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The Alamance Gleaner 1 _ ?. "9 Vol LXX GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY, MAY 25, 1944 No. 16 WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS Allies Hammer at Gustav Line; Japs Continue Advance in China; Delay Induction of Men Over 30 ?Relsaaed by Wastarn Nswspapsr Union. (EDITOR'S NOTE: Whta ifWaM art inrtwl la tb? ?^wai.tkcy art Ikow ?( Wttttra Ntwiyayir batoi'i aawa analysis Ml not aitMaarllr tf this newspaper.) China Allies fight to open bock door to Chine In sonthwes tern part of country as depicted by 1 and 2, Japs seised control of Peipiny-Hankow railroad fas drives shown by 3 and 4. ASIA: Chinese Set Back Gallant China's defenders took one more step back in the eastern belt of their country as 80,000 Japanese supported by strong reinforcements drove beyond the Peiping-Hankow railroad, upon which they tightened their hold. As the Chinese fell back, Lieut. Gen. Joseph Stilwell's mixed U. S. and Chinese troops hacked their way forward in north Burma, far to the southwest of the main Chinese bat tleground. Purpose of General Stil well's offensive was to clear the Ledo road, over which supplies could be trucked into sorely pressed China from the southwestern corner of the country. By grasping the Peiping-Hankow railroad, the Japs consolidated their positions in eastern China, which ex tend inland from the sea coast. It is in this rich region that the cagey enemy has established heavy indus try to utilize the country's abundant manpower and natural resources. IS ear Inner Lines As U. S. army and navy forces drew closer to the Philippines and Indies within the Japs' inner de fensive ring, Yankee airmen con tinued to hammer at the enemy's tottering outer fortifications guard ing these prized conquests. To the west of Hollandia, army fliers pounded at Jap installations Tank Feeds Wounded Jap. near the tip of New Guinea, form ing one side of the gate to the Indies, and drew stiff fire from some of the planes the enemy has supposedly concentrated in the region. To the north, both army and navy fliers collaborated in blasting at Jap installations in the Caroline islands, the front door to the Philip pines, with the big base of Truk be ing an especial target. OIL: Big Strike Mississippi's little village of Hei delberg in the southeast corner of the state, became the mecca for the nation's sharpest oil men with the development of two high producing wells in the region and giddy antici pations that it might blossom into another East Texas field, which has given up almost two billion barrels in 16 years. , As oil men rushed to be in on the kill, the region's poor, struggling farmers who have eked the barest living from the stingy soil, suddenly visioned manna from heaven. Be sides receiving fancy sums for leas ing their land, they would get a royalty of one-eighth on production. Already, a Negro reportedly ob tained $17,500 in royalties alone. First probed by the Gulf Refining company in 1940, the Heidelberg field has two heavy producing wells, both reportedly capable of produc ing 15,000 barrels daily. e [EUROPE: First Blow Taking the first crack at Hitler's Fortress Europe in the expected three-headed offensive from the west, south and east, the U. S. and British armies in Italy launched a powerful drive against German Gustav line below Anzio. In the west. Allied bombers poured thousands of tons of ex plosives on the Nazis' rail network in France, Belgium and Germany, over which anti-invasion Comdr. Erwin Rommel must shuttle troops and supplies to meet the assault against his coastal defenses. In Rus sia, the Reds reportedly moved troops up in line for a big offensive to coincide with western operations. Under command of Britain's Gen. Harold Alexander, the Allied push in Italy up the broad valleys lead ing to Rome got underway after a thunderous artillery bombardment, while the Nazis tried to neutralize other Allied forces massed on the Anzio beachhead in their rear to the northwest. U. S. VS. WARD'S: Nothing Settled Although government troops marched in and out of Montgomery Ward & Company's Chicago plant arousing the nation to a pitch over the dramatic course of events, noth ing, it seemed, had been settled. An election had been held to de termine the CIO United Mail Order Warehouse and Retail Employees' union right to bargain collectively tor the company workers, but Ward s had never objected to such an election and stood ready, as pre viously, to negotiate with the union. Left unsettled, however, was Ward's objection to extension of the maintenance of membership con tract with the union, which provides that its members must remain in