aliens” “Mote than 60. per cent of all enemy. aliens are. Italians. . Less: ‘than one-tenth of one per cent of the Italian non-citizens in the United

. | States. have. been subjected either 0 to internment or to parole, Senator

KA | Green said in a letier to Mr. Biddle.

“Most of ys

| airplane business with

PROPELLER FIRM

Curtiss-Wright Head Calls Plant Here One of.

Nation’s Best.

The Indianapolis Sropelier ‘plant of the Curtiss-Wright Corp. has. bes come one of the “best “opera : factories in the country,” declar Guy W. Vaughan, corporation presi dent, after a tour of plant. Je ter

Accompanying Mr. Vaughan was Robert L. Earle, vice president of the corporation and general mane ager of the propeller division; 1t was Mr. Vaughan'’s second visi to the local plant since it started

operation, ;

The Tndlasiapolis plant his made

rapid sirides in efficiency ‘and we

can say that production i is sauiafac tory, » ‘he said.’

See Post-War Boom

". The corporation president J - #1. pou J alts str 4 Aas

Ji o's |the'lend on ‘a big scale,” He said. Mr. Vaughan predicted that

duning thie war and that 1t will sine

‘|tinue’ to become a big faster 18 tion

turing career with the old Standard automobile concern back in 1908 and 10 years later tig ig Wright-Martin Co. In 1024 he bee

| High Corp, and became, fig dent in’ 1935,

a a a INVIARA OIL OOTEOE Rises NEW YORK, Sept. 11 (U. Po Indiana’s crude oil production in the week ended Sept. 6 was 1450 barrels more than the previous’ week—totaling 18,400 barrels—the ~{ American Petroleum institute. dige closed today. Nid ds

HOLD SERN