The Alamance Gleaner
Vol. LXXI GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1945 Nn j
' WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS
Nazis Put Homeland to Torch
As Russians Sweep into Reich;
Yanks Gain in Drive on Manila
r Released by Western Newspaper Union. J
(EDITOR'S NOTE: When ?pinions are expressed la these eolsrans, they are these et
Western Newspaper Union'e news analysts and net necessarily of this newspaper.)
As huge Allied pincer squeezes Germany from three directions, map
Indicates disposition of Nail troops, with majority concentrated In East.
TITTn/\*S*l * *- *" " ** ' " - -
culture,:
Reach Reich
Having severed the rich agricul
tural province of East Prussia from
Germany, the Red tidal wave of
upwards -of 4,000,000 men rolled
clear up to the eastern border of
the Reich itself, with the Nazis des
perately trying to check the drive.
Biggest threat to the Reich lay in
the Russian advance on Silesia, the
"little Ruhr", of southeastern Ger
many, where Red columns closed
in on the rich coal, zinc and iron
resources and the industrial cen
ters built around them. Once able
to produce about 700,000,000 tons of
coal annually during the height of
her conquests, defeats in both the
west and east, coupled with severe
aerial bombardment, are said to
have reduced Germany's output to
around 200,000,000 tons.
From Silesia northward, the Ger
mans fell behind the flat, forested
banks of the Oder river in an effort
to check the Russian tide, relying
on defenses reportedly in the
making as far back as two
years ago, when the Nazis foresaw
the probability of being forced to
fight alone. Reaching the river, the
Russians boldly exploited their ini
tiative, throwing armor across its
frozen expanse, and bitter fighting
raged as the Germans attempted to
contain their bridgeheads.
Fanatical Resistance
Having given no quarter during
their invasion of Russia, the Ger
mans asaea none as
the Red tidal Wave
swept onto their
own soil, with the
army putting their
own villages and
factories to the
torch to deny the
Reds the use of any
facilities.
Meanwhile, thou
sands of German
Himmler refugees streamed
back toward the
Beich from East Prussia and War
thegau province, which Hitler took
from Poland after the latter's fall in
1939. further straining the already
burdened transport system. As the
German army fell back, women and
children were hoisted onto tanks and
other military vehicles and carted
to the rear.
Rushing to the eastern sector.
Home Front Commander Heinrich
Himmler was given sweeping pow
ers to complete the organization of
the "people's army" (the volks
sturm) for military as well as labor
service, evacuate civilians and in
?. dustrial facilities, and confiscate or
dispose of personal property.
Hold in West
Despite the seriousness of the Rus
sian attack, the Germans continued
to resist Allied pressure in the west
in strength as they once again
found their backs to the important
industrial Rhineland.
As the enemy pulled back into the
Siegfried Line, reconnaissance
showed extensive Nazi troop move
ments inland, with conjecture that
the high command was tending re-,
fhforcements to the east. But even
as the shifts were being made, the
Germans themselves expressed con
cent over a new Allied drive in the
west, with claims that General Ei
senhower was massing troops above
Aachen.
Meanwhile the British maintained
their pressure against German lines
above Aachen, while the U. S. 1st
and 3rd armies, having ironed out
tha Belgium bulge, proceeded to
puxicn 10 uie neicn Doraer. in Al
sace to the southeast, the Germans
continued to harass General Patch's
7th army, extended by the original
withdrawal of elements of the 3rd
from this sector to relieve the threat
df '? the enemy's - Belgium ? break
through.
PACIFIC:
Sight Bataan
With mountainous Bataan hover
ing ahead in the distant haze, U.
S. motorized elements, followed by
the 40th division, swarmed onto
Clark Field's airdrome, 40 miles
above Manila.
Eager to avenge the gallant Yanks
who stood their ground so steadfast
ly on Bataan in the early weeks of
the war, the advancing U. S. troops
encountered but little stiff opposition,
but farther to the north, on their
left flank, their comrades faced
strenuous enemy resistance.
It was here that the Japs contin
ued to put up their stiffest fight from
entrenched mountain positions, In an
effort to check the Yanks' drive to
cut off their forces on the northeast
ern neck of Luzon. As the Amer
icans creeped forward against the
embattled Japs, U. S. warships were
called upon to train their big guns on
the enemy fortifications, also being
heavily pounded by field artillery.
Tkir a ATnrtTFm t*
niAiiru w n,n:
Channel Workers
"Even as congress considered
"work or fight" legislation for 18,
800,000 men in the 18 to 44 year
age group, the War Manpower com
mission tested a new voluntary plan
for channeling employees from un
essential to essential industries in
Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Dela
ware.
