No Footsie-Wootsie

For a month Berlin had been deceptively quiet, as though the antagonists, while not relaxing their holds, had paused for breath. Last week the silence was broken by a brass-lunged blast from Colonel Frank L. Howley, hard-bitten commander of the city's U.S. sector. On New Year's Day, two or three U.S. officials telephoned their Russian opposite numbers to wish them a prosperous New Year. When he heard of this incident last week, Howley's quick-triggered temper exploded:

"Prosperous New Year--like hell! Instructions in the Russian army manual are not to mix with us except when essential to fulfill their missions. These days we aren't trying to help the Russians fulfill their missions." Howley promptly ordered all fraternizing with Russians in Berlin to stop, forthwith. Cried he: "None of my men are going to play footsie-wootsie with the Russians!"

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