WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS
Allied Leaders Review Grand Strategy
As Casablanca Promises Are Renewed
Following Finale of Tunisia Campaign;
Winter Wheat, Rye Dip to 1936 Levels
(EDITOR’S NOTE: When opinions are repressed In three columns, they are those ol
Western Newspaper Union's news analysts and not necessarily of this newspaper.)
Released by Western Newspaper Union. _
TUNISIA:
Steak and Potatoes
While captured German generals
were putting down steaks, potatoes,
and peaches in an American prison
camp after they had surrendered
with thousands of their troops.
Allied forces sealed the fate of the
remnants of the once proud Afrika
Korps on rocky Cape Bon penin
sula.
Blasted by swarms of Allied
planes ruling the skies and an Al
lied fleet that stood off of Tunisia
ready to crush any attempt at
evacuation, the 80,000 Axis soldiers
that retired to the skinny neck of
land faced their doom, resisting to
the last.
No less than six Axis generals,
led by Maj.-Gen. Willibald Boro
wiecz, surrendered to Maj.-Gen.
Omar N. Bradley, the infantry spe
cialist who commanded the Ameri
novt
J_ H.MAJ. GEN. OMAR BRADLEY
nea !\azi generals surrendered to hint.
nd is'
cits n Second army in its dramatic
of J^cak through the rugged enemy
Ml It*00* ^ef°re Bizerte.
e ir^1* American forces continued
n $3 mop up around Bizerte where
,t scattered bands of Nazis entrenched
3r., n the hills continued firing till their
m*last round of ammunition. Much
enemy material was recovered,
* since the German generals agreed
f to turn it over undamaged as one
of the terms of surrender.
Also offering fierce resistance
was a formidable Axis group hold
ing out against the British Eighth
army in the south. Cut off from
the remnants of the northern Axis
forces, this group stuck to the
mountain fastnesses, while British
artillery and infantry picked them
slowly to pieces. Even the Nazis
realized that their scattered forces
were inexorably doomed.
FARM CROPS:
Light Prospects
Winter wheat and rye crops will
be the smallest since 1936, the de
partment of agriculture predicted
early this month.
Production of winter wheat should
approximate 515 million bushels, al
most 200 million bushels less than
last year, the department said.
Yields per acre should average 15.5
bushels.
Thirty-six million bushels of rye
should be harvested, over 20 million
bushels less than 1942, the depart
ment reported. Each acre should
yield 11.7 bushels.
Condition of tame hay was placed
at 81 per cent of normal. Pastures
were said to be 78 per cent of nor
mal. Stocks of hay on farms early
in the month totaled over 13 million
tons, well over last year's.
PACIFIC:
Air Warfare
Striking back at Japanese bases
northwest of Australia. Allied air
men destroyed or damaged 23 ene
my planes in a heavy raid on Babo,
Dutch New Guinea. Bombs also
were dropped on oil tanks and docks,
and flames visible for 80 miles licked
the installations.
In China, heavy and medium
bombers of the 14th American air
force swooped down on the Japa
nese airdrome at Canton, razing
hangars, fuel storage dumps, re
pair shops and factories. Accom
panying fighters shot down 13 enemy
planes, and Liberator tail gunners
accounted for three others.
SOLDIER MAIL:
ISotv Can Get Packages
American soldiers serving over
seas no longer need obtain permis
sion from commanding officers to
receive packages from home.
If Johnny Doughboy asks that a
package be sent to him, it will be
delivered without any further for
mality, save that the parcel must
be of the current specified size and
weight. The soldier's envelope must
be presented when mailing the pack
age.
IGRAND STRATEGY:
FDR, Churchill Meet
No sooner had Axis resistance in
Tunisia collapsed than Prime Min
ister Churchill of Great Britain was
on his way to Washington to map
the next step in the Allied grand
strategy with President Roosevelt.
Although plans for an invasion of
Europe loomed largest in the dis
cussions, the situation in the Pacific
also was given much consideration.
Continued Japanese aerial assaults
on Australia and the pressure the
enemy was exerting on Generai
Wavell's forces on the frontier in
India, were said to be of concern
! to the conferees.
