The Cass County Sun (Linden, Tex.), Vol. 66, No. 22, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 28, 1942 Page: 2 of 8
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Released Diplomats, Newspaper Men
Tell Inside Stories of Axis Unrest;
Armored AEF Arrives in Ireland;
WPB Cancels War Plant Construction
(EDITOR'S NOTE—When opinion* are expressed in these columns, they
are those of the news analyst and not necessarily of this newspaper.)
Released by Western Newspaper Union.
"Sorry, No Gas"—just a sign of the times in eastern seaboard states
since gas rationing went into effect. A sharp curtailment in automobile
travel is the direct result ol Axis submarine activity against U. S,
coastal shipping trade.
'INSIDE' STORIES:
Of Axis Internees
Inside stories of conditions in Axis
nations were related by diplomats
and newspaper men who arrived in
Lisbon, Portugal, after five months
of internment in Germany and Italy.
United States and Axis internees
were exchanged in Lisbon. v
Correspondents were unanimous
in their belief that Germany will
gamble everything on an all-out
drive this spring. To meet this
showdown, Hitler is reported to have
prepared 300 army divisions. Of
these, 210 divisions have been as-
signed to the Russian front.
Competent observers in Berlin
predict that Germany must "shoot
the works" this summer and that
the fortunes of war will turn definite-
ly against the Nazis unless the all-
out drive is successful.
Hitler's declaration of war upon
the United States was termed the
biggest blunder of his career. The
German people did not expect it-
even after Japan attacked the Unit-
ed States. Germany's older genera-
tion remembered all too well that
the U. S. helped decide World War I.
Italy's war against this country is
exceedingly unpopular with the peo-
ple, according to interned corre-
spondents. The Italians dislike the
Germans and care nothing for the
Japanese.
Mussolini, too, is unpopular with
his people. King Victor Emmanuel
lost much of the respect that was his
when war was declared in his name.
But observers were agreed that a
revolution is doomed to failure un-
less it has the support of the army.
The army still is loyal to the throne.
CONSTRUCTION CUT:
Production Stressed
Behind the War Production board's
decision to cancel contracts for war
plants which cannot be completed
and in production by mid-1943 lies
two major considerations:
A severe shortage of raw materi-
als.
Belief that spring and summer
developments may bring a turning
point in the war.
Construction will be stepped up on
facilities such as synthetic rubber
and aviation gasoline plants and will
be cut down on such projects as new
steel plants.
Because of the raw material
snortage, the WPB had decided to
concentrate available supplies on
arms and munitions production rath-
er than on the plants in which they
are manufactured.
Officials explained that the WPB
has determined to produce 60,000
planes, 45,000 tanks, and eight mil-
lion tons of shipping in 1942. They
will deal with the increased pro-
gram for 1943 when that time ar-
rives.
AIRLINES:
War Footing
At President Roosevelt's direction
the war department placed domes-
tic airlines on a wartime footing by
ordering the transfer to the army
air forces of a substantial propor-
tion of available flight equipment
for operation by army personnel; by
having the airlines convert approxi-
mately 70 ships into cargo carriers
which they will operate for the Air
Service command; and by giving
emergency military missions priori-
ty on the remaining 70 ships to be
owned and operated by the airlines.
BRIGHT LIGHTS:
And Shipping Losses
Because dim-out regulations in
New York were held "unsatisfac-
tory" by the army, drastic new reg-
ulations will affect the lives of the
city's millions.
Acting with the approval of the
army and navy, Mayor Fiorello
LaGuardia ordered a program
which for the first time will screen
all floodlighting in railroad yards,
manufacturing plants, docks, ship-
yards and terminals.
RE-ENFORCEMENTS:
Land in Ireland
Shipload upon shipload of United
States soldiers, fully equipped for
mechanical warfare, have arrived
in Northern Ireland to bolster the
already large American garrison
there.
Enthusiasm was at high pitch in
Britain. One military observer
pointed out that the arrival of thou-
sands of American soldiers in Ulster
allows planning for offensive opera-
tions on the continent "on a scale
of at least 20 divisions or 300,000
men.
The U. S. communique stated:
"British Isles: The war department
today announced the arrival of addi-
tional United States army troops.
The number is substantially larger
than previous contingents and in-
cludes tank units."
The debarkation was carried out
swiftly and secretly. Secluded bases
already had been prepared for the
men.
