The Alamance Gleaner
= ' ' ' ?'?Wj
VoL LXVI GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 1941 No. 49
! WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS By Edward C. Wayne
Gorman Airforce Aids Italy in Attacks
Upon British Forces in Mediterranean;
Munitions Production and Shipbuilding
Are Vital Spots in U. S. Defense Work
(EDITOR'S NOTE?When opinions are expresses In these eelnmns, they
sre these of the news analyst and net necessarily ef this newspaper.)
by Western Newspaper iTwfrm ?
INVASION:
England Cautious
In contrast to the cheerful, bomb
less Christmas holiday, London was
glum the first days of the New Year.
The Nazi airforce had "Coven
trized" the City of London, that dis
trict in the central section of the
metropolis where financial houses
are located. .
Thousands of incendiary bombs
were dropped. Hundreds of roaring
fires were out of control at the same
time. The losses were estimated in
millions of pounds and the dead
could not be counted. Three days
later a man wandering into the sec
tion asked a policeman the way to
Paternoster Row, famous for cen
turies for its bookshops. The bobby
replied: "There is no Paternoster
Row, sir."
Mostly the British feared an at
tack through Ireland. Earlier warn
ings that the Axis thrust into the
Balkans might only be. a winter
sortie and not a full-dress attack,
were being taken seriously.
The actions there were being
watched with interest. Germany
moved 300,000 troops through Hun
gary and into Rumania. The Ger
mans were posted along the border
of Bulgaria where it was freely an
nounced that as soon as they were
in position and the time was ripe,
an advance would be made on Sa
lonika, Greece.
Bulgaria was belligerent in talk,
but made no move to mobilize for
defense or call upon Turkey and
Russia for aid. Russia, however,
? countered the action by lining the
border of Rumania with Soviet divi
sions. The Germans abruptly shift
ed a part of their force to sit oppo
site them.
It looked like the. real thing. But
experts didn't believe it. They be
lieved Hitler was merely protecting
his rear in the Balkans in prepara
tion for the attack on England, much
as he had protected his flanks when
SIR HUGH DOWDING, air ehiel
nuir that of Royal Mil Force, predicted u
he arrived in Canada, thai German ait
raids will hate lost Iheir sting by Spring
time,
he took Norway before the drive into
Prance.
Later came reports that German
air squadrons were proceeding to
Italy to aid Mussolini's fliers in at
tacks upon British bases in Libya
and on the British fleet in the Medi
terranean. It was also believed that
the Germans might be used in
Italy's campaign against the Greeks
now raging in Albania.
Neutral Eire
Ireland is the weak point in the
British defense and its ports are no
further from Germany than were
the porta of Norway. Like Norway,
too it.has long stretches of unpro
tected coastline. During January
and February, conditions will be
favorable for a German attack?the
tides will be small, the nights long
and the fogs thick to cover embark
ation of troopfi.
It is estimated Hitler must estab
lish a bridgehead of at least 50,000
troops, not counting losses, to start
an invasion. Losses in such an op
eration are estimated at three times
the number landed, so Der Fuehrer
would have to start off with 200,000
troops for the landing alone. If Brit
ain held bases in Eire, the loss esti
mate would be even greater, and
DEFENSE:
Full Speed Ahead
As soon as President Roosevelt's
"Big Four" ? Knudsen, Hillmah,
Stimson and Knox?can get indus
trial plants working at capacity
turning out munitions, look tor an
acceleration ol ship building in car
go carrier classes. Washington is
beginning to be alarmed at a quiet
survey which showed that if Britain
should fall, the Axis powers would
have ship building capacities in con
quered nations six times larger than
U. S. capacity.
First note on this line was sound
ed by Republican Rep. Hamilton
Fish, from the President's own N. Y.
district. Representative Fish has
been a critic of the administration
since 1932. In turn~h^ has plenty of
critics of his own and ran into a fury
WILLIAM RHODES DAVIS, interna
tional oil operator who, according to
Verne Marthall, head of the recently
organized "No Foreign War" committee,
wot bearer of a Nam peace plan naming
Pretidenl Rootevelt at arbiter in I9S9.
of angry words when he went call
ing on dictators in Europe in the
summer of 1939, while an official
delegate of congress to the Inter
parliamentary Congress in Norway.
