WEEKLY NEW> ANALYSIS Strong Pressure From U. S. 2nd Army Forces Axis to Last Tunisia Cover; House Approves 'Pay as You Go* Tax; 43 Nations to Discuss Food Problems _ irlltOM NOtr opinion* ■»* **p***«»i In Iho** **l«mn* Ui»* art llin** of Wnattrn N»»kpnp»t Inton* non • annlfiU oni n*l n*p*a*»rllp lM* nonnpopot.) .Ilolm and hv Waatafn Nawapapar Union ...-..... —... .. j Testifying before the Truman defense investigating committee. Un dersecretary of War Robert Patterson, right, revealed that a truce had been arranged In his feud with Rubber Administrator William Jeffers. Long at odds over a battle for priorities for equipment for aviation gaso line and synthetic rubber plants, Patterson and Jeffers were brought together by Ferdinand Eberstadt, former WPB official, in a Washington hotel room. They agreed to make a personal inspection of the gasol ne and rubber plants, working out arrangements for breaking bottlenecks in either program. PAY AS YOU GO: 75% Forgiven As the shadows lengthened on Capitol Hill, 313 congressmen end ed a hectic day of debate by pass ing the Robertson-Forand pay-as you-go measure, forgiving 75 per cent of the 1942 income taxes and putting all taxpayers on a current basis. After rejecting the Ruml plan as embodied in the Carlson bill, which would have forgiven all taxes, and voting to recommit the house ways and means committee measure, which would have applied 1941 rates to 1942 incomes, the congressmen acted on the Robertson-Forand pro posal. Under the Robertson-Forand bill, which went to the senate following house action, all taxpayers would be exempted from paying the 6 per cent normal and first surtax of 13 per cent on their 1942 Incomes. Those with taxable income over the 13 per cent surtax, however, would have to pay balance of the 1942 tax. In that case, their first two payments this year would be ap plied against their remaining liabil ity, and if they still had a balance outstanding, they could clean it up in two later payments. As to 1943 taxes, the Robertson Forand bill provides for a 20 per cent withholding tax against wages and salaries after exemptions have been estimated. Of this amount. 3 per cent would be taken out for the Victory tax, the tax being reduced from 5 per cent TUNISIA: Yanks Are Coming Yielding to strong pressure from the Second American army of Lieut. Gen. George S. Patton, Axis troops fell back to their last stronghold in northern Tunisia, there to await the final assault of the Allied forces. Even as they were being regrouped for the decisive battle, American units pressed forward against their fortified positions in the mountains. The Axis took up their new posi tions along the last perimeter of defenses ringing the great naval base of Riserte, after Yankee in fantry had cleaned them out of the strategic hill country to the west. Advancing under the cover of heavy artillery, American troops braved scathing machine gun and mortar fire to crawl up the scraggly ■lopes and ferret the enemy from their entrenchments. Then they swept into Mateur, strategic rail and road junction 18 miles south of Birerte. In the central sector, the Axis maintained their massed armored columns to stand off the British First army along the level approaches to the gateway of Tunis. Meeting Place Having finally agreed to get to gether. General* Charles De Gaulle and Henri Giraud, the anti-Axis French leaders, were at odds as to where to meet. Fearing public dem onstrations of De Gaullist sympathy In North African cities where the Fighting French chieftain is strong est, Giraud had been angling to hold the meeting in some secluded loca tion. SUPREME COURT: No Tax on Evangelism Reversing its stand of one year ago, the United States Supreme court ruled as invalid all forms of licensing the spreading of the writ ten and spoken word. Particularly, the court attacked the collection of license fees by four cities from Jehovah's Witnesses for distribution of its religious tracts. Such fees, it said, were a violation of the first constitutional amend ment guaranteeing speech freedom. RUSSIA: Nazis Repulsed Nazi attacks against Russian lines around Novorosissk were repulsed with losses, the Reds claimed, and all of the enemy's efforts to enlarge its bridgehead in the vicinity were checked. While ground fighting flared, Rus sian airmen were active over the Caucasian front, shooting down 54 Nazi planes in swirling dogfights west of Krasnodar. Minor artillery duels were report ed all along the rest of the huge battle-line. The Nazis announced Al lied planes again raided East Prus sia, one being shot dowii. NAVAL BATTLE: Convoy Scattered Happening upon a Jap convoy northwest of the Aleutian islands, a daring American naval task force closed in for an attack even as strong Japanese units bore down off its flank. After breaking up the convoy which included three transports headed for Attu and Kiska, the American force, led by Rear Adm. C. H. McMorris, then wheeled to ward home, and with three