Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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/ McCORMICK MESSENGER, McCORMICK. S. C., THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1937 IVeica Review of Current Events JAPS SINK U. S. SHIP American Gunboat Panay Bombed by Japanese on the Yangtse ... British Warships Also Attacked ftLcJcaJiA < ^ SUMMARIZES THE WORLD’S WEEK C Western Newspaper Union. •Latest Jap Outrages JAPANESE aviators, strafing Hee- ing Chinese, bombed and sank the United States gunboat Panay on the Yangtse river above Nanking. The boat’s storekeeper and an Ital ian journalist were killed. At the same time and place the Japanese attacked and sank three Standard Oil steamers. At this writ ing it is reported the number of dead may be nearly 100, chiefly Chi nese members of the crews. Several British gunboats speeding to the aid of the Panay were shelled, one enlisted man being killed and a number wounded. Washington and London lodged stern protests in Tokyo. Tokyo apologized with expressions of deep regret. In America and Britain there was intense indignation over the latest outrages. No responsible person hinted that the United States or Great Britain should go to war with Japan on their account; but the man in the street felt there should be some way, short of war, by which the Japanese could be forced to cease their murderous attacks. Apologies may satisfy the diplomats but they do not restore lives. President Roosevelt’s protest was directed through Secretary Hull to Ambassador Hirosi Saito with the request that it be sent to the Em peror Hirohito of Japan. It de manded apologies, full compensa tion and guaranties against repeti tion of similar attacks. The Brit ish foreign office was in touch with Washington by cable but Foreign Minister Eden denied that the Brit ish would take the lead in inter national action. Even Tokyo was stunned by the attacks on American vessels, and the planned celebration over the capture of Nanking was called off. —¥— Early Tax Revision CUMMONING house ways and ^ means committee members and treasury economists to a confer ence in the White House, President Roosevelt directed that revision of the taxes that oppress business be carried through as soon as possible. Those called were Robert L. Doughton of North Carolina, chairman of the house committee; Fred Vinson of Ken- « w « ».* tucky, chairman of a R. L. Doughton subcommittee on taxes; Secretary of the Treasury Morgenthau and Undersecretary Roswell Magill. On leaving the White House Mr. Doughton gave out the cheering as surance that the best possible tax bill would be formulated quickly and that the taxpayer would be given every consideration. If the contemplated measure can be rushed' through congress it may be made effective on January l, starting out what business and in dustry hope will be a Happy New Year for them and for all the na tion. In his press conference the same day the President gave business ad ditional encouragement, asserting that the interstate commerce com mission should take action to pre serve the solvency of the railroads. He declared himself in favor of pri vate ownership and operation of the railroads, but said receiverships of the lines cannot continue without financial adjustment. Shortly after this the commerce commission put in a sour note by overruling the carriers’ petition for 15 per cent immediate increase in freight rates. —¥— House Passes Farm Bill N ARROWLY escaping return to committee, the administration farm bill was passed by the house by a vote of 268 to 129. It was be lieved the senate measure also would be put through successfully at once. Then it would be up to con ferees from both houses to iron out the differences. There was doubt that final enactment could be Ob '-tamed before adjournment of the ex traordinary session. —*— More WPA Spending H ARRY HOPKINS, WPA admin istrator, announced that in creased unemployment was compel ling the WPA to increase its expendi tures by $23,000,000 a month. He said its employment rolls, now totaling 1,575,000 persons, would be enlarged to provide work for an additional 350,000 persons. The expansion, he said, could be handled within his budget, at least for some time. —*— Government Wins T HE Supreme court decided that the government need not pay in terest on gold bonds that were called for redemption in advance of the maturity date. The decision, written by Justice Cardozo, was unanimous, although Justices Stone and Black had sep arate concurring opinions. Cardozo Hugh R. Wilson (pictured above), a veteran of the American diplo matic service and now assistant sec retary of state, is to be our new am bassador to Berlin, succeeding Wil liam E. Dodd, whose resignation was submitted to the President. is ill and his