Bill drafted to give aid to ‘Little Fellow’
Reserve board backs measure to provide credit for small business
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Roving Reporter
By Ernie Pyle
Somewhere in Africa – (by wireless)
A good friend of mine on this southern trip was Lt. Leslie Boyd of Ontario, California. His work causes him to travel a lot, and he knows remote parts of Central Africa and the Middle East as well as he knows California.
We went exploring and gadget-shopping together in several parts of the world. One day in a native market on the coast of Africa, Lt. Boyd and I were strolling around looking for things to buy, and a beautifully embroidered fez caught my eye. So, I asked two Negro shopkeepers sitting inside their stalls:
How much?
One of the women was very old, the other quite young. They named a price, and Les and I automatically threw up our hands and pooh-poohed the whole idea. Of course, that’s the normal procedure – they ask about double what they expect to get, and if you paid them what they asked, they’d be disgusted. The point is to keep on haggling, you coming up and they coming down, until finally you arrive at about the price you both knew it should be all the time.
But in this case, we just said the price was too much and walked on. There was no other fez market as nice as that one, and so a half-hour later we wound up again before this stall, ready to start bargaining. But by now, the two shop owners weren’t interested. They just don’t want to play. Apparently, I had made a breach of local business etiquette by walking away when I really was interested. And they never did sell it to me, either. They were perfectly friendly and nice, but they just wouldn’t talk price anymore. They knew I would now pay more than I had originally intended, yet they finally let me go to another stall and buy a fez from another fellow.
That’s the way I think business should be conducted – transactions by whim only. If you suddenly don’t feel like making some money, then just skip it. If I could only be like that, I could just write a column or two a month.
‘Tips’ on picture taking
These African Negroes have a sense of fun about them all the time. Another incident happened the same day. Lt. Boyd and I stopped to talk to the woman from whom I had bought the material for my pajamas, and we were welcomed like long-lost members of the family.
Boyd had his camera, and he wanted to get a shot of us in the market, so he buttonholed a Negro passerby and showed him how to work the camera. Then we got the Negro woman to stand between us, with her little naked baby hanging to her dress. Usually, if you ask a native to pose for you, he will if you “dash” him a shilling or so, but since I was by now an old and valued customer, the woman wouldn’t think of asking me for a tip.
When it was finished, we shook hands all around and walked on. As we passed a stall a few feet away, a big fat woman, apparently madder than a hornet, began screaming at us.
She yelled:
Don’t you dare take my picture without dashing me!
Lt. Boyd said:
We don’t want to take your picture.
‘You’re a bad man’
That seemed to make her all the madder. She hollered:
I won’t let you take my picture without dashing me.
Boyd said:
You’re being a bit previous. We didn’t ask to take your picture. We don’t want to take your picture. In fact, we wouldn’t take your picture if you asked us to.
The woman yelled back, “You’re a bad man,” and we walked on around the market.
About 10 minutes later, clear on the other side of the big market, I was jostled in the crowd and here was this same woman, apparently still mad.
She said to me:
He cussed me.
I said:
Why, he didn’t cuss you at all. What’s the matter with you?
Lt. Boyd stepped over and started to get mad himself, but I could see a sparkle in the woman’s eyes behind the ferocious look on her face, so I said quietly:
Naw, he didn’t cuss you. He likes you. He’d have used bad words to cuss you, and he didn’t use any bad words now, did he?
The woman looked down at the ground and still said:
He cussed me.
You can’t exactly convey in words how you can sense the devil in somebody, but somehow, I could tell that this big scowling black woman couldn’t hold on much longer. So, all of a sudden, I started laughing. Whereupon she began laughing fit to kill and slapping her leg, and as we walked off grinning, she called out, “Okay, goodbye,” in the friendliest tone you ever heard.
She had made the whole thing up and had walked clear around the market just to put on the final act of her little comedy. You can’t help liking people who get that much fun out of life.
Parachuting Americans grins like Moto and saves life
Zero pilots mistake Yank for comrade when he gives them a big, buck-toothed smile
By George Jones, United Press staff writer
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U.S. Navy Department (June 18, 1943)
Communiqué No. 416
South Pacific.
On June 16, during the night, Army Liberator (Consolidated B‑24) heavy bombers attacked Japanese positions on Ballale Island, Shortland Island Area. Results were not observed. One U.S. bomber is missing.
Further details of the air battle over Guadalcanal Island (previously mentioned in Navy Department Communiqué No. 415) reveal that the Japanese air forces engaged were estimated to have been sixty bombers and sixty fighters.
One U.S. merchant ship and one landing barge were damaged. U.S. personnel casualties were: 25 killed, 29 injured, and 22 missing afloat and ashore. The latest report confirms that six U.S. planes were lost, but the pilot of one plane was rescued.
North Pacific.
On June 16, three additional Japanese soldiers were captured in the Khlebnikof Area, Attu Island. The total number of enemy captured is 24.
Communiqué No. 417
The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter ESCANABA (WPG-77), assigned to convoy duty in the North Atlantic, has been reported lost.
All hands except two enlisted men were lost with the ship. Next of kin have been notified.
The Pittsburgh Press (June 18, 1943)
WLB REJECTS LEWIS DEMANDS; $7 WAGE STANDS FOR 2 YEARS
Ban placed on wartime mine strike
Portal pay termed bid for general raise; vote is 8–4
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Big bombers pound Naples; Sicily raided
RAF hits Italian supply city; island airports bombed by U.S.
By George Palmer, United Press staff writer
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7,200 planes made in May
Washington (UP) –
The War Production Board disclosed today that American production of airplanes during May reached the record figures of 7,200 planes.
For Army use: $7.5 billion
Air Force to receive over third of total
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OPA to order one-price lid for each city
Controversial plan adopted; more rumblings due in Congress
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Coast Guard cutter sunk
All except two of crew are missing
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U.S. casualties 76 in latest air fight
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House may push Elk Hills-Navy oil deal probe
Contract terminated as Knox, Standard head defend terms
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Navy accused of ‘skinning’
‘Renegotiated’ out $16 million, manufacturer says
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Victory taxes to hide July 1, return later
Wartime levies will be waiting for you in September and March
By Dale McFeatters, Press business editor
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