North Carolina Newspapers

. T?? r. ? - - ? '.^r: "* ? | . ? .?* Mi*< * f_ ? - ? ? ^ ? ?..? * * *f f 2 K 1 ,, The Alamance Gleaner VoL LXXI - GRAHAM, N. C., TfaURSDAY, AUGUST 16,1945 No. 28 Doable-Barrel Action: Russia's Declaration of War And Atomic Bomb Combine To Stagger Collapsing Japs Coming on top of the American introduction of the earth-shak ing atomic-bomb, Russia's declaration of war on Japan raised high hopes for an early finish to the Pacific conflict, raging in bloody island-to-island fighting since recovery of U. S. strength follow ing Pearl Harbor. Having previously disclosed the dropping of the mighty new explosive on Japan, President Harry S. Truman also was the first to reveal Russia's entrance into the Pacific war to the U. S., putting him in the position of having made two historic an nouncements within a few days. In declaring war on Japan, Rus sian Foreign Commissar Molotov stated that the Reds'had decided on hostilities as a means for restoring peace quickly in the Far East after the Nipponese had turned down the 0. S., British and Chinese demand for unconditional surrender at Pots dam, thus ending Moscow's role as an intermediary in the conflict. With the Russians possessing large forces along the Siberian border, and excellent locations for air bases for short-range bombardment of the Japanese homeland, the Reds de cision to cross swords with the Nip ponese was expected to prove of in valuable assistance in shortening the war. Of the 4,000,000 men constitut ing the Japanese army, 1,250,000 have been reported massed in Man churia opposite Russian territory, with another 900,000 stationed throughout China. Having first come to grips over 40 years ago in the Orient, Far Eastern relations between the two powers have always remained touchy, with border clashes between Russian and Japanese troops in 1938 threatening to explode in major conflict. At that time, Marshal Gregory Zhukov, who was later to lead the Russian smash into Berlin, commanded Red sol diers in Siberia. All through file German-Russian war, a Japanese attack on Russia's rear in Siberia was feared, with the Nipponese reportedly prepared to take the jump in 1942 before the Nazi setback at Stalingrad inspired caution. On the face, Japanese-Rus sian relations were guided by the neutrality pact of 1941 which the Reds signed with the Germans threatening their European front; but with the Nazis licked, Moscow then found itself free to take a stif fer stand in the Far East. With Russia's entrance into the war, the Allied world speculated on the price Premier Stalin would ex act for Red participation in the drive to overthrow the Nipponese and end the conflict quickly. A shrewd bar gainer, interested in material ad vantages rather than idealistic at tainments, the mustached chieftain of the Kremlin reportedly had an eye not only on Inner Mongolia, but on Manchuria and Korea as well. A Historians were quick to point out B that Russia has always had a rough ||and rugged time in the affairs of t (the Far East. There are some old kl scores which she had to settle with ?J Japan. ? Pushed out of her once-important place in Asia after the Russo-Japa nese conflict of 1904-09 because of the loss of the Manchurian railway em pire?and the southern half of the island of Sakhalin with Its rich tim ber and oil resources, Russia has been smarting ever since. Even the Russian revolution which saw the end of the czars did not change this feeling. In fact, under the Soviet, Russia's interest in the Far East suffered even more. Chi nese pressure forced her to lose con trol of the Chinese Eastern Rail way. The Japs pressed for addition al rmessiliiiis in oriental waters. - Mm.rU Leader of Russia to peace and war, Premier Stalin beads nation's drive on Japan. ATOMIC BOMB: Earth Shaking Best kept secret of the war, the sensational atomic bomb electrified the Allied world with its possibili ties for bringing the Japanese soon to their knees and revolutionizing postwar life, while staggering the enemy with its terrible destructive potentialities. Armed with the new weapon, which promises to outmode all exist ing forms of armaments on land and sea and air, the U. S. was in a posi tion to deliver another unconditional surrender ultimatum to the Japa nese, this time threatening to wreak even greater ruin than that being wrought by the swarms of Flying Forts now bombarding the empire. In a war already noted for the remotely-controlled buzz bomb and rocket developed by the Germans, the atomic bomb remains the out standing scientific product, embody ing, as it does, the magic substance. uranium, known as U-235?the 235 representing its weight in atoms, the smallest particles of matter. First isolated in 1789, uranium is a metallic element found along with radium in pitchblende and carnotite ore, and possessing great powers of energy through its explosive atomic contents. With Maj. Gen. Leslie R. Groves in overall charge of production of the atomic bomb, and with Dr. J. R. Oppenheimer of the University of California responsible for the tech nical development of it, special pains were taken to preserve the secrecy of the explosive, packing a force greater than 20,000 tons of TNT. At Richland, Wash., the huge plant, sprawling