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. ... * * The Alamance Gleaner VoL LXVIII GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1942 . NO. 45 WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS Soviet Pushes Offensive Against Nazis As Italians Contemplate Allied Threat Of Stepped-Up Campaign Against Them; Tunisia Battle Climaxes African Drive (EDITOR'S NOTE: When opinions are expressed in these columns, they are those of Western Newspaper Union's news analysts and not necessarily of this newspaper.) __________ Released by Western Newspaper Union. _______ The liberated French supplied the refreshments and a toast was raised to an American alliance when a lieutenant with the Yankee inva sion forces brought word to the Foreign Legion barracks in Safi, Morocco, that the troops there were no longer prisoners. Thus ended another phase of the Allies' North African campaign. TUNISIA: Allied Wedge Axis forces in Tunisia stood with their backs to the sea as Lieut. Gen. K. A. N. Anderson's British first army thrust a wedge between en emy strongholds in Tunisia by cap turing the town of Djedeida, which controls road and rail communica tions between Tunis and the Bizerte naval base. Thus by severing communications between Tunis and Bizerte, the Al lies virtually had isolated the Axis positions, leaving only a coastal road open. The German-controlled Paris ra dio said that fighting was taking place in the Mateur region and in dicated that the British are prepar ing for a general offensive by de ploying forces in that sector. Axis forces fell back, following futile counterattacks, within the semicircular defense line around Tunis and Bizerte. According to the Morocco radio, Allied paratroopers attacked Axis positions near Mateur' and other Allied forces stabbed at the defenders of Tunis. Defeat of the Axis in Tunisia would leave Allied troops free to move south into Tripolitania and at tack Marshal Erwin Rommel's Af rica corps from the rear while Gen eral Montgomery's British eighth army attacked from the east. That such plans were contemplat ed was indicated by the fact that for four straight days General Mont gomery's headquarters had "nothing to report." It looked as though Montgomery was delaying an as sault on Rommel at El Agheila and merely holding off until the trap was sprung. TRAGEDY: - Strikes Boston Not since the 1903 Iroquois theater 8re in Chicago had so many people been burned or suffocated to death ? as perished in the disaster which struck' the Cocoanut Grove night club that Saturday night in Boston. An incomplete toll by the police first set the number of dead at 477 with the belief that it might rise above 500. At the time this count was made 213 persons were receiving hospital treatment for their burns and in juries. As hysterical parents and friends were engaged in the difficult task of identifying the bodies of those killed, Stanley Tomaszewski, a 16-year-old high school boy and part-time em ployee of the club, told his story of bow the blaze began. He said that after a patron had unscrewed a light bulb he attempted to replace it and when he lighted a match to see bet ter, the flame ignited some of the decorations. Swiftly the flames spread and the 750 patrons rushed frantically for the exits. Many were killed as they were trampled be- , neath rioting hundreds seeking es- , cape. Only about 100 of the total , 750 in the building escaped unhurt. | Many of the persons killed were ' servicemen and football fans cele- I bratihg college victories of that aft- < emoon. Buck Jones, well-known i western star of the movies, was 1 among the persons who had packed 1 the smart club. i As all available medical help was < rushed to the scene, the Red Cross released supplies of blood plasma < which was used in extreme cases ' in efforts to keep the death toll 1 down. . I ' WARNING: To Italians In a world broadcast on the eve of his 68th birthday, Prime Min ister Winston Churchill proclaimed that American and British forces in North Africa expected to "expel the enemy before long" and warned the 40,000,000 people of Italy to over throw their dictator and sue for peace. After the conclusion of the Medi terranean campaign, Churchill said, Africa will serve the purpose for which Lieut. Gen. Dwight D. Eisen hower is preparing it?as a spring board from which large scale op erations on the continent of Europe can be undertaken. The route for this attack, he in dicated, lay through Italy. "Our op erations in French Africa should en able us to bring the weight of the war home to the Italian Fascist state in a manner not hitherto dreamed of by its guilty leaders, or still less, by the unfortunate people Mussolini has led, exploited and dis graced." Although the Churchill talk was optimistic, he warned Jhat the war is likely to be a long one