Jan. 29, 1958

Charles Judson, former city editor of the late
lamented L.A. Daily News, is now farm editor of the daily Grand
Junction (Colo.) Sentinel. His job requires that he travel about the
countryside, checking agricultural conditions and writing about them.

Last
week he spent some time around Grand Valley, Colo.–about 50 miles from
home base. While there he dropped in at the office of the Grand Valley
News, a four-page tabloid with a small circulation run by an oldster
who sets all the type by hand, does the printing and sweeps the joint.

IT HAD COME to Judson’s attention that his stories, by line and all, were being reprinted in the paper.

Jud
walked into the shop and caught the old boy in the act. He had a stick
of type in his hand and was looking at a clipping of a story Jud had
written a few days before.

When Jud introduced himself, the old
editor said, "Say, I’ve been cribbing your stuff. I hope you don’t
mind. I always give you and your paper credit."

"That’s all right," assured Jud, "I don’t care how I get syndicated."

IT’S PRETTY well
out in the open now that the economy is sagging–no one is certain how
much. Mostly we’ve got a bunch of confused experts asking each other, "Wha‘ Hoppen?"

Here and there, however, someone claims to have the answer. For instance, a man close to the finance business.

His
key to the dilemma goes like this: "Here’s this car we repossessed. The
guy owed $1,200 on it but it’s only worth $800. The catch is that in
today’s market you can’t get $800 for it. So everybody’s stuck.

THE WAY Raul
Rodriguez tells it, Santa Claus died and those in charge of
arrangements refused to let his funeral chariot be drawn by his
reindeer. That, they said, would be putting the hart before the corse.

ONLY IN L.A.–Persons
entering a downtown building after office hours are required to sign
their names on a paper posted at the elevator. Well, two consecutive
names on the list the other night were Elvis Presley and Evelyn Throsby Scott.

PAUL GANGELIN is whooping at a rhapsodic ad for the sackline chemiserie
stating, "The entire look fluid, uncluttered, simply stating the facts
of the body beneath." Clearly the time has come to take a cue from Jack
Webb and say, "All we want is the facts, ma’am."

THE COUNTDOWN — Tom Cracraft says the whole thing got off to a bad start. Instead of missiles we should have been making "hitles" … Joe Steele was so fascinated by the sign "Expert Sputnik Repairs" on a machine shop on Sawtelle Boulevard near Pico
he stopped for a closer look–only to discover just a machine shop …
Rose-colored recollection by Carter Barber: "Remember when Russian
satellites were countries?"

MISCELLANY — Those
Russians, always taking bows. Latest is the claim that a Soviet
scientist has invented a machine which puts people to sleep by shooting
electrical impulses into the body. Sing Sing has used one of those for
years, reminds Paul Drus
… Anyone besides Doris Hellman catch the congressman’s fluff on a TV
interview about national security the other day? He said, "We have a
very great detergent power–I mean deterrent power" … Lots of
reunions on Sunset Boulevard buses among housemaids who haven’t seen
each other since before the strike
… You think you’ve got worries. Consider the plight of the Detroit
auto engineers. Probably have recurrent nightmares wondering what to do
with the taillights on the 1959 models.