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THE ALAMANCE GLEANER VoL LXIX GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY, MAY 27, 1943 No. If WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS ] Air Raids Soften Europe for Invasion; Decisive Allied Moves Against Japan Forecast in Washington Strategy Meet; j WLB Regains Authority on Wage Boosts (KBITOK'S BOTli wkm sytalnas art iihiihI ta thss* ??laaas, arc tk?n ?( Vtritra N*vip??ir Unisn's n?wa analysis ail ant nsesssarlly si tfcls aswsyapsr.) Rslsassd by Wsstsrn Newspaper Union. mi With activity against the Japs on all eastern fronts foreeast by recent Washington conferences, Allied air attacks against the enemy loom large la the tactical picture. Above are shown four American-trained Chinese pilots looking over the instrument panel of a P-40, in company with Maj. Grant Mahoney of the G. S. air force in China. OFFENSIVES: Europe and Asia Both Not only Allied smashes against Hitlerite Europe, but decisive cam paigns against Jap-fteld domains in Asia and the South Pacific in weeks to come were on the United Nations' war timetable scheduled by Presi dent Roosevelt and Prime Minister Oiurchill in their Washington con-, fdrences. That activity against Japan would be stepped up on a major scale was Indicated by two developments. One was the presence at the Washington conferences of Commander-in-Chief Sir Archibald Wavell of India, Ad miral Sir James Somerville, the Eastern fleet commander, and Sir Richard Peirse, the India air com mander. The other was the disclo sure that Admiral William F. Hal sey and Gen. Douglas Mac Arthur had met to co-ordinate future op erations in their areas. Indicative of the trend toward de cisive American action was a Tokyo radio report that strong U. S. forces bad invaded the Jap-held island of Attu in the Aleutians. Observers believed that future moves on Japan might take on a nutcracker character. One prong would close in on Nippon from the east, via Halsey's and MacArthur's combined forces in the Pacific. The other would squeeze Japan's flank from the Indian ocean and the India-Burma front, using the combined commands of > Wavell, Somerville and Peirse. TRADE PACTS: Green Light by House Surviving debate and the threat of crippling limitations, President Roosevelt's reciprocal trade pro gram was extended by the house of representatives for a term of two years. As debate had divided on party lines and the Republicans had sup ported a series of amendments which the Democrats charged would have been "a kiss of death" to the entire program. Speaker Sam Ray bum had rallied support sufficient to insure favorable action. While gaining main support from Repub licans, the amendments were offered by Democratic Congressman West of Texas, only New Deal member of the house ways and means commit tee to oppose extension of the act. Reciprocal trade pacts have been negotiated with 27 nations in the last nine years. CANNING:- - Kitchens Defined A definition of "home canning" was released by the Office of Price ^ministration to allay housewives' fears about giving up rationing points for foods processed in co operative centers now being organ ised in many parts of the country. 1 The OPA defined "home canned" finds as those processed "in a kitch en primarily used for the prepara tion of meals, or in a kitchen used to demonstrate preparation of such meals"?such as in a school or home economics center. If a farmer has a separate build ing where he customarily .does his canning, be must get permission Ran his ration board ts tins it RUSSIA: Donets Flqres Anew Even as the Red army had con tinued its methodical, grinding drive against the line of German fortifica tions outside Novorossisk, last Nazi held bastion in the Caucasus, other Russian forces to the north in the Donets river valley had opened fierce attacks near Lisichasnk, about 125 miles southeast of Kharkov. For weeks, Soviet dispatches had reported trainload after trainload of German troops rolling eastward to the Russian front. But Hitler had kept his moves for what would be his last chance offensive well ""in the action near Lisichansk, gateway to the eastern Donets basin, the Russians said the enemy had tried a wedge-shaped drive into Rus sian-held territory, but this thrust was pushed back. In pursumg the retreating Nazis the Red troops were able to establish themselves on a hill of "great tactical importance. AIRRAIDS: Bombs Write History Cologne and Dortmund had suf fered destructive Allied air raids that dwarfed the damage visited on London by the Luftwaffe in the bat tle of Britain, but it remained for Duisburg, center of German war and transportation hub of the Nazi s de fense of