February 3, 1950 (8 pages)

Nevada City Nugget 305 Broad Street — Nevada City, California Telephone 36 . .= J. WILSON McKENNEY and KENNETH W. WRAY Editors and Publishers as Membér. California Newspaper Publishers ‘Association Published every Friday at Nevada City, California, and ‘entered as second class matter in the postoffice at Nevada City under act of Congress March 3, 1879. Subscription rates: one year outside county $3; one year in county $2.50; four months $1 (invariably paid in adwance). Advertising rates on request. — CAMP BEALE ANDTHE GREAT WHITE FATHERA century ago when men streamed across the Sierras ‘into the wilderness of California, they left government behind. They wrested their fortunes fromthe gold hoard in these hills and later when ‘the yellow metal’ ran out they found wealth in the fertile lands of the valleys. At no point in the devélopment of the west was government regarded as an aid except to establish a minimum for self-regulation. In the last two decades we. have seen a remarkable change in the public attitude toward government. Though many view with alarm the encroachment of bureaucracy into the private lives of citizens, we have come to accept federal intervention as inevitably as we accept the guidance of a father. This change is partly due to the growth of the welfare state, partly because the vastness of the task of bending nature to man’s usefulness has required the huge resources of the federal treasury. This has welded a firm bond between government and economy; in effect we look to the guiding hand in Washington to*direct the elements which determine our livelihood and standard of living. In a sense this retreat from freedom and self-determination is a weakening factor in our society. Many believe that we should deny the patronage of the federal treasury and turn again to the old.virtues of individualism and productive labor. But it is too late to turn back all the way. We have a case before us this week which effects our local economy. The federal government, through the Department of Defense, expects to spend many millions of dollars to establish a permanent air academy in the nature .of the Army’s West Point and the Navy's Annapolis. Although Jhundreds of communities throughout the nation would like to pick off this plum, there is every indication that the air center will be chosen in the west. Our community leaders believe that Camp Beale, which served so admirably as an army staging area during the war, will provide all the elements desired in the new academy. Tentatively, it is estimated that about 33,000 acres in the western edge of Nevada County. will be included in the government reservation for the proposed development. If the defense department should eventually select this site this submarginal land will of course be withdrawn from county tax rolls. Which in itself, is an excellent bargain for local taxpayers. Already federal and state agencies spend over two million dollars a year in this county. The additional expenditures for local payrolls and materials would make us think the gold boom was with us again. : In order to present a forceful and factual justification to the government, officials and civic leaders of Nevada, Yuba and Sierra counties are working on a survey of Camp Beale potentials. It will cost between $4,000 and $5,000 to complete the tenweek study. Grass Valley Chamber of Commerce has already contributed’ $250 to the fund and Ike Bell says the Nevada City chamber will probably dig up $200. Yuba county supervisers have set aside $1,000. Coordination efforts to date have been excellent; a meeting was held recently in Grass Valley and another was held in Marysville "Tuesday evening. Stanley Halls represents the Newada City chamber and William Mullis is city coun_cil representative on the committee. To return to our original thought, we must inevitably accept the fact that our economy is. largely dependent on how well we recall federal funds to this area. This project involves no stigma of asking for a handout. We believe we have something special in Camp Beale which will serve the best interests of the nation. But we must not wait supinely for the Great White Father to put his finger on us. Wee face tough: competition. We must accept the responsibility of community salesmanship . . . and if wre make the sale we will enjoy comfortable profits. —jwm. Happiness isn’t so much a’ matter of position as it is disposition. » _Girls used to wear unmentionables—now they ‘wear nothing to speak of. poe o E.ver notice—when a man gets, up near the top ‘of the ladder of success—there are always a few. _ friends and fellow workers steadying it for him? Ul PARDON ME, MIND ft an @ INTERRUPT? Just Wonderin’ I Wonder at the big H bomb— I'm sure I'll never make one And then I’m’ equally sure, I'd rather make than break one. Several years ago there was a book, popular at the time, in which the author asserted that the modern mind of man is a conglomerate make-up of many minds inherited from distant-ages of the past. There was the primitive mind, -inherited from arboreal ancestors, who nested in trees, or squatted in caverns among the rocks. Next there was the savage mind, developed while Neolithic man, stone weapons in hand, slugged his way among the monstrous beasties that beleaguered his pathway and thwarted his progress and menaced his life. There is also the child mind which prevailed in the childhood of the world, when gods and goddesses dwelt on Mount Olympus and fays and fairies danced