Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 25 December 1951 — Page 13

ASSIERES, nly. 79¢

)ATIONS, 34 to 48.

4.98

ASSIERES,

e. Broken

L§!— 39° 1% 27 >

pr.! STIC RIES

95 |

\

Inside Indianapolis By Ed Sovola

SIXTH YEAR—This thought: How would you feel 7 Santa Claus refused to leave the North Pole

FOR SIX years Santa Claus, in this corner, has wished everyone .a Merry Christmas and a Happy New “Year. Each year he has hoped for the best. Each year he was a bit disappointed. Now, as he sits and relaxes for a moment from a strenuous night's work, he has a startling question, ‘How would you feel if Santa refused to leave the North Pole?

Think for a moment what December would be

like without gay Christmas decorations, gifts, carols, the excitement of the season of ‘Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men.” 3 Think what .it would be. like to approach Christmas Eve without a hope of any kind to take part in a great festival. It is a staggering thought. 4One reels from the impact as the im‘agination grapples with the drab pleture;. EACH~*YEAR at this time we sing of peace and good will. Many pray reverently in churches . throughout the land. In many hearts there is peace and good will. There are many homes where Santa Claus, the spirit of St. Nicholas, reigns supreme. The laughter of children is real. The prayers of the devout are comforting. Warm fires and peaceful hearths make life worth living. Handclasps of friends mean more at this time of the ear, ye: The Prince of Peace left us all a great gift of the spirit and a promise of the good way of

life. It is up to us to attain the goal and make

the promise come true. We have the power to do so. Great areas, unfertunately, are in total darkness brought about by the blackout of might. Hundreds of thousands of our loved ones are away from the family circle on the Holy Night. Santa Claus, in his swift flight, looks down upon

It Happened Last Ni By Earl Wilson

NEW YORK, Dec. 25—When it's Christmas ‘time, I feel I should give my readers a present for sticking with me for another year—but about all that I have plenty of-—is memories. But what, after all, is more precious? if 1 were to see my Mother and Dad again this Christmas, I know we’d talk about those Christmases 30 or 35 years ago when we went to Grandpa's, ate popcorn out of dishpans and drank “eyes... cider. Sweet cider. Grandpa. was a “dry.” Yes, that was in the days of whiffletrees. Plug toba#fco with the star on it. Long, long before electric blankets, when you heated flatirons on the kitchen stove and put them ‘in your bed on cold nights. . “Little Audrey just laughed and laughed” . . . the “Watkins man” who sold your mother vanilla .. the huckster wagon . .. Gene Stratton Porter's “Girl of the Limberlost” . ..

« big social events . . . “aw, nertz!” .'. . singing “Brighten the Corner Where You Are” from the hymnbook ‘at church. : / ; 5 Bo»

. oe oe oo

DO YOU REMEMBER Lilyan Tashman as the best-dressed movie star? . . . Rubinoff and his violin? . . . Valentino’s death and the subsequent ballad about him, “There’s a New Star in Heaven Tonight?” . .-, Fifi D’Orsay in those bedroom things? Remember “It Ain't Gonna Rain No More"? Sample stanza: “A man lay down by the sewer, And by the sewer he died. And at the coroner’s inquest, they called it sewercide. Oh, it ain’t gonna rain no more , ..” Do you remember ‘‘Cigaret me, Big Boy” as . Ginger Rogers’ often-repeated line in her first picture, “Young Man of Manhattan” . Empress Eugenie hats . . . the outdoor powder rooms at country school . .. when you could buy a pair of boy's pants for a dollar?

* X, oe oe <~

CAN YOU remember “the bank holiday” and scrip that you were paid . . . Joe Penner’s joke: “I'm from Venice . .. “Venice, Italy?” ... “No, Venice. It's Apple Blossom Time in Normandy.” . When Haymes were something on a horse's harness and didn’t refer to Dick: (Correct spelling: hames)?

