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L (l&p&Uex, in WASHINGTON By Walter Shead WNU Comspondmt WNU Washington Bureau, J616 Ere St.. N. W. New ‘Surplus' Law Gives Veterans Better Chance F) ESPITE the fact that congress has granted veterans of World War II a No. 1 priority on purchase of surplus war property, these vet erans are in for another disappoint ment. Much propaganda has gone out over this latest fiasco on dis posal of war property to veterans, but Gen. Edmund B. Gregory, ad ministrator of War Assets adminis tration, frankly states that only a limited number of specified items have been set aside for exclusive purchase by veterans. “All of these items,” he says, “are in ex tremely short supply and it follows that there simply will not be enough to meet veterans’ demands." And that’s the fly in the ointment, for the impression prevails that un der the new law the veterans will get about anything and everything in surplus and there won’t be much left for the general buyer. That simply is not true. All the new law does is to put the veteran in a little better buying position, and it is highly probable that there will be no marked effect on surplus dis posal as now conducted. The limited list is supposed to include certain types of auto motive vehicles, tractors, con struction, mining and excavat ing machinery, agricultural machinery, medical, surgical and dental apparatus and type writers. The priority does not apply to land or buildings. If past experience is to be any criterion, there will be from ten to a hundred requests for every item offered the veterans under the new priority, because there is not a suf ficient supply available and likely there never will be. Goods Will Be Allotted Veterans likely will be limited to a single unit of purchase. For ini, stance, a veteran likely will be per mitted to buy only one typewriter, but if he wants to buy a tractor too, his certificate may be modified to permit this, provided there is a tractor available. But apparent ly if he is in business he couldn’t buy a dozen tractors or a dozen typewriters. General Gregory says that there will be no system of government retail outlets selling surplus direct to veterans, and congress has made it clear it intended no such enter prise. So if you are a veteran and make application to buy a truck, here’s what will happen. Say there are 30 trucks available. The re gional office has 100 certificates of application and 10 personal use cer- tificat' 1 *! on file or a proportion of 1 to Notification will be sent to the three applicants for personal use whose certificates bear the oldest dates, and the 27 applicants for non-personal use whose certificates bear the oldest dates. So 70 vet erans will be disappointed. As more trucks become available, however, the veteran who is unable to exer cise his priority on a personal use certificate will be notified a second and third time and then his certif icate will be placed in an inactive file. There has also come to the attention of the WAA some in stances of veterans being used in connection with black mar ket purchases of surplus prop erty. Every effort will be made to ferret out these opperations where a veteran, either in collu sion or unknowingly, uses his priority to purchase goods in tended for sale in the black market. Many Items Not Wanted How widespread this practice is, of course, is not known at this time, but veterans themselves are urged to help in ferreting, out instances of such illegal procedures, since such purenases deprive deserving veterans of those consumer goods intended for them alone. Some of these attempts to force surplus property into black market have been discovered through the type of goods purchased. For instance, experience has indicated to officials there are only a few types of goods in which a veteran is actually in terested, even in the consumer cate gory, and when priorities are asked for goods outside this class, officials are likely to make an investigation of the transaction. Great quantities of surplus goods exist and will continue to go on sale in which the veter ans have shown little interest. For instance, the WAA office of capital and producers goods dis posal have no veterans’ prob lems, and neither has the mari time commission, in its disposal of marine property. At any rate, the effect of the new law will cause no flood of surplus to the veteran. There has never been enough to go around, and the new No. 1 priorities do not produce any rfiore surplus goods. i- t Bill Dickey TT WILL be interesting to note 1 what will happen when baseball returns to a more normal way of life. We took up this somewhat twisted matter with Bill Dickey, the Yankees’ new man ager. “This has been one of the strangest seasons I’ve ever run across,” the loose-joined “Ar kansas Traveler” said. “Suppose, for example, we had known back in Florida during our training season that the Yankees were going to get good pitching. That was supposed to be our weakest spot because so many of our men were troubled with bad arms. We would have been picked as one of the surest things of the year, rated well in front. “But suppose we had known that after six weeks of play our team batting would be around .240 with such fine hitters as Joe DiMaggio and most of the others hitting be low .260. Then, we would have been picked far down the list. Hard hit ting has been the Yankees’ main factor in winning ball games, but as a team we haven’t been