The Transylvania Times
Published Every Thursday by
TIMES PUBLISHING COMPANY
Brevard, N. C.
THE NEWS THE TIMES
Estab. 1896 Estab. 1931
Consolidated 1932
Entered as second class matter, October 29,
1931, at the Post Office in Brevard, N. C.,
under the Act of March 3, 1879.
ED M. ANDERSON....Publisher
HENRY HENDERSON_Ass’t. Publisher
BUSS ALMA TROWBRIDGE_Associate
IRA B. ARMFIELD_Business Manager
SUBSCRIPTION RATES, PER YEAR
In the County, $1.50 Out of the County, $2.00
MEMBER OF
NATIONAL EDITORIAL
ASSOCIATION
PRIZES AWARDED TO THE TIMES
Winner of 1943 Awards for Best Large
Non-Daily in North Carolina and Second Best
in Nation.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1944
The Underground Rallies
Another indication that the invasion of
Europe is not far distant is the news that
instructions have gone out from western
front headquarters to the vast underground
army in that area to launch a campaign
to disrupt communications between the ex
isting and potential invasion fronts. This
would prevent men and supplies from be
ing moved to the points where the Allies
strike. Picked men—not paratroopers—
are being dropped by parachute into
enemy territory to direct the assault from j
within.
Upward of 500,000 men, partially
armed, comprise the underground in Eu
rope and allied planes are providing them
with increasing quantities of weapons and
supplies.
The news that the Allies are now ready
to launch a coordinated attack from with
in fortress Europe must be disconcerting
to the German high command. It reveals
unmistakably that their Gestapo has been
unable to subdue rebellious elements in
Europe and that the Luftwaffe has been
weakened to the point that it cannot ob
struct the transfer of equipment of these
elements in quantities sufficient, in the
judgment of the Allied command, to en
able them to materially weaken the Nazi
grip on conquered nations.
Another phase of the war from within
is worth noting and has, of course, been
duly assessed by our military leaders. Its
primary objective is to prevent the Nazis
from reinforcing the point, or points, at
which the Allies attack. It is a safe as
sumption that the Nazis have large forces
at these points already, and if the com
munications behind them are torn up they
cannot escape and perforce must die or
surrender. The whole Russian strategy on
the Eastern front is based on destruction
of the Nazi army, and the planners of the
underground campaign in Europe may
have had the same goal in mind.
Bad News For Japan
A ceremony which took place at the
Brooklyn navy yard Saturday must have
created considerable anxiety among the
warlords of Japan. While 26,000 people
looked on, the battleship Missouri, the
mightiest yet built by any nation with a
displacement of 45,000 tons, slid into East
river nine months ahead of schedule.
Senator Truman told the assemblage that
“the christening and launching of this
greatest warship of all time illustrates the
decisive answer which the democracies of
the world are making to the challenge of
the aggressor nations.” He also expressed
the hope that the ship could avenge the
brutalities and indignities practiced upon
the heroes of Bataan.
Admiral Ernest G. King sent this mes
sage to the men who built the mighty bat
tle wagon: “1944, our year of attack has
just begun. Plans have been made for the
most extensive and important naval opera
tions ever undertaken. The launching of
the Missouri at this time is therefore par
ticularly appropriate.”
Ensign Eddie Varner, who is here on
leave, told the writer of this article a few
days ago that he had visited this ship sev
eral times. For obvious reasons, but little
can be told about the Missouri, especially
those improvements which, in addition to
its enormous size, make it the mightiest
fighter afloat and practically unsinkable.
Buy Bonds ... And Hold Them
Americans are being urged to buy war
bonds. It seems that a considerable, and
growing, percentage of them should be
admonished to hold them. It is obvious
that bonds held only a few weeks and
then converted into cash are mighty little
help in financing a war that is costing bil
lions.
Total redemptions of all war savings
bonds sold from May, 1941, through De
cember, 1943, amounted to $2,051,000,
000, or around eight per cent. The month
ly redemptions have continued to rise un
til they reached a peak of $207,000,000
last December, or 24 per cent of the sales
for that month. In November $150,000,
000 worth of Series E bonds were cashed,
which accounted for 88 per cent of all re
demptions.
It is inevitable that a certain percent
age of bonds will be redeemed, but the
ratio is entirely too high. Where inten
sive selling methods are employed, as in
the war bond drives, people will buy more
bonds than they can hold. But the re
demptions in December suggest that there
were many people who repossessed their
money to buy Christmas gifts.