western Europe, to be smashed by the heaviest aerial as sault in all history. - The RAF was the Allied instru ment of destruction. It was esti mated that as many as 2,000 tons of bombs were dropped. The heaviest previous raid ever made anywhere was that on Cologne, on May 31, 1942. when 1,000 bombers were em ployed and more than 1,500 tons of explosives were rained on the Nazi city An attack on Dortmund had reached the intensity of the Cologne foray, but the Duisburg raid was the heaviest of all time. That the Duisberg raid was but a prelude to what Nazi-held Europe might expect was indicated by devastating forays which followed immediately. American Flying For tresses continued the marathon by making their own heayiest attack since the war began on St. Omer and Meaulte in northern France. Meanwhile in the East the Russian air force took the initiative away from the NazU. while Red planes smashed at German commumca tions at Warsaw, capital of Poland, and its suburb of Praga. In the Mediterranean area, U. S. bombers strafed airfields and shipping fa cilities in Sicily and on tha Italian invasion coast. WAGE BOOSTS: WLB May Act The War Labor board got back some of its discretionary authority to make wage adjustments. James T. Byrnes, economic stabilization di rector. announced the new policy to . directive specifying that the board may now raise wages "to aid to the prosecution of the war or correct Flb. Byrnes, however, qualified his action with the limitation that web wage adjustments must not Sfiuse pric? rises or stand to the way of prfef reductions. SUBMARINES: Allies' Defense Grows The Allies were making steady progress against Hitler's hitherto most potent weapon?the submarine. Decreases in monthly shipping losses by the United Nations and the preponderance of ocean-transported Allied munitions and supplies in North Africa at the victory finale were indicative of this. Evidence of how the Allies were successfully applying air and sea power plus grit and stout hearts against the Nazi subsea peril abounded in epic report issued by the British admiralty describing how navy escort ships and Royal Cana dian Air force planes had sunk or probably sunk 10 German subma rines in an eight-day battle in the Atlantic. Characterizing the action as the biggest single Allied victory against U-boats, the admiralty report said that planes, destroyers, frigates, cor vettes, cutters and sloops joined in the battle continuing day and night for eight days. As many as 25 en emy submarines were in action at one time. The battle finally turned in favor of the convoy. "Some dam age was suffered," the admiralty said, "but the majority of the mer chantmen reached port in safety." MERGER: Wire Giants Unite Improved telegraph service for those engaged directly in the war and for the general public in the post-war period was forecast as a result of the merger of Postal Tele graph Inc., and Western Union Tele graph company. Together the two companies do a business of about $145,000,000 a year and their combined assets will ap proach $500,000,000. Culminating negotiations and dis cussions covering more than 20 years, the merger was made pos sible by recent congressional action and by approval of die Federal Com munications commission. Under the terms of the agreement, Western Union will acquire all assets and all business of Postal Telegraph and assume its liabilities and obligations, including the amount owed by Postal to thd Reconstruction Finance cor poration at the time of the closing of the agreement. CURB: War Plant Building Ordering a halt on virtually all war plant construction which can not be completed by October 1, the War Production board announced that the nation now has enough in dustrial plants to produce the ma terials required to beat the Axis. Meanwhile the board had directed a widespread conversion of machine plant tools and other existing facili ties to the production of more ur gently needed goods. Calling its ac tion a "significant milestone in the war program," the WPB said that men and materials released by its new directives would be channeled elsewhere into the war program. WPB officials estimated that con 9uui.uuii ui ueiwecn euuu.uuu.uuu ana $1,000,000,000 in new war plants would be halted, even if it were nec essary to dismantle partially com pleted ones. Many machine tools orders will be cancelled, and tool plants will be converted to the pro duction of "things that shoot." The announcement emphasized that there "has been no easing-o9 in the demand for critical materi als; there is on the horizon no in dication whatever of a lessening in the demand for labor." LIFELINE: For Small Business Hope for financial aid for small store