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? ? ?' -ft. ?. . The Alamance Gleaner ? rjM" Vol LXVIII GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 1942 No. 19 WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS Jap Air Thrust at Alaska and Midway Seen as Reprisal for Doolittle Raid; U. S. Declares War on Balkan Nations; RAF Smashes Reich War Industries (EDITOR'S NOTE?'Whtn ?pinions sro expressed In these columns, they are those of the news analyst and net necessarily of this newspaper.) __________ Released by Western Newspaper Union. The harbor and town of Dutch Harbor, Alaska, U. S. naval base raided by Japanese bombers, is shown above. The air and naval base which threatens Japan's northern flank and forms a ."springboard" for eventual oifensives against Nippon is around the point to the left. ALASKA FRONT: Japan Strikes As had been expected ever since General Doolittle's spectacular air raid on Japan last April, Japanese warplanes struck at the American base at Dutch Harbor, Alaska. The first two attacks occurred within six hours of each other. The fact that fighter planes ac companied the bombers on their raids indicated that the Japs came from aircraft carriers, since the nearest enemy island is 1,400 miles away?far beyond the range of fight er craft. Significance of the Jap attack on the most formidable American bas tion in the Aleutian islands is that Alaska and the Aleutian archipela go lie across Japan's exposed north ern flank. They offer an effective "spring-board" for eventual offen sives against Nippon. By neutralizing Alaska and knock ing-Out American air bases, Japan would protect its flank, delay indefi nitely the possibility of American in vasion via this route and shut off communications and supply lines to Russia in the event of a Nipponese attack on Siberia. Midway Island ? :..When Jap task forces undertook PA .attack. on:Midway island, nearest American base to Japan, 24 hours after the Dutch Harbor assault, the growing power of American air and naval strength manifested itself. Admiral Chester W_ Nimitz, com mander of the Pacific fleet, an nounced that his forces had dam aged ,y, battleship and an aircraft carrier and exacted a heavy toll of attacking planes. BALKAN FOES: V. S. Acts President Roosevelt asked for and Obtained a declaration of war by congress on the three Nazi-stooge governments of Bulgaria, Hungary and Rumania. On the home front this newest war move meant a general round-up of enemy aliens of these nations and a freezing of their funds. On the European front it was cal culated to produce a two-fold effect. It would underline closer American collaboration with Russia which long has desired such an action and contribute hearteningly to the So viet's morale. It would serve no tice on Hitler's three Balkan allies that they could not escape the con sequences of their association with him. Few, however, expected Amer ica's war effort against the three new enemies to go beyond speeding up shipments of essential materials to Russia. WAR WEAPONS: Army Has Plenty Expanding power of Uncle Sam's army was disclosed in a report of Undersecretary of War Robert P. Patterson, who revealed that the army has all the weapons it can send abroad under present shipping conditions and enough to arm every soldier in the United States. Mr. Patterson said the army to day requires twice as many light arms per 1,000 men as it did before the extensive use of parachute RAIDS ON REICH: RAF Soivs Havoc As air raid after air raid by the RAF wrought destruction in the heart of German war producing areas, the pattern of this newest of fensive became increasingly clear; smash the industrial plants that pro duce materials for Hitler's arrives; dislocate the railways that carry these products to his forces in Rus sia; shake the Nazi civilian morale. How well these objectives were succeeding was indicated by British communiques. A damaging raid on Cologne was followed by two crip pling blows at Essen in the Ruhr valley, concentration point for half of Germany's heavy war industries. Bremen, the Reich's second largest port, was next on the schedule. In the first Essen raid, 1,030 Brit ish planes converged over the Krupp munitions works, showering down 3,000 tons of explosives and incendi aries. The second installment, in the nature of a mop-up was de signed to slow down Nazi repair ef forts. While German propaganda contin ued to minimize the extent of the raids, the outlook was undeniably gloomy. But the Keich itself was not the only target of the British planes. In one 12-hour daylight period, the RAF hurled more than 1,000 planes in relays over northern France, fan ning the flames of revolt among French^patriots. WAR BONDS: More Sales Needed "Do I really need what I am go ing to buy? Can't I do without it? Won't it wait until after the war?" Americans were urged by Secre tary of the Treasury Henry L. Mor genthau to ask themselves these questions before making any pur chases. The point of the secretary's plea was that the buying of war bonds transcends any other pur chase. "Any man or woman who