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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1950-1-11, Page 7x,11 e ,<1 Fox By Rlehard Hilt 'Wilkinson It to election title its our town of Dexter. Al Slater is determined to be elected state representative from the Slat Belknap district. Al has tried fol' three couseetllive terms to win 0111 over Tyler Jenk- ins. At every election, he had the vote sewed up. But Tyler, who is one of the shrewdest politicians a man would want to meet, always contrived to pull a fast one, two or three days before voting day, and succeeded in swinging the vote his way. "Folks think Cm dumb." .St con• tided to his wife. "[I's got to be a joke, me relining for oilic'e against Jenkins," Al began his campaigns 1(1 months before election, 11e knew that folks 111 Dexter were eager to have the contemplated new state highivay tun through 100'11 instead of swing- ing oIl to the northward toward Bartlett. .end he knew that if he roulcl persuade the (highway com- missioner to chart the course of the prupoeed road through 1.)exte•, it would mean a big thing; it would probably mean Al's election. And so Al went to the capitol, looked up the highway commission- er, whose name was Higgins; and talked the thing over. At best Hig- gins was obslitlate. The highway, ile told Al, was scheduler) to run through Bartlett, Well, .Al didn't get discouraged. He called on obit. Higgins a month later and talked things over again it "Tolls think I'm decub," Al confided to his wife, "It's gut to he a Joke, me running. against teak," This time Ile took Air. Iliggins to lunch and bought tickets for the theatre afterward, Higgins began to weaken. Al talked himself blue in the face, and finally went away with a promise that )14r, Higgins world think the matter over. Al was Mighty, satisfied with him- self. A month before election, a story cause out in the papers that, through the efforts of Albert T. Slater, the new state highway would run through Dexter. Al received a lot of credit for his work. and a lot of promises of votes. Tyler disappeared shortly after the 1. I -le didn't show np until two weeks before election, and then It was 10 announce a piece of news that overshadowed Al's great work. Tyler, it seemed, had made a trip to the capitol himself. He had eon - suited 1110 proper authorities and received a •promise that the state" would employ local labor in con- structing that section of Phe r0arl that ran through Dexter. The netts was something to cheer about. It began to look 08 it 'Tyler 111(1 pulled another fast one. \Veli, 'Tyler. :tight have been elected if news hadn't drifted hack 11110 101111 1hal the slate, because of adverse 1,11,11100s conditions, had de- cided to ehandon the idea of beild- itlg the road that year. Al 1110111, a hurried trip t0 the capitol. Ile. 111(11l't return dullest the next tteek. and folks began l0 for- get he ea, even a cauhlidiue, ,\uta 11111. o11 the day before the election, one of 111e newspapers from the capitol than claims e fair, si•:ed eircllillion in Dealer rattle out with the anneuncenu•nt I'hill the road 11 mild definitely be put Binged,. The words were a direct 0u01eriuh fruit! commissioner ilig- gim. It bo -e picture eppettred nal the ;rent page alongside a p1011110 of Al Slater. It Was through Ai's effort., the article read, than the 0011rse of 1111' road wnnlrl pass t'hrou h Heeler De. :I:;was jubilant. At' Ilse polls of the day folloniieg, Al was tluaninImnsly elected to till the ex- pired. o'pined term of Tyler jenkius. ''1)nm111, am I?" Al said to hi,: wife after it Das over, "Well, this is one time Tyler pulled his tsar one tot) early in 11ie game. Ile 111011011( the psychological nl n101110111 WEIS 1 W Wee.k.s ago, instead of eest erelay. 