We don’t know the extent to which this
practice is prevalent in Transylvania coun
ty, but we do know that more than a few
of our people are surrendering their bonds.
That is their privilege, of course. Still, the
fellow out there on the fighting front has
no such option. He can’t change his mind
when confronted by hardships — hard
ships more real than any that might arise
i on the civilian front. Money invested in war
bonds, we think, should be pledged for the
duration, at least, unless some urgent
necessity develops. ,
The Savage Jap
The American people were stunned
and enraged a few days ago when the
army and navy released a story telling of
the unbelievable atrocities inflicted upon
America and Filipino fighting men after
the fall of Bataan nearly two years ago.
The information was supplied by three
American officers who were taken on Ba
taan and Corregidor and who escaped af
ter a year’s imprisonment to reveal for
the first time the unbridled savagery of the
Jap. All told, some 7,700 soldiers died of
torture, thirst and outright murder in Jap
hands.
Congressmen, infuriated, were quick to
call for full reprisal and in many parts of
the country sales of war bonds soared.
Mention is made in the officers’ story
of the “march of death” from Bataan to
San Fernando and Camp O’Donnell. Ray
mond P. Cronin, chief of the AP bureau in
Manila, who was imprisoned in Manila
from January, 1942, until last September,
obtained from trustworthy sources much
information relative to this grisly “march.”
The story of the three officers, Cronin
says, “tells only part of the bitter tale” and
he proceeds to supplement it with incidents
of Jap cruelty.
Cronin estimates that 4,000 men died
on Bataan as victims of Jap brutalities.
Hundreds of others succumbed as they
were marched out. Sick men were routed
from hospitals on the peninsula and were
forced to march. When they dropped
from exhaustion, they were beaten and
bayonetted. Soldiers who paused to ease
their suffering also died under Jap bay
onets. The Japs, Cronin says, always
made sure the victim was helpless before
they attacked him. Soldiers who in the
excitement of the surrender forgot to throw
away a few bullets were beheaded. Men
maddened by thirst had to look on as Jap
soldiers emptied canteens on the ground.
Wny these stories were withheld from
the public so long we do not know, but
their publication along with a speech by
Anthony Eden, British foreign secretary, re
vealing mistreatment of British subjects in
prison camps coincides with unmistakable
| indications that operations against Jap
I anese strongholds are being speeded up and
I enlarged., To our way of thinking this
S shocking narrative was not needed to im
press upon our people the pressing and
inescapable—and at the same time diffi
cult—duty of exterminating the enemy
in the far east.
Buy Bonds Today!
Sale of war bonds in Transylvania
county is picking up, but we are still a long
way from the goal and the Fourth War
Loan drive will end soon, on February 15.
With victory not even in sight, our men in
uniform certainly can’t quit and neither
can we here on the home front.
p
’'FACE" ON THE BARROOM FLOOR
PACIFIC
8AQ
News/
Behind!
THE/ft _
By BuilMaLLON
Washington, Feb. 2 — Messrs.
Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin
were sitting around chatting at
Teheran after work was done,
when Mr. Churchill, with his typi
cal sly humor, is supposed to have
allowed (in effect):
“There is no doubt about it. We
are reconciled to the fact that the
world after this war will be no
more pink.”
It had to be explained to Stalin.
He did not know of our use of the
word “pink,” as the story goes
among diplomats here who accept
it as authentic. When the transla
tor finally conveyed the precise
Russian equivalent for Churchill’s
meaning, Stalin chuckled. Mr.
Roosevelt intervened with: “The
world will be all colors of the
rainbow.”
Whether the world is to be rain
bow or pink, Russian diplomacy
lately has been pure red. It is now
clear the “Pravda” charge that the
British were attempting to make
a separate peace, as well as the
mystifying attack on Mr. Willkie,
was simply a Russian diplomatic
move to make the Curzon part of
Poland, the Baltic states, and Fin
land a similar deep hue.
Stalin turned the heat on the
British who foster the exiled Pol
ish government and upon Mr. Will
kie who has advocated more in
dependence for the Baltic states
particularly.
There may or may not have been I
some incident behind the peace j
negotiation rumor. Both Russia
and Britain are supposed to have
conducted some indirect talks with
Nazi peace bearers from time to
time in order to sound out the
enemy for military purposes.
