i
4
The Alamance Gleaner 1
VoL LXXI GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY, JUNE 21, 1945 Na 20
WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS <
Japs Foresee Invasion as Yanks
Tighten Noose on Home Islands;
Peg Meat Supply at Present Level
R?lct?d by Western Newspaper Union ?????I
(EDITOK'? NOTE: Wkti epiaien* ere express** la Usee celestas. Uey ere Usee ef
Westers Newepepsr Uaiea's eewe eaelyste taJ aet aeceaearflty ef Uls aewspeper.)
Captured ea Luzon island in the Philippines, these Jap war prisoners
relish can of D. 8. army C rations.
PACIFIC:
JSo Halt
Though fighting on Okinawa was
as tough as that on Iwo Jinia, re
sults have been the same, with the
gradual U. S. conquest of the island
pressing home the immediate dan
ger to Japan proper, 325 miles to
the north. . . ...
With Japan already hard hit by
sir, the enemy looked for an im
minent invasion of the homeland,
with propagandists seeking to as
sure the people of the strength of
well-provisioned underground for
tifications, long in the making to
thwart any landings.
Having fought through the maze
of interlocking Jap caves on Iwo
Jima and Okinawa. American sol
?diers viewed any underground forti
fications in the enemy homeland as
an elaboration of the defensive sys
tems on these outlying islands.
Though heavily battered after ter
Tiffic aerial and artillery bombard
ment, they were only clearedby
steady, concentrated U. S. fire from
close-up, plus the gradual exhaus
tion of supplies.
Even as U. S. ground troops re
duced Okinawa with its valuable air
fields for raids upon the enemy
homeland, U. S. fliers were busy
hammering at Jap industrial cen
ters and supply lines to China.
With the American fleet dominant
in Pacific waters, U. S. aircraft took
off from carriers to plaster enemy
shipping plying between Japan and
Korea, thus forcing the Nipponese to
use a more round-about route far
ther north to get into China or else
try to break the bloackade at night
or in rough weather.
Harassment of this route came on
top of the U. S. sea and air threat to
the Japanese overwater supply line
Irom their conquered South Pacific
possessions, and the Chinese pres
sure against the enemy's overhmd
corridor running the length of |ne
east coast of China. ,
Meanwhile, Superfort bombard
ments at Jap industrial centers con
tinued apace, with the B-29s extend
ing the devastation of already
heavily battered homeland cities.
EUROPE:
Allied Snag
Reworking of the occupational
mnes in the tace of Russian de
mands for greater territory, and the
Reds insistence that U. S. and Brit
ish forces withdraw from fringes
of their proposed holdings, slowed
up organization of machinery for co
ordinated Allied administration of
the beaten country.
The "tag in plans followed tne
U. S-, British, Russian and French
declaration stripping Germany of
ail Hitlerian conquests and restor
ing its 1937 borders, and placing all
of the material and human re
sources of the country at the dis
posal at the Big Four. Severe as the
declaration was, it left the door open
for further alteration of the Gerrrian
frontier, and imposition of addition
al regulations for governing the
P<A?lethe U. S. and British repre
sentatives at the Big Four meeting
in Berlin, Gen. Dwight D. Eisen
hower and Field Marshal Montgom
ery visited the battered German
capital for the first time since its
fall, leaving shortly after the sign
ing of the declaration because of
the inability of the Russian dele
gate to proceed on joint control ac
until settlement of the latest
of MOSCOW.
Recognition of Ro"^g_df?^?T
for additional occupational tern
tor; would give the Reds control of
half of German; and include the
cities of Leipzig, Gotha and Erfurt
and the whole province of Thurin
gia presently held b; the U. S.
SAN FRANCISCO:
Break Log-Jam
With Russia's agreement to per
mit the discussion of disputes b;
the security Council of the United
Nations' postwar peace organiza
tion, the log-jam holding up the con
clusion of the San Francisco confer
ence was broken.
In insisting that an; of the five
major powers have the right to veto
the discussion of a dispute, Rus
sia almost stood alone through three
weeks of prolonged bickering, final
ly giving in after consultations be
tween U. S. Envoys Hopkins and
Harriman with Stalin in Moscow.
Though the agreement permits dis
cussion of a dispute without danger
of veto, any of the Big Five can
vote down proposals for formally in
vestigating the trouble or calling
for peaceful settlement.
One of the outstanding issues of
the conference, the veto question
ranked in importance with the sub
jects of international trusteeships
MriKoi Fordo NliIKu btilU P?