1 wonder lee went on "what 'l',vlrr would say if he knew 1 started the, rumor ahn111 elm 1111nnjug t -he - roar) idea, I ,sunder if the folks wo1111 inky 1 welt dnaeth if tater knew i Met del it so's 1 could Cul e appeee like I peramadedl110 etate to t'1,110e its 1111101 011 111e tray he hulllb, atm I? 1)111111, like a fox." - Heart - Rending Stories Of Happenings Behind Iron Curtain 1)Iie 11! Ills 110,1,1 heart -I -eliding storje1 coming from behind the Iron Curtain is the plight of those seek- ing to get out, In this article !'d- nuuul Stevens -- veteran Mnscow correspcnuleul of The Christian Science Monitor show writings' front Berlin ---describe', tlio sad rase 01 the Russian -born women alto mar - it'd foreigners and were denied Lite right to leave their country with their Inu:bande. A r urrctt Moscow anecdote eon ceras Ivan Petrovich. who is sent abroad on "Icaltnlaudirovlia" toffi vial business aaeignment From Warsaw, his first stop, he wire•s the home office: "1 -ung live Poland, free and independent." Next, 'from Prague, he wires "Long live Czechoslovakia. free and indepen- dent!" The cables are repealed iu the saute vein es Petrovich journeys to Romania, Bulgaria, 11ltngary, and other satellite eduntries. '['hen, after a period of silence, comes a message from Switzerland that reads: "Long live 1'eu•ovidt, free and indepen- dent!" That's the last Aloscov hears of this particular lean, according to the anecdote. To Soviet wives of foreigners, try- ing for years to join their husbands abroad, to husbands struggling to free wives and children whom the Soviets claim, this story has tragic poignancy beyond all humor, 110 them the Iron Curtain is no abstract Churchillian metaphor, but some- thing very hard and impenetrable, Let the record tell the story. It includes the names of some 350 Soviet wives of 'American citizens who have sought permission to leave the country in the past nine yeetrs. Of these, 15 women married former members of the American Embassy staff in MOSCOW. Ninety-seven of the others are wives of United Slates veterans. Apart from the embassy cases, the great majority are from former eastern -Poland, the Baltic states, Ruthenia, or Bessarabia, and were married before [939 -that is to say, before these territories were annex- ed by the Soviets and Soviet citizen- ship automatically were conferred( on all the inhabitants. As the Sorter [1111011 never has admitted the right of expatriation, the rule is that Soviet citizens are permitted to go abroad only in the interests of the government, Per- sonal reasons, however compelling, cut no ice with the NI VD (secret police) officials who pass on exit visa applications. Nevertheless, tip until a few years ago one dr two Soviet wives of American citizens were let out every year. But since August, 1940, even this tiny trickle has been cut off, In another move io this direction, of Feb, 15, 1947, the Soviet Gov- ernment issued a decree prohibiting Soviet citizens from marrying for- eigners, This grotesque attempt to legislate affairs of the heart is not sorrtethimg the Soviet leaders are proud of or care to advertise, for the aotouncement was buried in the ao1001ns of the Official journal of tate Supreme Soviet, gomething few persons ever read. 'l'o my knowledge. the decree never has been published..or re- ferred to in the Soviet press at large, When 1 mentioned it to Russians their first reaction was one of utter incredulity, When correspondents tried to send the story abroad t was killed b, the censor, What makes this law especially brutal is the apparent hi tent to ap- ply it retiaactivelr. It works like this, When a wife 'who has been waiting years for an exit visa goes rotund to the visa department for • a routine inquiry on the status of her application she is received by a "sympathetic" offi- chit, whit, across the baize green desk top where her file folder lies open, offers her "fatherly" advice: "Are you really quite sure you want to go to America, citizenese?" he inquires solicitously, "especially after the news from there? Why, with the crisis coming on, your hus- band may lose hie job any day and you yourself be out on the street, starving." After a pause to let this dire warn- ing sink in, he adds: 'Besides, you as a Russian will be under suspi- cion everywhere, The Un-American