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Show SPRING IN MOSCOW . . . It's springtime in Moscow and so, despite de-spite a IS degree temperature, this Muscovite youth indulges in a seasonal delicacy ice cream. MRS. ROOSEVELT'S DAUGHTER DAUGH-TER . . . Cbristiane Bertholet, 7, -whose father was killed by the Nazis, is the "adopted" orphan of Mrs. Lleauor Roosevelt, who sends her a CARE package each month. BABY'S' BABY ACTS COY A London zoo employee tries to woo "Candy," two-week-old baby of a Ilanover Cream pony named "Baby." The youngster lowers her lashes in the approved manner. The mother Is a descended of the Royal Ilanover Cream ponies that pulled Queen Victoria's coaches. 'AND THE LAME SHALL WALK' ... This dramatic photo shows 10-year-old Jimmy Carrick walking down a hospital corridor carrying the huge cast removed from his body. Bedridden since he was two years old as a result of spinal trouble, the brave lad no longer will have to lie in s special bed. THE WINN AH ... At the annual junior boxing championships held at the Naval academy, Annapolis, this winner, 4K-year-old Carey Dickinson, receives not only one ward but a doable decker from Nancy and Jane Penlagton. Many aval sens taks part ' v i f ; ' i ( - : i "S V n ; - '1 Kip", 111! ; - -v . I I ttsgllslll i till iJl 1 N4 " i 5 1 i, , -.iLmj.,. -. . ...i- . -, ...i,, I AS TEXAS CIT STARTED TO BURN . . . Closeup airview of the burning Monsanto works and oil dumps when the flames began creeping creep-ing up to the oil depots at Texas City, Tex., during the early stages of the explosion and fire. Damage within the confines of this photograph photo-graph were estimated at more than $35,000,000. Explosion at the Monsanto works ignited a pipeline which exploded, causing the oil dumps to catch fire during the early hours of the disa&.r. r-jww" .... 'Zis', T??!? MANY LEFT HOMELESS IN TEXAS CITY . . . When fire and explosion ex-plosion wrecked industrial district of Texas City, on Galveston bay, Tex., even many persons who escaped death or injury were left homeless. Miles away windows were blown in, brick walls crumbled crum-bled and many persons were Injured or killed by flying debris. It may be weeks before the total casualty or property loss will be known. First reports, placing the Injured and dead at several thousands, thou-sands, have been largely confirmed. tit t a NEW FIRES, EXPLOSIONS ADD TO HAVOC . . . With new fires and explosions adding to the carnage of the Texas City, Tex., tremendous explosion, early reports proved to fall far short of final damages to this industrial city, located on Galveston bay. Photo shows later blazes in the waterfront area. With the leveled Monsanto chemical chem-ical plant in the background, wrecked cars, all blasted In the original explosion, are shown in the water-soaked area as agencies of cities, states and federal government sought to bring relief. ' --v r r.tn if ti. -i-rrt--wrir-ir tiitn Kifcft.l ALASKA OR BUST' . . . With "Alaska or Bust" as their motto, Mr. and Mrs. Chris J. Bnrris, daughter Judith, S, and dog "Buddy," of Baltimore, Md., and Edward RepettL Washington, D. C, student, begin be-gin the long trek to Port Chilkoot, Alaska, via truck and house trailer. They are part of the first veterans' settlement project la the territory. A large number of vets are heading aorta. - ifhlltiai " RATES FCJR STARS JSBBBMSSBBBBSSBBBSBHtBBMSBJSjSBBBBBBBBBBHSSBBBBiBBB Big Business with Capital B VA Tackles Stupendous Job By WALTER A. SHEAD WNU WuhiBfMa Correspondent. WASHINGTON. A slighUy built, grayish, baldish man wearing the fatigue uniform of a four-star general, sits behind be-hind a huge desk in the mammoth, block-long Veterans' administration ad-ministration building. He is, without doubt, among the busiest men and has one of the biggest jobs in the world. He is Gen. Omar N. Bradley, administrator of veterans' affairs. . He brought with him to Veterans' administration the same qualities for which General Eisenhower gave him equal command with General Montgomery on the western front during the war and which made him one of the most respected commanders, one of the ablest tacticians and disciplinarians in trio urmv kill. U I 111J . Although eligible lor retirement, General Bradley accepted the as signment by President Truman in an effort to bring to a state of efficiency effi-ciency the badly-managed, overgrown over-grown Veterans' administration created after the last war and bogged down in red tape and bureaucracy. bu-reaucracy. General Bradley took Into VA his resourcefulness as a military leader, lis bent for democratic action, for ifficiency, for loyalty and discipline md his respect for