hitting a half lick.” “You don’t think this hitting weakness will last?” we asked. “I certainly don’t,” Bill said. “No pitchers are going to keep such hard hitters as DiMaggio, Keller— who has been our best—Stirnweiss, Etten, Lindell, Henrich, Gordon and the others bottled up much longer. Those fellows can hit. They are naturals. I happen to know that Joe DiMaggio was banking on this season being his best year. I’ve never seen any one work harder, or try harder or train harder. His fielding and his home-run hitting have been exceptional. I don’t be lieve this slump in hitting can last. “We may have more trouble with our pitching, with so many really good pitchers bothered with bad arms or backs, but we are due to get much better hitting—and we’ll have to get it if we are to win again. We can’t win the pennant the way we’re going now.” Dickey and the Red Sox We asked Manager Dickey what he thought of the Red Sox and the chance the Yankees and other American League clubs had of clos ing the gap. “I’ll tell you exactly what I think of the Red Sox,” Bill said. “I never like to underestimate an opponent. In my opinion, they have a first- class manager in Joe Cronin, who failed in the past because the win ning material wasn’t there. Cronin isn’t going to lose any pennant for his club. Joe will do his share. “The Red Sox have the strongest team they ever have shown. They have a fine infield and a strong out field. They have had the hitting and the pitching—and I honestly think that so far they have out-hus tled the rest of us. “In Pesky and Doerr, the Red Sox have a great mid-infield combina tion, both on offense and defense. Pesky today is a greatly improved ballplayer. He means a lot to that club. Cronin certainly has a much stronger pitching staff than anyone looked for last March—Hughson, Harris, Ferriss and Dobson are about as good as any manager could ask for. “This doesn’t mean,” Dickey said with a grin, “that I am picking the Red Sox to win the pennant. I think we can catch them, but I know we can’t wait too long. They are too good to be given any big lead, and I believe the Yankees are just be ginning to realize this. They have been strong on both offense and de fense and they’ve fine spirit. “What about the rest of the league so far?” we asked. “You can’t overlook Washington,” he said. “This is a good, steady, consistent club all along the line. You also will see Detroit get much better pitching than the Tigers have known thus far. Their pitching has been like the Yankees’ hitting—too far below normal to remain that way. When their pitching gets as hot as it can get, and they begin to hit nearer their stride, you’ll see a big change.” Dickey, who has the full support of Larry MacPhail, and who has enjoyed so many years of training under Joe McCarthy—the manager Bill ranks far above all others in baseball—is giving everything he has to the job of making good. With a cool head and a stout heart with which to work, he doesn’t expect to pick up all the needed managerial details in a few days cr in a few weeks. Bill has the complete affection and respect of his players, and it is my opinion that he will make few mis takes in directing up to the hilt the material he has at hand. Like other great catcher-managers—Bill Carrigan and Mickey Cochrane, for example—he has been in the best spot to know what is going on, espe cially in the direction of a pitching staff that still is uncertain. No one knows better than Larry MacPhail and Bill Dickey that the Yankees need one or two more ball players to carry anything like ar even chance to overtake Boston. Woman's World Make Slip-Covers for Summer To Add Fresh Color Scheme Eu Crlta Male e V p'VEN though you may not spend as much of your time indoors as you do outdoors, it’s smart to make fresh slipcovers for dining and living room furniture just to give the home a change of color and feeling. Slipcovers are expensive to buy and more frequently than not you cannot find them in a color or pat tern to suit your furnishings. If every woman knew how really sim ple they are to make. I’m sure that every home would have a set of covers to put on for the warm months. If you are an inexperienced seam stress, better choose a plain fabric or floral that does not need too much work when it comes to match ing the motif or having an up- and-down design. You’ll have to measure carefully each individual piece to make sure that you get enough fabric for covering. Here’s how it’s done: You’ll need twice as much in width as the chair measures, plus one-third extra for height, plus enough to go around each cushion. A slipper chair, for example, will take three yards of 50-inch fabric, an overstuffed chair, 4% yards, a large arm chair with reversible cushions, 6 yards; a loveseat will also take 6 yards, a large couch with reversible cushions, 9. Decide how much each piece requires and add Vi yard extra where the de sign must be matched. If you want to save on fabric, you may decide that the bottom of the cushions can be of a different, per haps less expensive fabric. Or, the bottom of the cushions can be pan eled from pieces of the same ma terial because they will not show. Fit Chairs and Couches As Boxes or Bodies Since no patterns are available for all the different sizes of chairs and couches to be covered, you’ll have to fit them yourself. That’s easy, though, if you will just take a length of the material, pin it to the chair and make allowance for seams. When