destroy ers running interference, maneu vered clear of the enemy fleet. Racing in close to hold off the Jap fleet with torpedo fire, the destroy ers threw up smoke screens to cov er their withdrawal after the at tacks. Checked by the fire, the en emy stood by while the Americans slipped through. Despite the intense barrage of the heavy Jap cruisers and destroyers which fell within the proximity of the American ships, the U. S. units emerged with no material losses. FOOD CONFERENCE: 43 Nations to Meet Representatives from 43 nations will meet at Hot Springs, Va., next week for the Allied food conference. The conference will revolve around American proposals for achieving more efficient production and wider distribution of the world’s food. Plans also will be discussed for restoration of agricultural produc tion in Europe after occupation by Allied forces. The conference will be wholly ex ploratory, it was said, with the dif ferent representatives laying the conference recommendations before their respective governments for in dividual adoption. SUBS: Japs Efficient According to Allied spokesmen. Japanese submarine activity in the South Pacific has equaled that of the Germans in the Atlantic. In both cases. Allied naval lead ers said enemy U-boats have sunk about 2 per cent of total shipping Using 2 per cent as a basis, the Allies have lost 210.000 tons during the five months of the Tunisian cam paign. No actual figures were given for the Pacific theater. The Japs put out a claim recently that they had sunk a 12.000-ton tank er. a 12.000-ton troopship and an 8,000-ton freighter. INVASION: Nazis to Hit England? According to reports received in Madrid from authoritative diplomat ic and military sources. Adolf Hit ler may try to invade England and end the war after stabilizing the Russian front. Allied circles accepted the reports with a goodly grain of salt, however. There was a feeling that the rumors may have been planted to confuse Allied preparations for a second front in Europe. coai nuu.Ki Titnr tn IlirKrr Following the Mlahllshmrnt nf • 15 day truce In lha blttar real strike. Secretary nf tha Intarlnr Hamid Icke* nrdered the nation'* 5,551' mine* to ihlft to a six day week or suffer cancellation of prlea Increase* recently granted them to fever the expense of such operation* Under the miners' present rnn tract, they are paid time and hnlf for all work over 55 hours on tha sixth day. The additional pay they receive under Ickes’ order was said not to need the approval of Ihe War Labor board. Reached by the government with the United Mine Workers' chieftain. John L. Lewis, the truee assures continued coal production and op portunity for additional negotiation with the operators. From the first, Lewis gnve no in dication of backing down on his de mands for a $2 a day wage Increase; for time spent in the mines traveling to and from the coal faces, and unionization of minor bosses. At the same time, Lewis continued to hammer at the War Labor board’s formula for limiting wage increases to 15 per cent over 1941 levels. MYSTERY: House on R Street Everybody In Washington is talk ing about the house on R street. A big. red, Georgian mansion, almost as spacious as a hotel, it is the resi- , dence of one John Monroe, also known as Monroe Kaplan, business man and manufacturers' represen tative. "Sometimes the food’s terrible,” Monroe said in talking about the I now famous parties held in the house, "but my guests don’t come for food, but for interesting conver- j sation.” Topping the list of Monroe's guests were Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox; Maj. Gen. Levin H. Cajnpbell, cljief of army ordnance; Senator Warren R. Austin of Vermont; and Representative James H. Morrison of Louisiana. Senator Styles Bridges of New Hampshire was honored at the house with a party celebrating his recovery from an illness. Rubber Administrator William Jeffers said he had received many invitations to break bread at the hospitable house, but refused them all. Jeffers said that Monroe was trying to promote an important man in the United States senate for Pres ident. CHINA: Fight for Rail Line Continuing in their reported cam paign to obtain full grasp of the rail road system of China to build up a communication line from the Asiatic mainland to Japan, select Nipponese troops continued hammering at stra tegic Chinese positions. While the Japs claimed to have encircled 20,000 Chinese troops along the Peiping-Hankow railroad, the Chinese asserted that their troops repulsed persistent Jap attacks. Japanese efforts to drop picked troops behind Chinese lines by para chute failed, the Chinese said, when their forces wiped out these units in hard fighting. All along the Taiheng mountains where the battle raged, the Chinese held their ground in hand-to-hand warfare. In Washington. D. C., the army announced that Gen. Edgar E Glenn of the 14th air force in China was wounded by bomb fragmentation when Japanese bombers struck at an