over 400,000 acres, was divided into three parts, one for the production of the material; an other for its refinement, and the third for storing raw materials. Some idea of the terrific explosive effect of the new atomic bomb on the harassed Japanese cities can be gleaned from the results of the test of the charge in the desert lands of In overall charge of atomic bomb production, Major General Graves studies map with Japanese targets. new Mexico. With U-235 giving off heat, light and power, the explosion lit the countryside for miles around with a brightness even greater than day, with the flash seen 520 miles away at Needles, Calif., and a blind girl near Albuquerque, N. M., noting the presence of a flash shortly before the detonation. The explosion itself set off a heavy pressure wave, which knocked down two men at a control center 10,000 yards away, and completely vaporized the steel tower upon which the atomic bomb rested. A huge multi-colored cloud surged upward to over 40,000 feet, commanding the sky. In dropping a single 400-pound charge on the rail and industrial center of Hiroshima, one B-29 wiped out 60 per cent of the once thriving Honshu municipality, army air force reconnaissance re ported. Fires swept extensively oyer the strickerf area and only a few con crete structures remained standing in the heart of the city, with the interior at these even scorched. In the welter of excitement over the atomic bomb, the tremendous possibilities of harnessing U-235 to peacetime uses commanded popular attention. Any hopes that the mate rial might be immediately avail able, however, were spiked by war department reports that much addi tional research was needed for de signing machinery for producing peacetime energy. MANPOWER: Charge Army Hoarding In the face at severe congressional criticism over maintenance of 7,400,000 men in uniform for a one front war following Germany's de feat, the army revealed that it would ' not revise its point system for dis- | charge as previously planned for July. | With about lVfc million troops scheduled for release by next June, the war department stated that con sultations with General Mac Arthur and his commanders resulted in the decision that the present discharge | rate is the maximum that can be afforded to permit efficient opera tions in the Pacific and prevent un necessary losses of men through in experienced combat leadership. Despite the army's stand, Sena tor Johnson (Dem., Colo.) repeated his demand that the nation's mili tary forces be further pared, as serting that shipping facilities will permit utilization of only 3,000,000 men in the Pacific before January, 1947, and the hoarding of manpower will cause unnecessary unemploy ment in the postwar period. In the midst of the argument, the army revealed that renlaceable Pacific vets with 85 or more points are being discharged as rapidly as shipping permits. Specialists with 85 or more points who cannot be imme diately replaced, however, are being retained. PACIFIC: Realign Commands In line with the joint chiefs of staff assignments of April 5 put ting him in charge of all army forces and resources in the Pacific theater, Gen. Douglas MacArthur revealed extension of his command to the Ryukyu islands, stepping-stones to his announced goal of Tokyo. At the same time, it was dis closed, Adm. Chester Nimitz, who had been given the leader ship of all naval forces and re sources in the Pacific theater by the chiefs of staff April 5, re tained his control over the fleet in the Ryukyu'area. Gen. Carl Spaatz' army strategic air forces also will remain inde pendent of the MacArthur com mand. With the announcement of the realignments, it was re vealed that a mighty invasion force was being forged under General MacArthur, with the Ryukyu and Philippine islands serving as a semi-circular base. POULTRY: U. S. Procurement Moving to ease the burden of sup ply on eight eastern, southern and midwestem states, and obtain suf ficient stocks for military canning, , Secretary of Agriculture Anderson announced that the government would extend poultry purchases to 12 other principal producing states. At the same time, it was revealed, the government has been purchas ing all turkeys marketed in 23 pro ducing states for storage for popu lar, morale - building Thanksgiving and Christmas day service dinners. Despite the heavy U. S. procure ment, the bumper 1949 turkey crop of from 575,000,000 to 600,000,0000 pounds will assure each civilian of i 3.55 pounds. Under the government's new poul try purchase programs, the U. S. and civilians will share equally in output of processing plants with over 20,000 pound capacity weekly in North and South Dakota, Minne sota, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Mis souri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Oklahoma and Texas. The gov^B ment is now taking 70 per cen^M broiler production in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, Oklahoma ? and Missouri. c REPARATIONS: J Russ Share c As a result of the Potsdam agree- J ments, Russia will receive the lion's J share of surplus movable German industry as reparations payments, 1 studies revealed. Russia's advantage partly stems 1 from the fact that about 4S per c cent of German