Friday, May 25, 1956

The Charlotte News

Friday, May 25, 1956

FOUR EDITORIALS

Site Ed. Note: The front page reports that in Lake Wales, Fla., a woman who was described as a "model mother" had shot to death her three daughters, ages one to five, this date, placed them carefully in their beds, and then shot herself twice in the chest, was in critical condition in a hospital. She had told a patrolman that she had killed her three children, but had refused to provide a reason. She had left a note to her husband, who lived in Michigan, telling him that he would find her valuables and a "very important black Bible" in a suitcase under her bed, but the police could not find the suitcase. Neighbors said that she regularly corresponded with her husband and had lived at the same location in Florida for the previous three years.

In Baltimore, a container of live polio virus, apparently broken when an airport cargo handler had dropped a crate, had leaked its contents in an airplane the previous night, but swift telephoning had brought quick action to immunize all of those endangered.

In London, Hal Cooper reports that there was a dispute, depending on whose letter to the Times one read, as to the developer of "A" for "'orses", "B" for "mutton", "G" for "police" and "X" for "breakfast". The basis for the dispute was "hay" for "horses", "beef" for "mutton", "chief of police", "V for la France", "eggs for breakfast", and so on. During the 1930's, Britons had fun at cocktail parties where they gave the device its own name, the Surrealists' Alphabet. During World War II, it was taken up by bored British soldiers in signal units, but then died during peacetime. But recently, the Times had published an editorial satirizing the new international airline phonetic alphabet, "A for Alpha", "B for Bravo", "C for Charlie", etc. The editorial writer had thought that the Surrealist Alphabet had been much more amusing and so, in passing, had remarked that it was "evolved in the Western Desert by the signals squadron which served with the 22nd Armored Brigade." He then received a steady stream of dissenting letters, one of which, from Reginald Bennett, a member of Commons, had said that the alphabet was in fact "evolved" by the British comedy team of Flanagan and Allen in the early 1930's. G. Newell Roberts of Exeter had remembered it as having been created by Abbott and Costello in 1936. Geoffrey Burton of Leichester moved that the British comedy team of Clapham and Dwyer had come up with it, seconded by Claude Wilcox of Claygate, Surrey, who said that the same team had even put it on a phonograph record, issued in August, 1936. R. Montague Smith, a newspaperman, suggested that the alphabet had been published in the Daily Mail on December 22, 1935, and said further that it was principally developed by Buchanan Taylor and himself during "happy lunchtime meetings with our Fleet Street colleagues in the Cheshire Cheese," which Mr. Cooper explains was one of the many congenial saloons around Fleet Street, the hub of the British newspaper industry. He indicates that what may or may not have been the last word had come from N. Young, of Ferry Boatyard, Horning, Norfolk, who had said that the alphabet "in essence is as old as the telephone," that its brief version had been developed by a Cockney trying to pass the word "Ealing", a suburb of London, over a poor telephone connection, saying, "E for 'Eaven, A for what 'orses eat, L for where you're goin', I for me, N for what lays eggs, and G for gawd's sake keep yer ears open!"

Well, where'er from whence it doth have its or'gin, don't start with that "Mairze Doats" stuff again…

Julian Scheer of The News indicates that there was nothing left except calm on the political scene this date, as people were getting ready to go to the polls the following day to vote in the local and state primaries. Only a moderate turnout was anticipated in Charlotte and in most areas of the state, climaxing an uneventful, colorless campaign season. Voters would have 12 hours to vote and the weather locally was predicted to be partly cloudy and warmer, but with no rain in the forecast.

They hold local and state primary elections on Saturdays, when most people are off work, but hold presidential elections and primaries on Tuesdays, when most people are working. Go figure...

A special boxed notification reminds voters not to write in votes as they would be marked as defaced ballots and thrown away, as write-in votes were not allowed in primary elections, though legal in the general election.

