Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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THE SUN, NEWBERRY, S. DECEMBER 25, 1942 Washington, D. C. POLL TAX AGAIN Despite the bitterest legislative battle of the year, the administra tion has no intention of abandoning the battle for poll tax repeal. Next round in this savage controversy will be fought out in the courts. Labor leaders William Green and Phil Murray were given this pri yate assurance by FDR himself when they called to urge the Presi dent to make a statement denounc ing the filibuster and pleading for passage of the bill. Green was very emphatic that Roosevelt take a hand. “This issue has war implications, Mr. President,” the AFL leader ar gued. “While our soldiers are fight ing to protect the right to vote, a minority of willful men in the sen ate is filibustering against it. You could break the filibuster if you spoke out.” Murray also put in some strong licks for presidential intervention. Roosevelt, however, interrupted to say that the administration was do ing all possible to put over the re peal bill and he was too busy with the war to become involved in the controversy. He added that the administration wouldn’t give up even if the fight in congress were lost, since Attor ney General Biddle was preparing a case to test the validity of the poll tax in the courts. Green and Murray accepted this alternative. But in talks with friends the labor chiefs are not optimistic about favorable action in the courts, fearing that the Supreme court will dump the issue right back in the lap of congress. • • • ARMY MASCOTS ' Mascots are popular in the armed services. Dogs are most common, but some units have adopted cats, eagles, goats, mules, horses, prairie dogs, ahd even kangaroo rats. In fact on the morning report of the 355th Infantry, Camp Carlson, Colo., appears the name of a cer tain sergeant who has never re ceived a cent of pay since he joined the army, yet he is one of the hap piest and best liked members of the outfit. The “sergeant” in this case is a white fox terrier, a company mas cot. He was in good standing until recently, wore his chevrons proudly on his khaki jacket. But one night he left the camp AWOL to chase prairie dogs and did not return in time for reveille. Like any other soldier, he had to pay the penalty for misconduct. In a solemn ceremony, attended by of ficers, he was “broken,” his stripes were taken away, and the warrant was signed by the colonel. * » » ‘ NEW NEBRASKA SENATOR Senator-elect Kenneth Wherry of Nebraska, who will fill the most fa mous shoes in the senate, those of George Norris, was in the senate once before, many years ago. He was then a law student and visited a friend who was the son of a senator. The senator took the two boys to meet Woodrow Wilson, who happened to be at the senate. As Wherry tells the story on himself, he shook hands with the President, after which there was an awful si lence. Then Wherry, feeling some thing must be said, blurted out: “I’ve heard a lot about you.” He wished the senate floor might open up and swallow him. • • • MRS. LUCE GOES ROUND THE WORLD Mrs. Clare Luce, newly elected Republican congresswoman from Connecticut, will be an additional problem for the British embassy to worry about. Mrs. Luce came back from a trip through jypt and the Far East with the fe. -mg that some thing was wrong with the old Brit ish empire. Undoubtedly her views had a lot to do with recent edi torials in her husband’s magazine, Life, criticizing the British. In Egypt she found the Egyptians carrying signs in the streets saying “We Want Rommel.” In China, she found severe criticism of the Brit ish, and she heard the fear ex pressed by the head Chinese censor that if China let too much news of India pass on to the United States, Chinese supply shipments would be curtailed from India. Everywhere she tried to find an explanation for the fall of Singa pore. Finally one young English of ficer put it this way: “We just went cold.” “What do you mean by that?” “Well, that’s your part of the world to defend. Our part is Eu rope. We know that after the war, you’ll give all that part back to us.” • • • CAPITAL CHAFF C. Maj. Frank Capra’s first training film, just finished for the army, is so good that every American should see it, either in or out of the army . . . The war department is now trying to make up its mind whether to release it to the civilian public. C For several days after the North Africa landing, the Rockefeller of fice had 5,000 to 10,000 words ca bled daily from Latin America in the form of comment and praise of the new front. This material was then radioed by OWI to Europe. THE CHAMP C‘Barney Boss, once holder of two ring championships, now a member of the ma rines, has been promoted and recommend ed for the Distinguished Service Cross for a glorious exploit at Guadalcanal. Shell shocked and woundea, he killed many Japs in an all night fight while defending three wounded buddies."