But Fish's warning on ship build
ing has not been taken lightly. If a
successful Axis would take advan
tage of such ship-building capacities,
they could control the high seas
> within a short time, even if the
American two-ocean navy already
were sailing the briny deep.
500 Planes a Day?
Another plan which will not be
cast aside lightly, was presented by
pint-sized Walter Reiither, manager
of the General Motors division of
the C. I. O.'s United Automobile
Workers. Presentation to President
Roosevelt actually was by Philip
Murray, C. I. O. chieftain, but the
plan was Reuther's.
The proposals calls for activating
354,000 feet of "existing automobile
plants space in the Detroit area,
which once belonged to such forgot
ten firms as Hupmobile and Gra
ham-Paige. Reuther and Murray
also maintained that there are thou
sands of skilled workers in the same
area still waiting for jobs. Cited wera
lay-offs recently by Fisher Body,
Chevrolet and Temstedt.
Blue prints and tables submitted
with the proposal were based on
production of 150,000 planes a year,
six months after it was put into ef
fect. Only light craft and training
planes would be made. The manu
facture of heavy craft and bombers
would be retained by the present air
craft industry.
The President handed the data to
his Big Four. But even before that
it had been examined privately by
I Undersecretary of War Patterson,
who is charged with mobilization of
industry. He was much impressed.
It will be opposed by the aircraft
industry.
There were indications too that the
drive soon will be put in force to
speed up defense by compelling
plants manufacturing "non-essen
tials" to forego their schedules and
"accept" war department orders.
THE ARMY:
More Men Called
During the latter half of January
more thousands of young men will
be called for a year's army train
ing, under the selective service law.
The first call was in December and
in virtually every one of the na
tion's 6,900 draft boards the quota
was filled by youths who volunteered.
In most local areas, however, the
Changing Hands
CLEVELAND, OHIO.?In a cere
mony at City Hall, Harold H. Bur
ton (right) ended his five years as
mayor of Cleveland and Edward
Blythin (left) was sworn in to suc
ceed him. Burton now becomes
Ohio's junior V. S. senator.
FATEFUL YEAR:
President Warns
The seventeenth month of the war
opened against a sombre back
ground. The year 1941 dawned with
a general admission that before its
close may come the decisive test,
not only of the war, but also the
American economic system.
America was given a fprave report
by President Roosevelt in a speech
that took the joy out of New Year's
celebrations. He said that the dan
ger to the nation is the greatest
since Jamestown and Plymouth
Rock. He said if Great Britain was
defeated the Axis powers would con
trol Europe, Africa, Australasia and
the high seas. He said that a vic
torious Axis would not hesitate to
occupy South America and the Unit
ed States would be living at the point
of a gun. He said that already se
cret agents of these powers are op
erating in the Americas.
Before the President spoke, he had
received uninvited advice from two
sources. German and Italian dis
patches said that if the President
promised aid to Britain by permit
ting use of Irish ports by American
merchantmen or giving Britain
stranded German merchantships in
U. S. harbors it would be viewed as
intervention in the war. From a
bloc of U. S. senators, among them
Senator Wheeler (D., Mont.), came
urgings that the President originate
a movement for a "negotiated"
peace.
He pledged that he would do ev
erything in his power to keep the
United States out of the war, de
clared there was not even the re
motest thought of sending troops to
Europe, called for defense produc
tion to the utmost, hinted it may be
necessary to use machinery now en
gaged in manufacture of luxury
goods to turn out armament, and
forecast that the Axis powers would
not win the war.
Reaction
Throughout the United States the
speech was received with pledges of
support on all sides, even from per
sonal and political enemies of Mr.
Roosevelt like former Gov. Alfred
Smith, former Gov. Alf Landon, Sen
ator Vandenberg (R., Mich.); Sena
tor Austin (R., Maine).
