The Alamance Gleaner
oL LXVUI GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1942 No. 88
^ m
WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS
FDR Plans Nationwide Gas Rationing
With 35-Mile Speed Limit for U. S.;
Double-Time Pay Banned for Duration;
British Renew Madagascar Occupation
(EDITOR'S NOTE: When opinions are expressed In these oolamns, they sre these of
Western Newspaper Union's news analysis and net necessarily of this newspaper.)
????Released by Western Newspaper Union. -J
When the U. S. marines accomplished their history-making offensive
in the Solomon islands, amphibian tractors churned South Seas water to
carry them to their first attack to win back Jap-held territory since the
start of the war. The tractor is in the background as these marines dug
in at the beach soon after the battle's opening. The area was soon
cleared of the enemy.
GAS RATIONING: ?
President Acts
For weeks silvery-haired Bernard
M. Baruch and co-members of the
President's special rubber commit
tee had labored over the problem of
what to do about the nation's stead
ily diminishing rubber supply.
When the committee handed Mr.
Roosevelt its report, the President
was ready for action.
First, he announced that "as rap
idly as arrangements can be made"
he would put into effect a set of
recommendations submitted by the
committee, including nation-wide
gasoline rationing and drastic re
strictions on civilian motoring.
Made public in the President's an
nouncement were additional steps
recommended by the committee
which included:
A 35-mile speed limit for passen
ger cars and trucks; an average
annual mileage of 5,000 miles per
car, permitted only for "necessary
driving"; release of more rubber to
the public for recapping old tires to
maintain necessary civilian driving;
imposition of gasoline rationing na
tionally on the basis of 5,000 miles
per year per car; compulsory peri
odic tire inspections; voluntary tire
conservation pending establishment
of gas rationing.
Submitted with the committee's
recommendations was the blunt dec
laration that rubber conservation
was now a matter of "discomfort
or defeat."
MADAGASCAR:
'Full Occupation'
Even as communiques revealed
that the British had opened a gen
eral offensive against the west coast
of Vichy-held Madagascar, the state
department in Washington an
nounced that Great Britain with the
full approval of the United States
had decided to undertake "further
military operations" in the Mada
gascar area.
British action was taken to elimi
nate reported refueling of Jap sub
marines in secret harbors and Nazi
espionage in connivance with Vichy
agents.
Significant of the close military
collaboration between Britain and
the United States and their indiffer
ence to Vichy France opposition,
the state department announcement
declared:
"The full military occupation of
Madagascar by British forces will
not only contribute to the successful
conduct of the war against the Axis
forces, but will be in the interest of
the United Nations."
DOIJBLE-TIME PAY:
Curbed by FDR
"Penalty double time" pay for
millions of industrial workers was
abolished for the deration of the
war when President Roosevelt
signed an executive order banning
the practice for Sundays, Saturdays
and holidays.
The President's action thus invali
dated contracts in which employers
were required to pay workers dou
ble time for work on Saturdays or
holidays, even though these days
fell within the fegular five-day work
week.
RUSSIAN FRONT:
Nazis Rule Air
The gloom of Russia's military
predicament was darkened when
correspondents in Moscow were per
mitted to cable the news that the
German air force had secured vir
tually undisputed sway over the be
leaguered city of Stalingrad, key in
dustrial and communications center
of the Volga area. Added to this
pessimistic report was the news that
additional "populated places" adja
cent to Stalingrad had been lost by
the Russians.
With Nazi Marshal Fedor von
Bock hurling massive armored and
infantry forces into a frontal drive
against the city, it was only by the
stubbornest resistance that the Reds
were able to continue their formula
of "fall back and keep fighting."
The only comforting aspect was that
the Nazis were paying costly prices
in men and equipment for every foot
gained.
In the Caucasus area the news had
likewise been adverse, for the Rus
sian high command acknowledged
,that fighting had reached the "out
,skirts" of Novorossisk, last remak
ing naval stronghold on the BfSck
sea. f
VOTES:
For Armed Forces
Wherever they are serving Uncle
Sam on the far-flung war front,
more than 4,000,000 men and women
in the nation's land and naval forces
were given the right to vote in the
coming November elections and in
subsequent elections until the end of
the war, when the house of repre
sentatives approved legislation ex
tending the ballot to absentee mem
bers of the army and navy.
me nouse s action set a new
precedent, for never before in time
of war had the armed forces been
able to vote away from their home
districts.
Affected by the new law was every
citizen serving in the army or navy,
including members of the Army
Nurse corps, the Navy Nurse corps,
the Women's Navy reserve, and the
Women's Army Auxiliary corps.
