The Wilmington morning star., 1943-08-30
Moscow Dateline
~ BY :l31473L CASSIDY
;U;likLi2 c. CASSIDY

~ :. u aiios Is IN strength not less
II not greater, than the capacity
OF Fascist Germany or of anv tty 49,
er aggressive power to secure % tor
its world domination. -
With respect
(SigneO j. Stain.
October 3, 1912.
The original letter in Russian
was on paper SO plain that it was
startling. 1t was pure white. with
no waterma-k, no heading, moth
ing to indicate its origin except
the signature. 1t started out blunt.
ly, not Dear MIR. Cassidy as the
translation put it, but 'Gospodin
Cassidy'! or Mister Cassidy! The
text was typed in Russian char
acters. 1t was an unusual docu-
ment.
All this I took in, while Palgunov
stared at me and probably Won
dered how it had happened. I did
not tell him.
This is very. NICE I said; this
gives me great pleasure which
was a masterpiece of understate-
ment. We shook hands and I left
hurriedly.
The letter appeared the t
morning at the top of page one
of Pravda, above the Soviet In
formburo communique, W tn an
enormous heading: Replies of
Comrade J. V. Stain to the ques-
tions of the correspondent of the
A m r i can agency Associated
Press kilograms started to ar.
rive: from Kent Cooper, general
manager of the A. P, who does
not often hand out bouquets, con-
gratulations grand achievement
getting Stain letter which publish
ed worldwide; and from many
others.
Admiral Standley held a press
conference Tuesday evening and
announced he was taking off on
Thursday for Washington to con-
fer with President Roosevelt. The
ambassador issued carefully
worded statement that he was 60
ing home to talk over ways and
means of coordinating to the ut
most the war efforts of the United
States and the Soviet Union Talk
ing to us. he made plain he was
flying the Atlantic at the age OF
70 because somebody has drop
ped a monkey wrench in the ma
chinery somewhere That W S
part of it, although the main rea-
son for his trip was an outgrowth
of Wilkes visit.
Wednesdays Soviet papers car
ried foreign press reaction to the
letter. Thursday, they reported
Churchill had been questioned on
it in the House of Commons, Will
kie had expressed hope it would
receive widespread attention, and
Sumner Wells had commented that
military problems should be dis
cussed privately by governments,
not publicly by the press and peo-
pie. -.
With that ] entirely agreed. Ot
all people to be involved in the
second-front controversy, l w a S
among the strangest who could
have been selected. AS correspond
ent for the A.P., it was my job
to report facts effectively and I'M
nartiaIly. That, I did. If a Soviet
authority made pronouncement
on the second front, l reported II:
But I engaged in no campaign oI
my own.
To the Russians, however, l be-
came something of celebrity, not
only as the man to whom STAIN
had written a letter, but as the
correspondent who had dared to
raise his voice in favor OF the
second front. The store for for
eigners, which had been limiting
sales of wine to a single bottle,
heaped four in the arms OF my
maid. My automobile arrived
from Kuibyshev in two days on
flatcar, hitched to the fastest
passenger train in the Soviet Un-
ion. Russian friends telephoned to
congratulate me, although one, a
bareback rider at the state cir
Gus, couldn't understand W n y l
should ask Stain about the Soviet
power of resistance, when every
one knew how strong it was.
A few days later a new Enghsh
correspondent was stopping me IN
the hotel corridor, and asking: i
saw old boy, when one corresponds
with Stain, how does one deliver
the rletter?' And I was trying to
think of a new letter myself.
Copyright 1943 by Henry Z.
Cassidy; Houghton, Mifflin 20.
Distributed by AP Features
Chapter 25
An opportunity to write happy
and;no to story was a rarity IN