Pvt. Etheridge Is
Now In Germany
Rudolph E. Etheridge, son of
Leroy E. Etheridge, 657 Williams
Street, Roanoke Rapids, N. C. has
arrived at the European Theater
Army Air Forces Reinforcement
Depot, and will soon be assign
ed to a permanent station some
iliiiiliiiiiliii
where in Germany.
While he is at this post, sit
uated near Munich on the pic
turesque wooded slope of a Garm
ar- Alpine range, Pvt. Etheridge
will have an opportunity to en
joy the scenic beauties of South
ern Ravaria which made the re
gion popular among pre-war tour
ists.
Formerly a prominent Luftwaf
fe training school, the Army Air
Forces Reinforcement Depot is
one of the most attractive fields
in Europe. At the present time
several thousand soldiers each
month are processed and given o
rientation in their occupational
duties at this key station.'
Before entering the service in
March 1945, he attended David
son College, North Carolina.
Ingram Served
On Housatonic
Willard Ingram, seamon, first
class, Star Route, Box 22-A, Roa
noke Rapids, N. C., served on this
fleet oiler, now at Pearl Harbor,
through part of her war career.
Her operations included fueling at
sea and transporting oil through
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
/■
U-boat “wolf packs” in the At- .
Ian tic.
The Housatonic carried 161,467,
313 gallons of oil, and traveled
206,501 miles in 41 months of war
time duty. She assisted in assaults
on Casablanca, Luzon, Iwo Jima,
Okinawa, bombardments of Japa»
and the occupation of the Tokyifc
Bay area.
«■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
■
More Headaches for (he Farmer '
• is
Once more the farmer is being asked to break
all food production records. To plow more acres,
feed more livestock and harvest more crops than
ever before. He is being asked to do this so that
America may continue to feed and clothe the
needy throughout the world, as well as our own
folks at home.
*
To carry out this job the farmer must have
I tools of production. Most of those he owns have
taken a terrific beating. They can’t be tied to
gether much longer with rusty fence wire.
In the teeth of this situation, the farmer ran
into a strike in the steel industry — a strike which
hit at the heart of food production.
When the steel plants shut down, manufac
turers of farm machinery and equipment, farm
trucks and tractors cannot get steel for their
products.
I This year the farmer won’t receive as many
of the replacements he desperately needs. He’ll
fight ahead with his old, broken machinery try
ing to crack another food production record, but
the cards are stacked against him.
All this means more headaches for the farmer
_loss of vital food production, and a bad dent in
his pocketbook.
Facts Too Frequently Omitted
The steel strike was called by the United
Steelworkers of America—CIO, which insists on
a wage increase totaling $166,000,000. The U. S.
I Steel Corporation has offered a wage rise which if
•••#
applied throughout the industry would amount to /
$135,000,000.
Steel workers are already among the highest
paid wTage-earners in America. Before the strike
their average earnings were approximately $1.16
an hour, $9.26 a day and $46.32 a week — on a *
forty-hour week. The U. S. Steel offer would have
given them about $1.31 an hour, $10.46 a day and
$52.32 a week. But they refused it, and accused the
steel industry of conspiring to ruin the union with
an offered wage increase of $25 a month, the high
est increase in the industry’s history. *
The strike is a direct violation of the contract
between the union and the steel companies. The
union wanted a long-term contract and got it. The
union agreed not to strike during the life of the
contract. Yet, the union struck on January 21.
Fighting for a Way of Life
Farmers have a big stake in continuous steel
production. They have an opportunity to say what
they think about unchecked labor monopolies *
which bring to a stop the nation’s recovery efforts,
through excessive wage demands which could only
add to inflation and cause soaring prices.
Not until enough of them protest unfair, dicta- I
torial actions and urge proper safeguards against "
arrogant, heedless union leadership and one-sided
labor laws will the country get back to sane, prof
itable production where everyone works together
toward a better standard of living.
• •••* <
American Iron and Steel Institute
350 Fifth Avenue, New York 1, N. Y.
95 PER CENT OF THE WORKERS IN THE STEEL INDUSTRY ARE EMPLOYED BY OUR COMPANY MEMBERS
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