davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1947-11-29
Selecting New AdmiruIs

The accent was on youth and combat
experience in the selection of twenty three
naval officers for promotion to rear admi-
raj. Both attributes are rarely combined
except in such an early postwar stage
as the one which marked the convening
of the Denfeld Board. When men pos
sessed of both qualities are available for
consideration, the work of choosing high
ranking leaders is simplified.
All of the officers due to become broad
stripers have proved themselves under
wartime conditions, the supreme test to
which any commander can be subjected.
More than a third of the admirals- o-be
are naval aviators, some of them with OUT
standing records Of combat service aboard
carriers in the Pacific Others distin-
guished themselves aboard other warships
under fire of the enemy. Their decora-
tions attest their demonstrated abilities.
Although the names of many good men
on the eligible list are absent from the
new promotion list, their failure to make
admiral at this time does not justify the
feeling of Illustration and hopelessness
which being passed over" once implied.
Under the new naval personnel law the
so-called passed over" officers remain
eligible for future consideration by selee-
ton boards, with assurance that their
failure to be included on one list does
not affect their chances of being chosen
for another. That is as it should be.
There is plenty of excellent officer mate
rial in the captain ranks which can be
drawn on by future selection boards
and the chances are that these officers
will make admirals fully as satisfactory
as those just picked by Admiral Denfeld
and his colleagues.
Evening star., 1947-11-29
Better Breakfasts

There are many angles to the problem
OF improving the national health. Figures
compiled during the war were an eye
opening and distressing commentary on
the general situation. The long cherished
idea that the youth in rural areas were
healthier than urban youth was effectively
dissipated. Approximately one third of
the Nations young people were discovered
to be unfit to serve in the armed forces.
The public health agencies and the
schools are cooperating to emphasize the
necessity of adequate breakfasts. Authori-
ties claim that breakfast should provide
one-third of the days calories in the aver
age diet. Yet many people eat hasty
skimpy breakfast. A survey of drugstores,
lunchrooms and cafeterias in the morning
will disclose that surprising number take
little nourishment for the forenoons work.
Tests conducted by school authorities
prove that the work of children is vastly
improved If they have good breakfast.
We are now a nation 80 per cent urban
in population of 143000,000 The old
fashioned farm breakfasts are not suitable
for sedentary workers, however nostalgia
it may be to read of fried ham and fried
potatoes fried corn meal mush and maple
syrup, several slices of toast and elderberry
jam all packed down with piece of left
over pie or wedge of triple layer choco-
late cake. But the average urbanite needs
more than fruit juice, slice of toast and
coffee. A good breakfast means better
health and that in turn means better
work. The trend toward wiser eating at
the DAYS first meal should be ENCOURAGED
Evening star., 1947-11-29
Letters to The Star
Other Rotten Apples?


To the Editor of The Star:
Many people are beginning to wonder about
some OF our high-ranking officers of World
War II. 1t is amusing to me to see that Gen
Arnold calls former Maj. Gen. Meyers a bad
apple In barrel This, however does not
explain why superior officers did not take steps
to curb him back in 1941 instead of awarding
him two promotions suspect that there
were plenty Of other rotten apples" in the
barrel.
AS former Reserve officer who served In
World War II for almost five years, I have
seen favoritism played and overplayed con-
tinually and 1t was shocking to me to see
how often regular West Pointers were involved
Many an officer who served faithfully and did
excellent work could show for 1t only high
efficiency rating on a piece of paper and
perhaps letter of commendation from his
chief of branch.
Perhaps it is time for Congress to undertake
an investigation to see what can be done to
remove the ugly favoritism politics and jealous
les that permeate the War Department Let's
get rid of all Regular Army officers who cannot
maintain the standards of honesty and in
tegrity that we, as taxpayers, expect them to
maintain. j. L. STEARN.
Evening star., 1947-11-29

