Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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THE NEWBERRY SUN, NEWBERRY. S. C. WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS Masaryk’s Death Crystallizes Red Menace as U.S. Prepares to Act; Spring Rash of Strikes Breaks Out Released by WNU Feature* (EDITOR’S NOTE: When opinions are expressed In these columns, the/ are those of Western Newspaper Union’s news analysts and not necessarily of this newspaper.) MASARYK: Death in Prague Whether Jan Masaryk, Czecho- alovakia’s foreign minister, took his own life or was liquidated by the Communists really didn’t make any difference. The Communist government had announced that he had leaped to his death from a first, second or third-floor window (U. S. news paper readers could choose their own version) of the foreign office in Prague. Later reports by "highly authori tative persons" insisted that Mas aryk had been murdered by Com munists. An alleged "eyewitness” testified that he had seen Mas aryk’s body after its reported fall to a concrete pavement and that it bore no evidence that the fore ign minister had died in such a manner. Supporting the murder theory was the fact that Masaryk was re ported to have met President Ed ouard Benes the day before his death, and the two were said to have planned something the Com munists wished to prevent. Unidentified Czech officials who have escaped from Prague re ported also that President Benes was a prisoner of the Communist regime. But whether Jan Masaryk, son of the founder of the Czechoslo vakian republic, had been mur dered or goaded to suicide by his intolerable position, one thing was certain: Communists had killed him just as surely as if they had put ^ pistol to his head and pulled the trigger. If Masaryk took his own life it was not just because he was seek ing an escape, but because it was the last service he could do for his country—throwing light, by his own destruction, on the terrible, destructive force that is commun ism. NERVES: Warlike The alternate, ostentatious flex ing of muscles by the United States and Russia was, it appeared, shift ing in status from a cold war to a war of nerves. There were the unmistakable signs of the military preparing to reassert itself. Many reserve of ficers had received letters point ing out that, although they were not being called to active duty immediately, they would do well to prepare themselves for such a possible eventuality. In the Pentagon building in Washington, army planners were working late at their desks. Pro curement officers were reported to be showing great interest in ce ment factories, since cement is vital in building underground shel ters and fortifications. Russian troops were said to be massing in eastern Germany, but no one would venture to say whether this was true bluff, a threat of retaliation to the Mar shall plan and union of western Europe, or a show of force in tended to influence the coming elections in Italy. But President Truman himself pre cipitated the worst outbreak of war jitters when he publicly pro claimed that his faith in real world peace had been shaken. In this crisis the U. S. govern ment was stressing these points which embodied administration policy for meeting the situation: The European recovery plan * should be carried out promptly. The U. S. encourages forma- * tion of what Marshall called a political association in western Eu rope as the first step toward re storing stability. Spread of Communist govem- * ments anywhere in the world, including China is opposed by the American government which will do everything in its power to block communism. The U. S. will continue to * work for world peace wher ever possible. Finally, any estimate of the sit uation must include this inesca pable conclusion: Neither Russia nor the U. S. wants war now; and, more important, neither could af ford to fight one. This particular decade continues to be a period worked by a shifting of forces and consolidation of strength where it will do the most good if and when the real showda'-r fc comes. The Way Out Added to the list of the world’s numberless martyrs for liberty was the name of Jan Masaryk, foreign minister of Czechoslo vakia, son of Thomas Masaryk who was the first president and liberator of the country. STRIKES: Miners Widespread strikes in the na tion’s soft coal fields were touched off by John L. Lewis’ latest foray into the national scene, a demand for $100-a-month pensions for his