opinion was read by Chief Justice Hughes. The litigation was started by Rob ert A. Taft of Cincinnati, son of the late President and Chief Justice Wil liam Howard Taft; the estate of James J. Ransom of Des Moines, and Arthur Machen of Baltimore. New Men for SEC '"P WO vacancies on the securities and exchange commission were filled by the President by the ap pointment of John Wesley Hanes, partner of a New York stock brok erage firm, and Jerome N. Frank, radical New York attorney, now serving as an attorney for the Re construction Finance corporation and formerly chief counsel of the defunct AAA. Frank fills the position vacated by James M. Landis, who retired last September to become dean of the Harvard law school. Hanes fills the post of J. D. Ross of Seattle, recent ly named administrator of the Bonneville dam. —■*— Sloan's Great Gift A LFRED P. SLOAN, JR., chair man of General Motors corpo ration, announced he was donating securities ' worth approximately $10,000,000 to the Al fred P. Sloan founda tion with the hope of promoting a wider knowledge of “basic economic truths.” In his announce ment Mr. Sloan said he deemed it proper to turn back part of the proceeds of his industrial activity to aid in bringing about “a broader as well as a better understanding of the economic principles and national policies which have characterized American enterprise down through the years, and as a result of which its truly marvelous development has been made possible.” Once the proper understanding is achieved, he said, the people may promote “the objectives that all have so much in mind.” These he listed as: More things for more people, everywhere. An opportunity for achievement. Greater security and stability. Mr. Sloan established the founda tion on July 6, 1936, incorporating it in Delaware as a non-profit mem bership corporation. Italy Leaves League ITALY finally made up its mind to A quit the League of Nations. No one was surprised when Mussolini announced this decision of his Fas cist council, and no other nation ex pressed any regret over the action. The Duce in a characteristically bombastic speech told the people about it, and delighted cheers greet ed his defiance of the opponents of fascism. For some time Italy has taken no part in the doings of the league, and her resignation really is not of much immediate impor tance. Landon Won't Run Again A LFRED M. LANDON definitely removed himself from the pres idential campaign picture of 1940 by announcing in Washington that he would not be a candidate for nom ination by the Republican party and would not accept the honor if it were offered him. He added that he was not retiring from politics, but would continue active in his party. While in the capital Mr. Landon was invited to the White House and had a pleasant chat with the Pres ident, politics and business not be ing discussed. A. P. Sloan, Jr. First Flight Celebrated FRIDAY, December 17, was the * thirty-fourth anniversary of the epochal air flight of the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk, N. C., and the day was fittingly observed by all aviation interests in the country. Under orders from the army gen eral staff every military flying post sent up all its available aircraft at the exact hour when the two inven tors first made their plane fly. About one thousand fighting planes were in the air at the same time. Atlantic Planes Wanted U'VIDENCE that passenger plane service across the Atlantic would be started within two years was seen in the request of Pan American Airways for bids on 12 planes capable of carrying 100 pas sengers each. Performance demands call for a speed of 274 miles an hour at 20,000 feet and indicate the type of craft required would cost one million dol lars each. Bids are to be submitted to Charles A. Lindbergh, chairman of P. A. A.’s technical committee by next March 15. —*— Brave Scouts Honored p' IGHT Boy Scouts who risked their lives to save others were cited for heroism by Daniel Carter Beard, national scout commissioner and chairman of the National court of honor. Three scouts who receive gold honor medals are J. P. Fraley of Hitchins, Ky.; Guy Groff, Jr., of Marengo, Iowa, and Kenneth Simon son of Redridge, Mich., each of whom rescued a drowning person. Five others who receive certifi cates for heroism are John Mentha, New York; John Ruggi, Yonkers, N. Y.; Philip Beaney, Bath, Me.; William Benham, Napoleon, Ohio, and Eldon Shaffer, Berrien Center, Mich. —*— Diplomatic Changes CEVERAL major changes in the ^ diplomatic service are scheduled for the near future. It was learned that William E. Dodd had resigned as ambassador to Germany and in Washington it was said that Hugh R. Wilson, now assist ant secretary of state, would be giv en the post in Ber lin. Dodd has found his duties