and that bloody and bitter years lie ahead. He refused to predict whether' the war in Europe will be over before that in the Pacific, but said that if such was the case all fighting forces of the United Nations would auto matically come to the aid of the United States, China and Britain's own kin in Australia and New Zea land. Turin Smashed In the heaviest raid of the war on Italy, hundreds of British bombers smashed the city of Turin with four ton bombs, probably knocking it out of the Italian war effort. As if foreshadowing Prime Min ister Churchill's warning to the Italian people, the bombing destroyed great areas of the city. The super block-busters and fire from 100,000 incendiaries pulverized huge sections of the city. Turin is Italy's biggest industrial city, the home of the Fiat engine works, the Caproni bomber planes and many other important fac tories. RUSSIA: An Answer On the cold steppes before Stalin grad and in the blustery valleys of the Caucasus, the Russian armies gave an answer to a question that military experts had been asking ever since Hitler's troops had driven deep into Soviet territory. It was the question: "Has.Hitler destroyed the Russian army?" And the an swer was an emphatic "No." This year's Russian winter offen sive began first in Stalingrad itself, where the Germans had been fought to a standstill. Then it spread quickly as Soviet forces struck simultaneously from the north and south knifing through Nazi defenses on both flanks and thrusting spear heads far across the Don river. Three hundred thousand German troops were thus encircled. These were the bulk of the $hemy detach ments laying siege to Stalingrad. As the first week of the offensive ended, Russian reports credited their army with taking a toll of 250.000 Axis sol liers killed, wounded or captured. Also in the Caucasus to the south ind around Leningrad in the north :he Russian might began to telli Even Berlin admitted that the Rus lians were "counterattacking." FIGHTING DOLLARS: Tops in Financing When President Roosevelt launched the nine billion dollar "Victory Loan" drive by purchasing a $1,000 bond from Secretary of Treasury Henry Morgenthau he set in motion the greatest financing program in all history. This money is needed by the gov ernment to meet obligations stem ming from the war effort and the President urged that everyone turn his idle money into "fighting dol lars" by buying some of these bonds. Pointing out that while over 23 million Americans were already buying war bonds through payroll deduction plans, there still were many who could get in on this new est plan of building up government income. While the new borrowing cam paign is being handled largely by the nation's banks, all wage earn ers and corporations are being urged | to buy these latest securities of all types. Beginning at $500 the bonds are available to all investors and it is hoped that half the amount need ed will be raised outside banks. AIR STRENGTH: Asia Evidence Heavy United Nations air raids were raining destruction on Jap bases and supply centers in Burma, Thailand and Indo-China as the growing strength of this arm of ac tivity against the enemy became in creasingly evident. This most recent surge of air strength began with a terrific pound ing of Jap railway yards at Manda lay and reached its apex when a U. S. group of bombers and fighters shot down at least 23 planes in one day during operations against the j great Pearl river base in China. In that raid tons of explosives were dropped on the Pearl river I estuary, sinking two medium sized freighters and upwards of 100 barges. In addition many docks and ware houses were set ablaze. SUICIDE FLEET: Scuttled by French So that France "might at least be spared the supreme shame of see ing her ships become the ships of the enemy," French sailors de stroyed 60-odd ships at Toulon, re moving the last visible asset of the Vichy government. The words were those of Charles de Gaulle, leader of the Fighting French. The sentiment was that of all the Allied nations. Word of the suicide of France's home fleet disclosed that many French officers and dynamite crews went down with their vessels in wild dawn battles with German boarding ADMIRAL LABORDE IF as given orders. parties attempting to halt the scut tling of the vessels. Warships now littering the bottom of Toulon harbor include three bat tleships, four heavy and three light cruisers, one seaplane tender, 25 , destroyers and 23 submarines. Two submarines escaped and a third struck a mine dropped by a Nazi plane as it attempted to flee. London sources accepted the scut tling as evidence that Adm. Jean Darlan has been secretly playing the Allied game. Fighting French sources said that Adm. Jean Abrial, new Vichy naval secretary, undoubt edly gave Adm. de la Borde or ders to scuttle