The Alamance Gleaner 1
* -
V?L LXX GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 1945 No. 61
WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS
Great Battle Shapes As Yanks
Move on Manila in Philippines;
Extend Controls on Home Front
Released by Western Newspaper Union.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: When opinions are expressed In these colemns, they are these of
Western Newspaper Union's news analysts and not necessarily ef this newspaper.)
I ?? i
JT PAC'FIC OCEAN
I 0 t f "
Key steps Is MaeArthor's return to the Philippines inelnde (1) land
ing en Leyte and neighboring islands; (2) invasion of Mindoro; (3)
landing on Marindnque, and (4) great invasion of main island of Luzon.
fACIFIC:
Sattle Looms
On the great plain leading south
ward to Manila in Luzon, the deci
sive battle of the
Philippines shaped up,
as the U. S. Sixth army
moved inland from an
expanding 25 - mile
beachhead on Lingayen
Gulf and the Japanese
brought up troops to
counter the liberators.
As the first large
scale open fighting of
the whole Pacific cam
paign loomed, after General
three years of arduous ""uoxed'
undercover jungle war- wa, Foe
fare, U. S. war planes
clouded the Philippine skies in end
less attacks upon enemy installa
tions and lines of communications
leading to the big battleground.
Like a good prize-fighter, General
MacArthur struck on Luzon in a
100-ship, 70-mile long convoy after |
successfully feinting the enemy out
? of position, with the result that
the American landings were almost
bloodless. In establishing a base on
Leyte, and overrunning Mindoro and
Marinduque, all just south of Luzon,
MacArthur compelled the enemy to
keep a strong guard strung below
Mqnila. Then, he moved to the
nofth.
With Luzon the center of their
whole Philippine defense system
guarding the Asiatic mainland, the
Japanese appeared determined to
put up a stiff fight for it, with the
enemy's top field marshal, Tomo
yuki Yamashita, reportedly com
manding same 200,000 troops.
Working in clo:e coordination with
the ground forces, Adm. Chester
Nimitz' Pacific fleet rode the ene
my's inner sea lanes in an effort to
prevent the Japanese from rushing
reinforcements to their Philippine
armies.
EUROPE:
Rffrh Aiiin
Their drive stopped, their flanks
under increasing pressure from
Fie'd Marshal Montgomery's forces
on the north and Lieutenant Gen
eral Bradley on the south, the Ger
mans slowly withdrew from their
big bulge in Belgium and Luxem
bourg, seeking satisfaction in their
claims that the offensive had re
lieved Allied pressure on the Ruhr
and Saar.
Meanwhile, the Nazis continued
their limited offensive in Alsace on
the southeastern end of the winding
Mb-mile front, shifting the weight of
their attacks to the Strasbourg re
gion after the U. S. Seventh army
blunted their attempt to split it in
two near Bitche.
Although relinquishing most of the
giaund gained during the initial
burst of his great December offen
sive, Field Marshal Von Rundstedt
managed to extricate the bulk of his
farces from the bulge, leaving only
scattered rearguards to cover his
retreat through the swirling bliz
zards.
By diverting the bulk of Allied
forces with the drive into Belgium,
the Nazis claimed, they preserved
much of their war-making potential
by temporarily stalling the drives
an the great steel, chemical and
coal centers of the Ruhr and Saar.
Action on the eastern front con
tinued to center in Hungary, though
the Russians were reported prob
ing into German defenses in the
Baranow region, some 120 miles be
Isw Warsaw on the road to Silesia.
HOME FRONT:
Tighten Economy
Congressional hearings on a work
or fight bill for men from 18 to 45
years old; imposition of an 818 ceil
ing per 100 pounds on live beef
cattle; an appeal to householders to
keep temperatures at 68 degrees,
and a ban on all advertising light
ing using power developed from coal
marked the government's latest
moves on the home front to fit the
nation into the tightening war
economy.
Considered after President Roose
velt's demand for a national service
act, the work or fight bill under dis
cussion provides for the induction of
any draft registrant from 18 to 45
into army labor battalions if he fails
to enter essential employment or
shifts jobs without permission of
local boards. With the services plan
ning to take 900,000 men within the
next six months, and with another
700,000 persons needed in essential
war work plus replacements for
those drafted from industry, some
sort of legislation was held to be
the most effective way for routing
manpower in the future.
Regarding the draft, Secretary of
War Stimson said practically all
1
able-bodied men under 30 will be
drafted this year, because of the
services' emphasis on younger men.