RUSSIA:
Kharkhov and Kerch
For some time Hitler's objective
on the southern flank of his eastern
front had been clear. He wanted
badly the oil that the Caucasian area
could give him. His much-feared
"spring offensive" shaped up that
as the mud of Russia's Crimea be-
gan to dry.
With overwhelming numbers he
swept the Russians before him on
his march across the Kerch penin-
sula. Then from Berlin came the
report that the fighting in this area
had ended and that the Russian
troops had been "annihilated." But
Moscow even later reported that in
the town of Kerch itself there was
still street fighting and that the de-
fenders were hanging tenaciously on
to their foothold at the eastern tip
of the Crimea.
It was near Kharkov, further
north, though, that the Russians
claimed their greatest successes.
The Kerch peninsula might be lost
to the Germans but Nazi defenses
around Kharkov had taken a ter-
rific pounding from the Soviet artil-
lery, tanks, planes and infantry.
One report said that the Russians
in a "new push" had taken 300
towns, slain 12,000 Nazis, captured
1,200 additional soldiers and had
destroyed 400 tanks.
In the Kharkov battle, Russian
Marshal Timoshenko seemed to
have taken the Nazis by surprise.
The Soviet high command report-
ed that the Germans first fled in
panic before the onslaught of Rus-
sian planes battering their lines at
altitudes as low as 70 feet. Then
the Nazis rallied and the fight-
ing gained a new peak of ferocity.
RAISE:
For the Shipbuilders
Payable in war bonds, a wage in-
crease averaging eight cents an
hour went to the workers in the ma-
jor shipbuilding yards throughout
the nation. This announcement was
made after a 21-day conference in
Chicago of private shipbuilders,
union officials and government rep-
resentatives. Five hundred thousand
workers throughout the country were
effected by the wage increase. Pres-
ident Roosevelt had requested the
War Bond raise as an aid to check-
ing inflation and at the same time
allow shipbuilders to meet increased
living costs.
MISCELLANY:
Smash: In Pittsburgh, Actress
Katherine Hepburn smashed a news-
photographer's camera when he
snapped her picture without asking
her permission.
Gestapo: A Stockholm dispatch
said that Reinhard Heydrick, right-
hand man of Heinrich Himmler,
Gestapo chief, had been appointed
Gestapo commissar general in ali
German occupied territory.
Though his opinion was not asked
by the U. S. state department.
Pierre Laval, pro-Nazi chief of the
Vichv-French government, gave a
rejection to most of the six U. S.
demands concernng the Caribbean
island of Martinique.
The state department had earlier
submitted to Admiral Georges Rob-
ert, high commissioner of the
French possession, a request that if
the status of Martinique, Guade-
loupe, and French Guiana were
changed "the United States could no
longer guarantee their belonging to
the French people." What the U. S.
really wanted was to immobilize
French warships and airplanes now
in the Martinique area, and some
method for checking on persistent
reports that this region was being
used as a base for Nazi submarine
activity in the raids on Atlantic coast
shipping.
Laval said that these demands
were a "grave blow to French sov-
ereignty" and that France would
not relinquish any of her rights over
Martinique "no matter what hap-
pens." To this unsolicited state-
ment Washington gave the cold
shoulder. It looked like the state
department intended to deal directly
with officials on the island rathei
than with Laval.
THREE GALLONS:
'Essential'
As American motorists on the
Eastern seaboard got their first
taste of gasoline rationing many ol
them began to wonder if they would
be classified as "essential" drivers.
For if they had such a classification
they would be permitted to buy
more than the three gallons per
week allotted under the rationing
set-up.
Motorists in Oregon and Washing-
ton were to get their gasoline ra-
tion cards the first of June when
deliveries fuel oil and gasoline to
these two states were cut te 50 per
cent of normal deliveries. Petrole-
um Co-ordinator Ickes said there is
no immediate need of curtailing pe-
troleum products deliveries else-
where in the country.
Reports from the East coast gave
indication of grumbling on the part
of some motorists to the effect that
rationing should apply to all sec-
tiohs or to none at all. Then came
the assurance from OPA that Work-
ers who customarily drive to work
were to be allowed enough gasoline
to continue so doing.
Congressmen and other federal
and state employees using private
cars to transact business with a
government agency are entitled to
unlimited supplies of gasoline.