Activities Committee will be after you. You won't have a moment's peace. And remember, if you go, it's for good. Never again can you set foot on your homeland," Another pause, during which the official thumbs through 'her file. When he resumes talking, his kind- ly tone has steeled slightly: "Cit- izeness, it may take a long time to get your exit permit -a long time." (Outright refusals are not in ea- cord with usual Soviet practice,) Then, in a more persuasive note: "You are young, attractive, Is it really worth wasting the best years of your life for the sake of a for- eigner? Is ile really worth it? What's wrong with our Soviet fellows? Look around youl" Next, with a wrathful crescendo rising to thundering climax: "1 cannot understand how you, •who claim to be a loyal Soviet citizen, can be prepared to renounce your birthright, to desert the socialist motherland that raised and educated you, for an American!" If, at this point, the victim shows obvious signs of mental anguish, the inquisitor suddenly relents: "Here, here, Citizeness. T didenot wish to hurt your feelings. I . simply was trying to help you with sound ad- vice -not as an official but as an older fellow countryman, Go home -think it over." At 1loute, the chances are that if the wife (happens to live with her parents, and likely as not in the sante rooms, she is the target of ('omaa111 nagging. Her family choruses: "It's all very well if you choose to wreck your own life and queer yourself. But you've no right to ruin our lives. By getting yourself mixed tip with foreigners, you've brought us all under observation - you'll get us all into trouble. it's time to put an end to it. Forget about that America. Yoll'!l never see it alty'w'ay." Possibly, she and her family will also be needled in sante way by the house manager - registration for- malities, - Few persons have the moral stam- ina to resist such browbeating in- definitely, Sooner or' later, all but the most steadfast wives have "vol- untarily" broken down and filed for divorce, 1n such cases, the stringent Soviet divorce laws suddenly are relaxed,'A process that usually takes many months is completed in a few days. 'the requirement that both parties must appear before the court is summarily waived. To crown her humiliation, the wife also is "persuaded" to write a letter to Pravada or Ievestia public- ly repudiating her husband, de- nouncing his country in the ap- proved manner and voicing her "wish" to remain in the beloved Soviet homeland. 'Ching, have not guile well with the few girlslw110 atebbornly have chug to their hearts' desire; There was the Soviet wife of a certain American idi-eigu service officer, lFavieg tried but failed to get a Sov- iet exit visa tor her and their small child, he had to leave upon termina- tion of his MoProw assignment, Six months` later the house man- ager- 5 profession which in Russia iueludcs the duties of police 111(ot•- S [tang This One Out.-1)enpm, sl ,iug, hurl Leach, nuntt11ml 1111 dater skis, gov, 51sjmnling tli'01 tel n'}• a rn0•kh, , ,.•hair laolfed on rural !rating ,011lethillg new' in water his fatotitc chair 0011• a pair of ' the wafter, 1111(1 illi, promised two .hurl„ for his moil demon... 11-111, Just Plain Pooped -For his alertness in spotting the human interest qualities in this seem >nd for his skill in following through with the camera, Rudolph Vetter, photographer. was awarded a $25 prize. The attitude of the dozing damsel, T-ntontli-old Sharon Hart, shows how Completely tuckered out site was after an exciting' all -day tour of the Fair and Livestock Show. The Smile That C By Louise Lee Outlaw Olu and on droned the voice of the prosecutor, Above hisn, on the bench, the judge seemed half asleep ayes drooping wearily. At an oaken table, the defense attorney, a small, stringy pian, slouched beside the defendant. In the jury box, the jury shifted] restlessly and coughed' and shifted againe 1t was the last day of the trial, and they were all tired, tired of the volumes of words that had bean poured into the record, tired