American base. TRAGEDY: In Iceland Tragedy on the bleak island of Ice land claimed the life of the eighth American general to be killed or missing in this war when Lieut. Gen. Frank M. Andrews, commander of all American forces in the Euro pean theater, crashed to his death. With the general and sharing his fate was Methodist Bishop Adna Wright Leonard, on an inspection tour of religious facilities in U. S. military bases on behalf of 31 American Protestant denominations. A former cavalry officer who transferred to the air force during the last World war. General An drews was foremost among the ear ly advocates for a strong American ! air arm. He was partly credited with the development of the famous Flying Fortress. MISCELLANY: STORMY: Stormy weather ac counted for come of the Allied losses in the recent big Japanese bombing raid on Port Darwin, Australia. Strong winds developed during the dog fights and forced some of the fliers into the ocean. VISITOR: CominR as a visitor, with no hand out. Eduard Benes. chief of the exiled Czechoslovak government, will visit the U S in May, confer with President Roose velt and make three speeches in Chicago. PROFITS: Profits of British ship builders constructing warships reached 80 per cent in one instance, with the average aggregating be tween 20 and 30 per cent. ESCAPE: The entire crew of 42 of a medium-sized U S. merchant vessel recently survived torpedoing in the North Atlantic. They took to lifeboats in a calm sea MORE ROOM: Three types ol caskets have been lengthened three inches on order of WPB which took the action after a storm of criticism greeted an earlier directive to limit coffins to six feet. U. 5. Army Is On Alert' For Chemical Warfare Many Developments in Gas Warfare Date From World War I; America Thought to Have Greatest Potential Gas Offensive. ByBAUKHAGE Ntmtt Anahit and Commentator. WNT Service, Union Trust Building. ’ Washington. I». C. Some days ago the British short wave radio, beamed on Germany, was telling the German people, who dared to listen to the forbidden words, that if their armies used gas against the Russians, the British would retaliate and paralyze the German cities with gas bombs from the air. Just about that same hour. I was entering the Army and Navy club in Washington with a short, vigorous, bright-eyed general, whose mental agility makes up for his lack of length. It was no coincidence. I was there to learn something more about chemical warfare and I knew of no better way than to pump Brig Gen. Alden H. Waitt of the chem ical warfare service and whose book “Gas Warfare” has sold out twice in Washington book stores. There was, however, a coincidence connected with that visit, for as we walked into the great, crowded din Soldiers stationed at Camp Sad Luis Obispo, Calif., outfitted with new type training gas masks. ing room of the club, Waitt paused to speak to a gray-haired man in civilian clothes witb a ribbon in his buttonhole. I recognized a once familiar figure—Amos Fries, first general of the chemical warfare service. He, of course, is retired now. I recalled that shortly after the First World war, the activities of General Fries got under some peo ple’s skins. He was a hyper-enthusi ast over his specialty, and in the reaction against all things military which comes after a war. the cynics used to joke about the stenographer who transcribed her symbols so that a letter was sent addressed to the “comical” warfare service. New Emphasis But Fries persisted and managed to preserve his unit in a tight little independent group instead of having its activities scattered all over the other services. As far as the pub lic goes, very little attention has been paid to this arm of our military offense and defense. It may. how ever. become very prominent be fore the war is over and some people say that day is "imminent.” If gas comes, the United States will be prepared for it. From an organization with 94 officers in the thirties, the chemical warfare serv ice has grown until its officer per sonnel numbers "many thousand" (I can’t reveal the figure) and many of them are with combat troops to day where they are responsible for the use of smoke screens and for incendiaries—the lire bombs and the flame throwers. I have witnessed demonstrations at the Edgewood arsenal near Balti more. and although I cannot report the details, I can say that some of the effects were remarkable. You ought to see a steel tank or a con crete pillbox go up in flames when it is "lighted” by a flame thrower It is unbelievable to watch. There have been, of course, many developments in this little-discussed weapon of warfare since gas was first used in World War I by the Germans and used so successfully and yet so stupidly The attack took the British and French colonial troops utterly by surprise and caused what amounted to a rout. If the Germans had had the sense to follow it up, they could have broken through the lines and reached Calais. That was not the first use of