Establishment of an $18 celling
on live cattle up to July 2, when the
top will fall to $17.50, came after
lengthy discussion between govern
ment representatives and feeders,
who declared the move would re
sult in less choice beef because of
rising production costs. Emphasiz
ing its desire for output of more
low grade beef, Economic Stabilizer
Vinson ordered OPA and War Food
administrator to limit choice and
good cattle slaughter for each
month.
The appeal to householders tc
keep temperatures at 88 degrees,
and the order to cut off advertisini
lighting, ware both aimed at con
serving fuel, what with estimated
consumption of soft coal for IMS sef
at 620,000,000 tons and productior
at 580.000,000, with the latter ft gun
reflecting a reduction of 45,000 h
the mining foroe since 1M3. Fur
therm ore, the industry's stockpile]
amount to only one month's supply
Exclusive on Farm Draft!
By Walter Shead
WND Washington Correspondent
The farm public Is unduly
alarmed over the recent directive
of War Mobiliier James, F.
Byrnes subjecting 360,000 agri
cultural workers It to 26 to in
duction in the new mobilization of
manpower for the army and
navy, according to farm lead
ers in the nation's capital.
There is no evidence, they say,
that the Selective Service com
mission intends to nullify the
Tydings amendment to the Se
lective Service act, which specif
ically provides for deferment of
farm labor, if replacements are
not available, and if local draft
boards determine the workers
are more essential on tbe farms.
It could be. authorities say
here, that if there are any farm
workers who have left the farm
for other work ... if there are
any who may be considered non
essential, such as workers on hop
farms, or mushroom growers . . .
they may be called to military
service under reclassification.
FOOD:
1945 Prospects
So far well fed Americans can
continue to look forward to substan
tial nutritious fare In 1945 although
supplies will be below last year's,
WFA Supply and Distribution Direc
tor Lee Marshall declared.
Although there will be about the
same amount of beef, there will be '
less pork, veal and lamb, Marshall
said. Poultry supplies should be ,
larger. ^
Supplies of dairy stocks will be j
spotty, Marshall predicted, with .
more fluid milk, enough evaporated v
milk to meet essential needs, but j
less butter. ,
Although in good supply, the vol- s
ume of fresh fruits and vegetables
for the next three months will not
approach last year's, Marshall i
said. Offsetting a slight increase in t
the supply of canned vegetables for t
1945 will be about 12 per cent less (
canned fruits and juices. I
Cereal products will be plentiful "
but the sugar situation will be tight, 1
the WFA official declared, because 1
of smaller reserves and increased i
military requirements.
i
PEACETIME DRAFT:
Hit by Colleges
Although pledging full support for ,
an adequate defense program, the :
Association of American Colleges
went on record as against imme
diate enactment of compulsory
peacetime military training for
youth because other methods have
not been fully explored and the sub
ject should be given more study
than now is possible.
Chairman of the committee draw
ing up the resolution against imme
diate enactment of peacetime con
scription, Dr. Donald J. Cowling,
president of Carleton college, said:
"This country did not get into the
present mess through lack of man
power, but because it lacked a real
foreign policy, as was evidenced in
failure to apply economic sanctions
against Japan and Italy."
In the field of education, the asso
ciation found "... menacing pos
sibilities (in compulsory military
training) that indoctrination ? its
traditional method of wholesale
teaching ? might become a dan
gerous political weapon with us as
has been true in other coun
tries. . ."
RECORD FLIGHT:
Postwar Promise
Model of America's super airliner
of the postwar world, Boeing's con
verted B-29 army transport flew
from Seattle, Wash., to Washington,
D. C., in an indicated six hours, sur
"Strato-crulser" In flight.
passing the giant Lockheed Constel
lation's time of 6 hours and 58 min
utes from Los Angeles, Calif., to the
capital.
To be known as the "strato
cruiser," the postwar version of the
B-29, now known as the army's C-97,
will carry 100 passengers and use
engines of more than 3,000 horse
power each.
Although army officials refused to
comment on the B-29's record fiight,
the ship has been undergoing serv
ice tests on the west coast since
November with gratifying results, it
was learned.
BUDGET:
87 Billion Asked
Total authorizations for the war
program since 1940 will have
reached 450 billion dollars by June
30, 1946, with President Roosevelt's
request for an 87 billion dollar budget
for thd next fiscal year ending on
that date.
At 87 billion dollars, the Presi
dent's budget was about 13 billion
dollars below last year's 100 billion
dollars, with most of the reduction
in war expenditures. Because of de
creased war expenditures, how
1 ever, individuals and corporations
will receive less income and pay
i less taxes, with revenue expected
? to go down to about 41 billion dol
| lars. By the end of June, 1946, the
j national debt will reach 293 billion
i dollars, the President estimated.