Remember when they were ‘“ice cream par-

lors” or “confectioneries” and. the wire chairs had heart-shaped seats ... “I Love My Wife But, Oh You Kid” . .. “Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please

Come Home?” , . . “’Nuf Said” ... when the minister got angry if he heard you played ball Lor danced on Sunday?

Americana By Robert C. Ruark

WASHINGTON, Dec. 26—A slight difference of. opinion ' concerning the nutritive value of alcohol as opposed to less ethereal foodstuffs has imposed a ban upon your, correspondent this year, since the medical professiog adheres to the doubtless dated belief that neat blackstrap” molasses is more beneficial than its refined derivative, usually ingredient to eggnog. Which is fo say that I have been delivered, this year, from the joyous wassailing of the office party and the Christmas cocktail rout-—from the hail-fellow nips of the office bottle; the festive puncheon of glogg, and the other hybrid concoctions which seem to be served in leaky cardboard containers. It also means that I have been cheated of a column, since the annual New Year's disquisition on’ the hangover will not be forthcoming. And it was such a nice year for it, too, with the tongue softly coated in mink and the visions of- RFC loans dancing softly in the skull,

oe DO .

BUT ‘’tis a grateful man I should be, indeed, as I rise fresh and rosy with the dawn, with no horrid afterthoughts of pinching the hostess or telilng the boss exactly how his business should be run. Here it is smack in the middle of the holidays, and- the writer hath not snapped a

* garter, set fire to a stenographer, or contracted

a cold from the file clerk with the snuffly red nose.

I have shunned mistletoe as the very plague— one finds that romance flowers more swiftly under

‘the fertilization of bourbon than from liberal

irrigation with tomato juice. Let the other boys stand thigh-deep in the

snow; Whilst they carol God Rest Ye Merry, snug

in the knowledge that the fires of Christmas cheer burn brighfly within their beings. This paragon of purity hovers over the fire inside the house, spreading his hands to the blaze and _his soul will ever be warm Eggnog? Oh, no, thank you, never. touch it. I'm allergic to nutmeg. Liar. Liar. Yes, thanks, I'd love a coke, Liar, Double liar,

MN

A A pn

What If Santa

PN

Stayed Home? the misery and hopelessness and the . scene saddens him. , ¢ > @ HOW CAN he make his laugh sound gheery and light when _all is not calm, all is not bright? We've been. trying for a good mahy years to achieve a real peace on earth and have failed. What is the solution to harmony and constructive efforts?

Would we ‘be willing to make a great sacrifice of .our pleasures to impress ourselves and our loved ones of the full meaning of the universal desire by denying voluntarily the materjalistic phase of the Yuletide season? Would the impact be shocking enough if we tried to simulate a soldier's lot in a foxhole? ForWone day”? Would free men be willing to set

"aside, deny themselves the luxuries of the season

to demonstrate to those who must be on the firing line that “Peace on Earth“ is not an empty phrase? Demonstrate also that we're all shoulder to shoulder until the blackout of might is crushed: once and for all? r ood ob SANTA CLAUS sits and wonders if he'll ever be able to visit all little children on Christmas. Eve some lovely, holy, peaceful night. They are . the ones who suffer the most when there is suffering, are happiest when there is love and kindness and joy. Will we continue to work half- -heartedly, understand only when it is convenient to do so, love our neighbors only when our purposes will be served? Santa is afraid to give the answer that is in his heart. I suppose we'll just stumble along, year to year, and gather hope and strength from the good things we encounter and forget the bad. Perhaps the good deeds will outweigh the evil deeds one day. Actually, it’s-the childre who call Santa Claus and he can’t remain silent because in them he sees the real solution, oe oo oo CAN SANTA not heed the merry clamor and wholehearted laughter of the little ones? The loneliness of Christmas Eve would be unbearable if Santa stayed home. He must visit little girls such as 9-year-old Katie Gloin, School 86 fourth grader, who wrote this poem to Santa:

“Since we live in America I think we should be glad That we have a Christmas When others will be sad.

We should think of others And pray on Christmas Day That every ohe could be happy And that peace will always stay.