gas In warfare—the first recorded use was some time earlier—in fact, Just 2.445 years earlier—at the siege of Plataea, when the Spartans burned wood saturated with pitch and sul phur under the walls. It failed be cause a rain came up. Five years later a similar "gas attack** was a complete success at the aiege of Delium where the fumes drove the defenders from the city’s walls in a panic. Recent Developmenta The most recent developments in gas warfare has just been revealed. The Allies have known for some time that the Germans had a new power ful gas which it is almost impossible to detect by smell. It can now be stated that this gas is nitrogen mustard, a relative of the deadly, burning mustard gas of the last war but far more volatile and that much more effective, for it enters the lungs in greater quantities. It can also now be stated that the Americans are able to manufacture this gas rapidly and in quantity, if necessary. Our experts are thoroughly familiar with its characteristics. The other development which will greatly increase the efficiency of the use of gas, if it is used today, is the new method of spraying it from low flying planes. This makes it possi ble to contaminate an area contain ing troops almost without warning. However, it is believed that the United States is not only prepared with the best protection but prob ably has the most effective poten tial gas offensive weapons of any of the armies. What are the arguments in favor of the use of this weapon which, so far, has not been used? Let me quote Brigadier General Waitt: "Every sensible man is agreed that war should be resorted to only when all peaceful methods have failed. When, in order to sustain its policies, a nation has no other choice but to use force to gain its ends, it should do this with as little loss as possible. Not only should there be little loss to the nation itself but unnecessary loss to its enemy should be avoided. Victory depends on the amount of loss. The smaller the loss to both sides, the greater the victory to the victor. This may be strange doctrine but it is sound.” Unusual Outlook "War,” Waitt believes, “is not car ried on to kill or destroy but rather to enforce a policy, and if possible, the enforcement should be accom plished without loss of life or prop erty." We can work toward this end by the use of gas. He points to these facts for his argument: There were 275,000 American casualties in the American ranks in the last war. More than one-fourth were caused by gas. Of the gas casualties, only about 2 per cent died. In other words, the men wounded by gas had about 12 times the chance to live as those wounded by other weapons. To urge the use of gas sounds strange, indeed. I recall how sur prised I was when a young Chinese captain, who had fought through most of the campaigns against Japan, said to me: "Gas is a kindly weapon.” Of course, he had never met it himself but he had seen plenty of men blown apart by shrapnel and high explosive and he was very posi tive in his statement. What about civilians if gas is used? In the first place, America, of course, is in less danger than Britain because of distance but not out of danger. There has been much contradictory opinion expressed as to the possibility of gassing cities. One view is that it would be utterly ineffective, the other is that whole populations could be blotted out. Waitt says both extreme views are wrong. That there is a middle ground, that gas can be used against Industrial and political centers of im portance for its disorganizing and demoralizing effect but that the chief targets will be strategic points such as railway stations, povrer and light plants and the like. Gas will not wipe out populations, he believes, it will not entirely supplant explosi\es. But it will be an effective weapon. The most important defense, aside from material means of protection which Waitt describes in detail, is education and discipline. BRIEFS. . . by Baukhage Polish saboteurs killed or wounded | 424 Nazis, damaged 17 German trains and destroyed seven oil wells thin one n.e th • •> • The tan.t us Gtrir.an military magazine. Militant wochenblatt, has suspended alter 127 years of publica tion, the London radio said in a broadcast recently reported by Unit ed States government monitors. A farmer who sells butter, lard or any other food rationed under the meats and fats program to a retail er now must collect ration points for the sale. • • • II you are having trouble with the point rationing system, go to your Red Cross chapter. A nutrition ex pert will gladly explain point ration ing to you. U$I(m ht Wrutet* t'ttlW' HEAD INJURIES For a number of rears I treated all the Injured athletic students of a large university. Fortunately, most of the Injuries were cuts. Dr. Barton bruises, dislocation* and occasional frac tures, with not infre quent head injurie* causing unconscious ness. For many years also I treated all the injured ama teur and profession al boxers and