SOUTH PACIFIC:
Japs Persistent
Australia felt again the chilling
threat of a Japanese approach, as
Nipponese and Allied armies had
fought for control of the Port
Moresby area?only 375 miles from
the northeast tip of the Australian
continent.
In a drive which had started late
in August from the Kadoka area,
north of the Owen Stanley moun
tains, the Japs by infiltration and
flanking methods against the Aus
tralian defenders had pushed south
ward through the highest pass in
the range toward their coveted goal.
Meanwhile, in answer to General
MacArthur's plea that each Amer
ican kill one Japanese apiece,
Yankee forces resumed th? offen
sive in the Solomon islands. A com
munique indicated that the posi
tions originally seized by the Amer
ican marines had become so well
established that they could now be
used as a springboard for delivering
further hard blows at the enemy.
LUXEMBOURG:
Defies the Nazis
Plucky Luxembourgers gave the
lie to Nazi propaganda that they
were voluntarily acquiring German
citizenship and entering the enemy
armed forces, by ? staging a gen
eral strike?the first in a German
occupied country.
The pint-sized duchy, which has a
population of but 269,913, is never
theless one of the world's most im
portant steel producing regions. The
exiled Luxembourg ministry in Lon
don reported that German authori
ties had declared a state of emer
gency and threatened striking work
ers with death.
Repressive measures were im
posed throughout Luxembourg when
the strike which started at Schif
flingen, spread to other towns.
Sabotage against railroads in the
tiny country was reported wide
spread, with workers putting equip
ment out of order.
TRUCKS AND TAXIS:
Face II. S. Control
The operation of 5,000,000 com
mercial motor trucks, 150,000 busses
and 50,000 taxi cabs will be placed
under government control by No
vember 15 as a measure to con
serve transportation facilities for
war purposes, it was announced by
Joseph B. Eastman, director of the
Office of Defense Transportation.
Passenger cars and motorcycles
were exempted from the new regu
lations.
ine uui s oraer aireciea opera
tors of commercial vehicles to ob
tain a "certificate of war necessi
ty" to obtain fuel, tires, tubes and
accessories.
Mr. Eastman said the certificates |
for commercial vehicles would re
quire a tire check every 5,000 miles,
or every 60 days, whichever occurs 1
first, to assure proper inflation and
repairs. Certificates, he indicated,
will be issued to all types of trucks, i
vehicles built primarily for trans
porting property and passengers
and others available for public rent
al, such as ambulances and hearses.
The objective, he said, is to limit
their use to operations necessary tc
the war effort, or to the essentia
domestic economy.
FRANCE:
Petain Is Warned
Edouard Herriot is one French
man not afraid to raise his voice in
blunt opposition to Vichy. Jules
Jeanneney is another. Both com
mand respect in Unoccupied France,
for Herriot is mayor of Lyons and
a former premier and Jeanneney a
former cabinet member. Both were
leaders of the last parliament of the
Third Republic.
Thus Frenchmen everywhere lis
tened when these two delivered a
solemn warning to Marshal Petain
and Pierre Laval that France may
suffer "convulsions" if the Vichy j
government attempts to draw the
nation "into war against our Allies."
In an unprecedented letter indict
ing the present regime, Herriot and
Jeanneney implied that despite the
French defeat in June, 1940, and the
armistice with Germany and despite
the rise of Petain and Laval, they
still consider France bound by the
treaties of alliance with which she
entered the war.
TANKS VS. PLANES:
U. S. Passes Axis
Robert P. Patterson, undersecre
tary of war, had good news for the
nation when he announced in Cleve
land that American tank productiqp
had reached "an impressive figure"
and that Uncle Sam was now tinn
ing out more planes than Germanj>,
Japan and Italy combined.
Answering criticism of American
war material, Patterson said that in
speed, range, toughness of armor
and hitting power, the U. S. medium
tank, either the M-3 or the M-4, "is
superior to the best German tank,"
as "proved in combat in Egypt."
Combat records, he declared, also
had proved the Curtiss P-40 better
than the Jap Zero planes.
EDOUARD HERRIOT
"... Convulsions will follow."
Nazi Break With Russia
Foiled Sabotage in U. S.
Hitler Held Responsible for Wrecking Ger
many's Elaborate Plans to Blow Up
Vital Points in U. S.
By BAUKHAGE
News Analyst and Commentator.
WNU Service, 1343 H Street, N-W,
Washington, D. C.
A mystery that has perplexed
many laymen and some officials in
Washington with respect to the man
ner in which the government has
forestalled a mammoth Nazi plan
for sabotaging American industry
can now be explained. There will
be no official confirmation of the
explanation but it comes to me from
what are frequently described as
"informed sources"?which really
means "a man who has never lied
to me so far."