“h. z

Indianapolis

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 05; 1951

MERRY CHRISTMAS—

F rom One Brazil To Another

PAGE 13

FROSTY—The snowman stands outside a home in Brazil to great passersby.

By CARL HENN Across two continents today, the glad tidings of Christmas spanned 5000 miles to unite the people of Brazil,

zil, South America, in brotherhood. “Peace on earth” rang the bells.

And, in answer to that familiar summons, hearts gladdened in the southwest portion of Indiana as they did in the northeast section of Latin America.

Customs and language dif-

Ind., and Bra--

taffy-pullings, those ’

* ‘We will all have presents And Santy will come, too, But others aren't as lucky As we are, that is true.”

Yes, Katie, we must think of others and pray. That's the spirit of Christmas. You are one of the reasons why Santa Claus can still laugh. Merry Christmas, a very Merry Chrisimas.

ght

\

D'YOU remember “butcherings” . .. when the auto’s gas tank was under the front seat and you had to get up and out when they filled 'er up . .. Bert Williams singing: “I'll lend you my hat, I'll lend you five, I'll lend you anything I have but my wife, and I'll make you a present of her?”

Yes, all those memories date us, bit there's one thing we all remember, whether 90 or 9. The time we “found out” there is no Santa Claus. It wag a sad day, but it started us being on the lookout for false whiskers and false fronts, and made us sufficiently cynical. at least, to stay alive, Well, that's my Santa Claus gift to you. Surely do hope you- x haye a Syre-enough Merry Christmas! :

He Can Give You Only Memories

= * * Es

THE MIDNIGHT EARL... Artie Shaw and Judy Garland ‘had their third date at Gogi’s Larue, where Judy gave her orchids to the hatchick ... Arlene Judge's date nowanights may be her son, Wesley Ruggles Jr., a big boy in a dinner jacket. Gen. Ike's staff takes it for granted he’ll run ... Bullets Durgom, Tommy Dorsey's band boy just a few years ago now manager of Jackie Gleason, and others, bought a $25,000 Healy car . . . Yul Brynner’s been out of “The King and 1.” Sore throat ... Mimi Benzell and Russell Nype will co-star in a Mutual Radio show, oe oe < WISH I'D SAID THAT: “Eleanor Holm is a good housekeeper. After the separation, she kept the house.”—Snag Werris.

There's a black market in bagels, and Lester Lewis reports discovering a “bagel-easy” . . Mike Kay, chemical mfr. dropped $60,000 angeling two cafes . . . Daily Double: Dancer Connie Anderson and Bruno Lansing, TV producer. S$ > @ EARL'S PEARLS . . . Some women make a success of marriage, says Hildegarde, Others get hardly any alimony at all. er» : ; TODAY'S BEST LAUGH: “Most girls say a nice boy is someone they never meet, and most boys feel a nice girl is someone they always -meet.”—Lester Lanin, “ 0» MANY MEN wear the‘pants in the family, notes Ronald Rogers, but they're hidden by an apron , . , That's Earl, brother.

Miss Benzell

Robert’s on the Wagon And He’s Not Happy

THE JOYS of the wagon are many, but somehow this year I wish Santa were driving it instead of me. His nose is red enough already, and Christmas is no time to be healthy when all your friends are slowly ‘but surely poisoning themselves with unleashed joy. Oh, strong drink is raging, and wine is a mocker, but nobody has mocked me lately. There is something to be said for coffee; as a beverage and a warmer of the inner-man, but it lacks courage as an inciter to holiday rioting, and the same may be said of all the juices, from grapefruit to gastric. I have heard of him who is the life of the party on a straight fare of buttermilk and cookies—this rake’s progress has been insufficient along the milk-and-cookie kick to deliver an honest report.

