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The Alamance Gleaner j Vol. LXVII GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY, JANUARY 1, 1942 No. .48 WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS By Edward C. Wayne Roosevelt and Churchill Conferences Aim at Strategy for Smashing Axis; Army Is Withdrawn to Spare Manila; Jap Sub Is Sunk Off California Coast (EDITOR'8 NOTE?When opinions are expressed la these columns, their ?re those of the news analyst and not necessarily of this newspaper.) by Western Newspaper Union.)., > . ...... a- ?1r PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT PRIME MINISTER CHURCHILL For one thing it was precedent-shattering. PHILIPPINES: Battle In the hope of saving the city from bombing by Japanese, Manila had been proclaimed an open city and military headquarters of the forces defending the Philippines had been moved elsewhere. This move was designed to prevent the civilian population from unnecessary bomb ing raids. It was becoming evident from the news dispatches from the Far East that the intensity of the Japanese drive against the Philippines was growing and that the defenders, facing six invasion points, and the constant landing of reinforcements, were going to have all they could do to defend the islands. Five of the landing spots had been on the island of Luzon, three to the north, one to the east and one to the northwest of Manila, and the sixth was on the island of Mindanao at Davao, which the Japanese claimed to have occupied. This island and particularly Davao port are heavily populated by Japanese, and though the defend ers had aid from the Dutch air force, they had considerable fifth column activity to face as well. Most important landings were on the Lingayen gulf, in which an esti mated 80 transports had been sight ed on the first day, and at Atimonan, 75 miles east and slightly south of Manila, where there were said to be 40 transports. Washington had estimated the to tal landing forces of the Japanese at from 80,000 to 100,000 men, and while Manila sources seemed to think this a little high, it was prob able that they revised their estimate upward after the Atimonan landing. The combined Filipino and Amer ican forces had held the enemy pretty much to a standstill in the north, but it was evident that the Lingayen gulf landing and that at Atimonan had as their object the splitting of General Douglas Mac Arthur's defense forces into two groups, a typical Axis maneuver. The seriousness of the situation with regard to the Philippines was not underestimated there or in this country, and seemed to depend for a successful outcome on the send ing of supplies and fleet units to the scene. HONOLULU: Reinforcements Reports that heavy reinforce ments of bombing and fighting planes had arrived in Hawaii, and that the air defenses of the islands were once more on a firm footing showed two things. First, that Washington was not passing up the defense of the Pacific in favor of all other tactics, but that Hawaii and other points would get what reinforcements it was pos sible to send. The freezing of employees' labor and wages on the Pearl Harbor re pair job also showed there was a determination to clean the affair up as rapidly as possible. Hundreds of mechanics had been rushed there from the mainland and the work was under way. Also these two facts proved their corollary to be true, that the sea lanes between Hawaii and the main land were open and usable, proof that, the fleet was busy keeping them that way. Successes of our naval vessels were reported from time to time, and the list of Japanese boats sent to the bottom continued to grow in length and importance. CHURCHILL: Drama The arrival in Washington of Winston Churchill, prime minister of England, for a long series of Christmas conferences with Presi dent Roosevelt and the working out of a united method of conducting the war was dramatic. It was precedent-shattering for one thing. It was a triumph for American and British censorship, for another thing. It burst on the American press at 6:59 one evening after most of the newsmen in Washington had known all about the plans for a week, and "hadn't breathed it to a soul." Churchill, his pipe, his cane, his navy jacket and the rest, looking very much as he did during the August conference, was ensconced in the White House while Mr. Roose velt sat smiling on the sidelines, watching his confrere from over seas fence with the newspaper men and chuckle feito his} cloak. One of the prime minister's wise cracks made history. A newsman asked him, "How long will it take to win the war?" He replied "About half as long if we do it well as if we do it badly." The reporters roared, the Presi dent laughed merrily and the prime minister gave one of his well-known chuckles of merriment. COAST: Sea Attacks The Japanese submarine fleet, at least part of it, was apparently ac tive off the California coast, coming close inshore to attack coastwise vessels. At least one submarine had been sunk, according to an official an nouncement. This craft had been blown into debris by an army bomber. Two tankers, at