—Official relea’e by the Office of Ifar Information.) A pug? . , . An old ex-champ, that’s all?— Say, mister, stow that guff! He battled where it really counts And showed a hero’s stuff; No floodlights beat above his head, He heard no cheering din; He got no rest between the rounds But he kept “coming in.” II Jap bullets clattered off his hat— His plight was pretty bad But still the kid he stood his ground And gave ’em all he had; The ring was just a shell-hole raw, No punch or blow was wrong. No neutral corner, referee, No rules and not a gong! III No swift three minotes . . . then a rest . . . No towel wet and cold. No seconds for a cool massage, Not one barred punch or hold. He’d had his fights when he had seed More than a single foe But not so many as he saw In this one, that I know! IV They came by scores through jungle green And waited for no bell, (But Barney had been rushed before And knew that system well;) There was no time to dance or spar Before the tactics rough . . . This was the truly finish fight Without the fancy stuff. V The Jappies led with everything, Wild rights and lefts they threw; The kid with gun and hand grenades Gave back the “old one-two”; The mist arose and figures danced, Across the beach-head floor; The kid was hurt and groggy but He’s been that way before. VI A dozen Armstrongs rushed him now . . . And some MacLarnins, too . . . (One at a time had been enough But now they seemed too few) . . . With wounded buddies to pro tect, Half blinded by the blood, The kid he just threw every thing The way a champion would! VII They heeled him with their Tommy guns And tore him half apart; They thumbed him with their hand grenades But couldn’t touch his heart; They hit him foul and hit him low They bit the kid but he As in four hundred other fights, Barked: “That’s all right with me!” VIII The lights went out and all went . black . . . And when the kid came to, He heard the “Winner . . . and still champ!”— The sweetest words he knew; They told him of his greatest fight And pledged the D.S.C.; “I was a little overweight . . . And off my form,” said he. • • • ADOLF My, my, to what heights Sweet Adolf is arisen; But bigger Huns flew higher kites— And he’ll git hissen. —Robert Imershein. Momentary Breathing Spell on Guadalcanal Island Grantland Rice Typical of the ground crews’ unsung heroes is this U. S. marine mechanic (left), who is cnecking over the power plant of a plane which has seen heroic service in the daily air battles over Guadalcanal. He plays a vital role in the air superiority held by our forces in the Solomons. Right: The sign says 42nd Street, but it’s a long, long way from New York City’s Times Square. The sign was posted at a marine camp on Guadalcanal. Getting Ready for Action Aboard U. S. Carrier IT IS a pleasant moment in this “winter of discontent” to recall the first time I happened to see three pretty fair country football players. This means in their college days. They were Mel Hein of Washington State and the Gi- ants-Sammy Baugh of T.C.U. and the Redskins—Don Hut son of Alabama and the Green Bay Pack ers. Long before they were famous, you only had to see them in action once to recognize class. They reminded me,.after a fashion of some sort, of the first time I ever saw Ty Cobb, Joe Jackson and Tris Speaker, when they were also unknowns along the border of the bush. And that wasn’t yesterday, or the day before. Hein — Baugh — Hutson. Not too bad. The first one that I saw was a big, smart, fast-moving center from Washington State by the name of Mel Hein. A fine athlete—a scholar—a gentle man. As I recall the dim details, this was in 1930 when Washington State was playing Villanova in Phila delphia. Pop Warner was sitting alongside. We agreed that this fellow Hein wasn’t a bad center. He was picked on the All-American and recom mended to Tim Mara of the Giants. For something like 12 years Mel Hein has been the greatest center pro football has ever known. In later years Pop Warner -InSsS* 0*$ S ' Tv ‘ " •'sN'* Lunch during general quarters on a U. S. fighting ship is where it happens to find you. Sandwiches, cookies and coffee—plenty of coffee, from the looks of things—refreshes the deck crew (left) of this air craft carrier as it plows towards the enemy. Right, a U. S. sailor straightens out the belts of .50 caliber machine gun bullets—calling cards for the nation’s foes—in the magazine of the carrier. U. S. Army Nurses Arrive in Middle East Washington is now talking of apply ing the $25,000 income limit to invest ment incomes. The people making $25,000 a year from investments will kindly assemble in the broom closet! * • • The skipper of an American sub marine says his vessel surfaced so close to a big Japanese city that the crew watched the Sunday