Of clarifying the situation for Congress
and the public at large, nothing could be
more effective than a comprehensive
report from them.
With that said, however, it must be
added that such report conceivably could
be unwise in terms of national safety. An
awareness of this is implicit in the fact
that the Senate-House committee has
decided to hold it's meetings behind closed
doors. But information invariably leaks
out-a danger that may make it necessary
for the expert witnesses to testify guard
edly In this instance. Here we have an
other example of the unprecedented
security problem created by the atom. We
are in an age when we must question the
wisdom of speaking or writing frankly
about some things-an age when it is pos
sible that even Congress itself may have
to be denied facts of the greatest moment
to all of us.
This is problem altogether new in our
peacetime history, and altogether out of
key with our American traditions Yet it
is a problem that must be faced Unless
and until the world agrees to an effective
system of collective security, our safety as
a Nation-perhaps even our sur7ival-will
demand circumspect talk about what we
have in our arsenal. Indeed, as never
before, we will have to reconcile ourselves
to some kind of voluntary censorship or
censorship at the source regarding certain
items.
The big question is how we can tolerate
this without at the same time exposing
ourselves to the corroding and dangerous
effects of secrecy that Is unjustifled and
fatal to the democratic process. It is a
question that calls for the most careful,
most sober-si sided study by our best minds
To deal with it lightly would be to be less
than vigilant in safeguarding our free way
of life
Evening star., 1947-11-29
Church Service

The organ music stoeus and scars
To the ceilings shadotUed height;
The choir enters rhythmically
And tn the stained-glass light
The faces glo,o Nth joyousness,
The cardinal robes repeat
The rosy red OF the 1Dindo1Ds; there
Are holy faces, sUeet
And graUe, the shepherds ,1ith tall STATS,
The saints tDith flesh OF gold,
And children playing on green grass
Like Bible tales of old.
This is another Dorld, this place
Be quiet, o my soul!
Inbued Uith color, rise upon
The deep-toned organs roll.
Then 90 forth, but not the same;
The people on the street
Are all changed too, and Christ looks out
From epery face meet.
LOUISE LEIGHTON.
Evening star., 1947-11-29
New Observatory Site

The decision of the Navy Department to
build its new observatory center near the
Nations Capital, rather than somewhere
distant from it, will be received with salts
faction by the public at large. Washington
always has been proud of its place in the
worldwide field of astronomy and there is
tions will be any less anxious to preserve
its position Of leadership than have been
those of the past and the present.
OF course, it is true that the Navy sky
gazers have wished they might escape from
the haze and glare Of the District of Co.
lumbia. None of them, however, has
desired to go very far. A location some
where between this city and Front Royal
should be convenient enough. The air of
the Virginia hills is as clear as any to be
found East of the Mississippi Workers
In the new observatory also will have the
advantage of being relatively next door"
to Navy administrative headquarters the
Government Printing Office (where much
Of the publication aspect of their enter
prises is focused), the Library of Congress,
the Smithsonian Institution and other CO.
operating agencies.
It likewise is worthy of mention that
site near Washington will leave the
observatory map of the United States and
Canada undisturbed. A list given by
g. Edward Pendray in his Men, Mirrors
and Stars" shows twenty-five most often
mentioned" astronomical outposts, includ-
ing Harvard, Yale, Princeton, the Uni
versity of Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Ohio
Wesleyan-Ohio State at Delaware, Ohio;
Case at Cleveland, Carleton at Northfield,
Minnesota; Wisconsin at Madison, the
University of Chicago at Williams Bay,
Wisconsin; Ann Arbor and Pontiac, Mich
igan, and Toronto, Ontario. Among the
principal observatories of the West are
those in Victoria, British Columbia; the
California group embracing Mount Hamil-
ton, Mount Palomar and Mount Wilson;
Flagstaff and Tucson in Arizona, Mount
Locke in Texas. The only Southeast
center OF outstanding importance is that
Evening star., 1947-11-29
New Pilgrims Not Desired

note that the story of Erich Remarque is
captioned New Pilgrims" But the Pilgrims
came to a new and wild country and hewed
out Of 1t this great Nation. The displaced
persons expect to come here and Immediately
partake of the fruition of those migrants.
II these unfortunate people want to emulate
the Pilgrims and the other early settlers, let
them go to Africa or some other place COM
parable to that to which our settler ancestors
came, and there build to suit their own ideas.
From even casual observation, it will appear
that many of those who come here Immediately
start to revamp our fundamental principles OF
government. 1t is, in my opinion, largely
through the pressures Of these late comers that
paternalism now Is rampant, and that our dual
form Of government Is being destroyed by
gradual erosion. GEORGE W. r'ILLIAMs.
Evening star., 1947-11-29
SimpIified Rute-Fixinq Plan