upon the river banks to the pipes of Pan. Man also inherited the medieval mind -with all of its bigotries, prejudices and intolerances and these minds and many others were poured into the crucible of the ages, stirred by the hand of time and passed down to modern man in lieu of a mind that should by this time be complete and in good working order. What a mess! As we look about the world of today and see the effects of modern mind over modern matters, is it any wonder that I for one, begin to think of the world as cock-eyed and of its inhabitants as upon those lost in a dense cloud of smog? erybody is queer but thee and me, and sometimes I think thee is a little queer.” Now to add to the fear and confusion of mankind, our scientists come along with the H bomb, a thing well calculated to strike terror to the hearts of earth’s bravest. It seems that our President is to determine whether this great instrument of destruction is to be made or consigned to the limbo of things best forgotten. No one man should be entrusted with so momentous a decision. No one man should be entrusted with the lives and deaths of millions of his fellow humans. Were I Mr. Truman, with this great burden upon my conscience, I'd leave Washington, and escape to some vast wilderness; there I would sit me down and think for forty days and nights and longer and as I] thought I would try to keep my primitive, savage and medieval minds in abeyance and so think, if possible with the mind that should belong to civilized man in this great age of strife and folly. Were I Mr. Truman, . think I would write a letter to Mr. Stalin after this fashion, ‘‘Dear Mr. Stalin, We, you and I, be two small men in two big places, and it is within our power to put ‘a stop to armament races, to control atomic power, to use it for the good of mankind and not for indiscriminate slaughter. Can't we get together and accomplish something of real value? Can't we so live that we may escape the brand of Cain?” I have never heard of.any real means of controlling this devastating force called atomic energy. Is there any means whereby it may be rendered impotent as a weapon of slaughter? What would happen to us all if one of our vaunted stock piles should suddenly let go—blow up and release the deadly powers-upon our modern ways of life? Until I receive an answer to these questions, . shall avoid areas where atomic bombs are stored, manu. factured or purveyed. A d as for the H bomb, if Mr. Truman gives its makers the green light, . hope they, will name it when completed, Good Bye to Hope, for that in my estimation is just what it will be. That a surge of reason may flow through the modern mind of man is a prayer we may well utter, for truly mankind seems about to dash over the precipice into the deep mael-— strom, of destruction. “ADELINE MERRIAM CONNER. Is it any wonder that I say, “Ev' Lookin Z % Z MMM fy SOUTH TO NORTH:. The friendliness and_ helpfulness’ of the folks ‘in Nevada City belies the provincial wisecrack of the northerner who said “No good comes from south of ‘the Tehachapis.” Because I’ will readily admit I’m a native son. Not only that, but my wife ‘and I and all three of the minor McKenneys were born in southern California. . People don’t look away when we confess it. We are treated civilly; lwe haven’t been asked for our passports. immense appreciation for the beauty ofand the historic traditions of Nevada We come with an this Sierran wonderland county. We have been critical and sometimes embarrassed by the queer fads and _ fancies which seem to have found fertile ground for growth in the Southland. In short, we are prepared to adopt Nevada City as our home, to accept and respect its serious conventions, to join in its frivolities, and to contribute to-the community what talents and energies may be ours to give. We come from. semi-desert country, where a half-inch rain produces three-inch headlines. The Southland is intensely conscious of water; its chief spokesmen predict that lack of water will curtail or limit population growth. We see the forests, lakes, and streams of Nevada County as a great natural asset which should be cherished and preserved. If the matter of selling or granting water rights to outside. interests should be a local community issue, you will see me standing with the conservationists who would keep these rights for any forseeable need in this county. * * * INTRODUCING . “Lookin’ Around” -is a column title I have used for 16 years on three. other weekly papers. My view may sometimes be dim, my thought rarely ponderous. But like Preston Tucker, I usually get acquittal on grounds of pure intent. I abhor disorder, non-responsibility, and dishonesty and nothing makes me madder than to see a little man kicked around by a bulky bully. But as the’ title indicates, my theughts—. such as they may, be—are usually those of an observer and not of a knight galloping about in shining: armor. Ken ‘and I will share. responsibilities in the ownership. and operation of The Nugget. Though we have met but briefly, we feel that our personalities are compatible and that we can bring to this business certain parallel skills and experiences which will compliment each other and assure a good newspaper. We haven’t even discussed politi¢s. He may boost for Norman Thomas on his side of the page and-I may urge a Hoover comeback. But on at least one point we will stand together politically: we cherish the American ideals of freedom. Nothing else matters if this paper constantly stands for integrity in government (with as much of the former and as little of the latter as possible) and applies the test of ‘what’s best for our people?’ We are not going to set the world on fire and we won't make a lot of promises. But we like to work, neither of us would be happy outside the newspaper business, and we have a lot of faith in the people and the prospects of Nevada County. I must lean heavily on Ken these first few days for orientation. But we must both look to you, our readers, for daily guidance. Your letters and visits will be appreciated. Naturally, we want to build a sound business in our print shop and newspaper but to be perfectly frank about it, we Know we cannot be successful unless we serve you well and faithfully. * * * THE BOSS AND THE TRIBE. This weekend the Boss and the three younger’ Macs will come to make their home at 341 Clay Sstreet. . The Boss isn’t a newspaperwOman, presumably she reigns only in the home, though her power is mighty and felt in curious ways. .A friend back in Yucaipa asked what my first column subject would. be in Nevada City and while I hesitated the Boss helpfully filled in: ‘‘He’ll introduce the family, of course; he always does. And he’ll call me the Goodwife and it just makes me shudder.’’ So I’ve turned the tables on her by calling her the Boss and she won’t love that either. At home I call her Honey; in slightly more formal surroundings I call her-Ruth, but never her full name, which is Lee Ruth. Jody is the oldest; she’s 13. And she’ll murder me because she announced as. we were preparing to move that her name in Nevada City would be Mickey. her schoolmates in the eighth grade won’t see this. name is Wanda Jo. We are a family of aliases. Her real Patsy is our second daughter; she’s 10: Patsy isn’t boyconscious like Jody (I mean Mickey) yet, but she doesn’t have tobe. She blinks her eyes and walks over their prostrate bodies. I haven’t actually seen this phenomena but that’s the wer I hear it at the supper table. Her full name is Patricia ee. : x Jon is our eight-year old boy: Life is a little complex for him with two older sisters and all. What frustrations may result find their counter-balance in the. collector’s art. The Boss nearly fainted once when he dragged home a green goat’s hide. Her voice was. cool and controlled when she ordered this new treasure deposited at theback end of the lot until Daddy came home. Jon and Daddy labored for days over that bloody hide but it neverdid turn into a throw-rug for the den. I swore if he brought home a bee-hive I'd. toss it out the window -without delay, together with those ideas in the Parent’s books about “training for citizenship through father-son companionship.” ling first. —. Pll just have to hope that:* We'll go back to splitting kind-

Nevada City Nugget 305 Broad Street — Nevada City, California Telephone 36 . .= J. WILSON McKENNEY and KENNETH W. WRAY Editors and Publishers as Membér. California Newspaper Publishers ‘Association Published every Friday at Nevada City, California, and ‘entered as second class matter in the postoffice at Nevada City under act of Congress March 3, 1879. Subscription rates: one year outside county $3; one year in county $2.50; four months $1 (invariably paid in adwance). Advertising rates on request. — CAMP BEALE ANDTHE GREAT WHITE FATHERA century ago when men streamed across the Sierras ‘into the wilderness of California, they left government behind. They wrested their fortunes fromthe gold hoard in these hills and later when ‘the yellow metal’ ran out they found wealth in the fertile lands of the valleys. At no point in the devélopment of the west was government regarded as an aid except to establish a minimum for self-regulation. In the last two decades we. have seen a remarkable change in the public attitude toward government. Though many view with alarm the encroachment of bureaucracy into the private lives of citizens, we have come to accept federal intervention as inevitably as we accept the guidance of a father. This change is partly due to the growth of the welfare state, partly because the vastness of the task of bending nature to man’s usefulness has required the huge resources of the federal treasury. This has welded a firm bond between government and economy; in effect we look to the guiding hand in Washington to*direct the elements which determine our livelihood and standard of living. In a sense this retreat from freedom and self-determination is a weakening factor in our society. Many believe that we should deny the patronage of the federal treasury and turn again to the old.virtues of individualism and productive labor. But it is too late to turn back all the way. We have a case before us this week which effects our local economy. The federal government, through the Department of Defense, expects to spend many millions of dollars to establish a permanent air academy in the nature .of the Army’s West Point and the Navy's Annapolis. Although Jhundreds of communities throughout the nation would like to pick off this plum, there is every indication that the air center will be chosen in the west. Our community leaders believe that Camp Beale, which served so admirably as an army staging area during the war, will provide all the elements desired in the new academy. Tentatively, it is estimated that about 33,000 acres in the western edge of Nevada County. will be included in the government reservation for the proposed development. If the defense department should eventually select this site this