good standing for the life of the agreement. DRAFT: 30-37 Spared Confident of meeting the services' demands for manpower out of the pool of younger men unless un expectedly high battle casualties are suffered, draft officials gave a new lease on civilian life to men from 30 to 37 years of age by indefinitely deferring them if engaged in es sential occupations. At the same time, it was ruled that men in the 26 to 29 year age group were to be eligible for six-month deferments if found to be necessary and regularly employed in an essen tial occupation. Deferments in the 18 to 25 year age group will continue to be confined to strictly key-men. In indefinitely deferring men in the 30 to 37 group in essential work, local boards were advised not only to go by the War Manpower com mission's list of necessary jobs, but to make determinations of their own. 'EYE BANK': Store Corneas For use of attempted restoration of sight in persons blinded by ex plosions, burns and ulcers, an "eye bank" has been established at the New York hospital for storing cor neas, the transparent part of the coat of the eyeball. Corneas will be collected either from living persons or from those arranging for their removal after death, in which case they have to be obtained within four hours of the individual's expiration. Cornea transplants are effective in restoring eyesight in 20 out of 100 cases of blindness, it is reported. WHEAT: Big Crop With frequent spring rains over much of the country resulting in good plant development and im provement in yield outlook, the U. 8. department of agriculture predicted a 1944 winter wheat crop of 662,275, 000 bushels as compared with an earlier estimate of 602,000,000 and a 1943 harvest of 529,606,000. On the basis of 40,943,000 acres grown, yields are expected to aver age 16.2 bushels per acre, compared with 15.6 last year and the 1933-'42 average of 15. Since January 1, the USDA re ported, rainfall has replenished soil moisture supply, offsetting deficien cies at seeding time last fall in much of the Great Plains area. Fail ure of plants to gertninate or sur vive because of dryness has been marked in the western portion of the Plains states, USDA said, and floods have damaged stands in the Mississippi and Missouri river ba sins. High in a Tree-top There was much ado before elec tion officials recognized Coffing M. Arslanian's quaint little bungalow atop a 50-foot tree in Montclair, N. J., as a legal residence, entitling him to vote. The rug merchant, who has barred ! visitors from his roost, has lived In the tree-tops since 1936. SCIENCE: Spoiled Cantaloupe The U. S. department of agricul ture's research laboratory at Peoria, 111., continues as one of the centers of penicillin development, with the latest discovery that spoiled cante loupe produces a mold efficient in making the wonder drug. Although it is little known, British Doctors Heatley and Florey made the Peoria lab their workshop in de veloping methods of increasing peni cillin production after they had been bombed out of London in 1941. The discovery of the spoiled can teloupe mold came only after the laboratory's scientists had studied growths on cheese, fruits and other foods as part of a search for a mold from which much of the penicillin would not be lost during separation of the drug from the liquid in which it develops. New Feed A new process of extracting oil from tung nuts may result in the use of the residue as a protein feed for livestock as well as a material for plastics. Chemist R. S. McKin ney of the U. S. department of ag riculture declared. Under the old system of extrac tion through pressing, only about 8S per cent of the oil from the nut was obtained, McKinney said. By re moving the oil with solvents, how ever, almost 99.9 per cent of the oil has been extracted, with probable use found for the residue or meal. Used for all sorts of paints and varnishes and in brake-linings, tung oil has many other applications, Mc Kinney said. The services have found it invaluable as an insulator for electric wiring and as a "dope" j for waterproofing the wings of naval planes. CIVILIAN GOODS: More Coming To take advantage of the increas ing supply of surplus materials and relieve local employment problems, the War Production board ordered the resumption of manufacture of civilian goods wherever it would not interfere with the arms program. One result of the order was ex pected to be a relaxation of re- j straints on production of simple farm machinery, like hay loaders and barn equipment, although WPB declared that there would be no in crease in quotas for binders, trac tors and mowers, etc. Regions outside of the centers of heavy war output