The revised sliding scale" power rate
plan presented to the Public Utilities Com
mission by its executive accountant, V. A.
McElfresh has interesting possibilities. 1t
offers several obvious advantages over the
present perennial rate-fixing arrange
ment, not the least of which is its SIM
plicity of operation for every one con-
cerned-the PUG, the Potomac Electric
Power Company and the consumers of
electricity.
Under the existing system, which was
set up by consent decree in 1925, the PUG
Is required to fix power rates every year
30 that the company may earn basic
approved return on its deprecated plant
value. Half of any excess of earnings over
the approved return-at present fixed at
5h per cent of rate base-becomes the
basis for figuring reduced rates the follow
ing year. Generally speaking, If the excess
Is too small to warrant rate reduction, 1t
goes into reserve fund until enough has
accumulated to warrant reduced rates.
This means annual rate hearings lnvolv-
ing considerable time and expense both to
the commission and the company. (Ac-
for several years because of litigation over
the sliding-scale order. This litigation
ended last spring. The annual determi-
nation of rate schedules, after hearings,
not only means weeks of delay in arriving
at new scale, but involves the enormous
task of recalculating old bills and making
adjustments.
The new plan would provide formula
for stabilizing the company's return at an
approved rate of return, or until changing
conditions require a revision of the basic
return percentage. In lean years, if the
PUG still thought the company was en-
titled to 51a per cent profit, the reserve
fund would be used to make up the COM
panys deficit In fat years half of the
excess earnings would be returned to the
customers each December, with the COM
pany retaining the other half as an Gin
centive." Thus, Pepco would surrender
half of any excess earnings in return for
q guaranteed minimum fair return"
OF course, If there were real need for
annual restudy and revision Of the rate of
return, the McElfresh system would be OF
little use The 5h per cent rate of return
allowed for the local company is already
below the generally prevailing national
rate for such companies, however so that
q revision, If any, would probably be up
ward rather than downward The pros
pect Is that the PUG will stick to the
present percentage for some time to come
That being the case, the problem of
stabilizing company earnings around that
figure would be greatly simplifed if the
new plan were adopted.
One possible objection to the plan is
the fact that the reserve fund would be
built up directly from consumers funds,
rather than from company contributions.
The PUG will have to weigh this and other
possible drawbacks against the plans ap-
patent advantages. And If the new system
finally is adopted, 1t is to be assumed that
the PUG, while foregoing annual rate-fxing
hearings, will in no way relax It's constant
supervision of this important utility.
Evening star., 1947-11-29
Criticism of Army Brass


To the Editor Of The Star:
I should like to agree with Capt. Fredberg
in his letter to Secretary Symington How long
are we going to have the brass cover up for
each other?
I for one certainly do not believe Meyers is
the only general who should have ever been
court-martialed besides Gen. Billy Mitchell. I
hate to mention those two names together
Mr.. Symington says they have not enough
personnel to investigate every letter They seem
to have done all right when 1t came to the
GIs. Many boys are in Leavenworth today for
lots less than Meyers.
We are told we need to pass the UNIT BILL
Your paper has done a good job of selling it.
hope every mother with son will 60 into
this and find out who we have at the top of
the Army. Are they men we want our sons
under? Remember, the caste system still is
there. GOLD STAR MOTHER
Evening star., 1947-11-29