Under the WMC's new plan,
the number of workers unessen
tial plants can retain is reduced,
with men released then offered
suitable jobs in essential indus
try. If they refuse to accept,
the United States Employment
service will not give them a re
ferral card, necessary for ob
taining work elsewhere.
Under the work-or-flght legislation
shaped by congress, workers in less
essential jobs would be asked to
shift to more critical employment
by their local draft boards, with the
latter then ordering them to trans
fer if they failed to act voluntarily.
Physically fit men violating the or
der would be inducted into the army
while the physically unfit would be
liable to fine and imprisonment.
CLOTHING:
Shape Controls
In an effort to increase the output
of more essential apparel like work
clothes, children's wear and under- 1
wear, the War Production board re
vealed that it would grant priority
assistance to manufacturers pro
ducing such goods from cotton, wool :
and rayon.
At the same time, the Office of
Price Administration announced
plans for reducing present clothing |
prices from 8 to 7 per cent by fixing
costs at'the average level of the first
hak ft 1843. In reporting its plans,
CPA said that better than 100 per 1
cent rise in the. nation's clothing bill i
from 1939 to 1943 threatened the |
whole anti-inflation program.
Although the effect of the WPB's 1
program will eliminate luxury cloth
ing, medium-priced apparel, along i
with essential grade, will continue i
to be niade, it was said. Quality of <
cheaper garments will be controlled ,
to provide maximum serviceability. ,
CABINET CHANGE j
Wallace Bucked
When President Roosevelt asked
Jesse Jones for his resignation aa
Secretary of Commerce to make
way for the appointment of Henry
Wallace, he precipitated a political
turmoil, which saw the senate first
take up consideration of a proposal
to divorce all of the multi-billion
dollar lending operations from the
department before considering the
confirmation of the ex-vice presi
dent.
Long at the head of the Recon
struction Finance corporation and it
many subsidiaries before its incor
poration into the commerce depart
ment in 1942, bluff, big-businessman
Mr. Jones made no bones about the
fact that he thought only an experi
enced businessman with traditional
American ideals of free enterprise
should be entrusted with the han
dling of billions of dollars of govern
ment funds available for credit, and
its huge investments in factories, fa
cilities, etc.
Upon being apprized of his nomi
nation, lank Mr. Wallace, long the
bellwether of New Deal liberalism
and favorite of the CIO, declared:
. . The Department of Commerce
and federal loan agency provide an
opportunity ... for intelligent work
in behalf of the producing and con
suming public. Roughly, the job is
to promote a maximum of national
employment by private business.
Government must accept the duty of
seeing that all men in health have
jobs . . ."
RATION COUPONS:
Find Fakes
Breaking into a west side apart
ment in Chicago, Hi., early in the
morning, government agents found
SO,000,000 take red meat coupons
worth SOb,000,000 points, distribution
of which would have thrown the
whole rationing program out of kil
ter and necessitated the issuance of
new books.
Valued at $2,300,000 at the prices
at which they were being sold to
meat markets and restaurants in
Chicago and elsewhere, the coupons
Jamei PoUte ut Gutut Pottto.
were but a part of a total with an
estimated worth of 2,000,000,000
points in the possession of a nation
wide ring of counterfeiters, OPA offi
cials said.
Held on $25,000 bail apiece were
alien Gaetano Polito and his wife,
in whose apartment the fake cou
pons were found, and sons James,
22, and Gaetano Jr., 19, both med
ically discharged war veterans.
Twice convicted for operating a
still, the elder Polito, who said he
was a cook at a north side cafe,
has a minor police record.
WAR FREIGHT:
Emergency Control
With severe winter weather con
tinuing in the northeast, with tem
peratures in many parts of New
York and adjacent states down to
32 degrees below zero and blizzards
piling up snowdrifts, temporary
stringent regulations were main
tained on rail traffic in 10 states ,
both east and south of the Great
Lakes in an effort to move war !
freight.
Although originally permitted to 1
move into the congested area, live
stock and poultry, fresh and frozen 1
meat, coal and coke were later tern- 1
porarily barred from shipment J
along with less essential civilian
rreignt. Passenger service also was '
curtailed in the original regulation. '
Requested by the Office of De- 1
fense Transportation, and volun
tarily complied with by the rail- !
roads, the restrictions were ex- '
pected to serve as a model for
future regulation of rail traffic in !
emergencies to provide for the
movement of goods for overseas j
shipment and necessary material to |
vital industrial plants.