submarginal land will of course be withdrawn from county tax rolls. Which in itself, is an excellent bargain for local taxpayers. Already federal and state agencies spend over two million dollars a year in this county. The additional expenditures for local payrolls and materials would make us think the gold boom was with us again. : In order to present a forceful and factual justification to the government, officials and civic leaders of Nevada, Yuba and Sierra counties are working on a survey of Camp Beale potentials. It will cost between $4,000 and $5,000 to complete the tenweek study. Grass Valley Chamber of Commerce has already contributed’ $250 to the fund and Ike Bell says the Nevada City chamber will probably dig up $200. Yuba county supervisers have set aside $1,000. Coordination efforts to date have been excellent; a meeting was held recently in Grass Valley and another was held in Marysville "Tuesday evening. Stanley Halls represents the Newada City chamber and William Mullis is city coun_cil representative on the committee. To return to our original thought, we must inevitably accept the fact that our economy is. largely dependent on how well we recall federal funds to this area. This project involves no stigma of asking for a handout. We believe we have something special in Camp Beale which will serve the best interests of the nation. But we must not wait supinely for the Great White Father to put his finger on us. Wee face tough: competition. We must accept the responsibility of community salesmanship . . . and if wre make the sale we will enjoy comfortable profits. —jwm. Happiness isn’t so much a’ matter of position as it is disposition. » _Girls used to wear unmentionables—now they ‘wear nothing to speak of. poe o E.ver notice—when a man gets, up near the top ‘of the ladder of success—there are always a few. _ friends and fellow workers steadying it for him? Ul PARDON ME, MIND ft an @ INTERRUPT? Just Wonderin’ I Wonder at the big H bomb— I'm sure I'll never make one And then I’m’ equally sure, I'd rather make than break one. Several years ago there was a book, popular at the time, in which the author asserted that the modern mind of man is a conglomerate make-up of many minds inherited from distant-ages of the past. There was the primitive mind, -inherited from arboreal ancestors, who nested in trees, or squatted in caverns among the rocks. Next there was the savage mind, developed while Neolithic man, stone weapons in hand, slugged his way among the monstrous beasties that beleaguered his pathway and thwarted his progress and menaced his life. There is also the child mind which prevailed in the childhood of the world, when gods and goddesses dwelt on Mount Olympus and fays and fairies danced upon the river banks to the pipes of Pan. Man also inherited the medieval mind -with all of its bigotries, prejudices and intolerances and these minds and many others were poured into the crucible of the ages, stirred by the hand of time and passed down to modern man in lieu of a mind that should by this time be complete and in good working order. What a mess! As we look about the world of today and see the effects of modern mind over modern matters, is it any wonder that I for one, begin to think of the world as cock-eyed and of its inhabitants as upon those lost in a dense cloud of smog? erybody is queer but thee and me, and sometimes I think thee is a little queer.” Now to add to the fear and confusion of mankind, our scientists come along with the H bomb, a thing well calculated to strike terror to the hearts of earth’s bravest. It seems that our President is to determine whether this great instrument of destruction is to be made or consigned to the limbo of things best forgotten. No one man should be entrusted with so momentous a decision. No one man should be entrusted with the lives and deaths of millions of his fellow humans. Were I Mr. Truman, with this great burden upon my conscience, I'd leave Washington, and escape to some vast wilderness; there I would sit me down and think for forty days and nights and longer and as I] thought I would try to keep my primitive, savage and medieval minds in abeyance and so think, if possible with the mind that should belong to civilized man in this great age of strife and folly. Were I Mr. Truman, . think I would write a letter to Mr. Stalin after this fashion, ‘‘Dear Mr. Stalin, We, you and I, be two small men in two big places, and it is within our power to put ‘a stop to armament races, to control atomic power, to use it for the good of mankind and not

for indiscriminate slaughter. Can't we get together and accomplish something of real value? Can't we so live that we may escape the brand of Cain?” I have never heard of.any real means of controlling this devastating force called atomic energy. Is there any means whereby it may be rendered impotent as a weapon of slaughter? What would happen to us all if one of our vaunted stock piles should suddenly let go—blow up and release the deadly powers-upon our modern ways of life? Until I receive an answer to these questions, . shall avoid areas where atomic bombs are stored, manu. factured or purveyed. A d as for the H bomb, if Mr. Truman gives its makers the green light, . hope they, will name it when completed, Good Bye to Hope, for that in my estimation is just what it will be. That a surge of reason may flow through the modern mind of man is a prayer we may well utter, for truly mankind seems about to dash over the precipice into the deep