(left) ul V. S. Secretary oI Kin
Elriri ft. Stettinies ?t lu rrudm par
ley
and regional pacts, also resolved
after lengthy deliberations. In the
matter of the trusteeships, the U. S.
was granted unqualified possession
of Pacific islands wrested from the
Japanese and needed for American
defense until congress should de
cide to turn them over to the peace
organization. Under the agreement
on regional pacts, groups of nations
banded into' cooperative units can
try to work out their own problems
before submitting them to the se
curity council of the postwar peace
organization, or resort to self
defense if attacked without waiting
for league action.
MEAT:
Peg Supply
In addition- to steering more cat
tle to federally inspected packers
to permit greater distribution of
meat across state lines and cutting
out all lend-lease or relief meat ship
ments through J uly-August-Septem
ber, the government also reduced
military allocations to allow a pro
portionate increase in supplies to
civilians.
Even so, the severe meat pinch
will endure through the summer
months, with prospects for improve
ment in the fall when increased
marketings should not only permit
greater supplies for civilians but
also resumption of limited ship
ments overseas.
Though the government chopped
military allocations down to 1,213,
000,000 pounds for July-August-Sep
tember, and pegged civilian allot
ments around present levels of I,
740,000,000 pounds, the amount
available for home consumption will
remain dependent upon supplies In
the quarter. During April - May
June, euppbes Ml below govern
ment goals.
CONGRESS:
Back Bretton Woods
Having voted to extend the recip
rocal trade treaty act tor three
years and grant the President power
to cut tariff! 90 per cent under ex
isting levels, the house also ap
proved the Bretton Woods monetary
agreements as part at the adminis
tration's program tor participation
in world economic stabilization,
Passed by a large vote against
the oppostion of a handful of Re
publicans, the agreements include:
1 An 8,800,000,000 dollar fund of
1 currencies of 44 or more
United Nations upon which any
member country could draw to ob
tain foreign exchange at a stable
rate for conducting business;
2 A 9,100,000,000 dollar world bank
for reconstruction and develop
ment, with the various governments
either loaning money directly or
guaranteeing any private loans
made.
As has been the case ever since
the announcement of the agree
ments, chief opposition centered
around the 8,800,000,000 dollar cur
rency fund, designed to prevent up
ward nr downward flnrt.at.inns in
the value of different currencies.
According to opponents of the plan,
sound currencies would be drawn
from the fund, leaving only the un
stable money of countries not ade
quately required to straighten out
their economic affairs.
BERLIN:
Dead City
Entering Berlin over a month
after its capture, U. S. newspa
per correspondents found a city
of death, strangely quiet with
piles of brick and masonry and
steel heaped along the streets;
seared and gaunt walls sticking
up like jagged teeth amidst the
ruins, and all about the sweetly
sickening odor of death.
Though the Russians have
pressed for the clearance of
some streets for motor and
pedestrian traffic, and installed
emergency surface water piping
in some sections, Berlin re
mains the terrifying example of
the fate of present-day cities
subjected to the fire of modern
warfare.
As Americans motored through
this fantasy of destruction, some
of the 2,000,000 of surviving Ber
liners living in cellars or pum
meled lower stories of burned
out buildings emerged from
their hapless shelters, dazed
and unkempt. They are living on
meager rations and have no
fuel. The. only men seen were
old and unshaven.
FARM MACHINERY:
Production Problems
Despite easing of manufacturers
restrictions in June and the sched
uled removal of all quotas in July,
I arm machinery companies are run
ning up against a shortage of parts
and manpower in producing sorely
needed implements.
Of the parts, the most serious
shortage is in gray and malleable
castings, including cylinder blocks
for tractor engines and rear axle
housings. Because of the pinch,
output of mowers, binders and
some types of harrows, plows, hay
rakes and manure spreaders may
be restricted.
Though the manpower shortage is
general in the industry, the scarcity
is particularly felt in the foundries
producing castings. Throughout the
entire war, foundries have experi
enced difficulties obtaining the
necessary amount of employees,
leading to wage increases in some
instances to attract workers.
Because farm machinery manu
facturers continued output during
the war, they stand in a favored
position in the reconversion period,
not only because of the mainte
nance of their productive facilities
but also because of the continuation
of their contacts with the thousands
of sub-contractors turning out nec
essary small parts.
U. S. CASUALTIES:
West Front Toll
Topping a million for all branches
of service since Pearl Harbor, U. S.
casualties in the lighting against
Germany alone since D-Day to
talled 514,534 or an average of 1,527
a day. Of the 514,53*, 89,477 were
killed, 367,180 wounded and 57,877
missing. -
Against the 514,534 losses sus
tained by the 80 U. S. combat divi
sions opposing the Germans, 14
British and Canadian divisions in
curred 184,512 casualties, including
39.599 killed, 126,145 wounded and
18,368 missing. Eleven French divi
sions suffered 11,080 casualties and
one Polish division 5,593.
