davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1952-06-15
ostock Has Blood in His Eye Over Dirty Books

Gathings' resolution calls for nine
man committee. Three would come
from the Judiciary Committee headed
by Representative Celler of New York.
three from the post Office and civil
service group of Tennessee's Tom
Murray and three from the floor of
the House. Mr.. Celler said last week
that out of 80 members of his COM
mittee, he had not received a single
request for assignment to the PROBE
Mr.. Murray said only one of the @
on his committee had asked for as.
signment.
Overstoted Case?
In pushing his resolution, Mr..
Gathings seems at times to have
overstated the case. Talking to him,
one gets the idea that the street
corners of Washington are crowded
with furtive little men selling OBJ
scene pictures and pornographic
books. This has got to STOP" Mr..
GathingS says. You can't peddle
morphine at Thirteenth and F
streets; why should this stuff be sold
openly?"
Mr.. Gathings asserts that not only
is obscene literature easy come by
hereabouts. it virtually has crowded
decent reading off the newsstards.
1T is very hard to find the Saturday
Evening Post or Country Gentleman
at newsstand in Washington, he
declares. "You can find the Post at
the airport newsstand all right, but
go down to the bus depot and they
don't carry it."
The records hardly bear out Mr..
Evening star., 1952-06-15

go over it as well as she can to weed
out the worst trash. We don't even
put this up on the stand. At the end
OF the week. return any magazines
I don't sell. and get credit for those
I return. If tell the distributor not
to send me this or that magazine, he
doesn't. I've never been forced to
take tie-in sale, and I've never been
charged for a book I did not SELL"
Flying Blind
To date, Representative Gathings
seems to be flying blind in his anti
filth mission. He has not consulted
the Post Office authorities, who un-
doubtedly could give him clear idea
of what and how much questionable
matter is being mailed. Nor has he
looked into the question of imported
obscenity. Mr.. Gathings said last
week he had never heard of Hunting
ton Cairns of the National Gallery
of Art. who is the Treasury Depart
ment's legal adviser on the admiSs-
ability of imported literature and art.
There is a question, too, as to how
broad Mr.. Gathlngs' literary knowl-
edge is. In his condemnation of of
fensive" 25-cent books, he read a
relatively purple passage involving
Napoleon and Josephine Bonaparte.
But, when he was asked about some
even more lurid episodes in the works
of Erskine Caldwell, Mr.. GathingS
drew blank. When Mr.. Caldwell
was identified for Mr.. Gathings, the
legislator said: "Well, if he's dishing
out the filth. we'll get to him"
OF the floods of mail he has re.
Evening star., 1952-06-15
By WiIIiom Hines

GathingS' statement. The District
News Co., which distributes Curtis
publications and about 600 other
magazines here, says the Saturday
Evening Post is the most widely dis
tributed magazine in the District.
Victor Ottenstein. secretary of the
company. estimates that an average
OF 10000 Posts are sold on news
stands here each week. There are
approximately TOO outlets for the
magazine, he says. The bus terminals
contrary to what Mr.. Gathings
says-are big retailers of the maga-
zine. Country Gentleman, of course,
caters to farmers, who are not nu-
merous in the District.
The Arkansas legislators staff ap-
parently holds some misconceptions
about magazine retailing, too. One
member of the staff charged last
week that the prevalence of filth"
on local newsstands can be traced to
"tie-in" practices. Magazine dis
tributors, the staff member said,
force retailers to take less desirable
publications as a condition of carry
ing reputable magazines. Both dis
tributors and retailers deny that such
practice is in effect here.
According to one suburban druggist
who carries large selection of
popular magazines. cheesecake and
comics. the magazine trade works
this way:
"The distributor sends me each
week selection of stuff he thinks
I can sell. I have my countergirl
Evening star., 1952-06-15