least, had been sunk, but some five others, after attack, had been able to escape. Few of them, if any, carried guns as protection, and the skippers seemed to feel they would be ex trpmplv uspful Some of those who escaped told of the submarines coming to the surface and shelling them, and that if they'd had guns "the subs would have made wonderful targets." Japanese markmanship had been so bad that thg escaped vessels were able to turn away from the foe and make it to the mainland coves in safety. The attacks were widespread up and down the coast, reaching from the farther northern seaboard to points south of San Francisco. LIBYA: Epic of Destruction While the numbers of troops en gaged was not enormous as figured from the Russian front, the British Libyan offensive had taken on all the aspects of what British com mentators called "an epic of anni hilation." General Rommel's mechanized forces, what was left of them, were about to make a "last stand" be fore surrendering. The' imperial high command had declared without equivocation that the British fleet had the Germans' escape cut off by sea, and that the land forces had them surrounded in Cyrenaica. British thrusts were being report ed even within the borders of neighboring Tripolitania, a point not even reached in the previous inva sion by the British against only the Italians. Plenty of Action From the Philippines came the report that before he had removed his base of military command from the city of Manila General Mae Arthur had rushed to the fighting front to take personal command of fighting off the Japenese attacks. HITLER: At the -Helm The holiday period had been elec trified by the' German disaster in Lybia and Russia, and the "firing" of leading Nazi General Marshal Brauchitsch, and his replacement by Adolf Hitler himself. Many believed this "purge at the top" would be followed by other gen erals leaving their command rather than trust themselves and their troops to Hitler's "intuitive" policies of military management. At the same time all Europe had been in a state of jitters wondering what "Der Fuehrer" would pull in the way of trickery out of the hat of his ingenuity to scare his oppo nents and to cause what he might call a "victory" to bring him for ward into public favor again. Most thought that an occupation of Spain and France's north African bases, and perhaps the taking over of the French fleet might be the answer. In line with this it had been re ported that Petain had given up his position as dictator of unoccupied France and head of the Vichy gov ernment, turning the reins over to pro-Axis Darlan. It was also reported that 15 divi sions of Nazi troops were on the march toward Spain through France and that the occupation of Bizerte and other important Tunisian and Moroccan points was as good as ac complished. Europe, "waiting to see," was hav ing a bad case of nerves. RUSSIA: Finds Line After disastrous withdrawals all along the nearly 1,000-mile front in Russia, late dispatches from that district of the world war seemed to indicate that the German resistance was stiffening and that at long last the Reds had found the Nazi "win ter line of resistance." Up to that point the withdrawal had been practically a route, and there was photographic evidence appearing in the press to bear out the Russian claims of enormous losses of material in the snowy wastes of that part of the Soviet the Germans had invaded. Whether Hitler, reported raging at his generals, would be able to halt the backward sweep with Rus sian pressure apparently undimin ished, was a problem. S But the tone of the Reds' dis patches had changed somewhat, and were no longer telling of pursuits, but rather of break-throughs that in dicated a German effort at holding was now in progress. Most of the other theaters of war hoped the Germans would leave plenty of troops in Russia, and Churchill, in the United States, frankly said that "Stalin had done, the world an enormous service." SARAWAK: Navy Successes An "allied navy" and air force, which might or might not have in cluded Americans, was reported by the British to have fallen with ter rific force on an enemy landing force at Sarawak. The attack occurred shortly after Sir Charles Brooke, the rajah, had sharply criticized the British man agement of the Far East defense, and had said that the leadership had ? been poorly selected. The allied navy and air force fell upon the Japanese flotilla, rapidly sank three transports and set fire to a fourth, and threw the i*hole at tempting landing body into confu sion. The stalwart British forces on the island of Hong Kong, faced with al most certain defeat, finally sur rendered to the Japanese. - .. ?? Farmer Has a Vital Role In Helping to Win War ????????