Page 8
Button Up Your Lip!
They tell a story of two sheepherd-
evr, ths only inhabitants of a vai^.',
stretch of Montana wilderness. They
were not near neighbors, and so met
rarely. One morning they encounter
ed, and one said; “Fine day, ain t it?
The other grunted and passed on. A
few days later, he pulled up stakes
and moved deeper into the wilder
ness. “Too much loose talk around
here,” he explained.
Perhaps even in wartime it would
not do to cultivate taciturnity to the
point attained by the Montana sheep-
herder; but it is possible to think of
him with respect, and it is wise to
follow his example to a much larger
degree than in peacetime.
Loose Talk Can Be Dangerous
It has been said that loose talk can
cause the United States to lose the
war. Certainly loose talk can greatly
prolong the war, entailing the unneces
sary loss of thousands of lives and the
unnecessary destruction of billions in
property. How?
Everybody can see how, when it
comes to disclosure of troop move
ments. If, for instance, enemy agents
learn through loose talk by men in
uniform, or by their friends and rela
tives, that troop trains are to move
over a certain railroad at a certain
time, then these agents know what
bridges to sabotage to do the most
damage. Or if enemy agents learn of
troop concentrations at a port of em
barkation, then they know what in
structions to pass along to submarines
lurking off the coast. Hence, men in
uniform are sedulously taught to but
ton up their lip,” and letters which
they mail are subject to censorship.
Soldiers of Production Must
Guard Speech
Not so many people realize that
loose talk by those other soldiers—the
soldiers of production—can be equally
dangerous. Armament production is
the twin arm of our war effort. If an
employee of a plant manufacturing
weapons of any sort indulges in loose
talk, he may easily give away informa
tion that will enable enemy agents to
cripple that plant. And just as it is
equally incumbent upon officers and
men of the armed forces to guard
their speech, so it is equally necessary
for members of management and work
ers at the machines and assembly
lines to be careful of what they say
about their work.
Indeed, business and industrial lead
ers, just as officers in the Army and
the Navy, are in possession of more
important information than the work
er at the bench. The worker sees
only a small part of the industrial set
up; the men in the front offices see it
as a whole. If they indulge in loose
talk, they are likely to give away in
formation concerning processes that
would enable saboteurs to ascertain
the key points at which a fire, an ex
plosion, or even a monkey wrench in
the gears would stop the production
of a whole plant.
Information That Should Be Guarded
What sort of information should be
carefully guarded? War-plant sites
and the specific nature of their out
put, the measures taken for guarding
the plants, structural details of plant^
the sources of water, light, heat, ana
power, and their lines of distribution,
the sort of machines in use, produc
tion-line organization, chemical, met
allurgical and other processes, rail
road and other transportation facili
ties, production figures, schedules and
backlogs, dates of delivery, the names
and location of subsidiaries and sub
contractors furnishing parts, estimat
ed supplies of strategic materials, in
ventions and devices for speeding pro
duction-all these are among the more
important subjects that should not be
discussed at random.
Printed Word Has Greater Range
What goes for talk goes with even
more force for print. Talk may have
a limited range; what gets into print
cannot be quarantined. Advertising,
publicity, and news releases and photo-
THE ECHO
POTENTIAL RESEARCH WORKERS
Richard Franklin, Jack Patton, Harold Meyers, Larry Dixon and Bruce
Baynard learn to be technical assistants while helping in the R®‘
search Dept. Their work takes them into the field where they help in
planting and cultivating the experimental plots and into the laboratory
as above where they are sorting and classifying seed. They assist in
testing germination of seed and in pollinating plants.
The Plant Research Dept, accepts no responsibility for L. Dixon s hat.
May,
The Charleston Charge
Just in case anyone is wondering
how come some of their colleague
suddenly developed a Charlestonian
accent, it’s because they spent all o
one day and night in Charleston, S.
We took off on our “Express Tour
in Ruth Shepherd’s “Chariot” attej
work one Saturday. When we arrive
in Greenville, Charlie Matthews saw
he had to check a Fiske-Carter invoice,
which really made us quite unhappy>
but, of course, business must come
fore pleasure so we relented. ^
found, however, that there were s
many invoices in need of his attentio
that he decided to take them along •
I must say tho’ that those were tn .
heaviest invoices I ever held.