of elle mountains of evidence flint weighed on their minds, and yet receded whenever they- tried to pluck from the mountain one clear fact, .Only Juror Number Five, a woman, looked attentive. She sat upright, shoulders independent of the straight-backed chair, Frons a distatice of twenty feet she looked young. From a distance of tett feet she looked almost young, She was dressed in the relentless, gloomy perfection of the prosperous busi- ness woman. Periodically her eves shifted from the prosecutor and gazed• avidly at the defendant. Juror Number Five was Mrs, Edith Bolton, She wan a Madison Avenue interior decorator. The de- fense attorney knew those things about her, and felt he knew many more. As the prosecutor rumbled on, the defense attorney turned to the defendant and whispered, "Re- member, what I told you -keep smiling at Num be,' Five." 'The defendant's broad shoulders moved irritably, "Okay." The defense attorney drew in a 'hoarse breath, "But re- member -it isn't eiiotigh that we know you're innocent, She's got to know it, too. I told you, the jury's going to Helen to 'her. You'd better smile, boy." The defendant, isharged with first-degree inurder, glanced at Juror Number Five, Painfully, he lifted his lips, Ft:dith Bolton caught elle smile and was thoroughly conscious of what had prompted it. A bribe, she thought. Oh. he's a shrewd one. mer -came to the flat she shared with her patents and announced she no longer could be registered there and must mos out iumtediately. When she pleaded that elle had no- where to go, the house Manager sneered: "Go to the Americans; they'll look after you," She was given lodginganda job as hotteekeeper at an embassy pillet. One day a week later she failed to return from a trip to the market, and has not been heard from since. The customary diplomatic represen- tations to the Foreign Ministry have produced the rmstomary silence, \\live, of Americans and Britons are by 110 111.0118 the only victims of tine no -exit -visa polity. The ease of tic son of the former Chilean ant- haosador in lel meow was brought before the United Nations. Another case involved the Russian wife of the Greek' ambassador. In neither instance did ambassadorial rank parry weigh with the visa depart- ment. evicts She turned quickly back to the garrulous prosecutor, tried to listen to hitt, tried to wriggle may from the memory of the smile. But the etniie persisted, hung before her in the aur -the full, firm lips, curling a little at the edges, curling tweedy like a girl's , , . Cheater's lips. liar's lips. jintnty's lips. But shy mustn't let herself fav off; she must be fair. She had al- ways been fair. 1 t wasn't the de- fendant's fault that he looked like jimmy, It had nothing to do with the case. She 00111d base her deci- sion on factual evidence, comb through the maze of circumstances, pluck out the 10111119 feet , , , She felt her eyes easing back to the defendant at the oaken table, twelve feet from where she sat. Once more she saw the bhiekeaye- lashes, the high, unlined forehead, the disarming. wavy hair. Smooth - faced, pretty -faced, full of entilee. The kind, who ensiled from the cradle up, smiled and got what he wanted, smiled and plundered . t-sdith Bolton jerked her shoul- ders, 'snapped off the thought. It was her business to lietsn bo the prosecutor -to listen hard, with judicial ears. "And the State has shown," the prosecutor said, "that the defend- ant robbed and caused the death of a man who had befriended hint --a matt who. Ont of the goodness of his heart, Iliad $prep him a de- eent la, ;Farted him on a ear - ser , " Yes, that WAS the way it worked. You took She &toiling charmer in, you gave him everything in Rue eltange for no bin 'You bo .icht b1 et ` Ie etoa, welt face glut, you pit name onour shop window; "Jamas and Editit Bolton, Decora- tors, New York and Miami." You made tip papers -"James and Editls Bolton, Associates" -and in a breath's time you signed away half the huslness you'd sweated to build. Mach week you wrote a check for hint, his Share of the profits, the altars for which he never worked, "What do 1 know about this faney- Pabnits business?" Smiling, smiling, pocketing tite cited, But that was jimmy. 