Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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/ THE NEWBERRY SUN. NEWBERRY, S. C. Newsmen Argue A-Bomb Results While They Wait By WALTER A. SHEAD WNU Correspondent. (EDITOR'S NOTE: This dispatch was filed from the atomic bomb testing area only shortly before the first test bomb was scheduled to be dropped.) ABOARD USS APPALACHIAN— BIKINI ATOLL (Via Navy Radio)— This reporter does not intend to delve into *he scientific aspects of this atomic bomb test, leaving that to the scientific writers and the/sci entists themselves. This test is pri marily a military experiment to de termine how the United States navy and other armed services can figu ratively “keep its powder dry” in the face of any future atomic war fare. The experiments however by their very nature and the various tests which are to be made of atcmic en ergy will produce by-products of knowledge in the fields of biochem istry, biology and medicine. Further knowledge will be gained also in the fields of radio, photogra phy, geology, fish life and all the sciences which apply to ocean life. Many Conjectures. A tour of this ship and a visit to the staterooms where the newspa per men are housed conjectures on the outcome of this bomb test meas ured only by the number of news paper men aboard. This is almost true of the scientific writers them selves, for most all have different viewpoints on the possible develop ments. These conjectures run the gamut of total destruction by tidal wave or earthquake of the entire task force in the vicinity of the bomb down to the theory that the bomb might even prove a dud forecasts of the destruc tion of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki made by the scientists connected with Uncle Sam’s military establish ments were fairly accurate and this reporter is willing to discard the more fantastic conjectures and string along with some of these more conservative forecasts. Earthquake or Tidal Wave? In the first place Bikini lagoon, where the bomb will be dropped, is roughly 25 miles long and 10 miles wide and the water averages 100 feet in depth and one scientist lik ened the dropping of the bomb into such an expanse of water and air to a spark from a welder’s torch dropped into a 30-acre lake. Scien tists admit that the bomb may cause a slight earthquake and tidal wave but that in comparison with nature’s earthquakes it will have no destructive violence and will only be recorded upon seismographic in- JAPAN* HAWAII GUAM 0 BIKINI EQUATOR AUSTRALIA LONELY REEF . . . Far out in the Pacific. Bikini atoll holds the 97 ships of the “suicide fleet.” struments. The release of atomic energy at the given point of the bomb burst will in the opinion of these scientists release heat and en ergy at that spot of a nature never before experienced upon the surface of the earth but its effects will be confined to a relatively very small area. One scientist declared that the radio activity released from the bomb, if absorbed by living tissues, would result in chemical changes in the proteins of the tissues, in some cases of sufficient intensity to kill the tissues and in other cases like ly to produce a new kind of living tissue or a new variety of organ. It is a well-known fact that X-rays have created this phenomenon in living tissues and the radio-active rays from the bomb are practically the same as X-rays. Thus a man who comes in contact with these radio-active particles may well be come sterile and be chemically changed as to other characteristics. On the other hand, some scientists predict a tremendous tidal wave as result of dislodging a huge landslide along the slope of Bikini atoll which rises some 14,000 feet from the floor of the ocean. Another predicts the bomb will crack open the ocean floor and let the water into the molten matter beneath the floor re sulting in a tremendous volcanic ex plosion. These predictions, howev er, are generally discounted. Are Sworn to Secrecy. This reporter anticipates plenty of action and plenty to write about when this bomb is dropped by the B-29 over the target array of naval ships. The most dramatic will be the second test when a bomb is datonated below the surface of the water in the midst of what is left of the target ships. The handicap under which the lay members of the press work is, however, that we will not know nor will we be told whether or not these bombs explod ed at full efficiency or whether or not in fact they were duds. COURT FEUDS OLD STORY WASHINGTON. — Some people seem to be laboring under the im pression that wrangles are new in the Supreme court. Actually, wran gling began soon after the court was formed, with the attempted im peachment of Justice Samuel Chase, continued vigorously under John Marshall