davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1947-12-17
This and That
BIZ Charles E. Trace,DeH

who was it said they wouldn't kill Santa
Claus?' asked Templeton Jones'
They have almost done SO.
There We're so many Santa Clauses on the
street the other day at noon that one fairly
stumbled over them
Nice young Santas. not more than ls or 20
years old, with cotton boards stuck down to
their smooth cheeks
If this thing keeps on, Santa Claus is going
to be killed for keeps.
Not even the kids will believe in him, after
they have met him half a dozen times in one
block.
I had been wondering just what would hap
pen next to make things worse. Now I know.
So do the youngsters.
"One Of the marks of this age is the rapid
worsening of everything.
IF they can't do anything else they Just
change Tor the sake. of changing Maybe a
new executive comes in and changes things
around just to show how wrong the other
fellow was
But this multi-santa Claus business is .
new wrinkle.
1T means that an old institution is poing
overooard-1ast. His big gray beard is getting
all wet His jolly paunch is going to be de-
fated
His calls, rather on the insane side, have
always thought, to Donder and Bitten, will be
heard no more
He will have been killed by the modern
spirit and am not sure that he will be missed
1T has seemed to me for a long time that
santa Claus, Kris Kringle, st. Nicholas, call
him what you will, had no place in the world of
machine guns and atom bombs
AT MS best, in his heyday, he was a good
though singular old fellow,,a cross between a
fool and a doddering idiot
Il nave always felt that way about him. and
l imagine many others have felt the same way,
There was always lip service to Santa Claus
DUt not manV oil
in him.
He was accepted with tongue in cheek much
as many Of us do spinach
There was always tinge of fear in our ac-
ceptance Of this fellow No matter how many
times we had heard The Night Before Christ
mas as children we rather dreaded to see the
fat fellow In red.
He was not human somehow. and we knew
He usually reminded us of some one but we
couldn't be sure, and that voice of his was way
of the beam.
1T was too hearty .
Many n1ild-mannered child, If he had not
been frightened half out of his wits, would have
been willing to give Santa friendly push back
into the fireplace from which he was supposed
to have come.
Santa was q fraud, and we knew it. even
when the old freak managed to fool us.
We half suspected he was half-wit, but we
had no psychological jargon with which to say
50.
He was supposed to be- jolly, and we had to
pretend, too, to think him fun, but down in the
bottom Of our little hearts we knew he was a
humbug.
Kill Santa Claus? It would be doing the
world service at last, and Kidding the children
Of one Of the last of the bugaboos
mo honest child sincerely believe, will miss
him. He had nothing to do with the true
spirit Of ChristInas He was lust an old fraud
He was out Of date and his 70 was low Child
ist eyes may have goggled over the old fellow,
but I believe they win be better or with
thoughts Of what Christmas really means, In
the future. We need the true spirit Of Christ
mas In our lives today"
Evening star., 1947-12-17

man reports to the New York Times OF De-
cember 2: "The approach of Europe's third
postwar Christmas finds 100000 children
living in squalor and misery, in cold and in
fear"
Weighing upon this stark canvas is the
heavy hand Of imitation which undermines the
loyalty of all to existing institutions. Recur-
rent strikes and political turmoil reflect the
effects of steadily watered currency which
cannot be translated into food. John Maynard
Keynes. the brilliant and versatile English
economist, was in accord with Lenin on the So
cial implications Of imitation. 'Lenin," observes
Keynes in his Economic Consequences of the
Peace, declared that the best way to destroy
the capitalist system is to debauch the cur
rency Lenin was certainly right. There is
no subtler, no surer way of overturning the
existing basis of society than to debauch its
currency. The process engages ali the hidden
forces Of economic law on the side of destruc-
tion.' JULIUS DAVIDSON.
Evening star., 1947-12-17
Democracy at Stake in Greece