But there was no enthusiasm
among the totalitarian powers. Ber
lin was silent for 48 hours during
which time Adolf Hitler went into se
clusion and studied the document.
Der Fuehrer then replied indirectly.
He spoke to his army, not mention
ing the name Roosevelt. But he
promised his army a victory in 1M1.
He said God was on the side of
Germany and "would not abandon
those who were determined with
courageous heart to help them
selves."
Premier Mussolini was blunter.
His mouthpiece, Virginia Gayda,
said America already was in the
war.
NAMES
... in the news
Ousted?The Overseas Press Club
1 in New York consists of newsmen
who are or have been foreign cor
respondents for U. S. newspapers in
the past. - There are few active
members abroad now, most are
back home. The club dropped from
its rolls George Sylvester Vie reck,
saying it objected to his bringing
"bundists and gestapo agents" to its
meetings. Viereck, an American, is
registered with the state depart
ment as the $500-a-montb corre
spondent for a Munich newspaper.
Death?Daniel Prohman, 88, one
of America's greatest theatrical pro
ducers, died in New York. Agnes
Ayres, 42, star of the silent movies
and leading lady to Rudolph Valen
d"
Drop in Spring Pig Crop
Predicted by Government
Rise in Pork Prices Considered Likely;
Washington Correspondents Discuss
'Jitters' of War Rumors.
Nat'l Farm and Homa
Hour Commentator.
WASHINGTON.?"Pigs is Pigs"?
that was the name of one of the
funniest short stories ever written.
Of course pigs "isn't" pigs. They
"is" shoats and hogs and a number
of other things including sausage
and pork chops.
Not long ago the mail carrier
probably stopped at your gate and
asked a lot of impertinent questions
about your plans for your porkers
and the other day the department
of agriculture finished reporting
what the mail carriers reported to
them. The result was the semi-an
nual Pig Crop report which said
that there would be 10 per cent less
little pigs going to market next
spring than last.
Officially the Agricultural Market
ing Service said this:
"The downswing in hog produc
tion which began in the spring of
1940 continued through the fall and
will continue at least through the
spring season of 1941, the Agricultur
al Marketing Service reported to
day. The decline apparently has
been at an increasing rate. The
percentage decrease in the 1940 fall
pig crop was greater than that of
last spring, and the indicated per
centage decrease for the spring of
1941 is a little greater than that for
the fall of 1940.
"The fall pig crop of 1940 is esti
mated at 12.5 per cent smaller than
that of 1939. The decrease in the
1940 spring pig crop was 9 per cent.
The combined pig crop of 1940 is
down 10 per cent from last year but
the crop is the second largest since
1933.
The indicated number of sows to
(arrow in the spring season of 1M1
is 14 per cent smaller than the num
ber farrowed in the spring of 1940.
"This information, from the De
cember Pig Crop survey, is based
upon returns from 160,000 farmers
I obtained in co-operation with the
post office department through the
rural mail carriers."
EXPECT PRICE RISE
Now according to past experience
; these estimates have proved to be
pretty accurate and so the city folks
can expect to have to pay more for
their pork chops and the demand
will probably exceed the supply.
Eventually that may apply to
milk, too, but right now there are
thousands of potential customers of
A family m ?/ valma.
dairy farmer* who would buy if
milk and milk products were cheap
er.
Efforts of the department to breed
better cow* ia illustrated in the ac
! companying photograph. I wouldn't
want to go on record as saying that
I the fine old Aberdeen-Angus that
flourish in my home state of Illinois
would be flattered to learn that mix
ing promiscuously with the strange
looking critter in the picture with
the enlarged collar button on the
back of its neck, would improve
their family tree?but it's a fact.
At least the Brahman cow has cer
tain points which help an Aberdeen
Angus if it has to live down Texas
way. It's cool in Scotland where
! the Aberdeen-Angus came from. It's
hot in tropical Asia where hump
backed beauty originated. The Brah
man have sweat glanda In their skin
which acts as a refrigerating sys
tem. And a little of that goes pretty
well in the Gulf states of this coun
try.
