The Key West Citizen Newspaper, May 7, 1953, Page 10

A LETTER FROM BILL TANTAFr Dear Neighbor: Last week ‘we discussed the Army overcoat procurement case. This was one of two examples of waste and inefficiency within the Military Departments recently un- covered by a House Government Operations Subcommittee of which your Congressman is a member. Teday, let’s discuss the second @ase, The purchase by the Navy ef 885 fork lift trucks, of which 262 were for the Navy and the re- maining 627 for the army. Early in 1950 the Quartermaster Corps of the Department. of Army submitted a requisition to the Navy fequesting purchase of 50 fork lift trucks of 15,000 and 6,000 pound eapacity. The Navy, which was assigned purchase responsibility of this item under single-department procurement, issued invitations to bid on the trucks in March of that year. Several..manufacturers re- sponded with a Longmont, -Colo- rado manufacturing company, for- merly engaged in making light garden tractors, posting the low- est bid. For some reason no awards were made on this bid. A month Tater the Navy adver- tised for bids again and this firm was again low bidder. Again, no award was made. The next month a third invitation for bids was is- sued and the former tractor firm was once more low bidder. Two pre-war surveys were made, the latest on September 27, 1950, by the Navy Inspectors and this firm was held capable of manufactur- ing this item. The Subcommittee investigation established that this firm was formed in 1946 and en- gaged in manufacturing light gar-! den tractors: They- enjoyed a mod- est. and: faifly successful’ business immediately after the war, but when the large tractor firms be- gain to produce in quantity, they apparently could not stand the competition’and their business vol- ume dropped off: The firm held many Navy and some Army con- tracts and would have been pro- ducing at the rate -of one million dollars per month had they been able to perform successfully on the contracts they held. Pre-production models of the fork lift trucks were inspected and in every case criticisms were con- tained in the reports. Criticism was made of the steering wheel, service brakes clutch pedal, hand throttle, emergency brake. Faults were noted in the boom assembly, hydraulic system, enging, trans- SRW REACH! = ING MAXIMUM SPEEO: MY HEAD"S REELING --WILL LACK OUT SOON gm ~ | Page 10 THE KEY WEST CITIZEN Thursd: mission, control levers, fork assem- bly and various’ other aspects: of the truck. In nearly every case where a criticism was made, it was recommended that the Naval Inspector should check these items, after the firm begain production following their award of the con- tract to manufacture the trucks, The fact uncovered by the Sub- committee is that the total value of contracts to this firm for fork lift trucks amounted to over two and one-half million dollars, To make. matters worse, the trucks are in storage having been de- clared unsafe, difficult to main- tain bceause of non-available spare parts, and they have been called impractical to operate in normal military storage systems, Sincerely yours, , 5 ; 1108 Nag Sid 319009 AINUVS WIHLVI dN ONIONINS = is 2 Be 2 i ei id i j A [HOLLYWOOD NOTES By BOB THOMAS HOLLYWOOD & — No star-in Hollywood has ever had a stranger history than Mario Lanza, In four short years, the muscular tenor has become a movie legend, and the legend. grows every day. He is a study in’ extremes. From poor beginnings in Phila- delphia’s tough neighborhoods, he Tose to earn a million dollars in one year. After a couple of years of frantic, money-making activi- ties, he tossed in his career and has done nothing for a year. He is the defendant in the biggest law suit ever brought by a studio against a star; MGM is suing him for more than 14 million dollars. He was a hearty extrovert when he arrived here. But in the past eight months, he has spent most of the time within his Beverly Hills home, refusing to see the press and most of his friends, Even his weight hits amazing highs and lows. Last year he ate himself up to a bloated 220 pounds, then trimmed down to a hard 165, He is reported above 200 again. What is the reason for his un- usual behavior? Even his close friends aren’t sure. They blame it on his sudden fame, his disillu- sionment with false friends, his natural Italian temperament. -But when they figure they’ve got him. pegged, he does something new to upset their theories. Life with Lanza has never been dull. He arrived in Hollywood as a wild-talking, self- promoting young man. Unlike most others who have hit the town, he had something to promote: a tenor voice with signs of greatness. Producer Joe Pasternak put him in two pictures with Kathryn Gray- manner created a feud with Miss Grayson. Then came his biggest hit, “The Great Caruso.” “His big troubles with the studio started with his next film, “Be- You're Mine.” au. ee TH é £ EF 38 . s : A HY; af E 3 g g g a af F z § Be h pe i ef rat He : gRE iit: F é J . rf i E F I [ i tvEtE H # i i tr E 8% ie ; i E r (i rie Bs (AP Newsteatures Chapter 8 BRINDLE was sitting in his of- fice the following morning, his mail read and answered, puffin; It Ranson’s death had been ac- cidental it meant that he crossed the section of path at the split-second moment it had brok- en away. That was too much to swallow. The old woman whose home was nearest the scene had confirmed this icion. She had heard a slight explosion at about the time of Ranson’s fall. It looked very much as though ihe cliff had been dynamited. Why? Brindte asked himself. Had Harry West shoved the old man over, then tried to cover up by blowing away an area of the path? He took a deep drag on his cigarette. If the two men had argued and West had shoved Ran- son, it wasn’t likely that he'd have a charge of dynamite handy. No. This thing had been very carefully p! By whom? le heard the rattle of the ele- vator at his ficor. Footsteps sounded, and stopped outside his office. Brindle aot out his ciga- rette. The knob turned and the door pushed open. _ It was the man with a cleft in his chin. The gray coat—only now he wore a brown gabardine suit and a confident smile. The knot in his tie was smaller than it seemed pete to knot a tie, and one of is button-down collars had slipy its button. “I won't pretend that I didn’t try to follow you yesterday,” he said, seating himself. “Of course you knew. You gave me the slip quite neatly.” There was no trace of embar- Tassment on his angular face. He seemed to be a man of imm aise Banas Age? About thir- five, Brindle “I'm afraid I ine eaten your ,” Brindle said, though he could guess it. ee oe TS. s jum! Brindle.” 53 By DON WHITEHEAD (For James Marlow) WASHINGTON \—They seem almost incredible now, those happy and exciting days eight years ago when Americans and Russians found ‘it easy to be friends on the banks of the Mulde River in Ger- many. That was on the eve of the Nazi surrender May 7, 1945. For a few days, there was no cloud of suspicion or distrust. Ivan and Joe found pleasure in each other’s company. They had: no trouble getting atong. They had met at the town of Torgau in the role of victors near- ing the end.of the long and bitter march into Germany. As far as these soldiers in the ranks were concerned, there was no reason why they shouldn't be friends. They accepted each sther on even terms, There on the Mulde, we corres- Pondents watched them throw their arms about each other and whoop with delight. They toasted with champagne in beer mugs and talked in sign language when they couldn’t fathom each other’s spok- en words. They exchanged invita- tions to parties and swapped gifts. atttEeh ithe rapthetyy iE f ense | floor. By A. S. FLEISCHMAN ip s “Of course. You already know far too much about my affairs. That’s why In: here.” pas studied him for a mo- “What exactly do I know?” Durst leaned forward and of- fered a cigarette from a pigskin » “You know there’s some- thin; phoney about 1470 Miramar “And you want to buy me off.” _ “Naturally. It was extremely indiscreet for Frances to get in touch with you after the man’s death.” Zi Brindle lit both cigarettes. “I wonder if you know that it was Ranson who first hired me?” Durst stared at him with care- ful, cynical eyes. “Really?” he said. “I seem to have missed that.” “Yes, you were out of town— studying fishe: “Something like that. How much do you want?” “To lay off?” 4 “To mind your own business.” “Look, chum,” Brindle said, “I don’t like your money. It’s a mat- ter of professional ethics.’ This was the first time he had cut himself out of easy money on the basis of professional ethics. Anyway, he had two hundred dollars of Frances Lilly’s money to keep going on, and two hun- dred dollars bought a lot of { sleuthing, ¢ i URST leaned back in the chair sed hig feet on Brin- ot so fast, my friend,” he said, his manner still affable. “You know, I don’t have to pay you to keep out of my way. doing business.” He drew a hand- “Here. Dry yourself behind the cre ears. Brindle gave Durst’s feet a shove and they dropped to the . “Get out.” Durst poked the handkerchief back in place. “This is a crummy Place you've got,” he said, pa- tient and unmoved. “But I sup- pose you're happy here.” “I get al people. I like to “Sweil, I like see them get along.’ By GAYLE TALBOT NEW YORK prised at anything that might happen soon, up to and: a trade which would send captain- shortstop Alvin Dark to National League club. The between Dark and his mana Leo Durocher, is mutual. stumbling Polo Grounders - need new pitching biood, could get a top. hand St. Louis Cardinals, ald Staley, plus another pla: two, if it were decided that had outlived his usefulness. Frank Shields, bearing lightly the scars ne incurred sitll 4 8 He Re optimistic about our chances winning the. tropby back Australia soon. He is Bob Perry, the West Coast ster, to lead the way, “What might forget,” he reminds me, its ee ‘neighbors about. those days of iriendship. ‘Ivan must THE STRAW DONKEY CASE Money isn't the only basis for| li kerchief ott of his breast pocket. | leaned rE BE Matt vi = PTTL Fits