Star + e a d e r S
might like to
know more about
t he progr a m
from one who
has been an en-
thusiastic par
ticipant during
the past year and
perhaps be led
to join some of
the discussion
groups, I should
like to rela t e
some of my ex-
periences.
I re ir e d as
chief librarian OF
the district, pub-
Evening star., 1947-11-29

at Charlottesville. It seems a good idea
to maintain the distribution now operating
leaving each existing observation setup in
the neighborhood to which it already
belongs and not compelling any avoidable
changes,
Evening star., 1947-11-29
A New Way of Reading Books
Former Public Librarian Tells of What He Has Gained
From the Library Reading Groups

To the Editor Of The Star
I was interested to note, some weeks ago,
The Stars editorial entitled Library Reading
Groups concerning this activity of our own
Public Library. With the thought that some
Evening star., 1947-11-29
Questions and Answers
By Gould Lincoln

A reader get the answer to any question
Of fact by writing The Evening Star Information
Bureau 3l6 / street NE. washington 2. D. c.
Please inclose cents for return postage
Evening star., 1947-11-29

O. Do all reindeer have horns?-T. A. E.
A. Both male and female reindeer have
horns Those Of the female are smaller, less
sweeping and more simple
Evening star., 1947-11-29
By THE HASKIN SERVICE

Q. When was the phrase living wage" first
used?-H. A. F.
A. According to the Westminster Gazette
for November "a, 1900, Sir Andrew Clarke used
this expression for the first time in 1892.
Evening star., 1947-11-29

@. How much bread does the average per-
son consume daily?-H. L.
A. It is estimated that the average person
consumes approximately one-fourth of pound
of bread daily
Evening star., 1947-11-29

O. What is the highest price ever paid for
painting?-W. D.
A. Andrew Mellon paid s1,166,oOO for the
Alba Madonna, by Raphael This is believed
to be the greatest amount ever paid for one
painting.
The Wilmington morning star., 1947-09-22

s~piriting for Italy's well-wishers as the defeat
OF the communists. Italy is among the COM
mn1nist-coveted - countries in Europe.
Moscow was behind the farm strike.
While italian communist leaders deny any
intention to seize the government the course
of events clearly contradicts their assuran-
ces. AS in all other countries which Russia
seeks to dominate and eventually include
i. its empire, the communists in Italy have
steadily worked for recruits. And that their
efforts have not been futile is evidenced by
the feet that they could call out on strike
a million farm laborers.
That the Premier could bring enough
prussure to bear to force the strikers 10
return to the fields is an encouraging sign
of a shift away from Moscow. g.
The Wilmington morning star., 1947-09-22
THE COLD WAR

I am contending that the
American diplomatic effort
should be concentrated on the
problem created by the arms
tice-which is on how the CONT
nent of Europe can be evacuat-
ed by the three non-European
armies which are now inside
Europe. This is the problem
which will have to be solved if
the independence of the Euro
pean nations is to be restored.
Without that there is no possibili-
ty of a tolerable peace. But if
these armies withdraw, there
will be a very different balance
of power in the world than there
IS today, and one which cannot
easily be upset. For the nations
of Europe, separately and in
groups, perhaps even in unity,
will then, and then only, cease
to be the stakes and the pawns
of the Russian-American con-
flict.
The material cause and rea-
son of the conflict will have
been dealt with.
The terms of the problem
were defined at Yalta in the
winter of 1945. There with a
victory over Germany in sight,
Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stain
m a a military settlement
The Wilmington morning star., 1947-09-22
Fiorello E. LaGuardia

