The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-11-09

pose that finished American pro- ducts be given them for re-export, but only that they get lend-leased raw materials to revieve their crippled industries.
 One proposad is to set up a new postwar lend-lease court com posed of one Britisher and two Americans which would decidi which goods could be used for British trading purposes.
 The whole plan will be sub- mitted to Congress probably be- fore Christmas, and promises to be full of controversy.
 NOTE: General Pat Hurley and Jim Landis, U. s. economic ad- ministrator in Cairo, both Sub- mitted Scorching reports on the use of British lend-leaSe in the Near East, claimed it was being used to bolster British trade. Re- gently, however, Landis has been more satisfied.
 ARMY'S PRE-FABRI-
 GATED BRIDGES
 One of the great but little known stories of the western front is the way in which Army engineers got a group of bridge experts to- gether nearly two years ahead of the European invasion and de- signed fabricated sections of bridges which would excatly re- place specific bridges in France, Holland and Belgium.
 Through the European under ground, Army engineers were able to get exact measurements of the bridges which they knew would be destroyed by the retreating Nazis. Each part was numbered, and special assembly crews, trained in England, rehearSed the job of putting them in place.
 When the invasion came. these bridges travelled so close behind our advancing armies that they were frequently ahead of the field Kitchens. And on arrivad at a destroyed bridge, its replace ment was matter of hours. COOL WITNESS
 BEFORE SENATORS
 Least ruffled witness before a Congressional committee in long time was George K. Simmons, publisher of the Philadelphia Trade Union News.
 This is the sheet which first published the story linking Sidney Hillman with group of New York racketeers, plus the series of pie lures which put President and Mrs. Roosevelt, Fanny Perkins and other high government officials alongside Lepke, Gurrah and vari- ous members of Murder, Inc, some of whom have now been elec- tric-chaired.
 This story was later published fin pamphlet form by the Penn syIvania State Republican Com mittee-which, however, omitted to identify itself as the publish CT of the three million copies.
 Simmons appeared last week before the Senate Campaign Ex- penditures Committee. Masthead of his Trade Union News lists E. B. Faunce as Publisher and Managing Editor.' Asked to identify Faunce. Simmons said he was the printshop foreman. Sim mons himself is editor-with no editorial staff.
 Although Simmons published the Hillman story, he did not attempt to check the facts. He did, however, publish box stat ing that the editors of the Trade Union News had gone to great pains to get the story and give their readers the facts. He ad- mitted, under questioning by Sen ator Joe Ball, that this was pulp lished "just to impress the read- erS."
 Asked the circulation of the paper, Simmons replied, 'T told you gentlemen 10000. Actually, it's about 2,OOO,'' Senator Homer Ferguson sharply remarked that Simmons had earlier said $2O, O,OOO while under oath.
 When Ball quizzed him about his staff-or, rather, his lack of Simmons explained that he did not need a staff because the paper prints only labor news.
 q see," Ball replied, looking at the screaming headlines linking Hillman with gangsters. ''NOthing sensational"
 'NO, nothing sensational" Simmons grinned back, enjoy ing the whole situation.
 MERRY GO-ROUND
 The Senate Small Bushes Committee recently issued 6 bpy- erE' guide for surplus was prop-