chooses this time to go on a buying spree is committing an act of sabotage against our war effort," Mr. Mor genthau said in a nationwide radio address. Unnecessary spending, he added, drains money from the defense pro gram, creates greater price pres sure and encourages inflation. More and more purchases of war bonds, he said, are the antidote. NAVY BiLL: ? * Billions for Ships Two facts of prime significance to the future conduct of the war stood out in the provisions included in the new $10,452,000,000 naval expansion program over which congress de liberated as a means of giving the United States the largest navy in the world. These facts were: 1. The empha sis on the construction of aircraft carriers; and 2. The absence of bat tleships from the proposed naval building program. The program clearly emphasized the United Nations high command's belief that aircraft and fast, lighter ships equipped to fight submarines will be a determining factor in win ning the war. WHEAT STORAGE: Wickard Gets Bins The answer to a question that has troubled Secretary of Agriculture Claude R. Wickard for weeks past came from the War Production board in the form of a "Yes." The "Yes" was that he can have a large supply of lumber and wire nails to build bins on thousands of farms for storage of 200 million bushels of excess wheat. With grain elevators already pressed for storage space and trans portation facilities straining under a war-time peak, the problem of what to do with surplus wheat was be coming serious. With an estimated new crop of 811 million bushels add ed to a 630 million bushel carryover, the United States would have 1,441, 000,000 bushels this summer. Domestic consumption and imme diate shipments abroad would take 721 million bushels. Of the 718 mil lion bushels remaining, storage space would be available for 500 million bushels. The remaining 218 million bushels would have to be stored in farjn bins built with lumber and nails. GASOLINE: Permanent Rations From Washington came the an nouncement that a permanent gaso line rationing system had been de vised by the Office of Price Admin istration for the East coast that would entitle motorists to an average of 2,880 miles of travel annually, or about 55 miles weekly. It was indicated that the system would become effective on July 15. Observers were of the opinion that the new plan might serve as a model for nation-wide gasoline rationing when that measure is deemed essen tial to conserve rubber tires. The new plan would eliminate the controversial "X" cards entitling their holders to unlimited quantities of gasoline. LABOR FRONT: Leivis Denounced Accusing his former close friend and associate John L. Lewis, head of the mine workers of being "Hell bent on creating national confusion and national disunity," Phillip Mur ray, CIO president, sponsored a res olution declaring that Lewis is "at tempting to sabotage the defense program and spread the spirit of de featism." Murray charged that Lewis pro posed to him that they go before the CIO convention, in Detroit last fall and fight President Roosevelt's foreign policies. He said he reject ed the proposal as "treasonable." The CIO blast followed by only a few hours a pledge from Mr. Lew is of his full support of the war ef fort and flat rejection of criticism that his policies are inimical to vic tory. 'HANGMAN'S' END: Czechs Pay Price REINHARD HEYDRICH "Butcher of Moravia." Reprisal measures which follower! the wounding of Reinhard ("The Hangman") Heydrich in Prague, by ? Czech patriot, increased in swift ness and severity when the news of the death of this sadistic executioner became public. The shooting of hun dreds of Czechs suspected by the Nazis of complicity in the plot to rid the world of Heydrich was re ported. Ironically enough, the "butcher of Moravia" died in much the same manner as hundreds of unfortunate hostages he had ordered shot in France, Holland, Belgium, Norway, Poland and other countries during his hated career. Hard-bitten Heydrich earned the soubriquet of "Der Henker" or hangman of the Nazi regime by rea son of his ruthless application of re pressive measures?usually the fir ing squad or the gallows?against those who dared challenge Hitler's . rule. The successful attack on this Nazi leader emphasized again the smol dering spirit of unrest in German occupied countries?a spirit ready to flame high when Reich reverses make possible organized uprisings. Red Army Man Gets Bad News At Front He Learns From Sister of Ravaging of Village and Family. KUIBYSHEV. RUSSIA.?A letter received by a Red army artillery man at the front?typical of many forwarded daily to the Moscow newspaper offices?reached a New York Times correspondent from one of those Moscow offices. In this war of savagery against civilians, as the letter shows, the postman carries bad news both ways. The letter follows: "I greet you, most honorable brother! I your sister Katusha bow to you, wishing you best luck in your young and happy life. And bow to you, too, your mother, Leonya, and Marusya, and they wish you all the best in your Red army life. "My