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The Alamance Gleaner VoL LXX GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1944 No. 36 WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS Western Front Aflame as Nazis Strive to Hold Allied Advance; Congress Shapes Postwar Aid i Released by Western Newspaper Union. ???????J (EDITOR'S NOTE: When cplnioms are expressed In these celamns, they are these el Western Newspaper Unlen's news analysis and net necessarily ef this newspaper.) As war comes to their soil, German civilians pack belongings and move from battered villages In war sone to safety. EUROPE: Battles Rage In some of the bloodiest fighting since D-Day, the whole western front from Holland down to Switzerland was aflame, with Allied forces slug ging through stubborn enemy de fenses and then holding their own against German counter-attacks. Especially bitter fighting occurred on Lieut. Gen. George S. Patton's Third army front, where U. S. tanks spearheaded a drive on Germany's famed coal and industrial Saar ba sin, and the enemy lashed back with strong armored forces. As Patton's men edged forward, the enemy fell back on the rugged and wooded slopes of the Vosges mountains, where they were expected to make a stand before retiring to the Siegfried line to their rear. Stiff German resistance and repeated armored counter attacks also slowed progress of Lieut. Gen. Courtney Hodges' ' "First army to the north of Pat ton's IHrd. In this sector, ene my strength concentrated about Trier and Stolberg in an effort to throttle Hodges' drives to the great Khineland industrial cities of Cologne and Ceblens. In Holland, an estimated 100,000 Germans fought against entrapment by Allied ground forces driving up the eastern border of the country to ward the Zuider Zee, and paratroop ers dropped in their rear. Effect of. the Allies', drive not only was to threaten the pocketing of these six divisions in western Hol land, but also to put them into posi tion to drive around the Siegfried line ending to the south of this sector and burst out into the Ruhr valley. Clawing through the battered "Gothic line" under the cover of the rolling barrage of their massed artillery. Allied forces looked ont onto the rich Po val ley In northern Italy, as German armored formations sought to stem their rolling advance In this great agricultural and in dustrial region. Ruts Break-Through Heaviest fighting on the eastern front centered in the north, where the Germans claimed more than 600,000 Russian troops were attack ing to clear out the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Despite the Germans' hard de fense of their lines, built up in the swampy lake country of Estonia and Latvia, the Reds punched out size able gains. The old Polish capital of Warsaw was a fiery inferno as the Reds pumped shells into the German de fenses of the city, and Red troops surging across the Vistula river came to grips with enemy units. Armistice Terms Calling on the nation to ". . . stick to reality and try to build up . . . existence with the opportunities that are left to us," Finnish Acting Prime Minister Ernst von Born disclosed Russian armistice terms to a heavy hearted people. Including restoration at the 1M0 Russo - Finnish border; cession of Petaamo to the Reds; leasing of the Porkkala peninsula on the Gulf of Finland for a Russian naval base, and reparations payments of $300, 000MS, the armistice terms were described as "the hardest ... in our history" by Von Born. Restoration of the 1940 border meant Finland's surrender of its most highly developed industrial re gion containing 10 per cent of its population, and cession of Petaamo meant the country's surrender of rich ??fc*?i mines. PACIFIC: No Pause Even as U. S. marines and dough boys cleaned up resistance in the Pala islands, 600 miles east of the Philippines, American airmen were on the go softening up other enemy strong-points. Again the Philippines were the principal targets. Hopping off from New Guinea, army bombers blasted the southern port of Davao, shuttle point for "enemy troops and supplies in the area, and carrier planes op erating in the Third fleet hammered shipping, airfields and military in stallations around Manila bay, nerve center of the islands. In striking the southern Palaus, whose conquest placed U. S. forces closer to the vital enemy water route from the Indies to Japan, American troops encountered fanatical resist ance, more than 7,000 Nipponese sol diers out of a force of 10,500 fighting to the death on the main island of Peleliu. FIGHTING SHIPS: Allied Might Recognized naval manual of the world, the 1943-'44 edition of "Jane's Fighting Ships" noted the increasing strength of Allied might on the high seas and the continued decline of Axis strength. Indicative of the growing power of the U. S. navy, "Jane's" revealed that it numbered 4,167 ships last January, exclusive of thousands of landing craft, with high