Gen. RidgWay's transfer from
Tokyo to Paris was a ready-made
peg on which the Russians could
hang a few variations of their main
themes. Ridgway was greeted in
Paris as "the hangman of the Ko-
rean Nation" and the assassin of
Korea whose dreams are to add to
his bloody laurels in Europe"
Koje Story
The Russians are trying to use the
story of Koje-their version-to
make the world forget how many of
their troops dread to leave United
Nations prison camps for home. The
island of Koje. according to the Reds,
"has been transformed by the Ameri-
can executionerS into a bloody tor
ture-prison, into an island of DEATH"
Prisoners. it is said, "are beaten up,
manned, starved. and forced to sign
statements previously concocted by
the Americans"
But the Reds don't stop at generali-
cations. Here are a few vivid de-
tails:
"POWs are tortured with red-hot
irons; they are hanged by their feet:
water is poured into their nostrils.
They are used as guinea pigs in
United States laboratories for testing
the effect of new and horrible poisons
and infectious germs. The United
States cannibals are tattooing the
POWs and are forcing them to sign
statements, with their own blood. on
the treachery of their own native
land"
Helpful Witnesses
Two Communist commissions have
been allowed to tour Korea to COL
lect detailed reports of American
atrocities" One was a group Of
Evening star., 1952-06-15

ceived. most of it favors Mr. Gath
ings' crusade. This friendly mail is
filed in manila envelopes labeled
Sincere Mail in Support of Probe"
But some of the messages oppose
what he is trying to do. These are
filed in a jacket labeled "Crackpot
Letters"
One letter, apparently misfiled in
the Sincere Mail" jacket, concluded:
What with the endless cocktail
parties that 60 on in Washington, to
say nothing of the antics of some of
the congressman and Senators, I
would say that you had better clean
up your own house before you start
deciding what is best for the rest
of the country. In so doing you will
not have time to condemn others.
Again may I request that you drop
this silly investigation and forget
it for good"
Another, out OF the "Crackpot"
envelope, asked bluntly, do you
think you are God Almighty?"
Communists and Dogmor
According to Mr.. Gathings. dark
plot to pervert the morals of Ameri-
can youth may be behind the whole
magazine and television mess. Asked
whether he meant that the Com
munists are using cheesecake as a
weapon of psychological war, Mr..
Gathings said, Whether or not the
Reds are foisting Dagmar on us, I
wouldn't speculate"
Staff members of the House Com
mittee on Un-American Activities,
however, are inclined to pooh-pooh
the possibility of any such Red plot.
The Communists have been accused
of lot of things, they say. but not
that.
One Of Mr.. Gathings' prize exhibits
is a 25-cent Pocket Book by Vina
Delmar entitled. About Mrs. Leslie"
The cover of the book depicts neck
ing party on a beach. Mr.. Gathings
said he bought the book because of
it's cover and gave it to his wife to
read.
"She said it pointed out a good
moral" Mr.. Gathings said. Whether
or not this proves the truth of the
adage that you can't judge a book
by its cover, Mr. Gathings didn't say.
In spite of this good mark from his
wife. however, he declares that the
Pocket Book people and others like
them "are going to have an awful
lot Of explaining to do" when his
inquiry gets under way-if it does.
Evening star., 1952-06-15
Cold Chicken and Hot Questions at Amobe |kes Picnic

neighbor," asks about a fair en-
ployment practices law.
II believe I am for racial equality
as firmly as any citizen of the coun-
try" the general says, "but am not
for coercive legislation that may in
crease racial resentments."
Some one asks him question about
religion. He recalls that the found
ing fathers in the Declaration of In
dependence said that all men are
created equal. that they are endowed
by their Creator with certain un-
alienable rights, that among these
are life. liberty and the pursuit of
happiness" AS to any position in the
world which called for a denial of
the deity he would want no part of
it. He always thought that one of
the weaknesses of France was due to
the fact that since the French Revo-
luton so many of its leaders had
taken pride in agnosticism.
How about the protective tariff"
he is asked.
IT don't know" is his answer.
ST do know we need certain raw
materials and that we must make
it possible to trade with the nations
that produce them"
There's no import tax on urani-
um." the questioner protests.
There is on oil, is there not?"
counters the general. The man
does not know. II believe there is"
says the general firmly and by look
ing in another direction manages
to attract another question on an
other subject.
Noisy Hen
About this time an Eisenhower hen
in the nearby henhouse lays an after
noon egg and sets up terrific cack-
ling. But the questioning goes on.
In the end. Gov. Fine closes with
few more well-choSen-Still nom
committal-words. He has Ike on the
hook and is keeping him there. Eisen-
hover needs the uncommitted Penn
sylvania delegates the Governor
controls-and a lot more-for the
nomination.
While Ike gives no indication of any
realization that he may be fighting
a losing battle, he shows none of the
exultation of a man who knows he
is going to win. It's strange thing
to say about the man who headed
the victory in the West. but he seems
to be too nice guy, too good sport
too good loser for his own good.
Evening star., 1952-06-15
Reds Overse Their Horror Fiction About America We Hope

