Amerikai Magyar Szó, 1955. július-december (4. évfolyam, 27-52. szám)

1955-10-06 / 40. szám

16

AMERIKAI MAGYAR SZÓ

October 6, 1955

■■■■iiiir II n mi—imr

Page

FROM THE EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK

Echoes of the Mississippi Horror

The revulsion caused by the bestial murder of the lJ-year old Negro boy in Mississippi and the subsequent miscarriage of justice, the “Not Guilty” verdict turned in by 12 degraded white supremacists, is expressed, at least partly in the columns of some of the leading newspapers of the country. Here are a few of them. This one is from the leading Republican newspaper of

N. Y., the Herald-Tribune:

“Isn’t it strange—a government that can send young men to die for democracy or. foreign soil, whose statesmen constantly talk of free elections in the fight against communism, is powerless to intervene in the State of Mississippi to establish these same principles.

L. McLean”

This one is from the West Virginia Labor Daily and points out an importont lesson:

“With all the fuss about the Till murder, a lot of people tend to think that all discrimination and prejudice exists in the South. Northerners can’t sit back on their pride, either. There’s plenty of intolerance and race hatred Up North, only more often than not it is veiled with smiles and hypocrisy.

There are segregated ghettoes up North. There is open or covert job discrimination, in the police station and in the courts, too.

It goes without saying that that doesn’t mean the situation is the same everywhere, or that is isn’t improving. But it would be wrong for Northerners to jump the South and forget about the bitter weeds in their own garden.

Phil MacKinney”

This bitter letter was published in the N. Y. Post:

“We still underestimate the importance of the Till case. There will be more world-wide repercussions than in the Sacco-Vanzetti case. The white peoples of Europe and the colored peoples of Asia will watch our reactions to the murder of American Negroes. The riot of late in Japan protesting the extension of an American airfield was a protest against the stationing of A-bomb planes not too far from Hirosima. If the killers in Mississippi are not brought in guilty, if the

U. S. Government does not interfere in case of acquittal and condones brutal crime as it condoned Court desegregation order, we have ceased to be a democracy. As William Faulkner of Mississippi says, we don’t deserve to survive and probably won’t.

Ben H. Jones”

Columbia U. Honors Great Hungarian Composer

Excerpts from a review in the N. Y. Times of Sept. 27, 1955:

By Howard Taubman

BELA BARTÓK lives on. Though he died ten years ago yesterday, he lives on in his music— sensitive, intense, lonely, tender and fiercely pl-oud. He was an original master, as the world has been acknowledging these last ten years.

This truth was borne in oh one again in the memorial program of Bartók music presented by Columbia University at its McMillin Academic Theatre. There were only four works on the pro- gram, interesting works all, but a mere trickle in the man’s tremendous output. They were enough, however, to remind us of Bartók’s scope.

★

The concert began with the Concerto for Orchestra, which Serge Koussevitzky commissioned in a time of Bartók’s great need. One of the last of the great composer’s works, it has become by far his most popular. It is played by orchestras everywhere; it has often been recorded. No doubt, it is a modern masterpiece. It sums up

the major strands of Bartók’s creative fabric— his lifelong interest in folk music at its truest, his boldness and independence as a musician, his capacity to fuse folk style and personal vision.

Tibor Serly conducted the Symphony of the. Air in this work. Mr Serley a compatriot of the Hungarian composer, served Bartók well when he was alive, and helped to complete several unfinished pieces. He brought understanding and affection to his task last night.

Joseph Szigeti, another musician out of Hungary and another close friend of Bartók, joined oichestra and conductur as violin soloist in two early works.

The evening ended with the most unfamiliar and arresting work on the program, the “Cantata Profana”, which dates from 1930. With Robert Shaw conducting his Chorale, the Symphony of the Air and the two excellent soloists, Leslie Chabay and Mack Harrell, in a brilliant performance, the “Cantata” made a profound impression. Here was the Bartók of the deepest and most searching perceptions, the musician who could write the string quartets that belong to the finest work of our century.

12 Worst TV Advertising Gyps

Bait advertising is like a disease today, says Tom Roberts of the National Association of Better Business Bureau. The bureau considers it the worst present advertising abuse.- Three states have already laws specifically barring bait ads (Massachusetts, Maine and Tennessee), five more have similar laws pending, and trade associations and civic leaders are urging radio and TV stations and newspapers not to accept such ads.

• Vacuum cleaners, sewing machines: Chief trick is to offer an item at a low price, generally a reconditioned machine, and high-pressure you to buy a much costlier machine.

