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McCORMICK MESSENGER, McCORMICK, S. C.. THURSDAY, AUGUST 25, 1938 Weekly News Review— House Un-Americanism Body Probes Hollywood Communism — By Joseph W. La Bine A. F. OF L.’S JOHN FREY, INVESTIQATOR DIES They were obliged to discuss John Lewis. Domestic Last year Chicago Times Report er John Metcalfe joined Fritz Kuhn’s Germ an-American Bund, traveled 20,000 miles attending Bund meetings, then resigned to write a startling expose for his paper. Di rect result was a $25,000 house com mittee on un-American activities, which met last week under Texas’ Martin Dies. After three days of probing, un-Americanism reared its colorful head everywhere from C. I. O. headquarters to glamorous Holly wood. Ex-Bundsman Metcalfe told how Fritz Kuhn organized 500,000 Ger man-Americans under instructions from Adolf Hitler, how in return Kuhn was give'n a whip hand over Germany’s ambassador to' the U. S. He told of Chicago’s “Silver Shirts,’’ organized to smash Communism. Ex-Bundsman Peter Gissibl told how Nazi spies consorted with Ger- man-Americans, how the Red Star line “fixed it” so spies could slip back home when they got in trou ble. But it was American Federa tion of Labor’s John P. Frey who tossed in the biggest bombshell and caused C. I. O.’s John L. Lewis to snort with rage.. Naziism is one thing, but Metal Tradesman Frey promised to identi fy “several national C. I. O. offi cers” as Communists. Would he mention John Lewis? “How could I avoid it!” replied Mr. Frey. The Frey disclosures had barely started before Committee Investiga tor Edward Sullivan hurried into Washington from California, anx ious to reveal how C. I. O.’s Harry Bridges, America’s most famous alien, “attended ‘top fraction’ meet ings of the Communist party and received aid from officials of the U. S. labor department while patri otic citizens were trying to have him deported for his Communistic activities.” Continued Investigator Sullivan: “Witnesses can be produced who can name the day when an official of the immigration service contact ed Harry Bridges and called him to his office, where he read ... a con fidential letter of instructions on his future behavior, written by an out standing official of the labor depart ment.” That Communist Bridges is financed by Hollywood cinema stars was Mr. Sullivan’s next charge. Armed with this evidence, supported by Unionist Frey whose accusations John Lewis seemed unwilling to an swer, the Dies committee prepared to remain in Washington two more weeks. In New York they will pick up more tasty rumors, then move west across the nation to smell out Communism a la Hollywood. Foreign Many years ago Germany’s great Bismarck fooled his opponents by telling the truth, knowing they would not believe. Last week, when Adolf Hitler called 500,000 reserves to the colors for war games with a mil lion regular soldiers, all Europe be came jittery. But in Berlin there was scoffing; if Germany' planned anything but peaceful moves, she would have assembled her giant war machine secretly. Remember ing Bismarck, answering too that secret mobilization on such a giant scale would be impossible, Berlin’s nervous diplomatic corps sped the news back home to Paris, London and Prague. There, these things happened: (1) In Prague, England’s Lord Runciman has spent a fortnight mediating differences between loyal Czechs and their disgruntled fellow- countrymen, Sudeten Germans. Su- detens want autonomy, eventual an nexation by Germany. Was it pos sible that Germany’s mobilization foreshadowed a quick annexation move? As Premier Milan Hodza re jected a Sudeten demand for autono my, all Czechoslovakia became wor ried and Lord Runciman wished he were back home. (2) In Paris, where the govern ment has also been having trou ble with Mussolini, French frontiers along Germany and Italy were vir tually locked. Next, Interior Min ister Albert Sarraut re-enforced his counter-spying service against Ger many. (3) In London, Prime Minister Ne ville Chamberlain forgot his catarrh and returned from Scotland. Since Germany recently closed its fortified zones to all military men, Britain’s war office warned its officers to get special certificates to avoid “trou ble” during travels in Germany. Chief dynamite in Germany’s ma neuvers lay in the possibility of an incident that would topple Europe’s delicately balanced peace structure. • When Japan and Russia signed a truce in their month-old undeclared war on the Manchukuan-Siberian border, only the most optimistic ob server could predict lasting peace. As a redemarcation commission prepared last week to settle the boundary dispute, two incidents threatened once more to send Rus sia’s bear charging up bullet-pocked Changkufeng