owners, operators of gasoline and service stations and other small businesses adversely affected by the war was held forth by the Recon struction Finance corporation in an nouncing a loan program. Jesse Jones, ' secretary of com merce, said the program would be In the hands of the RFC Mortgage company. The company, he added, is ready to consider loans against real estate, including stores, private ly owned gasoline and service sta tions and business properties gen erally that have lost their earning power by reason of wartime restric tions and regulations. Mr. Jones announced that three types of loans will be considered; participation loans; refunding loans; and care and preservation loans. MISCELLANY: COFFEE: Beginning June 1, Americans will get enough coffee to make one and one-fourth cups a day compared with present rations, the OP A announced. ? ? e PAFEE: The Office ef War In reached.a record high jg V.fe.a shuts d?, .Included w^a m.0>b licity release urging conservation of paper. World's Largest Mobile Community, Built of 3,300 Trailer Coaches, Will House 13,000 Naval Workers Removal After War Will Leave No Ghost Town; Improvements in Construction Expected to Stimnlate Future Use by Migrant Workers. From wasteland to a city of 3,300 homes in 46 days! That's the wartime "miracle" of Trailer City at Portsmouth, Va., where 13,000 persons will soon make up the world's largest mobile community. When the navy found it was impossible to recruit workers for the Norfolk navy yard because of housing shortages, the Federal Public Housing Authority was requested to supply accommoda tions quickly. The huge trailer project is the FPHA's answer to this request. Nothing approaching this feat has ever been seen in hous ing. Through the combined efforts of manufacturers, govern ment officials, contractors and local workers, 100 mobile homes a day were transported to the site and placed on foun dation blocks, ready for occupancy. Since all the units were completed and furnished at mid- * western factories, it was a matter of a few minutes for four men to emplace them and connect electric lines. The successful completion of this project, which is expected to be fully occupied about July 15, is the high point of a revolutionary change in housing techniques, motivated by war necessity. Deliver Complete Unit. Completely reversing the centu ries-old method of transporting parts or sections of houses to the site and then assembling them, the trail er coach industry has applied as sembly-line methods to home-con struction and delivers complete units, including essential furnish ings. Just as mass production tech niques have changed automobile manufacture from small-scale out put at high prices to million-unit ca pacity at low cost, this new con struction method for homes brings speed, quantity and economy into housing at a time when all these factors are imperative for the war effort. In manufacture, this method saves 90 per cent on manpower. The mo bile house* require less than one third the ordinary amount of criti cal materials, permitting much greater volume from a limited stock pile. The average trailer coach, furnished and installed, costs about 60 per cent ax much as the low priced demountable bouse. Further important savings are made in man power at the site, since four men can have a trailer ready in a few minutes, while even a demountable house requires several hours. Since war housing is needed in labor scarce areas, this has made trailers even mora popular. Employment in tha NorfoDrNavy Yard, which is to be served by the Portsmouth trailer community, is due to increase about M per cent in the next few months. The speedy availability of the mobile homes will make it possible for the navv to recruit workers long before ft could have if it had to wait for other types of living units. The effect on the naval shipping program will be important to the early completion of the war. Trailers Accommodate Families. Of the 3,300 units in Trailer City, 2,640 are standard trailers, normal ly housing two to four persons. The other 660 are expansible mobile houses, which are transported like trailers but have wings that are opened at the site to form extra rooms. With a few quick move ments these expansible* form four room boipas, comfortably accommo dating of ?ix. This proportion at two sizes pro vides ample quarters for forge fam ilies as well as smaller ones. All other needs of this city, larger than St. Augustine, Fla., are being provided by the FPHA. Equipped playgrounds dot the 200-acre site, and two schools have been erected for the children. A non-denomina tional church will be available to all residents. Four community and rec reation