Ann Sawyer of The News reports that when the County school bell would ring the following week for the last time, it would signal the beginning of summer vacation for about 18,500 students and 600 teachers, but for school officials, would only mean the end of one school year filled with problems and the beginning of the next, having too many students and too little space for them. The following school year would begin in September, a concern for school officials, but becoming a genuine worry by the 1957-58 school year. J. W. Wilson, County Schools superintendent, said that if everyone would work with them, they could house the children the following September. But he added that, with the buildings being planned at present, they did not know of any way they could house the children who would enter the schools in September, 1957. He hoped that the problem could be conquered the following September with double sessions in schools which had a large walking-student load, as well by shifting some students to schools which might have vacant classrooms. He said that they had managed to do the job during the previous two years, when the problem appeared almost insoluble, but with the cooperation of parents and children and utilizing empty classrooms wherever they were, all children had desks. The most serious problem of overcrowding came in the white schools. There were about 500 white children graduating during the current year and approximately 2,000 new first-graders coming in, a net gain of 1,500 students without taking migration from other places into consideration. The superintendent said that there was a slight decrease in the elementary school black population and a slight increase in the black high schools. Black schools would be crowded the following school year but they would get some relief later in the year as approximately 20 classrooms would be added by alterations and additions at four schools. Two white elementary schools were under construction at present, one of which was expected to be completed by the start of the following school year and the other by Christmas. Construction contracts for another white elementary school would be let at the end of May and ought be completed during the following school year. Another white elementary school was in the planning stage. But even with the addition of those schools, according to Mr. Wilson, his office was "reasonably sure" that the children could not be housed in the 1957-58 school year, that it was possible that they might be in the elementary grades, but certainly not in the junior and senior high schools.

Well, the solution is at hand: distribute, starting in September, 1957, to the junior high and senior high school boys tire irons and switchblade knives, let them fight over their respective Juliets, having a real Shakespearean reality fest, and thus reduce the population in the junior high and high schools by probably a third to half, while also demonstrating to the survivors both drama come-to-life and how life, when carried too far, in imitation of art, can lead to genuine tragedy, but that out of every tragedy might come some light and good... Anyway, by then, they will be seeing the reality of Little Rock unfolding on their television screens and will likely decide that it would be to the benefit of all just to come together and work out community-wide solutions to these interfamilial issues and squabbles between the Montagues and the Capulets, leading to overcrowding.

Emery Wister of The News reports that the Charlotte Memorial Hospital, which had received a $200,600 gift from the Ford Foundation the previous December, was now in danger of losing the grant, according to the hospital administrator, because of a technicality, that the hospital had been initiated as a project of the City and so was listed as a City hospital, to which the Foundation did not make grants. In New York, a spokesman for the Foundation said that the grant was under consideration and did not know when the decision would be reached. The hospital was operated by a board originally named by the City Council but was self-perpetuating. The Catholic Sisters of Mercy operated Mercy Hospital, the Presbyterian Church operated the Presbyterian Hospital, and the Episcopal Church operated Good Samaritan. A nonprofit organization operated the Spastics Hospital.

Harry Shuford of The News relates of a conflict in interpretation of the Motor Vehicle laws between the City and County Recorder's Courts, resulting in lesser sentences for reckless driving in the County court, where the judge said he was bound by law to hold the maximum punishment to 60 days in jail and a $100 fine. But on conviction of the same charge in City Recorder's Court, the judge found that the law allowed the same maximum sentence as for any other misdemeanor, up to two years in jail and/or a $1,000 fine. The Motor Vehicle Code appeared to back up both judges, as the conflict arose from amendments to the law passed nine years earlier by the 1947 Legislature whereby the punitive sections did away with the punishment for reckless driving of $500 and/or six months in jail and provided that violations of the Code generally would be treated as misdemeanors. At the end of a list of various violations, it provided that any violation which did not have a specific punishment would carry a maximum of 60 days and/or a $100 fine, and there was no specific punishment listed for reckless driving. The solicitor in the County court had sought an opinion from the State Attorney General, who said that the 60 day and/or $100 maximum penalty was correct for reckless driving. But there had as yet been no test case of which anyone was aware before the State Supreme Court Court.

Just creep along in the city, mindful of your p's and q's, and then let loose like bat out o' hell once over the city limits, into the county, just like the stock car racers on the Saturday nights. Gone, man...

On the editorial page, "Why a Hike in Charlotte's Taxes?" tells of the proposed city budget submitted by various departments having been a million dollars in excess of the current city budget, which would obviously require a large tax rate increase. But those who would cut the budget had not yet gone to work and a large amount of trimming would still be done.

The previous year, the City Council had begun to speak with fear of a tax rate of about $1.90 per $100 of valuation, but after cutting back, it was reduced to $1.77 and eventually to $1.65.

The piece would like to see a comprehensive study made of the municipal tax situation, with the city's weaknesses carefully exposed, which could then be corrected systematically. It suggests that Charlotte needed more manufacturing industries to share the ad valorem tax burden, more factories meaning more work, more jobs, more population and a wider division of the tax bill. Extension of the city limits would also provide a broader tax base. And there were probably other fiscal elements also to be considered.

