European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 06, 1980, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday june 6, 1980 the stars and stripes Poge 11 Vincent Van Gogh used to Cut off his ear and Send it to a lady Friend As a Gin. Afterwards be would paint a picture of himself without his ear on. Everybody said he was closer and possibly crazy. That was before paintings began fetching $5 million per Canvas and sometimes s6.4 million at auctions. If people had known Van Gogh was doing such valuable work they would have spoken better of him. It s wonderful How $5 million in a Man s pocket improves the Public s estimate of his Char Acter. In those Days no matter How Rich you were you had to be satisfied with going around in Barouchas and Brougham and hansom cabs. There was none of that Rio this morning Paris this afternoon business which today puts people in such. Free spend ing spirits and hones their appreciation of the arts. Bumping along behind horses at three Miles an hour they were too uncomfortable to cherish their artists. The horse drawn people of Paris used to say i Don t mind an artist As Long As he knows his  his place was an unheated Garret empty of All furnishings including food. Such was Vincent Van Gogh s digs. Thes european edition col. Rose stauber it. Col. A. Taylor Usan Deputy to tar in chef Mert to i editor Elmer o. Manager Henry s. Epstein__orcmatl4fl manner this news mar is an author lied unofficial publication for . Armed forces overseas. The stars and stripes h published i conk Netlon with the armed forces information program of the department of defense. Contents of the stars and stripes Are not necessarily the official View of me it . Government depart ment of defense or the . European command. The appearance of Ali Petavs in this newspaper concerning commercial publications does not constitute an endorse ment of the department of defense including the military departments. 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Baker parisians living today remember their grandparents telling them of seeing Van Gogh lurking outside cafes with his ear off  and mumbling could Yew mind me a couple of francs till the end of the week my own grandmother recalled touring Europe As a child with her parents and stay ing at a hotel in Aries when the Bellboy delivered a Small package containing an artistically wrapped ear. American to the Core she was incapable of understanding europeans and made a scene with the Man Ager. Is this someone s idea of a joke she demanded. The manager examined the package. A Madame you Are the accidental recipient of Monsieur Van Gogh s ear he explained. It was intended for one of his lad friends on the third floor and has been delivered to you by , she insisted that the hotel take it off her hands. If she had kept it in the family we would be Rich today. Curiously Van Gogh himself did not suspect that he was a walking Gold mine but wasted his time drinking with prostitutes and arguing with Gauguin about How to mix pigments and whether it was All right to paint a Cornfield purple. Afterwards the two of them would make it up and go into Avignon and try to borrow a couple of francs till the end of the week from people in the bistros. They presented a disgusting spectacle to the solid citizens of the town according to the memoirs of the famous Art dealer Magasin who was in that part of the world at the time looking for paintings by Long dead artists to Market. On this particular evening he wrote Van Gogh though he had his car on looked particularly reprehensible. How s about lending us a couple of francs till the end of the week he asked. I was repelled by this waste of Talent. Vincent i said you Are one of humanity s great artists. Quit worrying about eating go Home and paint and your struggles will be rewarded with millions and millions of francs per Canvas Vincent asked How Long he would have to wait for the francs to Start rolling in. About 90 years i said. This seemed to depress him profoundly for he Cut off his ear and sent it to a lad Friend in  despite a tendency to be despondent about his work taking a few generations to pay off. Van Gogh was Good sport enough to take Magasin s word not to Cut off his fingers As Well and so we have his magnificent paintings today to keep us or a few of us Lucky enough to own private jets comfortably hedged against inflation. Mag Asin put it beautifully when he told Van Gogh people May not know anything about painting but they know when a Painter is dead enough not to turn out any More pictures that will reduce the value of their  can a York times letters to the editor abuse of animals deplored every once in awhile a letter appears in the stars and stripes where someone tries to Wake people up to the abuse neglect and suffering of animals at the hands of so called humans. There always seems to be someone who immediately comes to the defense of the abuser using terms like ignorant or Misin formed with abandon. Most of the people out there Sec animal lovers As weird old biddies who have nothing to do but write letters and cuddle their cats and dogs. Well i m neither an old Biddy nor do i do an awful lot of cuddling As most of the time i m too darned Busy doing what i can to make this world a better place for All creatures who can t speak for themselves. And believe me All the other caring people i know Are the same Way. We Are a Little tired of being bad mouthed by All you insensitive clods out there. The lobby Hunters the Messy pet owners the abusive children the ignorant parents the of so Loving Rodeo cowboys the so responsible trappers the people who dump Pineir pets the moment thing get a Little bumpy the dedicated scientists who sacrifice millions of animals yearly need Lessly senselessly for the Good of Man  maybe it is time that we gentle souls band together More tightly and put up a better tight against All the suffering that is brought upon helpless creatures by the mighty Dollar sign the ignorance and the carelessness and the Don t give a Damn attitudes so Many people permanently Dis play. Maybe we arc outnumbered but we do have advantages. We have compassion and you have nothing we Are civilized where you Are not we care and you Are empty we arc human where you Are what Nina i. Burtz Ludwig Surg Germany. Tito died 35 years too late this is in reply to a letter printed in the stars and stripes about Josip Broz Tito. I would like to state a few facts about this Man that no one cares to mention. Though he was a great statesman tit was a cold blooded killer not much better than Hitler or Stalin. In his concentration amps thousands of people died horrible deaths. I was born in a Small town in Yugoslavia and was eight years old by the end of world War ii. A great Many people left Pur town out of fear of the advancing russians. Myi i. I cannot am disagrees with ruling h h ,�rciu editor s note the following " w0r letter refers to an associated press Arti Cle which appeared May 21 in the stars and stripes titled. Army can t discharge go solely because he or she is homosexual judge  concerning . District court judge Terence t. Evans ruling on homosexuals it is a shame and an outrage that they Are allowed to stay in the military. Their very desires show that they Are unnatural and unstable. I cannot stay in an organization which condones and cat ers to them. Neither my children nor my grandchildren will Ever serve beside such depraved individuals. It is about time our country quit the pretence and lying for no longer can we put on our Money in god we  airman . Bruce f. Fill Hihn a Germany family however did not get very far at the Edge of our town the retreating German troops took our horses and we had to stay. I will never forget the Day that Tito s troops marched into our town. The atrocities that followed for two months Are too painful to describe. After two months the survivors including our own family of nine were taken to one of these Camps. After one year Only my brother Mother and myself were left alive. We Are alive Only because my Mother having nothing to lose attempted an escape that was  t and will not hate Tito because the and prejudice Only bring out the evil in this world. But i can neither mourn his death nor keep quiet after hearing such Praise for this Man. For me Tito died 35 years too late. Friederike Mlecka Schaffenburg Germany reminder All utters to the editor must contain the full printed name and address of the writer and must be signed. We do not read unsigned letters. But we will withhold your name on request and protect your or Stacy. Writers Are encouraged to include phone number and Economy address especially if they desire i fast reply. Because of the Large volume of mail this Page receives Dally letters that Are Brief and to the Point hate a much belter Chance of being published. Keep up with the news Vav the Home delivery accept my subscription to Lori t stripes Nam Pusl Spinti St blot big no Lilly Wpm no 1 will Pat ii Ami of ushr Carfell wm1nhi comi1 too Sulci cur api no housing Asia take advantage of the stars & stripes Home delivery service in most government housing. Please plete this Normand mail0