Newt CorretpondentB
Ditcutt War JitterM
This is s story of chin-beards and
j war.
Ws have been going through some
Jittery moments inWsshington lately
with war and rumors of war all
about us. In the midst of the con
fusion, little things, unimportant
things which we remember years
afterward but which never get into
the papers or the history books stand
out clear and sharp ixi our memories
i
like a lantern swinging on a dark
night, like the eerie, night-mare
sound of the first coyote call you
ever heard on a lonely ride home,
with the moon half hidden under
the moving clouds.
I was sitting in the Press club
on a recent Sunday evening. There
? were a couple of correspondents
there but the place was almost de
serted. A heavy set fellow carrying
a walking-stick came in.
.Of course we began heckling him
a little. But he's equal to it. Leon
Henderson is one of the New Deal
ers who has managed to hold his
ground, winning hate from some, re
spect from others who disagree with
him all down the line. I'll never
forget one occasion in which he fig
ured. I can't mention the names of
the men present but they were all
legitimate contenders for nomina
tion of the presidency of the United
States. And Henderson offered a 10
to 1 bet that none of them would be
candidates. One, only, got furious
and when it was his turn to speak,
launched into one of his famous in
vectives against Henderson and all
his works. It was a good show but
Henderson proved right in the end.
He won the bet.
TALK ABOUT CRANKS
Well, what'We said to Henderson
that Sunday night and what ha said
in reply wasn't particularly impor
tant until we got to talking about
the cranks trying to see govern
ment officials with plans (or saving
the world.
Then somebody said to Hender
son: "Have you met the man who
is communicating with Mars?"
Before he could answer, one of
the cynical listeners who insisted
that the administration was trying
to get us into war, piped up:
"I thought you (oiks were already
in communication with Mars."
"No," Henderson answered, quick
as a whistle, "we aren't trying to
communicate with the god of war,
we are trying to keep away from
him"
Mr. Henderson left. Representa
tive Tinkham of Massachusetts
came in. We greeted him. He said
he'd been away.
Naturally the talk turned to
beards. For Representative Tink
ham has a famous beard. A fine
wavy hirsute decoration that makes
him look as friendly as some of the
kindly animals you've seen with sim
ilar appendages. Beards are no
longer the style. 1 often regret it
and I have always believed that
their absence was due to one of two
things: moral cowardice on the part
of those who fear to be different or,
as in my own case, an inability to
raise a crop of whiskers that would
look like anything but a wheatfleld
in the dust bowl.
TINKHAM WELL KNOWN
But Representative Tinkham is
more than a beard. He is a Wash
ington institution. When the gov
ernment purchased a well-known
apartment house in the capital, in
which he has had his bachelor quar
ters for years, and turned the build
ing into one of the alphabetical agen
cies, Mr. Tinkham stood on his
legal rights and refused to move
out.
l here he remained among ma tro
phic*?heads of wild water-buffalo
which he had outfaced in the jungles
?lions that he had not only out
bearded but beaded; tigers, ele
phants, tusks and all?and of course,
his own much-photographed beard.
However, it is not merely the fact
that Representative Tinkham has
faced beasts in the jungle that has
made him famous. He has faced
opposition for his seat in congress
since 1915 and has never been de
feated. And he does it without mak
ing a speech. Perhaps he is suc
cessful because he has never made
a speech. Like the growing of a
beard, that method is different.
And Representative Tinkham has
another distinction. He is a mem
ber of the opposition, if not the "loy
al opposition" an opposition which
he considers is based on loyalty
loyalty to his state and his nation.
"It may be too late to keep us out
of war," he said, "but I am going
to fight to do if."
And with that he turned on his
heel and with his whiskers waving
like the defiant plume on the hat of
Cyrano de Bergerac, he stalked out
of our presence, the tails of the
strange, half-length pea-jacket he
wears tor an overcoat, flapping in
the breeze.