the ships. BRIEFS: ' LIMIT?A limit of 14 days to all army furloughs during the holiday season was announced by Secretary of War Stimson. Because of the in creasing strain on U. S. railway facilities between December 12 and January 12 leaves will be granted to no more than 10 per cent of the enlisted strength of each army post. DOUBLED ? OPA officials an nounced in Washington that twice as many passenger car tires would be available for rationing ia De cember as compared to last month. HOSIERY ? Price Administrator Leon Henderson has set specific maximum retail prices on women's silk hose at from 35 cents to $1.65, depending on quality and type. Rural America's Future Prosperity or Hard Times All . Depends on Action of Farmers During Present Period 400 Per Cent Increase in Income Over '29 Causes Boom Danger to Arise WILL THIS WAR PRODUCE A LAND BOOM ON AMERI CAN FARMS? This question concerns not on ly agricultural economists, but everyone who lives on or near a farm. Its answer will largely determine future prosperity or hard times for rural America. Every previous war has brought its own land boom that left a wreck age of deflation behind. Under or dinary circumstances and with an ordinary war, the current situation would be ripe for history to repeat itself. The elements for a first-class boom are present. But from Pearl Harbor down to the moment, farm real estate values have defied prece dent by remaining below pre-World War I levels. Meanwhile agricultural income 1 has zoomed to record highs, pro- ' duction has reached unheard-of < peaks and the 1943 outlook prom- 1 ises further expansion. 1 Farm economists are frankly puz zled over the trend of land prices 1 but they unanimously hope it con- j tinues. They credit the good sense of farmers themselves with the fact that farm real estate prices 1 have risen so slightly thus far. They ! point out that while the danger of a boom exists, farmers themselves have the power to head it off. Production Picture Brilliant. As the 1942 crop year ends, farm conditions never appeared more promising. More than 15 billion dol lars will flow into farmers' pockets from this year's bumper harvest. The biggest previous figure was 14Vi billion dollars in 1919. * This year's farm total is nearly four times the low-ebb depression income of 4bil lion dollars in 1932. When operating costs, including taxes, interest, wages for labor, machinery and oth er items are deducted this year, farmers should have a spendable in come of from four to five billion dollars for living, savings and in vestment. Farm families will have an average of $438 more to spend this year than last. The production picture is equally brilliant. For example, the 1942 corn crop is reckoned at 3,132,000,000 bushels ?a record exceeded only by 1920 and then by but a slight margin. The crop ordinarily runs between 2 and IVi billion bushels, but dipped down to 1V4 billion in the drouth tarn More bread for doughboys meant a Meter wheat products* Job for American farm land. yeara of 1934 and 1936. Despite the huge 1942 crop, corn commands a high price. The wheat yield this year will be the largest since the miracle crop of 1919 and the market price is the highest since 1929. Bogs have returned tq their traditional role of "mortgage lifter." They are mare nnmer oos than ever and worth mare per pound. The 95 bog of a few years ago has beeAeplaeed by the 915 bog. In meets of a IN million hog crop was flgured for this year and even more produc tion is expected for 1943. Beef prices are the highest since .920. It is estimated that on Janu ary 1, 1943, cattle and calves will number about 77 million head?or more than a three million increase for each of the last two years. The 1942 calf crop is probably the highest on record, totaling 32 million head. Sheep and lamb marketings have established records and the average price is the best in 20 years. Niagara of Milk. A Niagara of milk, exceeding 120 billion pounds, will have cascaded into dairy pails throughout the Unit More, and Still More Every productive acre of farm land will be called on to yield more [ood for Uncle Sam's expanding irmed froces in IMS and to meet Lend-Lease demands. As a result the value of farm land as an in vestment will be enhanced. (Above) U. S. Army Quarter master Corps receives and al locates food shipments for troops. (Right) Rising demand for dairy products spurs activities in cream ery and bottling plants and helps boost farm income to record highs. ed States by the end of this year. More milk cows are truing Amer ica's pastures than ever before? 