There was always something doing wher-
ever Fiorello Enrico LaGuardia was. AS
the Associated Press obituary notice says,
his activities were manifold, b%ewildering and
exhausting.
Three times he was elected mayor Of
New York, in all of which he defeated
Tamnany Hall. He was variously a republic
can. a member of the America Labor party
and a staunch new dealer.
However busy he might be, he always had
time to run to a fire and often enough told
the firemen how they should fight the
flames. He frequently beat the homicide
squad to the scene of a murder. Never mis-
sing an opportunity to denounce politicians,
he was one of the smoothest men to play
the political game.
Again quoting the Associated Press, he
was pudgy, energetic, aggressive, dynamic
and explosive. There were a hundred con-
tradictions in his nature. Naturally he had
as large o circle of enemies as of friends.
The son of an Italian immigrant, he spent
pdlL VI us OOJ1lOOo III WAACA A''
father was a band master. He had the in
herent love of music characteristic of his
race. Not ~infrequently he. would mount the
podium, take the baton from the band mas
ter's hand. and do a very good job leading
the musicians through the score, whether 1t
be march or overture. He loved opera and
symphony orchestra concerts. But most OF
all he loved to put on a show.
After high school Mr.. LaGuardia entered
consular service, spending some years in
Hungary, Austria and Italy. On his return to
New York he became an Interpreter at
Ellis Island. Then he studied law at New
York University and was soon elected to
Congress, where he was known chiefly for
First World War, rising to the rank OF
major. There after he served ten years more
in the House of Representatives.
Jimmy Walker defeated him when he
first ran for mayor, in 1923, blu. next time
out he led the field, That was in 1893, when
he rode into office on a fusion ticket. He was
em14 4xeu ana '65eI u! 'IoHeu 1oJ ue1 ls1!5
ing his last term he was prominently men
toned as a possible successor to Mrs. Frances
Perkins as Secretary of Labor, when word
leaked out that the lady's resignation was
on President Roosevelt's desk and most
Americans hoped it would be accepted.
When Mr.. Herbert Lehman resigned as
chief of UNRRA, Mr.. LaGuardia was APP
pointed his successor and soon went abroad
to see for himself what the European re-
lief situation was. In this office, as in all
others he filled throughout his spectular pub
lie career, he stirred a lively tempest.
Retiring to private life, he took to the
air and was heard by one of the largest
regular audiences, for his every broadcast.
Mr.. LaGuardia made his full share of
mistakes, which he freely admitted. But
The Wilmington morning star., 1947-09-22
De Gaspari Victorious

simultaneously with the arrival of a ship
at Naples laden with grain from the United
States a million Italian farm workers, mis-
led by the communists, started a strike
which imperiled the harvest in the Pc
valley, Italy's richest agricultural area. The
obvious purpose was to divert attention
from the relief shipment, which was re-
ceived with wild demonstrations by the
populace, and pave the way for further
communistic threads in a land in political
and economic turmoil.
After eleven days the strike was called
OF, which is a feather in the cap of Premier
Alcide De Gaspcri and may prevent the loss
Of crops SO desperately needed by tens of
thousands of Italians in sore straits for food.
Premier De Gasperi's victory is as in
The Wilmington morning star., 1947-09-22
Rep. Clark Is Right

Rep. j. Bayard Clark addressed the STU
dents at the opening session of Pembroke
State College last week. What he told them
is on everybody's mind these days but can
not be repeated too often.
The United States is facing the hardest
decisions it has ever been called upon to
make. If we withdraw into our own shell
and take no part in establishing world order
it will not be long before most of Europe
and much of South America will be under
the domination of some hostile nation"
America must tighten it's belt so that some
Of the people of wartorn countries who have
never done wrong to anyone may be able
to eat"
Speaking directly to the students, Mr..
Clark added: "You are needed to help create
a better world"
There can be no doubt as to the some
hostile nation he referred to, any more
than anyone can reasonably doubt that,
because of this country's abundance the
United States has a responsibility in re-
establishing world order, and in accepting
it's responsibility the United States must
provide essential relief in the countries
Of Europe and Asis which are willing to
help themselves, as proposed in the Mar
shall plan.
Mr.. Clark made his position clear. He
is not among the American isolationists who
would nave us seek refuge behind our
w frontiers and let the world at large go
hang. We couldn't do this if we wanted to,
which we do not.
Time was when the Atlantic and the
Pacific were impregnable barriers against
foreign invasion. But that time is past.
And if we fail to accept our proper place
in leading the world back to peace these
very shores would be the first put under
attack by "some hostile nation"
The pupils at Pembroke, and the people
Of North Carolina, have good reason to be
grateful to Representative Clark for re-
stating, not only his own position but the
position the nation must maintain in these
disturbed times.