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The Alamance Gleaner yoL LXIX GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1943 ~ No. 40 WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS Allies Prepare Heavy Blows in Italy; Jugo-Slav Guerrillas Threaten Nazis Despite Outbreaks of Factional War; New Cattle Subsidy Plan Is Announced (EDITOR'S NOTE: When opinions are expressed In these columns, they are these of Western Newspaper Union's news analysts and not neeessarlly of this newspaper.) ^ Released by Western Newspaper Union. Riding in jeep, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower (left) and Lieut. Gen. Mark Clark pause during front line tour to chat with British soldiers on Bren gun carrier. EUROPE: Prepare Attack in Italy Lieut. Gen. Mark Clark's Fifth army edged into position for a grand assault upon the Germans' new de fenses along the 2,500-foot high Mas sico ridge in southern Italy, while the Nazis prepared to meet the charge by massing artillery and mor tars on the front. On the Adriatic side of the battle line to the east, Gen. Bernard Mont gomery's Eighth army also drew up into position for the next big blow by crossing the short Trigno river at several points. Meanwhile there were indications that the Germans might be planning a strong counter-offensive of their own somewhere in central Italy. Allied reconnaissance reported the steady flow of Nazi troops and ma teriel from the north toward the bat tle zone. No such counter-offensive was expected, however, unless the Germans' defense weakened Allied attackers and drew them into open country where Tank Specialist Er win Rommel could maneuver ar mor. Nazis Fight Guerrillas Pesky guerrilla activity in Jugo slavia commanded the attention of the Germans, with Marshal Rom mel dispatching strong mechanized forces to quell the armed bands dis rupting communications and de stroying industrial plants. But the effectiveness of Jugoslav guerrillas was threatened by aqbth er outbreak of factional dissension between the forces of King Peter's government ana tne new so-canea "freedom army" of Tito Broz, which fought independently. While the two political organiza tions reportedly have been harass ing the Germans from one end of Jugoslavia to the other, they also have been accusing one another of collaborating with the Nazis. Broz' faction sentenced 17 persons to death for such collaboration, including a former Jugo-Slav general. In attempting to wipe out the two guerrilla armies, the German ar mored columns drove into the hilly country to which Jugo-Slav riflemen retire for cover. TAXES: Plan 2 Billion More Opposed to any form of sales tax, the house ways and means commit tee was prepared to report a new tax bill for congressional approval, yielding only two billion dollars of revenue instead of the lOVi billion dollars asked by the treasury. Of the two billion dollars, 600 mil lion would be raised by new liquor taxes. Levies on spirits would be boosted to $10 a gallon, on beer to $8 per barrel, and on wine from five cents to $1 a gallon. Other revenue would be obtained by increasing postal rates to three cents on local mail, air-mail to 10 cents an ounce, money orders 10 to 37 cents, insured mail 10 to 70 cents, and COD mail 24 cents to $2.40. Gen eral admissions would be raised to throe cants for every 10 cents; elec tric light bulbs and tubes would be taxed to 15 per cent of the retail price, and there would be a levy of 20 per cent of the charge on bowl ing, and $20 per billiard table. If a sales tax, were enacted, the CIO had warned that it would de mand wage increases to cover addi tional purchase costs. CATTLE: Neiv Subsidy To stabilize livestock prices at present market levels, the govern ment announced a new subsidy plan for processors and slaughterers. Under the program, subsidies of 50 cents will be paid on common cattle selling between $10 and $11 per hundredweight, and for cutter and canner classes ranging from $7.45 to $8.45 per hundredweight. For good grade cattle selling be tween $14.25 to $15.25 per hundred weight, a $1.45 subsidy will be paid, while for medium class stock bring ing from $12 to $13, a 90 per cent grant will be made. To discourage production of choice to prime beef, a subsidy of $1 will be paid on grades from $15 to $16 per hundredweight. To slaughterers who do not process by-products, a new subsidy of 80 cents per hundredweight was estab lished. Slaughterers buying cattle below or above the stated prices will have their subsidies reduced by a similar amount. PACIFIC: * New Blows While Lieut. Gen. George C. Ken ney's air force continued pounding Japanese out posts In the Southwest Pacif ic. Admiral Chester W. Nim itz promised the seizure of islands which would give the U. S. fleet control of the en emy's home wa ters. No sooner had Admiral Nimitz, as commander Adm. Nimiti Pacific fleet, made his state ment than it was reported that U. S. forces opened a drive on the Japs' last impor tant stronghold of Bougainville in the Solomons