The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965, April 08, 1943, Image 2
WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS Allied Forces Continue Tunisian Drive; Pressure for Tough Labor Legislation Halted by Continuation of Coal Parley; Soggy Terrain Hampers Red Offensive (EDITOR’S NOTE : Whrn opinion* *ro *xprc**«4 In lh»*e rolnmn*. thry nro tho»* of Western Newspaper Union’s news analysts and not necessarily of this newspaper.) . Released by Western Newspaper Union. - A British Bofors gun as it was pulled toward the front in Tunisia by a British army lorry. Note how the road is lined with German tank debris. In foreground is a Nasi tank turret. This official British photo was made after the Allies repulsed the Germans between Thala and the Kasserine Pass. TUNISIA: 'Fox' Seeks Cover When Marshal Rommel threw back the British eighth army in the narrow coastal corridor of Tunisia, it looked like the great struggle of the Mareth line might resolve into a bloody battle of attrition. But then Gen. Bernard Montgomery sent a strong armored column around the southern anchor of the Mareth line and it succeeded in swinging back and trapping the Axis forces from the rear. Thus faced with heavy pressure from his front and rear, Rommel pulled out his army from the Mareth line. As the British took over Gabes and El Hamma, Rom mel was withdrawing northward toward the marshes and salt flats strung out along the coastal plain. Here Rommel is expected to con centrate his army of 80,000 men in the few passable trails. Threatening Rommel’s flank for almost 100 miles up the coastal plain to the north, were two Amer ican columns. One was poised at Maknassy and the other at Fondouk. Beth overlook roads leading to the main path of Rommel’s retreat. Should either of these forces break through the Allies would cut the Axis armies in the south off from those in the north. BASE: For Offensive? When Herbert Morrison, British home security minister, announced that the entire east and south coast of Great Britain to a depth of ten miles was to become a "restricted area," military experts began speed ing up their predictions regarding the Allied invasion of Europe. In fact, the official British an nouncement declared that there was a possibility that this area might be used as “a base for offensive opera tions." Meanwhile, London sources were busy issuing bits of information lead ing friend and foe alike to believe that as soon as the fighting was over in Tunisia, the invasion of the continent would begin. British, U. S. and Canadian land forces were massed together with air and sea power for this action, these reports indicated, and practically every mile of coastline was said to be the first objective of the United Nations’ drive. BERLIN: Blocks Busted One thousand tons of bombs were showered on Berlin by 400 British bombers in the 60th air raid of the war on the German capital. Twenty one ships failed to return. The raid on Berlin followed an equally heavy assault on the Nazi submarine base of St. Nazaire. Here. 1,000 tons of bombs also were re ported dropped on docks, hangars and warehouses. One-quarter of the city was aflame and seven huge fires raged. Continuing to pound Germany's vital Industrial valley of the Ruhr, RAF bombers pounded the iron, steel and coal center of Bochum, which stands 10 miles east of the great Krupp steel works of Essen. Bombs also were dropped on the engine manufacturing center of Duisberg. RUSSIA: New General All eyes are turned now on Gen eral Spring in Russia. Spring thaws along the entire 2,000-mile Russian front are not ex pected to be severe because of the relatively mild winter. The degree of bogginess depends upon the in tensity of the spring rains. Soggy terrain has been hampering the Red push on Smolensk. One column bearing down on the Nazi base from the north is reported to have knifed through defensive posi tions below Bely. Two other col umns moving in from the east have encountered stiff resistance. Rains have turned the swampy country into almost impassable quagmires. Following the Nazi’s successful counterattack in the Kharkov and Belgorod areas along the southern front, fighting in this sector has abated. Russian troops are said to hold some positions on the western bank of the Donets river, gained during their recent winter offensive. LABOR: Tough Legislati on Extension of the negotiations be tween the Appalachian soft coal op erators and the United Mine Work ers union for a 30-day period stalled temporarily the pressure for some of the toughest labor legislation to be given consideration in congress in recent years. Had the agreement not been reached it had been freely predicted around Capitol Hill that stern steps to curb union activities would have been taken in both house and senate. One such measure which had been reported ready for a quick vote was the Hobbs anti-racketeering bill. Also the senate judiciary committee gave a unanimous indorsement to a measure intended to empower the President to seize and operate any mine or factory whenever a labor dispute halted production. This was the anti-strike law first introduced in November, 1941. This measure had once been al lowed to die because the White House had asked the pressure be taken off. SKIP-YEAR TAX: First Defeat In an action reflecting on both Democratic and Republican leader ship the house of representatives re jected the Ruml skip-a-year tax plan and the administration's collection