The Alamance Gleaner
- . m 0
LXIH GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY, AUGUST 26, 1937 No. 2$
Sew a Review of Current Events
CHINA'S HORROR GROWS
Thousands Die in Unofficial War . . . Senate Confirms
Black Appointment . . . House Debates Deficiency Bill
^^jZLtrtuul U/. PicJuzJui
* ^ SUMMARIZES THE WORLD'S WEEK
? Western Newspaper Union.
Declared or Not, It's War
CHANGHAI'S "war" of 1932 was a
^ second-rate movie sham battle
compared with what's going on over
there now. The city of 3,500,000 in
habitants and its environs are a
scene of destruction, terror, flames
and death on a mass scale the hor
ror of which is unthinkable.
Thousands upon thousands of ci
vilians lie dead, dying and wounded,
and the toll increases day after day.
No estimate has even been attempt
ed to determine the amount of cas
ualties among the Chinese and Jap
anese fighting forces. Indeed such
an estimate today might be woefully
inadequate tomorrow, for reports
tell of whole brigades being shot
or blown to bits in a single encoun
ter.
Square mile after square mile,
especially in the native Chapei dis
trict, has been gutted by fires that
rise in the wake of bombs and artil
lery shells. Millions of men, wom
en and children face slower, even
more terrible death by hunger, for
who is to bring supplies from the
outlying farm fields while the whole
area is under terrific fire?
Even in the International Settle
ment life is fleeting, insecure, for
bombs and shells drop there, too.
And with 1,000,000 refugees inside to
be fed, shops are rapidly locking
their doors to protect their wares
from rioters.
As this is written, the Chinese
land forces, outnumbering the Jap
anese four to one, are forcing the
invaders slowly back to the Whang
poo in fierce ground fighting. Wheth
er the Japanese reinforcements will
be able to turn the tide of battle is
problematical. At the same time
Japanese warships ? half the entire
Japanese fleet must be in the
Whangpoo ? are showering explod
ing shells upon huge concentrations
of Chinese soldiers.
Eye-witnesses reported that the
Japanese had concentrated some 40
destroyers, six cruisers, four dread
naughts, an airplane carrier and
many gunboats in the rivers near
Shanghai. Only through a clever
maneuver did the Chinese prevent
them from gaining the upper
reaches of the Whangpoo and shell
ing Shanghai from the rear. The
Chinese, in a surprise attack, cap
tured six Japanese merchant ships,
sailed them into the heart of the
channel and scuttled them, prevent
ing passage.
American authorities in Shanghai
decided upon immediate evacuation
by the 3,800 Yanks living there. The
danger which confronted them was
emphasized when stray Japanese
bombs blasted the American Bap
tist mission, leaving the fate of 20
persons inside in grave doubt.
United States marines were on
hand, of course, to offer what pro
tection they could to American na
tionals, and reinforcements were
quick in leaving San Diego, Calif.,
to join them. The U. S. S. Augusta,
flagship of Uncle Sam's China
squadron, lay in the Whangpoo
alongside the Japanese ships. With
shrapnel flying about their ears,
Americans were getting out of
China on every available ship.
It was not considered likely that
President Roosevelt would invoke
the neutrality act so long as no
"official" state of war between
Japan and China existed. This
would involve the declaration of em
bargoes on arms and on the exten
sion of credits to both nations, a
situation which would be of definite
aid to the aggressor, Japan, since
China is in far greater need of war
materials.
Japan continued to "defend" it
self, officially, from the wicked
Chinese, whom its foreign office
characterized as "prejudiced."
However, the "defense" was being
carried on in the other fellow's back
yard. Japanese authorities con
tinued to insist that they meant no
harm to the Chinese people, and
that their aim was still for the co
operation of China, Manchukuo,
and Japan. They also revealed that
voluntary contributions to the na
tion's war chest, coming from all
over Japan, had passed the $2,500,
000 mark.
Question Black's Eligibility
THE senate confirmed the Presi
dent's nomination of Sen. Hugo
L. Black of Alabama to the Supreme
court, 63 to 16, but only after a
bitter fight, following which the mi
nority protested that the confirma
tion had been railroaded through.
Six Democrats and ten Republi
Appointee ill judicial mien.
cans voted against Black. The Dem
ocratic insurgents, led by Edward
R. Burke (Neb.) and Royal S. Cope
land (N. Y.) based their objec
tions principally upon charges that
he was associated with the Ku KIllx
Klan, and therefore unfitted to sit
with the high tribunal for reasons
of racial and religious prejudice.
The Republicans, notably William
E. Borah (Idaho), argued that he
could not legally become a member
of the court.