miners. The United Mine Workers leader had asked rank-and-file “reaction” to his charge that coal operators had “dishonored" the 1947 contract by failing to grant pensions. And his miners produced the exact re action he wanted as almost 200,000 of them in 11 states quit to sup port Lewis’ stand at the very out set of the difficulties. It was not a strike in the techni cal sense of the word. Lewis, in all his power, simply had nodded his shaggy head and his men, quick to catch the signal, walked away from their jobs. The current mine contract does not expire until June 30. but it provides that the miners need work only as long as they are "will ing and able.” Impact of the soft coal walkouts showed first in the nation’s steel industry where output is threat ened if the shutdowns continue for any length of time. Many of the closed mines are "captives” whose entire output goes to the steel companies. Packers Fraught with an even greater immediacy than the mine walk out, however, was a nationwide strike for more pay by 100,000 members of the CIO packing house workers. The strike went off as sched uled despite an urgent request by President Truman asking the pack ing companies and workers’ rep resentatives to maintain the status quo without interrupting negotia tions until April 1, at which time a board of inquiry was slated to re port to him on conditions of the strike. In reply to the President, the un ion strike board rejected his pro posal because, it said, the pack ing firms would not agree to plac ing even their wage proposals in to effect during the negotiation. As the strike began, govern ment records indicated that the en tire nation would come to feel the curtailed meat supply after the first week, with some areas more severely affected than others. GOVERNMENT: Expensive Total per capita cost of running the federal government for one year has zoomed $201 since 1939, according to a report by the Tax Foundation. It now is about $770 a year, compared with $69 in 1939. Total estimated expenditures for the fiscal year 1948 are 3.7 bil lion dollars. War and its after- math accounted for almost 23 bil lion of that. But the blueprint for 1949, said the foundation, registers an in crease. It quoted President Tru man: "In the fiscal year of 1949, 79 per cent of our expenditures reflect the cost of war, the effect of war and our efforts to prevent a future war.” TREATY: 50 Years Communist expansion was going to meet a roadblock if the nations of western Europe had any voice in the matter. Britain, France and the Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands and Lux embourg) nations adopted a 50- year treaty for a political, eco nomic and military union of west ern Europe in an out and out move to check the communism that threatens their independence. Delegates from the five coun tries completed their efforts after more than a week around the con ference table. The alliance was a direct out-growth of the union of western European nations sug gested in January by Ernest Bevin, British foreign secretary. The treaty was believed to bind the nations to mutual assistance in the face of aggression, mutual aid in the economic field, co-oper ation in improving their living standards and a measure of co ordination of colonial resources. It was just a beginning, but a good one. In the eyes of U. S. government leaders the alliance was not only a desirable but nec- cesary element if the Marshall plan for recovery is to work at all. SAY UNCLE: Palestine People continue to ask the Arabs and Jews of Palestine to stop their futile wrangling. France, China and the United States sent an appeal to the Jews and Arabs of Palestine and also to the six Arab state members of the United Nations, asking them to take steps to promote a truce in the Holy Land fighting. There was no real confidence among delegates of the three na tions that their request would be heeded. Russia, the fourth coun try taking part in the big power talks on Palestine, refrained from joining in the appeal because the Soviets have taken the typical stand that there is no need for the big powers to consult with the Arabs and Jews. Most observers thought the truce appeal looked like wishful thinking. For one thing, no group among either Arabs or Jews in Pal estine is in a position to control its dissident members and thus guar antee a truce. Moreover, the idea of a military truce does not bear upon the heart of the problem. The United Na tions is still committed, on paper, to