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Show HE Innocent Bystander: The Front Pages: Matsuoka's letters let-ters home from Berlin and Rome can't be very cheery. Kokumin, a Tokyo rag, admits that with the Soviet So-viet Union and the U. S. sitting up to take notice "Japan at present is facing a situation where no optimism is warranted" . . . But Walter Du-ranty, Du-ranty, now in Tokyo, doubts that the Bolos will get their feet wet. Russia, Rus-sia, he cabled the Times, is still regarded re-garded as "the biggest of the terrified terri-fied neutrals" . . . Mates of a local editor, who highlights the Nazi gains and smothers the good news from Britain, have labeled him the Berlin censor . . . It's a curious thing about the death of the Lone Ranger. Even the papers that carried it on their Page Ones emphasized that Earle Graser's death would be kept I secret! I The Ethics of the Week: Columnists Colum-nists are calloused from the wrist-spankings wrist-spankings administered by their betters, who heckle their "ethics" . . . You can imagine what one columnist col-umnist was thinking about when he saw published in some ethical journals jour-nals the photos and stories of a British Brit-ish warship that limped into N. Y. Harbor for surgery ... It was only week before that the Navy Department Depart-ment sent a letter to all newspapers, columnists, radio broadcasters, et al, urging them to kindly omit mention men-tion of naval vessels in the Interest of national defense . . .It certainly is to be assumed that British warships war-ships are included, since this Government Gov-ernment is committed to "aid England Eng-land short of war" . . . Just whom were these ethical editors trying to scoop those unethical rascals, the columnists? Notes of a New Yorker: Mickey Mouse, the star of "Fantasia" "Fan-tasia" and other epics, had a hand in that coup d'etat which put the boy-King boy-King Peter on the Jugoslav throne ... A Mickey Mouse comic strip (depicting the adventures in a mythical myth-ical kingdom) was banned by the censor from the Belgrade newspaper "Politika" in Dec. 1937 because it was felt that Mickey's adventures too closely approximated the situation situa-tion between the boy-King and his ousted uncle, Prince Regent Paul . . . According to the strip, the evil uncle of the boy-King Mickey was plotting to seize the throne by organizing or-ganizing a military conspiracy designed de-signed to put him in power . . The stench created by the banning of the strip, and the subsequent expulsion of the N. Y. Times correspondent Hubert Harrison (for writing an unfavorable un-favorable story about it) gave Britain Brit-ain her first clue to the pro-Nazi sympathies of Paul . . . From then on. British diplomacy knew how to act, culminating in the Big News of the overthrow in Jugoslavia. We spoke of a French Air Force Captain the other day. He was deported de-ported to Canada so he could get back to Britain and fly against the Nazis again. He writes: "Dear, Mr. Winchell: I learned how you and friends intervened for me. I will be in Canada tomorrow and back on the 'right side of Europe soon to help settle our account with Mr. Hitler Hit-ler and his gang. It took me a little over three months and a half to succeed, suc-ceed, but it's done now. Just think. I left occupied Paris December 10th! After a round trip via Marseilles, Casablanca, Martinique, Miami, New York, etc. to get within 250 miles from Paris. A little detour of over 7,000 miles. Traveling under the rules of "The New Order' is no cinch. I have had plenty of time to enjoy my Winter cruise. Forty-five days between Miami and New York is quite a record for any aviator. Thanks for everything. Capt. Jean d'Ary, Dominion Aeronautical Ass'n, Ottawa." L. Lochner, chief of the Associated Press in Berlin, is sizzling at the Nazzy Press Corps. Because they forbid foreign newsmen to file stories sto-ries in the eve'g but permit radio reporters re-porters to broadcast at any time . . . Add "The Bigger They Are the Nicer They Are" stories: Paul Robeson dropped into Cafe Society Uptown and enjoyed Jack Gilford's amusing stuff. The comic had to leave hurriedly hur-riedly after his performance and Robeson got no chance to congratulate congratu-late him . . . Robeson, however, waited for the next show, two hours later, merely to shake Gilford's paw . . Can you imagine some Broadway Broad-way hams doing that? . . Coney Islanders expect the Parachute Jump (formerly at the Fair) to be the biggest big-gest attraction Steeplechase Park ever had ... A Senator now insists that Hitler doesn't worry him . That's not surprising. Hitler never worried LavaL either. The Aid to the Allies Committee is dubbing the America First Committee: Com-mittee: "The Chicago Tribune First Committee" . . . Sign seen in the window of an agricultural implements imple-ments store: "Have you got Ants in your Plants? H. McLemore, the sports colyum-ist, colyum-ist, is leaving UP to join a syndicate. syndi-cate. He will do a column about general things, not sports . . . Elmer El-mer Davis is going to London . . Ralph Ingersoll will be booted for a lecture tour. |