The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York • Page 10

rN NATIONAL WHIRLIGIG 10 BROOKLYN EAGLE, WEDNESDAY, JAN. 28. 1 942 Clinton Hill Housing Project Is a Fine Move for Brooklyn RAY TUCKER'S LETTER FROM WASHINGTON Unnoticed by the public and yet planted squarely in the center of the Roberts report is a time bomb which, if it is ever detonated, will probably have even more sensational reper-cussions than the formal disclosures which al- UTacMrMrtan onH the ner- It is a source of deep satisfaction in Brooklyn that the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States has picked a site in this borough for its first large-scale garden-type housing project. It is planned to accommodate 1.200 defense workers and their families. It takes its name "Clinton Hill" because it is to be located in the heart of the famous old Hill section, and many feel that it should be the means of stabilizing this area and preventing future deterioration.

The architects' drawings show that the development will be most attractive. The buildings will all be fireproof and planned to eliminate the hazards of air raids. To the three members of the Brooklyn committee of the Equitable's board of directors George V. McLaughlin, president of the Brooklyn Trust Company; Edward C. Blum, chairman of the board of.Abraham and Straus, and Edwin P.

Maynard, chairman of the board of the Brooklyn Tru.st this borough owes a special debt of gratitude for the part they played, working with the company's president, Thomas I. Parkinson, in bringing the project into our community. We have frequently discussed the value of large-scale housing improvements to a community in such a state of flux as Brooklyn. Our chief emphasis has been on the need of putting private, rather than public funds, in slum clearance projects to help in a process of rehabilitation. In fact this is Point Number 1 in the Eagle's ten-point program for Brooklyn.

But improvements of the type of Clinton Hill for families in the middle-income group are just as important in other respects as the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company's huge Park-chester project in the Bronx has so well demonstrated. This is a highly constructive way in which to use funds such as are invested in insurance companies and savings banks. We hope that other institutions will follow the fine example of the Equitable in Brooklyn. There are other sections here equally suited to developments of this character. 1 rt jlHVC iw.n,u sonnel of the two great Services to the marrow of their bones.

The grim verdict ls what every informed person expected after Secretary Knox had admitted that our armed forces were not on their guard at Hawaii. But what they did not say is the startling feature. They touched upon two or three extremely important failures with cautious words whose deep import is bound to be lost by su- perticiai nearers. bui uie sneuce is uyusuuir, Already a few conscientious members of Congress declare tnat tney win torce oui uik complete cover-to-cover story of Pearl Harbor just as other committees have broadcast as ft patriotic duty the whole unvarnished picture of our shortcomings in war production. They declare they seek neither scapegoats no; whitewash brushes they seek the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

One of the hidden points in the Robert summation is the lack of wartime materiel in although from statements already made it looks as if it would fall apart of its own weight. One thing we do know: that Mr. Morgan is exactly as honest and dependable a man as Mr. LaGuardia. Yet the Mayor has resorted to cheap, unfair methods to cast aspersion on his former aid's character by innuendo.

If the Mayor believed that there had actually been Irregularities, he should have ordered a secret inquiry and discussed it only if the charges were found to stand up. the islands on the eve of Armageddon, me tide of war had been flooding in for over a year. Every one in our strategic outpost watched its flood. Over 12 months ago. when important visitors from the mainland began arriving in Pearl Harbor, every leader, from civil to naval and military, urged and begged them to carry back to the States an earnest plea for more and more arms.

At that period that dangerous period-some of our weapons in our most important defensive spot outside our own land were of first World War vintage which had done valiant service in France and had become the backbone set up for one of our national parks. Weapons intended for our defense equipment in Hawaii went to Iceland, to Iran, to Cairo. OVER THEREI Expeditionary Forces President Roosevelt's announcement that there are "six. eight or ten" American expeditionary forces in various parts of the world is another indication that this is, truly, a World War in a far more accurate sense than the one we fought twenty-five years ago. And the news that troops already have been dispatched to all quarters must cause some uneasiness in the minds of the Axis leaders who have preached that the United States was too soft, too lazy and too slow-moving to be a factor in the war.

Incidentally, we have the fervent hope that the secret of the movements of other contingents is better kept than that of the first troops In North Ireland, where everyone apparently knew of the impending arrival for days. The secret indeed was so badly kept that an Investigation is now being made to find the leak. That is the kind of information that must be withheld from our enemies at all costs lest lives be lost needlessly. HEFFERNAN says to Archangel, to the ends of the earth. But the blow was on Hawaii, where there vm no flrleniiate enninmpnt.

nn nrenarations A Physician Tells of Work Of Doctors in National Defense Letters must bear signatures and addresses of writers but pen names will be permitted at the discretion of the editor, who reserves the right to cut them down to meet requirements of space. they succeed in creating a division between us. Mr. Ford's letter should do much to strengthen the ties that bind us as Americans, no matter what our religion may be. This country was founded and built upon the principles of freedom of speech, press and religion, and those who would attempt to destroy or find fault with any of those rights are attempting to destroy our land.

