THE DANBURY REPORTER
Established 1872 Volume 71
Of People and Things
THE BOSTON MASSACRE
If the incident were not one of universal grief
and horror which has excited a wave of amaze
ment and sympathy throughout the nation, the
laugh would be on Boston.
Here is the alleged national center of learn
ing, of science, medicine, art and music in all
their cultural ramifications. Here civic advance
ment is supposed to be tops in modern thought
and practice.
But here we have a scene typical of medieval
[times when there was scant provision for the
safety of society and little regard for human
life. People were allowed frequently to die like
;'rats in a trap when confined in asylums, prisons,
'dungeons and black holes. In public assemblies
often fire destroyed human life, on big scales.
The rulers were ignorant, thoughtless, neglect
ful, indifferent to human rights.
i The affair in Boston is a blot on the State of
Massachusetts and a smudge on the culture of
feoston. It was on Saturday night, November 28.
|Nearly a thousand people were in one of the
Snost exclusive night clubs the city. It was the
I Sootball season and men and women were out
for a good time. Many of the gay young were so-
Jcialites from distinguished families, and many
•V {students from the universities were there. It was
Ja night of wine, women and song. It was happi
ness, hilarity and hoop-la.
• But when fire broke out there was a panic. On
ly one revolving door afforded an outlet. The re
sult was nearly 500 people burned to death.
Many others injured.
Lord Byron describes a similar gathering in
Brussels a century ago when "there was a sound
of revelry by night, and Belgium's capital had
gathered then her beauty and her chivalry."
When the guns of the enemy were suddenly
heard and the foe was approaching nearby, pan
demonium ensued and death took charge of the
scene of the revelries.
No use to blame the boy who lighted the tinsel
in the Cocoanut Grove night club, ndr to con
demn the management too severely. Even the
A city's fire commissioners nor the building com
mittee are as guilty as the Governor and legisla
ture of Massachusetts who failed to provide pre-
cautions to protect the rights of thoughtless
citizens and save them from their own follies.
In North Carolina there is a law that requires
theaters and auditoriums to be equipped with
plenty of exits in case of emergency.
Neglectful Massachusetts and smug Boston,
as well as other States and cities, would do well
to study the North Carolina statute for the pro
tection of human life.
INSPIRING SIGHT
t In the sad world of fo liy torn with turmoil,
fnathed in tears and staggering w'th blood and
death, how restful to look on something tint
* momentarily makes you forget.
■ And so we direct your gaze to a tall symmetri
cal holly with its dark green foliage and red
berries —a quiet dignified being clothed with
beauty and peace, graceful, charming, inspiring.
Soon jfs form will receive a mantle of snow.
And this will add purity.
Danbury, N. C., Thursday, December 3, 1942 Published Thursdays
THE PARTING OF A FOOL
AND HIS EMPIRE
Of all the titled fools of history Mussolini has
probably been the greatest.
Without any provocation except his pompous
ego and his impossible ambitions, this prince of
disaster abandoned his French and English and
| American allies in world war No. 2 to stab
France in the back and go along with the crazy
Hitler in a vain delusion to be a partner in the
conquest of the world.
| And what has his course brought him ? His Af
rican empire has disappeared like a pipe dream,
| while certain destruction awaits his dominions
at home, and ruin to himself.
Today the Italian people are as truly serfs of
Berlin as the Greeks, the Belgians, the Poles, etc.
The Huns are camped all over Italy, consuming
its food, driving off the young men to be can
non fodder for the Russian armies, and with
no prospect ahead but slavery.
Last Sunday Churchill broadcast to the Italian
people to throw out Mussolini or see their cities
pulverized. The signs are multiplying that this
will be done soon.
Soon the allies will be established just across
the Meditteranean. Then within easy reach of
countless thousands of Sterlings and Flying
! Fortresses coming across day and night from
the factories of America and Britian, the dread
ful hour of Italy's chaos will have struck.
And then this jackal who has betrayed his
friends and led his people to unparalleled disas
ter, will be caught and punished for his crimes.
Unless he before the climax slips an Italian
stiletto under his own fifth rib and saves the ex
ecutioners a nasty job.
HITLER EXTIRPATES THE JEWS
There are not so many Jews left in the German
Reich.
A great part of the population has been mur
dered by Hitler, thousands taken away from
|their wives and children and deported to distant
mines or factories to work, their property con
fiscated.
Others are confined in gloomy ghettos, crowd
ed in small quarters where there is dampness
'and disease, no medicine and but enough food
.to keep body and soul together for awhile. Thou
sands die daily.
But the other day Hitler gave the order for his
Gestapo to MASSACRE AT LEAST HALF OF
THE REMAINING HEBREWS BEFORE THE
END OF THE YEAR.
Such brutality sends a shock of horror and
pity throughout the civilized world.
Rivers of blood have flowed from the murder
ed Jews, Poles, Belgians, French, Czecks, etc.
But the living God of Mercy and Justice has
heard the cry of these downtrodden and defense
less people.
The day is not far distant when the assassins
and their lairs will singe in the fire of the aveng
ing, armies that converge on Berlin, and the in
comparable beast for whom hell burns not hot
enough will be brought to his fearful reckoning.
EDITORIALS
BETTER BE SAFE THAN SORRY
j Some of us believe the war will be won by next
spring.
Others believe it will last for years yet.
No man knows when the end will be or the ex
tent of the sacrifices which the American people
must endure before the enemy is crushed to rise
no more. .
And in this light the question of food looms
large and serious, and it behooves the farmers of
Stokes county to be on the safe side and while
hoping for the best, to prepare for the worst.
Next year the value of tobacco will soar to pre
vious unheard of figures, whether the war ends
or not.
i But let not the good practical sense of our level
headed farmers be caught napping. The big roll
of Federal Reserve notes in your pockets will be
be poor stuff indeed if it will not buy some
thing to eat.
One of the best posted men in North Carolina,
when it comes to the question of farming and
ihome economics is Dean £chaub of State Col
lege. And he is conservative, weighing carefully
his words.
In an address recently Mr. Schaub said that in
his best opinion—if the war continues—many
;people will go hungry even here in North Caro
lina by 1944.
This man spoke from long experience and ob
servation, and based his opinion on the known
capabilities of the farms when their manpower
is depleting so rapidly and so seriously.
It will be wise before laying out too much acre
age for tobacco to first not only to prepare for all
• food needed at home, but for a surplus of food
TO FEED OUR ARMIES AND OUR ALLIES.
Corn, meat, potatoes, beans—all the things
that can be used and canned.
The needs ahead are great and will have a tre
mendous influence on the war effort.
IN THE DAYS TO COME
There can be no better guarantee of the future
prosperity of the people of Stokes county than
an investment to the limit of their ability in
war bonds.
These securities represent the obligation of
the strongest and safest government in the
world today.
Every dollar you put in bonds means that much
| additional power of the government to win the
war and bring our boys back home.
Airplanes by the thousands are rolling off the
assembly lines, tanks, machine guns and pow
der are accumulating to insure our troops will
be fully armed and equipped to do the job.
Buy bonds today—buy to the limit of your
purse.
It will mean needed help for the government
'and future prosperity for you.
And the bondb are just as safe as the money
in your pocket.
* * * * Number 5,680