The Press: The Roaring Presses

¶ Cartoonist Al (Li'l Abner) Capp ad-libbed his way into a radio job. On the strength of his guest appearances on Information Please and Town Meeting, he was hired as summer substitute for Drew Pearson. "I'll be a humorous news commentator," said Capp, "if I can find any humorous news to comment on."

¶ Dow, Jones & Co.'s Wall Street Journal (circ. 130,000), which has split out of its narrow financial news britches, took another step toward its goal of a national newspaper. Already published in New York and San Francisco, the Journal added a Southwest edition, printed in Dallas. Starting circulation: 12,000.

¶ Westbrook Pegler, back from his spring vacation with his adrenals fully recharged, read up on the Wall Street strike. Peg had some advice for the cops on how to handle pickets trying the "lie-down" technique: "They deserved to be clubbed senseless or, if that were necessary, to be clubbed to death in the interests of public order and government. The police should always use all the force necessary to maintain order and . . . should use more than is necessary, rather than less."

¶ Because four French Communist dailies had failed to show a profit, the government, which controls the plants that publish them, suspended the papers. The New York Times punned:

FOUR COMMUNIST DAILIES CLOSED BY FRANCE FOR BEING IN THE RED