• Reupholstery. The offer to reupholster an entire set of furniture at a low price often turns out include only poorly-made fabrics in undesirable colors.

• Furniture. This persistent bait racket is often practiced by credit stores, and not only through advertising but in window displays. Chief trick is to show a complete ensemble of furniture for a reasonable price, but inside the store the furniture is scattered in different departments and it is difficult to know if you are getting the same items advertised in the window.

• Television repairs. The trick is to advertise a flat rate for any service call. Often the flat price is $2.56 It is impossible for any serviceman to make calls at this low price (average true cost of a call without any actual labor or parts consts is $3.50 to $4.50).

• New, Used Cars. OneLos Angeles dealer offered a car on television for $999. When a shopper from Better Business Bureau egot to his place, the dealer demanded $1495, and finally agreed to let it go for $1350. Another current bait practice in the autó business is to advertise

“no down payment.” But you come in, you find a down payment is required, or, in some cases, you must give the dealer a chattel mortgage on your household furniture.

• Television Sets. Chief current trick is to offer a “famous name” set, but without specifying the name. But when you get to the store you ihay find that the set is really a little-known brand, or that its only relation to a famous name is the chasis is licensed by RCA as many models are, or, i/ the set is well known, that it is “nailed to the floor” as they say in the trade.

• Jewelry. Watches. In the “diamond contest” spreading throughout the country, you guess how many there are. But everybody wins and you must pay a high price for the setting for the diamond you won.

• Storm Windows. Storm windows are offered at a low price, like $10. But they are poorly made and the offer of course it the usual device to get a salesman into your home.

® Heating Equipment. This is often a low- priced offer to repair your furnace. But it masks an attempt to sell you a new furnace at a high price.

• Real-Estate Lots. The bureau are also getting many complaints about bait offers for lots which turn out to be badly located or inaccessible to roads.

• Photographers. Children’s photos are made deliberately poor to build you up to a costlier price. Sometimes only proofs are furnished for the agreed-upon price.

• Refrigerator Repairs. Like the flat-rate TV repairs, low prices are quoted but the final cost turns out much higher.

THE MAR&IANG-MOORE FIGHT IN RETROSPECT

Heavyweight championship fights, like earthquakes and floods, usually can be viewed more accurately in retrospect. Let’s have a look at Rocky Marciano’s conquest of Archie Moore in New York the other night.

As the ancient Archie dropped Rocky in the second round, then continued to fight like a tiger at bay until the ninth, one couldn’t help but wonder what the outcome might have been if this over-age challenger had been given his big chance when he was 15 years younger.

Nobody, including Archie, knows exactly how many birthdays the challenger had had when he climbed into the Yankee Stadium ring to face Marciano. It is generally thought that Moore is about 41 year old. The ring life of the average boxer usually ceases before he’s 30.

Consider, then, what a 26-year-old Moore might have showed 61,000 fans on the night his “big chance” arrived.

Even in defeat, Archie wasn’t permitted to be

alone with his disappointment. He no sooner reached his dressing room after the fight than he was surrounded by Internal Revenue agents from Toledo and New York, who promptly served him with a “notice of levy” in an action designed to attach $52,097 of his share of the purse.

Moore’s legal adviser, former Office of Price Stabilization Administrator Mike DiSalle, was outraged by such action. Taking the papers, he said he would contest the action, remarking: “These two fighters (Moore and Marciano) have paid enough this last year to offset President Eisenhower’s salary. Why, Moore doesn’t even know what he’s going to make this y .

“As far as I know, this is the first time a fighter ever was assessed in his dressing room for taxes on a curx-ent year. I’d be interested tu know if Marciano got the same notice of levy.” - Fair-minded boxing men now are in agreement that Moore was thoroughly justified in

heated words which he directed at his manager after the bout. Archie claimed—as everyone at the ringside observed—that Marciano was too heavily coated with grease; that the rings can- \as was as cushiony as bedsprings and that the abnormally long prefight introductions caused the aged Negro to become chilled.

"An old man like me fights better in warm weather," said Archie, referring to the chilly night on which the bout was held.

“!. couldn't have missed finishing R.-cky off in the second round if I’d been warmed up. Johnston (his manager) didn’t give me the proper protection when he failed to, protest the extra dose of lard and fat Rocky was covered with.”

Cheerful Norman, Archie’s second, did go to Harry Kessler, the referee, and point out that Rocky's supply of grease was an infraction of the r.uies, but all he got for his trouble was to be ordered back to his corner on penalty of having his license revoked.

“Nex time—if there is a nex’ time—I’ll go into i-tbat ring -warmed up,” said Archie.-