Of the 57,877 S. troops reported
missing, 15,000 to 20,000 may be
prisoners yet to be recovered, it
was said. Many may have been
taken as such in the closing months
of the campalyi. when the disorgan
ization at the Nazis prevented the
official listings at prisoosrs.
Notet of a Neuvpaperman:
Teltfrim: "Poetic Justice. The
dramatic reversal of the Reichstag
trial. Goering prosecuted Georgi
Dimitroff in the frame-up blaming
Dimitroff for starting the Reichstag
fire. And today Dimitroff is prose
cuting 'Meyer' Goering! Isn't it ,
wonderful? ? Ralph Berendt, New
York City." ?
. 01
A Russian delegate to the Securi- m
ty Conference was trying to throw in
some light on the muddled situation S<
in China (for a perplexed journal
ist) before Chiang "technically" re- fjj
signed his premiership. n
"But why," asked the writer, "is
unity so hard to establish in China,
if both the Chungking Gov't and P1
Communist guerrilla forces want to
destroy the Japanese?" in
"Perhaps it is best explained by hi
saying that it is an old custom for p<
Chiang to fight the Communists," tl<
replied the delegate, "and he has
such love for ancient institutions ct
that he will not look at the new G
moon, out of respect for the old ic
one." ei
y<
British soldiers who witnessed the
capture of Lord Haw Haw gave him th
the English equivalent of the Bronx e!
cheer, une yelled derisively: Boys, ! it;
take a look at Lord Hee-Haw, the ei
man who brayed like a donkey!" ol
Another Tommy (in the group it
standing at ease) commented: ei
"That reminds me of the time all sj
the donkey-cart drivers in Britain w
went on strike. They sent a delega- w
tion to 10 Downing street, and the &
man who was spokesman told Win
nie: 'We're going to stay off the job o
until you do something about that a
fellow in Berlin, named Lord Haw c
Haw. Our donkeys have been listen- n
ing to his broadcasts, and now g
every jackass thinks he can be a c
radio commentator!' " it
ti
According to the best-Informed e
gossip, Joe Da vies' flying trip to see a
Churchill was for the purpose of
soft-pedaling the anti-Soviet hys- b
teria which has been emanating t
from the London-Washington pipe- t
line in recent weeks. Capitol politi- <
cos have dug deep into "the guess- to
what-for" basket. In a discussion r
between two Administration Sena- ?
tors, one remarked: "I doubt if Da- t
vies will be as successful with c
Churchill as he has been with ?
'Uncle Joe.' " ?
"Don't worry," counselled the
other. "Davies is a wise and honest
man. Trouble with most of our E
diplomats is that we appoint them t
to avert situations which would nev- ,
er occur if they weren't our diplo- c
mats in the first place." f
When about to bury Himmler, f
it's said that a British soldier c
assigned to the joh speculated in c
ironic vein: "Don't yon think, ,
sergeant, that we ought to pay r
some touching tribute to the dc
CtUMT
"la, indeed," sued the top
kick. "1 will MI Mr ? tew
words," and he began: "Dear
Lord, we arc bow delivering np
to yow-" at which petnt he was
stopped by one aI the Tom
mies, who spat and said: "Lot's
get 'im underground, 'e smells
awfnl!"
To which the sergeant tn
toned: "What do you expect
from a skunk?peTfame?"
The Love Letter* of a Columnist:
In a broadcast from Tokyo the
other day (beard by the FCC) the
Mikadomei News Agency heaped
praises on Joe Stalin for his "pow
erful leadership based on Soviet
ism," which "finally overcame a
danger of defeat far greater than
the one facing the Japanese at
present."
When the item was carried in the
Russian press, it was the cause for
some ironic comment by the down
to - earth Muscovites. One gray
beard wm overheard remarking:
"When the fox begins to praise the
rooster, and tells him he is a fine
bird, the rooster had better bo
ready to fly for his life."
Out of a long, painful experience,
Abraham Lincoln wrote five sen
tences which all of us would do
well to study: "If I tried to read,
much less answer, all the criticisms
made of me and all the attacks
leveled against me, this office would
have to be closed for all other busk- j
ness. I do (he best I know bow, the 1
very best I can. I mean to keep
on doing this, down to the very end. ,
II the end brings me out all wrong,
then 10 angels swearing I bad been
right would make no difference. If '
the end brings me out all right.