Included in the President's budget
i was a request of 2V4 billion dollars
, for veterans' benefits, which can be
j expected to increase upon demobili
. zation, he said, and the asking of
I a half billion dollars for the War
t Food administration for the farm
i price support program. He also re
> quested that the barrowtof author!
i tjr of the Rural Electrification sy?
. tern be raised million dollars
i and that of (he Farm Security ad
. ministration to 125 million,
?fl
tnowflaket:
Kini George of Greece Is Irked
vith his public relations experts,
rhey kept him staying in his London
lotel room during the Athens mess
-instead of okaying His Highness'
tsual routine of making the London
ate places surrounded by a bevy
>f beauts. . . . Cuba's Batista will
lettle in Brazil.
The Federal Trade commission
s checking up on endorsers of prod
icts in ads. Wants to And out if the
:elebs who endorse them actually
lse them. . . . The reason for the
<ew York butcher strike is this:
rhe Gov't clamped down hard on
jlack marketing. The butchers
earned the fine was too high to
nnake any profit, even at b.m. fees,
rhey decided it was cheaper to get
iut of business than make whole
salers rich and themselves poor.
Add rackets: Phones in Florida
are bringing as high as $500 each
from people who lost theirs to the
armed forces a year ago. . . . The
mobs are set to rim the bookm ak
in g in Mexico and Havana. They
had been figuring on the tracks suf
fering disaster for more than a
year. . . . Sidney Kingsley dashed
oft a five page scenario In 30 min
utes, for which Zanuck paid him
$50,000. More than a 1,000 smackers
per minute.
Though war plant absenteeism
was a contributing (actor, the Wash
ington grapevine is saying that the
main reason (or closing the tracks
was this: congress was preparing
to stick a 10 per cent tax on the
mutuels, and the track owners (in
stead oi cooperating gladly in view
o( the (ortunes they've garnered
lately) made ready to fight it. . . . It
was their attitude, more than any
thing else, which irritated the pow
ers that be.
The first Broadway hit show to
beat the jinx ot the amusement page
alphabetical listing is "A Bell (or
Adano." . . . Many shows that
put an "A" in (ront o( the title to
inherit the top o( the list flopped.
"Angel Street" was the exception
(or a long time. . . . The commies
in Indianapolis, Erie and Buffalo
last week started their campaign to
discredit G-man Hoover with a na
tional-smear attack. . . . They say
N. Y. Times' critic, Brooks Atkin
son (now in the hospital alter a long
session covering China's part in the
war), doesn't want to resume
drama-inspecting. He prefers doing
something important, such as his re
cent assignment. His excellent re
ports are credited with actually in
fluencing U. S. policy in the Orient.
Paces About Town: Libby Hol
man, the blues thrusb-tobacco heir
ess, who is quietly backing Broadway
shows. . . . Band chief John Kirby,
$5,000 wealthier after winning a li
? bel action from a Pittsburgh writer,
| who cast aspersions on his draft
, status. . . . Canary Bernice Parks,
! currently at the St. Regis, who will
decorate Life's pages as best
j dressed gal. She has 10 fur coats.
Her match book covers feature
phptos of her feller. . . . Horace
Macltahon, one of the stage's cspa
bles, serving the nation by deliver
ing war bosal speeches?while wait
ing for producers to come to their
senses. . . . Milton Berle, who at
this tardy time is feuding with
Joe E. Lewis over the song, "Sam,
You Made the Pants Too Long!"
Apparently after reading the "Fight
or Work" edict.
Story of the Week (By Dr. Elisha
A. King): Do you remember the
Indian juggler described by William
Hazlitt in one of his famous essays?
The juggler was perfect in throwing
and catching brass balls?keeping
four in the air at once. That wai
his whole stock in trade, but it wai
the best ho had. Seeing a numbei
of people go to the Shrine of th?
Virgin Mother bowing, praying, etc.,
be became interested and wanted tc
worship. Finally, he went in,
squatted in front of the image anc
performed. It was the best he hat
to offer and doubtless acceptable
... I mention this because of I
report from Guadalcanal describini
a Christmas evening service. Fathei
Gehring celebrated midnight Mass
but no one could play Christnr.ai
; music. A soldier had gotten a smal
; organ from somewhere, but no on<
could play H. However, one mat
eras found who knew only one tune
' "Yiddisher Mama," so be playe<
- that.
With the heavens for a roof, Masi
- was said in Latin, a Jewish bcr
1 played the one piece he knew am
- several hundred Protestants, Catho
lies add Jews knelt and listened.
