The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-04-09

lions of dollars for new I preparing to retire eight of the services top flyers because they are not Annapolis graduates. Cur rent events have added another example of this underlying anti pathy toward the air force on the part of high-placed seadogs.
 Today, in the vast and strate- gically vital Hawaiian area of the Pacific, the great battle fleet of the U. s. is engaged in its most important war maneuvers since the World War. Many new ships, aircraft carriers and planes are being tested on the basis of les sons gained from the European conflict. ..-.. t So important are the games that Secretary Charles Edison is per- sonally attending them. But the No. 2 flying officer of the Navy, Rear Admiral Arthur B. Cook, commander of the Aircraft Scout ing Force, is not.
 A large part of Admiral Cooks command, carriers and planes, are engaged in the crucial maneuvers, but he is far away on the other side of the ocean. A few days ago, accompanied by his entire staff, he steamed out of San Diego aboard his flagship. the Cruiser Memphis, on a leisurely inspection cruise that will take him through the Panama Canal, the Caribbean and on up to Norfolk, Va., and Washington.
 UNUSED FLAG-PLANE
 Why he, his entire staff, and flagship should be absent from the important Pacific battle tests is a mystery. Equally unexplained was the action last year of Admiral Claude c. Bloch, then Command er-in-C Chief of the Fleet, in refus- ing to allow Cook to use 4-motor plane on which $80,00O or tax payers money had been spent to fit it up as Cooks flag-plane.
 The ship, one of the few of its type ill the Navy, was equipped with hunks, galley, water tanks, desks, carpets and other furnish ings to accommodate Cook and his staff. Its purpose was to eliminate the heavy cost of using a large cruiser to transport Cook and his staff, also to free the cruiser for other missions.
 But Bloch, who has never been
 up in the air and who once re-
 fused to allow seaplane squad
 rOns to make test flights across
 the country from the Pacific to
 the Atlantic, hit the ceiling when
 the plane arrived at San Diego.
 He ordered Cook not to use 1t,
 and for six months it remained
 idle in a hangar. It was still
 there when Cook sailed on the
 Memphis.
 NOTE Cook is one of five flying admirals' who draw be- tween $3,000 and $4,OO0 year fly ing pay but are not allowed to take up or land ship. When they fly they are always accompanied by a special pilot assigned to them. HEART BREAKER
 The well-laid plans of Finnish Minister Hjalmar Procope to out wit the press at his wedding mis- fired, but the tall, handsome dip lomat did manage to inject some privacy into the affair = much to the vocal annoyance of the photographers. -N
 The day of the wedding, Procepe left strict orders with his staff to stall the press until a half hour after the ceremony, by which time he and his British bride would be well on their way out of town. The staff obeyed orders, but Procope overlooked one leak. An employee in the County Clerks office at Fairfax, Va, where the marriage license was secured, also is the local correspondent of the Wash ington paper.
 Result was that when procope and his bride-to-be arrived at the Fairfax home of State Department Counselor R. Walton Moore for the big event, they were met by grinning battery of reporters and lensmen. ,
 Procope was much put out,
 though he finally agreed to "a
 few shots." But when a ''kiss the bride" pose was suggested, he
 bristIed.
 ''That,' he said, "is for private
 ssBut who ever heard of: a we'd