'That: had nothing to do with the defendant, S'he'd have to Meer het' mind, keep it clean and open, review the facts One by 011e , , Fact Number One: The defend- ant .had been in the Army for doles years; Ile Was a veteran of North Africa and .Alio, Easy to imagine thins in unjforul, ribbons of his chest, oversea, cap •rocky over Inc forehead, over the dippi09 black stair , jimmy had had ribbons, too, and a jaunty set to hie cap, and he had smiled at her neer the heads of the pretty young host - 00805 at the Clausen, And later That night, they Irad talked and talked, and she had been faint with delight when he et -melted her , But the defendant. She had 00 chink of the defendant. Fact Num - leer Two; The 110.0eud ,111 had been honorably diet. ha eget! remit the Army, Ile had gotten a job will, it clot hiug manufacturer. at forty five dollars a week. Forty-five dollars wasn't nutcli to live on , . jimmy lied spent almost ae 11111011 011 a single shirt. "Forty dollars fns• one shirt!" She had stared at hitt, waiting for the explanation that didn't come. just the smile, the Stand on her shoulder, weaken- ing her. "What's mine is yours, baby," he had said, "and vice versa right? For better or for worse ..." Fact Number'I'hree: The defend- ant had a wife and child. Forty- five dollars a week wasn't much for a wife and child. A coat for his write. the defendant had said, a woollen coat to keep her warns, Bur his employer had cauk'ht him in tthe stockroom, the stolen Gnat over his sem. They struggled. the prosecutor said. The employer's gun went off. Two hours later, the employer died at Bellevue Hospital. But the defense had a different story. There had been no struggle, - he defense elaimed, The defendant Riad started to run from the stock- room. The employer pursued hint, gun .in hand. At the bottom of the stairs, tate defendant turned, said, `Okay --1 give up," but it was too late thea The employer had te'ipped-come tumbling down the stairs, and his gnu went •off. Who could prove the defendant hadn't wrestled with the man? 'Who could prove the defendant had in- tended to give himself up? There were no witnesses. And the story about the cost- a coat for his wife. That was a shrewd excuse, designed to stake the jurors' heart swell with pity. The i111100e0t, uplifted face, the dangling forelock. "l wanted a warm minter coat for my' wife , , ," They know how to find excuses, elle smilers, With jimmy it had been hie mother, When,the etheek- ing account was overdrawn, it had been for his mother, When he got a bani: loan he could never pay 1)�:ck'i i Leo hegq fur lain tngill11r, Inks ts0tl) b-(1'lto vitas slim-waisret and blonde and twenty-two, \701,at did he give her nova? Whom was he. robbing now for his mother% - "The defendant has a cleats rec- ord." the defense had said. Excel- lent character, the Army records Riad claimed. A fine boy, the char- acter witnesses had added. Devoted toads wife, the defcndar,l's neigh- bors had agreed. But what did neighbors know? "You and Jimmy make such a aweet "ouple." her Friendts had said so often -her older friends, that is. They Dere the ones he didn't smile at, the ones who couldn't possibly know the nights she spent listening to his ugly flippsncies . , , and 1 Worse, the nights site spent 81(1110, Taut sloe had to listen to the pro- seetnor. The prosecutor's voice was high. indignant, as if he knew' she was slipping away from hint. Edith Bolton straightened, dutifully fast• ened her eyes on This flashed've henlent face. "We lune mile the defendant's f word." the prosecutor said. "We 1 have telly the defendant's word - the „ori of an admitted thief against the eery tangible evfdente 01 death. )-low mach can you trust the word of a mean who wntlh) steal front an eniplover who had been kind to hint, exceedingly ger trout 10 him ?" Edith Bolton glanced past she l - I'I '11i, 1 ,. n nl. ... [Mil 11,” 1,1 .