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THE SUN, NEWBERRY, S. C- FRIDAY. APRIL 19, 1940 NAVY TEAMWORK WASHINGTON. — On March 20, 1917, a tall, husky young man from Perth Amboy, N. J., heard Theo dore Roosevelt speak at a rally in Madison Square Garden, New York. When the youngster left the meet ing he was so fired with patriotism that he stopped at the first recruit ing station and enlisted in the navy. He rose quickly. Because of his knowledge of seamanship, gained as a kid on the Jersey coast, he began his service as a bosun in command of a coast patrol boat. A little later he was commissioned an ensign and ordered to a transport which car ried thousands of troops to France. Today this youthful patriot sits at a desk in a second floor office of the great, sprawling, white stuccoed Navy building on upper Constitution avenue, the acting boss of the navy. That Lewis Compton is acting boss of the navy is known to few even LEWIS COMPTON ‘All you need is a good assistant.’ in Washington. He is not a politi cian. He is a business man who believes in running public affairs in a businesslike manner. He didn’t seek out the job. It sought him out and was offered to him strictly be cause of his qualification. It happened this way: In the fall of 1936, when Roosevelt persuaded Charles Edison, son of the famed inventor, to take the post of assist ant secretary, the first man to con gratulate him, in his office in East Orange, was Lewis Compton. “Thanks, Luke,” said Edison, “but I have no business taking this job. I don’t know the bow of a ship from the stern.” “You don’t need to,” said Comp ton. “In the navy there are plenty of men who do. All you need is a good assistant. Count me in.” “Do you mean it?” said Edison. “Sure,” was the reply. “What are you doing Monday?” said Edison. “Come down to Wash ington with me and we’ll fix things up.” Won Edison’s Admiration. The two men had become ac quainted only the year before, when Compton was state director of re lief in New Jersey. Edison, presi dent of Thomas A. Edison Indus tries, Inc., was also starting a lab oratory experiment in federal hous ing in New Jersey, and needed some white-collar relief workers. Compton assigned relief workers to the housing project in a way that evoked Edison’s admiration. In stead of handing him a lot of butch ers and bakers, he allowed Edison free range to select skilled men, regardless of politics, with the re sult that the New Jersey FHA had the most efficient record in the country. This was the beginning of a mu tual admiration between the two men. A clear-sighted perseverance lies behind Compton’s work today in re organizing the navy department. He and Edison, both with the back ground of business men, insist that the shore establishments of the navy, which employ 100,000 civilian workmen — riveters, steam-fitters, electricians, designers — cannot be well directed by an officer trained only in commanding a ship. In other words, you can’t build submarines by throwing a steam- fitter into the brig if he doesn’t salute and say "Aye, aye, sir!” The navy’s shore establishments consti tute one of the largest industrial enterprises in the country, and Compton and Edison hold that they should be directed by men trained in industrial management. These and other administrative reforms of Edison and Compton are regarded as heresy by the brass- hats, but they have the support of President Roosevelt and they are being put through. MERRY-GO-ROUND Experts say that airplane types change so rapidly that a new plane is out of date in almost six months. Therefore , British and French pur chases are enabling the United States to develop both types and factories, giving the army and navy the cream of the crop. When the Germans got an offer of Red Cross aid from Norman Davis, they said, “No, thanks.” Dave Dubinsky will take his pow erful International Ladies Garment Workers union into the A. F. of L. in May. General HUGH s. JOHNSON SLOGANS AND WAR We were sloganeered into the last war—at least as a partial cause. “If England and France are licked our turn is next.” That one pulled heavily. “This is a world war of democracy against autocracy. Our place is on the side of the democ racies—they are fighting our war.” Boiled down to “make the world safe for democracy” that was a honey. There is a good deal of doubt as to whether they were fighting our war but there is none whatever that we fought theirs and did it in time to win it. Then we paid a lot for it. We asked for nothing and got considerably less than that. About the only difference between the sloganeering approach in that war and this is that this time it is working three times as fast. “Fighting our war” was what Jimmy Cromwell said to Canada and, while he got an official spank ing, no small part of the press on the eastern seaboard said he spoke the truth, or at least what most Americans think. I doubt if he spoke the truth. West of the Alleghanies at least, it has been my observation that most Americans think no such thing. “Our turn will be next” is a varia tion of the “democracy” theme of “fighting our war” but it packs WHAT’S WRONG? I DID IT BEFORE (Thomas for Associated Newspapers.) more weight. It slants toward the strategy of "self-defense” which is something most Americans would fight for if they thought