The two leaders re-emphasized
■ their “unconditional surrender” de
cision of Casablanca.
Official quarters predicted the
formulation of a concrete plan of
action at the meeting. They remem
! bered that Churchill’s visit here aft
er Pearl Harbor resulted in the de
cision to concentrate on the defeat of
Hitler first; Churchill’s second con
ference with President Roosevelt in
Washington in the summer of 1942
preceded the invasion of French
North Africa, and the Casablanca
meeting saw the development of
plans for the battle of Tunisia.
Discussion of the Russian-Polish
controversy, and policies to be
framed with the occupation of Eu
rope, also were said to have entered
in the latest Churchill-Roosevelt
meeting.
UNEMPLOYMENT:
900.000 Still With Vs
Despite booming business, there
were still 900,000 unemployed in the
United States in April, the census
bureau reported. Of the number,
however, were many merely enjoy
ing an interval from one job to an
other.
While non - agricultural payrolls
dropped 400,000 in the month, agri
cultural employment jumped 600,000,
thus showing a general increase of
200.000 over the month of March.
According to the census bureau,
the boost in agricultural employment
reflected the return of many indus
trial laborers to the farms, and the
early working of school boys.
! CIVILIAN SUPPLY:
Agency for Consumers
If the U. S. senate has its way,
the supply of civilian goods in Amer
ica will become the responsibility of
a powerful new independent agency
answerable only to Stabilization Di
rector James F. Byrnes.
A bill introduced by Senator Ma
loney of Connecticut and passed by
a 44 to 29 vote, provides for the cre
ation of a civilian supply adminis
tration which would determine the
essential needs of consumers and
then place its orders for materials
and manpower for the production of
the goods. These orders would have
the same high ranking as those of
the army and navy.
The new administration would re
place the recently reformed office of
civilian requirements within the War
SENATOR F. T. MALONEY
Would determine civilian needs.
Production board. Arthur D. White
side was appointed to head the re
organized office after protests that
the WPB had sidetracked civilian
industry in its concentration on war
production.
Opponents of Maloney’s bill con
tended the WPB office should be
given an opportunity to operate be
fore another new governmental
agency is created.
LOCAL BOARDS:
OP A Increases Poiver
Authority of local rationing boards
was greatly increased through a new
order issued by the Office of Price
Administration. Boards now can re
voke gas ration books if they find
the bearer has misinformed them
upon applying for the book, or if
the operator of a commercial ve
' hide has violated a provision of the
Office of Defense Transportation.
Ration books may also be revoked
for speeding.
RUML PLAN:
Returned to Life
Buried more than a month ago,
the Ruml plan has sprung back to
life, and although it has slightly
changed form, it is still recogniz
able in congress. The latest ver
sion of the Ruml plan would for
give all income taxes for one year,
except those of persons excessively
profiting from the war, and put the
nation’s taxpayers on a current
basis.
According to the latest bill, a 20
per cent withholding tax after legal
exemptions, would be imposed on
all weekly wages or salaries, on
either the 1942 or 1943 incomes,
whichever are higher. The remain
ing year's taxes would be wiped out.
To guard against persons profit
ing from excessive profits from the
war effort, regular normal and sur
tax rates would be applied against
all income over the person's ordi
nary income for 1938, '39 or '40, plus
a $10,000 exemption.
Provisions for special payments
by farmers and professional people
are included, indications being that
farmers would pay all but the last
installment this year, and then make
a final settlement on March 15 of
1944. The latest bill differs from
the one recently passed by the
house, in that the house bill would
merely forgive taxes on the normal
and first surtax rate.
FRANCO:
‘AJo One Can Win
Appealing to “the conscience of
peoples,” Spanish Chief of State
Francisco Franco again called upon
the warring powers to come to
peace.
Asserting that the present conflict
had reached a deadlock, Franco said
that neither side now has the power
to destroy the other.
“The world has now undergone
three years of war and when this
time is passed it is fitting to think
of peace, of ending hates and of
bringing peoples together," Franco
stated.
Again claiming that Spain has pre
served her neutrality to be avail
able to the warring powers as a me
diator in negotiations. Franco de
clared: “Abroad, Spain demands a
post which corresponds to her his
tory in service, humanity and
worth.”