industry was lo cated in the eastern part of the fa country now under Red occupation, \ and the U. S. and Britain with great r productive plants of their own have fc little use for enemy facilities. h Under the Potsdam agreements, ' the Allied powers are to take surplus r movable German industry as repara- * tions for Nazi war damage after the f economy of the defeated nation has been readjusted to permit only t manufacture essential to an agricul- ? tural state. In addition to having a ? free hand in the eastern zone, where fa 45 per cent of German industry eras t situated, the Russians also will ob- fa tain 10 per cent at tip equipment t in the U. 8. and British zones, plus fa another IB per cent paid tor with ? food and coal. While Walter Wincheli it amy, Ihis month, hit column will ba conducted by guest columnists. Looking Back and Ahoad By COMDR. JACK DEMPSEY As I take over WW's ehalr, I find nysalf at a disadvantage. I have een so little of Broadway in the ist couple of years that I really lon't know the score. My absence rom the old street is only tempo ary. Like, every sailor, I am look ng forward to wearing a wide irimmed Panama again, complete rith a loud sports Jacket and the irightest necktie I can And. That hould be a matter of no more than light months, for the Nips are hang ng on the ropes and the bell isn't ;oing to save them. In the meantime I am in the Coast luard for the duration, or as long as Jncle Sam has a job I can do. By he time this reaches you I expect o be somewhere in the Pacific. My issignment is that of military mor ile officer for the 11th, 12th, 13th ind 14th Naval districts. Included a this group is Pearl Harbor and ny duties may take me farther westward as our fleet hammers at he very doors of Hirohito's hovel. Vante to Hold the Vhite Horse If I ean only have the privilege of , lolding the Mikado's white horse rhen Admiral Halsey mounts him or his victorious ride through down own Tokyo it will be a bigger thrill ; han I experienced when Jess Wil ard failed to answer the bell for the ith round on that sunbaked day in roledo, 25 years ago. Speaking from experience 1 can issure you that a morale officer lasn't a tough assignment. Not with he Navy and the Coast Guard. I lave trained thousands of seamen tnd 1 went ashore on Okinawa dur ng that bloody campaign for the lole purpose of observing what benefits, if any, the men had re vived from our training program, rhere isn't a sailor out there who loean't dream of coming home, but tone of them want to return until he shooting stops. If you could talk vith them at their battle stations rau would be proud of just being vith them. As for myself, the war has been a vonderful, though hardly a pleas mt, experience. It has been amus ng, too. I was in England the day rack London won the British Em iiri> hpnwwplffht rhnmrtinnaMn rom Tommy Mills. A British re mrter asked me what 1 thought of rack London and I replied that 1 tad enjoyed reading his books and hat I thought he was one of the ruly great American writers. "I am so sorry," replied the tartled and polite Englishman. "1 vas referring to Jack London, the Jritish prize fighter, and not Jack London, the American author." I had to confess that I had never een London fight and had no opin on to offer on the subject. I have ince met London, a bald-headed 'eteran of 32 years. His defeat by iruce Woodcock recently came as 10 surprise to me, as I judged from xmdon's appearance that he was fell past his prime. 1 NEW FIGHTER You may have gathered by now hat I am still interested in the fight lama. I am, and I expect to be ictive in it during the years that rill be left to me after the war. Re ently there arrived from the Ar ;entine Abel Cestac, a young South imertcan giant, sent to me by my >ld friend and foe, Luis Angel Firpo. f you know Firpo you will realize hat he didn't lay out the money or his passage unless he was con vinced Abel can fight. Cestac hasn't been thoroughly ested yet, but I'm willing to take a hance. He's big, strong and rough. Of course I can't be active a handling the South American. Vhile I am in uniform, Max Wax nan is looking after him. Waxman las managed several champions and ? has been my personal manager or a great many years. I am fortu late to be associated hi a business ray with Max and also with Job imron and Louis Brooks. Because of them I have not had o make the financial sacrifice so nany others had to make when they ntered the armed farces. I couldn't iave conducted my Broadway ree ntrant nor the Qreet Northern otel any better than they have. ?e're a going oouoern and we an noting forwarl to the postwar wars toeether. Ten Per Cent of Army Veterans Want to Be Farmers; 1 Seven Per Cent Mope to Start Small Businesses More Than Half Will Work for Wages Again; 8% Going to School By WALTER A. SHEAD WNU Wukli|toB Correspondent Seventy-five per cent of the of ficers and enlisted men in the Unit ed States army have definite ideas about what they Intend to do "when they get back home." Another 20 per cent have made tentative plans for their postwar work. A survey by the research branch of the in formation and education division of the army shows that: Fifty-two per cent, roughly 4,100,000 men, plan to work tor salary and wages; Seven