mael-— strom, of destruction. “ADELINE MERRIAM CONNER. Is it any wonder that I say, “Ev' Lookin Z % Z MMM fy SOUTH TO NORTH:.. The friendliness and_ helpfulness’ of the folks ‘in Nevada City belies the provincial wisecrack of the northerner who said “No good comes from south of ‘the Tehachapis.” Because I’ will readily admit I’m a native son. Not only that, but my wife ‘and I and all three of the minor McKenneys were born in southern California. . People don’t look away when we confess it. We are treated civilly; lwe haven’t been asked for our passports. immense appreciation for the beauty ofand the historic traditions of Nevada We come with an this Sierran wonderland county. We have been critical and sometimes embarrassed by the queer fads and _ fancies which seem to have found fertile ground for growth in the Southland. In short, we are prepared to adopt Nevada City as our home, to accept and respect its serious conventions, to join in its frivolities, and to contribute to-the community what talents and energies may be ours to give. We come from. semi-desert country, where a half-inch rain produces three-inch headlines. The Southland is intensely conscious of water; its chief spokesmen predict that lack of water will curtail or limit population growth. We see the forests, lakes, and streams of Nevada County as a great natural asset which should be cherished and preserved. If the matter of selling or granting water rights to outside. interests should be a local community issue, you will see me standing with the conservationists who would keep these rights for any forseeable need in this county. * * * INTRODUCING .. “Lookin’ Around” -is a column title I have used for 16 years on three. other weekly papers. My view may sometimes be dim, my thought rarely ponderous. But like Preston Tucker, I usually get acquittal on grounds of pure intent. I abhor disorder, non-responsibility, and dishonesty and nothing makes me madder than to see a little man kicked around by a bulky bully. But as the’ title indicates, my theughts—. such as they may, be—are usually those of an observer and not of a knight galloping about in shining: armor. Ken ‘and I will share. responsibilities in the ownership. and operation of The Nugget. Though we have met but briefly, we feel that our personalities are compatible and that we can bring to this business certain parallel skills and experiences which will compliment each other and assure a good newspaper. We haven’t even discussed politi¢s. He may boost for Norman Thomas on his side of the page and-I may urge a Hoover comeback. But on at least one point we will stand together politically: we cherish the American ideals of freedom. Nothing else matters if this paper constantly stands for integrity in government (with as much of the former and as little of the latter as possible) and applies the test of ‘what’s best for our people?’ We are not going to set the world on fire and we won't make a lot of promises. But we like to work, neither of us would be happy outside the newspaper business, and we have a lot of faith in the people and the prospects of Nevada County. I must lean heavily on Ken these first few days for orientation. But we must both look to you, our readers, for daily guidance. Your letters and visits will be appreciated. Naturally, we want to build a sound business in our print shop and newspaper but to be perfectly frank about it, we Know we cannot be successful unless we serve you well and faithfully. * * * THE BOSS AND THE TRIBE.. This weekend the Boss and the three younger’ Macs will come to make their home at 341 Clay Sstreet. . The Boss isn’t a newspaperwOman, presumably she reigns only in the home, though her power is mighty and felt in curious ways. .A friend back in Yucaipa asked what my first column subject would. be in Nevada City and while I hesitated the Boss helpfully filled in: ‘‘He’ll introduce the family, of course; he always does. And he’ll call me the Goodwife and it just makes me shudder.’’ So I’ve turned the tables on her by calling her the Boss and she won’t love that either. At home I call her Honey; in slightly more formal surroundings I call her-Ruth, but never her full name, which is Lee Ruth. Jody is the oldest; she’s 13. And she’ll murder me because she announced as. we were preparing to move that her name in Nevada City would be Mickey. her schoolmates in the eighth grade won’t see this. name is Wanda Jo. We are a family of aliases. Her real Patsy is our second daughter; she’s 10: Patsy isn’t boyconscious like Jody (I mean Mickey) yet, but she doesn’t have tobe. She blinks her eyes and walks over their prostrate bodies. I haven’t actually seen this phenomena but that’s the wer I hear it at the supper table. Her full name is Patricia ee. : x Jon is our eight-year old boy: Life is a little complex for him with two older sisters and all. What frustrations may result find their counter-balance in the. collector’s art. The Boss nearly fainted once when he dragged home a green goat’s hide. Her voice was. cool and controlled when she ordered this new treasure deposited at theback end of the lot until Daddy came home. Jon and Daddy labored for days over that bloody hide but it neverdid turn into a throw-rug for the den. I swore if he brought home a bee-hive I'd. toss it out the window -without delay, together with those ideas in the Parent’s books about “training for citizenship through father-son companionship.” ling first. —. Pll just have to hope that:* We'll go back to splitting kind-