This is year propagandists will
remember for Russia's sharply in
tensified campaign of hate against
America. The past month has been
one of the most hateful.
Horror fiction about American
treatment of Koje prisoners and mo-
notonous repetition of germ warfare
charges flood Russian airwaves and
clutter Soviet newspapers. Americas
only hope of keeping any friends be-
hind the Iron Curtain is that the
Kremlin line will be oversold. It GER
tainly isn't being undersold.
More than half of all the foreign
news provided for the Russian peo-
pie is anti-American. Recently a
new theme has caught the fancy of
Soviet writer's: America is the REIN
carnation of Hitler Germany. Thus
Stain hopes to heap on us the
mountain Of hate the Russians built
up against the Nazis in the last war.
SpeeioI Vocabulary
Pravda has developed a special vo-
cabularly for painting the "bestial
face of American Imperialism, the
most rapacious and plundering i'm
perialism of our times" Last week it
accused America of geological ra-
cialism and cannibalistic, neo-Mal-
thusianism." Maybe such phrases
have more meaning in Russian than
in English. Malthus. an English po-
litical economist. took a pessimistic
view of the population problem, and
the general idea seems to be that
We advocate and practice mass de-
struction of people ("proof" is the
Korea bombings) and reduction of
the worlds population by 700 million.
The latter scheme is attributed to "a
contemporary American Malthusian
who processes to be scientist"
Evening star., 1952-06-15

act as trainers and professors for
Americans.
One of the things Russia works
hardest to prove is that Americans
are neglecting the education of their
children. Here are excerpts from a
typical report:
fifth of all school buildings
in the United States are in such
dilapidated state that they have been
officially condemned as unfit. Yet
this does not cause the u S. authori-
ties any sleepless nights; their motto
still remains Guns before butter,
barracks before schools It is
typical of the U. S. way of life that
four times as much money is spent
on the upkeep of night clubs and
gambling houses as on education"
Roce Problem
Those who fear that Moscow will
make capital of our racial problems
can stop worrying. The Russians OBJ
viouSly are too engroSsed in their own
inventions about racial discrimina-
tion in the United States to be at all
concerned with genuine faults in our
handling of the race issue. For sheer
inventive genius. some of the tales
are hard to beat. Here is a mild ex-
ample:
I'm the United States, racial dis
elimination gains the most savage
forms. AS the Bulletin of the Ameri-
can Teachers Trade Union reports,
the Department of Public Education
has banned the use of blackboards
in schools for white children, while
in those for black children the use
of white chalk by black children
has been prohibited. They have to
use coal. There is no need for COM
ment."
Evening star., 1952-06-15

mother found her body, which was
mutilated and cut in two"
Radio Moscow has been plugging
the absurd cannibal theme at some
length. Recently it reported that
1.-The American cannibals in Korea
kill the children and force their
parents to eat them. These treacher-
Gus aggressors who are now drinking
the blood of the peoples of Korea
through the force of dollars have de-
cided to put all of the world under
their forceful and treacherous rule"
Some of the stories least likely to
be believed were spread in the law
yer's group report. Here is one of
the prize winners:
"On october Is, 1850, in the city
of Sariwon, an American soldier with
the letters MP on his arm, committed
horrifying murder of man named
Kim Chan Du. Using knife, he cut
off the victims skin from the throat
to the abdomen and started to skin
him alive. AS he had some difficulty
in doing this, he threw stones at his
victim until the victim died."
Dochou in Arizona
Germ warfare is not the only mass
atrocity the Soviet is trying to pin on
the United States. A new major pitch
may be building up about American
concentration camps" said to be in
the making. Radio Moscow has re-
ported to its home listeners that the
pillars of American democracy" have
''roared and thundered at the slow
progress of construction of concen-
tration camps in Arizona, Oklahoma
and other places in the. United
States" The broadcast added that
the United States is recruiting
"Hitler's henchmen" from notorious
concentration camps like Dachau to
Evening star., 1952-06-15