partition, while the Arabs adam antly continue to reject that pro posal and the Jews assert just as strongly that they will accept nothing else. ACCIDENTS: Women’s Accident rate among girls and women has been reduced by about one-half in the past 35 years as a result of modernization of the Amer ican home, according to statistics compiled by Metropolitan Life In surance company. Illustrating the reduction in home hazards, the statisticians said, are the shift from oil lamps and gas for lighting to the electric light bulb, replacing of the traditional coal stove by the modern gas or electric range, and use of central heating instead of stoves and fireplaces. Headliners IN DETROIT . . . Gary Batherson (right) saved Marlene Padar’s life when they broke through the ice on a pond where they were playing, then suffered painful aftermath of heroism when Marlene insisted on bestowing a big smooch on his shrinking cheek. IN CRANSTON, R. I. . . . Frank Trifolgio, serving a four-year term for automobile theft, escaped from state prison by stealing a prison au tomobile. IN TORONTO . . . Mary Richard son attended the annual convention of the Prospectors and Developers associatiqn, was the lucky winner of the door prize—a genuine gold brick. IN DAYTON . . . Garret H. Pump- ley, only fireman at a school hav ing 13 furnaces, was ordered to bed by his doctor to recover from a bad attack of overwork. IN PECATONICA, III. ... A farm horse, marooned on an isolated piece of wooded farmland for more than a week by flood waters, was kept from starvation by fodder dropped to him from an airplane. SHIFTING WORLD Nobody Worries About Tissick' Now City dwellers of 300 years ago— the inhabitants of London in the year 1S48, for instance—were only half as likely to be killed in ac cidents as are the metropolites of today. But they were several times as likely to die from tuberculosis or other diseases with such fearful names as spotted fever, purples. rising of the lights, plague in the guts, tissick, imposthume and others, says a study of early and present - day mortality by North western National Life Insurance company. The king’s horsemen were the fastest traffic to contend with in 1648. The automobile was still 250 years in the future. Consumer Income Up Consumer income rose in January to a record high annual rate of 210.8 billion dollars, the commerce de partment announced. The figure for December was 210.4 billion dollars. The January rate, according to the department, was 7 per cent higher than the 1947 av erage of 196.8 billion. January’s increase over December came despite a slight downturn in wages and salaries. Unserved Warrant For Daltons Bared Bloody Saga of Early Kansas Could Have Been Averted TULSA., OKLA. — A warrant for the arrest of the three Dalton brothers and five of their compan ions who blazed a trail of stage, train and bank robberies across Oklahoma and Kansas is now in the hands of a Tulsa man. Had the warrant served its pur pose, the bloody end of the Dalton gang at Coffeyville, Kan., might never have occurred. The paper shows that a U. S. deputy marshal wandered from place to place for two months in an effort to serve the warrant, which charged the gaftg with the $11,000 robbery of a Wells Fargo Express company office at Red Rock, Okla. Bill Tilghman, whose reputation as a competent law officer was widespread, was handed the war rant by a U. S. commissioner for the Oklahoma territory in August, 1892. What happened during the next two months is not known but a re port scrawled on the warrant and signed by Tilghman said: "... endeavored with great diligence to execute the same by proceeding to the Creek nation and divers other places and hereby make due return hereon as not being able to find the within defendants.” On October 5, 1892, the Daltons rode into Coffeyville. Bob and Em mett robbed the First National bank and escaped with $23,000. At the same time Grat Dalton, with hench men Bill Powers and Dick Broad- well, went to the Condon National bank. There a teller stalled them long enough for Coffeyville citizens to be alerted. A party of vigilantes surrounded the bank and the Daltons were trapped. Powers and Broadwell reached their horses, mounted but were cut down before they could get away. In the same alley. Bob and Grat Dalton were riddled with bullets as they vainly tried to reach their horses Emmett Dalton, still in his teens, was wounded seriously. Today, Coffeyville residents show visitors the alley where the furious shooting match took place. Here's One Sure System To Make Horses Pay Off LAS VEGAS, NEV.