JOB PLAN: J
Full Employment Goal <
In the first legislative proposal to l
provide full employment in the post- ]
war period, four Democratic sena- i
tors introduced a bill under which '
the President would be empowered I
to furnish full employment if private <
Industry failed in the goal. j
Sponsored by Senators Murray 1
(Mont.), Wagner (N. Y.), Thomas <
(Utah) and OMahoney (Wyo.), the c
bill would require the President to 1
estimate possible employment by i
government and industry each year, i
and then institute measures for tak- I
ing up any slack. 1
According to provisions of the bill, i
these measures could include propo
sals for encouraging private invest
ment, or ? federal spending pro- y
gram, primarily consisting of the -
construction of public works.
Notes of an Innocent Bystander t
The Radioafs: Fred Allen shelved
his regular once-a-week program be
cause the rigorous routine taxed his
health. But during one week Allen
guestarred on three different shows
?and improved them all . . . The
new Danny Kaye program is bound
to click- He rates a tip of the hat
for avoiding the gag flies and for
trying a unique brand of microfun
with original stuff . . . Henny Young
man's gagging is funnier than it has
ever seemed before . . . The "Two
on a Clue" CBSession rates atten
tion. A welcome relief from the
usual afternoonsense. . . . Radio sta
tidhs may be forced to suspend the'
round-the-clock (all night) recorded
programs?if skilled technicians are
drafted. It would save electricity,
say Gov't execs, for both stations
and tuner-inners.
The Magaxines: Mr. Justice
James F. Byrnes has turned out an
incisive blueprint via American
Magazine, which should serve as an
excellent guide for taking Congres
sional procedure out of its covered
wagon rut and converting it into a
legislative streamliner. This article
is a model of constructive criticism.
. . . Harper's contains a plague-by
plague report of the Argentinazl
malady. ... In Vogue, Harriet Van
Home takes apart radio listening
gullible: who write letters of condo
lence when a character in a soap
opera dies. Difficult to believe that
people with their mentality can
write. . . . W. Davenport's "The
President and the Press" in Collier's
is a must for editorialists, too. . . .
The Page 121 cartoon in Esquire
shows two penguins looking at a de
serted shack marked "Byrd," with
one saying: "Wonder whatever hap
pened to him?" . . . FDR decorated
him last week!
Midtown Favorite: This one will
amaze his pals?not that Frank Far
rell would run from a fight, but none
of us ever saw him in one. ... He
is better described as a mild guy.
. . . Slim, good-looking and we all
like him very much. ... A Liit
artist (who drew a picture of Far
rell in action last year) told this
story last night. . . . Frank was pos
ing for the artist, nonchalantly (with
a gun over his knees), in one of tha
South Pacific islands. . . . Suddenly
Frank (Cap't, pod'n me, sir) Farrell
of the Marines looked up and said:
"Look at that over there!" . . . The
artist looked across to the other side
of the atoll and saw nothing but
jungle. . . . But Frank had spotted
a camouflaged Jap. . . . And fired
four times in rapid succession. . . .
Later when Frank and the artist
walked over?they found four very
dead Japs there. . . . Pretty good
shooting for an ex-Night Club editor.
The Intelligentsia: Walter Daven
port, associate ed. of Collier's, is fly
ing with the Air Transport Command
in the Pacific for a 8 weeks' tour.
. . . Paul Hunter, publisher of Lib
erty, says Marshall Field was inter
ested "about a year and a half ago"
in the purchase of the weekly,
"but it never came to anything."
The recent rumors came from staff
ers. . . . Perfect name for a critic:
Motion Picture Herald's London
movie embalmer is Peter Burnup.
. . . Bing Crosby's top songs for IMS
are expected to be his recordings of .
Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine" ;
and "Night and Day." . . . Philip J
Wylie was unimpressed by an item ,
concerning a Marine's children who
were born on the same day in vari- i
3us years. Wylie was born on May 1
12, 1902. His late brother on the i
same day in 1904, and his late half. <
brother, Ted, on May 12, 1913. i
The Grandest Canyon: '
Faces About Town: Jimmy Du
rante, in the ailing room between ,
broadcasts, prepares this financial ;
report: Owe $50?you're a piker. 1
Owe $50,000?you're a businessman, j
Owe $50,000,000?you're a tycoon.