at-the-source plans. Excited representatives directed the ways and means committee to draw up a new bill that would put the income taxpayers on a pay-as you-go basis. Representative Martin. Republi can leader, had expressed confidence that Republicans would get across the Ruml plan to skip 1942 taxes and let them apply on 1943 income taxes. Representative McCormack. Dem ocratic leader, failed to keep major ity members in line for the admin istration’s collection-at-the-source bills. He was in charge while Speak er Sam Rayburn was absent. The chamber’s defeat of the Ruml plan tossed the controversy back into the lap of the committee. Lead ers predicted there will be no effort to revive it until increased tax rates are considered later in the year. HIGHLIGHTS .. . in the week't neici SMALL FAMILIES: Out of the 35 million families in the U. S. in 1940. 85 per cent had two children or less. The birth rate of 1942 also fell below the World War I standard despite the recent record level. TAXES: Nearly 40 million income tax returns have been filed, the treasury reported, and income tax payments for March approximated $4,500,000,000. BUMS RUSHED: On a recent night, only 629 vagrants applied for shelter in British institutions. This was the lowest figure in 100 years. 16,911 were housed during the peak of the depression of 1932. DRAFT: Only employment in es sential industry is now considered grounds for draft deferment. De pendency is no longer regarded as a factor. CONGRESSMEN: And Garden Seeds Out of the nation’s capital came this message to the country's am bitious 1943 Victory Gardeners: Don’t ask your congressman, whoever he is, for garden seeds. He’ll be glad to get you all the in formational booklets obtainable (from the department of agricul ture) but he hasn’t been giving away seeds since 1923. The practice of giving away seeds was stopped at that time because the packets were cluttering up the Capitol and encouraging great armies of rats to invade the offices of the lawmakers. Requests are still coming in, say the congressmen, and cannot be filled for no seeds are available. The fact that such requests have been addressed to congressmen in dicates the widespread interest in the Victory Garden program. FARM LABOR: Neiv Plans Shortly after he had been sum moned to Washington as the nation’s new food administrator, Chester C. Davis conferred with President Roosevelt, Secretary of Agriculture Claude Wickard and farm leaders to discuss means of handling the mounting crisis in farm labor. Lat er, President Roosevelt declared that while Davis was not yet to make known his plans, it was rather definite that a strongly persuasive program to get draft-age men in nonessential pursuits to shift to war jobs, including agriculture. First objective would now be to get former experienced workers back into dairying. It is here that the farm labor situation is most crit ical. Employment offices through out the country are now listing names of dairy farmers needing help and county war boards are urging men between 38-45 with dairy or farm experience to seek re employment at these places. Conscientious objectors may be released from camps to take farm jobs; men now classified 4F now on CLAUDE WICKAKD The mountinn crisis in furm labor nonessential jobs will be urged to get into essential work; selective service registrants over 45 having dairy experience will be urged to get back into that line of work; and if these methods do not work county war boards will obtain the names of experienced dairy workers who have left the farm and these work ers will be urged to return. It is predicted that these general methods will be used in solving the labor problem in all other lines of farming in addition to dairying. Also in the offing is the organiza tion of a "land army" to help har vest the nation's food crops this year. English - speaking workers from the Bahama islands and Ja maica may be brought in for work in the East and Mexicans may be used in the Southwest. RATION DATES April 11—C series of red stamps becomes valid. April 12—Expiration date for Period 4 fuel-oil coupons. April 18—D series of red stamps becomes valid. April 25—Last valid date for stamp No. 26, good for one pound of coffee; E series of red stamps becomes valid. April 30—Expiration date for A, B, C and D series of red stamps. May 21—Last day on which Coupon 5 In “A” gas ration book is valid. May 31—Last day for use of stamp No. 12, good for five pounds of sugar. June 15— Last valid date for stamp No. 17, good for one pair of shoes. September 30—Expiration date for Period 5 fuel-oil coupons. LONE FORTRESS A single American Flying Fortress wrote its own page of history in the South Pacific when it forced a Japa nese convoy of four fast destroyers to turn tail as it attempted to re inforce New Guinea garrisons. The Fortress spotted the convoy in the same Bismark sea area where a Jap convoy of 22 ships was sunk in March. Although the weath er was so bad the bombardier had to drop flares to illuminate the target, he scored a direct hit on the stern of the largest destroyer. Little Evidence Seen of Farm Land Speculation Rural America Seen as Bulwark Against Post-War Depression; ‘Nervous Gentlemen’ Admit Possibilities of Speculative Wave. By BAUKHAGE News Analyst and Commentator. WNU Service, Union Trust Building, Washington, D. C. If you see a cheerful glow along the horizon of rural America these evenings, you’ll know what it is—not a prairie fire