Recent Deaths of Two Men, One in the West and
One in the East, Recall Days When Gunfighters -
Wrote Their Names in Blood in the Wild West'
By ELMO SCOTT WATSON
ReliaMd by Western Newspaper Union.
THE Old West lived again
recently and, paradoxically,
It lived again because of the
deaths of two men within the
spafrof two weeks.
One of them died in the West
and the other in the East, but
both had once been closely as
sociated with events in what
was once known as the "Wild
West" ? the West of roaring
cow towns and rowdy mining
camps, of quick-shooting peace
officers and equally hair-trig
ger-fingered outlaws, of lusty,
action-filled life and Boot Hill
burials. t
When death claimed the Rev. En- j
dicott Peabody at the age of 87 in
Groton, Mass., newspaper dis- J
patches chronicled the fact that he
had been the founder of the Groton '
school and its headmaster for many 1
years, during which time he had
molded the minds and characters of 1
many an eastern notable, including I
President Franklin Delano Roose- i
velt. But few, if any, of these dis- i
patches mentioned the fact that this 1
same Rev. Endicott Peabody had 1
once lived and labored in one of the i
wildest towns in the history of the 1
American frontier ? Tombstone,
Arizona.
Into such an environment in the
summer of 1881 came a young Epis
copal minister, recently ordained in
Boston, and what happened there
after is best told in the words of a
man who knew him then and there.
That man was William M. Breaken
ridge, who was one of Sheriff John
ny Behan's deputies in Tombstone
at the time. In his book, "Helldo
rado: Bringing the Law to the Mes
quite," published by the Houghton
Mifflin company in 1928, "Billy"
Breakenridge writes of "The Fear
less Preacher" thus:
"His name was Endicott Peabody.
He was about twenty-four years of
age, and full of vim and energy.
He immediately got busy building up
a membership for his congregation
and getting funds together to build
a church. He was a good mixer and
soon got acquainted, not only with
the very best element of society in
Tombstone?and there were some
educated people there?but he un
dertook to get acquainted with ev
erybody, with the mining magnates
and managers, the federal, county
and city officials, the professional
and business managers, the miners
and muckers, the ore-haulers or
teamsters, and the saloonkeepers
and gamblers. He soon had a large
I congregation end had Hie money do
nated to build his church. When it
was completed, he had the money
to pay for it, and the church has
never been in debt since."
How the Money Was Raised.
An incident which Breakenridge
relates sheds light on the young
preacher's money - raising ability.
One day a group of mining men,
[ including E. B. Gage, general man
[ ager of the Grand Central and Con
tention mines, was sitting in a back
\ room of the Prospector hotel enjoy
, ing a stiff poker gome in which fre
, quently as much as a thousand dol
lars was in the ppt.
i "Gage was an Episcopalian,"
1 writes Breakenridge. "Mr. Pea
> body came back where they were
i playing and introduced himself and
asked them for a donation to help
j build a church. He explained that
it was something needed badly, and
? the only way it could be built was
t to get everybody he possibly could
1 to subscribe toward building it.
b Gage counted out about a hundred
and fifty dollars from his pile in
front of him, and everyone else in
he room followed his example, pi
?eabody was dumbfounded for an a
nstant, and then told them that it cc
was a much larger contribution than ki
te had expected, but it was for a 01
food cause and he knew they would dl
lever regret it. si
"Peabody was a fine athlete, and sl
was named the official referee in all
laseball games and other outdoor "
sports that were carried on by the
Koung men of Tombstone. His di
decisions were never questioned, as tl
he was known as being absolutely w
square and he had no favorites. He a:
loved a good horse-race, and fre- g
quently attended the gymnasium y
where he kept himself in fine phys- h
ical condition by exercise; he never U
refused an Invitation to put on the li
gloves with anyone and never was c
bested." tl
Bad Man "Backs Down." 0
Perhaps that fact had something
to do with the "back-down" of one '
of the bad men who infested Ari- '
zona in those days when he tried I
to bluff the "fearless preacher." 1
Breakenridge tells the story thus:
"In the summer of 1881 the Rev- J
erend Mr. Peabody was invited
down to Charleston to deliver a ser- f
mon. His subject was the evil of
the cattle-stealing rustlers and the '
drinking and carousing cowboys. !
