The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-03-23

One meeting was a gathering to which J. A. Brown, president of Socony-Vacuum oil, invited about 100 of his business friends. There were two chief speakers, Upton Close and Emil Hurja, both bit- terly anti Roosevelt.
 Upton Close stuck more to the war, and had quite bit of pay about the .oolishness of olg army. A small one, he saic, could do the job just as well,
 HurJa, who was fired as Jim
 Farley'S statistical man because
 he got so far off base :n pre- dieting a close squeak for ROose-
 welt in 1936, gave talk about
 the rosy future of Republican,
 ism. He spread charts before
 the brethren, Opined that a
 COP victory was inevitable, that they couldn't lose, that they were sure of q majority of hundred votes in Congress. Fin- ally, Hurja concluded, the only possible chance the Republicans had of losing was to nominate
 Wendell WiIIlSle.
 Most peoc!c present didn't re- alize that HurJa has solu hls Pathfinder Magazine to bitter anti-Willkieite Joe Pew, and now radiates Pew's reflected political billiousness; also that in l940 Hurja was so far off base that he predicted a Willkie victory by $50 majority.
 OIL MAGNATES
 The other meeting was evfn more significant. It was a din- ner given by Winthrop Aldrich, head of the Chase National bank the bank recently indicted on a charge of assisting refugee dia- mond merchant to funds with which he traded with the enemy. Guests at the dinner included Harrison Spangler, chairman of the Republican National commit- tee; Ed Jaeckle, COP New York state chairman; John Sprague, New York Republican National Committeeman and Ernest Weir, the steel magnate who has glee- fully admitted distribEing many copies of the book "One Man WiIlkie."
 It was another Stop Willkie- at-alI- Costs meeting. Chairman
 Spangler, supposed to be neu-
 tral regarding all candidates, was even confident that Will kie couldn't get more than 200 votes.
 Interesting background is that Winthrop Aldrich. cousin of the Rockefellers, recently has been made treasurer of the Republican New York State Committee, and also is on the New York Com mittee to draft Dewey. The Rocke- fellers, who control the Chase bank are also heaviest owners of Socony-V Vacuum. whose president, J. A. Brown, held the other anti Willkie meeting.
 Also Brown is a director of the Chase bank. Thus it looks as if the oil interests, along with the big bankers, were really worried over Willkie. They are goilng to leave no stone unturned.
 CLOTHES HORSE KING
 An order came ticking over Navy communications last week which means that the wife of every naval officer will have to take out her needle and do some sewing on her husbands uniform.
 Also it means that Admiral Er- nie King, chief of Naval Opera tions, commander-in-chief of the Fleet and clothes horse" to the younger men of the Navy. is all hot and bothered over brass but tons and creased pants again.
 Last year the Admiral decreed new gray uniforms for summer wear. He did this at a time when most young officers had already stocked up and when Secretary Knox had already ruled there was to be no uniform change. But Admiral King. coming back from his London tailor. with a brand- new gray-green uniform, got the President to go over Knox's head and authorize a new gray outfit.
 Following it up Admiral King has now issued rcN ,g on butt tens. It states: "Only gray cloth shoulder marks and blue black plastic buttons are now authorized fer wear on gray uni- fOrms."