That his eligibility might be tested
before the court itself was a possi
bility when Attorney Albert Levitt,
former special assistant to Attorney
General Homer S. Cummings/ filed
a plea for leave to pray an order
for Black to show affirmatively why
he should be permitted to serve as
an associate justice. He raised the
same legal questions as the Repub
lican minority had:
1. That Black could not become a
justice because during his term as
a senator the Sumners retirement
act was passed, permitting justices
to retire at full pay. The Constitu
tion provides that no member of
congress shall be appointed to an
office which was created or the
emolument of which was increased
during his membership in congress.
2. That no vacancy existed on the
Supreme court anyway, since Jus
tice Willis Van Devanter had only
retired, not resigned, and may still
be called for judicial service by the
chief justice.
Grist from the Mill
A FTER months of wrangling o\*jr
the Supreme court measure,
the wages and hours bill, the ever
normal-granary bill and other ad
ministration "musts" the house of
representatives began to act upon
some other legislation in haste, with
a view to adjournment some day,
some time.
The house appropriations commit
tee reported out the year's last "de
ficiency" measure to supply funds
for government operations over
looked in the regular budget. It
called for $78,500,000; two previous
deficiency measures, totaling nearly
a billion, had been passed. The
committee turned down requests
from the executive department for
$43,000,000 in additional appropria
tions. Some of the appropriations
recommended were $23,000,000 for
new buildings, $3,000,000 for federal
participation in the New York
world's fair and $1,500,000 for par
ticipation in the San Francisco
world's fair. Funds for the opera
tion of the Jones-Bankhead farm
tenancy act and for naval building
were denied altogether; appropria
tions for payments to federal land
banks and the Federal Farm Mort
gage corporation, and 'the national
labor relations board were sliced' se
verely.
The house passed the low-cost
housing bill, but with so many al
terations that it had to go to a joint
committee for the differences to be
straightened out before it could be
sent to the White House. The sen
ate had approved a bond issue of
$700,000,000; the house shaved it
to $500,000. The house also raised
the percentage of funds which local
communities must contribute to
projects; increased the limitation of
cost of a single dwelling to $5,000
or $1,000 a room; and cut the limit
of any one state's share in the funds
from 20 per cent to 10 per cent.
The house also passed a bill de
signed to plug the tax loopholes by
which, it was alleged, the wealthy
have been, legally or illegally,
avoiding the payment of income
taxes which they have a moral if
not a legal right ,to pay. The ex
tremely complicated bill carried
unanimously.
Campaign Aftermath
'"TURNED down by the house rules
committee when he demanded a
special investigation. Rep. Bertrand
H. Snell of New York, Republican
floor leader, has carried direct to At
torney General Homer S. Cummings
his charges of violation of the fed
eral corrupt practices act by the
Democratic national committee. The
charges arise from National Chair
man James A. Farley's ingenious
method of replenishing the party's
treasury by selling Democratic con
vention books, autographed by Pres
ident Roosevelt, for $250 each.
In a letter to Cummings, Snell
charged:
1. That sales of the book, auto
graphed by the President, in 1936,
at $250 each constitute an illegal
collection of campaign funds and a
direct violation of section 313 of the
corrupt practices act.
2. That a Colorado man was the ;
"victim of eleven specific acts of
reprisals" by the resettlement ad
ministration and threats to "put him
out of business" since his refusal
last October to subscribe $500 to the
book sales campaign.
3. That a New Yorker was ap
proached by a Democratic campaign
committee agent with promise of
White House intervention in return
for a $25,000 subscription or retainer.
Snell attached affidavits and a
synopsis of the evidence he had fur
nished the house rules committee.
Rebels Press Santander
0 EPORTS from the insurgent
1 command said that 35 villages
and 1,000 prisoners had been cap
tured by the rebels in their drive on
Santander and the tiny remaining
slice of the northern Spanish coast
held by the government. The gov
ernment admitted that some ad
vances had been made, but refused
to concede that General Franco's
forces were threatening the main
defenses of the Santander area.
Franco, in his_new drive, was ua
ing the same tactics which eventu
ally brought about the downfall of
Bilbao after a siege of many
months. Bombing planes and artil
lery were pounding the fortifications
while other airplanes poured ma
chine gun fire upon trenches.
Rumor Has Farley Quitting
IS "Genial Jim" Farley going to
1 resign as postmaster general to
become the executive head of an
automobile firm? That's what his
friends in Washing
ton say, and Jim
has not denied the
rumor, as he has
promptly denied
similar rumors in
the past. Farley, it
is said, seeks to re
habilitate his per
sonal fortunes. As
postmaster general
he has lost $10,000 a
year over his salary
of $15,000 and is, ac
Jim Farley
cording to his friends, today in debt.
The story went that he would be
come an executive of the Pierce
Arrow Motor corporation, that 5,000
new shares of stock would be deliv
ered to him, and that he would also
be allowed to share in the $100,000
stock purchase warrants.
