Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-07-26

W ~. IL dpiHdi lidl diIilN
Il morale viii be looked after
much more effectively than II
was In 1917 More power TO the
United Service Organization as
~ bucks up the soldiers and
keeps them satisfied
II SENS 10 work out far bet
ter than IN the World War, when
dobS danced with embarrassed.
tangle-footed boys from the
corn belt and thought they were
hopping up the heroes. There
was the well-worn story, per-
hapS now forgotten. of the beau
tltul Junior Lacquer who asked
the sailor boy if he cared 10
dance.
40, I'D rather pick my
chicken" sand the sailor
We venture a rc-run OF this
only because II is a BIT old and
tattered But 1t does signify a
yearnlng by the fighting forces
10 have fun In their own way.
and the L. S, A.. happily, UNI
dcrStdndS THIS and proceeds
accordingly. Thus we seem to be
doing all night. so far as army
and navy morale is concerned.
But what about civilian
morale? That would be ire
mcndouSly important just now,
as the bleachers flow down onto
the field IN this new kind of
war This latter-day economic
military style of combat declares
everybody in, men. women and
children, old people and cripples.
and the victim of clauStrophobla
who never mixed in anything
before.
TT IS a lot harder to pump up
i civilian morale than it is 10
keep the soldiers and sailors
happy. Gfergymen, commence
<s,4etft- t4ay+ a tors, editorial
writers. columnistS and the like,
Slog away about feFpof and be-
lief the founding fathers, sacri-
fee and courage. That helps, Of
course, but good public morale
Is either there or ii isn't, no
IN er what the organized
efforts 10 fan il up.
Curlously enough, our ira
dltlonal Skepticism about we'll
meaning and idealistic tub
humping is one of our great
bulwarkS of strength. Our I'M
matched scientific and technical
resources are the fruits of the
highly diversified. free-for-all of
a nation of self-starters. in
Stlnctively resistant 10 mass
pressure or synthetic excite
ment.
Just TO illustrate; Many years
ago. there was a schoolteacher
monkeying around with a lot of
queer odds and ends in the back
room of Doc RobinSon's drug
store in Mifflin. o., He was
young Charles +. Kettering, hav-
ing a good time in his own way.
with nobody paying any atten-
ton 10 him.
But here's Mr.. kettering. the.
wizard Of electro-machineS, just
about ready 10 spring a new
alrplane detector which might
get us a decision or a knockout
IN some future war let's not
ASSUME that-~e -aifeads get
one.
TlllS may seem like a strained
alluSion. ViS-a-ViS the above.
but we feel that our personal
morale Mould be tipped notch
or two If We could hear Irene
Franklin sing her Red Head"
song Just once more. In fact, it
was the sad news Of the death
of Miss Franklin the other day
that started these meanderings.
The movies. steadily on the
uptake. as they are. never have
been quite substitute for old
time vaudeville. | have an idea
that more of uS had chance 10
have a goodSStime' in our own
way then. ndFthat. | think. is
the nub Of this public morale
business.
Some of us like the padded
Dutchman, others the comic cop.
the rube. the tramp or the
chln-whiSkered IriShman. But.
with all the stale jokes and
crude horseplay OF vaudeville.
there was rollicking fun. shrewd
carricature and Salutary public
participation and what the
drama critics call sympathetic
Identification in these old
vaudeville doings. And il all
added up TO civilian morale.
NOU never want TO start
Il civil war if you are having
good time Along with the
memory of Irene Franklin, We
salute Gallagher and Shean, Joe
Jackson, the Dolly Sisters, Nc
lntyre and Heath. Eva Tanguay.
Duffy and Sweeney. Nora Bayes.
Elsie Janis. Charlie Chase. VeSta
Victoria and Bert Williams. We
could fill this page with such
names many of them also just
memories now. We suggest that
The morale builders specifically
invoke such retrospectS. We
fight with our memories as well
as our horeS.
cop,ugh 1891. King Features synd Inc