difficult because of his ad mitted dislike of the ¥ i» Nazi policies and J. P. Kennedy £ or some time has been regarded as “persona non grata” by the German government. He was a professor of history in the University of Chicago when ap pointed, and says he intends to re sume work on a history of the Old South. Robert W. Bingham of Louisville, ambassador to Great Britain, also has submitted his resignation, be cause of ill health. His successor, it is believed, will be Joseph P. Ken nedy, now chairman of the federal maritime commission and formerly head of the SEC. Mr. Bingham recently returned to the United States to undergo treat ment for malaria at Johns Hopkins hospital in Baltimore. The State de partment expects he will go back to London after the holidays to pay his official calls of farewell. —+— Liner Aground; All Saved 'T'HE Dollar liner President Hoo- ver ran aground on a small is land off Formosa when en route from Kobe to Manila. Her passen gers, about 600 in number, were put ashore on two rocky islets, and there were picked up by the President Mc Kinley of the same line and taken to Manila. Wally Lowest Duchess 'J^HE new edition of Burke’s Peer- -*■ age, authoritative book on Brit ish nobility, reveals that the duchess of Windsor has been placed in the twenty-ninth or last place among the duchesses. Her husband, the duke of Windsor, former King Ed ward VIII, is placed as No. 4 man in the empire, behind his brothers. King George VI and the dukes of Gloucester and Kent. —*— No Fraud by Mellon 'TPHREE months after his death -*• Andrew W. Mellon, famous in dustrialist of Pittsburgh, was exon erated of income tax fraud by unan imous decision of the United States board of tax appeals. The board threw out the fraud charges brought by the administration against the former head of the Aluminum Company of America and, by an eight to seven ruling, slashed the government’s claim for additional taxes on Mellon’s 1931 in come from $3,075,000 to about $750,- 000. Profits Tax "Impossible" I> EPEAL of the undistributed ^ profits tax as a levy “impos sible of equitable and effective” ap plication to the complex and varied pattern of American industry, is recommended in a report published by the Brookings institution, based on a study of the actual effects of the tax on 1,560 corporations. Prepared by Dr. M. Slade Ken drick of Cornell university, in co operation with the staff of the insti tution, the study was made from data obtained from the results of some 3,600 questionnaires sent out by Sen. Frederick Steiwer, Republi can, of Oregon, Irvin S. Cobb © in ioM> ^ZkJ/vihd about Vanishing Wild Life. V ARNER PLANTATION, TEX.—Thanks to wise legis lation, the wild fowl are coming back to this gulf country. True, the flocks may never again be what they were; yet, with con tinued conservation, there’ll again be gunning for one and all. But when I think back on the ducks I saw down here 10 years ago—in countless hosts—I’m reminded of what Charley Russell, the cowboy artist, said to the lady tourist who asked him whether the old-tim- e r s exaggerated when they described the size of the van ished buffalo herds. “Wellum,” said Charley, “I didn’t get up to this Mon tana country until after the buffaloes started thinning out. But I remember once I was night-herding when the fall drift got between me and camp and I sat by and watched ’em pass. Not having anything else to do, I started count ing ’em. Including calves, I count ed up to 3,009,625,294, and right then was when I got discouraged and quit. Because I happened to look over the ridge and here came the main drove.” * J * Becoming a Head Man. J ET an unshorn dandruff fancier ■ L/ claim he’s divine and, if nobody else agrees with his diagnosis, the police will jug him as a common nuisance and the jail warden will forcibly trim his whiskers for him or anyhow have them searched. But if enough folks, who’ve tried all the old religions and are looking for a new one, decide he is the genuine article, then pretty soon we have a multitude testifying to the omnipo tence of their idol. Let another man think he is a reincarnation of Julius Caesar or Alexander the Great, and if few or none feel the same way about it he’s headed for the insane asylum. But if a majority, which is a large body of persons entirely surrounded by delusions, agrees with him that he is what he says he is he becomes a dictator and rules over the land un til common sense is restored, if at all. Let the writer of a daily column begin to think his judgments are perfect and his utterances are in fallible—but, hold on, what’s the use of getting personal? \ • • • Grandma’s Togs. W E LAUGH at our grandmoth ers who believed that, for a lady to be properly dressed, she should have a little something on anyway. Maybe those