—Three men walked Into the Las Vegas club here, bet on a 44 to 1 shot in the seventh race at fair grounds track. New Orleans, collected $11,000 in winnings and departed. During the running of the race the club had trouble with its racing wire, but it was repaired and flashed the information that Atomic City, the 44-1 shot, was the winner. Earlier in the day a bank official informed the police chief that he saw a man cutting wires on a tele phone pole behind the phone com pany. Police ChieJ Malmburg said in vestigation revealed that the only wire cut was one of 1.200 — the one carrying information to the Lps Vegas club. The police chief theorized that the gamblers heard the results of the race in another club before dash ing into the Las Vegas club to place their wagers. Two men were held for question ing One, an ex-convict, is an elec trician. Hiyo Silver! Race to Old Mine Ready to Start Anew DODGEVILLE. MICH.—The story of seven barrels of silver abandoned in an old mine near here is being told and re-told again and is ex pected to cause a silver rush any day now. Seems that a group of miners in the middle of the last century wanted more pay. The mine man agement refused to grant them an increase. Having just neatly capped seven barrels of silver, the miners climbed out of their hole to continue the argument. Negotiations continued for months while the seven barrels of silver lay in the mine shaft. Finally, when an agreement was reached the min- eis discovered that the shafting had weakened and they refused to enter th? mine again The silver treasure never was extricated. Conservatively, the treasure is estimated to be worth about $14,500. Carlos Wenberg, graduate of Michi gan College of Mining and Tech nology, contends that the story is true. Baby Girl Sweater Fails To Fit Cocker Spanfel INDIANAPOLIS, IND.—Two for mer school classmates met in a Terre Haute, Ind., elevator one day and began informing each other of the latest events in their lives. Paul Hartwig remarked, “We have a beautiful four-month-old baby girl at our house. You must see her.” Mrs. Parker, who is Hartwig’s former schoolmate, bought a little wool sweater for the baby and had it delivered to the Hartwigs. She received a letter which thanked her for the gift but apolo-; gized: “Our baby won’t be able to weal it. Our darling girl is a registered cocker spaniel." — ~ - ir llilll WASHINGTON’S DITCH . . . Great Dismal swamp canal, first sur veyed by George Washington, here goes through the forbidding swamp which has piqued the curiosity of men for generations. Army To Restore Canal Through Famous Swamp By WNU Features Oldest man-made waterway in the United States again will carry pleasure and business traffic through one of the most fascinating areas in the world with restoration of the Great Dismal swamp canal, often referred to as “George Washington’s ditch,” to its standard nine-foot channel depth. Work will be done under direction of army engineers. The canal, connecting the Eliz abeth river in Virginia with Al- bermarle sound in North Carolina, is in use today but lack of engi neering attention in recent years has prevented full use of its facilities. The nickname, “George Washington’s ditch,” stems from the fact that Washing ton himself surveyed the canal in 1763 and later in vested in a company which proposed to drain the Great Dismal in an ambitious land development scheme. The canal, dug by slave labor, was not navigable, however, until 1822. Drainage Cuts Area The canal originally cut through one of the most famous swamps in the world—one which has piqued the curiosity of men ever since they first came to its green edge and were repelled by its desolate defenses. But now drain age has shrunk the area from 2,200 to 750 miles and the canal itself leads through considerable cultivated land. The canal is fed by the “feeder ditch,” a straight canal which brings water from gloomy Lake Drummond in the very heart of the swamp. Navigable for small boats, the feeder ditch is the usual entry for explorers and curi osity seekers. George Moore, the poet, was among literary lights who have been fascinated by the Great Dis mal. He visited the lake in 1804 and while there wrote his “Lady of the Dismal Swamp.” Probably the first white man to penetrate the swamp was Wil liam Byrd, who named it. In his Dividing Line History, Byrd re lates that his party often could progress at the rate