I hope that Mr. Ford will take any other steps which may be necessary to help promote good will among all citizens, regardless of race, color or creed. LOUIS L. FRIEDMAN. Brooklyn, Jan.

19. LETTERS TO THE EAGLE Sea Gate Residents Will Not Have To Move; No Airport Planned There To the Editor of the Brooklyn Eagle: A rumor has been spread recently that the residents of Sea Gate will have to leave their homes to make room for an airport to be erected by the Government. There is not a grain of truth in this rumor. On Jan. 14, 1942, we received a communication from the office of the chief engineers of the War Department in Washington, in which it is stated most emphatically that the War Department does not contemplate locating a military installation in Sea Gate.

Dr. HERMAN AUSUBEL, Sea Gate Community Club. Brooklyn, Jan. 24. no morale building nothing but soft words from the highest quarters to balance the tiger- like preparedness of the ablest enemy this nation has ever faced.

The Roberts revelations admit these facts, but explain that lack of armament alone was not the cause of the heart-sickening fiasco. But now-muzzled officials, whose burning lips break silence at their peril even in private, point out anew that the most vital weapon of all the detector system failed because no permanent devices had yet been installed. The armed forces were depending upon makeshift, part-time apparatus. Heads are hung In sorrow and despair for What About Washington? There seems to be a grow.ing feeling in Washington that the Roberts report touches perhaps too lightly on the activities of the War and Navy Departments in connection with the preparations for a surprise Japanese attack. It is true that the departments warned General Short and Admiral Kimmel to be on the alert, and that the two officers were personally responsible for the safety of the post they guarded.

Nevertheless, there is no showing that either department demanded and received an accounting of just what Admiral Kimmel and General Short had done to meet the possibility of the surprise attack warned against. There is no showing that Washington followed through after its warnings to see that the Army and Navy commanders in Hawaii were in truth co-operating with each other. In business and industry it is the boss' responsibility not only to give orders that in itself is easy but to see that the orders given are carried out. There is no readily apparent reason why that should not be true also in the Army and Navy. A Disgusting Performance Mayor LaGuardia should be ashamed of himself for the exhibition of irascibility he has given in the case of William Fellowes Morgan, for eight years his highly successful Commissioner of Markets.

It will be remembered that Mr. Morgan resigned in December because the Mayor interfered in the detailed management of the Markets Department personnel and then was too busy out of town with National Defense duties even to see Mr. Morgan about the situation. There was a general unanimity of opinion that Mr. Morgan got an exceedingly raw deal.

Now Mr. LaGuardia has followed up that performance with one even more inexcusable an announcement of the "discovery of some irregularities in tho Department of Markets" and the initiation of an investigation into them. We are of course in no position to pass judgment on the merits of the charge, Feels no Referendum Required To Increase Transit Fares To the Editor 0 the Brooklyn Eagle: Early in the first LaGuardia administration home owners had a 50 percent boost in their water rates on the theory that they should contribute more toward the water they use and help maintain the water system. No referendum was held on this. Why, then, should not those who use the transit facilities pay 50 percent more toward the cost of maintaining the transit system? Why a referendum? None was held on the sales tax.

HOWARD W. TONER. Brooklyn, Jan. 21. Expresses Sympathy for Soldiers Who Died in Recent Air Tragedy To the Editor of the Brooklyn Eagle: Much has been written and said this past week about the tragic death of Carole Lombard, and while we all regret her passing and sympathize with her husband, Clark Gable, it seems strange that so little thought was given to the fifteen United States soldiers who perished with her in the same accident and to their families.

My sympathy goes out to them in their great, loss. Brooklyn, Jan. 21. Mrs. F.

C. LAUER. The King and Queen of England are moving out of Buckingham Palace into what is described as a "modest West End flat." doubt they finally got tired of trying to persuade the landlord to redecorate and put in new plumbing. the service men pilloried. Admiral Kimmel and Lieutenant General Short were given great responsibilities.

There is no tendency in informed circles to excuse their blunders, but there is zealous desire to discover what was behind such professional laxity. For both men toppled into the same pit. Generals have collapsed ere now, but rarely in the annals of war have the highest officers in the two outstanding branches of nation's uniformed Services been caught in a joint of such magnitude. Why? They had the task. Did they have the final authority? Were they on their own or did they get all their cues from across the waters? Were they so accustomed to follow orders from some one above that they had lost the powers of initiative? Were they chosen for their original thinking, planning and resourcefulness? Or were they picked because they would do or not do exactly what they were told? These not too pleasant questions are being asked in this nation's capital.

National concern decidedly not personal antagonisms-are the motives of such earnest Interrogations. H'or unless we all know all the answers, we may not be able to profit in time from the incredible mistakes which in war can become irrevocable disasters. A FACT A DAY ABOUT BROOKLYN In addition to sharing in tht natural depth and shelter of New York Harbor, Brooklyn's commercial shoreline possesses another unique advantage. This comes in the jorm of a number 0 small waterways or canals which reach as far as two or three miles into the centers of industry. An excellent example is Newtown Creek, narrow stream forming part of the boundary with Queens.