I then what is said against me now i
>arachutes. Jeeps, Halftracks, Flamethrowers/ s,, 1
Will Be Used in Peacetime to Battle Forest Fires'
?
lethods Devised for War
Are Being Adapted to
Save Timber Resources
TTie swords of war become
ie plowshares of peace, and
us time Mars has some weap
is that are going to come in
ighty handy in the never end
g battle against forest fires.
>me very logical questions are
iing asked today: Why not use
-e-extinguishing bombs to drop
i spreading forest fires? Why
>t use bombers, equipped with
recision sights, to aim these
>mbs? Why not use fire-flght
? Parachute troops to drop be
ad enemy" lines or to tians
irt to fire regions difficult to
Jgotiate by land?
The man who is expected to
jarge of this program is David
odwrn, a veteran of the forest serv
e. who has been active in anti-Ore
rpeomental work tor a number of
tars.
Godwin already has investigated
' Possibility of dive-bombing for
it Ores, using bombs which in renl
y were exploding Ore extinguish
s That, however, was a number
years ago, and didn't meet with
iuch success. It was difficult, the
rperimenters found, to hit the exact
** -wl?ere tb? bomb-extinguishers
th^-m.<*t f00d' and
as difficulty in covering a suf
ciently large area.
Aviation enthusiasts, however, are
hunting upon effective bomb-sight
nd other precision instruments to
hange this situation. As an alter
ative, they believe there may be
reat possibilities in the use of heli
opters. No doubt a fleet of bomb
tg planes could be used to advan
?ge in blasting a Are out of a forest,
specially with ground support from
paratrooper battalion.
The use of parachute-dropped
roops to fight forest flres was first
ned a few years ago, and they have
*en seeing action in this capacity
ver since. But there never has
?een enough of them to combat a
eally big firs. This number can be
*panded greatly after the war, and
he wartime training of para troop
ombst units can bring about the
?rgahization of a formidable fire
ignting force.
Jeep' Will Be Fire Engine.
When it comes to post-war tech
uques in forest fire fighting how
ever. it may be not only the uae of
raves of bombing planes, and para
chute troops to augment the present
orces. The ubiquitous "jeep"?ac
customed to the jungle trails of
few Guinea and the difficult terrain
tf Africa and Italy?is already rec
immended by professional foresters
is highly suitable for service as a
?liniature fire engine. Likewise, the
r,dio unquestionably
"ill be used by the thousands to
ceep in contact between fire chiefs,
heir crewmen, aviation spotters, pii
uts and paratroopers overhead.
Half-liacks," which combine au
omobile speeds with tank and trac
er ability to negotiate swamps and
ugged land, can serve efficiently as
>ig brother to the jeeps, and for use
is bulldozers to scrape fire trail bar
ters to the progress of flames. Bull
lozers already are essential fire
Lghting equipment.
Even flame-throwers developed by
he chemical warfare service may
* called upon for building "back
Ires." burning out areas in the path
^
As moo as ? (west rufti spots
? are he radios Iw the *yteg fire
fighters. Here a "smoke Jam per" Is
making a "feather hed landing" la
the tops of a yssng eoalferoas
growth.
at spreading flames. Accompany
ing them would be men with Are ex
tinguishers, to guard against tha
back fires getting out of controL
The paratrooper, however, will
doubtless have a glory and a duty
all his own. His greatest service
will come from the fact that he can
get there first Once a watcher from
a fire-tower or from a patrolling
plane spots smoke, it need be only a
few minutes until a paratrooper can
land within SO or 100 yards of the
blaze, and by getting there while the
fire is just starting, ha will be able
in man} cases to extinguish it with
out additional help.
Paratroopers by Hundred.
But when long periods of dryness
have rendered the forests highly in
flammable and fires spread quickly,
a radio summons from the spotters
can bring reinforcements in a hur
ry. A single big plane may bring
a score or more paratroopers; a doz
en planes could bring them by the
hundreds.
With their faces protected by plas
tic masks, heads covered with pad
ded helmets, and bodies covered
with non-ripping fabrics, to spare
them injuries in case of tree-top
landings; and with coils of rope
handy for quick descent from the
trees, the paratroopers can reach a
fire many precious minutes sooner
than men on trucks or horseback can
generally arrive.
Portable fire-fighting devices that
are strapped to a man's back are
already standard forest equipment
suitable for the paratroopers. Some
times these are hand-pumps with a
small tank of water. An alterna
tive device uses water but builds
the pressure behind it with carbon
dioxide, either in its liquid form or
in the form of "dry ice." Some
portable extinguishers use carbon di
oxide itself to play upon the fires.