In any event. the preliminary con-
test hearings probably will be as hard
fought as they were in 1912. And
the proceedings of that year showed
that. regardless of what happens in
committee. the first big showdown
could come on the floor of the con-
vention. If this happens again. Mr..
Hallanan, as temporary chairman,
would be in a strategic position to
help Senator Taft. whom he supports.
In 1912 the contests were more
numerous than today. Then, there
were 254 disputed seats from all
sections Of the country. In the pre-
liminary skirmishing in committee,
235 were awarded to President Taft
and only 19 to Roosevelt. This year
the number under dispute is ex-
pected to be between IS and 100.
But. in a race as close as Senator
Taft and Gen. Eisenhower are stag
ing. that many could be decisive.
Evening star., 1952-06-15

Of the president of Columbia Univer-
sity In New York. But he responds
to every stimulus, whether it calls for
the wide smile and the handshake or
quick thinking and fast talking.
A woman delegate asks him about
universal military training. Strange
as it may seem, that was not ques-
tion that came up in the press con-
ferenceS in New York It is a very
complicated question at the present
time, he says, because we are de-
pending on selective service. He had
had the awful responsibility, he says.
of sending unframed troops into
battle in North Africa and many of
the crosses there mark graves of
men who would not have been killed
if they had been properly trained.
Before the war was over, he says, he
recommended that all young Amer
leans have a year or two of military
training to prepare them for the
present-day world.
A Negro who says, Il am your
Evening star., 1952-06-15

Regardless of whether his much
publicized probe into filthy books and
pictures ever gets under way, Ezekiel
Gambler Gathings will have lot Of
spicy reading to catch up on this
summer.
The lanky, 49-year-old Democrat,
who represents Arkansas river
bottom first district, has been COL
lecting pornography for some time
now. At present. he has several arm
loads of so-called literature and nude
photos. The collection ranges from
items that would fluster a longshore-
man to material that would hardly
turn the hair of seminarian. Mr..
Gathings hopes to use it as ammuni-
ton in his one-man fight against
what he calls Immoral, obscene or
otherwise offensive" printed matter.
Shy Congress
Perhaps "one-man" is not quite &C
curate as a designation for the
crusade. Mr.. Gathings, it is true, has
received offers of support from a few
church organizations and numerous
individuals throughout the country.
But as far as Congress is concerned.
a great wave of apathy seems to be
sweeping over that body. Many
Representatives are frankly leery Of
serving on committee that might
turn out to be the laughing stock of
the 82d Congress. Some powerful
House leaders bluntly say they don't
see what would be gained by the
Gathings probe. Dixie's answer to
Anthony Comstock. however. thinks
his inquiry would bring purity back
to the publishing business.
Low-Comedy Side
It may have been the example Of
another Gathings-sponsored inquiry
that caused congressional ardor to
cool. A fortnight ago a committee
headed by Representative Harris.
Democrat, of Arkansas began look
ing into immortality. violence and
sensationalism in television. The
group was set up under a resolution
written by Mr.. Gathings. Shortly
after the hearings began, 1t became
evident that If the public appreciated
what the committee was doing, it was
the low-comedy aspect. rather than
the high spirituality Of the probe,
that was admired. The hearings
vowed 'em when Mr.. Gathings him.
self demonstrated the hootchie-
kootchie for the committee.
Whatever the reason, most Con-
gressmen seem to want little to do
with the feelthy book inquiry. Mr..
Evening star., 1952-06-15

inasmuch as I can make them avail
able to you"
The first questions are not only
unfair: they're unfriendly.
One man asks about foreign aid.
The questioner implies that it is Lead
ing to national bankruptcy.
The generals answer is phrase an
advertising man dug up generation
ago in behalf of one of our largest
corporations-"en enlightened self-in-
terest."
Even wiping out foreign aid would
not solve our budgetary difficulties.
he says. He has the figures at his
finger tips. The Truman deficit, ne
says, will be between IL and IA bill
lions. Foreign aid, he said, will be
6.4 billions.
Boy in Korea
"You have probably read" he says,
that my only son has had to 60 to
Korea. I am not taking this thing
lightly. We have got to look the
present-day world in the face"
Another man says he can under
Evening star., 1952-06-15
By EorI H. Voss