or the neighbor’s barn, but the happy light of burning mort gages. The farmers of America have had their lesson. They aren’t throwing their money around this time. They are paying their debts. They are becoming the solid citizens of the nation. They are building a bul wark against a post-war depression that can save the nation financially, unless . . . Right now, the financial health of rural America is better than it has been in many a long decade. But certain nervous gentlemen are be ginning to worry. Will the farmer keep to the straight and narrow or will he be tempted to put down an option on distant hills which are be ginning to turn an alluring green? Listen to what one of those cau tious gentlemen in Washington, Frank Wilson of the department of commerce, has to say. Why, you may ask, does the department of commerce, whose job it is to look after the welfare of the city man, worry about the farmer? Well, when the farmer goes broke, the city man closes up shop. But, a word from Mr. Wilson: ’’While the level of farm values throughout most parts of the Middle West has increased 10 to 15 per cent in the last year, and the transfer of farm properties has been greatly ac celerated. there is, as yet, no evi dence of the recurrence of the de structive speculation in farm lands which followed the First World war.” So far so good. But here is Mr. Wilson’s postscript: “Farm lending authorities through out that area, however, admit that conditions are in the making from which a speculative wave might re sult unless price control measures can be effective in holding farm prices at or only moderately above present levels.” Mortgage Survey The department of commerce made a survey of the farm mortgage situation in 19 states where the bulk of the food production for war is being made. The federal land banks and the Farm Credit administration which has been watching this situation like a hawk has plenty of data. One out of every ten—or more than 100,000 —farmer-borrowers from the 12 fed eral land banks and land bank com missioner repaid his loan in full in 1942. In the 19 states the department of commerce studied, according to the 1940 census, there were more than three million farms, more than half of all the farms in the country. Their total value is well over half the total value of farm lands in the country. The survey of this territory, just made public, shows that in 1940, ’41 and '42, indebtedness of farmers to the Farm Credit administration dropped a quarter of a billion dol lars. This includes the drouth area in Kansas, one of the states hit hard est by the drouth, 10,000 farmers got out of debt and Kansas borrowers kept right on paying until they had deposited a million dollars in the “future payment fund” to anticipate labor Installments. Similar statistics could be reeled off for other areas. One thing that has helped the debt payment is the inability to get into further debt—for automobiles and other commodities which just aren't for sale. Will that memory fade? Will the farmer’s money begin to burn a hole in his pocket? Will those green pas tures just over the hill begin to lure him beyond his means? As I said, the cautious folk in Washington are a little worried These are some of the danger sig nals they see: A possible rise in values which cannot be exactly predicted or ex plained. But which is always a pos sibility, if not now, after the war. Then there will be an accumulation of cash; there will be a lot of war bonds in the safe deposit box or in the old sock. There will be a lot of husky young sons returning from the war for whom fathers will want to buy farms, there will be perhaps an increased demand for farm products as new foreign markets are opened or the United States begins to help feed a starving world. In some places, there is evidence of the tendency toward speculation now. Lenders in Iowa are offering money against Iowa farm land as low as 2*4 per cent. Speculation in livestock is going on in some places. But there is no trend now toward the wild buying of World War I. "And,” says Mr. Wilson, "if the tremendous gains in the farm in debtedness situation can be held, the capacity of the great agricultural areas of the nation to absorb the flood of products that will come to all markets after the war will be tremendous.” The financial fate of post-war America is pretty much in the hands of the farmers. Let’s hope he won't let it (and his spare cash) slip through his fingers. • • • Two-Way Attack On ‘Beveridge Plan* When the administration’s "Bev eridge plan” for increased social se curity and post-war adjustment was made public, congress proceeded to make it plain that they intended to pigeon-hole it. The general impres sion was that it was laid away be cause it was too "socialistic” to suit the right wingers or even some of the middle-of-the-roaders. But do not think that all the op position came from one direction. The first adventure of the new social security program was. in reality, very much like the “Charge of the Light Brigade” for there were “can nons to right of them” and also “cannons to left of them” which vol leyed and thundered. As I said, the offensive from the right was taken for granted. But the attack of the left wing, while not as vocal, seems to be just as vehement. There is proof in a press release which prob ably was released by very few pa pers. It comes from the “People’s Lobby” in Washington, an institution which believes in "public ownership of