per cent, or about a half million men, intend to go into small businesses, retail and service trades mostly, for them selves; Ten per cent, or more than 750,000 men, plan to operate farms; Eight per cent, or about 000, 000, plan to go to school. The remainder have made only ten tative decisions or are unde cided. The army, however, points out that at least three factors must be taken into consideration in interpret ing the results of the survey: (1) the length of the war; (2) economic opportunity alter aemoDiuzauun; (3) an increasing percentage may seriously consider attending full time school, opening a business or buying a farm under G.I. Bill of Rights provisions. One interesting feature of this sur vey reveals that 80 per cent of the white enlisted men plan to return to the states in which they lived be fore entering the service. This leaves 20 per cent who may migrate to another section of the country. As a matter of fact, 10 per cent, or about 750,000 men, definitely antici pate moving to another state, the other 10 per cent being still unde cided. This ratio is heavier in the Negro enlisted personnel where only about two-thirds expect to go back to the same state in which they re sided in civilian life. Young Men Going West. The great majority plan to mi grate to the Far West. Among the Negroes, the greater shift is from the South to the northeastern states. If the indicated shifts materialize among these returning servicemen they may happen as follows: 1.?A rapid expansion to the Pa cific coast states. 2.?In-migration, bat on a much smaller scale into the industrialized east north central states. 3.?No net movement, in-go bal ancing oat-go in the New Eng land, middle Atlantic and mountain states, and, 4.?A heavy out-migration from the highly agricultural areas run ning from the west north central states through the entire tier of southern states. If the plans for 7 per cent of our soldiers to enter business far them selves materialize, it means crea tion of a little more than a half mil lion new firms in the small busi ness field, or just about the number which went out of business in the two-year period following Pearl Harbor. A great majority of these, about 52 per cent, will enter the retail trade . . . radio stores, filling stations, shoes, hardware and gen eral merchandise outlets. About 18 per cent plan to go into the service fields, 9 per cent into wholesale and small manufacturing, 8 per cent u?w uaiispuruiuoii tutu puuiiu uuu* tics, 6 per cent into construction, the other 9 per cent being spread over all other industries. Of the three-quarters of a million men who plan to take up fanning either as owners or farm workers, the survey shows that 9 out of 10 have had at least a year or more of full-time farming behind them. Only about 2 per cent have had no farm ing experience at all. Even the men with relatively vague plana for farming have had considerable pre vious farming experience. One out of four of those who seriously plan to farm, already owns a farm. These men are the least Inclined to mi grate, this survey shows, and the great majority of the prospective farmers plan to return to the same region from which they entered the army. By and large, they expect to go back to the same type of farm ing with which they are familiar. These three-quarters of a million men who plan farming as a career, are, roughly equivalent to the total who were farming just prior to in duction, although induction records show that more than a million and a half men have been taken from the farms. These, however. farm youths who were in school and were not classed actually as farm ers. Not Room for An on Land. According to the army, the chances are that the nation's farms will not be able to absorb all of the men planning to return to them, in spite of the current shortage of a million farm workers. The army says that rural areas normally pro duce more young men and women than can be efficiently utilized on the farm. The problem may very well bocome acute considering the wartime increase in farm produc tion achieved by more efficient use of lsboi on fewer farms. A little more perspective on the r problem may be had by a further analysis of the intentions of these men definitely planning to farm. In the first place, the survey makes it clear that a much larger propor tion of the men want to become farm operators, by either buying or renting, than were farm operators before the war. A majority say they can count on returning to a tract of land which they or their families own ... or they already have in mind a specific piece of land they expect to buy or rent. However, one out of every three in dicate they will need to locate a farm to rent or buy after leaving the army. So if the plans of all these pro spective farmers materialize, there will be thousands of veterans look ing for farms in the postwar pericx^ . . . and they very well may come up against a shortage of good land, wiucn uiay, WU, uc scuuig ai uiuuu higher prices than before the war. So there is fear on the part of the army that many of these men may be forced to settle on cheaper sub marginal land. The army points out that relief would be possible on this score if large sections of public domain ot reclaimed