Democracy at Stake in Greece
To the Editor of The Star:
1t was with great deal of pleasure that
read your editorial on the Greek labor law
published in The Star OF December IL. In my
humble opinion, your reasoning is very sound
and highly commendable.
The Greek government has resorted to the
only possible action under the circumstances,
ie. meeting a critical life-or death situation
with a stringent measure. No government, no
matter how democratic, can rely exclusively
on so-called democratic" action when danger
actually is within her very borders, as is the
case with Greece. Thus. our own Government
saw fit to withdraw habeas corpus and SINH
lar civil rights during the emergency of the
Civil War.
In the current Greek crisis, the government
must withstand not only the onslaught from
her own people, as was the case when the
South fought the North here in America but
she also must overpower the Russian octopus
with her satellites, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, etc.
1t almost might be said, considering the cir
cumstances, that the Greek labor law is dem
ocratic," for It's sole purpose is a democratic
one-to resist the replacement of their present
democratic government by Russian-donni
mated Communist government.
SOTERIOS NICHOLSON.
Evening star., 1947-12-17
Medical Service in the Schools

Regardless of other differences of opin-
ion between them, DR.. James A. Cannon,
as a physician and member of the Board
of Education, and Health Oficer Rutland
are agreed that the medical and nursing
services of the public schools are not what
they should be.
They do not approach the matter of
desirable improvement from the same
point of view. Dr. Cannon, addressing
the Public Schools Committee of the Board
of Trade yesterday, advocated placing the
medical inspection in the schools under the
Board of Education. 1t is now function
Of the Health Department. DIR. Cannon
supported his contention with the state
ment that in thirty-three Of nfty-three
, cities, medical and nursing services are
under the Board OF Education. As he sees
1t, the school inspection service now Is
merely one OF eleven important activities
of the Health Department. He does not
believe that It receives the attention that
would be given it by the Board OF Educa-
ton.
DR.. Rutland, without attempting to
defend the health inspection service as
adequate, has contended in the past that
the teachers themselves could do more
than they do now in preliminary screen
ing of certain types of physical handicaps
among the children in advance OF later
professional attention of nurses and physi-
clans. This has been opposed by the
school authorities and especially by DR..
Cannon as a responsibility the teachers
are not equipped or prepared to assume.
It would be better, of course, If the
Health Department and the school author
tiles could agree between themselves as
to the most desirable program. for
strengthening medical and nursing serv-
ices in the schools. They should be
strengthened. Examinations for the
military services in the past war revealed
q shocking proportion Of physically unht
complete but routine physical examina-
tions in the past year, 66 per cent of them
were found to have physical defects. An
average of is defects per child was found,
most of them subject to remedy. The
earlier and the more complete the exam
nations, of course, the greater opportunity
for corrective treatment.
But If the school authorities and the
Health Department are unable to agree
on the sort of program most likely to be
effective, such agencies in the community
as the Board of Trade would perform a
useful public service by recommending one
after studying conflicting points OF view.
DR.. Gannon's own crusade to improve the
health and medical services in the schools
will bear fruit only when it is taken up
and made the concern of others who ex-
anime the problem from the communitys
point of view. The opportunity for early
discovery OF physical defects among school
children and for follow-up work with the
parents in making treatment available is
too important to be neglected. But we
apparently are not taking full advantage
of IL now
Evening star., 1947-12-17
Stars, Men and Atoms
Anticold Vitumin Found
In Both Yeast and Liver
Army Laboratory Experiments on
Food Reactions to Climate
By Thomas r. Henry