Owe $50,000,000,000?you're a guwiil- ?
mint. . . . Harold Lloyd, the clown
jrlnce, near the City Center Theatre, ]
unrecognized by auto grafters?who
were searching tor him. ... In Reu- !
bens, Frank Conville (the No. 1 man
it the U.S.O. entertainers three '
rears overseas) handing his butter
to a civilian at the next table, who '
was making such a to-do about "only 1
jne piece." . .. Bea Lillie of the flaw- '
less diction pausing outside Theo- '
lore's to chat (in rich cockney) with '
? lonely-looking British tar. . . . Ann
Sheridan, bound for South America, '
?rhere she has a job at $2,000 per !
week.
Broadway Confucius: The Trouble ]
With Dream Girls Is That They Keep ,
Ton Awake All Night. ,
Women's Bureau of Labor Department 25 Years Old;,
Busy With Present and Postwar Needs of Workers
?
This specially trained firl makes some adjustments so the Base as
sembly of a P-39 Airaeobra. There is scarcely any task la ariatlssi
manufacture that women hays not mastered.
Agency Watches Over
Rights and Security
Of Eighteen Million
By C. V. PETERS
Eighteen and a half million
women are now working for
wages, mostly in jobs essential
to war. Some five million of
these are new to the labor mar
kets; they have gone into fac
tories and fields since 1940, when
the nation began to buckle down
for the great conflict. All in all,
women have been doing a mag
nificent job. No task has been
too dirty, or dangerous or diffi
cult; they have cheerfully ac
cepted all discomforts and haz
ards.
In World War I, when, as now,
millions of women were called upon
to replace men in a thousand occu
pations, the department of labor be
came interested in the special needs
and problems of working women.
In 1920 a permanent subdivision, the
Women's bureau, was established,
which superseded the temporary
Woman in Industry Service, set up
in 1917.
Miss Mary Anderson, director of
the war agency, was appointed head
of the Women's Bureau. After
developing the Bureau to its pres
ent impressive status, she retired
last June at the age of 71, with
25 years of service to working wom
en accomplished.
Under the guidance of Miss An
derson, the bufeau made intensive
study of conditions and problems of
women workers in various types of
employment?professional, business,
industrial and domestic. She was
responsible for calling two impor
tant conferences of wpmen in indus
try, in 1923 and 193d, attended by
representatives of all 'important
women's organizations. The princi
ples she advocated were:
1. Complete equality of opportu
nity for men and women on the basis
of their Individual merit, skill and
experience.
2. Wake rates baaed on Job eon
tent without regard to aex.
3. Establishing' of precise and ob
jective ' standards far determining
Job content as a basis for determin
ing wage rates. , -? - ?
In IDld there were ieight and a
half million women workers. In the
? e *?
Mrs. Nora T. Storm, outstanding
member of a elan of "Traetorettes"
pilots a big machine on the 260
tere 8term (arm. She la a Triple-A
woman, and organiser of her class
of women tractor opera ton.
spring of 1940 there were 13 million.
Now there are 18 million women in
the labor force. These 18 million
women make up 38 per cent of the
total nonagrlcultural labor force,
and 20 per cent of the agricultural
labor forcf of the'United States.
Machine Age Changes Life.
The amount of gaipfp) prork done
by women at home has decreased
steadily, while the amount of their
gainful work outside the home has
increased. At the beginning of the
18th dellUii y Women stffi were spin
ning at home, but the yarn was
brought for wt*ving to large rooms
where looms were in use. The ear
liest cotton mill was astablished in
1814, and thereafter weaving be
came a factory occupation.
In 1831 there were 38,000 women
employed in various cotton factories
in the United States. By the middle
of the century, the sewing machine
came into effective use. Usually op
erated by women.
Thus into a world of gardening
end raising sheep In the back yard,
of grinding dour, of weaving cloth
in the "front room," the first ma
chines appeared ami revolutionized
our whole manner of life. Since
many of the earlier machines did
work that had always been done by
women at home, manufacturers
looking for factory operative* turned
to women.
The factoriea, located with a view
to available power and future mar
keting, soon developed communities,
and these attracted other workers
in various lines of activity. As towns
grew in size, many of the older
household occupations became im
possible.
The entrance of women into wage
earning occupations was tremen
dously speeded up by the Civil war
and World War I. Of the role wom
en played during the first World
war, we have a dramatic picture.
The war itself wrenched the whole
industrial machine. In tha quick
shift from peace to war, women
as well as men were rapidly ab
sorbed by the iron and steel mills,
metal factories and foundries; they
were practically drafted to make
munitions and other war supplies.
Aerial warfare created a new indus
try, in which women were indispen
sable, and it expanded the indus
tries that made the material neces
sary for aircraft manufacture.