To Franco’s plea. Foreign Secre
tary Anthony Eden of Britain re
plied: “Our terms are unconditional
surrender.”
INVASION:
To Hit Underbelly?
Prime Minister Churchill’s twangy
reference some months ago to the
Mediterranean shoreline as the “un
derbelly of Europe” was ill received
in the Axis capitals. It was much
better. Axis officials said, to refer
to the territory as the “abdomen.”
But “underbelly" or "abdomen,”
they both look alike to approximate
ly a million Allied troops, facing
Europe’s southern boundary from
one end of North Africa to the other.
The big question on everyone's mind
was: When will the United Nations
swing the knockout puneh at the en
emy’s midriff?
To counter the expected blow, the
Nazis were feverishly completing
coastal defenses in southern France.
Whisked from North Africa, Mar
shal Rommel was reported inspect
ing fortifications in Greece, where
the Germans have worked out an
elaborate outer ring on the many
Aegean islands leading to the main
land. Bulgaria was said to be put
ting the finishing touches on defenses
facing neutral Turkey.
Matching the large Allied forces
in North Africa are well over two
million troops in England, poised for
a thrust at any point, or series of
points, along the whole occupied
European mainland from Norway to
southern France. When the invasion
comes, several landings undoubted
ly will be made, to spread the Nazi
defense forces.
SUPREME COURT:
Free Air
In a decision read by Justice Felix
Frankfurter, the Supreme court
broke the grip big radio chains re
putedly held over smaller stations.
Whereas it was alleged the chains
could compel affiliates to carry cer
tain programs, and deny them the
right to present others through con
tract terms, the Supreme court ver
dict now allows the smaller stations
a free choice.
The Supreme court ruled that the
Federal Communications commis
sion’s order of 1941 providing that
no licenses shall be granted to sta
tions or applicants having specified
relationships with networks was
within the law.
The two big chains contesting the
FCC’s order argued that the agency
lacked the authority to formulate
such a regulation. However, the 5
to 2 majority, speaking through Jus
tice Frankfurter, declared:
“The act gave the (FCC) not nig
gardly but expansive powers . . .”
MISCELLANY:
CUT LINES: As an indication of
the tenseness that has gripped south
eastern Europe in the expectation of
an Allied invasion, telephone com
munications have been cut between
Axis Bulgaria and neutral Turkey
TOO COMPLACENT: Rookies en
tering the army are too complacent
and think the war is boy scout stuff,
Maj. Gen. C. L. Scott at Fort Knox,
Ky., has said.
Air Corps Cuts Red Tape
With Absorption of CAP
Student Pilots of Civil Air Patrol Are Vital
Link in Nation’s Defense Chain; Valued
Services Now Recognized.
By BAUKHAGE
News Analyst and Commentator.
WNU Service, Union Trust Building,
Washington, D. C.
As the tempo of American activity
on the foreign fronts moves with an
accelerated beat, it is pleasing to
note that a lot of red tape in Wash
ington is being rolled up and chucked
into official wastebaskets. One ex
ample is what the air corps is trying
to do to utilize every ounce of hu
man and material resource that is
available.
When war comes, there is always
a sharp cross current of human
emotions—the good old one of self
preservation, and the equally old
and much better one, from the stand
point of the nation, of patriotism.
And, for opposite reasons but with
the same result, both meet with ob
stacles. Many injustices occur in the
selection of men for military serv
ice. Many ardent and valuable men
are stopped from rendering the serv
ice of which they are capable and
which they are anxious to furnish.
Red tape is the answer. But red
tape is bound to tangle any hercu
lean effort when a peaceful nation
turns into a belligerent.
Drab Duties
The latest step in removing the
red tape that was holding back a
lot of valuable human power was
the absorption of the Civil Air Pa
trol by the air corps. As this is
written, the decision is being made
as to which administrative group
will take over this body of patriotic
fliers who have been furnishing their
own planes and their own services,
unsung and unhonored. Most of
their duties have been drab, and In
many cases, stultifying because of
their indefinite, quasi-military status.
They are not a part of the air corps.