of only one mile a day. He adds that he “liked no part of it.” Subsequent expeditions have re vealed the swamp rich in flora and fauna. Owned mostly by lum bering interests, the swamp has yielded large harvests of gum, cypress and other timber. It now is proposed to preserve it as a national forest. Deer and bear still abound in some portions although not in as large numbers as previously. At one time a hunter killed 30 bears in a single year. Birds which nest on the ground are scarce but Lake Drummond and tributaries are considered good fishing waters. Copperhead snakes also are prevalent and are reported to have fallen into boats from over hanging boughs. Juniper water flowing out of Lake Drummond is a deep red and is considered by most “swampers” to have tonic values. At one time it was taken aboard ships for drink ing water, since it reputedly would not grow stale. In fact, one enterprising man bottled it in Baltimore for sale as a health-giving beverage. Curiously, Lake Drummond oc cupies a depression which is on a ridge higher than the rest of the swamp. For this reason it is considered likely that the swamp could be reclaimed entirely but a proposal to do this several years ago brought protests from near by farmers, who claimed the swamp had a beneficial effect on local weather. CANAL LOCKS ... One of the two locks on Great Dismal swamp canal, which take care of a nine-foot drop in the terrain. Easterner’s Yen Realized at Sale CANON CITY, Colo.—Because he “just got a bug on owning a ghost town,” Cecil R. Miller, Cin cinnati electrician, bought one at a delinquent tax sale here. Miller, chief electrician for a Cincinnati newspaper, saw the former mining town of White- horn, 60 miles northwest of Canon City, during his summer vacation. After persuading the county to offer it for sale, he returned here by plane to purchase the 332 acres for $1,550. Vets Seek Entry Into Poor House MONTROSE, Colo.— House-hunting World War II veterans here are trying to get into the poor house. Long abandoned, the county farm and poor house recently was sold for $10,- 000 and the new owners plan to usd it for veterans’ housing. Irrifated by Tickets, Motorist Sends Bill PORTLAND, Ore. — Irritated with the way traffic officers gave him parking tickets, Carl A. Pe terson decided to do something about it. So he mailed City Auditor W. E. Gibson a bill for $6.80 to cover repairs on his windshield wiper, which he con tended had been broken three times by patrolmen attaching the tickets. Old Way of Milking Works, Police Insist MILWAUKEE, Wis.—The old- fashioned way of milking cows may not be as fast but it gets the same results, Milwaukee police insist. During a power failure a woman called police headquarters to com plain she was unable to milk 24 head of cattle because there was no power to operate her milking machine and asked what to do. “Lady,” said the desk man, “I guess you’ll have to do what you did before you had that machine.” Legumes Open Soil To Air and Water . System of Rotation Prevents Compaction Tight "stuffy” soils are robbing many farmers of high bushel-per- acre yields of com and small grains each year. Loams, silt loams and clay loams need large amounts of organic matter in the plow layer and deeper to keep them open and loose for high crop production. Heavy soils that are low In or ganic matter and worked with heavy tractors and machinery become Tap roots of alfalfa and sweet clover, as shown in sketch, break through packed soil to assure wa ter and plant food for growing Crops. packed, especially Just below the plow sole. These compactions slow down the intake of water. They cut down the amount of water and air the soil will hold for crop use. They keep the fibrous roots of com and small grain “upstairs” away from water and plant food held deeper in the soil. Temporary relief can be had by using machines that reach below the ordinary plow layer and break up the plow sole compactions. Real relief, however, comes only through regu lar use of deep-rooted legumes in the rotation. The driving tap roots of sweet clover and alfalfa force their way through the compactions and reach deep into the soil, thus opening it to air and water. The mineralized organic matter they leave there im proves soil tilth and furnishes plant food for other crops. Channels of the tap roots are routes for water and air and fibrous roots to follow deep into the soil. Compaction-busting alfalfa and iweet clover need phosphate and pot- ash if they are to