watermarks including the scheduled launching of tyo new 45,000-ton battleships this year, the development of a fleet of 100 aircraft carriers, and the con struction of new 2,200-ton flotilla leaders. Referring to Axis naval strength, "Jane's" reported that disablement of Germany's Tirpitz and Gneisenau removed its fast big capital ships from service, and despite the launch ing of two new 45,000-ton battleships, Japanese shipbuilding facilities were running behind demands. CONGRESS: Charts Reconversion With the fall elections rapidly ap proaching and congressional leaders pressed to assemble sufficient quor ums, the house and senate made preparations for handling the post war economic crisis and then moved toward a recess until November. First bill to get an O.K. and be sent up to the White House for the President's signature was the one providing for a three-man adminis trative board to supervise the dis posal of an estimated 100 billion dol lars of surplus war goods, with no As the first motor sup St mmhi* the sutomobiie industry to prepare for pome slim s manufacture, the Wm Pro duction Bomrd authorised Chrysler, Ford and Gastaral Utters to permit technicians to pirns correction of totals Mua in 1942 models; bring materiel specifications to data; asap plesst lay out, atsd design minor changes in 1942 models. Nana of the compenim art pertained to spend mere then SSSfiOO monthly tor labor or material fat this seork. discrimination to be shown against little business and sale of all war plants over $8,000,000 subject to con gressional approval. The second bill passed called for establishment of an office of re conversion, which would coordinate the work of all government agen cies in the switch-beck to peace time conditions, and also authorized the lending of funds to states if need- , ed to meet unemployment com pea- , satico payments. GREAT BRITAIN: Building Needs That rebuilding will provide the base for Great Britain's postwar economy was indicated by the gov ernment's recent announcement that 1,290,000 workers would be needed in the construction industry to repair bomb damage. Contributing to the tremendous damage wrought by the war have been the deadly German robota, some of which have individually wrecked as many as 1,500 houses, with the average being 400. About 200,000 square yards of board, 500, 000 window frames and 400,000 doors have been ordered to help repair buildings damaged by the flying bombs. At the present time, 380,000 peo ple are engaged in the construction industry, it was revealed, with many thousands of these women. Postwar Wages That British labor will put up a battle to retain its wartime wage in creases in the postwar world was Indicated by the strike of 14,000 auto workers in Birmingham, England, over assignment of employees to the assembly of a reputed peacetime product at lower wages than those being paid in the munitions depart ment. Under the stimulus of wartime conditions, with manufacturers bid ding for labor, British wages shot up from about $15 a week to $25 for men, and from about $8.50 weekly to $13 for women. Because of the competition be tween themselves and foreign coun tries, however, British Industrialists are expected to resist present high wages unless production costs are chopped through an increase in la bor efficiency or greater use of ma chinery. AMERICAN LEGION: Wants Strong U. S. American cooperation with other nations to keep the peace, forceful occupation of Germany and Italy to bring the lessons of war home to their populations, and compulsory military training for youth, were among the resolutions adopted by the American Legion at its 26th an nual convention in Chicago. Also advocated was retention of necessary bases, maintenance of the navy at full strength; preservation of free enterprise within the U. 8.; stoppage of all immigration until un employment should fall to pround 1,000,000, and deportation of all sub- ' versive aliens to their native coun tries. Active In Legion affairs in his home state, where he was credited with bringing Legion membership up to 85,000, Edward N. Scheiberling of Albany, N. Y., was elected na tional commander. Mrs. Charles B. Gilbert of Norwich, Conn., mother of two sons in service, was elected president of the Legion Auxiliary. RAIL TRAFFIC: Safety Problem Answering Sen. Burton K. Wheel er's charges that railroads have failed to heed congress' direction for the installation of safety equipment which might prevent fatal train wrecks, company officials declared that many wartime accidents could be attributed to inexperienced help. Because human failings more often than not have been shown to be the cause of many accidenta, a large number of the roads have broad educational programs, it was said. In addition to a reliance on new help and inability to obtain materi als for safety devices because of pri ority restrictions, rail officials said, the vast increase in wartime freight and