by landing on Mono island to the south of the big base. Aiming at feed er points which Gen. Kenner have been supplying Jap positions in the Southwest Pacific, Lieutenant General Kenney's airmen have pul verized such strategic shipping cen ters as Rabaul on New Britain is land, on which 500 tons of bombs were dumped in a five-day period. PAY BOOST: Offered Miners With 48,000 miners out on wildcat strikes, the United Mine Workers policy committee was summoned to meet for consideration of the War Labor board's proposal for granting the nation's 550,000 miners a $1.1214 daily wage boost. The WLB's proposal differed from the contract drawn between the Illi nois Coal Operators and the UMW under which the miners would re ceive a $1.50 daily pay increase, with compensation for underground trav el time. Acceptance of the WLB proposal would result in wage increases of as much as $10 0e-- week for 4614 hours, it was said, while it was feared rejection would lead to a gen eral mine strike with presidential in tervention. VETS: Schooling Asked Following recommendations of a committee of educators. President Roosevelt asked congress to appro priate one billion dollars for school ing of vets with six months service after the war. Any qualified man or woman would be eligible for one year of study in a college or other educa tional institution, with the govern ment paying the tuition and $50 liv ing expenses for every single per son. A married man would receive $75, with $10 extra for each child. For persons with special aptitudes, | it was proposed that the government i finance their education up to three years. States would be in control of the program, certifying vets for assistance. About 8 per cent of the personnel of the armed services ' would take advantage of the educa tional opportunity, it was said. People Make News Decorated for merito rious service as a gun- jfflI ner in a bombing raid over France, Capt. L*. Clark Gable returned 9 j to the C. S. with 50,000 L *iMk feet of colored film of K jif 'jM army combat missions 4 over enemy territory. Gable was to return to _ .. Hollywood to toucb up the pictures, ____ One of the youngest gobs ever to see action 1 with the U. S. fleet, ?! jJ Walter ("Fussy") Cad- Bbv walader was discharged ^ \ from service when his |S true age was discov- ijf^- JH . ered to be 15. Young Cadwalader had gone off to the wars at 14. Cadwalader RUSSIA: Reds Tighten Noose German armies fought desperate ly to draw themselves from the , noose Russia's surging forces were attempting to pull tight in the great bend of the Dnieper river. To the south, the Reds spilled over the flat steppes west of fallen Melito pol, and raced to thwart Germany's withdrawal of its forces from the Crimea. Action along the whole southern front centered around the Russians' attempts to surround and smash the German armies threatened with en circlement from the rear, and the Nazis' desperate efforts to hold off the Reds with heavy counter-attacks while the bulk of their troops j dropped back to the west, on the edge of the 1941 European border. FOOD: Margarine Tax Because of growing opposition from the dairy bloc, a stiff fight loomed in congress over the pro posal to eliminate federal taxes and restrictions on margarine. While more consumption of whole milk was advocated, with "good" margarine substituted for butter, Representative August Andresen (Minn.) declared additional feed would supply sufficient milk for all purposes. Consultant to the food and drug administration, Dr. A. J. Carlson of the University ofChicago, stated that present "good" margarine has nu tritional values equal to butter, and tax laws strike at the poorer classes in most need of adequate nutrition. When the margarine tax was first enacted, he said, there was occa sional fraud in the sale Of the prod uct and there was less information on nutrition. Because cottonseed oil is an In gredient of margarine, there were charges that the congressional cotton bloc was interested in repealing the tax and restrictions. INSURANCE: Monopoly Question With the controversy of whether or not the insurance business consti it lie*a a mnnnnolv brought up again with the Supreme court scheduled to pass on the ques tion, Attorney Gen eral Francis Biddle urged congress to defeat a bill de signed to exempt in surance companies from provisions of the anti-trust laws. Under terms of the bill, the anti Attjr. Gen. Biddle trust laws would not be construed as regulating insurance, or as im pairing state regulation of that busi ness "It would establish a dangerous precedent," Biddle said, "under which other groups of special inter ests might apply for and receive immunity from the anti-trust laws; thus by a process of attrition, whit tling away the gains made toward preserving and strengthening the .,. system of free enterprise.'' Released by Western Newspaper Union. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO OUR 'M' DAT BILL JONES had a good Job, especially for a young man. On graduation from college, with an en gineering degree, he had found em ployment with a large construction concern. He seemed to have an as sured future. Then came the draft law and Bill was listed as 1A. Uncle Sam said he was to go into the army. The pay would be $50 a month with clothes and food. The hours would be what ever part of the 144 of each week might be called for. There would be no overtime. He would be on the job every day and hour unless an army doctor pronounced him ill. He would go where he was told to go and do what he was told to do. Bill did not object. To defend the country when called upon was a responsibility of citizenship. He gave up a job paying $100 a week and cheerfully accepted the one at $50 a month. Bill Brown, too, had a job, as a mechanic in a plant making air planes. It was a good job as meas ured by standards of that time, pay ing $35 a week of 48 hours. As the making of airplanes was an essen tial industry Bill was listed as 4B and told to stay where he was. fee cause of federal laws, to stay on the job he was forced to join a union, and the plant could work only 40 hours a week. The other 104 hours of each week were at his disposal to do with as he pleased. He did not have to produce a doctor's say-so should he fail to show up for a por tion of the prescribed 40 hours. The union he had been forced to join demanded that Bill be paid $50 a week, and later that it be again increased to $80. Then the govern ment decreed that, as a war emer gency, he must work 48 hours a week, but that he must be paid time and one-half for the extra eight hours. It added up to $72 a week, approximately $324 a month, in Bill's pay envelope. Both Bills are citizens of the Unit ed States. Both owe to the nation the same obligations of citizenship. While Bill Jones was losing a .leg in the battle of Tunisia, Bill Brown, by direction of his union bosses, was out on strike carrying a banner in a picket line, demanding another in crease in pay which the government saw to it that he received. Had the once muchly advertised "M" bill become a law, both Bills would have been dratted. The one to wear a uniform at $50 a month, the other to wear overalls at the $35 a week he was then receiving, and with as many hours work as might be demanded. That "M" bill, had it become a law, would have drafted the plant as well as Bill Brown, the worker. There would have been no excessive price for the product of the plant, and no profits. It would seem the discarded and forgotten "M" bill would have provided a real democ racy of wartime. It would have meant an "allout" war on the part of everybody, but those who seek votes were afraid of what it might do at the polls. ? ? ? OTHER FELLOW'S' INCOME IS DP IN WARTIME THE DEPARTMENT OF COM MERCE tells us the average indi vidual income was 24.1 per cent higher in 1942 than in 1941 and 61.9 per cent higher than in 1939. The figures make us feel rich and are undoubtedly correct but it is hard to find the individual who will admit they apply to him. It was the other fellow who received the extrs mon ey. By states the highest increase was in Nevada, amounting to 08.8 per cent as between 1941 and '42. The lowest was in New Hampshire, where it was but 8.6 per cent. In the central fanning states it ranged between 16.8 per cent in Illinois to 29.9 in Iowa, with a general average in those states of 21.7. Utah topped all agricultural states with 49.6, The government is taking a consid erable portion of the increase as additional income taxes. That, with a greater cost of living does not leave most of us with any extra spending money. ? ? ? WRITING SERVICEMEN THE POSTMAN brought a letter from an old, old friend. It did not contain much that was news but what a vast amount of pleasure those few lines produced. When we, on the home front, can derive so much enjoyment from a letter, we can realise what the receipt of even a few lines from home means to one of our boys on a far-away battle front American Battle Planes Must Be World's Best, Is Pledge of Designers and Manufacturers ? U. S. Air Superiority Result of Constantly Improved Machines The test of battle?the only valid test of the performance of combat aircraft?has by now re sulted in a number of box scores which reveal the pattern of ac complishment of American com bat planes. "In every theater of operations, American airmen and American planes have met the challenge of our enemies and outfought them by scores never worse than two to one in our favor," said Gen. Henry H. Arnold, commanding general of the army air forces. "All types of American fighter planes have shot out of the skies the best interceptors both Germany and Japan have put against them." This has been true since January, 1942, when our planes were outnumbered on practically all fronts. , While much of this favorable fight ing ratio is attributable to the ex cellent training, versatility and cour age of our pilots, a good part is traceable to the mechanical superi ority of our planes. Constant im provement is the