hill. On isolated Sag- halien island, half Russian, half Jap, Soviet guards fired on a touring member of the Japanese parlia ment. Next day Tokyo’s troops took advantage of the truce, advanced 100 meters up Changkufeng hill while Russian guns bristled. Since wisdom was the better part of val or, the Japs immediately retreated. Politics Dearer than anything else to Franklin Roosevelt is his legisla tive program, blocked last session not by a Republican minority but by anti-New Deal Democrats. No silent sufferer, Mr. Roosevelt de cided long ago that congress needed new blood to replace opponents of his reorganization bill, wage-hour bill and lesser measures. This year’s primaries offered an opportunity. By last week his “purge” pro gram was not a success. But neith er had New Dealism suffered many losses in elections thus far. Bound GEORGIA’S GEORGE He had reason to scowl. to break the impasse, Mr. Roosevelt decided to stake his political future on his tremendous personal popular ity in the South. Fortnight ago at Bamesville, Ga., he bluntly read out of the party Sen. Walter F. George, who sat scowling in the audience (see picture). Last week 60-year- old Senator George took up the “challenge” and set out to beat New Dealer Lawrence Camp in Georgia’s primary, September 14. Stalking next into South Carolina, the President intimated that Sena- 1 tor Ellison D. (“Cotton Ed”) Smith would be unwelcome at Washington next winter, intimated also that South Carolinians should send in his place Gov. Olin D. Johnson. Back in Washington, news of the South’s “purge” gave political com mentators enough hard tack to chew on until election day. What Frank lin Roosevelt wanted was complete domination of congress, insuring passage of his legislative program. Thus would he be able to dictate his 1940 successor, dispelling the third term bugaboo. People Last month Anne Lindsay Clark married Son John Roosevelt, who a fortnight ago took an $18-a-week job in the Boston department store of late Democrat Edward Filene. Last week Anne Roosevelt’s sister, Sally, who has sung her way to nominal fame in a night club, said she would marry George Xavier McLanahan of New York. • Wed only two weeks to his tele phone operator sweetheart from Gore Bay, Ont., 21-year-old Auto Heir Daniel C. Dodge was honey mooning on Manitoulin island off Lake Huron’s Georgian bay. One afternoon as he rummaged around the garage with his wife and Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Bryant, a stick of dynamite exploded. Completely shattered was Dodge’s left arm, his face torn, his eyes blinded. Rushed off by boat to a distant hospital by his badly injured friends. Dodge suffered excruciating agony. Final ly he stood up, swayed, jumped into the water, drowned. Next day Bry ant was not expected to live. Crime One morning last fall, 18-year-old Paul Dwyer of South Paris, Me., was arrested in North Arlington, N. J. Stuffed in the trunk of his auto mobile was the corpse of James G. Littlefield, elderly country doc tor. Stuffed in the back seat was that of Dr. Littlefield’s wife. Paul Dwyer went to prison under life sen tence for double murder. Then he changed his story. Said Dwyer: Francis Carroll, a former deputy sheriff, had improper relations with his daughter, Barbara, Dwyer’s sweetheart. When Dr. Littlefield learned of this, Carroll killed him. Later he killed the doctor’s wife. Fear of Carroll caused Dwyer to admit both murders. Last week these horrible accusa tions were settled. Francis Carroll was convicted, sent to prison for life. It appeared likely that sallow faced Paul Dwyer would be par doned, though he might still be charged with guilty knowledge of the slayings. Meanwhile Barbara Carroll received offers to appear in a Boston night club. Aviation Transatlantic commercial air su premacy has long since been willed by public consent to U. S. and Great Britain, though until last year nei ther nation did anything to justify the public’s approval. A few weeks ago Nazi Germany sent its Nord- wind, Nordstern and Nordmeer cat apulting from the Azores to New York and back, placing a new na tion in the race for Atlantic air su premacy. Last week Adolf Hitler’s birdmen did something still better. Non-stop from Berlin to New York in 24 hours, 56 minutes, came the 26-passenger Brandenburg. Two days later Brandenburg was again in Berlin, making her return trip in the record time of 19 hours, 55 min utes. No longer a secret is Hitler’s ambition to make not London, not Paris, but Berlin the European starting point for transatlantic flights. • Down from the clouds east of Mexico City plummeted an airliner. First a crash, then flames, and 11 were dead. Down from fog-bound skies into Germany’s Black forest came a Czechoslovak