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THE NEWBERRY SUN. NEWBERRY. S. C. ——i Iron Curtain Trade r R SOME time this column has called attention to the ship ment of war materials behind the Iron Curtain by European nations. Most people don’t realize that a Steady trickle of strategic materials have been reaching Communist countries from the U.S.A. Here are some American firms which have been transshipping: 1. Rolfe G. Grote of New York, who sent chemicals to Switzerland, later transshipped them to Soviet Russia. 2. The Pacific Trading Corpora tion of Boston which transshipped steel plates to Communist China 3. The Harris Chemical Corpora tion of New York which obtained a license te ship chemicals to Bel gium, then transshipped them to Communist Czechoslovakia. Last December 27 this column also revealed that the Alumi num Corporation of Canada, an affiliate of the Mellon-controlled Aluminum Corporation of Amer ica, had shipped 3,000,000 pounds of aluminum to Com munist Czechoslovakia, and 1,060,000 pounds of aluminum to Communist Poland, at a time when the American public was getting dangerously short. Tax Tempers m There were some stormy dissents inside the house ways and means committee before it tentatively ap proved a 3 per cent, across-the- board boost in individual income taxes. “This is an unfair imposition on .the lower-bracket taxpayers,” in sisted Democrat Wilbur Mills of Arkansas. “Most of the new reve nue in this legislation will come from the lower brackets anyhow, so why saddle the poor man with the same rate of increase as the upper-bracket taxpayer?” Rep. Hale Boggs of Louisiana, who favored a graduated increase from 2 to 4 per cent on incomes up to $10,000 a year, also strongly opposed the across-the-board for mula. So did another Democrat, John Dingell of Michigan. Dingell was furious because the committee had raised corporation taxes only to 52 per cent instead of the 55 per cent, as recommended by the treasury. “The coffers of oonyi of Jhese - X* Mg companies are bulging with unexpended cash,** exclaimed Dingell. “That's where the . fat Is. It Isn’t In the little man’s pocket. I’m against all these excise taxes too, which are paid by the consumers—and that ap plies to excises on automobiles made in my own home town. “America lives on wheels,” said the congressman from Detroit. “But If you cripple the automobile in dustry by increasing excises to the point where the average fellow can’t afford to buy a new car you are threatening the future of our whole economy.” Rep. Dan Reed of New York, the committee’s No. 1 Republican, said he was willing to “go along” by not raising individual income taxes at all. While Democrats pinched themselves to be sure they weren’t dreaming, Reed hastened to ex- Main: “If we cut non-essential govern ment spending to the bone, maybe we wouldn’t need a tax bill.” In the showdown, however, Reed and other committee Republicans voted solidly for the income-tax boost which hits little incomes as much as it does big. Kortao Air Disaster The American public has shown its ability to take the bad news with the good and therefore has a right to know about our worst air disaster of the Korean war. So far the facts have not been released at the Pentagon. Last month, /however, 40 B-29 srfortresses, escorted by jet iters, bombed the international ;e connecting Sinuiju, North Korea, with Antung, Manchuria. B-29’s were hugging so close to the Manchurian border that one side was exposed and approximate- 100 Russian MIG-15 jet fighters flit them from the exposed Man churian side, breaking up the for- ition. Two B-29’s were shot down, a third was listed as missing but was seen crashing into the sea. Seven of the big super fortresses had to crash-land in South Korea, while one was badly damaged but made it ftp the home base. lington Pipeline American scientists are unable to understand why the Russians h exploded only one A-bomb, most elaborate devices have tted no indication that the has set off a second explosion. Some of our ex feel that the Reds have found of detonating their bombs eludes our instruments, claim the Russians are so the U.S. that they would )w their lack of progress another. SCANNING THE WEEK'S NEWS of Main Street and the World Small Business Casualty of Defense; Meat Price Rules Confuse Consumer THE FOUNDATION THREATENED—According to several nation al economic surveys made public in the last week or so, small business is becoming a casualty of defense. This is a serious and frightening fact for thousands of small towns, because about 3,670,000 small businesses form the foundation of the American economic pyramid, many of them located in the home towns of the nation. In the first two years of World War II, 16 per cent of the small busi nesses of the country were forced to close down. There are reports that many observers believe the fatality rate in the present de fense mobilization program may be even higher than in those years. A Washington report revealed that congressional small business committees are receiving an av erage of 500 letters a day appeal ing for information and help from small businessmen. Several reasons are given for the present difficulties. The most important are shortages pf ma terials—allocation of steel, alum inum, etc., from civilian con sumption to defense projects; the inability of small business to qual ify for defense contracts; and the expansion of big business to avoid subcontracting, formally a profit- • able source for small business. UP A TREE—Mild mannered, popular Gen. Omar Bradley, remem bered by thousands