_ "? Repairing of Machinery, Conservation, and Improved Farm Gardens Listed as Best Methods of Aiding in Emergency. By BAUKHAGE National Farm and Home Hour Commentator. WNU Service, 1343 H Street, N-W, Washington, D. C. ^America's two important weapons against her enemies in the long war we see ahead of us today are the assembly line and the farm. In Washington in the department of agriculture a war cabinet has been created for Secretary Wickard made up of the heads of the action agencies?the agencies that are cre ated to help the farmer do things. "We, in Washington, can't do a thing by ourselves," said an of ficial to me. "We can't grow a bush el of wheat or raise a peck of corn. But we can line up behind the de partment's field men to help the farmer in this emergency. We are now organzed to put our maximum effort into that kind of help." The three most important things for the farmer to do now, according to Washington officials, are: t?Repair Machinery ? First, get agricultural machinery repaired. SPAB has allocated ma terial for repair parts: There is no sign that these allocations will be cut down but there is no chance of increasing them. The farmers got out record crops in 1940 and 1941 with their old machinery. They can't do it a third year unless that old machinery is repaired now. And if it isn't repaired now it won't be ready for spring. 2?Conservation The second important word for the farmer is conservation. Get every piece of scrap metal off the farm and into the hands of the junk man. Watch your bagging. Remember we import jute and there is likely to be decided short ages. Cotton can't entirely fill the gap because the machines making heavy cotton materials are being utilized by the army/ Save waste paper, too. (This column is being written on the back of a mimeo graphed newspaper release.) 9 T 1 _ P /?? V J?i/w rorm unrocn And here is a third reminder: The farm garden. Remember that there is a sharp shortage on tin-plate. Everything in the way of food that you can preserve for yourself saves the need of cans. Not only the things that you can put in glass jars but also root crops which can be stored without the use of con tainers?carrots and turnips and Cabbages, too. So much for what the farmer is expected to do. Now what is going to be done to the farmer? In the first place he is going to be asked to produce more with less help. Secretary Wickard says that goals in the "food-for-freedom" program are just about right but that they have to be reassayed in the light of the war with the Axis. Here are some of the main changes: First of all, because we are go ing to be a harder-working nation, on the home front and elsewhere, an increased amount of vitamin contained strength-bringing vegeta bles will be needed. The sugar situation will have to be considered very carefully. We may lose imports of a potential mil lion tons from the Philippines. The Hawaiian islands as a sugar source are uncertain. Much of the Cuban sugar will have to be turned into industrial alcohol. As to production on the continent, the labor situation ?of which I shall say more Inter cuts deeply into that program, for sugar labor is always rapidly ab sorbed by competing interests. The supply of oils and fata la another problem which may require a reassaying of the food-for-freedom program. Fats and oils make up a heavy import from the East Indies. They represent essentials as food and also for manufacture?the oils which go into the glycerin products for explosives, the drying oils for paints, for instance. Farm Labor Problem Of course, the worst problem the farmer has to face, and the one that must be solved before those I have already mentioned, is the labor problem. Young, strong, mechanically mind ed young men are the backbone of the successful farm. Young, strong, mechanically minded young men are the backbone of a success ful army. Especially a modern army. The same segment of the population is also needed in indus try. ^ ^ . . ? ? rtfcMij- ' ? This brings us back to the ques tion of machinery. Farm machinery is more important than it ever was. We know that as Vice President Wallace pointed out to me the other day, and as the last two years' rec ords show, farmers can always increase their output a lot without buying new machinery if the mar ket justifies it and if they have manual labor. But they can expand their production only so far without either more labor or more machines and they can work the old machine only so far before it breaks down, unless it has particular care. The farmers of America are be ing called upon to do agriculture's biggest job in history. They need all the machines that can be spared from the factories now building tanks and other supplies. . They need labor to take the place of the boys called from the farm to the factory and the battlefield. Land Army of Women? Already efforts are being made to fill the demand. Among others, Mrs. Roosevelt's land army of wom en, as one official puts it, does not look as funny as it did when the idea was first put forth. But at this writing I have been unable to learn anything further of the {dans for a land army of women from civilian defense headquarters her*. And it has to be a trained army before it can help the farmer. What steps are being taken to re place the brain and brawn which the war is taking away from the farm? The department of agriculture is working with county committees j and defense boards to establish closer co-operation with national, state and local employment