$250,000 on the Bed

POLITICAL NOTES $250,000 on the Bed Dudley J. LeBlanc, who peddled patent medicine (Hadacol) with a sideshow of dancing girls and other razzle-dazzle, is now selling Dudley J. LeBlanc with some of the same techniques. Last week, LeBlanc, a Louisiana state senator, and Lieutenant Governor William J. Dodd, both candidates for the Democratic nomination for governor of Louisiana, talked about forming a combined ticket. One would run for governor, the other for lieutenant governor. The Hadacol baron, who had just sold his business for $8,200,000,* proposed that each put up $250,000 to finance the campaign. They set a date to talk. "Bring along your nickels, friend," said LeBlanc, "and then let us talk about who runs at the head of the ticket and who runs in second place."

At the conference hour, a delegation of Dodd supporters headed by New Orleans Criminal Sheriff John J. Grosch filed into the LeBlanc suite in a New Orleans hotel. Asked Dudley: "Where's Dodd? And where is Dodd's money?" Sheriff Grosch stepped forward and said that any merger would depend on the lineup: Dodd would run for governor; LeBlanc would have to play second fiddle.

LeBlanc promptly called off the conference, and called in reporters. "Me, I'm running for governor and I'm not stepping down," he said. Then he kicked aside his bedroom slippers and picked up a black satchel. He clumped the contents on the bed, big bundles of currency in $50, $100 and $1,000 bills. There, he said, was his $250,000. "And that's not all," he beamed, "I've got $100,000 in my wallet."

*Last week the Federal Government slapped a $656,151 lien against the LeBlanc Corp. for taxes past due on 1950 income. LeBlanc said that was a problem for the new owners, since they acquired both debts and assets. Said he: "If you sell a cow and the cow dies, you can't do anything to a man for that."

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