natural resources, basic industries and essential processing and distrib utive agencies.” But the “People’s Lobby” thinks the President’s plan is nowhere near socialistic enough. In fact, it is just "another trick ... to try to lull the people into a sense of false security while economic royalists continue, through ownership, to dictate the standards of living of the American people.” • • • Washington— Geometric City The other day, I heard on a radio broadcast the statement that Wash ington was a geometric city. We have so many squares and circles and other geometric figures—Dupont circle that I pass every day, Lafay ette square with its historic memo ries (not to mention its squirrels) where 1 spend my extra seconds; the Octagon house, built by a wealthy friend of George Washington, where society was lavishly entertained in the early 1800s, now preserved by the American Institute of Architects which bought it to preserve its state ly beauty as well as to house their offices; the sprawling Pentagon building of the army, "a city with a roof over it.” With this in mind, I was suddenly impressed with the new patterns im posed on Washington since the war, the human figures, two of which I watched over my lunch in a restau rant the other day. At the next table were, not circles nor squares but human loops and bulges. One was a slim man in eyeglasses. His nose was a loop, his smooth hair was looped back over his forehead. His gestures were looped, the back of the wrist bent and higher than his fingertips as he dangled his ciga rette—I could only think of the paws of a lackadaisical pup begging for a sweet. His partner was Mr. Bulge. The bulge began below the wrinkle in his vest and it was the only thing that kept him far enough away from the table to save his bulging nose from reaching the soup I could hear him inhaling. His hands bulged like the padded arms of an overstuffed chair In a hotel lobby. His cheeks were pink and bulging hams. Washington Is learning new les sons in human geometry. B R I E F S . . . fcy Baukhage The personnel section of the Japa nese ministry of commerce has pre pared a set of "laws of etiquette” 1 which is to be distributed to Japa ! nese olTlcialdom throughout occupied Manchuria. The "laws” cover such details as "posture, attitude, salute, honorific address and address to sub ordinates.” The manner of one’s demeanor at meals and the manner of telephoning are detailed. By removing unnecessary frills from scores of articles, ranging from hairpins to industrial power trucks, WPB last year saved 600,000 tons of steel, 17,000 tons of copper, 180,000, 000 yards of cloth. 30,000 tons of leather, 450,000,000 feet of lumber, 227,000 tons o< pulp, 35,000 tons of solder, 8,000 pounds of tungsten and enough man hours to build 23 Lib erty ships. Released by Western Newspaper Union. MENTAL AILMENTS There are ailments in which the patient recovers more rapidly in a hospital than in the home and others in which the home surroundings are Dr. Barton best sifted for rapid recovery. This means in some cases that there is something about the change to hospital life from home life that be gets contentment and relaxation, and in other cases the "nat uralness’’ of the home life reduces feelings of fear, anx iety or misgivings about outcome of ail ment. What about slight mental ail ments? At first thought it would seem that a patient suffering with mental de pression, obsessions, anxiety, should recover more rapidly amid home surroundings. On second thought, however, the very nature of the home life with its deadly daily rou tine, quiet or noisy, the overanxiety of the family about the patient or on the.other hand the feeling that there is nothing wrong with him (or her) and that kindness would be a mis take, interferes with recovery. Trying to prevent neighbors know ing or guessing that the patient is a “mental” case also puts a strain on family and patient. Doctors D. M. Hamilton and J. H. Wall in the American Journal of Psychiatry report the results in the treatment of 100 patients in hospital instead of the home. Treatment was given at the Westchester divi sion of the New York hospital. As with the majority of this type of mental ailments most of these pa tients were above the average in intelligence, the majority had gradu ated from college and some were engaged in professions. The out standing symptoms in the order in which they occurred were tenseness, depression, anxiety, obsessions and compulsions, hypochondriasis (per sisting in believing he has ailments despite evidence that he has not), weakness and fear of insanity. The hospital treatment consisted mainly of interviews with the pa tient and supervision of his daily activities to fit his needs and abili ties. The average length of hospital stay was 8% months. A followup study, four to 14 years after this hospital treatment, showed 46 com pletely recovered, five much im proved, 17 improved, making a to tal of 68 of the 100 who had bene fited by the treatment. These were not insane patients, but patients who were not properly balanced. • • • Symptoms of Angina Pectoris When a pain occurs in the region of the heart, it is only natural for the individual to fear heart dis ease, because heart disease does cause pain in and near the heart re gion, especially under the breast bone. What is called angina pectoris— viselike gripping pain in the chest— may or may not be a symptom of real or organic heart disease, but the patient