dear brother Vanya. First I want to tell you I had both your letters, but they were so old when they reached me they were not in teresting, "My dear brother, though you wrote that we should not be caught by the bloody Hitler, we were caught. His bloody bandits took away our father, together with him they took the cattle?cow, sheep, pigs, chickens. The one who grabbed them was a tall red Fas cist. In addition to all that all our buildings were burned. The house and all the sheds. Cries for Vengeance. "Vanya, if you're alive, take your revenge on that tall, red bandit. Avenge your father, whose boots they took oft and forced him to go barefoot in the streets in the bitter cold winter weather. They tortured him long, then they killed him. "Avenge your sister Katya and your mother, who together lived all those days and nights in the wet, cold cellar. "Vanya, our Shurik, died because of this beast Hitler. He sat with me in the cold cellar, asking all the time for bread. But I had no bread. How can you have bread when as soon as you go out they shoot at you? "So you must avenge everything. "The beast burned all Kruschev ka, though our village they partly left. The Red army pushed him too quickly and he didn't have time to burn all. "Tronsno, Barabino, Gudilovka, Lipetsky, Dmitrieva, Voskresenov j ka, all completely burned. Hitler Brutality. "Vanya, the Fascists took the cat tle from Nikolaeva, two cows and two sheep; {rom Yevtekova two cows and two sheep; from Bulan seva two cows and 18 sheep and two pigs; from Falmonoff, one cow and three sheep; from Bakunina, one cow. That was all Hitler's do | ing. "Hear, brother, he did many bad things in the Tula region; and the , humiliation?oh, so much could I | tell you. If we live we will tell it ! all. "All right, Vanya, you must live through everything. And if you live now, avenge your father, avenge everything, mother, the Shurik who died because of them on February 2, 1942; avenge your sister, your burnt house, cattle. 'That is all for now, so good-by. I await your reply as the nightingale longs for summer. "With handshake and kiss, I, Katusha, your unforgetting sister. Reply as soon as possible." This correspondent is informed that the recipient of the letter read it aloud to his fellows in a dugout. "There is nothing to say after that letter," said a political commissar present. "No, there is nothing to say," replied the men. Soon afterward they went into battle again. Army's New Stove Cooks In Double-Quick Time CAMP SHELBY, MISS. ? The army has a new 178-pound gasoline range that'll cook steak and potatoes like mother used to make?and do it on the run. It can be handled by two men and transported in a light pick-up truck. While in transit to the field a complete meal may cook or simmer in the smokeless range pots. They are used to cook meals in Jhe baggage cars of troop trains and in long truck convoys. A unit can cook a complete meal for 100 men. It heats faster than coal or wood and temperatures are subject to ac curate control. Monkey Business LOS ANGELES. - Eddie Tabet, three, felt something on his head and reached up. It was a live mon key. The pet had broken from its owner's leash and was being pur sued when it took refuge with Eddie. Put Electric Eyes On Coastline Duty Device to Detect Ships or Planes 100 Miles Away. WASHINGTON.?Secretary Stim son says that the army is installing along the nation's coastlines new "electric eye" detection devices capable of reducing the surprise element of enemy raids by locating planes or ships more than ar hun dred miles away. He said the device was developed by the army signal corps and was making a major contribution to the defense of the country. The secretary said that the signal corps now plays one of the most im portant roles in the war. "They are very busy in our schools studying radio, electronics, and the application of radio to our new system of detection?what you might call the electric eye?which can see a hundred miles or more and which works at night as well as day and through fog and clouds to locate enemy vessels and planes," Mr. Stimson said. "They are also at work in labora tories on new applications, in the true American way, of things other people never thought of, and with good prospects, I think, of success." Mr. Stimson said he looked through one of the new warning instruments on a recent inspection visit of a signal corps station and "saw the electrical indication of a plane which I believe was 60 miles away." To meet the huge demands for technicians, Mr. Stimson said the signal corps school at Fort Mon mouth, N. J., is now training 14,000 men in its laboratories, and plans to take in 1,000 candidates for officers monthly during the coming year for three-month training courses. Find Back Bay's First Codfish Aristocrats ANDOVER, MASS.?Djycovery of the "Boylston Street Fishweir" in Boston's Back Bay section provid ed evidence of "the most ancient existence of man" that has appeared in eastern North America, scientists reported. The antiquity of the fishweir has been established as about 3,600 years, thus dating