Meanwhile the army of 4,000,000
men had to be fed and clothed, and
in addition th* nation's industries
had to continue to supply the needs
of the people at home.
There are striking parallels be
tween the first World war and th*
present one In regard to women
workers. In steadily increasing
numbers, then as new, women en
tared fields wMeh had been regard
ed as men's exclusive province?al
though thousands of women carried
on in traditionally feminine food and
fabric Industries. Experienced wom
en who were already In manufac
turing in 1917 were utilized largely
for munitions making. They helped
to train new groups formerly other
wise employed, such as school teach
ers, who Joined their ranks, as well
as the large numbers of inexperi
enced women never before in the
labor force. Growing numbers of
women were hired In such indus
tries ? as iron, steel, lumber, trans
portation equipment, chemicals,
metal and metal products and oth
ers.
The Women'f Bureau had record
ed World War I experience in the
use of women labor, so it was nat
ural that the bureau should be rec
ognized as the official agency for
all matters relating to women's em
ployment in the present war ef
fort. On March 13, 1941, the Un
dersecretary of War indicated that
he would take measures to see that
the War department take up all
matters of concern to women work
ers with the Women's Bureau, and
there has been close cooperation since
that date. Cooperative relationships
have been established with the Navy
Department, with other Government
departments, and with state organ
izations and war contractors.
Can Do Any Job If Trained.
The peacetime work women were
doing on punch presses, drilling ma
chines, milling machines, lathes,
grinders, and polishers, as well as
their high record of achievement in
inspection, assembly, filing and other
bench work in metal and electrical
industries was well known to the
bureau. The extent to which these
developed skills would be useful to
war-implemented industries was
easily demonstrated. In the' Mat
war women had proved themselves
able In an emergency to make good
cm any job If adequately trained.
The transfer of vast numbers of
agricultural workers to the war in
dustries, as wall as the rapid induc
tion of others into the armed forces,
resulted in a growing demand foe
the employment of women in agri- .
cultural work. In interesting wom
en in such work, the bureau cooper
ated with other government agen
cies concerned, and in addition for
mulated and helped put into prac
tice standards for women's employ
ment on farms.
Today, women are being utilized
in three broad categories of Jobs:
1. Those that women have always
done, now multiplied by the de
mand* of war.
1. Those where they have beam
ased as substitutes for men. either
dustries.
3. These that are new pseiisses
never performed by either ens
(some at these are the result sf sah
di vision sf skilled ?nnlhsi to fa
cilitate mass production, while eth
ers are the result sf mseefenhme
ef new binds at equipment).
Though men are still tamd lamest
of the top and highly skilled todae
degree are doing the mere tolHed,
difficult sad disagreeshla Jabs, as
wen as eertaia dangereas and seme
times inappropriate types at work.
During World War I the question
was: Would women remain as work
ers when the war ended? Many
people thought this question would
be answered by the return at women
to their homes or their old occupn
tions. This time die question is:
How may we best organize and car
ry out the shift from wartime to
peacetime employment?
Three Million Will Qait.
The Women's Bureau believes that
at least 3 million women will vol
untarily withdraw from the labor
market?young girls will go back to
school; older women at retirement
age or past, will retire; many of ton
3,710,000 housewives who Joined ton
labor force for the duration only,
will be glad to take over full time
homemaking duties. This anil leavn
a force of about IS women
workers for the immediate postwar
oeriod. ? ' '
Min Frieda S. Millar, who becama
Director of the Women's Bureau am
August 17. 1M4, believes the shift to
peacetime jobs is a manageable
thing, if we are both forehanded
and farsighted as to planning. She
believes this planning must begin at
local levels, and provide for advi
sory counsels for all groups, and
facilities for training and retraining
of war workers for peacetime eaa
ployment.
After the last war, the Assistant
Secretary of War, acting as the Di
rector of Munitions at that time,
paid this tribute to women.
"For the successful carrying cat
of ear program far the predastlem
of vast g nan titles of explosives and
propellents, as well as she! leading,
the woasea of America mast he giv
en credit sa account of the highly
important part Ufey took In lih
phase of helping to whs the war.
Folly M per cent of the namhee at
employees In oar cTplartm piaato
were women, who braved ton dam
gets connected with Ode Una ad
work, to which they had bean, of
coarse, entirely anaeenetoasad, bat
whose perils were net unknown to
them."
Miss Miller believes that woman's
contribution has been much mow
extensive tat World War n. In the
poetwtf .World, she says, "Let us
dovetail the skills and experience*
of men and women Workers so as to
rounded living for em people."
won, women of America give every