the need existed. It becomes very necessary then to study this "our turn next" busi ness. In the first place “our turn from whom?” The World war and everything that has happened since shows that it takes a great superi ority—maybe as much as 3 to 1 in men and materials conclusively to smash an enemy. Remember that Germany was never defeated in bat tle—and neither was Finland. There was nothing approaching any such superiority on either side in this war—neither in being nor in prospect. There are possibilities of some astonishing development such as devastating proof of mass air power—but those are growing dim mer every day. Starving or eco nomic strangulation of Germany may oe possible, but that also seems less likely as more facts become known. As that fades, so also fades the like lihood of an interior revolution ousting Hitler. There, of course, remains also the possibility of a smash across bor der fortifications—a suicidal holo caust—but it is clear too that this would also take an overwhelmin superiority at the point of attack. Incidentally, there is a popular misconception here that such an at tack would kill more men on the offensive side than on the defensive. It could if the offensive didn’t have the required superiority in men and metal but not necessarily otherwise. A study of great Twentieth century offensives by Major Phillips in the current Infantry Journal makes this quite clear. There is probably no such superi ority on the western front and, whether there is or not, any offensive would kill so many on both sides that the toll would shock each fight ing nation and the world. Whether this becomes a bloody war of movement or action or a white war of nerves and strangu lation, neither side has much hope of coming out of it either with total victory or with enough strength left to tackle us in 20 years—especially not if we arm on the plan we have adopted. It would be a lot safer, and cheap er for us in blood and money, to count on these things to avoid its being “our turn next” than to keep repeating that we are sure it will be until we sloganeer ourselves into another terrible trimming and make it our turn, not only next but now, by self-hypnosis. ECONOMIC WARFARE The argument of Mussolini and Hitler that they are not safe without an access to raw materials has been' pooh-poohed by their enemies abroad and our interventionists. This column carries no torch for those gangsters, but that doesn’t go to the point of saying that black is white. If this war, and the World war have proved anything, it was that the lack of such access at least lays any nation open to an enemy which can control such supply. Finns Evacuate Homeland to Escape Russian Rule Their worldly goods loaded on a horse-drawn sleigh, members of this Finnish family flee from Russian rule. They are going into exile, evacuating their home, which is situated in the section of Finland ceded to Russia by terms of the peace treaty. The father rubs his child’s nose to guard against frostbite. Right: A Finnish sol dier helps this old lady and her daughter carry the last of their portable belongings from their home in Hango, which was included in the area taken over by Russia. Harvard Inaugurates Housing Project for Benedicts No longer need married students attending Harvard university at Cambridge, Mass., be separated from their families. The university has established living quarters for the benedicts. Homes in three communi ties serve 171 married students. Rentals range from $35 to $70 a month. Pictured here is Eric Rafter, law student at Harvard, reading Blackstone and looking after his daughter, Mary. Right: A view of the Shaler Lane homes for married students, sponsored by the university. Practice Time for Anti-Tank Gunners Drum Majorette Because all is too quiet on the western front for real tank warfare, British and French anti-tank crews brush up on their marksmanship by using dummy tanks made of wood and cardboard. Here are British anti tank gunners with their dummies loaded on trucks on the way to the gunnery range behind the lines on the front. Action Scene ‘Somewhere in France’ World’s champion drum majorette is M*ss Jeanne Ladd of Swampscott, Mass. She is pictured leading the annual festival of states parade in St. Petersburg, Fla. She won her title at the American Legion con« vention in 1939. Fond Farewell Approved by both the British and French censors, this picture was Bidding farewell to his infant son snapped at the moment a shell, smoking hot, was ejected from the breech ' is this British soldier who returns of a big gun just as its missive of death had been sent on its way to to the front after a leave of ab- enemy lines. Both the Maginot and Siegfried lines are strongly fortified sence. The baby was born while with heavy artillery. i his dad was at the front. “The Name Is Familiar— BY FELIX B. STREYCKMANS and ELMO SCOTT WATSON H. T. P. Comstock Comstock Lode V IRGINIA CITY, NEV., was once the “greatest mining town on this continent.” It got its start with the Comstock Lode, a vein of gold, that was named for a “lanky, loud- voiced, boastful, bullying prospec tor” named Henry Thomas Paige Comstock, who was called “Old Pan cake” because he lived mostly on flapjacks. One day in the spring of 1859 “Old Pancake” discov ered two Irish men, Peter O’Ri