wres tlers in which head injuries were not un common, While most cases of head con cussion recovered consciousness in minutes and oiten seconds. I often wondered if I made them take sufficient rest before re suming athletic activities. This whole question of how soon after a blow that has caused uncon sciousness, the patient should re sume his regular occupation, has been studied by Dr. H. Cairns: some of his findings are recorded in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine. "In deciding when a patient should be fit to return to work, it is necessary to bear in mind the se verity of his injury, and the best yardstick at present available is the length of time he was unconscious after the injury. T^ shortest time in which ability to carry out full work may be expected to return is as follows: "If unconscious for five minutes to one hour—four to six weeks. "If unconscious one to 24 hours— six to eight weeks. "If unconscious one to seven days —two to four months. "If unconscious over seven days— four to eight months. "If patient was very tired when in jured, more time should be given. The type of work must also be con sidered as a simple task may be resumed earlier than one which calls for much brain effort. "Almost every patient who makes a full recovery from concussion suf fers at a certain stage of bis re covery from headaches. In mild cases headaches usually occur early and disappear, whereas in more severe cases headaches appear much later, in fact after patient is well enough to return home though not to work.” • a a America Becoming Near-Sighted Nation There was a time when a man or woman wearing glasses was thought to be a student or one who did a great deal of reading. Glasses were almost a badge of scholarship It was a rare thing to see a child with glasses and many wearing glasses were doing so to correct a squint or crossed eye. Within the last 20 years there has been a great increase in the num ber of men and women wearing glasses and glasses on school chil dren no longer attract attention. Most of us will likely attribute this increase in the number wearing glasses to the examination of the eyes of school children and to the education by departments of health of the importance of having the vi sion corrected in those afflicted with shortsightedness, longsightedness and astigmatism ^objects not seen distinctly). The last war also taught the value of acquiring proper glasses as many men were rejected for poor eyesight. However, we learn from the Bet- j ter Vision institute in one of their monthly releases that America is becoming a nearsighted nation. Ev ery 10 years the figures show that vision is becoming narrower and hu man eyes, which from the beginning of history had been adaptel to far vision, have now their sharpest vi sion when fixed on near objects not very far from the end of the nose. What is causing the population to become nearsighted? Some research workers on the eye state that (a) living conditions to day finds man looking at “near” objects instead of “far” or distant objects, and (b) nearsightedness seems to be handed down from par ents to their children. Today, education has become al most universal and children start to read at an early age. Occupations are indoors for the most part and modern living conditions require al most continuous close vision. We should, therefore, be Kind to our eyes, and if our eyes need help make sure that they get help, and the right kind of help. • • • QUESTION BOX Q._What is the best kind of de odorant to use to overcome under arm perspiration? A.—Deodorants containing formal dehyde or a'uminum give good re sults. X-ray is used in severe cases. Q__What. c'her than high blood pressure, could cause cerebral hem orrhage? A.—Cerebral hemorrhage may be caused by an injury to the brain that would cause rupture of a blood vessel even in a young individual. 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The lady of the bouse can spend some happy evenings working with Young Son and Dad on this interesting project. Ask for De sign 259 and enclose 15 cents. Send your order to: MRS. RUTH WYETH SPEARS Bedford Hills New York Dnirer 10 Enclose 15 cents for Design No. 259. Name. Address . Gen. Eisenhower's Name Means ‘Iron Chopper* “Ike” is 52. His soldiers swear by him—say he’s both tough and lucky. He was certainly lucky when, as a young officer, he ar rested a Negro National Guards man who had run amok in Chi cago. The Negro pulled ®ut a re volver and fired five shots at him at almost point-blank range. They all missed. CLASSIFIED DEPARTMENT OILS AND GREASES Save on oils and greases—buy direct. Tex aco. Havoline & Dutch Mill Oils. Send your liat & containers with any trucker or write for prices. 24 hour service for trucks. Dutch Mill Oil Co.. 65Ui A L. Omaha, Nrb. GUERNSEY HEIFERS HIGH GRADE GIERNSEY HEIFERS, under one year and yearlings past. Also springer heifers. Special price on four. 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