service. The farm placement organization , has been expanded. Farm placement services are be ing set up in 11 regions. Within these 11 groups of states, placement representatives are being appoint ed. Federal Security Administrator Paul McNutt has sent out a call for specialists in farm-job problems. He expects to install one in each of the nation's 1,500 full-time state em ployment offices. Although I cannot state anything official on the subject at present it can be safely predicted that con gress will be asked for additional appropriations for adult education in agriculture. As this is being written efforts are being made to obtain a ruling from the Selective Service adminis tration which would put skilled farm laborers on the same basis when considered for deferment from the draft as are skilled indus trial workers. ? ? ? Here's an Answer With Logic Aplenty A neuropsychiatrist on one of the , Medical Advisory boards had oc casion to examine a registrant from one of the county local boards. The doctor passed him. But when the registrant was sent to Fort Snelling for induction, he was rejected by a neuropsychiatrist there as being neurotic. The local board, thinking the doctor who orig inally passed the man would be in terested, notified him to that effect. The doctor was curious as to the reason, and asked the local board to send the registrant to see. him again. "So they wouldn't take you at Fort Snelling," Dr. Kamman said. "Hah," the registrant replied. "One of those nervous doctors threw me out. Asked me s couple of fool questions snd wouldn't pass me." "And what did he ask you?" Dr. Kamman inquired. "Well, first he asked me, 'What would you do- if one of your ears was shot off?' "So 1 said, 'Guess I maybe couldn't hear very well." "Then he said, 'And what would you do if both ears were shot off?' "So I told him, "Then I guess I couldn't see so good.' " Even Dr. Kamman hesitated at this one. Then he ventured, "After all, that was kind of an odd answer. What in the world made you say a thing like that?" The registrant was affronted. He explained patiently, "Well, if both ears were shot off, my hat would fall down over my face, and then I couldn't see." . * Bustle of Army Irks Icelanders Stolid Folk* of Reykjavik Resent Intrusion of Military Rule. REYKJAVIK, ICELAND ? Reykjavik, a capital that has al ways wanted to be alone; has a war jammed down its throat like a hot potato and doesn't quite know how to swallow it. Many of its citizens, stepping into the streets to avoid crowds of stroll ing soldiers and jumping back to dodge honking army trucks, wish the old days would return, when the only foreigners were an occa sional crowd of cruise tourists and there wasn't a soldier in Iceland. It is a strange mixture, the rem nants of a backwater Old World civilization overrun by the strident activity of the' British and Ameri can armies of occupation. Sunday afternoon strollers listen with a touch of bewilderment to the creak of winches and shouts of sol diers unloading one ship after an other in the little harbor. Long bearded naval officers roam the streets, waiting for the next convoy to leave. American, English, New Zealand, Norwegian and Scottish men crowd the restaurants so Ice landers frequently cannot even re serve tables. Military Rule Resented. Iceland's 120,000 residents lived virtually cut off from the world until the island suddenly became a key spot in the Battle of the Atlan tic. They are extremely proud that their country was the world's first democracy, started in 930 A. D. with the founding of the Althing (parliament), and they find natural difficulty in accepting the necessary rule that military 'authority super sedes normal civil life in such a front-line fortress. Many of them, however, are prof iting handsomely from their vixtual ly uninvited guests. Stores are do ing rushing business, taxicab com panies are reaping miniature for tunes, tables must be reserved in the best restaurants hours in ad vance and getting a hairbut often requires an hour's wait. The city's two motion picture houses are operating entirely on a reserved-seat basis, and it is virtu ally impossible to obtain tickets for an evening performance after 1 p. m. The theaters are known as "Bio," apparently a derivation of the early Biograph days, and cur rently are showing such American features as "Drums Along the Mo hawk" and "Dance, Girls, Dance." English Books Stocked. Bookstores have stocked large supplies of English books and weeks-old London newspapers to meet the heavy demand. " ' Postcard sales have been so heavy that it is difficult to find views of Reykjavik and famous land marks. The supply now consists largely of an Iceland pony standing on a hill and James Cagney in a cowboy suit. A treeless, drab city of concrete and corrugated iron buildings, Reykjavik suddenly became an in ternational host at an embarrass ing moment, since many of its streets were torn up for the installa tion of pipes to bring water from a near-by hot springs into a city wide steam heating project. The pipes were a casualty of war, however, and never left the dock in Denmark. The