watchword. Even though production schedules must be delayed, our aircraft must be the best possible, say army and navy air corps officers. Here is a summary of the chief combat planes which have run up the high scores in our favor from a report just released by tha Office of War Information: Fighters. V-type liquid-cooled engines are found in most fighter models because the long, slender shape of a liquid cooled engine is more adaptable to streamlined fighter design. It allows better vision, and has a smaller frontal area for the same horsepow er. But it will be noted that in the P-47, where 2,000 horsepower was desired, an air-cooled engine was used. The same is true of the navy's Vought F4U (Corsair) and the new Grumman F6F Hellcat. The navy uses no liquid-cooled engines. The navy's lighter program is large. An airplane carrier carries torpedo planes, bombers and fight ers, and of these the fighters are needed to protect the other planes and the carrier itself. Fighters also protect land bases. In the South Pacific, army P-38's are doing this latter job along with navy fighters. In the opinion qf the materiel com mand, the Curtiss P-40, or War hawk, has rebelled the limit of its de velopmental possibilities. It has gone through numerous type changes, the most basic being the P-40F when the engine was changed from Allison to Merlin. Although the latest model P-39 ceiling and general performance have been improved, the P-39 has shared the climb-deficiency of the P-40. It is being supplanted by a new model now under construction, with a low drag wing and a two stage Allison supercharged engine which will make it an efficient plane at any altitude up to 38,000 or 40,000 feet. The greatest efficiency of the P-39 models has been below 15,000 feet. Like the P-39, the new plane will be equipped with cannon. Lew Attitude Fighter. Although superior te the P-40 and P-39, the original P-51 or Mustang is also only a low and medium altitude fighter. Now in production is a new P-51 with a highly super charged, Packard-built, Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, similar to the Merlin <1 engine in the newest Spitfires. Its performance is reported as even bet ter than that famous ship's. The new engine gives the plane the high est ceiling (up to 40,000 feet) and the highest speed (well over 400 miles an hour) of any fighter in existence. The A-30 (Invader), the fighter bomber version of the P-51, has seen heavy service in the Mediterranean theater, and its best features are being incorporated in the new P-51, which will replace both the A-38 and the old P-51. The latest model of the Lockheed P-38 or Lightning is a fast, powerful fighter that has been given greatly increased horsepower in its Allison engine, improved idiot's vision, and improved intercooling for better high-altitude performance. It out performs the Zero and later Jap fighters at all altitudes. The P-38 has always possessed the versatility that is coming increas ingly to characterize all combat air craft It has excelled at low-altitude strafing, high-attitude fighting, and as a particularly long-range bomber escort Its distinctive silhouette, with its twin tail booms, has been seen over tour major fighting bents. The newest fighter at preset is combat, the P-47 or Thunderbolt, has been currently rolling up a score of approximately four to one in its contests with Messerschmitts and high-flying Focke-Wulfs over Eng land, France and the Low Countries. Armed with eight .50 caliber ma chine-guns, and heavily armor-plat ed, it is capable of flying over 400 miles an hour and of reaching an altitude of 40,000 feet. High Scorer for Navy. The Grumman Wildcat or F4F, a navy fighter, with Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp air-cooled engine and with folding wings for compact stow age on aircraft carriers, has run up many high scores in Mediterranean. Although the F4F will continue to be manufactured for use on auxiliary carriers and for training, it is now being supplemented by a new plane, the Grumman F6F ((Hellcat). This newest member of the navy's fighter family is described by the navy as "an answer to the prayers of our pilots!" A big brother of the famous Grum man Wildcat, the Hellcat has better range, speed, climb, maneuverabil ity and altitude. It has a 2,000 horse power engine as compared with the Wildcat's 1,200. It has a low wing, Improved armor, and a new flexible type gasoline tank which is an im provement over the ordinary punc ture-proof type. It carries .SO cali ber machine guns. The Corsair or F4U also has a 2,000 horsepower Pratt It Whitney engine and is easily distinguishable by its inverted gull wing. The Cor sair has until recently been the chief navy fighter in the South Pacific. Now Hellcats are beginning to join it in large numbers. Heavy, Four-Engine Bombers. The newest models of both the Boeing B-17 (Flying Fortress) and the Consolidated B-24 (Liberator) bombers are equipped with new de fensive armament in the form of nose turrets with machine