placing the fabric on Select crisp, gay prints ... the chair, see that the grain of the fabric is straight (this can be marked with a chalk and ruler be fore placing the fabric on the chair). Allowance for generous seams is important in making slipcovers. You will remember that these are washed constantly, and are pulled by use. The seams should be made strong to withstand this. After the fabric is cut, it should be basted, pressed and stitched. A good idea is to cut and baste, then press and try on before doing the machine stitching. If there are any spots that pull this matter can be corrected before the cover is ma chine-stitched. Dining Room Chairs Easily Covered Always stitch perfectly straight on slipcovers because that is the next most important after fitting. This, of course, will be easy if the slipcover has been basted prop erly. Use a medium-long machine For summer slip-covers. stitch for best results and check the tension to be sure it is correct for the fabric. Allow for ease around the c'xrved arm of the chair. In the dining room, the whole job will be one of covering only the seats of chairs, and perhaps the Smart Dinner Wear A smart version of the shirt waist dinner dress, becoming to all ages, can be made in a few hours on your sewing machine. The blouse itself is a welcome ad dition to the wardrobe because it can be worn the year ’round with skirts and suits. backs, if the chair is of that type. If the chair is odd-shaped make a cushion and cover for the seat, us ing two pieces of heavy fabric to fit the seat and placing a layer of cotton between these two and stitching around the edge. Cut a top and bottom for the pad out of the fabric you want for the color scheme, place in position, binding or cording it. Attach ties for this, and have these come around the two back legs to hold the cushion and cover in place. After you are certain the pleats fit as you want them, machine stitch. The final pressing is done while the pleats are pinned togeth er to make sure they will stay to gether properly. Use a damp press cloth and press only moder ately hard. Remove the basting threads and then press again to remove any marks caused by these threads. Most slipcover materials do not ravel easily, and if the seams are cut v/ith pinking shears, they will not have to be finished any further. If you want to use a binding or cording for trimming, baste this in place and then stitch so that it will not show too much. For simple summer slipcovers, this binding is not used often, although it is per fectly proper if you desire it. Secret of Pressing No garment can really look professional until it is carefully pressed. In sewing, for instance, it’s a fundamental rule to press all seams after they are stitched, and definitely do so before one seam is attached to another. See that the board is well pad ded with cotton, flannel or mus lin. If there is any lumpiness in the board, it will show up on the garment when it is pressed. All pressing cloths should be free of sizing or dressing or lint, and should be washed frequent ly. A heavy muslin is best for wool while light-weight muslin is regarded as best for other ma terial. A sponge may be used for ap plying water to seams fqr^ open ing them. Place a press* cloth over the material, sponge and press. Tailor’s cushions should be used to press the rounded parts of the garment such as pockets or seams that are curved. These may be purchased or made at home from two oval pieces of cloth, and filled with kapok or wadding. Before pressing any fabric, test a piece of the material to see how much heat the fabric will take and then adjust the iron accordingly. Summer Fashion Notes Redingotes are very smart when you want to appear strictly tailored and they give you a chance to wear the so smart print dresses and solid, bright colors. If you want to look cool and col lected during the summer, avoid the use of too many frills, too much gingerbread. They seem to weigh down a dress and make it lose its freshness quickly. Shoes for summer still include the popular wedgie. See them in all colors to match the summer cos tume. Notice the interesting effects achieved by the use of straw in summer hats and handbags. Coolie hats are very popular for beach wear, but large brim, “picture” hats are still very pretty for street and dress-up wear. EDITOR’S NOTE: This newspaper, through special arrangement with the Washington Bureau of Western Newspaper Union at 1616 Eye Street, N. W., Washing ton, D. C-, is able to bring readers this weekly column on problems of the veteran and serviceman and his family. Questions may be addressed to the above Bureau and they will be answered in a subsequent col umn. No replies can be made direct by mail, but only in the column which will appear in this newspaper regularly. Disabled Vets Producers Disabled veterans on occupation al therapy farms operated in con nection with 31 veterans’ adminis tration neuropsychiatric hospitals will this year attempt to surpass their last year’s record produc tion of 9,857,000 pounds of foodstuffs valued at $948,676. The higher goal set for this year will aid in conserving other foods for feeding the hungry in Europe, but it will also furnish thousands of patients in VA hospitals with fresh vegetables, fruits, eggs, milk and meat. Although the agricultural ac tivities on VA farms are operated primarily to provide beneficial ther apy for patients, all of the food grown is used in hospital kitchens and