•• ,011'1 „ de'cad:ult's 61>" ,.,. a pale woleat1, aLlgoI'+hcd, e,00)10-•i'i A tete years older Nan the rte fondae.t, and a, raid Ot' •'•.1401 years "Look, grandma," jimmy %1.+1, Bald, 'you goy be gfoiug home to- night, but I'm noe Now, don't get. oft your ltig'it horse. For bettor o,' for worse, you 1ar10w , , . The defende,nt'e wife was gazing at the defendant. Edith Bolton saw the wo11ea11'e WOrnhipntnii, owning twee. Women had always looked Char way at Jimmy. Zverywitere, alaays, The customers In het- own strop, The trim, stupid assistant decor, tor. The sagging, avaricious tag buyer- -even the seveutente vear- old stock girl wilh the hanging slip. the run-down heels, Rich or poor. rheumatic or infantile, tier all looked at Jimmy. Bin she had to stuff, straying, Edith Bolton told herself aterhly. She mustn't think of Jimmy in Pile bark of the :Iron, the e.ock girl in ihi, arms. She musn't think of ane il,ivg now baht Chi- ,ri104, There was a decision to 111,1 there wan no time left (00 dei,lt- ing or wondering. Is, five or ;c) minute, the prosecutor would •-ied his snn,matinn. The jan.os ,101111 retire. They would listen to her,. because she was tLe otrouge,t. Pile wa3t,'t tired at all. 1011.1 romplalt•eil of the heat: -1!'e 11411't e.e,l feet it . . - DelerminntedIv, silt• `cam•,) for- ward. s,nveyed the ,ohlrtrmotn. ts4e glanced at the judge, at the dri,•I,- iag tipstaff in the rmrnet•..Hey ,'.,•s travelled to the defend uu, and Nu„ to the table with ire pile of State's evidence. Once agent, she cb00'.a1 off eacI, article, tleieeed its nifi1an&O. The tagged. eiee ;- trill • . . the fingerprint chats m,,,. -i, pl'o0ed 11Mhing , . OW ,oat, '1':,10 coat for his wife, 1t was a sturdy, eoatse grahled wool. She knew fabrks, could et,• 1 praise their value to the dollar, IThirty-five dollars. retail, 1 .,;n- pletely stvleless, a nerollieg co or. i Site had ahrave Lamed fire eyehers t red, .. She stared at ties coat for -t moment. and titers. with a soeep- iug. victorious .feeling she couldn't I explain. she looked at the dleien,i• I ant's wife, The 1,01111111had long, • frteeed flair --orange red, Btu he wouldn't do that! Her mind closed in on the thought, clamped around it. Fie wonldnt't give a redhead a red coat! Not the dafeudattt--he'd know. better 1. than that. Even 11 he wore stealing, - 1 even if he were pressed for time, he wouldn't pick a red coat for a redhead. ite'd know better -his kind always did. 'There might he some 10 en who wouldn't know -- but not the defendant. He'd know, He'd know, her mind insisted. Yon could tell by looking at his face, at tine fickle, thick -lashed eyes, the quick. jaunt- smile. He'd be just the kind who would know about women's clothes, the way he knew about women, She was sure of it. He'd be the kind who would be proud of his' taste. arrogant about It. like Jimmy. A coat for my wife. CNI, the had been shrewd, the defendant. He had almost convinced her. But the Coat hadn't been for his wife at all. The fire -engine red coat had been for some other woua11-- someone younger, slimmer -waisted, aoneone blonde , • 1 jars Liar from beginning to and } i•laviug 111a0e up her nhitd, Edith Bolton didn't bother to listen to the final words of the prosectrtot•. She sat bark in her chair, feeling light and easy. And not at all billet. she told herself --snot at all like a woman) who had received her final divorce decree illPhe 100rlin2 maid. Weapon Wedding -- i,.,•.,11 Herrick. 1e1, a bride (11011c day, charged that her husband, FFr'ancis R. Byers, 20, of Des Ninnies, lar., forced her to marry. himr at gun point. Byers said she eloped witlt hint to Tel:a- ma11, Nebr., wiilit:'lo JITTER VIC,TAKWJITTfR OUT AND TEACH HIM HIS DANCE' 9050549,'- --• _f 00111,1. t>ANc0" W inn THE LEAD - INC MAN PLAYS T00 NAND 0120AN ti• NOW Tu0N The CRANK WANE L60 VOW VeURet9,UTINr r• 6,5NTC'AtAW.01AAPANCEDarecrOR le AN EXPERT , STEP INTO THE 11sosmSnom AND WATOS HIM 111 ACTION' By Arthur Pointer ,Nr•ANWNt4E Thu 01601100 7Nt 101010,MI5N or Tot,