liner bound from Prague to Paris. Sixteen died. Down to their deaths off England’s coast went six crew members of a royal air force flying boat, bringing to 126 the total fatalities in that service this year. Thus, in 12 hours, in Mexico, England and Germany, 33 lives were snuffed out. Sports When Broker J. Smith Ferebee played 144 holes of golf in Chicago last fortnight, it looked like a new marathon fad would start, rivaling marathon dancing, surpassing the toughest flagpole sitter. Last week at St. John, Ind., 23-year-old Charles Grant started playing golf at dawn. By 3 p. m. he had covered 162 holes, by sundown, 225. His worst 18-hole round: the tenth, scoring 81. Miscellany From San Francisco’s Golden Gate exposition grounds last week came orders that publicity on the 1939 fair must show more fair build ings, fewer fair maidens. Result was a new bit of publicity, some thing fair officials had not expected. Up and down in front of the adminis tration building paraded “the most beautiful picket line in America.” Their placards: “We’re out on a limb.” “We want a leg-acy.” • Last fortnight Britain’s proud Queen Mary made a westward At lantic passage in 3 days, 21 hours, 48 minutes, clipping better than an hour from the record of her rival, France’s Normandie. Last week Queen Mary steamed east from New York, made the crossing in 3 days, 20 hours, 42 minutes, to beat an- 1 other Normandie record. Said a proud officer: “This is the lion’s turn to roar.” • Last June 1 a big malamute dog went hunting with his master off Alaska’s frozen Bering strait. Lin gering off shore to gobble seal meat, the beast was carried to sea on an ice floe. Last week, more than two months later, the master again went hunting, this time with Father Bernard R. Hubbard, Alaskan mis sionary. On lonely Point Hope, 250 miles away, the dog bounded up. He had cruised the entire distance on a cake of ice, had thrived on seal meat. WHO’S NEWS THIS WEEK By LEMUEL F. PARTON NTEW YORK.—When Sir Walter Runciman was here in 1937, it was reported that he was trying to persuade Washington to lend money . to Germany, to Runciman soothe Hitler and Master of make him stop Squeeze Play frightening Eng land. That may or may not have been his mission, but, as a master of the old credit- and-raw-materials squeeze play, he works that way, and, now, as Vis count Runciman, he is deep in the Downing Street strategy which swings these two cudgels of empire. Prime Minister Chamberlain ap pointed him as mediator in the Czechoslovak-Sudeten German nego tiations, but the Czechs toned that down to adviser. Viscount Runciman has been a silent ally of Viscount Halifax in the quiet, glacial-pressure ad vance of the four-power bloc scheme for a European coalition and the final and complete iso lation of Russia. It was reported from London, un verified so far as this writer knows, that it was he who Makes Moves put over a fast In World’s credit double-play Chess Game with France and Italy, the moment the Daladier government came in, and he has been tagged as the man who deploys the empire’s financial resources in the diplomatic chess game. His father was a ruddy old sea dog who sang chanteys, a cabin boy who became a shipping czar and a baronet. Viscount Runciman is a pallid, tight-lipped little man, a total abstainer, a former Sunday School teacher, and a faithful chapel- goer. As president of the British board of trade, he made concessions in empire free trade, but he is a pro tectionist of the Chamberlain tradi tion. Like many men of small stature, he has the Napoleonic psy chosis, writing books about Napo leon and hoarding memorabilia. • * • npHIS writer has heard from sev- eral assured but not necessarily authoritative sources that Tullio Serafin would succeed Edward Johnson as man- Serann ager of the Metro- To Boss politan Opera. The Met? Signor Serafin has been highly es teemed here for his musicianship, but all was not well between him and the Metropolitan manage ment when he returned to Rome in 1935, after a number of years as Italian conductor here. “The Metropolitan has not kept pace with the artistic progress of the modern stage,” he said, on his arrival in Rome. “The way opera is put on at the Metropolitan is ri diculous . . . The great fault with the Metropolitan is the little encourage ment it is giving to its latent tal ent.” The Metropolitan reply hinted that Signor Serafin was really thinking about money rather than art. In the season ’32-’33, he had a fair subsistence wage of $58£00 for the season. This had been worked down to $34,000 the year he left. He did indicate that he thought that was pretty shabby pay for an ace conductor, but insisted his criti cism was directed solely at artistic, shortcomings. Several years