none is wasted. During the past year, more than 2,000 patients in the 31 VA hospitals spent a total of 2,263,000 man hours cultivating gardens and tending cat tle, sheep, hogs and chickens. They provided the dietetic departments of the hospitals with a total of thou sands of pounds of badly-needed food products. The largest farm is at Chili- cothe, Ohio, where 1,444 acres is de voted to truck gardening, wheat and barley crops and pasture for dairy herds. Questions and Answers Q. My husband was killed in action on Luzon and I have had several tell me I may be entitled to get a loan to build a home under the G.I. bill of rights. Is this true? And if it is not, then I as one of the many widows of this war think we should be able to. I have three children and have to pay $48 per month for rent which I could be patting into my own home.—Mrs. S. M. S., Littlefield, Texas. A. As a widow you are not en titled to loan privileges under the G.I. bill. You are, however, entitled to (1) all your husband’s back pay, plus a gift of six months pay from the army, (2) a pension for life for yourself and a pension for each of your three children until they are of age. Unless you have already done so, you should make application immediately for back pay allowances to claims division, general accounting office, office of special settlement accounts, 27 Pine street. New York 5, New York. For your pension write all details or vis it personally your nearest Veterans’ administration hospital or office at Amarillo or Wichita Falls. Q. My husband has been in serv ice 16 months, 5 months in the states and overseas 11 months. We have one child. What I want to know is does he get two points for the 11 months overseas. Do they get two points a month now? — Mrs. F. C. T., Marshall, N. C. A. He receives one point a month for each month of service and an additional point for each month overseas, up to Septemoer 2, 1945. Q. My husband has been in serv ice 18 months and overseas 10 months. He has 42 points. All the boys who* went with him have al ready come back. If my husband is still in the hospital, he has been there over 3 months. Do you think he will get home soon?—Mrs. O. C., Tishomingo, Miss. A. I have no way of knowing how long he will be in the hospital. If he has 40 points, he should be home by June 30, 1946, unless he is de tained for some other cause. Q. I am a widow with four chil dren, my husband died in 1916 dur ing World War I. His death was not connected with the war. I have reared my children from the time of his death until now, 30 years, without an income of any kind. He died before he was enlisted in World War I. Am I entitled to a widow’s pension?—Mrs. K. M. C., Union Church, Miss. A. No, since your husband was never in the army, you are not en titled to a veteran’s pension. Q. My husband was discharged from the army November 21, 1945. He had a war bond coming at that time and hasn’t received it as yet. Where should I write to find out about this?—Mrs. J. L. C., Lew- isport, Ky. A. Write to war bond division, U. S. army, 4300 Goodfellow blvd., St. Louis 20, Mo. Q. My husband was drafted into the army in August, 1944. He landed in India in August, 1945, and is still there, not expecting to be home any time soon. How many points does he have?—Mrs. M. D. P., Blue Springs, Miss. A. As of September 2, 1945, your husband had 13 months’ service, or 13 points, plus 1 month overseas or an additional point. If he has no children and no decoration or bat tle stars, he then has 14 points. No, he will not continue to earn points after September 2, 1945, the army now considering length of service IMPROVED UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL S UNDAY I chool Lesson By HAROLD L. LUNDQUIST. D. D. Of The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. Released by Western Newspaper Union. Lesson for June 30 Tables and Benches For Use Outdoor* Lesson subjects and Scripture texts se lected and copyrighted by International Council of Religious Education; used by permission. JESUS’ FRIENDS CARRY ON HIS WORK LESSON TEXT—Mark 16:15, 16. 19. 20; Luke 24:45-49: Acts 2:'46, 47 ; 5:42. MEMORY SELECTION—Go ye Into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.—Mark 16:15; Friendship brings results. We re spond to it with our own interest, and by our desire to bring others into its helpful circle of influence. Obviously, the man who knows the friendship of Jesus wants others to meet his Friend and know his love and power. The disciples had seen the risen Lord, a privilege which carried with it the responsUpility of declaring the good news or completed redemp tion to all the nations of the earth. We find them engaged in I. Blessed Preaching (Mark 16: 15, 16, 19, 20). The call and commission of the Lord before he was caught up into heaven was clear and definite. How glad we are that the disciples obeyed, went and preached, and had such blessed results. The response of these early Chris tians was immediate and enthusi astic. Would that such a spirit had characterized the church through all the generations since then, and if it had, the commission would long since have been carried out. It has been estimated that if everyone in a church of two thousand were to win one soul a year, and each con vert win one soul each year, the world would be evangelized in less than thirty-five years. Why not? But while on the whole the church has failed, there have been valiant souls all down through its history who