mid-Victorian ladies sort of overdid the thing—bustles that made them look like half-sis ters to the dromedary, skirts so tight they hobbled like refugees from a chain gang, corsets laced in until breathing was almost a lost art, boned collars so high they seemed to be peeping over an alley fence. Still, wearing five or six starched petticoats, the little wom an was safe from Jack the Pincher unless he borrowed some steamfit- ter’s pliers. And later when, for a season, blessed simplicity ruled the styles, her figure expressed the queenly grace that comes from long, chaste lines. Probably the dears never fig ured it out. Just the natural cun ning of their sex told them ’twas the flowing robes which gave majes ty and dignity to kings on the throne and judges on the bench and prel ates at the altar—and shapely wom- en-folk. How old-fashioned those times seem today when every dancing floor is a strip-tease exhibit and ev ery bathing beach a nudist show; and a debutante, posing for snap shots, feels she’s cheating her pub lic unless she proves both knees still are there. * * * Reading Dickens. I’VE been reading Dickens again. * This means again and again. I take "Pickwick Papers” once a year just as some folks take hay fever. Only I enjoy my attack., Dickens may have done carica tures, but he had human models to go by. He drew grotesques, but his grotesques had less highly-col ored duplicates in real life. And readers recognized them and treas ured them as symbols of authentic types. The list is almost endless— Sam Weller, Sairy Gamp, Daniel Quilp, Uriah Keep, Mrs. Nickelby, Mr. Micawber, Mr. Pecksniff—oh, a dozen more. What writer since Dickens has been able to perpetuate one-tenth so many characters? There is Tark- ington with his Penrod and his Alice Adams; there was Mark Twain with his Huck Finn and Colonel Mulberry Sellers. There lately has been Sin clair Lewis with two picturesque creations, to wit: Babbitt—and Sin clair Lewis. IRVIN S. COBB Copyright.—WNU Service. Tellin •* 'V'VJM ^ LuelUB.lrtjond J ACK and Ellen Dyson couldn’t find a thing for which they could be thankful and merry this Christmas—Jack out of work and Ellen with so little in the house left for meals. But to make matters worse, shortly after Jack left, Ellen missed the emerald setting out of her ring. She hadn’t worn it for a long time but it had been her great- Jack and Ellen Joined Hands and Danced About in Their Joy. esi consolation—if the “worst came to worst”—it could be sold. And with it gone! “Five presents here and they aren’t from the five and ten, either, Jack! I know, you took my emer ald to buy these, didn’t you?” Ellen cried out, something she would’t have said had her nerves and pa tience not been frayed to the thin edge. .“You honestly think that of me, Ellen? If that’s the way you feel, all right, think what you please!” Neither of them realized that they were hardly accountable for their mutual lack of understanding. Tears fairly blinded Ellen as she went out to bring in the little red hen, the last member of their little flock. She kept thinking that at least this, her last offering to the holiday dinner, was honest. Then suddenly she caught sight of the familiar emerald—there in the little red hen’s insides was hidden the gem she had thought poor Jack had taken. It took but a moment or two to wash up, snatch up the em erald and dash into the workroom where she went to her knees before her husband. “Forgive? Why, Ellen dear, it certainly did look bad for me, no wonder. If I’d not been a stubborn fool I’d have gone on and explained myself. You see, darling, on the street today I found a packet of bonds and when I returned them to their owner, he gave me twenty dol lars as a reward and after he found out I was unemployed, he offered me a beginner’s job in his office!” Even an old grouch would have had to grin had he seen Jack and Ellen then join hands and dance about in their joy for a merry, lucky Christmas! © Western Newspaper Union. Custom of Burning Yule Log From Scandinavians npHE Christmas custom of burn- ing the Yule log originated among the ancient Scandinavians. During the period of winter solstice, they kindled great bonfires honor ing the god Thor. This was at the feast of Juul. The Saxons and the Goths also celebrated , a winter fes tival which they called Jul, and so we derive our expression of “Yule-" tide,” for the Christmas season. In the time of the feudal lords, the cutting down and bringing in of the huge Yule log, or “clog” as it was then called, was a ceremony of great importance. One old writer tells us that the Yule clog “was to be lighted with a brand of the last year’s log, which had been care fully laid aside for the purpose, and music was to be played during the ceremony of lighting.” CHRISTMAS AND HOW