These, however, in no way impair
the genuineness of the agreement
among the United Nations for un
conditional surrender.
To the contrary, some negotia
tions are proceeding now between
Russia, Britain and the United
States for occupation of Germany
when victory finally is won. It is
being decided what part of Ger
many, Russia will occupy no mat
fer who gets to Berlin first. (In
cidentally, a Russian general made
a statement a few weeks ago say
ing the final battle line would be
the Spree river, which runs
through Berlin, although he refer
red to military operation rather
than to political occupations.)
But this is not the most ompor
tant phase of last week’s sensation.
This country is entering a new
era of diplomacy in which official
Russian newspapers may be used
by Stalin to stir up whatever dip
lomatic pot he chooses to bring to
a boil.
American news reading and
American diplomacy must be ad
justed to the different conception
of news from Russia. There, it is
used for official purposes and not
necessarily or primarily to inform
the public what is going on.
This time, as usual, it was ac
companied by agitation from the
communist elements in both Lon
don and the United States to drive
from the British and American
governments what they called “an
ti-Soviet influences.” The Daily
worker long has been gunning for
assistant state secretary Berle, for
instance, mainly because, in state
Some Japanese two-man subma
rines, says a report, are disguised
as whales. Don’t expect the whale
to return the compliment. Too
dangerous.
Those retreating Nazis in Po
land, says Betcha Dollar Dyer,
are showing a lot of early foot
but he’s betting they’ll be col
lared in the stretch.
Grandpappy Jenkins says he will
devote the next 11 months to plan
ning a revenge on the relatives
who gave Junior a tool set for
Christmas.
A Pennsylvania woman claims
she has worked 18,000 hours
during the last 15 years solving
crossword puzzles. The union of
crossword puzzle makers-uppers
should send her a suitable re
ward—say, an emu or, at least,
a printer’s measure.
Berlin has been raided 100
times. But in this case — as the
Berliners will discover — the first
100 will prove not nearly as hard
to take as the next.
Folks of a Canadian town
claim they saw a butterfly this
week. Zadok Dumkoph thinks it
was just a snowflake camouflag
ed.
Even that nimble-tongued alibi
ace, Herr Doktor Goebbels, must
be having a devil of a time ex
plaining to the Germans how the
Russian front happens to be in
Poland.
The absurd suggestion that in
teamed Japs could show mid
west farmers how to bathe nat
urally has everybody in a la
ther.
department councils, he is suppos
ed to have resisted some Russian
claims.
Obviously, if domestic commun
ists are going to help conduct Rus
sian pressure diplomacy by agitat
ing against officials who are not j
putty in their hands, you would
think the American press well
might retaliate by advising Stalin
bitterly as to who should be drop
ped from his official family.
This, of course, would be prac
tically ineffective. If our press did,
Stalin simply would not print it
in Russia and the agitating pur
pose would be lost. But we publish
his “news” as possible truth.
Incidentally, in all this series of
Moscow agitations (including the
Czechoslovakian treaty, etc.) no
criticism of Mr. Roosevelt or any
of his actions has been involved.
True, the Pravda agitation came as
a miraculously timed unofficial re
buttal to Mr. Hull’s offer of medi
ation, but, in general, Stalin and
Roosevelt get along far better than
Stalin and Churchill.
The flying fish, according to
Factographs, remains in the air
but 30 seconds. That’s plenty long
enough for it to realize the life of
a bird isn’t all it’s cracked up to
be.
When your doctor asks where you
prefer to have your prescription
filled, say: VARNER’S, because:
Filled only by registered pharma
cist, as written and at reasonable
prices. (Advt.) tfc
Another Spring
Another Suit in
$29.50
Three buttons — crescent
pockets — curved, notched
lapels — gored skirt — in
heavenly shades.
Patterson’s
“BREVARD’S SHOPPING
CENTER”
j£etd BUY 'em and K££P 'em
Every American fighting man has a dream. A dream
of a day to come—of the day when the war is won.
When he can return to home and family and friends,
once again to live in the ways of peace. We at home
can help his dream come true sooner—by doing
the little things asked of us to speed Victory. We
can buy bonds, and more bonds, and keep them,
and keep on doing it—till the boys come home.
BOTTLED UNDER AUTHORITY OF THE COCA-COLA COMPANY BY
Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Asheville—Hendersonville Branch
C 1944 The C-C Co.