?' ---- - - ' -
SpeaJuKf
\ I
I By ROBERT McSHANE ?
22 |g|$gn^ By WmIm Ntwtpopw Union
iftllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllHIK
D ILLY CONN of Pittsburgh, light
" heavyweight champion, has
been awarded a crack at the heavy
weight crown of Joe Louis in a bout
to be promoted by Hike Jacobs next
June.
This fact has done little to dispel
the fear that Louis' reign will con
tinue indefinitely. There is no foun
dation for saeh aq idea. Old age
will creep up on Joe sooner or
later. Bat the ranking of Conn
as No. 1 contender for the heavy
weight title seems to indicate that
no challenger will tumble champion
Louis off his throne dnring the acq
year.
It is strange that SO many fistic
customers are enthusiastic about
Conn's chances. Some of the most
calloused boxing experts regard
Louis as one of the greatest cham
pions of all time. Indeed, many of
them ran out of adjectives in de
scribing his killer instinct, his calm,
cruel workmanship, his terrific pow
! er. Such a rating classes Louis
with Jack Dempsey, John L. Sulli
van, Jim Corbett, Gene Tunney, Bob
j Fitzsimmons, Jim Jeffries and Jack
Johnson.
Past Failures
It's hard to imagine BiUj Conn, a
fancy boxer, plastering the ten count
on any of these gentlemen of a past
era. Why, then, is it likely that he
can do any better with Loo is, who
is generally acclaimed as being their
equal?
The record shows that few light
heavyweights have had much suc
cess when they tried to crash the
heavyweight field.
Fitxsimmons, of course, went from
the light-heavyweight ranks to be
come champion. But Fitxsimmons
was more or less a pugilistic freak.
There hasn't been a terrifle bitter like
him in the 175-ponnd class since his
day. Bob had the waist and legs of
; a featherweight and the shoulders
of a big heavyweight. Be had as
much power in his arms as any man
in the Yiag.
Fitz was at his best when he
weighed about 1T0 pounds. On St.
Patrick's day. 1897, he won the title
from Jim Corbett in Carson City,
| Nev. On that occasion he had all
the qualifications of a heavyweight
but the poundage. He lost the title
two years later to Jim Jeffries when
his hands weren't able to stand up
under the power of his arms.
Another Attempt
Quite a few modem fighters have
given away too many pounds for
their own good. Tommy Gibbons,
who was little more than a light
heavyweight, though a very good
fighter, tried to take the title from
Dempeey in the famous Shelby,
Mont., bout. He faded.
The light-heavyweights didn't try
again until Max Schmeling weaseled
his way into the heavyweight title
by virtue of a foul claimed against
Jack Sharkey, the Boston gob. When
Der Max was installed as champ.
Jack Kearas, who had piloted
Dempsey to the title, was managing
Mickey Walker. Kearas thought
Mickey could whip Schmeling and
; attempted to prove it. Walker had
knocked over bigger men than
Schmeling and packed a killing
punch in either hand. But Mickey
proved no match for the German
and Kearas' hopes were dashed in
the eighth round.
Conn's Chances
Conn hasn't the punch of the
above-named. He's no Fitzsimmons,
Ketchel or Qibbons. His most fer
vent admirers admit that. He is a
fast, clever boxer and be may be
' able to tag Louis occasionally, then
leap out of the way. Remember
that Bob Pastor adopted a similar
strategy with the Brown Bomber. He
ran away from him for 10 rounds.
And Conn is speedier than Pastor.
But remember, too, that Louis got
the decision. Though you may not
believe it, judges are quick to recog
nize the difference between a track
meet and a prize fight.
Conn's chances rest with his abil
ity to outpoint the champ. Be eaa't
ran array from him for 15 rounds,
Inflict no damage, and hope to wta
the title. Nor can he stand toe-to
toe and sing it out with the septa
tinted gladiator. That would be an
invitation to qnick disaster. Bather,
the Pitta burgher must adopt an in
between course. He most reach the
champ often enough to roll np a few
points, then mast protect those
points with the boxing skill be pos
! sisses 5a such a high degree.
