The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-05-18

/ with them as much as many of his read
/ ers His articles serve the good purpose
OF making people Think
: By WESTBROOK PEGLER
Copyright, 1915, by King Features Syndicate.
! LOS ANGELES The members OF our set
are folding up our little mechanical writers,
| stuffing or shirts and socks into crev1ces in
1 our satchels and silently stealing away from
San Francisco like fire engines withdrawing
from box-alarm for fire in "a waste-basket
on the 48th floor of the Chrysler building. 1
would not undertake to say that there have
been more of us here at the United Nations
Conference than at any other single event in
the history of journalism, radio and the news
reels but certainly would be inclined to put
| in with anyone who insisted that in the matter
of variety, we established a new indoor rec
ord The press delegation included not only
an enormous turnout OF the queers from the
butchers paper periodicals whose editorial
policy lies so far over to the left that it is
below the American horizon but special groups
such as the Dodecanese and the nall-biters
and stammerers.
| When newspaper reporters fall to interview
ing other reporters that is sign that the
story has run out. That has happened several
times and I thought it a good time to get
going when a California colleague asked me
what 1 thought of the immediate postwar
future of the West coast and replied bright
ly "Oh think there will be a great deal
of unemployment and rather bad depression
| for quite some time
| So came down on the Southern Pacific
train called the Daylight which runs along
the coast, among 4 passenger list which IN
| cluded twenty babies in arms and number
of other children. 1t is an orange colored
train with a radio and public address system
| in each car by means of which the travelling
passenger agent improves the minds OF his
clients from time to time with little announce
ments about points of interest and bulletins
about unusual incidents on board. The pas
| senger agent is a regular member OF the
| crew who says his job is not run, as
the case is with the porters, stewards and op-
Grating personnel, but new and unpredict-
able and original set Of personal problems
each day. The infants are war babies, the
children of soldiers, sailors and Marines and
most of the mothers were playing with dolls
only few years ago but they seem Unusually
efficient for there was no squalling, thanks,
in part, doubt, to the n1lnlstratlons of
young colored woman in a gray uniform
Of whom the official train program states as
follows: Mothers with small children will
find the maid the Daylight helpful. She
will prepare food, warm milk and care for
children for short periods
Y There is also special childrens' menu done
| in bright colors with bright little perversions
Of old standard csery rhymes, illustrated
with drawings a sample of which is:
MARY, Mary quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
Potatoes and peas and carrots III at
please.
Children who want to grow +
| The train passenger agent says this strate-
gem actually does diminish the childrens
sales resistance to potatoes and peas and
! carrots and even spinach and explains that
| the proviso about the maids caring for chill
| dren for short periods only was deemed pru-
dent lest some few of the young mothers
| check their BARNS with the maid in San Fran
| cisco and not reclaim them until arrival in
+! Los Angeles.
Never were there so many babies on the
railroads and on some OF the long runs in the
sit-up trains conditions have been very trying
| for the girls, although most of them, being
| young and resilient and wide-eyed at the coun-
| tryside and the experience of travel, have
come through with no effects that couldn't
be cured by a good nights sleep in bed
The M. P.'s and navy patrols have been
very helpful
| The railroads are planning dream-trains for
after the war when, it appears OR old equip
| ment will be scrapped or sold to other nations
and replaced with gaudy effects outside and
| in and even triple-deck cars and jet propelled
engines as an offset to aerial transportation
They can't hope to compete with the air lines
| in speed but their margin of safety is in their
! favor and will improve when the trained pro.
| fessional railroad men come back from the
war and the new cars run in There will
be also campaign to stimulate domestic
traffic by rail something the order Of the
old '"see America First propaganda Henry
Kaiser has some beautiful drawings of a line
of cars that he is thinking of building which
look as though Walt Disney had had hand
| in the designing and styling and when I asked
him what we were going to do with the old,
dingy stock he said cheerily: I'VE are going
| to sell it to Russia He didn't say what Rus
STA was going to use for money but those
surgeons of theirs probably will be called on
| for mighty effort in the caviar department.
| As we were coming into Santa Barbara the
loud speaker asked for attention for a special
announcement of first Importance and said: "A
little girls bunny doll has been found and
may be reclaimed on application to the train
passenger agent
| Pursuing the story, learned that the owner
had recovered her bunny doll and when 1
pressed him as to how this had happened
he said: 1.-THE little girl left it in the tots
power 1t is just of the things that
make my work SO fascinating.'
| Finally, as we drew into Los Angeles, again
the loud speaker claimed our attention and
! began: There is a big bag in the observa
ton car to which an impetuous and chival-
rous passenger sitting across the aisle with a
4 lady of considerable dimensions yelled back