SELECTIVE SERVICE:
New Induction Plan
When Selective Service Directoi
Hershey announced that after June
15 a new policy for the induction
of men procured through the draft
machinery would be introduced, he
did much to solve the personal prob-
lems of selectees. Under the new
plan men will be inducted immedi-
ately after they pass the physical
examinations and will thep be trans-
ferred to the Enlisted Reserve corps
and be granted 14 days for con-
cluding personal affairs before be-
ing assigned to active duty. Trans-
portation Ad meals from the induc-
tion center to the local board locali-
ty ordering the registrant* to report
for examination and subsequently tc
a designated reception center will
be at government expense.
Director Hershey predicted that
10,000,000 U. S. men may be undei
arms by late 1943 or early 1944.
Honored Guest
Coast Shipping Losses
May Bring Investigation
Airing of Blanket Charges May Result From
Nazi Torpedoing of American Vessels
in Coastwise Trade.
fallen
incne
By BAUKHAGE
News Analyst and Commentator.
President Manuel Prado of Peru,
left, a visitor to the United States,
and Maj. Gen. Francis Wilby, su-
perintendent of the United States
Military academy, as they reviewed
West Point cadets who paraded in
President Prado's honor.
CHURCHILL:
Confident
Confidence was the keynote of
Winston Churchill's address to 25,000
Yorkshiremen when he told them
that the beginning of victory is in
sight and that England will "play
rough" in repayment for any tor-
ture inflicted on Britain and its
allies.
Churchill's talk emphasized his
warning that Britain would cover
German military objectives with
poison gas if that weapon were used
by Germany in its war on Russia.
WNU Service, 1343 n Street, N-W,
Washington, D. C.
"You commentators," said an
earnest young lady to me recently,
"talk about sinking ships and shoot-
ing down planes as if you were
talking about somebody moving in-
animate chessmen on a board."
I hadn't thought of it that way.
We do. We have to. And the peo-
ple take it that way. They are a
long way off from actual combat.
You just can't translate a war into
personal experience—until it hits
you.
That is why it has taken the re-
verberations of the Nazi torpedoes
that are sending down ships within
eyesight of our coast so long to
reach Washington. But they have
reached at last and there promises
to be a resounding echo in the Mari-
time commission a^id in the ship-
yards of America.
The need for ships is the greatest
need the allied nations face today
for the boats are going down faster
than they are being built. They are
not being built as fast as they might
be. Those we have are not being
used to best advantage. Those are
the blanket charges soon to be
aired, if certain people in Washing-
ton have their way.
The details of these charges may
appear before this reaches print.
The story seems to be exactly the
same story that lay behind the de-
lay in the manufacture of tanks and
planes and guns which resulted in
overhauling of the OPM. The
charges which were made in that
case, you will recall, were:—that in-
dustry did not want to change over
from the manufacture of civilian
goods to war products; that labor
refused to co-operate; that the gov-
ernment failed to crack down on
industry and labor and, in the case
of the OPM, retained dollar-a-year
men in its service who put the busi-
ness they represented ahead of the
nation's needs.
Whether or not these charges can
be made to stick and their causes
removed in the case of the Mari-
time commission and shipbuilding
(management and labor) remains to
be seen, but the chances are they
will.
These are the things you hear:
More bananas were shipped to the
United States in the first three
months after Pearl Harbor than
there were last year (before Pearl
Harbor). Couldn't those boats have
been put to better use?
Why wasn't the pipeline, suggest-
ed a year ago, built so that neces-
sary oil could be sent through it in-
stead of aboard tankers that are be-
ing sqnk at the rate of three a day?
Couldn't the railroads have been
forced to cut down on their passen-
ger traffic earlier to haul some of
that oil?
What was done about the men
"loafing in the shipyards" after Ad-
miral Land, head of the Maritime
commission, made the public
charge?
Ditto concerning foremen who
were said to have been instructed
to tell the men to slow down?
But nothing will be done until the
smoke of those burning ships gets
into the public's eyes. It has al-
ready gotten into some eyes and I
am passing along that personal
story exactly as it was told to me.
Here it is in the worker's exact
words except for deletions which are
a military necessity:
Eyewitness Story
"I have just been watering my
garden in the cool of the evening
and, looking up from the petunias
and carnations I was able to see the
thick, greasy smoke billowing up
from a ship that was torpedoed
few hours ago. A good many men
were killed on this particular ship.
The rest were brought into the coast
guard station; some of them sent to
the hotel and the rest to the local
hospital, v.-hose ward is again filled
with shipwrecked survivors.