There Is . mysterious anticold vitamn In
both yeast and liver which has not been iso-
lated and which Is not Identical with any Of
the known vitamins
This has been reported TO the American
Physiological Society by DR.. George Gelman,
scientific director Of the Army Quartermaster
food laboratory at Chicago which Is directing
extensive investigations on the relations be-
tween cold and climate
Rats were fed the same ration at zero and
20 above Fahrenheit Those kept at the higher
temperature gained weight much faster than
the others. Every known vitamin was added
to the ration to overcome this difference. II
was not until straight yeast or liver was added
that the zero-temperature rats began to take
on weight.
Many experiments also have been carried
out on the reaction OF the body to foods at
such high temperatures as would be en-
countered in tropical warfare. Results with
rats. DR.. Gelman said may not necessarily bs
applicable to man. and experiments with adult
humans are very difncult to interpret because
OF acquired food habits and the like.
Experiments With Infants.
Consequently, he said it now Is planned to
carry out some OF the experiments with human
infants who have not built up tastes and
prejudices. Although this will be using babies
to get ready for the next war, there will be
extreme care that they suffer no discomfort or
injury.
Among the objectives Of Quartermaster
Corps experiments Is an antiappetizer for
emergency rations so that these can be COM
pressed into minimum amount for conserving
life and strength without subjecting the victim
to pangs OF hunger and the great temptation
to eat his whole supply at one meal. A prom
ising candidate Is substance known as gos-
sipol which is extracted from cottonseed oil.
1t definitely reduces the appetites of rats.
G1s OF the last war will be glad to know
that their gripes over K rations and the like
now are getting scientific attention
Surveys are being conducted all over the
country. DR.. Gelman said, to determine the
food habits Of the American people and the
favorite ways Of preparing the foods they like
best.
K-Ration Biscuits.
One frequent complaint he said, was that
the biscuits In the K-ration become intolerably
monotonous. Experiments indicate, he said,
that actually they were not monotonous
enough and that If it had been possible to
substitute bread in every package there would
have been little complaint. There will be
bread instead Of biscuits in another war.
The surveys seek to determine how often
the average person can stand, or enjoy a
certain food. Some could be served every day
with no complaint. Others would be appre-
ciated once week, but not more often.
The surveys and tests, DR.. Gelman said are
being carried out in universities all over tho
country under contracts with the Quarter
master Corps and the results co-ordinated at
the Chicago laboratory. Special attention is
being given to cold-weather rations because of
the possible Importance Of the Arctic regions in
another world conflict
Evening star., 1947-12-17
Threat of Home Rule Bill

wonder II the people here in the District
know what Is in store for them, If Congress
passes the Auchincloss home rule plan7 Do
they realize that the taxes will go still higher
than they are now7 a
Why doesn't Congress leave well enough
alone. and not try to create = lot Of high
salaried jobs for councilmen, managers. etc7
I'll guarantee II they would let the people vote
on 1t here, 1t would be rejected.
J.. WATT LEADMAN.
Evening star., 1947-12-17
Bringing Books to the People

Out of 3,O70 counties in the United
States, about one out of five-more than
900 of them-are without any kind OF
public library within their boundaries.
Some $4,000, 900 people in the United States,
living on farms and in small villages, have
no access to any public library.
To meet this condition a number of the
States are resorting to bookmobiles-
braries on wheels-which travel around
once or twice month, leaving books at
such distributing points as post offices,
filling stations, churches country stores
and homes. This method finds increasing
use throughout the United States, and
there are about 500 of these vehicles now,
development resulting from the first ex-
pertinent of the kind made in 1905 in
Washington County, Maryland, when books
were distributed in wagon.
The American Library Association wants
to stimulate this enterprise by Federal aid
in the form Of organization of library
demonstrations. Under terms of the Pub
lie Library Service Demonstration bill,
hearings on which were held last week
before subcommittee of the House Com
AAAteCC OA EOuCdGlOll, lllOllcy WUUlu NC dp-
propriated on matching or outright-grant
basis to States willing to organize demon
strations In public library service At the
end of five years the people in commu-
mites so served would take over the library
projects on their own.
The amount of money involved is rela-
lively small. The benefits that would re-
suit are immeasurable. The bill was ia
vorably reported to the Senate during the
past session and is now on the Senate
calendar. Representative Jenkins of Ohio,
sponsoring the bill in the House, is hoping
for favorable action there. AS he pointed
out In testimony, the bills purpose is to
use existing agencies of Government, on
various levels, to show people how to ex-
tend library service in rural areas. 1t is a
good bill and 1t should be approved.
Evening star., 1947-12-17

years and cost close to =, soc, ,0o0, 900, 4 sum
roughly equivalent to the total we have in
vested 30 far in atomic energy. Whether
the Mehaffey recommendation is sound or
not, however, there is little likelihood of its
being acted upon in the near future. Lack
ing some such drastic undertaking, We
will have to have agreements of the sort
now awaiting ratification in Panama. The
safety of q strategically crucial lifeline
would be dangerously neglected otherwise.
Evening star., 1947-12-17
Russian Pretense of Virtue
To the Editor of The Star:

To the Editor of The Star
Most of lis are friends Of Russian spite of
the tricky Politburo We are friends of Ger
many and Japan, in spite of the infamy Of
former leaders. We are friends Of England, of
Argentina, of Mexico, France Switzerland, Po-
land and Ecuador. But why enumerate? We
are friends Of all peoples More than any
thing else We like to see other nations (as we
like to see other individually getting along we'll
with themselves and with their neighbors 1t
gives us lift to see others going ahead in the
path of duty, showing good will to all men. Yes,
we are friends of all who are themselves hon.
est and fair and friendly
But it gives us pain, even makes us boil with
righteous wrath, to see our good world spoiled
by those who forever are plotting and schem-
ing to upset the peace of others and take ad-
vantage of weakness or trust to build up dis
honorable advantage for themselves
So while we are friends with Russians as peo-
pie because we believe they are much like
ourselves at heart we waste time in diplomatic
fencing with official Russia, which is indeGbly
on record as intending to snake its way into
all countries and shoot Its venom into their
political, economic and moral vitals.
Joseph E. Evans, In the Wall Street Journal
puts 1t well when he says "The Soviet Unions
view Of itself as the champion of peace is
carefully thought-out pose, of which the war
mongering charges form an integral component.
When and if war comes, the Soviet Union can
point with bland innocence to the position it
has put so repeatedly on record. 1t is tremen-
dously important to understand the warmon-
gering campaign in its relation to the whole
pattern of Soviet propaganda. That pattern
is simple enough: If you are doing something
you want to disguise blame somebody else for
doing the same thing" G. E. SMELL.
Evening star., 1947-12-17

Economies OF Hunger IN Europe
To the Editor OF The Star
Was 1t for this the wild geese spread
The gray wing upon every tide,
For this that all that blood was shed?"
These lines, expressive of William Butler
Yeats melancholy over the passing of romantic
Ireland. are not less appropriate to the shat
tered glory OF Europe. That storied battle
ground of humanity, barbaric and civilized,
again stirs to the distant drums. ITO confront
this DOOM" writes Andre Maraux, rs not to
succumb but to possess it," But 1t is doubtful
if the naked and destitute of that devastated
continent will draw much comfort from the
prospect OF such possession. The masses take
only an adventitious interest in literary heroics,
or in the strident invective of contending ide-
ologies. These trappings serve but to cloud the
facts of more pitiless austerity.
The agony of the Old World is writ rather in
the bloodess language of economics-econom-
les of hunger. imitation, and of that heaviest
and most lethal of industries, war. Under these
formidable limitations, the vaunted dignity OF
European man scratches for an existence re-
duced to the level of animals or below. And as
If these material barriers were not enough,
recent dispatch relates that English children
still scream Historically when disturbed in their
sleep by strange noises remindful of buzz
bombs.
The relation of economic conditions to the
general level of culture is we'll understood. 1t
is a commonplace that the social amenities do
not thrive best in climate of insecurity and
deprivation This is singularly and tragically
demonstrated in the opprobium which, in Italy,
now attaches to the word "signorina' That
word, hallowed from the hoary eld of time, gar
landed with the lingering entertainments of the
age of chivalry so evocatye in the poetry of
Petrarch and Dante, and in the gallant prose
of the "novelino" of amazing love and grace
unknown, now is in disrepute among what pre-
cariously is left of the healthier remnants of
italian society. 1t has become debased like the
currency through indiscriminate use among
successive hordes of occupying troops They
have made of "signorina,' finds Edmund
Wilson, byword.
casual survey of periodical literature COM
ing from abroad impresses one with It's unre-
lieved stress upon the scarcity Of food Thus,
the authoritative London Economist November
/, 1947, editorializes THE root OF the problem
Is food" From its Paris correspondent we
learn that for two months now the French
have been eating yellow bread"-a tasteless
deriyative of maize OF dubious nutritional con-
tent. hitherto fed to cattle. The famed medi-
cal journal, Thes Lancet, records that "a great
deal Of extra food would be needed to bring the
British. population back to proper working
level" And from Geneva, Michael L. Hoff-
Evening star., 1947-12-17
Moscow's Currency Purge