Another important step forward is
also under way which will bring that
group of unselfish young men into
active service after months of
morale-breaking waiting—I refer to
the Civilian Pilot trainees, most of
whom are now sure of active duty
as instructors or flying cadets. They,
too, have worked without compensa
tion other than subsistence, and have
sacrificed time, earning capacity
and opportunity to continue their
normal civilian careers. They are
now being gradually absorbed into
the air corps, too.
Few people in the country outside
of the families of the members are
familiar with either the Civil Air
Patrol, the student pilots of the War
Training program or even that other
group of a million and a half volun
teers who make up the aircraft
warning service.
The Civil Air Patrol received some
| publicity for its important part in
! offshore duty in the campaign which
stopped the submarine activities off
| the eastern coast of the United
| States. These men were pilots who
owned their own planes, took their
special training and received only
gasoline and a small fee for depre
! ciation while on active duty.
Spotters for *Tough Guys’
They are a vital link in that chain
of air and surface guardians who
watched our waters from Maine to
Florida. They could spot a sub,
immediately report it to the nearest
bomber or a fast coast guard or
naval vessel. Some of the civilian
planes were equipped with light
bombs but they were not able to
make much use of them because
their planes were slow and a sub on
the surface could spot them as quick
ly as they could spot the sub and
crash dive. That can be done in
seven or eight minutes and since
visibility may extend 15 miles, the
sub could hit bottom before the pilot
could get over his target. Their
1 chief function was to play bird-dog
for the "tough guys” carrying heav
ier depth bombs.
Civil Air Patrol did invaluable but
less romantic service in carrying
vital machine parts between facto
ries. It is now possible that some
of these men and women in the in
terior of the country who have been
making uninteresting overland flights
from here to there may get a whiff
of sea air, too. In any case, the
red tape between them ani the air
command has been severed.
If not technically, at least prac
tically, “they're in the army now.”
As to the boys in the CPT war
training program, who have been
warming benches and waiting at
nothing per diem, a bill in congress
is about to give them pay as active
reservists and ss soon as there is
equipment enough to accommodate
all of them, those unqualified for
cadet combat training will probably
have jobs as instructors or transport
pilots soon.
Status Unchanged
The last named group, the airplane
spotters, operate under the Fighter
Command, and their functions are
such that their status will not be
changed, they are a part of the Of
fice of Civilian Defense.
This group is made up of volun
teer workers working with armed
force experts, in connection with a
vast network of telephone and radio
connections which lace our entire
coastline, east, south and west.
They total a million and a half
people and the OCD calls this work
done by the volunteers, the most ar
duous and technical job trusted to
civilians. It consists in spotting, re
porting and recording all activity.
Not a plane appears in the skies that
is not checked and accounted for.
If it can't be identified, blackouts are
ordered until it is.
Most of the volunteers are women
and many more are needed. The
job is described as being both ex
citing and tough. The anti-aircraft
centers where these people work are
guarded by soldiers and no one gets
in who doesn’t work there or is on
official business.
Here dozens of girls work on a
gigantic table map of the area. They
wear telephone headsets and mouth
pieces like a regular telephone op
erator, listening to the information
and moving little markers called
“pips,” representing planes, about
the map with long wands.
These girls are the end of a series
of operations which go like this:
The spotter out on top of some
building or hilltop sees a plane. The
message comes in in semi-code,
“Bomber on bi high west 39 Posy.”
The girl puts the pip on the spot on
the map corresponding to the spot
ter's report. The details of the size
and description of plane are record
ed on a marker on the pip. As the
plane moves, it is reported by each
spotter in succession and pushed
along on the map. But until three
spotters have made the same report,
it is not considered correct—because
geese look like planes sometimes.
Method of Operation
After the third report, a teller
watching the board from a balcony
above, reports it to the operations
room, which may be in another city.
This point is the nerve center and
here again, the planes are plotted.
Army men and Civil Aeronautics ad
ministration officials who are con
tinuously receiving information as to
every plane leaving the ground,
1 check this information with the map
below them. Every plane has to be
accounted for. If not—they, you and
I, if we live in that vicinity, know
about it—the air raid warning is
flashed. If the flier has left the
ground without clearance or through
some mistake hasn’t identified him
self, he is likely to see a big bomber
after him or he might even have to
duck anti-aircraft fire. That is how
careful our anti-aircraft defense has
to be.