ley and Patrick McLaughlin, cleaning up the “rocker” they used in their placer mining. There was $200 worth of gold dust in it. “You’ve struck it rich, boys!” he shouted. “But the trouble is you’ve struck it on my land. You know I bou&nt this spring here from Old Man Caldwell and I took up 160 acres around it for a ranch.” There was some truth in his statement but he had never recorded title to the water rights. However, he made his bluff good and they "counted him in.” When news of the rich strike spread there was a grand rush to the scene. Because the vein of gold had been found on land which was supposed to belong to “Old Pancake” it was named for him and not for the men who discovered it. Later, when quartz mining started there, more than $100,000,000 worth of silver and gold was taken from the place. But “Old Pancake” didn’t profit much from it. He sold out early, for $11,000, soon squandered all of his money, drifted to Montana and there, penniless and almost starving, committed suicide in Bozeman on September 27, 1870. • » • Victorian Xl/" HEN you hear a woman say “Oh, she’s so Victorian!” you know immediately what she means —or do you? For she may mean that her friend is hopelessly old- fashioned or out-of-date in her cloth ing or her taste in furnishing her house. Then again, she may mean that she is prudish and easily shocked by frankness in speech or any deviation from propriety or conventional be havior. In either case she is helping per petuate the spirit of the woman who ruled Great Brit ain . longer than any other mon arch—64 years— until her death in 1901. When Wil liam IV died in Victoria 1837, his 18-year- old niece came to the throne and during the next half century Queen Victoria gave her name to an era which was “a strange gap between the enlightened Eighteenth century and our own period of progress.” It was an era of self-complacency and dignity maintained in spite of everything. Most of all it was an eminen'ly “proper” period—when crinolined, sheltered “females” em broidered sofa-cushions, painted china, made fringed lampshades and gilded cockle-shells. • • • Dun D ACK in the days of King Henry •*-' VII of England, a famous bailiff named John Dun, lived in the town of Lincoln. He was one of the earli est exponents of the “treat ’em rough” method of dealing with of fenders against the law. He was also unusually proficient collecting rents, duties and general debts. He originated the idea of calling at debtors’ houses, dressed in an odd and colorful cos tume, to attract the attention of the neighbors. Sometimes be would walk up and down in front of the debtor’s house broadcast ing to the whole neighborhood the nature of the debt he was sent to collect. So successful was Dun at this work that when a person refused to pay his debts, friends of the creditor would say to him “Why don’t you Dun him?” meaning, why don’t you send John Dun after him? From this arose the custom of calling a pressing request for the payment of money a "dun." A variation of John Dun’s methods survives among collection agencies in England today. Demands for pay ment of debts are mailed in enve lopes printed in red. If the debtor ignores three such maUings, he can expect a call from a collector dressed in a bright red uniform. And then is his face red! (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) John Dun Make Flared Skirt For Dressing Table By RUTH WYETH SPEARS H OW to cut a flared dressing table skirt without fullness at the top, is something worth know ing. You may be making a smartly tailored affair of white pique with pink bindings and but tons, like the one shown here; or an under lining for a full skirt of transparent material. The diagram shows how to make a pattern for half of the skirt. The center front may be placed on a fold of the goods in cutting if there is no front open ing. Cut the paper by the dimen sions in the diagram. Mark point A in 14-inches from the upper left comer. Measure up from the lower right corner a distance equaling the length of the skirt from A to the left edge of the paper and mark point C. Connect these points with lines drawn, as shown. • • • NOTE: The new 32-page edi tion of Book 1—“Sewing for the Home Decorator,” shows three other interesting styles of dress ing tables, with detailed directions for making. Also slip covers, draw curtains; and numerous household articles. Write Mrs. Spears for a copy, enclosing 10 cents to cover cost. Address: MRS. RUTH WYETH SPEARS Drawer 10 Bedford Hills New York Enclose 10 Cents for Book 1. Name Address INDIGESTION Senutiood Relief from Indigestion end One Dose Proses It If the fint done of this pleas&nt-tssting little black tablet doesn’t bring you the fastest and most complete relief you have experienced senr] bottle back to US and get DOUBLE MONEY BACHS. This Bell-ans tablet helps the stomach digest food, makes the excess stomach fluids harmless and lets S ou eat the nourishing foods you need. For heart- urn. sick headache and upsets so often caused by excess stomach fluids making you feel sour and sick all over—JUST ONE DOSE of Bell-ans proves speedy relief. 25c everywhere. The Generous Thing Many men have been capable of doing a wise thing, more a cunning thing, but very few a generous thing.—Pope. 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