In a sentence: The man who
wrecked elaborate Nazi plans for
blowing up munitions plants, rail
way terminals, bridges, electric
light and power plants in the United
States was none other than Adolf
Schikelgruber, Hitler himself.
He did it when he tossed the
Ribbentrop-Molotov pact out of the
window just after Nazi armies had
launched their surprise drive on
Russia.
To understand what a job the
fuehrer did for himself we must
remember that for years, with the
methodical care of the German
mind, a detailed plan had been
worked out for the sabotage of
American industry. Even during
the last war there were some ter
rible and effective pieces of sabo
tage accomplished by a compara
tively untrained and unregimented
crowd of German spies. The famous
Black Tom explosion which wrecked
the huge New Jersey plant not far
from New York city, was an ex
ample. An international mixed
claims commission finally awarded
huge damages to the United States
for that act.
But the Nazis began where the
kaiser left off. They had schools for
the training of saboteurs especially
selected from Germans who had
Hved in the United States and were
lured back to Germany and either
bribed or intimidated into undertak
ing the work of destruction in terri
tory with which they had become
familiar.
Details of this training came out
in the secret testimony in the recent
trial of the Nazi saboteurs in Wash
ington. But much of it was ancient
history to the department of justice.
And the way the advance informa
tion came into the hands of our in
telligence officers was this:
Tin,;i? r* i?i ?
?iiuic nil uctmaiu xiau uieir paci
of friendship with Russia, Nazi
agents were busy making friends
with Communists all over the world
in the hope that they could use them
for subversive activities. The Com
munists naturally did not turn a
deaf ear and Hitler's agents told all.
Then came the double cross, Ger
many attacked Russia, and Com
munist and Nazi who had always
bated each other thoroughly gave
vent to their real feelings. The
plans which the Nazis had confided
to the Communists were turned over
to the governments of the United
Nations.
The United States also had been
picking up a little information about
the German sabotage methods in
other ways?such as by planting a
man or two in the German Gestapo.
These men learned, from one
source or another, that the Germans
had hired safe crackers in this coun
try to steal the blue prints of fac
tories from insurance companies,
which always demand a detailed de
scription and plan of all buildings
they insure. The plans were stolen,
photographed and returned. That is
one example. Many other little de
vious tricks and enterprises were
revealed by dint of our own investi
gators, and with the help of the
Communists who had complete and
exhaustive data, the Federal Bureau
of Investigation was able to take the
necessary steps to break up the
complicated plots and counter-plots
to wreck American industry. So far
there have been very few, if any,
major cases which have been brand
ed as sabotage in this country,
thanks to Mr. Hitler.
? ? ?
On Pronunciation
You may not know it, but nobody
thinks broadcasters know how to
pronounce the names of foreign
places. Some write in and tell us
about it and even the news services
try to help us. When an item comes
over the news ticker about Rzhev
or Chumbly they obligingly put the
pronunciation in brackets.
The other day the news services
had something to say about disturb
ances in Lyons, France. Now I've
been hearing about Lyons all my
life and I know perfectly well that
Lyons is pronounced like two lions
in the zoo. I also know that the
same city is spelled by the French
without the "s,"?Lyon?and I've
visited that ancient and attractive
city and I know how the French pro
nounce it.
So when the ticker said "Lyons
(pronounced Lee-on)" I got the
same feeling as when I once heard
two Frenchmen disputing whether
Washington was called "Vashinjton"
or "Vassington."
Lyon, if you want to be pedantic,
is not pronounced "Lee-on" or any
thing like it. If you want to pro
nounce it the French way, you'll j
have to study French. As for me,
I'll go on saying Lyons, and I'll con
tinue to say Paris?not "Pah-ree,"
and Rome, and Vienna and The
Hague and Cologne and Athens, al
though I know that the natives don't
call any of those cities by those
names.
Notes From a
Broadcaster'a Diary
Is the government farm-conscious?
It is. I am going to risk a' gentle
indiscretion and quote a suggestion
from a high government source to
broadcasters. It is part of an ap
peal to encourage enlistment in our
merchant marine that must have
one hundred thousand skilled work
ers for the shipyards in 1942; must
have 120,000 experienced seamen.
Here is the suggestion:
"Take care to specify that the
Merchant Marine does not want men
engaged in farming or war produc
tion work. They do their share now.
Any change would bring more harm
than good. It does, however, want
the young, the strong, the adven
turous for seagoing jobs, and the
skilled capable workers for the ship
yards . .
And the government wants the
skilled farmer to stay on the farm
where he is: Food will win the war
and write the peace.