primarily will benefit from the WPB's new order, while companies inside these cen ters will only go into civilian work with the permission of the local ur gency production boards. m Exclusive War Story: (Ray Brock, tear correspondent, 4% years in the Balkans for the N. Y. Times end practically en route el this moment to the European theater lor International News Service, spellbound some of us with this breathless story. We asked him to fat it down.) Dear Walter: Here's the story precisely as Bea Tolstoi gave it to me the other night. I think it's one of the great, hitherto unwritten chapter* in the war. Scene: Shep heards Terrace, Cairo. Time: Late afternoon, November 15, 1941. Ken Downs, then an ace war correspond ent for Int'l News Service (he's now a it. col. on Terry Allen's staff in Europe), was finishing a Scotch and the last five pages of "For Whom The Bell Tolls." Geoffrey Keyes in terrupted him. Geoffrey, a lieuten ant-colonel at the age of 24 (son of Admiral Roger Keyes), had ducked a desk job in England to come out to Egypt, join the British desert com mandos and raid the German and Italian rear?dynamiting airdromes, blowing bridges, playing general hell with the ehemy, etc. But now Ken Downs told Geoffrey Keyes to go 'way. Ken was absorbed in the fic tional last few minutes of Robert Jordan's life in the Bell, the unfor gettable last few minutes when Jor dan, with a smashed thigh, props himself against a tree and levels his tommygun on an approaching col umn of Fascist cavalry . . . Keyes was off with Capt. Colin Campbell and his commandos on the raid to kill Rommel, the raid that missed Rommel because the Afrika Korps general was in Rome on a birthday party?but it was one of the most daring operations of the war and won Keyes his Victoria Cross?posthumously. Keyes landed his commandos two hundred miles behind the German lines, beached his landing craft by night near Sidi Rafa. They hid two days and nights in a wadi (gully), trekked twenty miles on D-night and snaked up to the Afrika Korps GHQ. They attacked with grenades, tom myguns and machine pistols, Keyes leading. Keyes killed the first sen try, kicked down the outer door and led his raiders in, spraying the cor ridor with tommygun and pistol. Startled, frightened German staff officers poured from their billets. Keyes' men blasted them down. The sirens went, a general alarm being sounded. The Germans got to their arms, began to fight back. Keyes' small force got smaller. But Geoffrey, still leading, took seventeen men through the last defenses in the in ner stockade to Rommel's own quar ters. Rommel's staff aide got Keyes, a machine pistol fusillade which al most tore Keyes' right leg off. Keyes fell in the doorway. Colin Camp bell, behind him, dragged Keyes back from the threshold and hurled two grenades inside. Then he sprayed the room with his tommygun. Had Rommel been there he'd have caught it. Campbell and a sergeant dragged Keyes back to the outer stockade, firing as they fell back. Then Camp bell was hit. "Get out!" Keyes or dered. "Take him out. Leave me here." They had reached the door of the outer stockade. "Give me that tommygun." Keyes took the tub machinegun and propped himself in the door. Well. The rest of it came from Downs' report?as he got it from the sergeant?and from Colin Campbell, who wrote from a Ger man prison camp. They dragged Campbell to a tree nearby. His wound was pretty bad. They gave him morphine and he began to go under. But he could still see Keyes, in the first gray | streaks of daylight, propped in the doorway and blasting away at the Germans in the stockade. The ser geant ran back to Keyes, but Geof frey refused aid. He simply de manded more clips for his tommy gun. The sergeant got them. "Listen?" Keyes fired a burst. . "Not more than two or three of you will get away. Some of you?" be fired again, a long, choppy burst ' that drove the Germans back to cover. "Some of you mast get back to report?" he fired again and rammed borne a fresh clip. "Tell them?" "Yes, sir!" snapped the sergeant. "Get word to Kan Dowas," fin ished Keyes. 