the G.I.s who fought and won a war, thousands of them under his direct command. Streamlines Agency. He has streamlined VA; he has decentralized the administration into regional commands. The Job is one of the most stupendous and far-flung tasks in the world today. General Bradley is head of the biggest mutual insurance business in the world with policies in force uves or some Ave million veterans. He directs a medical program which hires 5,000 doctors and cares for 90,000 patients. Providing benefits and relief In one form or another for more than 14 million World War II veterans, VA maintains a master file of 24 million veterans or their dependents who have received active benefits. At the present time, approximately 18,300,000 Americans are veterans of some war. For instance, VA has on Its mailing list about 28,000 Kelly s, 17,500 Cohens, 2,000 Kominskis, 16,000 Shultzes. From this tremendous tre-mendous number of former servicemen, VA has received as high as 11 million pieces of mail in a month. General Bradley heads one of the country's largest loan agencies and, as of February 1, VA had approved loans for 639,200 G.I.s amounting to more than $3,421,000,000. Although a majority of these loans were for lomes and farms, they ranged all the way from the veteran who started a diaper service in Spartans-burg, Spartans-burg, S. C, to the farm boy who wanted to purchase a new harrow in Arkansas. Wholesale Purchases. A purchasing committee of tremendous tre-mendous magnitude is another of VA's activities. This agency buys in mass lots for veterans' hospitals such as 676,000 pounds of breakfast fcereal at one time, 144,000 pounds of salted soda crackers, 7,014 albums of records for Juke boxes, 800,000 volumes of books for hospital libraries. li-braries. As of February, 1947, more than 2,430,000 ex-G.I.s were in schools or on-the-job training under provisions of the G.I. bill. Approximately 385,-000 385,-000 private business firms were conducting con-ducting on-the-job training courses. About 1,000 G.I.s are obtaining education edu-cation and allowances for study in foreign schools. In addition, General Bradley administers ad-ministers pension and disability payments to veterans, which run into the billions of dollars, and burial bur-ial benefits, which also run into the billions. Under terms of one law, he bought more than 6,000 automobiles for war amputees. He also directs a service to supervise legal guardians guard-ians and custodians of about 141,000 wards of VA, children of deceased veterans. Benefit Payments High. Approximately six million veterans veter-ans havfl received unemployment and self-employment compensation benefits through VA and United States Employment service. Most of the VA administrative problems, which were at an extremely ex-tremely low ebb when General Bradley took over, have been due to the mushroom growth of its activities. activ-ities. How long will the nation be paying huge pension lists? In March, 1946, VA made the final payment to a dependent, closing the rolls on the War of 1812. Payments still are being made to 49 dependents of Mexican war veterans, while 916 veterans and 2,392 dependents of Indian wars still are getting monthly checks. There are 116 Civil war veterans, with an average age of 100, who are still receiving payments. Plagued By Changes. VA officials say that the peak of payments to veterans and dependents depend-ents of World War I was not reached until 1940. In the meantime, congress passes new laws and changes those on the books, creating new administrative headaches. More than 200 bills affecting af-fecting veterans were Introduced In the first two months of the 80th congress. Cost of administering the VA program pro-gram for the fiscal year 1947 Is expected ex-pected to be approximately 8 billion dollars. AVIATION NOTES YOUNG FLY, OLD DO NOT When Americans are young anc have little money, they fly. When they get older and begin to earn more, they don't fly. Two interesting curves In graphic form tell this story in a study entitled en-titled "Age Study of the Flying Public," Pub-lic," made by Civil Aeronautics administration. The study reveals that almost 50 per cent of all pilots are found in the two age groups of 20-24 and 25-29, 25-29, while persons in these groups comprise only 19 per cent of the total population 18 years or older. Less than 5 per cent of persons In these age groups earn $5,000 a year. Two-thirds of the people who earn $5,000 a year or more are between the ages of 35 and 55, but the proportion pro-portion of all pilots In those age groups drops sharply from 10 per cent at 35 to almost nothing at 55. Beyond 35, the percentage of pilots