"I have a special interest in that
ship because ... I watched her
lying off shore all through the moon-
light night. She was three miles off
shore and she got under way just at
sunup steaming south in the pre-
sumed safety of daylight. We . . .
quit watching her at 7 a. m. and
half an hour later, off the . . . she
was blown up.
"It has been a comparatively
quiet 24 hours in this vicinity only
two ships being torpedoed within
sight of shore. The other one went
down at midnight and there were
so many flares from lifeboats that it
looked like Greek fire on the Fourth
of July. Small boats . . . brought
them ashore ... 0
"The survivors of this ship (an-
other one which was sunk in the
same vicinity) said that the safest
run in the world today is between
New York and Liverpool. The worst
stretch is ... (a portion of the At-
lantic cojast). This particular ship
passed nihe wrecks between . .. and
... (a stretch of some 450 miles).
The coast guard is doing a wonder-
ful job around here but why the . . .
(the rest delected, for other than
military reasons)."
That is the picture which is star.
ing in Washington's face today.
* * *
Chicle Situation
All Gummed Up
My jaw dropped the other day
when I learned that the United
States government was carrying on
negotiations which might interfere
with the chicle importations to the
United States. My jaw dropped
and if I were in the habit of chew-
ing gum, the gum might have
dropped, symbolically. For what
would the millions of jaws of the
millions of American gum chewers
do if the chicle supply stopped?
They would stop, too, and so would
an industry which earned $61,000,000
the year of the last census and
probably much more since.
Why should this trickle of chicle
be stopped? Well, the answer is, it
won't be stopped but it may be
reduced—slightly. It seems that a
chiclero, one who makes the chicle
trickle from the tree down in Cen-
tral America and Mexico, could if
be would, apply his art to the cas-
tilla tree, as well. And the castilla
tree produces a very good brand of
rubber, something which we cannot
eschew, even if we cannot chew it.
Do not chuckle at my tale of
chicle. It is based on hard facts
which are these:
A large group of men called
chicleros collect chicle from trees
many of which are located in the
forests of Central America and
Mexico. They are experts. ■ The
chicle trees grow frequently near
the castilla tree. If the chicleros
were induced to do so they might
tap the castilla as well as the
chicle and thus obtain for America
some of the raw material needed to
make raw rubber.
This might cut down the chicle
supply. Nevertheless negotiations
are about to be concluded to this
end.
If they are successful it will be
another achievement of the Board of
Economic Warfare with the aid of
the state department.
Rubber Classifications
There are three classifications of
rubber, all of which although allied
in their uses are different.
They are crude rubber, reclaimed
rubber and synthetic rubber.
Crude rubber comes from our fast
diminishing stocks on hand, from
the trickle that may come from the
castilla, from the wild rubber and
other similar trees of South Amer-
ica and from general plantings of
trees and shrubs in the Western
hemisphere. The most important
source in this third classification is
the guayule plantations which will
be coming into yield in a year with
more in succeeding years. The
department of agriculture is super-
vising and helping with this produc-
tion.
Of reclaimed rubber the sources
are the scrap piles. There is a cer-
tain amount already collected. This
is already in the hands of reclaimers
and declarers.
The third classification of rubber
is synthetic rubber. The manufac-
ture of synthetic rubber is the quick-
est potential source of supply, its
manufacture is in the period of de-
velopment. There are various
methods of obtaining it and recently
Secretary of Agriculture Wickard
urged a program for the making of
synthetic rubber from alcohol made
from corn and wheat.
We have plenty of corn and wheat
and a number of distilling plants.
If these are supplemented with oth-
ers and we can start soon, the
chicle supply may not be endan-
gered at all.
Hitler's Scheme
From indisputable diplomatic
sources your reporter learns that
the Nazis hope to win, With their
fifth and sixth columns, what they
could not win on the battlefields.
If the Russian campaign fails, Hit-
ler is to be deposed—and the Ger-
man General Staff will pose as the
savior of the world from Bol-
shevism. There is only one rub—
Hitter is planning it all to save him-
self from the allied armies and the
armies of Germany.
The only thing Hitler has to offer
the civilized world is his death. The-
only people more double crossed
than the conquered are the appeas-
ers. The only people more brutally
treated than captured civilians are-
the German industrialists, who gave
Hitler his first money.