"Vote—But Don't Vote in the Dark" indicates that there were people who would rather cry on the shoulder of their neighbor about "those awful people" who sometimes got into office than to go to the polls. It says it would not shed any tears for them, that the non-voter rated no sympathy, as people got the kind of government they deserved.

It urges that people go to the polls and vote in the primary the following day after becoming aware of the issues, examining the records of all of the candidates, asking questions, reading the newspapers, listening to the speeches and talking to friends, before deciding for oneself for whom to vote, indicating that a vote was one thing, but an intelligent choice based on an understanding of the issues and personalities was quite another. It hopes that the latter would guide the primary voting the following day.

"Wrecks, Rain and a New Day Coming" says it had asked what the most significant event of the week had been, having put the question to ten reporters and deskmen in the newsroom and receiving nine bad guesses, including the Cramerton train wreck, the Senate approval of the farm bill, reports on the Nike missile plant dedication in Charlotte, and disagreement among Administration officials on the meaning of the Soviet disarmament announcement.

But one reporter had said that the prior Sunday had been the date when the first hydrogen bomb dropped from an airplane had taken place over Bikini Atoll. It agrees that the dropping of a bomb from eight miles high with the force of 15 million tons of TNT was the most significant event of the week, even though 10 of 11 people who had been asked did not so identify it.

A New York Times reporter, who had seen the bomb dropped, said that it was "the most startling and incredible phenomenon of all—a giant super earthly cloud of radioactivity that kept climbing and spreading outward until it appeared as it would envelop the entire earth."

Meanwhile, a group in California was proclaiming a new civilization, in which technology would provide food, clothing and shelter for all. But it indicates that the matter lacking was "brain power" to construct and operate the machines.

"That's fine, but we of the low I.Q., remembering train wrecks, farm bills and showers at dusk, aren't ready," as they would rather put off the new civilization and have the scientists of high I.Q. exploding suns over the Pacific and using their "brain power" to save the shaky civilization with which people were presently stuck.

"Listen, My Children" indicates that in New England, there was a story making the rounds about a racetrack tout's refusal to contribute to a fund for raising a statue in honor of Paul Revere, indicating that Mr. Revere did not deserve the credit, as he had a great horse under him.

Political pundits were advancing similarly far-fetched arguments about who deserved credit for the compromise farm bill just provided to the President for signing. It indicates that it had taken both the Democratic Congress and the President, that is horse and rider, to turn the trick. But it cautions as to who remembered the name of Paul Revere's horse.

A piece from the Reporter, titled "Taking No Chances", indicates that next to subversion, it was likely that America's worst enemy was chance, the best defense against which was insurance. One could insure oneself against just about anything, the latest form of insurance being Vacation Rain Insurance, the chance one took of bad weather when investing in a vacation, the policy being offered by Firemen's Fund Insurance Group. It provides some of the promotion for the policy and goes on to suggest possible promotions for other forms of insurance, such as: "My marriage fell flat on the rocks, and Cloudy Time Insurance covered half the alimony," or "When our son went delinquent, the Frailties Fund paid the psychiatric," or even "I am an incurable business failure, but Below Par Group Insurance tempers the sting."

The American Express Co. was providing travel gift certificates for June graduates to cover anything from a weekend in Cuba to a world cruise, depending on wealth of the relatives. The piece terms it "Getting the Kid Out of Your Hair at Last" insurance, which it finds ought to appeal to many parents broken in mind and body by providing their own guided tour to maturity for 20 years or so, as well to the graduate, since it insured that person against the chance of those dreaded family interviews about "Making Something Out of Your Life".

Drew Pearson indicates that if he were the President and wanted to rescue the disastrous skid of U.S. foreign policy, he would return Ambassador to Italy Clare Boothe Luce to Washington and appoint her to a top position in the State Department, perhaps even Secretary. He indicates that if her health would not permit her to work full time, he would appoint Vice-President Nixon as Undersecretary. It indicates that Ambassador Luce had shown more imagination and statesmanship than any other American diplomat, while Mr. Nixon had developed "a shrewd showmanship and knack of winning friends abroad."

Ambassador Luce, after some initial mistakes, had helped to guide Italy's communism into pro-Western, pro-democratic channels, steering U.S. arms orders to Italian factories such that the Fiat Company's labor unions voted to throw out its Communist leadership. She had also helped the Italian Government put across land reform and revise its tax system to place a proportionately greater burden on the rich than on the poor. She had seen in President Gronchi a new, moderate leader of Europe and had persuaded President Eisenhower to invite him to Washington, where he was the first to warn Secretary of State Dulles that NATO was falling apart and had to be broadened with economic and political functions.