“I just feel dull. Bloody dull: Fun-loving Bob, the skeleton at the feast,

*» db

I FIND that I am recalling with misty, nos--talgia the night some fine friend dumped another fifth of alky in the punch-bowl, and the beldame did the hula on the table. The smudge-fires of smoldering waste baskets haunt the nostrils of my memory; Christmas, too, was the one season of the year when you could come home with orange-flavored lipstick to a home where the pre-

vailing flavor was raspberry, Without getting brained with the Christmas candlesticks, I mean.

There is peace on earth and goodwill to men running rife around the land, but it is not so vehement as it used to be. There are’ people I would like to punch in the nose, and I find that the inclination to bruise a beezer has not shrunken under my forced schedule of non-tippling nobility.

The happy haze of blanket goodwill needs just

a little lubrication to be effective. But let us not weep Into our—you should . ,

ke the tion in Indo-

welkin ring, it ring it can ‘on ginger-ale and bursting health. Don’t tell’me I never looked so good. Yasaentianty, I feel awful.

A ae

"replied.

.cans who like

fered. The two climates opposed. But the spirit of Christmas—joy in the birth of Christ —was the same. In Brazil, Ind., parents ushered to church their reluctant children, who could hardly be torn from the mounds of gifts under each lighted, ornamenthung tree. The gifts from Santa ‘Claus were left scattered about the

floor while the family donned -

overcoats and mufflers, gloves and overshoes to brave the cold. Th Brazil, South America, children playing outdoors in the balmy air with their gifts from Sao Nicolau or Papae Noel (their names for Santa) had an extra cause to rejoice. Christmas falls at the beginning of summer there, as school lets out for the annual vacation.

AY CLE 4

MEETS

CIVIC PRIDE—Brazil's Rotarians believe in boosting.

An air of prosperity tempered the inclement weather in Brazil, Ind., at Christmastime.

Everybody in the Clay County community of 9000 who wanted work had a job today. The city’s clay products and coal industries were at full production. It had been a good year for farmers, “Brazil is in pretty good shape,” said Mayor Archie Hamm, who was recently re-

COME IN—Santa greets all escorted here by police.

INDO-CHINA

No. 2—

elected for a second term. Over a bowl of clam chowder in the Oak Rest cafe (Marion Carpenter. prop.) across W. National Ave. from his Marathon Service Station, the mayor confided that the rising population was making housing a problem but making Christmas sales good. “All the merchants are pretty

well satisfied,” said Mayor Hamm,

‘In his Men's Wear shop, Charles MacLean, president of the Brazil Chamber of Commerce, thought the future looked promising. “We're concentrating on getting more industry here,” said Mr., MacLean. “We have the space and facilities—all we need are the factories.” Down the street, the gleaming new Kroger Supermarket made a decided contrast to Christmas, 1950. The store burned to the ground three days before Christmas last year, prematurely roasting many a family’s layaway turkey. " Coftee= colored Brazilians worked happily in the state

®

of San Paulo, weeding and

3 RS Times photos by William A, Oates Jr,

fertilizing the coffee trees which bear perfumed white flowers during the Christmas season.

The flowers, closely resembling orange blossoms, will give way in six months to the green berry later ground into North America’s favorite drink. The berry ripens to red, then to purplescrimson before it is Pleked ‘and roasted.

Up and down U. 8. 40, the main street of Brazil, Ind. green wreaths were draped above passing aitomobiles, Holly hung from the business doors. In yards, homeowners ‘had placed decorative sleighs, reindeer, trees and other holiday frippery. Inside the houses and inside the churches, custom still in‘cluded the crib scene.

The creche (as they call the crib) is known to Brazil. lans In South America, too, - But they have mo Christmas tree. Incongruously, they have adopted the sleigh and reindeer of Santa Claus.

Religious festivities mingle joyously with fireworks displays, picnics, boating parties and swimming in Brazil. Peo+ ple there see nothing unusual in going to church in shirt sleeves on Christmas Day, later calling to their friends: - “Boas Festas e Felix Ano Novo!” In Brazil, Ind, the same sent#iment was expressed today in words that everybody understood: =

“Merry Christmas and a

DOLLY—This little South Ararican likes ber gift

There Is No Front Or Line Here

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second of a series of four articles about war in IndoChina and the strength of the anti-Communist forces in that area by Scripps-Howard staff writer, Jim G. Lucas.