from approxi mately 1700 B. C., according to a report by Frederick Johnson of the Robert S. Peabody foundation for archeology of Phillips academy, and U collaborating scientists. (A fishweir is a dam or "fence" on stakes set in a stream to trap fish.) The fishweir was found in August, 1939, as a 40-foot excavation was being dug for a life insurance build ing on the site of a Boston univer sity building. Hand-sharpened stakes, averaging four to five feet in length, were found upright with their points im bedded in a stratum of hard blue clay, 32 feet below street level, and covered by 14 feet of silt and peat and 18 feet of fill. We're All Sick of War, Nazi Soldier Telia Ruaa MOSCOW.?The Soviet informa tion bureau quoted a German war prisoner, Ernst Friedrich of the 58th infantry division, recently in these words: "Red army men broke into our dugout. Not one of the 11 men who were there offered any resistance and we all surrendered. "Everybody is sick of this war which became so protracted. In the winter it was cold and we all froze. Now it is spring and we lay in open fields of mud and cold water. "The soldiers now are concentrat ing on only one thought?when will the war end? The very idea of an other winter in Russia is abhorrent to everyone. "No force on earth could make soldiers live once more through such terror as they experienced last win ter." Too Busy in Red Cross to Go to Reno, Sends Mate RENO.?George L. Degener Jr., New York broker whose wife was too busy with her Red Cross work to come to Reno, came here himself and was granted a divorce from the former Nouche Porges. "He wasn't as busy in Wall street as I am with the Red Cross, so he is going to Reno," Mrs. Degener explained in New York six weeks ago. "I am a volunteer driver and it keeps me pretty busy. Anyway, you never can tell when an emergency will arise. If it does come, I won't be of much help if I am in Reno." Degener established Nevada resi dence at a near-by dude ranch and in filing tor ? divorce charged his wife with extreme cruelty. Newly Inducted Soldiers Find Army Is Efficient Businesslike Military Routine Gives Boost to Morale; Recruits Are Anxious to Serve Where Best Fitted. By BAUKHAGE News Analyst and Commentator. WNU Service, 1343 H Street, N-W, Washington, O. C. I sat the other day in the office of General Hershey, Selective Service administrator, as he leaned back, one ankle drawn up on his khaki knee and listened to him talk about scarcities. Not the kind of scarci ties we hear about when the old argument of scarcity-versus abun dance of farm crops comes up, although it might have been such a talk for General Hershey is very much of a farmer. It was a talk about the scarcity of men of the ideal age for the army?ideal from the standpoint of adaptability to military life, physical energy, lack of dependents and other responsibil ity, lack of training that is needed for agriculture or industry. The general did some lightning calculations that I couldn't follow but it started with'the total number of men of ideal fighting age. Then came subtractions for the ones with dependents, the ones needed on the farm and in the factory and the 25 per cent more which it might be expected would have physical dis abilities. According to plans announced now the United States needs for the army, navy and marine corps (in cluding two million for the air force) nine million men. About three million are now in the service. When General Hershey finished with the figuring I found that there are about 18 million men available for military service from which six million must be recruited if the army plans are carried out. And out of that 18 million there has to be saved back the ones we can't get elsewhere for agriculture and industry and no one is sure how many that will be. In any case it means that about one out of every three men of mili tary age will eventually be called. Crave Reeponribilitiee That is why such a heavy respon sibility rests on the shoulders of the draft boards, and behind the draft boards on all employers of labor. That is also why congress has made the effort to get a sharp clarification regarding deferments because of dependents or because of employment needs. Meanwhile every man from 18 to 44 is left in a state of indecision, for of course all these men cannot be called at the same time. A lot of them would be glad to hear the call and get it over. Last Sunday 1 had lunch with a young man who had been moving in a sea of uncertainty for months; it was impossible for him or his wife to make the necessary plans to arrange their existence in case he went into the army. Then out of a clear sky he was called. He had been in the army for one week when I saw him and I never saw such a change. It was largely due to re lief. He had come home on a fur lough granted him to take care of business matters. He was full of praise for army efficiency and had high hopes that he would be able to do just what he had found it im possible to do before; namely, find out the niche into which he would fit, where he would not only be doing the best job he could