and has flared-up in termittently ever since. Latest wrangle, prior to the Jackson blow-up, was between ami able Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone and austere Justice Owen J. Roberts. Although Republicans and Hoover appointees, they did not get along well in recent years, and there was one hot, though private argument between them over the question of sitting on a case involv ing Stone’s former law firm. Before that, however, the most virulent feud on the Su preme court revolved around cranky, crusty Justice James C. McReynolds, the only justice credited with driving an associ ate off the court. For six years Justice John H. Clarke sat be side him, and for six years Mc Reynolds never spoke. Finally Clarke resigned. McReynolds also tried to drive the late Justice Louis D. Brandeis off the bench. He would rattle his papers or even leave the bench when Brandeis rendered an opin ion. And, when the jurists ad journed for their customary sand wich or soup and crackers at the noon recess, McReynolds turned up his nose at lunching at a table with Brandeis. Intead, he duffed his robe, drove downtown and lunched by himself. • • • ROW DURING GRANT’S REGIME Another bitter battle inside the Supreme court took place during the Grant administration over the legal tender act. Justice Robert C. Grier, then senile, was induced by Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase to change his vote, thereby helping to make the legal tender act unconstitution al. This was a great embarrassment to the Republicans, who needed the legal tender act to support their fis cal policies during and after the civil war. “The chief justice,” charged Justice Samuel F. Miller, “re sorted to all sorts of strategems of the lowest trickery.” * • • LINCOLN SPANKED JUSTICE Another period of near-civil war took place in the court after the last war, when the nine justices were called upon to pass on the espionage cases. The court was so split, that a committee, including Justices Willis Van Devanter and William R. Day called on Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes to ask that he not write one of his usual vigorous dissenting opinions. “You know what my ideas of the law are, and I will not change them,” he replied. And for some months following this, the justices stopped speaking to each other. Probably the most vitriolic criti cism ever leveled against the court by anyone in high places came from Abraham Lincoln, when Chief Jus tice Roger B. Taney called upon the commanding officer at Fort Mc Henry in Baltimore to relinquish a prisoner during the Civil war. This the commanding general refused to do. “The judicial machinery,” re marked Lincoln at the time, “seems as if it had been de signed not to sustain the govern ment but to embarrass and be tray it.” * • * FEUD OVER JUSTICE FIELD There was also the court feud over Justice Stephen J. Field at the time the Supreme court de clared the income tax law unconsti tutional in 1895. Field, then nearly 80 years old, led the attack against the income tax. Senile, and fre quently asleep in court, a commit tee of his colleagues suggested his retirement but he only flew into a tantrum. His vote against the in come tax made it necessary to pass a constitutional amendment to make the income tax legal. • * • EVERYBODY GETS HIS Sen. Elmer Thomas of Oklahoma introduced an amendment to the OPA bill removing price ceilings on timber, petroleum, cotton, milk, livestock, tobacco, poultry, fish, grain, fruits and vegetables. This caused Connecticut’s Sen. Brien McMahon to remark: “You can’t beat that one. Elmer’s got something in there for every member of the senate.” In this case, though, the amend ment was beaten. • * • HELL-BENT FOR INFLATION Despite all the confusing furore of the senate OPA debate, two things definitely stand out: (1) when price controls are removed, prices rise; (2) most senators are far more susceptible to the pressure of busi ness lobbies than to the unorgan ized but overwhelming demand of the American public in favor of price control. Florida oranges were selling for $3.85 when price controls were re moved. Immediately they jumped to $4.47, then to $5.45. PROCLAIMING THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC ... A solemn and historic scene as the supreme court of justice in Rome, in view of the nationwide referendum, proclaimed Italy to be a republic thereby ending the monarchist reign of the House of Savoy. Outbreaks occurred when the monarchists questioned the refer endum in which the Italian people voted against the monarchistic form of government. Former King Humbert, in Portugal, has not given up hopes of regaining his throne. U. S. BROOD MARES TO EUROPE . . . Destined to be shipped to Europe, these three hundred mares are