Onions to You, No. 590

Baseball fans in Portland, Ore. got a hot earful one night recently when they tuned in on little KWJJ ("The Voice From Broadway") for the nightly roundup of baseball scores. What they heard was an indignation meeting held in disregard of the U.S. Censor's caution against "man in the street" programs. Its purport: that Portland police are too bloody rough.

Announcer on the impromptu show was Les Marcus, a long, lean, droopy-eyed newscaster. After reciting the day's results in the majors, Marcus declared he had seen "a very unsportsmanlike exhibition" a few minutes before. As he worked on his script, he said, he heard a commotion in the street. Rushing out, Marcus said he saw Cop No. 590 cuffing one of two unruly drunks he had arrested.

Les Marcus thought "the people should know." He angrily corralled some of the spectators and took them with him to the microphone. These men from the street backed Marcus' charges of unnecessary roughness, differed only on how many times the drunk had been knocked down. When the last guest had had his say, Marcus slung his final scallion: "Onions to you, No. 590."

Results:

> Hotheaded citizens showered a barrage of telephone calls on bewildered desk sergeants.

> No. 590 explained that he had been attacked by the two drunks while trying to call the Black Maria, had quieted the bigger of the pair by "stiff-arming" him several times.

> Police Chief Harry M. Niles threatened to file a complaint with FCC.

> John Egan, KWJJ manager, offered to apologize.

> Newscaster Marcus handed in his resignation, had it handed right back.

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