Time, published by Henry R. Luce, had castigated Mr. Pearson almost every week with "weird distortions of the truth" and so he had no reason to be prejudiced in favor of Mr. Luce's wife. But he had watched her work for years, both in Congress and as Ambassador to Italy, and she had shown herself to be a person of "judgment, brilliance and imagination", and would be a great asset to the nation if used to guide foreign policy in Washington.

When President Sukarno of Indonesia had concluded his recent drive down Constitution Avenue in Washington to a reception thrown for him by Vice-President Nixon, he was alone with the Indonesian Ambassador and had wept for joy because of the great factor which most Americans did not understand about Asia and Asians, the color line. Dr. Sukarno was brown and before he came to the U.S., he had been fearful that the color line would humiliate him, something about which every Asian worried. And so he had nervously gone to the grave of his father to pray before he left, and to the home of his mother for her blessing. But in Washington, he had found warmth, friendliness and honorable people among Americans. He believed that his welcome had been genuine, and so, when alone with the Ambassador, he had wept, for he had been treated as an equal. He would return home as a genuine friend of the U.S.

Mr. Pearson indicates that Vice-President Nixon was deserving of a large part of the credit for President Sukarno's warm reception, as the Vice-President had visited Indonesia and understood the psychological factors, and so had made sure that there was a genuine welcome for the President. Mr. Nixon had been a big hit in Indonesia, kissing babies and shaking hands with people in the street, which was when President Sukarno got his idea of talking to American children and kissing a matron on the cheek. Mr. Pearson indicates that whether one liked the "domestic diatribes and divisive tactics" of Mr. Nixon, he had been a great success on his trips abroad.

It had been kept from the public, but Secretary Dulles on his recent trip through Asia, had not been invited to one of the most important countries, Burma. Russian President Nikolai Bulganin and Communist Party Secretary Nikita Khrushchev had received a terrific welcome in Burma, and the U.S. Ambassador had clamored for a top-level U.S. official to come there. Mr. Dulles wanted to go and angled for an invitation, but never received one. So he had flown over Burma to Thailand, where he stopped for a visit, but did not stop in Burma because Premier U Nu would not invite him.

A letter from a physician comments on a May 11 editorial relative to the current primary regarding the judgeship race, indicating that it appeared to him that the issue was fitness of the two candidates for the judgeship, finding that Arthur Goodman, the challenger, did not possess the attributes which would make him a good judge.

A letter writer, withholding his or her name, comments on the same race, indicating an intention to vote for the person for whom the Savior would, saying that if the person were an insurance company owner or executive, a vote for Judge Hugh Campbell would be in order, but as owner of a couple of insurance policies, the vote of the writer would go to Mr. Goodman, who had fought battles in the Legislature in Raleigh. Since there were more humble policyholders and more corporate employees than owners, the writer thinks that a large majority ought vote for Mr. Goodman, finds it a struggle between the Hamiltonians and the Jeffersonians, the latter represented by the disabled war veteran, Mr. Goodman.

A letter writer indicates the belief that the people of the county knew and deeply appreciated what the Mecklenburg Bar Association had done through the years in seeking promotion of the ablest and most respected of its members, pointing out some of those things, and indicating his support for Judge Campbell, providing some of his reasons.

A letter writer from Huntersville seeks to present the other side of the issue on the Mecklenburg Sanatorium, which she believed, as a patient there, had been pushed into the background. The issue would be on the ballot the following day and there were those who said that by closing the Sanatorium, the taxpayer would save dollars. She says that argument was not valid, that the public had been provided the impression that the Sanatorium was partially supported by the State and that without its aid, local taxes would be raised, not entirely true. She indicates that in its 30 years of existence, only twice, during a short period of time, had the State given aid to it, that otherwise it had been supported by County funds, and so it was unfounded to suggest that if the State withdrew its support, local taxes would be raised. She also indicates that the County would have to support the patients whether or not the Sanatorium received State aid, as those patients would have to be sent to State hospitals. It was to be hoped that those suffering from tuberculosis would benefit from the discovery of a vaccine to give to children sometime in the ensuing generation, but meanwhile, the disease was ever present, attacking across class and race. Mecklenburg County had kept tuberculosis under control through hard work, but it was still among the leading causes of death in the nation, and if the Sanitorium were closed and the patients forced to go to State hospitals, there would be a setback in the progress made. She urges thinking of economy in terms greater than just money, rather as a function of the years devoted to progress, the price of personal good health and the health of the community.

Framed Edition

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