being vaccinated and loaded into stock cars at Des Moines, Iowa, to go to an east coast port of embarka tion. This is the third group of horses to be exported by a Des Moines exporter. Reportedly destined for Poland, they were purchased from farmers in Illinois, Minnesota and South Dakota. FOUR GENERATIONS OF SWEDISH SUCCESSION . . . Rarely have four members of a royal family, each in direct line of succession to the throne, been photographed together. King Gustaf of Sweden is holding his great grandson. Prince Carl Gustav. Looking on are the baby’s father, Prince Gustav Adolf, left, and Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf. “HALL OF FAME” ... Baseball Commissioner Albert “Happy” Chandler, left, shakes hands with New York’s governor, Thomas E. Dewey, in front of baseball’s hall of fame building, following Governor Dewey’s dedication of a plaque installed in memory of former com missioner of baseball. Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis. Placques have been dedicated to outstanding baseball heros. |(WNU Service) Notes of Man in Shower: The dispute between Justices Black and Jackson isn’t the first time a High Court member has been involved in a public squabble. Ted dy Roosevelt and Justice Holmes carried on a bitter personal feud for many years. . . . After one of Holmes’ dissenting opinions riled Teddy, he blasted the famed jurist with: “I could carve out of a banana —a judge with more backbone than that!” MISS ATLANTIC CITY 1946 . . . Blonde Betty Jones, 21, profes sional model, who has been ac claimed Miss Atlantic City of 1946, as she received her crown. She will be hostess at Miss America pageant in September. direr, inche Times Are Getting Better — Or Something! The top exec of a famed hotel told the col’m last night: “With reference to general conditions, as I see them, this is very noticeable. That the so-called big shots who played the black mar kets are now around borrowing money on their autos or peddling their gems. For instance, I was just offered a $1,500 wrist watch for $600.” Booth Tarkington was one of those who urged a tough peace for Ger many. When a friend remarked we should teach the Germans to love peace, Tarkington pointed out: “It would be better if we educated the Allies to realize that Germany has never been peaceful.” The latest quip in diplomatic cir cles is this: A foreign journalist remarked to a French embassy of ficial: “The House of Franco has been condemned. Why, then, has it not been torn down?” “It appears," was the salty reply, “some of the building inspectors do not have the heart to destroy an edi fice they helped erect.” At a Memorial Day ceremony, a veteran told a buddy: “I under stand that some of the Brass and several politicians placed wreaths on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington.” “Yeh,” was the response. “Do you think they’ll ever get around to properly honoring the KNOWN sol dier?” Some of the nation’s leaders were discussing Russia’s renewal of dip lomatic relations with Argentina. An isolationist seized the opportunity to damn it as another instance of Rus sia’s unworthiness. “Maybe,” sarcasm’d a diplomat, “it’s Russia’s way of showing us she’s finally getting into line with our State Department.” A correspondent just returned from the Palestine front told his publishers the reason for his copy being heavily censored. “The British aren’t afraid of a revolution in Arabia,” he reported. “What they’re afraid of is a revela tion in America.” The Broadway Lights: The 1945-46 show season had its usual whoops and groans. One click for every five flops. About a dozen plays per ished in the provinces before reach ing Broadway. . . . The column’s candidates for Very Bests include “State of the Union,” “Bom Yes terday,” “Call Me Mister,” “Annie Get Your Gun,” “Anna Lucasta,” “Dream Girl” and “Ray Bolger to Make Ready.” . . . Although the Theater prides itself on its tail-brow reputation only one serious opus, “Deep Are the Roots,” hit pay dirt. . . . The profession’s chief ex citement was the skirmishing be tween showmen and critics which started with the failure of “Truck- line Cafe.” . . . “Around the World” is the latest to come up out of the resin to fight a stubborn battle against the Grand Muftis of the Aisles. Variety report it is attract ing sugary biz. Between the Acts: It was over heard at a recent opening. Dur ing the 2nd act one of the reviewers got up and said to a critic across the aisle: “Will you watch the seat for me?” . . . “Sure," whispered the other, “if you’ll watch the show for me.” Quotation Marksmanship: N. Cole: Some women don’t care whose means they live beyond. . . . G. B. Shaw: The more things a man’s ashamed of—the more re spectable he is. . .. L. Beecher: Eloquence is logic on