By JIM G. LUCAS Scripps-Howard Staff Writer HANOI, Indo-China, Dec. 25—We are flying from Frenchheld Saigon in south Indo-China to- French-held Hanoi, 800 miles northward. THe jungles below are green and forbidding. “Who holds - this territory?” 7° asked a Fignch major sitting beside me, He

“The enemy.” For Ameri-

to fbllow their wars on cleancut maps, the military situa-

China fs~per- Mr lucas plexing. For one thing, there's no front, There are no lined

IS

with the enemy on one side and your own troops on another. Around Saigon, for instance, the enemy is a few miles from town. But past the enemy is a

stretch of several hundred miles controlled by friendly forces. Communists control the area south of Saigon, but there are pockets controlled by anti-Com-munists state of Viet Nam. The Reds hold much of the center of Viet Nam as well as other large areas in the north. None of these regions is joined to any other Red-held area. They exist as independent units, For another thing, Indo-China as such doesn’t exist. What we call Indo-China is known here as the three ‘“‘Associated States”-—-Viet Nam, Cambodia and Laos. Viet Nam, the largest --has 25 million people.. Cam‘bodia is relatively undisturbed. It has 3.5 million people and its It has 25 million people, Cam-

own king. Laos; which mana= —

ges to ignore the wars raging around it, has 1.5 million, and its own king.

VIET NAM--the heart of Indo-China—is split into-three provinces—Cochin China in ‘the south, Annam in the center, and Tonkin in the north. Bao Dali, former emperor, is Viet Nam's chief of state. In addition to the Communist Viet Minh and the anti-Com-munist Viet Nam, there are numerous religious semi® autonomous political groups which oppose both Viet Nam and Viet Minh. Most people in these groups are strongly antiCommunist and, as a rule, just as strongly anti-French., They have their own armies and command the allegiance of several million people. Both sides try to cultivate them. The Mois—mountain tribesmen who control their own political and economical des-tinies--have temporarily accepted the leadership of French General le Cocq, because they feel the Communists are the

ANTI - COMMUNIST forces under Gen. Jean de Lattre de Tassigny are mostly deployed in the north, His strategy is to control fertile deltas and leave the sterile mountains to the enemy. In addition to his 100,000 French regulars and 60,000 Viet . Namese soldiers, there -are several thousand “supplementaries” — irregular troops who fight only when needed and return to their homes and fields when the entergency is past. The enemy’s main forces are

concentrated in the northern part of Tonkin, in the area next to Red China. There Ho Chi Minh, the Viet Minh leader, has at least 90,000 regulars and another 90,000 regional troops armed with rifles, © machine guns, mortars, bazookas, recoilless rifles, 105-millimeter mountain guns, 75-millimeter artillery, machine guns and an increasing number of 40-milli-

, periodic

have been reports— and unverified—that Ho himself has been replaced by Truang Chinh, who headed a Viet Minh mission to Moscow this summer,

" ” ” LAST CHRISTMAS, Ho hoped to capture Hannoi, heart of the Red River Delta. After General de Lattre turned the tide, Ho reverted to guerrilla warfare, The Communists prefer to fight at night. They use whistles, bugles-—all the paraphernalia the Reds use in Korea. They have some. U. S.-made radio equipment, but it’s in very short supply. This limits contact with other Red armies in central and south Indo-China. They have no air force. ¥ In Cambodia, Viet Minh strength is estimated at 6000, engaging in limited terroristic activities. In Laos it is estimated at 5000 but it fluctuates. The proximity of China to this area is a Red trump card. “We

There

greater threat, On *paper at least, the Mois are known as the Viet Namese Mountain Division, »

meter anti-aircraft weapons. The mountain guns are American -madé; ‘the artillery. is French-made,’ 3 :

chase them to the border, where they cross over and thumb their noses at us,” the French major Hold me, ° w

\ a