Evening star., 1943-11-05

~ D d soOu IIllIlS MuIt ana JeU are
mere f1gments of Bud Fischer's i'm
agination. They would have felt
pretty awful during yesterdays Es-
|quire hearing.
The two funny page characters,
known to couple of generations of
comic fans, were held up to public
disgrace. They had been brought
into the Post Office hearing more
or less as character witnesses for
Esquire, but the thing backfired, and
they only succeeded in getting their
own characters muddied up.
The way it happened was like
this: Things were getting little
dull at the hearing. The same jokes
were being read over to witnesses
for the 28th or maybe the 40th time
and were producing the same gen.
eral effect as a vaudeville act you've
seen three times a day for two
weeks.
Then Mutt and jeff were dragged
into the proceedings and their antics
in last Sundays Star we're de-
nounced before a tribunal Of the
Federal Government as cheap" and
unfit for youngsters of high school
age.
School Official Testifies.
DR.. Chester w. Holmes. who is
assistant superintendent of schools
in charge of senior high schools and
teachers colleges, was testifylng gen.
orally that Esquire was not exactly
the sort of publication he would
recommend as part of the school
curriculum. He was shown a cartoon
from the magazine which depicted
some soldiers camoufiaged as trees
peering over an idyllic woodland
pool, the chief feature of which was
a bevy of Enthusiastically lovely
maidenS.
DR.. Holmes gave it as his consid-
cred opinion that the cartoon was
cheap and added practically moth
ing to the culture of the age.
Suddenly Bruce Bromley. chief
AotllHIi lol III lilC llCdl lllSO,
produced a copy Of last Sundays
Star and handed DR.. Holmes the
comic section. He asked the educator
to pore briefly over the Mutt and
jeff strip. in which the funny page
individuals hang their clothes on
some trees while they take a swim
Only the trees turned out to be
WACS in camouf1age.
Would you say that's cheap" the
witness was asked.
Its no better than the cartoon
you Just showed me in Esquire" DR..
Holmes said. This sort of thing
chea pens children We in the schools
try to keep children's morals high.
That which is cheap lowers them"
Both Called "Indelicate.'
Would You say it's indccent?"
Mr.. Bromley asked
Just because a thing is cheap"
Dr. Holmes said, doesn't mean
its indecent"
You wouldn't say the cartoon
and the comic strip are indecent
then?" Mr Bromley persisted.
Let's say indelicate," the edu-
Gator declared.
DR.. Holmes followed three local
to the stand in the hear
ing which is being held before a
board to determine
whether Esquire's second-class mail
ing privileges should be taken away
because of certain features which
the Post Office says are obscene.
Rabbi Solomon H. Metz of Adas
Israel Congregation, said he thought
the magazine was pretty spicy fare.
even if such distinguished writer's
as Sholem Asch were contributors.
He said he supposed even great
writer's like Mr.. Asch could be
tempted to write for Esquire if the.
were great enough.
Could you be tempted to write
for the magazine?" Mr.. Bromley
asked.
No Rabbi Metz said, with en-
phasis.
Rabbi Metz said some of the in
dividual jokes and cartoons in Es-
qulre weren't so bad.