Communist women from such coun-
tries as Austria, China. Canada, and
England. The other commission was
made up of Red lawyers represent
ing" Austria. Italy. Britain, France.
China, Belgium, Brazil and Poland.
The women reported back extern
sively of their findings. cleaned al
legedly from interviews with Koreans.
All Soviet media, including the Reds
English magazine News" picked up
some of their material. They still
repeat it periodically. Here Is a
Sampling of charges in the report:
A Korean woman said she saw
North Korean prisoners of war led
into field. doused with petrol" and
burned alive. Americans allegedly
took prisoners. including women and
children, into the hills and buried
them alive in trenches. A young
woman told the commission that,
after her husband had been killed,
'she fled with her baby on her back.
American soldiers caught her, dashed
the baby to the ground and trod it
to DEATH
On a still more gruesome note:
kim Suk Sen from the village of
Soy San Ri said that her children
were taken and killed because she
herself was an active member of the
womens organization. Her husband
was also killed. Her daughter, Kim
Chun Dza, aged 20, who was study
ing nursing. had nails put into her
ear; drum was then fastened onto
her back and she was forced through
the streets naked. The daughter was
then put into prison. United States
troops tried to violate her, she re-
sisted and was bayoneted. The
Evening star., 1952-06-15
By George Kennedy

GETTYSBURG, Pa.-The title of
this story might be 1T Couldn't Hap
pen to Nicer Guy"
It's Friday the 18th but the heav-
ems are smiling. Gen. Eisenhower
comes out on the porch of his
Gettysburg farmhouse. He has just
entered it for the first time. It was
purchased for him while he was
abroad. But it's his and now he is
entertaining there. He Is host at a
picnic, complete with chicken. for
the Pennsylvania delegation going to
the Republican National Convention.
The delegates are standing on the
lawn in the shade of a cluster of
ancient ash trees. The setting is
perfect enough. The farmhouse is
red brick and antebellum. It was
there during the battle. But the
porch was added sometime after,
The fret-sawed pickets of the bal
cony are painted green. It's the
same sort Of porch that decorates
Kansas farmhouses. A birds nest
over window blind is still intact.
Non -CommittoI Governor
Gov. Fine of Pennsylvania, a
plump balding man with blue suit
and bow tie, introduces the general
with few well-chosen-and non
committal-words.
The atmosphere is of a court. The
general seems to be a defendant and.
in violation of all rules, has been
called before the jury for question:
ing. The air tingles with the charge
against him. He has offered himself
for the presidency. Can he justify
that?
Duffs Rug
The general in his opening state
ment, makes his situation clear. He
is on the porch because of CONVEX
sations with Senator Duff (who is
on his right) which started two years
ago. All the Senator asked, says the
general, is:
Don't pull the rug out from under
U.S."
The general, sparring with his
questioners, has no defensive lead
either with the left or the right. He
steps in with his hands at his sides.
Having offered himself for the presi-
dency. he says, he feels that it is up
to him to give them an opportunity
Ito examine my mind and my heart,
Evening star., 1952-06-15

stand that a general in the Army
should not take positions, "but as
president of Columbia University why
did you not take an interest in poll
tics?"
The general says that in 1948 he
made statement explaining why he
was not taking a partisan position.
But I went up and down the land
making 40 speeches where I shouted
for free enterprise and against creep
ing socialism"
He adds few minutes later:
Il voted Republican in 1948.
want you to know that"
A photographer who has climbed
into one of the ash trees clicks his
shutter and a flash bulb explodes.
Every one jumps. but not the general.
You can see how tired he is. He went
through much of this the day. before
in two sessions, one with the New
Jersey and the other with the Vir-
ginia delegation. The day before
that he had entertained the Mary
land delegation-all at the residence
Montana farmer-stockman. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1947-1993, 1952-09-01

among the buttercups and dandelions Of
May, our earliest recollectipns are of grass.
And when the fitful fever is ended, the car
pet for the play of children becomes the
blanket of the dead.
"Grass is the forgiveness of Nature her
constant benediction Fields trampled with
battle, saturated with blood, torn with the
ruts of cannon, grow. green again with grass.
Streets abandoned by traffic, become grass
grown, like rural lanes, and are obliterated.
Forests decay, harvests perish, flowers van
ish, but grass is immortal.
"Beleaguered by the sullen hosts Of win
ter it withdraws into the impregnab1e for
tress of its subterranean vitality and
emerges upon the solicitation of spring.
Sown by the winds, by wandering birds,
propagated by the subtle horticulture of the
elements, it softens the rude outlines Of the
world. It invades the solitude Of deserts,
climbs the inaccessible slopes and pinnacles