Wonder if the Pierce-Arrow sales
force is watching the charts for
Maine and VermontT
French Lifeline Periled?
The Paris press disclosed that
France considers herself in dan
ger of losing her possessions in the
Near East and of having her air
route connections with the Far East
severed because of revolts in Syria.
Censorship of the news out of
Syria is strict, but some reports
have leaked through which indicate
the revolt recently quelled was a
serious one. According to one dis
patch the population is extremely
dissatisfied with the terms of the
Franco-Syrian treaty signed last
September 10. As soon as the prop
er machinery can be set up, the
treaty provides, a unified Syrian
state Will be formed from four of
the five mandate areas which the
French hold in the Levant.
Large sections of the population
differ in religion from the Syrians in
Damascus. They are willing to be
governed by a foreign nation like
France, as they have been for cen
turies, but they do not want to b?
subjected to the will of the Damas
cus politicians.
? ? *?
Protests Lease of Ships
T A NACION, influential newspaper
*-'of Buenos Aires, Argentina,
caused some stir by vigorously pro
testing the proposed leasing of ob
solete United States warships to
Brazil, declaring that such an act
would upset the balance of naval
power in South America.
Secretary of State Hull had writ
ten a letter to the senate naval com
mittee asking congressional authori
ty for the leasing of over-age war
vessels to South American repub
lics, to be used for training.
Keep Your Eyes on the Pipe ? the World's Biggest
THESE pretty girls in a tobacco
field at South Boston, Va.. are
carrying the biggest pipe in the
world, made (or the National Tobac
co festival in their town. It is 18
feet long and two of the girls could
get into the bowl.
Zu Thornton W Burcfess
BLACKY THE CROW IS AS EX
CITED AS SAMMY JAY
WHEN Sammy Jay came flying
out, of the Green Forest
screaming at the top of his lungs
and so excited that he couldn't talk
straight, everybody said that he had
gone crazy. You see, he was too ex
cited to tell what the trouble was.
At last his cousin. Blacky the Crow,
He Caught Himself Just in Time
and Flew to tbe Top of the Near
est Pine Tree.
managed to get him calmed down
so that he could tell him all about
it. When he heard the story which
Sammy had to tell of the stranger
he had seen deep in the Green For
est he looked very much as the oth
er little people did when they heard
Sammy screaming foolishly.
You see, it was very hard for
Blacky to really believe that Sam
Sable Kolinsky
Sable dyed kolinsky is a real suc
cess now and comes in beautiful
dark brown. In the body of this
three-quarter length swagger coat,
which is elegant enough for evening
wear, the skins are used vertically,
with ? horizontal working of the
sleeves.
5
my had seen what he had said he
had. Not that he thought Sammy
was telling a wrong story! Oh, my,
no! Sammy was toojnuch in ear-_
nest. What Blacky thought was
that he had seen a lot more than he
really had. You see, Blacky had
lived a long time in the Green For
est and he never had seen or heard
of such a stranger as Sammy told
about.
He asked Sammy just where he
had seen the stranger, and Sammy
told him that it was way deep in
the Green Forest, beyond the pond
built by Paddy the Beaver. Now,
Blacky believes that the only way
to make sure of things is to see
them, and not be content with the
word of some one else. So he sud
denly made up his mind that he
would visit the place where Sammy
Jay had seen the stranger. He in
vited Sammy to go along with him,
but Sammy refused. It was very
plain to see that Sammy was afraid
of the stranger. Blacky chuckled
to himself as he flew over the pond
of Paddy the Beaver and so deep
into the Green Forest.
"The idea," said Blacky, "of
there being a stranger as big as
Farmer Brown's Boy and wearing
a black fur coat! Nobody like that
ever has lived in the Green Forest.
I guess I'd know if they had. Sam
my must have eaten something and
had a very bad dream, or else there
is something the matter with his
eyes."
He was talking to himself in this
way as he flew along, all the time
keeping a sharp watch for the
stranger, when, without any warn
ing, the stranger himself stepped
out from behind a tree almost un
der Blacky. It startled Blacky so
that he let out a frightened "Caw!
Caw!" and nearly turned a somer
sault in the air. He caught him
self just in time and flew to the top
of the nearest pine tree, where he
could look down and see all that was
going on.
Everything was just as Sammy
h%d said. The stranger did wear
"One thing about Sunday broad
casting," says pious Prudence, "a
husband can sleep through church
services without embarrassing his
wife and the minister."
WNU Service.