About Nutrition
I received the following card from
a listener in Miami, Fla.:
“Those who know will tell you that
the introduction of synthetic vita
mins into white bread is all the bunk
or sales talk. Canada and Great
Britain will not allow it. The Pure
Food Act boys know it too. But
just look it up and laugh. 'Suckers’
are not born today, they are made by
propaganda and high-powered ad
vertising.”
I called up the Food and Drug ad
ministration ("Pure Food Boys”).
Commissioner Campbell said to me:
"So far as the nutritionists know,
synthetic vitamins are just as ef
fective as natural vitamins. This has
been shown by extensive experimen
tation.”
Before the order was given to en
rich white flour with synthetic Vita
mins, lengthy testimony was taken
by leading nutritionists—scientific
men with no axes to grind.
My listener was undoubtedly sin
cere. He was sincerely undoubting
of his misinformation.
I wonder who started it?
BRIEFS.. . by Baukhagc
•'What is the shortest joke?” one I
Eerliner asks. ‘‘We will win,” is the
rep’y.
• • •
War Ration Cook No. 3 which pro
vides new stan.ps to replace those
running out in cxis’ing books will
be distributed through the mails to
more than 120,000,000 individuals be
ginning late in June and ending
July 21.
A man said to a waitress in a
restaurant: “I'm going to have an
other cup of coffee.” “Not here,”
said the girl. “We’ll see," said the
man, “bring me a cup of hot water.”
The waitress did, he opened a ciga
rette case, took out a little envelope,
dumped its contents into the cup.
There was his coffee, sugar and all
. . . perfectly legal. But it does i
seem like a lot of trouble.
Victory Garden Is
Ration Book’s Friend
Opportunity to Save
2,772 Ration Points
A 25 by 50-foot garden plot plus
25 tomato plants, a couple of pounds
of seed and someone to plant, har
vest and can them, equals 2,772 ra
tion points saved in the course of a
year.
So let ration points, as well as
nutritive values and the family budg
et, provide the yardstick by which
you measure returns from your 1943
garden. That’s the advice given by
Prof. F. G. Helyar of Rutgers uni
versity, chairman of the state Vic
tory garden and food conservation
committee.
And remember, if you have
not yet started your Victory gar
den, it’s not too late. But you
must get busy now.
The plan on which he has figured
the 2,772-ration point return, based
on present point values, includes two
rows of tomato plants, each row 50
feet long; two rows of snap beans.
Crop Corps'Insignia
II"' aim Tl Ml Mil m—mmurnni im .vmudw
This is the identifying insignia for
the U. S. Crop Corps. The sheaf of
wheat symbolizes food production
and the toothed edge of the C sym
bolizes food processing.
planted from a pound of seed; two
rows of carrots, planted with an
ounce of seed; and a similar plant
ing of beets and of lima beans, for
which an ounce and a pound, re
spectively, of seed will be needed.
Professor Helyar estimates that on
the average the tomatoes will yield
three bushels of fruit, or 54 quart
jars and 1,481 ration points. The
other crops, measured on the same
basis, will produce as follows:
snap beans—one bushel, 16 quarts,
358 points; carrots—one bushel, 18
quarts, 403 points; beets—one bush
el, 16 quarts, 256 points; and lima
beans—one bushel (in the pod), nine
quarts, 274 points.
Measured from this standpoint, it
is obvious that the garden will not
only help keep an average-size fam
ily fed in accordance with good
standards of nutrition for the year,
but it will save them from spending
their ration points for foods that
will probably be drastically needed
by families in metropolitan and city
areas who are unable to garden,
Professor Helyar adds.
Commercial Uses for
Our Citrus Fruits
Back in 1920, grapefruit was an in
expensive delicacy. Have you heard
of the woman who boiled one for ]
hours and could not make it tender?*
Today, five times as much grapefruit
is grown and it is well known by
rich and poor.
Our grapefruit is grown most
ly in Florida, Texas, Arizona
and California. California and
Florida produce 97 per cent of
our oranges and virtually all
lemons are grown in California.