'Tell him, if you will, that it happened this way. Good by." The sergeant saluted and ran, rig-tagging, for a wadi and safety. Campbell began to pats out. As he went under he could see Keyes firing, reloading, firing . . . It Takes a Heap o' Fussin' to Make a Hall Into a Home 1 For Major Political Parties' National Conventions 1 ? I GOP and Democrats Work Harmoniously On Arrangements. By AL JEDLICKA R.K.Md br WxxUrn Union. Amid buzz and bedlam, color and decoration, and teeming thousands with their tingling en thusiasm, America holds its great political conventions every four years. Ax convention delegate! fuse and fume through the lengthy, historic sessions, millions of Americans throughout the nation follow the pro ceedings with attention and even heat, since either the Republican or the Democratic party embodies the principles they hold most consistent with their social Ideals. During the period of the conven tions, well might it be said that the heart of the naUon is centered in the localities of the meetings, bound ing with the people's delegates, with newspaper men, newsreel men and radio broadcasters milling to flash stories of the unfolding events to an anitious citizenry, and with visitors attracted by the great spectacles. Normally, cities compete to have the conventions held in their locali ties, since the delegates' and visi tors' expenditures for hotel accom modations, food and entertainment and shopping in the business dis tricts amount to hundreds of thou sands of dollars. But with the coun try riding the crest of a profitable war boom this year, with housing facilities taxed and heavy demands made for limited stocks of mer chandise, only Chicago actively bid for the conventions, offering each party $75,000 for expenses. Ordi narily, it costs between $100,000 and $150,000 to run a national conven tion. When both parties accepted Chi cago's bids, financial problems thus were added to other special war time difficulties confronting Republi can Walter Hallanan of Charleston, W. Va., and Democrat Ambrose O'Connell of New York In making arrangements for the conventions. On these two men falls the responsi bility of setting up the smooth func tioning of the meetings assuring or derly activity on the floor of the con ventions and establishing facilities for quick transmission of news to the waiting world outside. Two Old-Timers. Both O'Connell and Hallanan are old hands at conventions, O'Connell having attended his first as a mem ber of A1 Smith's entourage in 1928, and Hallanan his as a newspaper man in 1912. Although red hot parti sans inclined to admit nothing, both men have worked together in mak ing the principal arrangements, since the Republican convention of June 26 will be followed by the Democratic on July 19. Because of the heavy wartime strain on the railroads, transporta tion posed one of the big problems of this year's conventions. But the problem promises to be solved by use of day coaches by those within ?14 hours of traveling time of Chi cago, and of provision of extra sleeping and dining cars for ac credited representatives from far ther distances. To assist delegates from Hawaii to attend, the navy will furnish plane service to the main land. Next to transportation, housing has presented another major diffi culty. Although both parties were assured of approximately 5,000 rooms, the^l Republicans, for one, could use [another 3,000. In quest of extra Musing, Hallanan has even scoured Chicago's outlying apart ment districts (or accommodations, and it was reported that some good Republicans offered to come to the aid by boarding convention attend ants. As if O'Connell and Hallanan were not having trouble enough, they have been pestered (or accommoda tions by that type of individual who (eels that no business is so impor tant as that of finding a particular room for him, even though all hotel arrangements are to be made by the head of the state delegation. Plenty of Problems. Preparation of Chicago's huge, streamlined Stadium for this year's conventions has not been without its problems, either. Until the Citi zens committee which bid to bring the conventions to Chicago arranged to furnish the Stadium for $23,000 to each party, Hallanan estimated that the cost of readying the amphi theater alone would amount to $48, 000, not including rental. The services of over 100 men working about three weeks are de manded for preparing the Stadium. Canopies outside the main en trances must be draped with bunt ing. One hundred and twenty flags must be hung from the rafters to sway impressively above the floor. Three emergency "hospitals" must be set up and equipped with medical goods, light and water. A huge plat form holding 180 people must be constructed, with a special confer ence room underneath it. And, of course, seats enclosed within stanch ions for the different state delega tions must be put up. Elaborate preparations must be made to accommodate the press, newsreel and radio, especially this year when the two conventions will attract international attention. Al ready, reservations have been asked by newspaper representatives from Britain, Russia, South America, Chi na, Sweden and French Africa, and, in all, about 3,000 observers with their technicians will be on the job to describe