? ? ?
The Whole Truth
The Nazi regime is not usually
credited with doing much to encour
age truth. Hitler himself spends
many paragraphs in "Mein Kampf"
telling about the importance of be- l
ing a good liar. But, strange as it
may seem, according to a tale that
is whispered behind the closed doors
of state department offices, the
Nazis have struck a blow for verity.
Here is tne tale which may never
appear in the official communiques
of our ministry of foreign relations.
When Germany declared war on
the United States last December,
after Pearl Harbor, there were still
several hundred Americans, men
and women, living in Paris. Many
of them had lived there for 20 years,
getting their American passports re
newed periodically. Some of the
ladies, it seems, took advantage of
these periodical renewals to lop a
couple of years off their age now
and again.
And who would grudge the ladies
a few years stolen from the calen
dar, especially in Paris? But the
gentle prevarication bounced back
; with a vengeance. For when the
Nazis announced that women under
60 would be interned in concentra
j tion camps, while older women
{ would be allowed to remain 'at lib
erty, a certain number of American
women suddenly discovered that the
age shown on their passport was
erroneous. They hurried to the
Swiss consulate, which had charge
of American interests, and swore
1 out affidavits to the effect that they
were not, say, 46, but 62.
Not all of these belated amend
ments were accepted by the Nazi
officials?gallant for once. The con
sequence is that the rigors of the
Nazi internment camps are now be
ing suffered by women who, if they
had been less coquettish about their
years, would now be free.
?Bay War Bonds?
.i'A' i'&r. iZf ---in ' "I*" ??"-'*? -Wv
Air Conditioner
Help to Miners
Control* Temperature and
Humidity; Has Other
Advantages.
PITTSBURGH.?Men who dig for
coal hundreds of feet beneath the
surface of the ground are benefiting
from the same air-cleansing princi
ple that keeps the office of their
president cool and dry.
Conditioned air for the miner was
inaugurated recently at the Beech
Bottom coal mine of the Windsor
Power House Coal company on the
Ohio river above Wheeling, W. Va..
and the 500 men there who turn out
a million tons of coal a year to pro
vide power for war production
plants in West Virginia and Ohio,
already profess to "feel better."
Installed primarily as a safety
.measure to reduce roof falls by
maintaining a constant temperature
and humidity, the air-conditioning
also has provided a sorely needed
improvement in the working condi
tions of miners.
Salve Water Snpply.
Air conditioning in mines is not
new, according to the United States
bureau of mines, which is keeping
close check on the efficacy of the
project, and encouraging experi
ments have been made in Illinois
and Indiana mines in recent years.
However, a novel twist, which
means the solution of the water sup
ply problem encountered by many
mines, has appeared in connection
with the new air-cooling program.
Engineers say that rock falls,
which trouble all mines, are caused
by expansion and contraction of the
rock, due to fluctuation in the tem
peratures ahd humidity, and varia
tions between the inside and outside
temperatures, creating beads of con
densed moisture on the rock in the
summer and leaving the rock dry in
the winter. Rock falls?from a
pound to a ton?invariably accom
pany summer drippings.
Other mines have used chilled wa
ter to bring the Intake air down to
the desired temperature and give it
the proper moisture content
Has Many Advantages.
Before releasing the exhaust air
from the mine, however, the Wind
sor plant, which has a limited sup
ply of spring water, passes the cold
air through the water that has been
wanned in the original process,
thereby cooling it for another air
chilling job.
The installation of air-conditioning
' provides control of a constant tem
perature and humidity, and since it
; has been in use, the inner surfaces
' of the mine have bean dry.
| Officials have pointed out that con
trol of roof-falls results in several
! beneficial factors; the elimination of
the mental hazard that slows up the
miner, the maintenance of produc
I tion at an even pace without inter
ruption caused by injuries to miners,
and through improved atmospheric
conditions, the company is enabled
to make a larger recovery of coal
j from its property, thus conserving
| an important natural resource.
Toll of Cancer in U. S.
I* Steadily Increasing
WASHINGTON.?Ravage, of can
cer in the United State, have ai
mo?t doubled over the pa,t 40 year,,
the census bureau report,.
Cancer 1, one of the few disease,
the mortality record of which ha,
grown steadily worse in that period,
the bureau record, disclosed.
In the 40 year, of the bureau's
records of death registrations, can
cer deaths have totaled 3,115,932?
almost equal to the population of
Chicago. Since the registration
area did not include the entire coun
try until 1933. the number of deaths
from cancer In the period was even
greater than shown by the records.