horse races and even made a pool on the winners. We’ll wager that playing the ponies is one thing that makes diving easier under any conditions. • • • Max, a Boxer dog, has won silver wings as a parachute jumper in the United States army, for repeated jumps from a plane with the 505th Parachute Infantry. All honor to the pooch, but we can’t help wondering if it is all bravery, or partly at tributable to the fact he is not so high up that he can’t see another pooch below. • a • “The OPA formula for determin ing oil requirements is: Floor area times degree days divided by K.” a a a Brazil’s ultimatum to the Axis was, obviously, “Nuts to you.” a a • RHYMES FOR AN ANTI HOARDING DEVICE Make Der Fuehrer shout and shriek By buying only week to week; Better yet, make Goering gray Buying just from day to day. a a a Want the war to quickly end? On all ration rules depend! Want the war until you die? Pile the hoarded products high! —Buy War Bonds— Sent Home to Grow Up United States army nurses are gradually being sent to every United Nations front. It is their job to care for the wounded and to do everything possible to make sure that injured fighting men will fight again. A group of army nurses is shown here on the East African front waiting for a train to take them to their various units. President Batista of Cuba Visits Miami U. S. marine corps private George B. Holle, above, was sent back to his Eau Claire, Wis., home after it came to light that in spite of his six-foot-one-inch height, George is only 13 years old. Young Holle en listed in the marine corps 13 months ago when he was but 12, and after completing recruit training last De cember he was sent to a South Pa cific base. Here, after more than six months at this base, his age was discovered. ‘Lumber j ill’ President Batista walks through a guard of honor upon arrival to review the officer candidates’ school at retreat, in Miami, Fla., following his arrival from Cuba. On the left behind him is Aurelio Concheso, Cuban ambassador to the United States; on the right is Dr. Jose A. Martinez, Cuban minister of state. “Lumberjills” are pinch hitting for the men in harvesting the state of Washington’s Christmas tree crop. Here Mary Giblin trims the trunk of a young tree before ship ping. About 50 railroad cars will be used for Washington’s erop. such star centers as Bulldog Turner and other younger men have come along to give him a battle. But I am thinking in terms of a long er span. Before Hein Before Mel Hein came along, look ing to the college game, my all- time top had been a fellow by the name of Germany Schulz of Michi gan. Germany was 6 feet 4, weighed 245 pounds and was faster than most backs. Germany held a great Pennsyl vania team, led by Big Bill Hollen- back, in check for 50 minutes. The score was 0-0 when Schulz left the field, a battered wreck. The final score was Pennsylvania 29, Michi gan 0, or something like that when the game was over. Germany Schulz was the greatest college center that ever played. Ask Hurry-up Yost or any of the oid-timers. He was a fast-moving giant, with hands that hung almost to his knees. He tackled at both ends with crushing force—and he cut them down through the line. Schulz of Michigan and Stein Stone of Vander bilt, 6 feet 3, 210 and extremely fast, were the two best centers I ever saw in college play. Yost rates them 1-2, and Yost goes back to 1895. More About Hein Schulz and Stone came along be fore pro football was important. Mel Hein came along just as pro- football was steaming up. Mel had to meet the toughest op position that football can give you— the Chicago Bears—the Washington Redskins—the Green Bay Packers— and ail the others. I have always had the feeling that one of sport’s greatest tests was time—and the quality of op]>csition. To my mind Mel Hein has met this test on a par with Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, Jack Dempsey, Gene Tunney or anyone else. On the record he has gone by most of these men, barring Cobb and Speaker. When you can star in pro football for 11 or 12 years, when through that time you can carry the admiration of your teammates and the full re spect of all opponents, you have turned in a full job. Through most of this time Mel Hein had a family, wife and chil dren, to look after. There came the inevitable time where his feet could no longer take him to the right spot, directed by his brain. But he was never far away. His reflexes were still working where physical speed was lacking down the long stretch. Mel Hein has played his last foot- oall game. I doubt that any other athlete has ever given more to his . team—or to the game—than Hein has given through the many years he has been such an inspirational force in the toughest of all competi tion—college and professional foot ball. Hein met the two above mentioned tests—time and the quality of op position—and came