It snuffs them out by driving away
the oxygen. Extinguishers of great
er capacity and other supplies will
be attached to parachutes and
dropped from other planes.
Meantime, the jeeps and half
tracks, trucks and bulldozers will be
moving up with other reinforce
ments and supplies. They may bring
the flame throwers to build back
fires, if necessary. They'll bring long
lines of hose and high-pressure
pumps, powered by motors which
are twins to those used on rowboats.
With the high pressure equipment,
they'll be able to combat fires in
"snags," dead trees which are an
especial menace because they tend
to carry (round fires upward to the
tops of other trees.
Ground Reinforcements.
When a forest fire goes into the
tree tops it is about as difficult tc
check as any fire can possibly be
In an old forest a crown fire ma)
be as high above ground as the 19th
story of a skyscraper?erith no au
tomatic sprinkler system to helj
combat it. and plenty of oxygen tc
make it burn freely.
ALMAA aAia aMMMPV
EJBMM , . _.? . a?
Thus, if the original Ore does get;
out of control of the Aral peratroop
ers to reach it, and proves too big
for the first reinforcements also, it
is ahpost certain that the third wave
of paratroopers and ground forces
will resort to building backfires and
digging trenches as the mailiiium
effort to check it. Bulldozers and
plow-equipped half-tracks win mech
anize a large part of the digging Job.
Men with flame-throwers and extin
guishers will handle the backfires.
Other men with gasoline powered
"chain-saws" win clear the path of
the bulldozers and half-tracks of
trees too big for them to bowl over.
America has a big stake in forest
lands. Forest operators are seeing
to it that our trees continue to grow,
but they know that fire is the bigge*
menace to growth. They need weap
ons with which to fight fires, and
they expect those that this war pro
vides will help to keep a better con
trol over this persistent enemy.
/-v rio
Un Land or sea,
Navy P. O.Gets
Mail Delivered
System of 5,000 Branches
Reaches Remotest Islands
One of the moat gigantic war
time tasks confronting postal men
is delivering mall to mobile units
of the fleet The mounting tempo at
operations in the last year means
not only that greater distances must
be spumed to effect delivery "bat
that a greater number of men are
involved in combat activities in
creasing all classes at mail to an
unprecedented volume.
Daring March, IMS, SUBJO
pieces of letter mall passed through
Fleet Pest OBee, Saa Francises
to navy, marine and coast gnard per
sonnel is the PaeiSc. Is Marsh.
1M4, there were KMMT pieces at
letter mall dispatched to the PacMs
showing dearly that the aaail vet
am r increased well ever 1M per ecnt
In one year. It is expected that it
will rise even farther.
The nerve center of the navy mail
service is in the navy department.
Washington, D. C. Here, ship and
plane movements are traced and
communicated daily to the fleet post
offices by wire arid airmail. In
formation on ship and plane move
ments come in from all over dm
world?by radio, letter and messen
ger.
Throughout the world, there are
over 9,000 navy post offices, varying
greatly in size and appearance?
some within the United States hot
the vast majority are on board ship
or at advanced bases or oo captured
and liberated islands. The large ones
serving the mobile units are flrsig
nated as fleet post offices.
What Navy Mea Waal
Extensive surveys show that navy,
coast guard and marine corps per
sonnel overseas above all want let
ters?letters giving local news and
tilling of things dopf tiihy
planned. Secondly, they went ob
jects with a personal sentiMental
appeal such as photographs, snap
shots. drawings made by
youngsters, and newspaper clippings
that can be enclosed in these letters.
Such surveys also show that tbap
positively know what they doaft
want. They don't want cakes, asft
candies, cookies, cigarettes and tam
cy toilet kits. These foods do not
survive the trip to the Pacific and
arrive in a battered, moldy candb
i tion.
i To make sure your package ar
rives in good condition, the fnOow
r ing suggestions are outlined:
1. Use a streag nntshm (spa- '
eial bases are design ad far (Ms I
I. Pack each article In sbmd
package.
?. Inside each package pat a
sheet ef paper with a list a( the
eeateats aad the faB address at ,
the persaa te whens it is sand *
pins yenr retain address.
4. Tie the has with card, Asa I
WRAP It in heavy paper aad tie I
it with Strang card.
*. PRINT the address la Ink J
directly aa the wrapping; dent I
nae jrnmmed UbeU which fsR '
Experience has shown that a mam
an a letter from home than a psch
n-1 dansmail to'the ty* Paciteaa^lA.