Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1943-01-27

MR. PICKERING - \
visions of closed banks. In time
we lived that down, too and
proved rather concluSivety that
we had received a black eye that
didn't belong 10 US.
There was n time when De-
troit was assumed To be synon-
ymous with labor wars, and n
time when Detroit meant about
any kind of athletic champion
ship.
There was that frantic hour
when France pleaded for CLOUDS
of airplanes" and Detroit was
. assumed TO be some sort OF
magic place which could, by
turning a spigot, produce planes
instead Of automobiles from the
assembly lines--and do II over
night.
And right now-what is De-
troit. as seen by the butcher IN
Cleveland, the beef millionaire
in Kansas City the professor IN
New Mexico and the farmer who
raises apples in New -famp-
shire?
won't try 10 answer that
question. because ] don't know
any more than you do, but !
confess wondering
About the only thing you can
say for ure II that we appear
10 he an active city--to put 1t
mildly. James G. McCabe sends
me a paragraph written to him
by w. l.. Bailey. assistant to H..
X. Luce who publishes Time and
those other magazines. Says he:
For many years Detroit has
been nv favorite city because
every one l met there Is crea-
tive. Now, of course. its ability
10 produce IN vital TO our ma
tional wellbeinR
Joe Purtell, formerly Of this
paper and now covering the city
for Mr.. Luce's magazines, says
the same thing but in different
language. ] asked him about his
lob and he remarked that he
wrote accounts of what hap
pened here and in addition
checked up on things the New
York editors wanted 10 know.
You'd be surprised. he SAID.
"Just about everything that hap
Mems these days anywhere, has
u Detroit angle 10 II,
Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker
makes a speech here. Some OF
the topmost labor leaders say
that the speech was batting
labor. (My ears didn't hear II
that way, hut theirs did, and it's
up 90 any Of 49, To- call things the
way we see them.) That Will give
Cleveland. Kansas City and East
Orange one opinion Of Detroit.
And. al the same time, they
can get quite the opposite idea
by talking 10 people ut any Of
the radio stations which carried
the speech.
CKLW which. with the aid OF
transcription. broadcast the
speech three times I'm a. many
DAYS. said that people called up
from all over. asking for the re-
broadcasts. In many cases radios
were turned on and the speech
was heard In war factories while
the men worked. docs Ricken-
hacker know that, wonder: y
CKLW, or at least Its sales
manager. X. r. Jones. who
checked many Of the calls. says
that In general. the people who
called up liked the speech,
wanted some friend TO hear II.
and frequently said the speech
made them want 10 do more,
either In the factory or In some
other phase OF war work.
So there you are. Or rather,
here we are. We're a city that
is saving the world or dragging
il down 10 ruin; we have cham
pions in every sport; we have
flops: we are fabulously full of
miilionaires or we are feeding
our breadlines with city hall
scrip: we think Rickenbacker is
wrong. we think he is right;
lhatever it is, we're the most
- it.
Nobody knows what we are
doing. what we can do; but
everybody watches US. scared 10
death that We will, or scared TO
death that we won't.
All in all. this enigmatic mad
house Of Detroit seems to have
all the earmarks of city that is
on IFS way up, immensely strong.