should know what angina pectoris is and learn not to be afraid of “sudden death.” In the Canadian Medical Associa tion Journal, Prof. John A. Oille, Toronto, points out some of the out standing characteristics of angina. For instance, angina lasts from about one to 30 minutes, averaging about three minutes. The pain is continuous and is not a little stab lasting only a second, which comes and goes for about 15 minutes. Pains lasting for hours or days are too long for angina. Pains that have been coming daily for months or years are coming too often for coronary thrombosis (coro nary occlusion) and are likely due to arthritis in joints of spine. “Angina is a ‘wave’ of pain and is never a shoot, a stab or a prick. Angina is always the same kind of pain in the same patient; that is, it is never a sharp stab followed by a dull ache.” In heart disease, such as coronary thrombosis, the pain may and often does come on while at rest or dur ing sleep, whereas in angina the most frequent cause is exercise or excitement. “One must find out ex- ! actly what the patient is doing at the instant the pain occurs; fre- i quently patients will state that they get a pain under the breast bone only after eating, when in reality the pain comes on only in ‘walking’ after eating. Angina comes during exertion, not afterwards.” • • • QUESTION BOX Q.—Is cancer contagious? A.—Fortunately cancer is not con tagions; there is no need to worry. Q.—What are the symptoms and what is the treatment for a fallen stomach? A.—Your best plan would be to have a barium meal and X-ray ex amination. This will trace the food not only as to the position of the stomach, etc., but give other valua ble information. A supporting belt i helps most cases. Time to Check and Recondition Tractor Points for Checkup Routine Are Listed If you want to save yourself some exasperating moments in the field this spring—and make your tractor last longer, too—W. C. Krueger, ex tension agricultural engineer rt Rutgers university, suggests you thoroughly check and recondition the tractor now. *‘It doesn’t make any difference whether a tractor has been in stor age all winter or whether it has been in occasional use—it still needs a general reconditioning,” Krueger says. And he lists some of the points of the check-up routine as follows: If battery equipped, make sure unit is fully charged and that all connections are tight and that the battery is firmly supported and braced. Take out spark plugs, clean and re-gap and replace those with ap preciably worn terminals. Oil magneto, wipe out distribu Perry Thompson, Indiana farmer, gives hungry tractor a feed of pre cious gasoline and gets going. tor cap and flush impulse coupling with kerosene, lubricate. Flush the water cooling system thoroughly and All with clean rain water preferably. Tighten all con nections and replace worn or gum my hose. Thoroughly clean oil filter or in stall new element. Thoroughly clean air filter accord ing to instructions; change oil in oil bath type. Check and flush entire oiling sys tem by first pouring a mixture of gasoline and light lubricating oil, half and half, into each cylinder through the spark plug hole and crank the engine until the mixture has been forced out of the holes. This washes old oil from cylinders, valves and pistons and helps loosen piston rings. Use the same mixture for flushing the valve operating mech anism under the valve housing cov er. Flush the crank case with kero sene, drain and refill with proper grade oil. Drain gear box and crank case and refill with specified grade, of lubricant Thoroughly grease and oil all points as specified in the lu brication chart. Start the engine and operate slow ly, watching for any unusual condi tions. Sticking valves can be loos ened with kerosene applied to the valve stem. Pasteurize the Cream To Keep Butter Sweet Many farm people, making butter for home use for the first time in many years, are anxious to learn how to keep butter from developing a rancid flavor. According to For rest C. Button, professor of dairy manufactures, Rutgers university, the answer to this question is pas teurization of the cream. “The heat of pasteurization makes inactive the raw cream enzyme, which causes deterioration of the fat,” Professor Button explains. "Pasteurization is a simple proce dure: Just put the cream into a can or pail; place this container in a large kettle, boiler or other suit able container partly filled with wa ter; place this on the stove and bring the cream to a temperature of 145 to 150 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. A shorter method is to heat the cream to 165 to 170 de grees for 10 or 15 minutes, but the 30-minute method is the standard procedure. The cream should be stirred while being heated. When the pasteurization process ts completed. Professor Button says that the cream should be cooled to 50 degrees Fahrenheit or lower and held at this temperature for at least three hours before churning in order to insure firm butter granules. The Vanishing American The farm laborer, today’s vanish ing American, has disappeared down one of two separate channels—the armed forces and industry. A high percentage of the skilled specialists who operate the mechanical gadg ets of both army and navy have been from farms. Equipped with the rugged physique that comes from long hours of hard work in the open farm boys have been gratefully ac cepted by all the armed forces and are serving their country well.