passenger traffic has multiplied the chances of mishaps. Pointing out that congress em powered the Interstate Commerce commission to order the railroads to install safety equipment M years ago. Senator Wheeler said the gov- i e mm rat may be compelled to force such action if the ICC failed to preae tor action. Lefioa hljtaks nci CUadt Doxiek posed u Mm West, escorted by Hap Gordeason. Memot of a Newspaperman: Time echoed the oddity-ln-the news about the soldier overseas who was hit by a -shell fragment which contained the number on his own dog-tag . . . The newspapers fell for it, too, a week earlier when a Canadian Press dispatch said an RCAF batman was named as the one it actually happened to in4ior mandy . . . The report stated that his name was George McMillan of | Nova Scotia. The number on the fragment was 26750?the number on his identity card . . . The Herald Tribune carried it, too, a week after it published an article (Aug. 13th) in its magazine section titled: "Lucky Shot" by Gen. Patton's wife. She said it happened in the last war! Lon Holts and some others were reminiscing about Ziegfeld and how the master-showman always "had class" even when he couldn't afford ?? , There was the time, frlxample, when Ziegfeld was in Hollywood aft er squaddering another fortune on a failure in New York. He wired his old friend Ed Wynn ... "I know I owe you $65,000," it said, "but I need $7,500 desperately. Will you help me out again?" Wynn instructed his bankers to rush Ziegfeld the $7,500 . . . Zieg feld used it to return to N. Y. in a private Pullman! Max Hersberg, who collected a bookful of anecdotes which he chris tened: "Insults," considers this his favorite. . . Once DisraeH and Gladstone collided verbally in the House and as Gladstone came out after adjournment he was still shak ing with rage. ... He glimpsed Disraeli chatting with other mem bers and he shouted: "Sir, you will come to your end either on the gal lows or by some terrible plague!" Disraeli adjusted his monocle and softly intoned: "I should say, Mr. Gladstone, that depends upon wheth er I embrace your principles or your mistress." Ilia G-Men fallow through on ev ery Up, of coorie. . . . You never can tell. . . . Several of them were assigned pa a real hot one last week. ... A woman, reported the inform ant, had many signs in her bathroom reading: "Good morning, Mein Fuehrer." . . . "Hell HiUer!" and "What have you done today to im prove the Master RaceT" . . . FBI agents, disguised as plumbers, in vestigated and confirmed the Up. . . . "You bet I put them up!" she boasted. "But I'm not a Nazi!" . . . It took hours before they broke her down. . . . She was fed up with her husband's dictatorial attitude, and he had stopped speaking to her. . . . She hoped to Insult him by com paring him with Hitler! Add capsule erttieisms that will live: Don Herold's: "The dogs in Uncle Tom's Cabin' are poorly sup ported by the cast." . . . Robert Benchley: " 'Perfectly Scandalous' was one of those plays in which all of the actors unfortunately enunci ated very clearly." . . . Ansa: "The trouble with Katharine Hep burn in The Lake' is that she didn't throw herself into it enough." Notes of an Innocent Bystander: The Magazine*: Newsweek'* good word-wedding. Ita drama critic, de scribing a singer portraying a ham my actress, wrote: "She plays the role of ? Mae Westphalian prima donna." . . . The same mag re minds Russian-baiters that the So viet casualties are almost Ave times greater than the U. S. and British combined. . . . "Seventeen," a new mag (or the Junior-miss act, has a refreshing slant. . . . Earl Wilson is represented in Everybody's Di gest, a mag with zing. . . . Pic rolls I out the silver lining for scientists who insist civilization can attain Utopia. Meanwhile we'D be content with the closest thing to it?Ameri ca. .. . American Mercury's circu lation is climbing steadily and for good reason. It makes sense. . . . John Roy Carlson, the "Under Cov er" author, does another excellent Job in The Woman magazine. ... In a few weeks the same mag offers his "Daughters of Dissension and De feat," which undresses the various phony "Mother Patriotic Clubs." Navy See'y Fsrrestal got a huge bowl at the Waldorf dinner in his honor with this: "There are two wars. We are winning the first one and are are going to win the second. But there are too many experts! That reminds me of the expert en gineer who knew what it was all about You know what an expert is. He's a mechanic away from home I" i Hotel Caters Exclusively to Servicemen and Their Families A. One of the most unusual hotels m the nation is located in Wash ington, D. C.? where, despite nightly sellouts, accommoda tions are provided far below OP A ceiling prices! It U the United Nation* Service Center, formerly the Capitol Park hotel, now under the exclusive man agement of the Recreation Servicea of the War Hospitality committee. The only hotel in the United States taken over