of World War II veterans in the home towns of Amer ica as the “GI’s general,” put the combined senate armed services and foreign relations committees up a tree during his testimony on the re moval of Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his Pacific commands. To begin with, General Bradley caused a stir among the Republican members of the committees by upholding the administration’s actions with the sr . eping statement that General MacArthur’s Korean plans “would involve us in the wrong war, at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and with the wrong enemy.” But when he flatly refused to tell the senators about his private talks with the President on the recall of MacArthur, he chased the committees up a tree. For a day committee members argued among themselves whether they should take some kind ef contempt action against the general. They voted 18 to 8, however, against such action expressing the view that it might set a ‘dangerous precedent. To the home town veteran, however, it seemed more likely the sen ators remembered Gen. Bradley’s popularity with the men that make up a big part of today’s Main Street population. NEW DRAFT LAW—Senate and house conferees, attempting to reach a compromise on the two bills previously passed by the groups, finally reached a settlement calling for extension of the draft until July 1, 1955, with men of 18% eligible for induction for 24 months of service. The old draft bill expires July 1. The new one will require all men to register on becoming 18. They would be examined and classified before they were 18% and would be eligible for induction thereafter, providing the pool of men from 19 to 26 in their individual draft districts had been exhausted by the local hoards. The bill will put a five million person ceiling on the combined army, navy, air forces and marines. It also requires that all draftees, volunteers, and reserves have at least four months’ basic training before being as signed outside the United States. UP TO OLD TRICKS—After rejecting American plans for a peace treaty with Japan, the Russians reverted to their old tricks in proposing their versiop of a treaty. The Soviet plan, which was rejected by file United States, would bar foreign forces from Japan after the occupation ends and thereby block an arrangement for American troops to help pro vide Japanese security. It was the same type of thing the Russians so successfully carried out in Korea and which led to the present situation in Asia. Ne one can be lieve the Russians thought the United States would accept their plan, but one has to give them credit for having the nerve to suggest it. There is little possibility now of Russia joining in the American peace treaty which is nearing conclusion. BEWILDERED HOUSEWIVES—Home town housewives entered their Main Street stores and meat markets on Monday, May 14, without their usual dread of visiting a meat counter. The government had just ordered a cut in meat prices. After one quick look she became a startled and confused housewife. For the next 10 days she became more bewildered. Meat prices were not down according to her figures—but up! What the home town housewife saw was porterhouse steak up 7 cents a pound and sirloin up 9 cents. Round steak was down 2 cents—not enough to mention, and short ribs of beef down 8 cents—as she had expected of other cuts. According to the government, however, the up and down price juggling of beef actually produced an over-all savings to the housewife of one-half of 1 per cent. This she couldn’t understand. One-half of 1 per cent didn’t do a thing for her meat budget. FAIR TRADE RULING—By a vote of 6-to-3, the supreme court ruled that merchants who did not sign fair-trade agreements are free to charge cut-rate prices if they wish. Under the laws of 45 states, distributors of trade-mark or brand goods may enter into agreements with retail dealers to sell their products at filed minimum prices. Under the new court ruling, however, the home town merchant who did not sign such a contract or agreement can sell the prod uct at whatever price he desires. The only states not having fair-trade laws are Vermont, Texas, and Missouri. The.ruling will have little effect on most classes of merchandise as long as business is good, most Main Street businessmen believe. This would not hold true, however, if business went into a slump. . ... jjgm ipl ini* Homeward Bound on Rotation Express American GI’s, veterans of the Korean fighting board a truck bound for a rotation center where they will be processed for return to the United States. Tired GVs slugged the truck appropriately, ’’Rotation Express.” LAND BOOM OF 1950 Farm Mortgage Debt Up 8 Per Cent The agriculture department re ported recently the land boom of 1950 boosted the farm real-estate debt 8 per cent, totaling $5,800,000,- 000 at the end of the year. Likewise, the rising demand and increased prices for farm commodities led farmers to add to their non-real- estate debt. They borrowed heavily to buy additional equipment aftd machinery. The department said the real-es- tate-mortgage debt, however, was only 54 per cent of the record reached in 1923. Twelve states have a higher mortgage debt than in the peak year of 1923. These are New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New Jer sey, Delaware, Virginia, West Vir ginia, North Carolina, Florida, Ten nessee, Alabama, Louisiana and New Mexico. SELLOUT . . . Mickey Cohen ex amines revolver from his collec tion of old guns that went on sale to raise money for his income tax suit. The Beverly Hills gambler’s collection was valued at around $7,000 before he decided to sell them. REUNITED FAMILY ... Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway was .reunited with his family recently when his wife and small son, Matty, arrived in Tokyo. It was a big day all around for the general, new supreme com mander of allied forces in the far east. President Truman nominated him for his fourth star, making him a full general, subject to senate approval. The general and his family were reunited at the airport in Tokyo on the big day. ASKS TWO MILLION . . . Mrs. Eunice Walterman, Kansas City, has filed two million dollar suit against Myron Taylor, former U.S. representative to Vatican, charg ing conspiracy to prevent her claim she is his daughter. INTIMATE CHAT . . . Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion (right) has a friendly talk with Professor Albert Einstein (left) at the profes sor’s home In Princeton, New Jersey. The prime minister from Israel made the visit to the aged mathematician on fhe first leg of his planned gpationwide tour to spur the support of the Ajgierican public for the half- a-billion-dollar independence bond issue drive f BOLIVIAN REBEL . . . Victor Pas Estensoro, whose revolutionary group polled nearly half the votes in recent Bolivian election, says he is not pro Red. A military junta took over country and he fled to Bnenos Aires for safety from at tempts on his life. REFUSES BRONZE STAR . . . Mrs. Avera Talley, Los Angeles, refuses posthumous Bronze Star for her son Sidney, killed in Korea, until the government will give more information on how he was killed. Star is for gallantry in ac tion. SOBER|NG EXPERIENCE • . . Actor John Agar, Shirley Temple’s ex-hnsband, was married in Las Vegas to Loretta Barnett, after be ing refused license because he was “intoxicated.** He drank black cof fee and walked around block. independence bond for Israeli relief. The Futile Assignment It is all very well to have stood with the greats. To have gathered yonr garlands of fame. It Is all very well to have ont- bncked the fates, 1 To have reached for a head- liner’s name. Grantland Rice NO SALE ... A raspberry from the law was all two young men got when they tried to bnrglarize a candy store in New York recently. Here, we see one of the snbjeclb, Ralph Dominquez, 21, being forcibly assisted from the window by a policeman after he and Harry Panga- bean, 19, were caught in the act by the cops. The two boys were ac cused also of stealing a car which was removed before the owner knew It was gone. TAKE THAT, YOU DEVIATIONIST . .. The ducking gent here is Darius La Corre, leader of a newly-formed Communist movement in Paris. The new group is Independent of Moscow and is written down by reg ular Beds as Tltoisft, or deviatlonist. Le Corre’s duck resulted from a pass by the unidentified regular Communist aft right who intruded a press conference where Le Corre was explaining the aims ef the nariv and swans at Le Corre. But when you are slipping- everyone does— And the dirge has supplanted / ‘ the sonnet; Remember bow quickly a name gathers fuss— Don’t try to get anything on it. • • • New York—The next essay should he turned in the general direction of one Edmund Lopat, a left-handed pitcher with the Yankees. Ed lApat won his first six games, hut actually his record is better than that. In an era where any pitcher who per mits less than 3 earned runs each season is a hero, Lopat permitted an earned-run average of .60 in his first five games, an all- time record as far as we can ex cavate into the past. Lopat is another rare character in a new .form. He is one of the few living citizens who was born in New York City. This happy event, for the Yankees, took place in June. 1918, just 33 years ago. In spite of his brilliant start, life this year was net all milk and honey for left-hander Lo pat. Eddie started as a first baseman with Greensburg in the Pennsylvania State League, then moved to Jeanerette, deep in the trash, in 1937. That was some' 14 years ago. He worked with Jeanerette, Kilgore, Shreveport, Longview, Mar shall, Satina, Oklahoma City, and Little Rock before be final ly reached the White Sex in 1944. He won 11 and dropped 10 for the White Sex that year, a ‘ rare achievement any season while pitching for the White Sex. Starting the 1951 campaign Lopat has won 100 and lost 78 games for a winning average of .562. It ia a muchfbetter .average now with hty 1951 start Lefty Lopat is now thinking ot writing a book called “Life Begins at 33.” In this three years udth the Yankees, up to 1951, Lopat hat won 50 games up through 1950 and lost only 29. He waited 13 pro sea sons before getting the best start be has ever known. Last season Lopat wan 18 and lost 8 for his best record to date. Unless some one starts throwing hand grenades, 1951 should he by all odds his best year. • • • ( , Two Records to Match * In checking Eddie Lopat’s amaz ing 1951 record, plus the record of other stars, we pause at the marks set by one Grover Cleveland Alex ander, plus another set of marks estaWished by Walter Johnson. In 1915 Alexander’s earned-run mark was 1.22. It was 1.55 in 1916 and 1.83 in 1917. After the war Alex gave the game 1.72 in 1919 and 1.91 in 1920. Here were five years where Alexander allowed less than two earned runs a game, working over 400 innings each year. He had been yanked away from his game for a year, Join ing the army In 1917, or he might easily have set a league- leadership mark for six con secutive years. In 1912 the American League had no earned run average or Johnson