Hitler believes he can bribe Amer-
ican business men with their own-
bank deposits and the American,
people with the deeds to their own-
homes. The American answer wilt
be with American scrap-iron—not on-
Nazi scraps of paper. Hitler's offer
will be seventh heaven for the sixth-
column. But American business
will not be fooled by Hitler's profits;
in dollars. The United States Con-
stitution has paid too many divi-
dends in peace and dignity. MacAr-
thur, Stilwell, O'Hare, Wheless and
Bulkeley are building a firm foun-
dation for peace—with a wall for
Hitler's back.
Scrambled Eggs:
The picture of wrecked Rotter-
dam, in the Times mag, is some-
thing the United Nations must re-
member to bring to the treaty table.
It's a convicter. An unarmed town,
destroyed to show how tough the
Nazzys are. And a good argument
for a deal that will keep them from
ever getting tough again . . . Wash-
ington correspondents have a phrase
for colleagues who will square so-
cial obligations by plugging their
hosts' angle in their sheets: "They
can be bought for a canape."
BRIEFS
by Baukhage
The newest army jeep is an am-
phibian model and takes to sea like
a duck to a millpond.
• * •
"Why are the Filipino people fight-
ing with such vigor? ... I can give
you the reason for this. The people
of the Philippines have something to
fight for."—Commissioner Elizalde
of the Philippine Commonwealth.
(Sir Stafford Cripps, please note!)
Fort Benning, Ga., has the only
parson paratrooper in the army. He
>s Chaplain Raymond S. Hall
• ♦ ♦
The U. S. Office of Education has
published a new chart, "Job Train-
ing for Victory," an index to pro-
grams offered by federal agencies
to train men and women for work
in war industries, governmental
agencies,\and the armed services.
Lots of Congressmen would be
jumpier than they already are if
they knew their letters were being
shown around. These are the sore-
heads who are being goody-goody in
public but as Bund-loving as ever
in private. It's the old racket of
trading their faces for a few votes
. . . It's going to be very interesting
to see what the dailies, that have
been warning there won't be any
elections, will do about sponsoring
candidates. They have a choice of
admitting they have been lying or
skipping all mention of the balloting*
Which isn't a very smart limb to
get yourself out on, Bud.
Archibald MacLeish, in an inter-
view, discussed his hecklers, who
have grown since he took over the
Office of Facts and Figures. "The
criticism most often expressed
against me," he said, "is the fact
that I am a poet. Not that I am a
bad poet. Simply to call a man a
poet is, apparently, to throw a bad
egg at him" ... He might have
been answering a small-timer, who
columned a crud about winning the
war with poetry, "sock 'em with a
sonnet." That's the crackerbarrel
style of satire, the easiest kind to
write. It appeals to the dopes by
ridiculing education — very small
time.
An editorial writer keeps repeat-
ing that we should win the war as
quickly as possible, because peace
is better than war . . .* Do you
have to have brains to figure that
out? . . . How come nobody ever
gives medals to critics for going to
so many dull shows all season? This
one was so dull both the Critics Circle
and Pulitzer Committee agreed no
show was worth a prize ... This
gives you an idea how temporary
fame is. If DiMaggio doesn't get
a hit one day—they boo him . . .
Whatever happened to those people
who said they had proof Hitler was
dead? . . . Here's one to make you
dizzier: "Blithe Spirit," the play,
is barred from Army camps. Too
risgay, they said ... So what hap-
pens? . . . "Blithe Spirit" gives a
performance for—you'd never guess
. . . West Pointers I
Italy has celebrated the sixth an-
niveisary of its empire—which has
ceased to exist. A lost people cling-
ing to a lost dream ... It takes
great men to look big in defeat.
Willkie, who missed the Presiden-
cy, and O'Dwyer, who ran second
for mayor, are still good men for
those offices . . . Did you hear
why that New Yorker writer was
rejected for military service? The
doctors found out he had a brain
murmur.
Sad to read about Graham Mc-
Namee's death. He pioneered a lot
of things on the networks. He was
the first to get all het up about his
subject. He had the kind of pipes
that could convey excitement, as too
many of his mockers haven't. He
also was one of the few laughing
m. c.'s who got away with it. The
usual giggling feeder is an ear tor-
turer. The straight man who
laughed at the act's sallies never
hit the big time. He was a sensa-
tion at Loew's Wichita but never
played the Palace.
/
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Banger, J. E. A. & Erwin, W. L. The Cass County Sun (Linden, Tex.), Vol. 66, No. 22, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 28, 1942, newspaper, May 28, 1942; Linden, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth341265/m1/2/?q=+date%3A1941-1945: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Atlanta Public Library.