Some of us got quite hungry.^
Batesburg, and we really had to sing
for our food. It wasn’t such “go®
grade” of singing ... but it worke •
We arrived in Charleston arouno
o’clock. They didn’t have the bano
playing for us, nor did they
I
I
1
us with a key to the city, but we
MEDICAL DEPARTMENT IN ACTION
The First Aid Station here at Ecusta is well equipped for handling not
only the minor accident cases, but also any emergency that nught
arise due to sickness or injury. The personnel consists of a physician
and four registered nurses who are very competent in handling this type
wofIc
The physician spends at least two hours a day in the medical depar^
ment and is subject to call any hour of the day or night. A nu^e is on
duty every hour the plant is in operation and a complete record is kept
of treatments rendered, whether due to sickness, occupational injuries or
injuries occuring off the job. ... 1*1,
This department is extending its every effort in guarding the health
and welfare of all employees and assisting them in any way possible in
maintaining their physical fitness. _
graphs which give away such informa
tion as that listed above are eagerly
watched for by enemy agents. It is for
this reason that the Public Relations
Branch of the Office of the Command
ing General, Services of Supply of the
Army, is cooperating with manufac
turers and businessmen engaged in
war work, and with publishers of per
iodicals of all sorts, to prevent the
appearance in print of facts, figures,
and pictures, disclosing information
the enemy wants. The Branch invites
the submission to it for review, prior
to publication, of all printed matter,
photographs, and drawings, dealing
with war production.
It is an old saying that speech is
silver, but silence is golden. In war
time this contrast is even greater. In
fact, it may be said that speech is dan
ger, and silence is safety. Although
Government, vigilance has thus far
prevented any widespread campaign
of sabotage in this country, there can
be no question that saboteurs are
present and watching for opportuni
ties, and that other enemy agents are
constantly seeking information which
they can transmit to the principals
abroad.
Exchange of Information Should
Be Controlled
It is helpful to the war effort for
manufacturers and businessmen to ex
change information that may result
in the speeding up of production.
Where such an exchange of informa
tion takes place under controlled con
ditions, it has the approval of the
War Department. But members of
management should be everlastingly
on guard against the sort of loose talk
that may be called smoking-room talk.
It is hunian to be proud of the
achievement of one’s factory, shop, or
retail establishment; but it is danger
ous in wartime to discuss this achieve
ment with any stranger—or even to
discuss it with friends when to do so
cannot serve to promote the war ef
fort. For it is impossible to tell to
whom even a friend may inadvertent
ly reveal important information told
rate an escort. (Well, for a few sec
onds anyway—even if it was
tell us that the tail light wasn’t burn-
ing.)
We found it was almost as difficn
to get a place to sleep in Chariest®
as it is to get sugar for that secon
cup of coffee. We stopped at one pla
to see about getting accommodatio
and they must have told us they na
a ^#11 house ’cause we drove away
butjas far as I’m concerned, I haven
Ve|,been able to interpret what tney
sai^"' Fred Williams’ purchasing
'ability is the only thing that save
us frpim sleeping on the beach.
Knowing that we were going
Jiave a place to put our heads jjw
balance of the night, the next thi
on the docket was food. We ^^n^ ^
arded Henry’s Place at midnight 3^ .
as they were closing, but it was eig
agin” one—so, again we went, sa ’
and conquered.
The next morning we went to
see the Magnolia Gardens. The co
ored woman at the gate told us tn
the flowers were almost gone an
there “won’t” much to see, but n
it been any lovelier. I’m thinking
would still be there. ^
The children down there must‘ha
had their dates confused and thoul
it was Halloween for never have I se®
so many contradictory highway
as we saw when trying to get to s
the “large body of water hanging on .
at Folley Beach. However, we bla^
the trail. Justine, Charlie, and
went swimming; Ruth, Jonesie, ’
and I ventured wading—but
scrutinized the sights. , j
After leaving the Beach, we cruiS^
around the city for a bit then
for home. It is highly probable tn.
there were innumerable scared Geec
ies in Charleston when we left in spj
of the fact that they were repeated'
assured they needn’t be.
If anyone wants to refresh the
memory on the leading song hits of
century—just come along next tii^'
We hope that the gasoline situati®
will be improved by the end of
present rationing period and we ca
take a trip to Cataloochee Ranch.
body interested in taking such a
let your wishes be known to Jusw^
Williams. The more the merrie^:
Incidentally, if some of you want
expert packer who will guarantee y
suits not to get wrinkled ... see ^
Jones. She really can recommend
best one. "
1^:
in confidence. gg
To emphasize the danger of jo*’ jj
talk, the British have publicized .
instance of the sinking of a transp^^,
by a submarine as a result of
tion obtained by an enemy agent
a soldier about to sail on the ti*a .
port. Let every American solo^g.*)
of production resolve that no loO
talk of his will ever result in the sa>^j
t'age or bombing of any war plai^^ J
other business establishment enga»^{,
in furthering the war effort. So, ^
ton up your lip!