do a good job. Smash Sale Records All records for Ayrshire auction sales in the U. S. were broken when an average of $2,267.39 was paid for 23 Scottish bred Ayr- shires imported and sold by Frank V. Lile of Bellefontaine, Ohio. The sale grossed $52,150. A new record price for Ayrshire bull calves was set at $4,600 by Howard Baum and Sons of Faint Valley farm, Bainbridge, Ohio, in the purchase of eight-months-old Killoch Gay Spark (above). Increased Yields Noted With Use of Fertilizer Wheat yields can be stepped up 7 to 14 bushels per "acre and the hay crop can be increased through use of more fertilizer in hay and pasture crops seedea in small grains, de clares Dr. D. R. Dodd of the Ohio experiment station. This practice is particularly profit able on land already highly produc tive, Dodd points out. As an exam ple, he cites tests made by research men on plots at the Ohio station. The land’s producing capacity already had been built up by good soil man agement so that it was produc ing an average of 85 bushels of com, 23 bushels of wheat and 3 tons of hay per acre. In the tests, a 2-12-6 fertilizer was applied at increasing rates to wheat. Rajah LONDON—Claim of a “dead rajah to a vast Indian domain that had been contested in Indian courts for a quarter of a centurv was upheld by the privy council, highest judicial authority in the British empire. Victor in the protracted legal battle was Ramendra Narayan Roy, second son of the rajah of Bhowal, who claimed he was re vived by a rainstorm and res cued from a funeral pyre in 1909. He said he had lived with beggars for 12 years. The council’s ruling dismissed . the appeal of Ranee Bibhabati, ! who said she was the widow of the claimant. She insisted her hus band died at Darjeeling in 1909 and was cremated. The privy council decision was against a majority decision of the high court of Calcutta granting title to the estates, which yield $400,000 a year. Minnesota Starts Big Tree Planting Project As the first step in a far-reaching tree planting program authorized by the state legislature last year, Minnesota is planting about two million trees this year. A million deciduous and conifer ous trees are being sold at cost plus handling expense for planting on private lands. Another million co niferous trees are available for free j distribution for planting on public | Linds. » Returned from ‘Dead’ Wins Domain »» Mary Had a Little Lamb on Her Apron U'VERYWHERE that Mary goes, U-'she goes adorably in her dress- herself frock! Gamboling lamb is in outline with loops in lazy-daisy stitch. Make her a sunfrock and panties. Pat tern 7461; embroidery transfer, pattern in sizes 1, 2, 3. 4, 5. 6. Our improved pattern—visual with easy- to-see charts and photos, and complete directions —makes needlework easy. Due to an unusually large demand and current conditions, slightly more time is required In filling orders lor a lew of the most popular patterns. Send your order to: Sewing Circle Needlecraft Dept. 564 W. Randolph St. Chicago M, DL Enclose 20 cents for pattern. No Waino Address REASON IT OUT AND YOU’LL PREFER THIS •“••'SSS* • In NR (Nature’s Remedy) Tablet* there are no chemicals, no mineralfi no phenol derivatives. NR Tablets at* different—orf different Purtlj vtgt- tablr—2 combination of 10 vegetabl* ingredients formulated over 50 year* ego. Uncoated or candy coated, them action is dependable, thorough, yet gentle, as millions of NR’s have proved. Get a 254 box. Use es directed. That Na^<?in<3 Backache ^ May Warn of Disordered Kidney Action Modern life with fca hurry and worry, irregular habits, improper eating and drinking—its risk of exposure and infec tion—throws heavy strain on the work of the kidneys. They are apt to become ( over-taxed and fail to filter excess add and other impurities from the life-giving blood. You may suffer nagging backache, headache, dizziness, getting up nights, leg pains, swelling—feel constantly tired, nervous, all worn out. Other signs of kidney or bladder disorder are some times burning, scanty or too frequent urination. Try Doan’s Pills. Doan's help the kidneys to pass off harmful excess body waste. They have had more than half a century of public approval. Are recom mended by grateful users everywhere. Ask your neighbor I DOANS PILLS TRAVEL RAT The NAVY has a Real Business Proposition for Young Men Who Want to “Go Places.” Ask for Information. Navy Recruiting Station WNU FEATURES ()a a nation-wide newApapnh fea- twie AyndjuoaJte, MAvinqtiiiA newA- pafwi.