might have set a new mark. That was one of his greatest seasons. But in 1913 he had an average of 1.14 per game, \.71 in 1914, 1.55 in 1915, 1.89 in 1916, 1.28 in 1919 and 1.55 in 1919. Here were eleven years of great pitching by two of the games best —Alexander and Johnson, Old Pete and Big Barney. No one can expect Lopat to match marks of this type in the modem era when pitchers who allows less than three earned runs are regarded as hav ing a touch of magic. Early Wynn of Cleveland led all A.L. pitchers last season with the chubby mark of 3.20, a long hop from Johnson’s 1.14. The big slump in pitching skill or the arrival of thq rubber hall took place in 1921. Since then only Hal Newhouser, Carl HubbeU, Howie Pollet and Mort Cooper have operated under the two-earned run count. • • • Whore the People Go NEW YORK, May—It may, oi it may not, interest you to know where your fellow human beings go in searching for a favorite sport. Also just how the trend ia today— whether up or whether down. We might as well start with baseball, file most harassed of sports by tele vision’s savage invasion. In 1949 major league baseball drew 20,215,365 people. The minors were healthy with television just warming up. LIFE IS GOOP Life in Small Towns Good, Editors Say MILWAUKEE, Wis. — According to rural publishers, life in small towns and along Main Street is good these days. A number of Wisconsin publish ers reported on home town prob lems at the recent Wisconsin Press association meeting in Milwaukee. Many towns in the steie have prob lems of local government, of pre paring for probably sudden in creases in population and the same worries about war and taxes that are common everywhere, but near ly all small town residents are con fident that the problems can be solved. Max F. Ninman,. editor ef the Reedsburg Times-Press had a typi cal answer to the inquiry ef what’s worrying residents of his tewn. ^Nothing much,” was his an swer. “We’ll have a housing prob lem if the government resumes op erations at the Badger Ordnance works near Sauk City, and we’re talking about a new high school. But perhaps the biggest problem is making the best possible use of some civic funds.” Taxes Not a Worry T. C. Radde, editor of the Sparta Herald said his town has a far greater housing problem. “Since Camp McCoy reopened, we’ve absorbed 2,800 people in the community,” he said, “and we hear the camp is to be expanded. The first troops were married men. and their wives and youngsters came along. We need a new grade school, a new police and fire station and more housing. We’re using a big trailer bus, with school buses bring ing the children in daily, but we still need more homes. “One worry we don’t have, I guess, ih taxes. It looks Hke every one will make enough money to pay his taxes.” A new military installation near Elkhorn is having an effect on that community, said Claude F. Eames, editor ef the Elkhorn Independent “Having army officers and men on our streets brings extra aware ness of the war in Korea anffr the problems ef internal tions,” Eames said. *T d< people were worried, they’re concerned,” of c They’re busy preparing resort season, too. We lakes in a radius of 16 double our 3,000 population the summer.” Business Is Good similar'Report came from worth S. Coe, of the Register. “Business is excellent, the era are getting good money there’s plenty of moisture in soil to promise a good crop ye — he said. “We've also got a lot of interest in our new Whitewater lake. Originally it was planned by a private corporation that ran into legal trouble and had te open the dam it had built. Now the county park beard, the farmers who owned the land and the state conservation commission have combined their efforts. The water from some springs and an old mudhole have been used to create a handsome lake, with a 15 mile shore line. We expect a property value increase of 8 to 10 millftn dollars, with fine summer homes just four miles from Whitewater. It’ll mean a lot to our town.” Two editors reported community problems of a different nature— • the need to finance and construct new sewage disposal plants re quired by the state health depart ment V Francis F. Schweinler, editor of the Mosinee Times said his com munity was planning a $250,000 plant “The mills are working full b so there’s a job for everyone wants to work,” he said, “but the sewage plant is a big project” £dfe is good in Wisconsin’s small towns these days. Dairy Town Welcomes Mrs. MacArthur Home § MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Ap proximately 50,000 persons crowd ed into the country town of Mur freesboro recently to see Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Mrs. Mac Arthur, and their 13-year-old son, Arthur. Murfreesboro, a dairy town, ia the home town of Mrs. MacArthur. It was the biggest day in the history of the town, where 89 years ago MacArthur’s father and Mrs. MacArthur’s maternal grandfather fought against each other in one of the bitterest battles of the Civil War. The new “Battle of Murfreesboro” will go down in Tennessee history as a fight for parking space, sand-, wiches and a place along the pa- >ade route. The MacArthur plane landed at Stewart Air Force Base. From the air base the MacArthur route led through the Stones River Na tional Military Park. It was here, in 1882, that Mrs. MacArthur’s grandfather. Confed erate Lt. Richard E. Beard, and MacArthur’s father. Union Lt. Arthur MacArthur. would have shot each other on sight had they chanced to meet. Both took pkrt in the Battle of Stone’s River, which helped clear the way for m