completely for this pur pose, it is perhaps the largest Can teen in the world for servicemen of all the United Nations, and ia op erated as a voluntary community project along modern health and sanitation lines. The United Nations Service center has everything?from its own news paper, Flags Abreast, to a free nurs ery for children of traveling service men. Washington, D. C., is such a hub for the armed services that the Canteen, despite the hotel's size, was forced to take over an adjoining school house, converting it into room fer 349 more beds, a total of 970 available Bleeping accommodations nightly. The bnge center was officially opened October 37, 1M3, and there has been a virtual sell-out at accom modations since. It is the only Can teen that accepts the wives and fam ilies of servicemen, as well as those in uniform. No reservations are ac cepted?lrst come, first served. This is true of both officer* and enlisted men. Just recently, the 1,000,000th visit ing serviceman was honored. He was Petty Officer 3/c Stanley Wick lund, of Boston, Mass., stationed at the naval air base, Patuxent River, Md. Has Own 'Police Force.' Actually it looks like the head quarters of the general stall, except that 74 former employees of the Capitol Park hotel are still working there as members of the Canteen staff. Everything that occurs at the Canteen must be approved by the military district of Washington and the Potomac River naval command. A 34-hour duty ia maintained by the Shore Patrol?the Canteen's own po lice forceI Though rnach of the Canteen's va ried accommodations are free, some services are rendered en a cost ba sia, which astounds the average Washington eivUlan. This U true at i laundry aorrice, clothes dryers, i washing machines, rslet shops, bar- 1 ber shops and the impressive cafe terias. i The cafeterias are tremendous < projects in themselves. There are i two one each for officers and en- ' listed men. Miss Rochelle Z. Ken- ] dall of Dallas, Texas, is the Can- I teen's food expert and nutritionist, i Pointing out that the most modern i and sanitary methods of food cater- I ing had been employed there, she < said: "Every governmental stress : on basic, nutritious foods has been observed by us, as has the general governmental theme of utmost sani tation during this wartime crisis. We have, for example, employed single service paper eating and drinking utensils almost exclusively, in place of obsolete and sanitarily inadequate dishwashing equipment, thus avoid ing the possible danger of transmis sion of disease from mouth-to-mouth via poorly washed common eating ahd drinking utensils. More than 50,000 paper cups weekly are used." Nursery Is 'God-8end to Mothers.' The free nursery at the Canteen, according to Mrs. Luther Gulick, the nursery chairman, is a "God-send to # mothers and children traveling through Washington." Employing two registered nurses on an eight-hour shift each, and one :hlld educator or psychologist, the nursery operates 24 hours a day. rhere are 80 volunteers in this de partment alone, all having passed an Intensive course in child care before acceptance. Since its opening, 2,588 children have been cared for, with the average between 9 and 12 months of age. The youngest guest of the nursery was a 16-day-old infant! But most unusual is the nursery's "Baby Ferry Command." This is s group of uniformed AWVS women who roam the city's Union station a block away, and route weary moth ers and children to the Canteen. Should a child or mother be in, both army and navy disperisaries in the city are on call for emergencies. Apparently nothing has been left to chance in this greatest of all Canteens. It Is a mighty institution that has grown out of this war, and is a living testimonial of the home front's contribution to the war ef fort in general, and to the service man and his family in particular. Typical foesti at the Center are Petty Officer l/e Stanley Wlektai el Beaton, and hia wife. When Wleklnnd came hi the deer he waa teid that he waa the one-millionth aerrieeman to refiater at the hotel. The Wlefc lunda are ahown reatlny in a corner e( the naraery, where they have pal aevea-montha-old Bobby to bed. Land-Lubbers Become Seamen InSixMonths "All right fellows. Line up on either side of the walk and open up your gear for inspection. No knives, guns, cameras or radios permitted aboard the base." That's the first order "boots" en tering the U. & Maritime Service training station at Sheepehead Bay in Bfepitiyn. V. Y? hear when they "land" at the world's largest mer chant marine training station. Taken in tow by an MA (Master at arms), within 24 hours the new recruits sre processed through the station and their equipment issued. From three to sis months later these same "boots" emerge as thor oughly trained merchant seamen, ready to take their place as radio operators, deck or engine seamen, cooks, or assistant purser-hospital corpsraen aboard one of Uncle Sam's