out on top. If you’d like to argue this—I’ll turn you over to Steve Owen of the Giants, George Halas of the Bears or Curly Lambeau of the Packers. ■*>yj Eleanor Roosevelt STUDY OF GOVERNMENT One evening I had an hour’s visit with nine honor juniors of Colgate university who have been using their last semester to study various gov ernment departments with special emphasis on congress. Dr. Paul S. Jacobsen, associate professor of political science, and his wife were with them as usual. I found them an extremely nice group of young boys. They all expect to enter the serv ice almost immediately, and this may be the last group Colgate will be able to send until the end of the war. These boys, I am sure, will profit by their experience both now and in the after-war period. They were all very much impressed by the size of the job almost any gov ernment agency covers, and that fact that all the men they worked with seemed to know, not only their own particular job, but to have an understanding of its relationship to other work being done in the gov ernment. Boys of this kind will be good material in our armed forces and will see that the toughening process which comes from thinking through problems will not be neglected while the process of physical toughening up is going on. • • e SERVICE PROJECT The next day was busy. A long meeting with the press in the morn ing, then a talk with Miss Hilda Smith, who has been carrying on with the Worker’s Service project in the Works Project administration. She is gradually working out a pro gram for the future which will be permanent and not of the tempo rary character that many Works Project administration programs were. I lunched with a friend before go ing to a meeting with Charles Taft’s group in the Office of Defense Health and Welfare services, so that they could ask me questions to find out whether I observed anything abroad of value to them. • • • GOODWILL LEAGUE In New York I attended a little ceremony. The Brooklyn Goodwill Welfare league, a group of women who have really done a remark able piece of work in raising money and. helping various war and local charities since the beginning of the war, named an ambulance they bought in memory of my mother-in- law. They would have liked to pre sent it to the President, but it was not possible for him to give up the time, so he asked me to receive it. The ambulance meets all the standard army and navy require ments and will serve shortly in some place where it can be of use to our armed forces. This group seemed to me particu larly active and energetic. I en joyed very much being with them, and also seeing Mr. Newbold Mor ris again. He and I were the only speakers present. • • • ABSORBING PLAY There are a number of thingswhich I did during the time I was in New York city recently which I should mention. I was able to see Maxwell Anderson’s play, “The Eve of St. Mark,” and found it most absorbing. It is curious how people are al ways impressed by the particular point in which they are interested. A friend of mine told rae that this play taught the lesson of what un preparedness cost us, and that never again must we allow ourselves to be unprepared in a military way. He is one of the people who hopes we shall always have universal mili tary service for every boy during some period of his early life. I feel that a period of service to the nation would be good for all of us, though I hope it will not be a purely military period. I have a great appreciation for the need for discipline and basic training in mili tary methods, but above all, I be lieve we must develop the realiza tion of every individual’s responsi bility in a democracy for his gov ernment. To me any period of train ing should stress this very clearly and should include service to the community. I believe both boys and girls should receive such training. Going back to the play, I felt that it brought out the value and impor tance of personal relationships in life. It showed that, in moments of crisis, the life one had lived at home, and the people one loved, not only helped one to the right decisions, but saw one through to the end. I also was one of the panel for an International Student Service meeting at Hunter college one eve ning. It always is encouraging to find young people devoting their time to searching for their proper place in today’s difficult world. • • • ’STARS AND STRIPES’ From London, we have just re ceived a complete file of the army newspaper, “The Stars and Stripes,” which became a daily while I was in Great Britain. Some of their report ers wrote about my trip, and one or two followed me around a good part of the time. Mr. Dorsey Fisher of the United States embassy thought I would like vo see the editions cov ering the days I was there and im mediately after I left. I think this paper is a very inter esting and informative news sheet. : v-f