have given themselves to the business of preaching the gospel. With them, as with these of the first century, the secret is ever, “The Lord working with them.” II. Powerful Witnessing (Luke 24: 45-49). The death and resurrection of Christ made possible the preaching of repentance and remission of sins, the message of redemption which was to go out to all nations through the disciples. They were witnesses of these things, they spoke that which they knew and had experienced, and so their word carried weight and con viction. That, however, was not the secret of the success of their ef forts; there was something more. It is never enough for a man to speak of the things of God, no mat ter how brilliant and eloquent he may be, nor how certain he may be of his facts. He must have the power of God. The early believers were to tarry until they received the Holy Spirit. We need only yield to him for he is present with every believer—the in dwelling One—ready to empower and use us. We need a real revival of the Holy Spirit power in the church, and we need it now. If the church as a whole will not yield to God, let us do so as individuals that we may be witnesses with power. God is looking for men. He has always honored those who in faith have obeyed his command. The whole history of church and mis sionary endeavor bears eloquent testimony to that fact. III. Glad Soul-Wiuning (Acts 2:46, 47; 5:42). There are a number of things in this passage. There is the fine fel lowship of the believers in the ear ly church. We also note that they were regular in their attendance at the temple. They preached and taught both in the temple and at home. But the significant thing which we wish to note now is that it all resulted in the salvation of souls. The Lord added to the church “day by day those that were saved,” for such is the proper read ing of verse 47. Day by day souls were won for Christ and added to the church. Why do we not have more churches of that kind today? The church, which is so much the center of life for Christians, is not as well understood as it should be. We have come to regard it as just one organization among many com peting for the attention and interest of men, when it is really a divine, living organism established by Christ as his body and representing him in this world. The church is made up of those who are saved (v. 47), those who have received the word by faith and witnessed a good confession of their faith in Christ (v. 41). This is a fact to be remembered in a time when there is so much laxness in receiving members into the church. It is not a religious or social club. It is not a rallying place for those who wish to work. for some eco nomic, political, or social project. It is not a gathering of good people who wish to share common in terests. The church needs to cleanse its rolls of all unbelievers, all hangers- on, and to get back to the purity which it had when only those were received who were manifestly “add ed” by the Lord (v. 47). pattern GIVES EXACT SIZES FOR. ALL PARTS LARGE TABLE HAS A STORAGE BIN UNDERNEATH FOR SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT ■V"OU NEED sturdy tables and *■ benches to make back yard picnics a success. The set shown here is unusually easy to make. The six-foot table seats three people on each side and has a bin underneath for extra things. The benches may be pulled up close with plenty of knee space, and the extra table may be used for an end bench if needed. * * * Pattern 279 gives illustrated directions for cutting out and assembling the set with list of materials needed. Price of pattern is 15c postpaid. Send order di rect to: MRS. RUTH WYETH SPEARS Bedford Hills, N. Y. Drawer 10 Enclose 15 cents for Pattern No. 279. Name Address . —— JOSTli iiJMli Poor Crop “Why do they call him a ‘gen tleman farmer’?” “Because he only raises his hat!” Bad Bargain “Annie,” a mother exclaimed to her naughty offspring, “I don’t think FU. punish you this time—I’ll just get a' good little girl in your place.” The youngster quietly considered the threat for a moment, and then laughed. “You can’t do it, mother,” she re joined. “Nobody’s going to trade you a good little girl for a bad one.” The absent-minded professor, upon being told that he had be come the father of an eight-pound boy, remarked: “Don’t tell my wife; I want to surprise her.” CLASSIFIED DEPARTMENT SEEDS, PLANTS, ETC. Fruit, Nut Trees, small fruits, ornamen tals, General Nursery Stock. Write for cat, and planting guide free. Cumberland Valley Nurseries, Inc., McMinnville, Tenn. Buy U. S. Savings Bonds! <[?<- OS •jet O'Sullivan SOUS as waff as Heals next time yon have yonr shoes repaired. my PUT SPAHG ^ STEP/’ AMERICA'S No.l HEEL .... cm d sole MOROLINE VALUE \ QUALITY PETROLEUM 1 -i w lly - a jo o/Atf ■w T Chillsifever out to MALARIA? 666 acts AT ONCM to re- lievo... used by millions for years ... try itl SAP! “ CAUTION—Us* Only As Duoctod 666 WNU—7 26—46 Disconnect irons Electric irons always should be disconnected properly after use to keep them in good working order, say rural electrification sp^ialisL ol the department of agriculture. Pull on the plug that fits into the wall outlet, never on the cord. Pull ing on the cord may loosen the con nections in the plug or even pull out wires. A loose connection may result in a blown fuse or cause excessive heat, which in time will ruin the plug. The iron cord should be disconnected at the convenience outlet rather than at the iron.