buildings will provide facili ties for stage shows, motion pic tures, games, meetings and dinner parties. Four large play areas, each large enough for a full-sized baseball field, will be available for adults, and sev en stores will occupy a large com mercial building, eliminating the need for traveling into the city to shop. Each trailer has a plot at least 26 by 46 feet. Drainage has made the soil fertile,, and a Victory gar den usually appears outside each unit a few days after the family moves in. Some build small picket fences around their gardens, add ing the final touch of suburban at mosphere. All trailers when delivered were standard olive drab, but because camouflage is not important at this site they are being repainted vari ous hues, to suit the taste of the occupants. FPHA rentals cm these furnished homes range from $6 to (9 a week, far lower than prevailing rates for sub-standard quarters In the city. Electricity is provided at cost. Although Trailer City at Ports mouth is the high-point of the FPHA use of trailers, it is expected to be followed soon by similar projects in other severely congested centers. The government already awns more than 39,000 units, situated in nearly 200 parks throughout the country. Portsmouth Enthusiastic. Portsmouth is enthusiastic about its infant addition, for the housing shortage has been its greatest head ache since the emergency began. But even more than the speed of its completion, the project's effect on the city after the war is appre ciated. Residents are glad that when the need subsides this emergency "subdivision" will be moved en masse, leaving only the vacant field it mushroomed from, Instead of a "ghost" community. George F. Miles, president of the Trailer Coach Manufacturers asso ciation, whose members supplied the mobile units for the project, sums up this aspect: "This city's birth is spectacular, its contribution to the tear effoVt will be noteworthy, and its fate when the war ends will make a dramatic sequel to the whole tale. For unless poet-war needs exceed expectations, the whole community is likely to dieaptieir even faster than it came. Ike workers will move en to peace time occupations, the trailers will find wheels again and serve vaga bondage or house migratory work ers, and the gTound that had been host to a thriving city will once more be an open field?no worse for wear. For Portsmouth there will be no bad effects, no 'ghost' slums, no re grets." In this project also is seen the forerunner of a vast field for trailers in post-war Europe. With millions of persons returning to ravaged cit ies, communities like Trailer City will pop up to house them until per manent quarters can be construct ed, he predicts. If American manu facturers can get sufficient mate rials in time, it is not unlikely that they will provide units for hundreds of towns as big as Portsmouth's V> dot the European topography. See New Trailer Use. Peacetime uses for trailers will also show the effects of their war time use. Large groups of migra tory construction workers, moving from one reconstruction Job to an other, will use trailers so they can move their homes with them. Sea sonal farm workers will do the same thing. Lighter and more powerful automobiles will make road travel more popular with salesmen and professional men, and trailer homes will permit them to keep their fam ilies together while they travel. An upsurge in travel interest fol lowing wartime repression will en hance the normal market for trail ers, too, and thousands of families who are finding these mobile homes satisfactory during the war will de cide to retain this type of living. The trailers that were moved into Portsmouth are tributes to the man ufacturers' ingenuity, for they are as sturdy and comfortable as pre war models despite sharp curtail ments in available materials. The chief shortages?rubber for tires and steel for undercarriages? are not serious because the units are placed on foundation blocks and are immobilized for the duration of the war, unless they ars to be moved to another site after their first assignment is filled. However, shortages of such basic materials as masonite. plywood and stainless steel have necessitated sub stitutions. The Portsmouth trailers have less than 379 pounds of steel, only three pounds of copper, and use homeosote in place of masonite. The experimentation required by these substitutions will pay real div idends in the future, experts predict "We've learned better ways to do things," these experts say. "We now can save weight, add space and increase comfort without increasing cost After a year or two, when we get a supply of the new light metals and plastics we'll produce trailers that will be luxurious and practical ?and at a small cost" Meanwhile, the Portsmouth proj ect is doing a big war Job. Incom ing workers pour into Hie project every day, bringing their families into a new type of living experience. Once in, they plan to stay. "This kind at life," explains one worker after five days in his trall ar.