Waterfront traffic on this four-mile waterway equals one-sixteenth of the total for all United States rivers. Baseball Games for Service Men To the Editor of the Brooklyn Eagle: Why would it not be possible for our high-salaried baseball players to train near Army camps where demonstration games could be put on for the benefit of our not so highly paid boys in Uncle Sam's service? The boys or a great many of them donated pretty heavily when they were in civilian life. Brooklyn, Jan. 23. MAX ABELMAN.

From the birth of the American Republic, American medicine made orderly progress, with an ever-widening horizon and an evergrowing usefulness. Its development -kept pace with the need for its application. Its leading practitioners in earlier days sought improvement in their understanding of the problems of their professional life and better therapeutic techniques in the great medical schools of the continent of Europe where clinical material was more varied and plentiful than it was under the healthier conditions of our pioneer life. One of the first American results of this experience was the correlation of the hospital with the mpdical school, and Brooklyn has the honor of being the first to take thus step, its Long Island College Hospital giving clinical experience to its students in the healing art. The close of World War 1 showed that the United States had outstripped Europe in medical science.

Its surgeons and physicians, its great hospitats and medical schools no longer had to acknowledge superiority on the part of any of the nations of the old world. Its organization here was on a high plane, and the American Medical Association and the American College of Surgeons labored in the spirit of the Hippocratic Oath and endeavored constantly to protect the public and the profession against irrational empiricism and charlatanism, In recent years, with the world in confusion organized medicine has suffered because of attacks sometimes from new schools of therapeutics and sometimes from political innovators. So that this value may be neither lost nor diminished it might be well if there could be wider dissemination of such views as were expressed recently in his inaugural by the new president of the Kings County Medical Society, Dr. William C. Meagher.

It would be impossible in this brief column to give in full the picture of the service of organized medicine to the nation and this community which this distinguished surgeon has painted, but I shall essay a summary. In the national defense work a vast unpaid amount of work has been done by the profession. General Hershey has said he could not find words enough to thank the medical profession for its labor in this field. Locally the Kings County Medical Society has made many special studies. It has made a marked reduclion in the number of deaths resulting from disturbances attendant on childbirth, and established valuable obstetrical standards.

It has established post-graduate courses in numerous fields of medicine. It has encouraged public information through press relations, through the establishment of Brooklyn Institute lecture courses and otherwise, which are of high value to those suffering from ailments requiring treatment or hospitalization. It Is establishing, now. catastrophe units as a measure of civilian defense, and on a larger scale preparing for the removal cnrcxiic sufferers to more convenient quarters in order th.it hospitalization may be provided for thrv who will be casualties of the war. Henry Ford's Letter to B'noi Brith On Anti-Semitism Is Applauded To the Editor 0 the Brooklyn Eagle: The letter of Henry Ford to Mr.

Sigmund Livingston was a courageous act on his part, and probably will answer now and any future charges of anti-semitism which may be placed against him. In these days, when political party lines have been forgotten and when differences of opinion have been cast aside in the interests of national unity, it is even more important that race prejudice be forgotten about and cast out of our lives forever. It doesn't make much difference to the enemies of our country whether our disunion be political or racial, so long as PRACTICE AND PREACHMENT By EDGAR Gl'EST "Ah." says my doctor with a frown. "You heed me not at all, You boldly bolt your victuals down, And the portion small. I sign the apple pie 'Touch I say of cake, Lest you forego the bill of fare You'll die of stomach ache." GRIN AND BEAR IT By Lichty 25 YEARS AGO IN BROOKLYN January 1917 The Public Service Plan presented tn the Board of Estimate to solve Brooklyn's transit problems provided for construction of the Ashland Place connection of the Fulton Street El and the Fourth Ave.

Subway, discontinuance of the third tracking of the El below Cumberland Street, diversion of El road into Adams Street, construction of a station on Willoughby Street "subway near Lawrence construction of an express station on Williamsburg Bridge Plaza, construction of a physicaj connection between the Myrtle Ave. El and Fourth Ave. Subway. Yet jhen my doctor sups with me. No sign of fear he shows; There Ls no grub that I can see He cautiously foregoes.

About his health he never broods, But swallows fowl and meat. And all the other tempting foods He says I mustn't eat, I watch him take a double share Of French potatoes fried. And gulp the chocolate eclair, Which are to me denied. Good trencherman, wUh fork and knife. I wonder can it be My doctor takes to save my life What poison were for me? BROOKLYN EAGLE (Trade Mark Eagle Registered! I Pounded by Isaac Van Anden In 1841 THE BROOKLYN DAILY EAGLK FRANK BCHROTH.

President and Publisher W. CROWELL, Secretary and Treasurer Eagle Building. Johnson and Adams Street Brooklyn. New York TELEPHONE MAln-8200 Subscription Tale by mall for trie Brooklyn Eijla In the United States, one year, SI 1.00 Entered at the Brooklyn Pastoffics as Second Class Mall Matter Thousands of enthusiastic skaters participated in the Ice Carnival on Prospect Park Lake. "No hairpins, no nail polish, no girdle leave it to Gladys to be the first with the latest!" I.