land becomes available. About one out of six veterans said they would be willing to move on such tracts of land. The same thing is true with re spect to the farmer-serviceman as with the prospective business man . . . most of them are thinking of investing sums ranging up to $4,000. This may be compared with the de partment of agriculture estimates of $3,000 to $8,000 as the average cost of the family sized farm, not count ing necessary tools, equipment, live stock, etc. ... So these prospective farmers will also need financial help. How many will actually end up on the farm will depend on this aid, and on the comparative oppor tunities offered by industry and ag riculture after the war. In conjunction with the American Historical association, the Armed Forces institute has prepared a booklet entitled "Shall I Take Up Farming?" which is available at the Government Printins Office. Wash ington 29, D. C. Mm! Will Work for Wages. Of course by far the greatest seg ment of the armed forcos plan to work for wages on their return. Two aspects of the plans of these four million men are noteworthy. First, only one-third of the white enlisted men who were employees before Induction and plan to be employees after the war, definitely expect to go back to their former employers. Another one-third say they may re turn, but are not sure. This leaves another million men who will either migrate and move to Other jobs or erho have learned new trades and expect to do different work. As a matter of fact the tendency among a large percentage of these servicemen is to aspire for work calling for a higher level of skill and in general, the propoitlun who plan tojpursMs their pFswar^occupyana SMMMM ilia group definitely plana to aeek [ovemmental joba. The federal [overnment now la by far the larg est employer in the country and the nonthly report of the Civil Service commission aa of May 1, the lat est report, showa paid employment n continental United States totaled !,897,077, of which 2,001,186 were in he war agencies. Of this number, mly 252,054 are in Washington. While war cutbacks are expected o decrease this number somewhat, [overnment work is expected to maintain the upward trend which las prevailed since the last war. State and local governments nor mally employ more than twice as nany persons as does the federal government, and the five year* im-' mediately following the war are ex pected to see more than a million and a quarter jobs opening in this field. . . Favorable employment opportuni ties and special considerations for veterans are expected to draw prob ably 10 per cent of the 52 per cent who plan to work for wages and salaries, into this federal, state and local government field. Many Betaraing to School. Veterans counting on going back to full-time school after the war is nearing the 600,000 mark. That most of these will enter col l,,, .- r,nm ? V... that 10 4IIUJVBKU uuut uiv tavt ??m? more than 9 in 10 are high school . graduates. The army points out that this war has brought about the first large decrease in college en rollment since the turn of the cen tury and that non-military enroll ments in colleges and universities dropped 44 per cent after the first two years of war. Civilian college and university students in 1943 num bered smaller than 30 years ago. The -deficit of college, trained men, particularly acute in the liberal arta and teaching fields, will continue to accumulate as the war goes on. In: view of these facts, it is interesting to note that the two most popular couryes picked out by servicemen are engineering and architecture, and the liberal arts wad sciences. Engineering Meet Papular. Other courses mentioueJ include business administration, "pre-rhedic, medicine and dentistry,' agituultdie" law, education, journalism and tfys - ology. In general about ode nfen " in five is considering courses el1 study which can be classified as Kb- - eral arts and sciences, and the re-" mainder are thinking in terras' at professional and technical speciali zation, with engineering leading the - field. Annthfiar mint nf nartimilar et? nificance is that this faB-time school course will take these men out of' the labor market, about half a mil lion of them. But the same thing cannot be true of another largo group, about 18 per cent additional, or about 1,300,000, who plan to at tend part-time school, that is work and go to school at the same time. Three-fourths of these students de sire trade and business school courses. These also are In an older group and about one-third are mar ried. There is one more section of vet erans which the survey classified. These were a group of about 3 per cent, about >13,000 who said they definitely plan to stay in the army. Up to more than 10 per cent who would consider re-enlistment under certain specific conditions. Two ma jor considerations which will govern the actions of this segment are (1) the terms under which re-enlist ments will be offered, including re tention of rank, choice at service, duration of enlistment and opportu nity tor commissions, art (1) the kind art opportunities tor civilian jrtsjwhioh win b. available CXPfCTCD POST-OM Mlf RATION PATTERN Of VHITC EN LI ST CO MCM (WIOTH Of MR RCfRKSCNTS PCRCINTAif Of ALL WMITf MM ANTS)