do for the country but a job which "was best fitted to his experience and training and therefore his peace of mind. He was a man who was energetic and active and if he had been chained to a paper-work job he would have been a misfit. He had worried lest, because he was a college man and had to wear glasses, he would get some kind of clerical work rath er than a more active assignment. As a rule you will find, I believe, that the average man of military age feels this way: he is willing to do whatever job his country wants him to do. He wants to do the job he can do best. He doesn't want to break up his education, his fam ily arrangements, his business ca reer if he is not going to be called, yet he wants to plan ahead if he is sure any of these things are going to be necessary. When he is called, and the decision is made and he finds himself in the army and finds that army life and army routine are a lot more businesslike than he thought, his morale goes up like the mercury in August. That is the reason why a lot of soldiers are saying, "What's the matter with civilian morale?" instead at it be ing the other way around as many people thought it would be at first. With the' launching of more and more Allied offensive action, with more and more American units en gaged, the attitude of the pre-, draftee is expected to change. The need of his help will be brought home. 1942 will see about 2,250,000 new men joining the army, air force and navy. Every effort will be made to defer those with dependents and to take the older men last. That is the reason for the army's insistence on drafting the 18 and 19 year group. The chief argument against calling the younger men is that it breaks up their schooling. But schooling can betaken up again. Taking fam ily men disturbs the social and eco nomic life of the nation. Taking skilled workers and men who are already fitted into the economic pat tern of the nation, disturbs the war effort. Although few but the most op timistic say so, it may not be nec essary to call any more men after 1942? if the war is still going full tilt then another 2,250,000 will be needed in 1943?but there is no use counting our ugly ducklings before they are hatched. * ? ? An Old Comrade From Cuidad T rajillo This is the story ol the main base (or the military forces invading the Western hemisphere?the first and highly successful invasion of the American continent. It was from, here that foreign invaders launched their pitiless attacks which placed' the peoples of the western world under a European flag, despoiled their wealth, broke their spirit, de stroyed their culture and reduced them to vassalage. I am speaking of what is now known as Cuidad Trujillo. The fortress built by the first in vader still stands in that city? today this city is probably as far from the war and the rumors of war as any spot on earth. It is the capi tal city of the island of Santo Do mingo where Columbus landed and whence Pizzaro, Cortez, Ponce de Leon, Balboa, and every Spanish invader set forth to crush and con quer the New world. But first a digression to bring you > back by way of Paris to Washing ton where today's story starts: There used to be a saying about Paris?that if you sat long enough at a table on the sidewalk in front of the Cafe de la Paix (at that fas cinating corner of the Avenue de l'Opera and the Boulevarde des Italiens) you would be certain to sed somebody you knew go by, no mat ter where you came from. Today Pennsylvania avenue in Washington has become the world's boulevard?only we have no side walk cafes. We have only very crowded restaurants. Perhaps the real world rendezvous is the wide waiting room of the executive of fices of the White House. Tcday, as I sat waiting for the correspondents to line up and show their passes and be admitted to the oval office for the regular semi weekly press and radio conference, who should appear but my old com rade Oliver Newman, major of in fantry in the last war, one-time commissioner (mayor) of the Dis trict of Columbia, Iowa farm boy and prince of good fellows. You ought to see Ollie around a horse?or a mule. What he doesn't know about these critters, whether they are pulling a load of hay, yank ing a 75 out of the mud, or stretch ing noses toward the finish line, adds< up to nearly minus. But that is only a part of the ac complishments which have been many and varied in the field of politics, society, finance, and, shall we say, climatically, journalism. Anyhow, Major Newman came up and extended his hand. I have met him surprisingly in other less con gruous places than the White House. This time he had just re turned from his distant post in Santo Domingo where he is advisor to the government, for a vacation in the capital which is half his home. (Ouidad Trujillo?Santo Domingo ?is the capital city of the Domin ican Republic island which is situ ated southeast of Florida, between Cuba and Puerto Rico.) ,
The Alamance Gleaner (Graham, N.C.)
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June 11, 1942, edition 1
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