A victory for Conn would be popu
lar. But it is extremely unlikely
that Joe Louis will lose his title to
a light-heavyweight?particularly a
light-heavyweight whoee punch is
somewhat less than dangerous.
niitmi i^lbinutt hi
General
hugn s.
johnson
sfaur: x
WMMM W
Washington, D. C.
PLANE PRODUCTION
Phil Murray's plan for increased
plane production may be wrong in
places, but it has at least a germ
of the right idea in it. Boiled down
to its bones, what be proposes is
to make a single great production
unit out of the whole automobile in
dustry, instead of a cluster of com
peting companies.
That idea was also at the center
of his earlier plan to speed produc
tion by creating a control board for
each industry. That also is the idea
of treating such industry as a unit
and so mobilizing each separately
and then marshalling all these great
units in one combined economic reg
iment for defense production.
Thai is exactly the essence at
what was done in the war industries
board in 191t. It is exactly what
is not being done in the ITihiiIshi
four-man production office.
What the war industries board did
was to request each great industry
to appoint a "war service" commit
tee, which could speak and receive
the government's instructions for the
whole industry. Then there were or
ganized in the board "commodity
committees" one tor each or mora
industries. It never became neces
sary to make thk alignment Mid
method too formal or sticky, but k
was an arrangement that tn shied
the organization of the government
overhead to mesh with the uieihtad
control within each industry, Bka
the interlined Angers of your two
clasped hands.
* ? ?
Every production problem was
broken down fay industries and con
sidered in Joint meeting at tfaeaa
committees or their representatives.
It is the only quick way to explore
the productive facilities at each in
dustry, to prevent overlapping, con
fusion and waste, to determine the
merits of vexed qmstirw at priori
ty, relative effort and bottlenecks.
It created a kind at piano key
board upon which federal Imlusli lal
control can produce, or try la pro
duce, all the harmonies and effects
at which our economic music box is
capable. Indeed if you don't have
that, in view of the immense vol
ume at material and the vast cano
pies of American industry, you are
simply fumbling in a jungle of ob
scurities, cross purposes and divid
ed interests, with never enough facts
to decide- wisely or well and with
not enough controls to act with full
effect, even if you could decide.
_? m *
TOOL BOTTLE-NECK
There is a tremendous iteerwii
of machine tool capacity and skilled
tool and pattern makers idle in this
country at a time when mass pro
duction is our greatest need, and it
isn't coming.
In talking with a considerable va
riety of people I find much confu
sion about what machine tools real
ly are. In my varied career of jack
of-all-trades and-master-of-none. I
was once responsible far a forge
shop, a machine shop, an engine
and an automobile factory?such as
they were.
Many people seem to have aa
idea that machine tools are like a
carpenter's bos of tools saws, plan
ers, chisels, square and maybe,
plumb-bob and a ball of blue chalk
They aren't like that at afl. Vol
umes have been written an what
they are like and it is not my pur
pose to try to reproduce these vol
umes here, further than to say .that
machine tools are the instruments
of American mass production. They
have enabled us to produce an au
tomobile tor, say, $700, that in an
other country, with other methods,
would cost $7,000?and to produce
them by thousands a day where, in
another method, we should do well
to produce 10 a day.
? ? ?
They are giant stamping machines
that produce a whole automobile
frame, for example, in one opera
tion. They are batteries at ma
chines that receive raw iron at oos
end of the production line and turn
out completed _ buttwelded and
painted steel pipe at the other on a
flat car, with scarcely a human
hand intervening. They are forging
machines that will do an a single
trip what it would take a battery of
blacksmiths three months to do.
There are drill-presses, lathes and
automatic screw machines that, set
to the proper gauges, will turn out in
s few motions hundreds of perfected ;
parts of this or that complicated
piece of machinery of instrument* -1
of modern mechanized warfare,
with more accuracy than all the an
cients ever dreamed.
But these things do go in bat
teries. Their operations have to be ,
planned months, if necessary, in ad- a
vance.