the proceedings to the U. S. and world. Not only will the press be seated in front of the main platform, but a special newsroom will be provided in the basement. At both places, telephone and telegraph facilities must be established to send out sto ries from the building. Darkrooms will be constructed for photogra phers to develop pictures. Microphones Everywhere. t Important for transmitting the ac tual reality of the convention atmos phere to the world, all four of Amer ica's great radio networks will make elaborate arrangements for cover ing every detail of the conventions. Contact will be made with dele gations through microphones on the floor; portable equipment will be used to interview dignitaries throughout the entire building; spe cial booths will be erected to ac commodate the radio commentators. and facilities will be installed to ,:1 pick up the rumbling, rolling peel of the huge Stadium organ. Approximately $6,000 will be spent by the parties to furnish newsreel . .J men with enough lighting to take moving pictures of the proceedings. With 10,000-watt incandescent search light units set up, enough light to illuminate a medium-size town will be provided cameramen shooting from the high rafters. This lighting ., must be arranged to Prrmit shoot ing fTom any angle of the building without causing blind spots from too much light on any one point. In making a success of a conven tion, the little things are as impor tant as the big ones, and sometimes the little things cause as much both er as the big ones. For instance, O'Cornell and Hal lanan have had their difficulties pro viding badges and tickets. Because of wartime, metals have been un available for badges, and it has been necessary to secure plastic material. To convention - wise Ambrose O'Connell, there is more to badges than meets the eye. For instance, they must be so designed as to avoid catching onto clothing and ripping it, and all kinds of different types must be used to restrict the move ments of the various attendants A throughout the Stadium. Tickets a Headache, Toe. Also because of wartime, there has been a scarcity of certain paper stocks, a condition of particular J pique to bustling Walter Hallarsn, since it is necessary to print tickets on material that cannot easily be counterfeited. Incidentally, in the distribution rf tickets to the conventions, each dele gation is allotted a percentage, usu ally depending upon the approxi mate distance of its state from the meeting site. The idee, of course, being to provide more seats for those who might be able to come in by auto, etc., from neighboring re gions. Civic committees which put up the finances to bring the conven tion to their cities also receive an allotment of ducats. Unique, in that this year's con ventions will be the second in the history of this country held during wartime?the first being in I*4 the impending Republican and Dem ocratic meetings are exported to lack some of the flourish and hoopla of bygone days. However, they are not expected to be bereft of all pop ular enthusiasm so easily stirred over a candidate, or over the ex pression of a party's outstanding principle stressing the hopes, the aspirations and the achievements of its partisans. In their excitement over the swiit stream of dramatic events often ac companying conventions, even tne soberest politicians and statesmen sometimes forget their immediate environment and lapse into what aft erthought must characterize as the comic. , For instance, during the 1932 Dem ocratic convention in Chicago, O Con ned remembers the heated fight over the election of a permanent chair man, which would have demonstrat ed the strength of the contending factions. , .... As the fight developed, the Missis sippi delegation caucused, only to find venerable old Senator Pat Har rison absent. Without further ado, some members hurried off to his hotel and after pressing the urgency of the situation upon him, hustled him back to the convention hall m his pajamas, carpet slippers and bathrobe, there to cast his vote. As Hallanan said, this year's con ventions will be marked by the so ber restraint of a nation at war. Once events have stirred up the at tendants, the enthusiasm may carry over into the typical hysteria of these great national meetings. Desens e* workmen ere preparing Ike huge Chicago Stadium for Ike conventions. Upper left Is pietared Walter Hallanan, chairman a/ Ike ?c public an committee on arrange ments, and lower right, Ambrose O'ConneU, DemocraUe chairman.
The Alamance Gleaner (Graham, N.C.)
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May 25, 1944, edition 1
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