drops rapidly. Apparently Americans quit flying completely at 65 although there are known to be several sexagenarian pilots still active In the United States. . . . It is cheaper to operate an airplane air-plane than an automobile for business Arthur Whltcomb, Keene, N. H.f contractor Insisted In-sisted in testifying before the New Hampshire legislative committee com-mittee on aviation. He reported that he Sew his own plane 27,000 miles last year on business at an average cost of 5V4 cents a mile. He drove his car 18,000 miles at an average cost of 6 V4 cents. FEES REDUCED A 20 per cent reduction In fees for recording ownership of aircraft and aircraft liens, from $5 to $4, became effective May 1, under orders of Civil Aeronautics administration. The charges were Instituted last August under a congressional mandate man-date to CAA that it defray the cost of service operations through service serv-ice fees whenever possible. Other charges levied by CAA In accordance with directions of congress con-gress include $10 for issuance of air agency certificates to flying and ground schools, mechanic schools and repair stations, and $5 for issuance issu-ance of certificates to parachute lofts. Even airline pilots scurrying back and forth across the continent con-tinent can't escape the watchful eyes of their wives. Mrs. Jack Jenkins of Cleveland insists a short wave radio band on the living room console Is a necessity neces-sity for pilots' wives. When her husband, who pilots an American Ameri-can Airlines flight from Cleveland Cleve-land to Nashville three times a : week, returns from a flight, she always has dinner on the stove and his slippers ready. She picks np his position report to the airport on their home short wave band. SETS SPEED RECORD. . . United Unit-ed Air Lines' new four-engined Mainliner 300 (Douglas DC-6) set a new official coast-to-coast airline air-line speed record of 6 hours, 47 minutes, 13 seconds on a 2,400-mile 2,400-mile flight from Santa Monica, Calif., to New York City. The Mainliners now are In scheduled service. HELICOPTER POLICY Helicopters will perform their growing transportation services with a maximum of safety and a minimum of noise, the helicopter council of Aircraft Industries association associ-ation has assured aviation authorities. authori-ties. Pointing out that "utility of the helicopter can be developed only by taking advantage of Its unusually safe and useful flight characteristics," characteris-tics," the council urged that regulations regula-tions be adapted to permit operation ol helicopters In urban areas. WELCOME HOME ... The U.S.S. Mt. Olympus, flagship or the polar expedition led by Bear Adm. Richard Rich-ard E. Byrd, Is shown docking at the Washington navy yard to end a 4H month exploratory and training cruise to the frigid barren wastes of Antarctica. F if :P! i 'alt mi 1 V Mi RIGHT OF BALLOT . . . For the first time In Japanese history, the ordinary Nipponese now has the right to ballot on his choice of local officials, previously appointee Jobs. Since Japanese citizens are prone to hibernate In hot baths to remove the chill of outdoors, ballot boxes were placed strategically In a bathhouse to catch the vote of patrons, as shown In the above scene. 'WHEN A FELLA NEEDS A FRIEND! . . . When 3-year-old Betsy Kirkland bravely faced the doctor's vaccinating needle at a Brooklyn, Brook-lyn, N, Y., hospital, her admirable example failed to Impress 2-year-old Danny Kench, who couldn't help being a bit perturbed by the frightening ordeal. The tots were vaccinated in connection with a drive for prevention of smallpox. I X'I IT'S UNIVERSAL ... A new hat for milady nt the spring Is an actuality actual-ity the world ever. Here In the Japanese capital city of Tokyo, spring comes to the glnza. A Japanese movie actress, a kimono-clad mother and an American attached to army headquarter are shewn frying en new fashions in chapeaux. Many Japanese hats are being returned to America by overseas G.Ls. m'tM'itP&wwfsv- i p;:jn,ii iillllllSfi II kS?sj :.i:'i3:m ::; si; n 4 , i 114 ' I 'A- V)J i) ' ! 4 f if ) i . 'kjt m lyiiiipl M; if M fA:v-f&-i 2 si'f- -v.... j. ", v,t, -V." V US I 4 -.iiiiv,: T iw. fU: t v i. ' 'SB ':; ? 1 ' f4 . I . 4 IN FATHER'S FOOTSTEPS George M. Cohan Jr., 33, son of the famous song and dance man, makes his debut on the stage of the Providence, R. I., theater where the "Yankee Doodle Dandy" Dan-dy" first trod the boards 60 years ago. 'ii' -4 'l rr FIRST BUDDY POPPY . . . First buddy poppy of the 1947 sala conducted con-ducted by the YFW to raise relief work funds Is presented to President Presi-dent Truman by C-year-oId San- 1 dra Fay Ball. f 4 1 j |