ago, the Metropoli tan was intent on national self-suf ficiency in music. Home Talent It was going to For Opera discover and nur- No Bargain ture native talent. That hasn’t quite come off, and there have been the usual number of importations. It will be interesting if it brings in not only a European manager, but one who is its sharpest critic. Among music lovers of this writ er’s acquaintance, there seems to be great indifference about where the singers come from as long as they are good. They insist that mu sic, above all, must be free from the sharply nationalistic trends of the day. As a lad, Tullio Serafin laid down a shepherd’s crook for a baton. Tending the sheep near Cavarzere on the Venetian mainland, he used to walk sev eral miles to tewn on Saturday night, at the age of ten, to con-, duct the village bund. He at tended the conservatory at Mi lan and was a full-fledged con ductor in his early youth. At La Scala, in Milan, he was assistant conductor under Gatti- Casazza. He became one of the most widely known and popular con ductors in Europe. A stanch supporter of the Fascist regime from its outset, he has been conductor of the Royal Opera at Rome since his departure from New York. He was replaced here by Ettore Panizza. © Consolidated News Features. WNU Service Polishing plate glass in Pennsylvania factory. Coal, Coke, Steel, Cement and Glass Are Pennsylvania's Great Industries Prepared by National Geographic Society. Washington. D. C.—WNU Service. G REAT events have hap pened and the lives of all Americans have been transformed in many ways since Obediah Gore, the Con necticut blacksmith, moved to the Wilkes-Barre country and taught the neighborhood smiths how to fire their forges with anthracite; since Jesse Fell in vented the grate for burning hard coal in homes; since Philip Ginter stubbed his toe on a piece of hard coal and there by laid the foundations of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation system of coal mines and coal roads. Even in the depths of the depres sion in 1931 Pennsylvania was pro ducing 60,000,000 tons of anthracite and 97,000,000 tons of bituminous coal, or approximately a third of the nation’s entire coal output. When you consider how much the country owes to its vast supplies of sunshine stored up in the earth through millions of years, you real ize how great is its debt to Penn sylvania, for in service to humanity coal far outshines the magic wonders of Aladdin’s legendary lamp. As one travels through the coal fields, there are many sights remi niscent of a century of mining. One sees in the anthracite fields every type of coal breaker, from the old dry breaker with dust everywhere and much of the coal wasted, to the latest Rheolaveur breaker where water is used from beginning to end, and where even the dust is saved. Tremendous Coke Production. Pennsylvania is the nation’s fore most producer of coke. For generations the beehive coke oven had its day. It was a waste ful day, it is true, but the beehive oven fitted its time. It was not until the World war period that it relinquished first place to by-prod uct ovens. Then the cry went up for more and more of the chemicals hidden in bituminous coal to take their place in the explosives that were indeed “the power behind the gun” of war-making. Now the alchemist of coal is getting more coke out of a ton of coal made in a by-product oven than could be obtained in a beehive oven, and in addition he is able to capture enough ammonia and its compounds, light oil and its de rivatives, gas, tar, fine coke, and other products to bring the total value of by-products up to $3.86 per ton, all of which were lost in the old-time beehive oven. Those were spectacular nights be fore the World war when one rode for miles through the beehive oven districts. Today those old ovens stand row after row along scores of railroad tracks, some v almost completely in ruins but others lookr ing as if they might be fired again tomorrow. Pig Iron and Steel. Pennsylvania’s role in the iron and steel industry is as remarkable as her position in the coal and coke industry of the nation. In 1931 the Keystone state produced only 1 per cent of the nation’s iron ore, but it turned out 28 per cent of its pig iron and 32 per cent of its steel. With every 1,000 tons of pig iron requiring in its making about 1,800 tons of ore, 700 tons of limestone, 1,000 tons of coke, and 4,500 tons of air driven by powerful fans, one may easily imagine that its produc tion is the Keystone state’s heavy industry. There was in the days of peak production no more inspiring night sight than the view from a high hill at Pittsburgh, looking down the Ohio and up the Monongahela and the Al legheny rivers, beholding Titan at work, transforming