26,(00,0(4 to be exact. Egg pro duction for 1942 is estimated at 50 billion. Poultrymen are receiving top prices for their production. And to mention one or two other items, there is more hay than ever; and the potato crop of 376,309,000 bush els beats all previous records. Ordinarily whenever an industry does as well as farming has done, there is a tendency to speculate. Those already in the business seek to expand their operations. Others seek to get in on the bonanza. And soon a spiraling boom is born. A survey of the rural real estate market recently revealed that farms are selling in increasing num bers, but no unusual price advances are yet noticeable. The Farm Credit corporation and insurance companies have been leaders in liquidating their farm holdings. It is estimated that the FCA has disposed of more than 25,000 farms since 1938. Some insur ance companies report they have sold more than 90 per cent of the farms they acquired during the de pression. In recent months thou sands of Midwest farms have changed hands in individual farm auction sales. Analysis of the transactions re vealed that 60 per cent oQhe buyers were farmers, half of wfiWn were tenants. Of the tenants, most were former landholders who had lost out during the depression, when 2,100, 000 farms were foreclosed. With farm income on the rise, these ten ants are getting back on their feet and able to-make down payments on farms of their own. Of the 44 per cent non-farmer bnyers, a large group represent ed city dwellers approaching retirement age who have bought farms In order to live reason ably on their pensions and In come from savings. How long this paradoxical situa tion of high farm income and low farm real estate values will con tinue, economists do not care to predict. But they point out three factors which at present make the farm picture of World War II dif ferent from that of World War I: A DUferent Farm Pietnre. 1. Today's farmers would rather get out of debt than into it. Hence they are not bidding up the farm real estate market by seeking additional land. In stead they are paying off mort gages and investing their sur plus funds la War Bonds. They are making needed repairs on buildings and building up their land's productivity by the ade quate use of fertilisers and by other soil conservation meas ures. 2. The hangover aftermath of World War I's land speculation spree is still fresh in the mem ory of most farmers. Farmers are hedging on the future by "plowing back" present earn ings into their present holdings without attempting any expan-, sion. 2. The present farm labor shortage and the rationing of farm machinery arS effective deterrents to the urge to ac quire more land. Let's look first at the debt situa tion. The extent to which farmers are using their expanded income to get out of hock was disclosed by A. G. Black, head of the Farm Credit administration, who recently point ed out that a large percentage of farm mortgages are now being paid off ahead of schedule. The nation's farm mortgage debt has been re duced to billion dollars?the low est flgure in 25 years. There are fewer foreclosures and other dis tress transfers than at any time in the past 20 years. "Farmers realize more than ever before that a healthy, liquid finan cial condition is the safest goal these days," said a recent statement of the Middle West Soil Improve ment committee. "Such a goal means getting debts out of the way. It means building up the blood strains of livestock and eliminating the non-producers. It meqns mak ing needed repairs on the house and barn. It means paying particular attention to "the fertility level of the soil. Long-Run Earning Power. "This last is of particular impor tance, for the real value of land is dependent on its long-run earning power. Thus any investment In a soil-building program that will pay dividends in years to come is an important contribution to a farm's future productivity. "In wartime as in peace, the farm er can obtain valuable information from his county agent or agrono mists at the state agricultural ex periment station in developing his soil improvement plan. Such a pro gram should include the raising of legumes to provide necessary nitro gen, the commercial supply of which is now largely required by muni tions factories. It should include regular crop rotation and the use of sufficient quantities of fertilizer con taining phosphorus and potash to encourage plant growth. "It should include pasture improve ment. By means of such a program,1 the soil's future fertility level can be assured and its immediate output of foods and fibers for war and civil ian needs increased." Most farmers instinctively fear a repetition of the World War I land boom. Their hind sight has taught them many valnable lessons from the bitter experience of the Ittfis and ear ly If they profit by that hindsight, they can escape the headache of a land collapse. World War I was a story of agri cultural upsurge. Farm income rose from < billions in 1914 to 14% bil lions in 1919. High prices and a ready market for