Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-02-25

But what 90 you get from
tive Oversight Committee in tn
get blackmail, promissory notes.
pressure. influence, stock trans
fers and threats to your wife'S
mothers cousin about the FAM
lily business.
Which is the real Florida?
Returning tourists will have to
tell us. There is no local color
to be picked up from these
witnesses. They make the al
legged playground sound like an
anthill
A Bank in Coral Gables
Yesterday. for instance. the
magic word Coral Gables" was
mentioned. Some in the audi
ence thought they heard the
beat of the blue-green surf,
caught the Whit of orange
blossoms. 1t turned out to be
the site of one of the witness
l9 bank accounts.
That was Thurman White
side. the one-man Morris Plan
from Miami. the lending friend
of Federal Communications
Commissioner Richard A. Mack.
Mr.. WhiteSide wears curious
eyeglasses that look like racing
goggles. There is no reason.
however. to conclude that he is
q sporting man. AS matter of
fact, all the evidence suggests
he never goes out of doors.
In Conference
All that blossom scented air
we've been hearing about is
wasted on MIR Whiteside. He
might as we'll live in a coat
closet. He spends all his time
behind the scenes,
Does the sun shine bright?
How does he know? Hes con-
sulting with his friend, Judge
Robert Anderson, telling him
that he will do what he can for
friend in National AirlineS
bid for a television channel.
This consists, according to
him. of telling Richie Mack
that ALI other things being
equal" he should give fair
consideration to National Air
lines.
Are the fish biting? Mr.
Whiteside has no idea. A rival
television applicant. A. Frank
Katzentine, is telling him that
If he doesn't stop putting in
good word for National Air
lines. his wife's mothers couS-
ms business is going to feel the
pinch.
What's good at Hialeah?
Don't ask Mr.. Whlteside. He's
hanging on the telephone with
his boyhood friend, Richard A.
Mack. telling him to forget the
nice things he said about Ma
tional Alrlines. Mr.. Mack
called him constantly-33 times
after he went to Washington
to be a Federal Communica-
tions commissioner. Some
times he was calling at Gov
eminent expense to ask Mr.
Whiteside to lend him little
money. a practice that has been
going on for years and is so
routine with them that Nj.
Whiteside even kept the
promissory notes in his own
Office safe.
Notes Missing
Those notes. incidentally.
have turned up missing. Mr.
Whiteslde says his lawyer
turned them over to Commit
tee Counsel Bernard Schwartz
a month ago. But the COM
mittee files. which are currently
standing stAl. reveal no trace
of them. Representative Mack
referred fiatelv to the non
existent missing promissory
notes.
Nowhere was there the
slightest suggestion of larger
living in all this wheeling and
dealing. 1t was as somber and
grubby as Wall street, shot
through with screaming
apathy to the earthly paradise
in which business as usual was
increasingly conducted.
Looking Ahead
Nor was there any hint that
IN their lifelong association in
the Sunshine State. Mr.. White
side and Mr.. Mack had any fun.
Mr.. Whiteside was always
thinking ahead. When Mr..
Mack was starting up the lad
der to the eminence he now
enjoys. Mr.. Whiteside, fore
seeing the need for a nest
egg when public service was
over. transferred to Mr.. Mack
one-sixth of the stock of the
Stembler-S elden Insurance
Co. the firm which eventually
got the business of the National
Airlines TeleviSion Channel TO- /
The only mention in weeks
Of testimony of the gracious
living which Florida would /
like to be famous for-csme with