These citrus fruits are U9ed al
most entirely for food, but there
is still a great waste from can
ning and marmalade making
and a need to find non-food uses
for culls.
Orange and lemon oil is produced
commercially in California. Grape
fruit oil is a very new product val
ued in the textile industry to fix |
turkey red dye. The peel and
pulp of citrus fruits may also be
come an important source of pectin
which is sold commercially to add
to other fruit juices in making jelly.
It may also be possible to recover
some of the valuable vitamins and
turn them to commercial uses.
Citric acids are being produced for
food flavors and uses in medicine.
Novel food products are appearing
such as citrus powder and citrus
butter. Canning of grapefruit hearts
and juice has been on the increase,
about 62 per cent coming from
Florida canneries and 36 per cent
from Texas
Until the present European war,
the United States was on the way to
developing a fine export trade in
fresh oranges and canned grape
fruit.
Rural Briefs
Cabbage, endive and other plants
that are partly bleached when eaten
contain less vitamin C than the real
ly green vegetables.
• • •
To assure full milk pails next win
ter, many farmers are planning a
thorough feed production and stor
age campaign to get next winter’s
stock of feed stuffs into their barns |
by October 15.
ON THE
FRONT
SPEARS Q
npHE unit in the upper sketch
is the handiwork of two ama
teurs; one using hammer and saw,
and the other doing plain sewing.
The size of your radio, your tall
books and short books, as well as
the things to be stored behind the
doors will govern the proportions
of the end units. Make a rough
plan on paper first with all dimen
sions indicated. If you do not have
SAME
COUCH
WITH NEW
COVER,
BEDDING
COMPART
MENT AND
S MODERN
UNITS
AT THE
I ENDS
HINGED LID_,
STUDIO COUCH WITH
SMALL TASLES AND f
NO STORA6S SPACE k
SLIDE COUCH
UNDER BEDDING
COMPARTMENT!
the tools for making grooves the
shelves may rest on metal angles
screwed to the sides of the unit.
These angles are useful also for
strengthening the corners.
The construction of the bedding
compartment is shown in the low
er sketch. The padding is cotton
batting and the covering is tacked
in place through a lath strip.
• • •
NOTE—Complete directions for various
types of slipcovers will be found in SEW
ING Book 1. To get a copy send name
and address with 15 cents direct to:
MRS. RUTH WYETH SPEARS
Bedford Hills New York
Drawer 10
Enclose 15 cents for Book No. 1.
Name .
Address .
Whales Once on Land
Whales once lived on land. It
is estimated that 100,000,000 years
elapsed before they changed from
land animals to marine animals.
Whales and their cousins—por
poises and dolphins—are the only
species of mammals that bear and
rear their young in the water.
MEDICATED
POWDER FOR
FAMILY USE
Soothe itch of simple
rashes with Mcxsana,
formerly Mexican
Heat Powder. Relieve
diaper rash, hc#t rash.
Acid Indigestion
Relieved in 5 minutes or double money back
When excess stomach acid causes painful, suffocat
ing gas. sour stomach and heartburn, doctors usually
prescribe the fastest-acting medicines known for
symptomatic relief—medicines like those in Hell-ana
Tablets. No laxative. Bell-ans brings comfort in t
jiffy or double your money back on return of bottla
to ua. 26c at all druggists.
Gather Your Scrap; h
^ Throw It at Hitler!
SNAPPY FACTS
ABOUT
RUBBER
Neither South American sources of
natural rubber nor axpontloa of
Guayulo Cryptostegla and all
other rubber-bearing shrub pro
duction will produce any large
amount of satisfactory rubber far
some years, according to govern
ment agencies.
In 1$41, 86 per cent of all travel by
Americans was in cars.
No gas! No carsl Ban on pteaswo
driving brought a drop of about
80 per cent in the passongor cars
on tho streets of New York City.
Jay w alkers had a holiday in tho
automobile deserted main streets.
Five In a car Instead of Just the
driver and one passenger means that
8 tires are saved, if tho average of
three cars to five war plant workers
is considered. The amount oi rubber
in 8 tires is enough for 72 gas ma As,
or for life rafts and rubber life jackets
for 8 plane crews.
|RFGoodrkh I