agricultural prod ucts, plus easy credit facilities, en couraged farmers to bid up land prices. Farms were bought on spec ulation with the expectation of a quick sale at a profit. Land values were inflated from an average of $40 per acre in 1914 to |70 in J920. Within those six years farm real estate rose in total value .from 3914 billion dollars to 08 billions. The sequel was a crash that still reverberates. Land prices fell from an average of $70 per acre to $28. More than a third of the nation's six million farms were foreclosed by the end of the depression. All farm land and buildings declined from 06 billions to 31 billions. Even today farm real estate is worth only 30 billion dollars?less than it was before World War L WHO'S NEWS This Week Br Leant! F. Ptrton Introducing Two Gun Patton, Tank Herding Champion Consolidated Features.?WNU Release. ?\JEW YORK.?Maj. Gen. George S. Patton, tagged as a two-gun general, so tough he chews cactus, is exultant, vociferous and omni present in French Mo rocco as the commander of the Unit fd States forces there. The general, who earned his two-gun title, as it will be explained later, was educat ed in the Classical School for Boys at Pasadena, Calif., before he went to West Point. There he may have learned of Hannibal's elephants. At any rate, he was out early as a tank specialist, commanded the first tank brigade in the First World war, was severely wounded and lavishly dec orated, and thereafter became the champion tank-herder of the U SA He is now commander of the first armored corps. He was in command of the landing and mopping up op erations on the African Atlantic coast. At 57, he is bull-voiced, hard, mus cular and fit, his two guns still in ?his belt, and with nothing written off but his hair. That the Pasadena lotus-land of the Rose Bowl and the dolce far niente should turn out from a classioal school the toughest, rootin-tootin' general of our high command is something to put down in the book. As to the two (was, Co towel Patton, with General Pershing's punitive expedition into Mexico, was chasing Villa's men through the ehapparal. Be eaaght np with Candelario Cervantes and a band of exceedingly tough hombres. It came down to a close-range shooting match, with the colonel backed op against a wall, whamming away at the mounted Cervantes troop, with two .45-caliber revolvers. He emptied them both, and as he started to reload, ballets came so close that they hemstitched his silhouette on the wall. He got both guns working and dropped Cervantes. He rode happily back to headqaarters. He was the first officer assigned to the tank corps in the First World war, and organized and command ed the 304th brigade. On September 25, 1918, at Bogais, he led six Amer ican and two French companies into action?with 22 tanks. He was wounded. For this and other such exploits, he was awarded the Dis tinguished Service cross, two cita tions, the Silver Star, the Purple Heart, the Congressional Medal of Honor and the World War medal. In the post-war years, he contin ued as a tank specialist, and in De cember, 1940, was giving his thun dering herd a workout in Abbeville, Ga. A year later, his "hell on wheels" Second Armored division was the leading attention-getter around Fort Oglethorpe, Ga. They had only 75-mm. field artillery guns then, but it is noted in dispatches from North Africa that the general is all set up with a lot of new 10& mm. self-propelled guns, and that one of them blew a hole in Fort Lyautey big enough to let his men through to capture the fort ? DIERRE PUCHEU, one of the 1 roughest and toughest of Hitler's me-too men of Vichy, was the loud est in defamation of America and War Make. Mar. ?? Queer Bedfellow* when the Than Do Politics Yankscame ?rignt over to Africa he fled, to string with a winner in his customary manner. As chief of the Vichy Gestapo, be had charge of shooting hostages. It would appear that, in Africa, he might embarrass even our state de partment necessarily hospitable to all comers in a wartime emergency. The Fighting French naturally find M. Pucheu hard to take. He is a synthetic strong man, big and husky, who built himself up with tough talk and a pair of out-size rubber-tired spectacles which make him look ogreish. His participation in the inside Job which delivered France, roped and hog-tied to Germany, began in 1923 when he became foreign relations officer for the Comite des Forges, the steel and monitions cartel organized two years previously, to betray France and fatten Germany from that day to this. Flandin, in-and-outer in big-time French politics and on the receiving end of every big smear of his time, including the Stavisky scandal, was a co-conspirator with Fn eheu from the Irst, and lad with > him to Africa?a noisome two
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