ore into pig iron. The era of the Bessemer process in converting pig iron into steel is largely gone in the Keystone state. No longer do these huge metallic eggshells send their streams of fiery sparks heavenward. The awesome “spitting” of the spectacular con verter during certain periods of the blowing of air through its molten contents has given place to the open hearth. New Ways of Making Cement. Here enormous jets of gas flame are played over the molten pig met al, producing jron oxide which com bines with added iron ore to form a basic slag—the “skimmings” of the fiery caldron. .Nowhere in industrial Pennsylva nia does one discover more progress in processes than in the cement in-’ dustry. A pilgrimage through a ce-j ment plant 20 years ago was like working at the “bunghole” of a threshing machine before the days of the straw blowers. There was 1 dust everywhere. As one surveyed the horizon of Lehigh and North ampton counties, it seemed that there were a hundred whirlwinds perpetually blowing and marking the sites of the cement plants scat tered over the countryside. Today it is different. Now the rock is crushed under streams of water and the final powdering of the stone produces a sludge of about the consistency of mush. . This is introduced into the big rotary kilns —some of them as much as 120 feet long and 15 feet in diameter. Here it meets a stream of pow dered coal under a flame that gives a temperature of from 2,500 to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The coal has been so finely ground that 95 per cent of it will pass through a screen that has 10,000 meshes to the square inch. When the powdered coal, the sludge, the fiery heat, and a regulat» ed amount of air meet, glass-hard clinkers are formed. These clinkers in turn are the in termediate materials between ce ment rock and the finished product. They are mixed with heavy steel oval-shaped globules and conveyed into rotary grinders.. Round and round these big machines turn hour after hour until all the clinkers have been ground almost to impalpable dust, in which form it is Portland cement. Among all of Pennsylvania’s dra matic industries there is none pos sessing greater fascination than plate-glass making. Such opaque substances as salt cake, pure lime stone, and quartz sand go into a furnace in 3,5b0-pound batches, be come liquid, and then pass out as a continuous sheet of plate glass which is cut, ground, and polished until it is as transparent as thin air. In a Plate Glass Plant. Up the Allegheny river from Pitts burgh stands the little village of Creighton. On its outskirts is the largest plate-glass plant in the world. The company owns at its back door the coal mine that sup plies its fuel, for coal is used in such quantities that such a plant is always located near its fuel supply rather than close to its raw ma terial. Here are huge bins for storing salt cake, soda ash, glass sand, limestone, and other ingredients. There is the giant furnace that holds 1,200 tons of molten glass. With a colored glass Shield before your eyes look into the fiery fur nace. Here are little hills and tiny mountains, survivals of the last 3,500-pound mouthful of material dumped in. There you stee a minia ture lake of incandescent molten mixture. Twenty-one days of warming are required to bring the temperature of the furnace up to operating re quirements. The marvel is that its linings can be made heat-resistant enough to stand temperatures that convert sand and limestone into liq uid and to take that punishment for months on end. At the rear of the furnace is a giant lip out of which the molten glass flows. Glowing hot, of doughy consistency, it passes under tremen dous rollers, which convert it into a ribbon about 7 feet wide. Along this it travels through an annealing lehr for 400 feet. By now it is cool enough for the cutters who trim off the edges, cut it into lengths, and mark the defective spots. Then a sort of mechanical spider with vacuum-cup feet swoops down on each piece, lifts it high over head, and deposits it in a plaster-of- paris film on the six-ton cast-iron car that is to be its bed while pass ing under the grinding machines, where sand and emery smooth it down. From these grinder# the plate passes under the felt-footed polishers where enough rouge to col or the lips and cheeks of an army of women is used to produce that perfection of smoothness ' which gives perfect vision through your motor window. After the glass has traveled 125 feet in the fiery furnac.e, 400 feet on the cooling lehrs, 400 feet under the grinders, and 400 feet under the pol ishers, it is ready for its trip through the Duplate works where two pieces are cemented together with a DuPont product and be come safety glass.