Billy Clayboum, the would-be bad '
man who had killed one or two in '
saloon fights in Charleston and who '
was afterwards killed by Frank Les
lie in Tombstone, heard of the ser- '
mon and sent word to Mr. Peabody '
that if he ever came to Charleston '
again and preached such a sermon,
he, Clayboum, would come to the .
church and make him dance. Pea- 1
body told the man who delivered '
the message that he expected to re
turn to Charleston in about two
weeks, and would preach a ser
mon that he thought appropriate, |
and if Mr. Clayboum would come to
the church and listen to it, and then
thought he could make him dance,
?? <<
"Peabody was known to go into
the saloons and gambling-bouses
and go up to the gambling-tables
when they were in operation, with
a crowd around them, and say 'Gen
tlemen, I am going to preach a ser
mon on the evil of gambling Sun
day night, and I would like to have
you all come to the church and lis
ten to it.' All who could get away
went to hear him. He had large
audiences always."
Less than two weeks after the
death of Dr. Peabody, the wires car
ried the news that Albert Bacon Fall
had died at the age of S3 in El Paso,
Texas. The news of his passing
served to recall briefly a great na
tional scandal in the recent past?
how Senator A. B. Fall of New Mex
ico was appointed secretary of the
interior in President Harding's cab
inet, bow he was one of the chief
figures in the Teapot Dome oil case,
and how he became the first cabi
net officer in American history to
serve a prison sentence for a crime.
Again few, if any, of the newspa
per accounts gave much space to his
career as a young lawyer in the
Southwest nor told of his associa
tion with some of the notables of
the frontier. Yet he was the attor
ney for the defense who woo free
dom for the slayers of two famous
gunfighters?both of whom illustrate
the truth of the age-old saying that
"he who takes the sword perishes
by the sword."
One of these gunfighters was John
Wesley Hardin of Texas, possibly
the most notorious killer in the an
nals of the "Wild WeSt" and popu
larly credited with 40 notches on his
six-gun?39 of them before be was
21 years old.
The 40th notch?it was Deputy
Sheriff Charles Webb of Brown coun
ty?put Hardin in the penitentiary
for IS years. He employed them
usefully, studying law, and after his
release in 1894 he hung out his shin
gle in various Texas towns, ending
up in El Paso the following year.
There he became In reived in a die
lie wiui me aeunans?luung juuu,
city policeman, and Old John, a
instable who had a record as a
ller himself. The result was that'
1 the night of August 19, 1896, Har
in went down before the blazing
z-shooters of Old John Salman?
lot from behind, so his friends said,
i he stood drinking at the bar of
le Acme saloon.
Selman, when tried for the killing,
snied that be had shot Hardin in
le back. He insisted that Hardin
as looking him straight in the eye
nd apparently about to draw his
un when the constable fired. A
oung attorney, named Fall, who
ad Just come to El Paso, agreed
> assist in Selman's defense. Years
iter, Ex-Senator Fall, recalling the
ase, told Eugene Cunningham, au
tior of "Triggemometry: A Gallery
f Gunfighters":
"I couldn't help being impressed
iy Selman's appearance when he
issured me that he had been looking
lardin in the eye. I knew Selman
veil and I felt that he wouldn't lie
0 me and he had all the appearance
if a man telling what he firmly be
ieved. It puzzled me, so I went
lown to look over the scene of the
tilling. I stopped at the Acme's
loor and looked inside. There was
1 man standing at the bar and he
ifted his head. Then I had the ex
planation of Selman's statement. For
is that man stared into the mir
ror, I had the illusion for an instant
if looking him straight in the eye."
Apparently Fall's explanation was
convincing to the jury, for Selman
was freed.
"Few of the gunmen of that era
lived past the turn of the century,"
says an editorial on the passing of
Albert B. Fall which appeared in
the Chicago Daily News recently. An
exception to that statement is Pat
Garrett, slayer of Billy the Kid, the
21-year-old gunman with the II
notches. That killing made Garrett
a national figure. Three times he
was elected sheriff of Donna Ana
county in New Mexico. In 1901
President Theodore Roosevelt ap
pointed him collector of customs in
EH Paso, Texas. Then he retired
from public life and took up ranch
ing in New Mexico. He had a dis
pute over some trifling matter with
a comparatively unknown young
man named Wayne Brazel and on
February 29, 1908, a shot tram Bra
zel't six-shooter ended the career of
the great Pat Garrett.
Brazel waa tried for the Wiling
and acquitted. His attorney was Al
bert Bacon Fall. "Few of the men
who knew these gunmen or who saw
them alive remain alive today," con
tinues the Daily News editorial. "Al
bert Fall knew a lot about many of
them. It was popularly believed in
the Southwest that he might, if he
chose, shed light on mysterious cir
cumstances surrounding the sudden
demise of a number of them. But,
if he could, he didn't And, with
his death, another colorful segment
of frontier history grows fainter
and recedes farther and farther
...
DB. ENDICOTT PEABODT
Episcopal Church In Tomhstono Built by Dr. Pea body.
ALBERT B. FALL
tfj