^asjaemueh toi> camping and A total of 1,340 trailer* dot 190 acre* near Portsmouth, Va. Here, 11,000 worker* in the Norfolk nary yard will make their homo tor the duration. Each trailer has a plot at least M by M feet adequately drained, and Victory gardens already hare been set out. This little girl even finds roem for her dollle in one of the 3,3M trsUers of the settlement near Ports month, Vs. Whole families ean comfortably occupy one of the new units. Play grounds, schools and recreation cen ters have been built to accommo date the residents. Who's News This Week Delos Wheeler Lovelace ConoolMrtoO ri?ll n.?WKTJ BdHM. "VTEW YORK.?It was a good, hop, 111 skip and Jump that carried the amphibious forces of Rear Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner onto the Russell Is Here's Sailor Who landsJforth Quito WeU Know at Guadal Hit Turbulent Sea can,1\ *** I a r a that much nearer Tokyo and the day of reckoning which the admiral has been helping to shape since Pearl Harbor. Turner has spent 19 years on the uneasy, untrustworthy bosom of the sea since he finished Annapolis in 1908. He was married two years later, so his wife has been a nary widow almost half the time. He is 57 years old, has a DSM and was born in Oregon. Fawr years age the admiral had a toe, close look at Tskye which aaay help an the cheerful day aa Americas task faros gees eras a cruiser captain then, and the cruiser had Just homo home an that was mortal af the late in the United States. The em peror shook Turner's hand and but didn't add that Us *HUi were crossed against December 7, 1941. Already Turner has squared ac counts somewhat. His were the plans on which our invasion of Guadalcanal was based. He hat that he would catch the Japanese napping there and he did. The first convoy unloaded men, guns, supplies before the enemy sea force discovered what was up. Later, when we lost four cruisers, the issue eras nip-and-tuck but then we caught two bevies of Japanese warships with their sampans down and after that even Tojo agreed that Turner had called the turn. ? CTONEWALL JACKSON was only ? in his late thirties when he was giving lessons to arthritic generals sent out from Washington Phil Sheri dan Ross Boy Wonder wal .till In Clan af Our younger Sheridan, Jackaon leather cavalry was easing Grant's work. Now in Russia, older than Sheridan, younger than Jackson, Konstantin Rokossovsky climbs to a full generalship over crumpled Nazi armies. Rokossovsky is just rounding 38. In the first weeks of the war be rose from colonel to major general. This because of a heady, stubborn defense that stalled the first- Nazi blitz for a month back of Smolensk. Ten weeks later be set going. Rus sia's first counter-offensive and el bowed the Germans so solidly that Stalin moved him up a notch. In last year's bleak fighting belera Meacew the Germans oet oumbered Rokossovsky three to one. Jest the tame he was able - to pat tm tanks, 2SJM enemy eat of action ta October alone. This year he broke the Nazis at Stalingrad. His employment of cavalry has been notable and onee was inspired. This was when he rushed cossacks in massed raids behind the German rear, a disruptive triumph in the great tradition begun by Greek Phil ip and Alexander and kept going by Parthian Surena, Roman Belisanius and. to skip a lot of centuries and a lot of good cavalrymen, Sheridan and Jeb Stuart, another boy. wander. Rokossovsky is big, handsome, with a wide, full mouth, a broad, untroubled forehead and a right eye brow that cocks higher than the left, maybe in astonishment at his own rise. IF JEREMIAH could come back ha a would get plenty of sympathy from Robert F. Patterson. As Hii kiah's son worried over his careless e _ . people's It Seems a Tardy plight, so Critic at National the under Pellyanniam It Ha over too much optimism about this global muddle of ours. He talks gloomily of gsoisss light ing pianos, because, ha says, tough Bill Jeffers tapped our oil supply no heavily to make rubber. Recently be said: "We cannot be sure of vic tory in 1MB. We must have an agtny of at least 8,300,000 " Ha said we must pot a legal curb on aksantae workers. ea^i be tiny sf War MMMta three yeaes , MB. . *
The Alamance Gleaner (Graham, N.C.)
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May 27, 1943, edition 1
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