The bureau estimated that if can
cer fatalities were localized each
year, a city the size of Dei Moines,
New Haven or Fort Worth would he
wiped out.
The death rate per 100,000 popula
tion in 1900 was 64, while in 1940, it
was 120.3?almost double. The
death rate per 100,000 increases with
ege from 4.8 under 4 years old to
696.3 for the 65-74 group and 1,183.4
tor the group 75 years and over.
War Booms Market for
Angora Bunny in Montana
MALTA, MONT. ? The Angora
rabbit la one animal that has at last
realized the much-quoted expression
of being "worth its weight tn gold."
War-time demand for angora wool
to lin*' mittens, helmets and socks
for high-altitude fliers and for oth
er war needs has sent the price of
the rabbit wool sky-rocketing to 95.35
a pound for the No. 1 grade.
A female angora rabbit, breeders
?ay, will produce about 95 worth of
wool and will give birth to an av
erage of 21 youngsters a year who
' will do likewise.
= v]
California Coast
Guarded by Navy
Tars Keep Constant Vigil
On Lonely Isles.
LOS ANGELES.? Lonely, wind
swept islands off the southern Cali
fornia coast, once the paradise at
fishermen and hunters, today hare
become the watchdogs of invasion.
Perched on high points at unob
structed view are United States
navy patrols ? modern Robinson
Crusoes armed with spy-glasses and
radios who constantly scan sea and
sky for enemy submarines or air
craft.
Only volunteers are accepted for
this lonesome but important Job, and
men must be familiar with silhou
ettes of enemy ships and planes and
know the elements of weather ob
servation to qualify.
Stationed on islands scattered
along 200 miles of coastline, the in
vasion guards receive mail and pro
visions every two weeks. Often they
serve for more than two months
without seeing the mainland on a
fortnight's leave.
On some islands the navy men
live with ranchers who raise sheep,
cattle and horses. On others they
live in specially constructed navy
quarters. Roads have been built in
some places, and the navy version
of the Jeep is used for transporta
tion.
Off duty, the men enjoy unspoiled
beaches and fishing, which are the
envy of their mainland comrades.
Every storm leaves new surprises
on the beaches, including glass
bails, used as floats by Japanese
fishermen, which have drifted 5,000
miles across the Pacific.
The floats are harmless curiosi
ties?but if their owners ever come
after them, the boys of the island
patrols are ready and waiting to
touch off a reception the invaders
will never forget
More Safety Devices Are
Demanded for Sailors
LONDON.?The safety of seamen
must become a matter of even great
er concern to all government it
was stressed by the joint Maritime
commission of the international la
bor office at a meeting here.
No expense consideration should
be allowed to stand in the way at
the most effective means tor pro
tartino the rrewt nf marplinntman
it was stated, and officials of the
United Nations will be so informed
at the soonest possible moment
Among the improvements the
commission recommended were
mechanically operated davits, suit
able compasses, signal pistols, wa
terproof charts and the appointment
of special government inspectors of
safety conditions.
Representatives of the owners
were told by a spokesman for the
seamen that all idea of charity
ought to be eliminated in the treat
ment of seamen in port where, he
said, they were entitled to the same
respect as that accorded other mem
bers of the community.
Yugoslavs Claim Nazis
Slew All in 16 Villages
LONDON-?The Yugoslav govern
ment in exile here reported that 16
villages in German-occupied Slove
nia had been obliterated and all
their inhabitants shot for violation
of occupation rules.
Vice Premier J. Krek said the
government was unable to obtain an
estimate of the number slain, but
he declared: "The Germary recent
ly have deported 160,000 Slovenes,
including the most prominent seism
tists, teachers and physicians, to Po
land. Serbia and Croatia after
shooting 1.064 hostages in Maribar
and Bled."
In the part of Slovenia occupied
by the Italians, 130,000 men have
been put into concentration camps,
410 hostages slain and 42 villages
burned recently, be added.
The Moscow radio broadcast a re
port that Yugoslav guerrillas had
killed 500 Italian officers and men
and wounded 200 in the last two
weeks.
Io It Any Wonder Marion
Did Forget That.Name?
LONDON, ONT ?Perhaps there
was a good reason why a woman
who was booked as "Marion Dale"
in city court here told Magistrate
Menzies that she couldn't remem
ber her real name.
Appearing on a charge of drunk
enness and a later charge of tailing
to have a registration certificate, she
was given a one-day remand, in the
hope she would brush up on her
memory-work.
The following morning the name
came out. With considerable diffi
culty the court stenographer got it
down as Mary Dygdalewicr. No
body tried to pronounce it But
Mary D. offered no defense to the
charge and pleaded guilty to both.
? J-J.