gun in stallations. External bomb-racks can increase the potential bomb capacity of the B-17 to 17,000 pounds. Nevertheless, this plane has a small er bomb capacity at long range than the B-24. The most accurate com parison, perhaps, is to say that load HAVOC?One of the latest of the nation's battle planes is the Deaflas "Havoc" lighter-bomber, a two-motored ship. HELLCAT?Successor to the fa moos Grumman "Wildcat" is the new "Hellcat." It has foidinf wings, as shows in the picture below, se that It win take ay a minimum of space on the deck of a carrier. The HeUeat Is a standard lighter new In both the C. 8. and British navies. It has mere power 'and climbs taster than the Wildcat. ed with J,800 gallons of gasoline the B-17 can carry 1,000 pounds of bombs (the usual load carried over targets in western Europe), where as the B-24, with 2,900 gallons, can carry 8.000 pounds of bombs. Conse quently the B-17 is being concentrat ed in the western European theater and the B-M is being need chiefly elsewhere?in the Middle East, in In die, China and Australia' for longer range operations. B-M'a have made round-trip flights up to 2,000 miles; the raid on the Ploesti oil fields in Rumania from bases in Egypt, the raid on the Messerschmitt works at Wiener-Neustadt, and raids in the Pacific on Wake. Paramushiru and Surabaya. The B-24 is used by the navy under the designation PB4Y-1. Medium, Light aad Dive Bombers. New models of the two-engine Tokyo raider, the North American B-25 (Mitchell), are equipped with heavier armament and possess in creased speed and range. The B-25 is the chief medium bomber in the present program, production of the Martin B-28 (Marauder) being ta pered off. B-25's, powered with Wright Cyclone engines, are flying on 11 fronts, are used by both army and navy for anti-submarine pa trol service, and have scored par ticular successes with skip-bombing. The Douglas A-20 (Havoc) is the principal light army bomber in the program until the totally new, ad vanced light bomber mentioned above comes into production. The newest Havoc, used by the army for low-level bombing, is fitted with a power turret and with armament for ground strafing. The A-24, army version of the Douglas SBD (Dauntless) dive bomber, is now being produced in decreasing numbers, chiefly for training purposes. Grumman Avenger. The Grumman Avenger, the navy's ?carrier-based torpedo-bomber, has completely supplanted the Douglas TBD (Devastator). It carries ma chine guns as well as torpedo or bombs, and has destroyed many Japanese vessels in the Pacific. Chie'f among the navy's patrol bombers are three flying boats and two land planes. The land planes are the Consolidated PB4Y-1 and the Vega PV-1. The flying boats are the Consolidated PBY (Catalma). Con solidated PB2Y, (Coronado), and Martin PBM (Mariner). All three flying boats are used for transport purposes as well as for patrol and bombing operations. The two-engine PBY, the oldest, slowest and small est, the ship which first spotted the Jap forces on the Aleutians, is still being built, still dive-bombing and strafing enemy shipping and rescu ing pilots who have been downed at sea. The four-engine PB2Y has dou ble the horsepower of the PBY. The PBM does good work in anti-subma rine coastal patrol and long-range reconnaissance. Not even the new est navy flying boats have speeda much above 200 miles an hour, but all are required to be able to land in a choppy sea. The Vega PV-1 (a navy adaptation of the twin-engined Vega B-34 "Ven tura" bomber) is the navy's chief land-based anti-submarine patrol plane. It carries depth charges or a torpedo, is heavily armored, and is now often used in preference to flying boats in anti-submarine op erations because of its greater speed. The Consolidated PB4Y-1 is a four engine land-based bomber and, as previously mentioned, is used for long-range bombing missions and for anti-submarine patrol work. Design and Technical Improvements Aeronautical engineering demands experimentation with numerous de signs in order to obtain several high performance aircraft of the required types. But on the other hand, the con stant improvements being made on models already in use, and the con tinuing addition of totally new air planes to our forces, slow down the rate of production. Nevertheless, even at this stage in the war, when clear-cut air superior ity over the enemy has been achieved, there is no assurance that tba planes which have achieved it are superior to planes which foe enemy may produce tomorrow. Changes in strategic and tactical problems, too, and changes of ter rain over which fighting takes place, bring with them new demands for aircraft design and equipment Even planes which have run up high box scores must be constantly improved and replacad. The make-up at our al> fleet has naver bass static, end is not to hoosme so.
The Alamance Gleaner (Graham, N.C.)
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Nov. 11, 1943, edition 1
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