Two outstanding things emerge from the
drastic action of the Soviet government in
revaluating its currency The first Of these
is that Communist economy is subject
to the same basic inflationary trends as
those of capitalistic nations. The second
lesson to be drawn is striking proof that,
in totalitarian country the state has no
binding obligations toward the individual
citizen.
AS the Moscow pronouncement says, the
war necessitated vast expansion OF the
currency, so that the volume of money in
circulation became widely disproportionate
to the amount OF consumer goods avail
able. The result was a disastrous rise in
the price level which depressed living
standards deplorably for the mass OF the
population.
The fundamental cure for this evil
would be rapid increase in the produc-
ton of consumer goods. But this remedy
cannot be invoked because of Moscow's
postwar foreign policy. Soviet Russia re-
mains virtually on war footing, the
military establishment having a priority
on production, under the famous Nazi
formula: Gums before butter" This not
only perpetuated but apparently intensi
ned wartime consumer shortages.
Hitherto, Moscow has employed various
palliatives to ease the inflationary trend.
Goods were sold in "commercial' stores at
free-market prices sometimes 100 times
above the level OF the same goods available
through rationing. Peasants were allowed
to sell foodstuffs raised on their individual
plots for whatever they could get Finally,
popular savings were encouraged through
government bond-selling drives and saw
ings- bank deposits
Yet these devices proved insufficient. So,
now, the old currency is devalued at the
drastic rate OF ten-to-one, while bond
holders and savings-bank depositors are
mulcted somewhat less drastically, with
The net result is wiping out of the excess
currency, a two-thirds reduction-or re-
pudiation-in the national debt, and an
easing Of infiationary pressure. This
amounts to = sweeping capital levy, de-
priving both the thrifty and the speculative
of their wartime gains.
The bitter pill is sugar-coated by the
abolition of rationing and b downward
adjustment of some prices. However, the
gain may be only temporary unless pro-
duction Of consumer goods is stepped up.
Meanwhile, popular faith in the currency
and in government obligations may be
undermined.
In al this there is q striking resemblance
to the period Of the "NEP" (New Economic
Program). During the early 1s20s, the
establishment of Communist economy
produced such disastrous consequences
that private initiative was partially re-
vived. The resultant profits enriched
minority of hard workers and clever
spectators. But presently the NEP
was abolished, and the prohteers were
mulcted or personally liquidated. The
process has now been repeated in slightly
different guise. The omnipotent state.
performs a major financial operation for
its own beneft, regardless Of incidental
consequences. It's ability to do so is un-
questionable, and the immediate results
will probably be stabilizing. But, unless
production of consumer goods is increased,
the long-term outcome is dubious.
Evening star., 1947-12-17
Resents Sale of Spence

To the Editor of The Star:
On behalf Of myself as citizen and baseball
fan, as well as on behalf of countless others
in this city, should like to register vigorous
protest against the most recent trade engi-
neered by Clark Grifhth, whereby our best
player, Stan Spence, was sent to Boston in
return for a mess of weak and untried porridge
This is not the first time that Mr.. Grifath
has sold the Washington baseball public down
the river. r. X. STETMAN
Evening star., 1947-12-17

ton. II he cannot do this under existing
law, or II he will not do it, Congress ought
to take whatever steps are necessary to
get the facts. A passion for anonymity
may be all right In its place, but this
definitely is not the place for it.