modern merchant vessels. Recruits from Nebraska, Indiana, Alabama, Michigan?all across the country re port in six days a week at U. S. Maritime Service training stations to learn to aail aboard a wartime cargo veasel to "Deliver the Goods." For his first few days at Sheeps head Bay, the new trainee la under the supervision of the indoctrination officer. His orientation includes rea sons for and proper method of salut ing, proper stowing of gear and in structions in rules and regulations of the station. A section instructor assigned to each SO-man section then takes over and continues with the newly formed section through the first four weeks of preliminary or "boot" training. In "boot" training, the new train ee receives instruction in 20 subjects ranging from gunnery to mental hy giene. He attends classes eight hours a day, five days a week. During his "boot" period, the new recruit uses a wide variety of train ing aids. He sees motion pictures, practical demonstrations of fire equipment, breathing devices, breeches buoys and line-throwing guns. Wall charts on a variety of topics are kept in view on class room "bulkheads." Completing (our weeks of boot training, the new recruits move into work week. A variety of duty in cluding "kp" is assigned each indi vidual to teach discipline and to at tend to necessary station tasks. Next the apprentice is ready to move into the course of advanced In struction for which his preference and tested capabilities qualify him. Deck trainees, at the end of their training, receive three final weeks of practical duty aboard one of the U. S. Maritime Service training ships which operate on Long Island sound and Chesapeake bay. Ashore they use ingenious equipment to learn. In one of the large indoor buildings a mockup of a complete ship's bridge is constructed so that men may see the equipment and un derstand the Inter-re latino. Engine trainees receive instruc tion in a wide variety of technical subjects in sddition to continuing courses in boats, gunnery, physical training and swimming, hi the sta tion powerhouse which provides steam tor cooking and heating, a Liberty ship engine is installed. Men for the cooks and bakers schools sre selected after a series of special examinations. In addition In standard seamanship courses these men learn butchering, cooking and baking. They are provided with twe Liberty ship galleys and two Victory ship galleys exact to the final pot and pan. Fifty men are admitted to the Maritime Service hospital carps school each week, selected by com petitive examination. Trained to double as pursers and hospital cor pa men aboard merchant vessels, this is one of the hardest courses at in struction. The men are not doctors but skilled and competent medical men able to treat ordinary ailments of seamen and, most important, bow to utilize most modem medical methods and drugs to keep alive and 1 comfortable a dangerously ill man until the services of a medical offi cer become available- ? . Founded by a provision of the Merchant Marine Act of ISM, the U. S. Maritime Service came inta being as the training organization for men to man America's merchant marine. In addition to the Maritima Service which trMns both apprentice seamen and men for officers whn have had 14. months sea time, the Merchant Marine Cadet Corps trains young cadet-midshipmen for duty in the merchant marine. The parent organization, the War Shipping ad ministration, comes under the juris diction of the U. S. Maritime Cosn mission. Under recent age limit changes youths 16 to 1714 can enroll for mer chant aearhan training by the U. S. Maritime Service provided they have their parents' consent. Men between 36 to 3914 can ;??S volun teer tor an branches of Maritima Service training, provided they se cure a referral card from the U. S. Employment Service. Men up to 90 years of age can volunteer for codes and bakers training Only. Expenses of recruits are paid to one of the four major training sta tions of the Maritima Service. In addition to a 10,000-man station at Sheepshead Bay are schools at HaS man Island, N. Y., St. Petersburg; Fla., and Avalon, Calif. Pay during training ia 980 par month with increases for tits mora advanced schools. Uniforms, and quarters are furnished trainee*, Upon completing training, (he om? are assigned aboard a merchant ves sel to begin "Delivering the Goods" all over the world. Jk Outdoor steerinf trainer* in nsod to teacfa apprentice seamen the proper method at eUadinc a wheal watch, reJtortef the helmsman, and foOowinf a coarse. The trainers are eirenlar metal platforms floatinf to concrete basins. They are eqnipped with a ship's wheel, binnacle, and compass. As the trainee tarns the wheel to accordance with directions of toe instructor, the platform ro tates.
The Alamance Gleaner (Graham, N.C.)
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Oct. 5, 1944, edition 1
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