The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-10-12
Little Flower GotGypped In Capital
 Cont Get Tires
 For His city's
 Garbage Trucks
Garbage Trucks
BY FREDERICK 0. OTHMAN

BY FREDERICK 0. OTHNdAN
 United Press Staff Correspondent
 Washington, Oct. i2-(uP)-The Little Flower was having some trouble with his garbage trucks, He couldn't get tires. He thought may- 6e the government of the Q. s. A. would sell him some of its extras.
 And you know what they did at the Surplus Property Boardp" The mayor of New York city screamed in Q voice that scared to Q raging falsetto. We were up against 1t and they referred me to a guy in Indiana who was serving time for stealing from Interstate Commerce"
 What Fiorello La 0uardia thinks about the governments surplus property salesmen shouldn't be printed in Q family newspaper. For one thing, he said, they're law- breakers. He said they'd rather peddle stuff to their pals, the junk dealers, than to city governments with busted garbage trucks,
 The mayor told the Mead Com. mittee of the Senatee that Surplus Administrator w. Stuart Symington ought to be fired. His honor had a head cold but that did not pre- vent him (between sniffles and Gnorts) from putting on his usual superior performance in the marble lined caucus room.
 I saw him in the newsreels read- ing the comics to the kiddies dur ing the New York Newspaper Cir culators' strike: that was Q mem- orable show, but do believe he was better when he got going on the surplus property boys.
 He looked like humpty -dumpty in Q blue serge suit as he fished in his brief case for letters concern ing horrible examples,
 "Take this one from Birmingham, Ala.," he cried. "The city purchas- ing agent wanted to buy some radio equipment for the police depart- ment. So he inquired of the Sur plus Property Division of the Com- merce Department and gets back Q letter saying that since the gov- ernment Is not equipped to test radio material, he will have to do business with the Belmont Radio Corp, of Chicago, which had bought the stuff and tested 1t before rec sale."
 The Little Flowers lower lip stuck out c quarter of an inch, the ends of his mouth curled down and in Q voice composed of equal mixtures of rattlesnake venom and D.D.T he continued:
 "The government has no testing facilities, the government says! l thought the Army Signal Corps was pretty good at testing radios. I thought the Navy knew something about this, too. The Japs thought SO. The Nazis thought SO, but the Department of Commerce doesn't think So,"
 Ia duardia blew his nose vigor. ously, apologized for damage done to the senatorial microphone, men, tioned the fact that the city Of Milwaukee was forced to do bust. ness with junk dealers when t wanted to buy auto parts, and took up his own troubles with garbage trucks.
 Later on these surplus fellows got conscience stricken" he con. tInued. "They announced a special sale of second hand tires for municipalities. So what were the conditions?
 we just had to buy 'em sight unseen in carload lots of i2 tons minimum. They'd give us no idea how badly damaged these tires were, or even what sizes. And how can you buy tires like that, if you're not . junk dealer?
 T say that order was intention. ally so worded that cities couldn't buy tires"