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Show TtpJinofdn $ pfACN ItUJiL luAAkU. WA A. A. A. All WiinIiIiikIoh. C. suoi: i icnr A hot tli;ht Is raijini! ImeUstngo !etvi'en the WI'll nnd tho OV. over shoe leather. Inside fart Is that .ho shoes you me wearing are In-!eilor In-!eilor not entirely because the host .eather Is rightfully beini! ulloeated !o the armed forces. That Is only ,iart of the story. Another reason why your shoes re Inferior and your shoe bill hlgh-tr hlgh-tr Is that certain Industry moguls ;n WTIVs leather and shoo branch lave been blocking a program to prolong the wear of civilian shoes ,v the application of wax and oil treatments to soles. Tho process .osts only two or three cents a shoo, but many manufacturers don't '.ike it because It isn't tlossy enough. They say that consumers prefer ihoes with a high, light polish on ;he sole, though they ndmit that litis polish robs the sole of some of Its wearing quality. bureau of Standards experts have lestitied at hearings of the senate ivar-mobiliiation comiulttce, headed by West Virginia's Sen. Hurley Kil-orc, Kil-orc, that the use of oil (by actual test) prolongs the life of shoes 14 jer cent, while soles treated with rvax preparations last from 30 to 41 jer cent longer. This has been corroborated by : .ending industry spokesmen, including includ-ing Paul C. Wolfer, a vice prcsi-jent prcsi-jent of the Douglas Shoe company, j .vho is a consultant In the standards division of the OPA. Wolfer not jnly, urged general adoption of oil-A-ax treatments but intimated that ihe government should crack down 5n the shoe industry and require it. In addition to cutting down the nation's shoe bill, another factor IVolfer emphasized was wartime ronservation of leather. So far, however, how-ever, the OPA has made little prog-I prog-I ress in selling the oil-treatment idea I !o the WPB. Some manufacturers Save adopted the sole treatments poluntarily, but only on a very limited lim-ited scale. The big shoe companies, OPA :laims, are antagonistic. In this, Ihey have the potent backing of the tVPB's leather and shoe branch, headed by LawTence B. Sheppard, a vice president of the Hanover Shoe company. Before the Kilgore committee, Sheppard expounded at length on "manufacturing difficulties . . . lack rf conclusive tests," and other ob-lections ob-lections to a government order requiring re-quiring the oil treatment of soles. His statement was effectively contradicted con-tradicted by other witnesses, who brought out that tests had been adequate ade-quate and that facilities for sole ireatments could be installed throughout the country with little difficulty and at small cost. NOTE: The Kilgore committee has finally sent a hot note to Donald Nelson demanding that he issue an order to compel the general adoption adop-tion of sole treatments by shoe companies. DESK ADMIRALS The navy is doing a magnificent job whenever it goes into action in the Pacific, but members of the Truman Tru-man committee are not convinced that this is true of all the desk admirals ad-mirals or their flunkies in Washington. Washing-ton. Among other things, they are casting a curious eye at the manner in which Adm. Ernie King and his staff preserve the myth of being "at sea" when actually they sit at desks in Washington. To make the myth more realistic, Admiral King lives most of the week on a yacht in the Potomac. It is a small yacht and his multitudinous staff has no room to live there with him. However, they draw extra pay for the hazards of life "at sea." So when payday arrives, the paymaster pay-master carries a satchel down to Admiral King's yacht to pay off the staff. The paymaster knows full well that the men are not on the yacht. However, he goes, through this ritual, then comes back from the yacht to the navy department, where he finds the men and gives them their pay. STEEL-WAGE DISPUTE Hard-working Will Davis, chairman chair-man of the War Labor board, is having hav-ing a tough time selecting a panel to settle the vital question of wages in the steel industry. He proposes a panel of three, one representing labor, one the steel industry, one the public, with three alternates. But though he has called up all sorts of people and literally begged them to serve, their patriotism seems deficient when it comes to labor disputes. Meanwhile, the steel companies, faced with retroactive pay for whatever what-ever wage decision is finally handed down, are getting restless. MERRY-GO-ROUND C.New Mexico is more aroused over the Bataan atrocities than any other oth-er state, because the entire New Mexican National Guard, being able to speak Spanish, was sent to the Philippines and those who survived were captured there . . . FDR may have a hard time carrying the state. C. "The Shortest Route to Japan" is the slogan of the Korean Affairs institute, in-stitute, which has just openeu offices of-fices in Washington. It is urging use of Korean bases onlv 600. miles from Tokyo. |