FIRST-AID TO AILING HOUSE
?y ROGER B. WHITMAN
WOOD FLOORS ON CONCRETE
f~\ NE very common complaint
that I hear is the bulging and
warping of wood floors that are laid
on concrete floors in cellars. A cel
lar floor is usually laid directly on
the earth, and inevitably contains
moisture. The surface may appear
dry, but even so, there is a con
tinuous passage of moisture through
the floor and into the air of the cel
lar. When anything is laid on the
concrete, evaporation is prevented;
moisture collects, and wood, lino
leum, rugs or anything similar will
suffer. A wood floor laid on con
crete is particularly likely to rot.
In absorbing moisture, wood swells
and buckles.
Any covering for a concrete cellar
floor should be waterproof and of
a material that will not rot. As
phalt, either in the form of tiles or
as a sheet, is satisfactory; for mois
ture cannot injure it. Asphalt tiles
can be had in many different colors,
and form a most attractive floor.
They are laid in asphalt cement,
which is also used in laying asphalt
in sheet form.
When a wood floor is to be laid on
concrete, one method is to cement it
down with a layer of the same kind
of asphalt cement; "mastic" is its
usual name. This is becoming a
very common method of laying a
wood floor on concrete, and is a
complete protection against rotting.
Also, there is a pleasant springi
ness to the floor. A less perfect
method, but one that has many ad
vantages, is to cover the concrete
with sheets of heavy waterproof felt,
with the edges overlapping. Two
by-fours are put down on this, and
the wood flooring laid on top. This
may not give complete protection
against rotting, but it is far better
than to lay the wood directly on the
concrete.
C By Roger B. Whitman
WNu Service.
MOPSY
wmi Servlc*.
Dickens' Home b Museum
The bouse where Charles Dickens
lived in London more than 100 years
ago, is now a museum, containing
the most comprehensive Dicirena li
brary in the world.
THE PANCAKE
By DOCGLAS MALLOCB
LI E SAYS, when I bring "home a
1 1 hat.
"Where in the world did jrou buy
that?"
"At So-and-So's,
And goedness knows
It's long enough since I have had
one!"
"The one you have is not a bad one.
But that's O. K.
But, anyway.
Your friends will ask you, with that
hat on.
If it was made that way, or sat on."
"Well, that's the very latest style
They're wearing now, so you can
smile."
He says, "No doubt.
Yes. laugh right out.
What puzzles me, I can't see
through it,
Why do it just because they do it?"
"Well, that's the thing
In style this spring ? "
"What I can't see. why spend good
money
For anything to just look funny?"
We never do have spats
Except on one thing, and thafa
hats.
You might as well
Not try to tell
A man why anything's good-looking.
For all he thinks about is cooking.
I'm mad tonight
Enough ta fight.
He said. "Ah, now I see the riddle:
Is this the pancake, or the griddle?"
e Douglas Mallorh. ? WNU Serrlc.
a black fur coat, he was as big
as Farmer Brown's boy, and he did
have great feet and the biggest
claws Blacky had ever seen. Blacky
felt just as if he ought to peck
himself to make sure that he was
awake. Of course he knew he was,
but he just couldn't make it seem
ao. ^
Now. Blacky sometimes gets as
excited as Sammy Jay, and this waa
one of the times. He started back
for the Green Meadow* as fast as
he could fly, and all the way he was
cawing at the top of his lungs. Sam
my Jay heard him long before he
saw him and Sammy grinned. "He
found him!" thought Sammy. "Now
he knows that I told the truth. My,
but he sounds just as crazy as I
ever did."
And then as Blacky came in sight
Sammy once more grew excited,
too, and began to scream questions
at the top of his lungs, until it was
hard to say who was screaming
the loudest, Sammy or his big cou
sin, Blacky the Crow.
C T. W. Buri ess.? WNU Ssrrlc*.
THE LANGUAGE
OF TOUR HAND 9
By Leicester K. Davis
I Public Udftr. Inc
Q CCASIONALLY one meets men
" and women whose greatest
mental zest is found in anything
which holds an element of risk.
Such seem to possess the gambler's
instinct, in business as well as so
cial life. Such persons are often
successful despite the dangers
which their natures court; but just
as often they find themselves on the
"losing end of the game."
The Finger of Speculative Mentality
Even the most casual survey of
this type of fourth finger will im
press you with the extreme length
and crookedness which are its most
pronounced characteristics. The
length of this type is exaggerated
by its leanness and the peculiar
knottiness of the knuckles. The
joints are set at decided angles,
which gives the entire finger a dis
torted appearance. This is most
noticeable with the hand extended
wide, when the entire finger falls far
away from the third finger.
The nail tip is long and pointed
with an extremely long and sharply
convexed nail, which is often cov
ered with small ridges running the
full depth of the nail. Under
backward pressure the finger is
found to be stiffly resilient
You need have no hesitancy in
placing the owner of such a fourth
finger as on* who is at least a
gambler at heart, and who enjoys
nothing better than activities gov
; eraed largely by chanc?.
WNU Strrict.