2/11-2/17/51

Feb 11 Sunday We got ready for the painter's today. I played Sylvia a game of checkers which she won.

Feb 12 Lincoln's Birthday The painter came today and did the kitchen and bathroom the first day. I took the kids to Fordham in the morning and got slacks for myself at Alexander's $7. The kids got some knick-knacks in Kress's. In the afternoon I took them to the schoolyard where we played ball. North Koreans drove Allied patrols out of Seoul.

Feb 13 Communists counter-attacks cut an 18 mile wedge into the U.N. lines The U.S. is consulting its allies on the question of crossing the 38th parallel again. Price ceilings were lifted on sugar, eggs, milk wheat etc. The painter did our bedroom. 

Feb 14 A furious battle raged in Central Korea on a 20-mile front. MacArthur admitted the UN troops could not cross the 38th parallel now. The state Senate avoided a showdown on the McGoldrick rent plan as 2000 tenants invaded Albany to fight it. Majority leader Wicks adjourned the session before the rent issue could be taken up. The Senate Crime Investigating Comm. opened hearings on N.Y. rackets. Gambler Frank Costello was the first witness to be quizzed. The painter did the children's room.

Feb 15 Communist troops tried for a breakthrough in the center. SoKorean commandos made a raid on Wonsan. The State Senate voted 32-24 to put through the 15% annual rent increase. The UN fired three Committee members of the Employers Association. Two more racketeers were questioned in the crime investigation. Senators OKd the 18 year old draft and 26 month service. Welterweight champ Ray Robinson won Jake LaMotta's middleweight title by a T.K.O. in the 13th round. It was a torrid fight with Jake taking a bad beating. The painter finished our ap't.

Feb 16 Allied tanks broke a Chinese trap and rescued US-French troops. We continue to claim thousands of Chinese killed and wounded every day. Marshall stated that 100,000 more soldiers are going to Europe. Labor withdrew from the Wage Stabilization Board after turning down a 10% ceiling on future raises. Food prices continued to rise to new record highs. A fact finding Committee after a 4 month study recommended $350 to $1025 increases for teachers. It also asked the end of the boycott of extra-curricular activities by teachers. The three day crime hearing ended with contradictory testimony between Frank Costello and Water Supply Commissioner JJ Moran.

 Feb 17 The kids wrestled on the floor while Sylvia told him Eugene how to act when he grew up and had a girl friend. Stalin announced that War was not inevitable. He accused the U.S. however of leading the UN towards war and disintegration. He also said Russian troops were demobilized. The City Council voted unanimously to outlaw Jim Crow in Stuyvesant Town and other public housing projects when it approved the Brown Isaacs bill. The Board of Regents banned a motion picture for the first time in its history when it disapproved "The Miracle". A grand jury whitewashed the murder of Negro John Derrick by two white policemen. Played Eugene two chess games.