fire. . . . Ed Howe: Every time I have caught hell it has been the result of pur suing it. . . . Vina Delmar: An ache has come to live in her heart. . . . M. Rubin. All I can say about Great Britain’s foreign policy is that it makes Russia’s look good. . . . N. Corwin: We’ve learned that the Germans came close to winning the first time, even closer the second time, and might damn well win if we give them the third time. FRANZ VON PAPEN . .. Former German foreign minister and World W«r I head of German spy system in the United States, Frans Von Papen, as he appeared before tribunal at Nnernberg, Germany, trying war criminals. Silhouettes About Town: Jennifer Jones, the star, halting her taxi at the comer of Hudson and 10th Sts. —do gaze at her old home. . . . Andy Russell, the canary, making The Big City for the first time— and being train-ill all the way. With his new bride as nurse. . . . Dinah Shore and husband legalizing their New York visit by being seen in the Stork. . . . Jack Oakie and Gene Tunney among the stay-up-all-night ers spellbound by Geo. Welles’ card tricks at Reuben’s. . . . Nancy Car- roll arguing with a counterman. Mr. Truman and the Farm (“1 spent the best ten years of my life operating a 540-acre farm in Jackson coun ty, Missouri."—President Truman.) How sweet those ten years seem to me Back there behind the plow When from desk troubles I was free. Although I didn’t know! They were the best years of my life Despite each tough, long chore— And I can realize it in ' The White House more and more. The furrow that 1 plowed was straight And now I know just why: Nobody looked for miracles From just a country guy; No one threw obstacles ahead Or tried to grab the plow— Nobody bellowed free advice Or yelled, “I’ll show ya how!” To chinch bug, cutworm, weevil wild Apologies I make; Compared to folks in Washington You gave a man a break; And, oh, to know again a job— An older man and wiser— When all my problems could be solved By using fertilizer. , • • • Honorary Degrees for 1946 Smirmey, Thaddeus K. (horse lov er, business man and spcrtsi.’ 0 :.): A racing enthusiast, a man with nor mal reactions to business opportuni ties, and a fellow interested in a new track, you nevertheless refused to co-operate with your associates in seeking priorities so veterans could be deprived of homes while new racing plants went up on time. This makes you decidedly one of the Men of the Year and a decided standout in the sports world. Help yourself to any degree in the house and stay for some cold beans. ♦ * Snaffle, Dudley X. (radio enter tainer and gentleman): The star of one of the big radio programs of America piped into the homes of the land during the hours when the kid dies are all ears, you rejected foul and degrading gags, jokes and leers, even though you knew they were good for boffs. You increased your stature further by never referring to a woman as a tomato. This makes you the most unique radio star of the decade. Take a cluster of honorary degrees, and would you care for a glass of beer? * Minch, Oscar (legislator, stamp collector and good citizen): A mem ber of congress with an election coming up and your seat in jeopardy, you called your shots, kept your courage, scorned the threats of spe cial interests, and voted for such laws as you thought would keep your country from going over Ni agara in a pressure-cooker. You at no time hedged, pussyfooted or act ed like a greaseball. To you, Con gressman Minch, we'award a spe cial crate of de luxe degrees and toss in four pounds of butter. • « • ALL DONE BY MIRRORS Jack Spratt could get no fat. His wife no lean could take; What hurt was when they wanted bread The stores were full of cake. • • • “The trouble with a safety de posit vault.” says Pettigrew the Penguin, "is that it won’t hold a ten-cent loaf of bread.” * * * VANISHING AMERICANISMS “Full speed ahead!" * “It will be a pleasure to fill your order promptly." • “Just let us send up the car for a ten- day trial." • • • HAVE YOU NOTICED IT? How some people Love it, pet: Government by ' Epithet! • • • “I need an ambitious fellow who is able to help me handle a Pontiac. J My 912.”—Yankee Magazine. * What seems to be the trouble, buck or balk? • • • We expect any day now to see a baseball player muff an easy fly and hear some fan shout “You dirty reactionary!” • • • Colonel Jodi says he had 5,000 conferences with Adolf. That may explain everything. You can ruin any business if the conferences are overdone. • • • MATTER OF PRIORITIES Cheer up, war vet. Homeless guy! They’ll finish the racetracks, By and by. • • • “Ford to Build $50,000,000 Re search Center.”—Headline. * Maybe the idea is to produce a friendly labor leader out of the soy bean. • • • Famous understatements: “Half a loaf is better than none.”