streets were filled up in the best manner possible, but the inces sant pounding of large British and American army trucks?augmeptfd by heavy rains?has made mem muddy washboards. Transportation demands are so great that it is not an uncommon sight to see American army majors hitchhiking rides to and from the city. Airplane la Used to Tabulate Animal Herds BELLE FOURCHE, S. D. - Be cause antelope can run between 60 and TO miles an hour, the state game and fish commission is using an airplane to take an antelope cen sus. The flying game wardens rout the antelope herds from protected gul lies into the open where they have little trouble tabulating the speedy animals. The game commission is taking the census to determine the feasi bility of an open season next fall. Near Spearflsh one aerial census crew witnessed a head-on collision between two fleeing herds of an telopes. "They met head-on at the top of the ridge traveling about 60 miles an hour," Clyde Ice said. "They crashed like a couple of trains and nearly 100 antelope piled together; but a minute later they were gone and we couldn't even spot a cripple." Rats Cost U. S. 50 Cents to $2 Apiece Damage Caused Yearly -by Rodents, $300,000,000. OAKLAND.?The United statel is maintaining a "fifth column army" of 250,000,000 rats at an annual cost in damaged food and property of 50 cents to $2 per rat. Dr. W. B. Herms, professor of entomology and parasitology at the University of California, told the na tional convention of pest control op erators that rodents and pests are doing enough damage in the nation to undermine the national defense. He declared that the staggering total of their damage is $1,000,000, 000 annually, or enough to supply the navy with 10 superdreadnaughts every year. The greatest destruction by ro dents and pests, he declared, are inflicted on food, clothing, furniture and housing, materials. With the rats causing a loss of more than $300,000,000 annually, he said that insects come next, with an annual sabotage to stored grain and milled products of $300,000,000. "Especially during the present na tional defense period," he said, "vast stores of milled products are assembled at numerous canton ments, as well as great quantities of clothing and stocks of building material, where rats do more dam age than professional saboteurs of an enemy nation might be able' to accomplish. It is here that weevils, moths and termites get in their deadly work." The total damage to clothing by moths he placed at $20,000,000 an nually, while the daifltge to build ings by termites was estimated at $40,000,000. Prof. Hermes insisted that new methods of pest control must be sub stituted for those used at present. Blood 'Cement' Exhibited As Saver of Many Lives ST. LOUIS.?Blood cement made of crystals resembling table salt is preserving thousands of lives today. It is a synthetic substance called 2-methyl 1-1, 4 naptha-quinone, a chemical cousin of gasoline and alcohol, which sticks red blood cells together like glue to cause clotting of the blood and to prevent or treat violent hemorrhages which often cause death. Dr. E. A. Doisy and Dr. S. A. Thayer of St. Louis university, de scribed the treatment in an exhibit at the meeting of the Southern Med ical association. Known as vitamin K, it was originally prepared from stagnant fish meal and alfalfa. To day it is a chemically pure prod uct made by hooking a dozen differ ent molecules together. Its principal uses ate in the treats ment of jaundice, hemorrhages re sulting from liver damage, bleeding of the colon, hemorrhages of the eye due to splitting of the small blood vessels and hemorrhagic dis ease of the newborn in which babies spontaneously bleed to death be cause their blood does not clot in time. Accidents Dog Private; > In Hospital 109 Days CAMP CLA1RBORNE, LA.?The most familiar scene in camp tb Pvt. ?.Carl Rehder of Traer, Iowa, Com pany D, 130th medical regiment, is the inside of the base hospital and it's not because he's a medico. Since his induction last April he's been in the hospital 109 days?most of them on his back. First he underwent an operation for the removal of a cyst from his eye. Then he caught pneumonia. After recovering from that he frac tured his ankle in a basketball game. While convalescing with his ankle in a cast, he developed appendicitis and an operation was performed. Regaining consciousness from the appendectomy, he swallowed his tongue and his jaws locked. Says House of Commons Must Be Entirely Rebuilt OTTAWA.?The British house of commons building will have to be completely reconstructed after the war as a result of Nazi bombing, Ralph Assheton, parliamentary un dersecretary to Labor Minister Er nest Biven, said in an interview here. Assheton said the house of lords chamber survived but nothing short of rebuilding would do for the lower house. "As a barrister, I feel sad in par ticular over the destruction of the temple?that home of lawyers for so many years," Assheton said. "When the war is over there will be much for architects to do, and I hope they will be worthy of their
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