WEEKLY NEV/S ANALYSIS
Smashing Blows Against Axis Mapped
By Highest Allied Military Strategists;
Wheat Subsidy Payments Established;
4-H Club Congress Marks Record Year
(EDITOR’S NOTE: When opinion* ar* tiprmtl In the** column*, thejr ar* lho*e *f
Western Newspaper t'nlon’* now* analyst* and not necessarily of this newspaper.)
— n — Released by Western Newspaper Union. ___________
Left to right! Stalin, FDR and Churchill.
Nerer had tha rumor mill* boon »o busy grinding out stories as in
thasa days preceding tha official announcemant of the meeting of tha
heads of state of United States, Russia, Great Britain and China. First
semi-official clearance on tha announcement came through a story re
leased by Reuters (British news agency) which indicated that these
leaders were meeting in the Near East.
Political problems of the final phase of the war in Europe and the
subsequent peace were tha main topics of discussion. A story out of
Stockholm, Sweden, reported that President Roosevelt, Prime Minister
Churchill and President Chiang Kai-shek of China conferred first in the
shadows of Egypt's pyramids before proceeding to the discussions with
Premier Stalin.
In tho first conference the relationship of the three nations to the
war in the Far East kept the leaders busy. But when Stalin and his staff
entered tho picture the more immediate questions concerning Germany's
status occupied the spotlight.
COAL:
Raised Prices
While southern operators balked
at signing the new contract calling
(or a nine-hour day, with pay (or
49 minutes travel time, Stabilizat'on
Director Fred Vinson authorized
average increase* of 17 cents a ton
(or bituminous and <12 cents a ton
(or anthracite coal to cover the ex
tra wage costs.
Formulated by Interior Secretary
Harold Ickes and United Mine Work
er Chie(tain John L. Lewis, the new
pact was attacked by the southern
operators as failing to provide eight
hours o( production in cases where
more than 49 minutes are required
(or travel. Replying. Ickes said an
nouncement o( the new contract
was (ollowed by a record output of
12,700,000 tons in one week, tops (or
19 years.
Although th& price increase on soft
coal averages 17 cents a ton, actual
costs vary (rom 10 cents in Ala
bama, parts of Georgia and Ten
nessee, and Utah and Montana, to
90 cents in Michigan and California
and part of New Mexico.
WHEAT SUBSIDIES:
Payments Set
To hold down the price of bread,
government agencies moved in two
directions, with the Defense Supplies
corporation announcing wheat sub
sidy payments to millers and the
OPA establishing flour ceilings.
For all wheat ground in the Pacific
coast area, the DFS will pay 14 cents
a bushel. Outside of the Pacific
region, 16 cents per bushel will be
paid on hard wheat, 514 cents a
bushel on soft wheat, and 0 cents a
bushel on durum wheat.
As a basis for payment, DFS an
nounced that millers must subtract
the current market prices for wheat
from the price used by OPA in fig
uring flour ceilings. Payments will
be made to millers each month, with
disbursements based on the rate in
effect at the time the flour is sold.
Flour Ceilings
Under new OPA regulation, maxi
mum price* were established for all
kinds of wheat flour on the millers'
level, with the family product rang
ing from $3.70 a hundred pounds in
western Colorado to $5.23 in North
Carolina.
Prices on hard wheat flour are
highest in the Middle West produc
ing section, with Iowa's ceilings on
low and high protein output $3.31 and
$3.38 per hundred pounds: Illinois,
Wisconsin and northern Michigan,
$3.34 and $3.54, and Minnesota, $3.34
and $3 54, plus a proportional rail
rate from Minneapolis.
Delivered prices on cake flour and
other soft wheat bakery flour milled
in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Mon
tana, Wyoming, North Dakota. Min
nesota, Wisconsin or Iowa were set
at $3.67 and $3.77 a hundred pounds,
plus the rail rate from Spokane.
In other states, prices vary from
$4 to $4.90 for cake flour, and $3.10
and $4.31 for soft wheat bakery flour.
ITALY:
Allies Gain
Rallying under Gen. Bernard
Montgomery's cry of "On to Rome!”
Britain’s Eighth ermy smashed into
the eastern anchor of the Germans'
winter line In southern Italy, ad
vancing under cover of heavy artil
lery and aerial bombardment.
Shaken by the fury of Montgom
ery's usual tactics of massing su
perior fire power on enemy positions
and then moving forward after
lengthy barrages, the German lines
buckled, and the Eighth army took
the whole of the high ridge overlook
ing the tiny Sangro river and its flat
valley.
The Eighth army’s drive focused
on the Adriatic coastal port of Pes
cara. from whence a highway cuts
across the Italian peninsula to
Rome. By sweeping northward, the
British also threatened to work to
the rear of the Germans’ mountain
posts to the west, where Lieut. Gen.
Mark Clark’s Fifth army bucked
against stiff defenses guarding the
85 mile road to Rome.
4-H:
Nation's Finest
Healthy, apple-checked young ru
ral America met for the 22nd nation
al 4-H Club congress in Chicago,
there to hear that the club’s 1,700,
000 members had raised five million
bushels of war garden produce, nine
million poultry, 90,000 head of dairy
cattle, 600.000 head of livestock, 12
million pounds of peanuts, soybeans
and other legumes, and canned 15
million jam of products.
In addition to their production
feats, the 800 delegates learned that
during the last year, 4-H members
sold or purchased more than $25,000,
000 worth of war bonds and stamps
and collected more than 300 000,000
pounds of scrap, Summerville,
Georgia’s, pretty 17-year-old Helen
Louis Owings alone sold $699,000 ir.
war bonds.
At the congress were 17-year-old
Billy Sol Estes, Clyde, Texas, whose
six years of 4-H work have netted
him $28,739, and 18-year-old Geneva
Duhm, who has collected $1,626,
chiefly in products.
SOUTH PACIFIC:
Bloody Fighting
The Gilberts ours after the blood
iest fighting in the marines' long his
tory, attention was focused on other
Jap outposts in the Pacific, including
their great naval base of Truk in
the Carolines to the northwest.
In New Guinea, Australian troops
continued to beat their way through
the brushy hills up the east coast,
while on Bougainville in the Solo
mons, waves of bombers supported
U. S. marines picking their way
through the Japs’ jungle strongholds.
On bloody Tarawa after the ma
rines’ valiant victory, Admiral Ches
ter Nimitz said: ”1 have learned
more than I ever knew of what the
Japs can do. I am highly Impressed
by the highly organized defense of
this small island and the large num
ber of troops they had on it.”
HIGHLIGHTS • . . the U'eek’a
newt
JEEPS: The first used jeeps have
been purchased by a Chicago sec
ond-hand truck dealer. He obtained
10 of the sturdy little cars by putting
in his order early. He intends to
resell them, asking that customers
pledge to buy at least a thousand
dollars' worth of war bonds per
jeep. Seven have already been sold,
involving pledges to purchase some
$50,000 worth of bonds.
WHISKY: Liquor commission* of
Oregon and Washington—two states
that sell spirituous liquors through
state-operated stores—have been un
able to purchase a stock of whisky
lately. The two commissions decid
ed to buy two Kentucky distilleries.
The whisky will be bottled In Ken
tucky. Each state will obtain about
500,000 cases during the next 18
months.
RUSSIA:
Keep Ukrainian Grip
Holding their grip on the western
Ukraine. German forces struck back
at the Russians to retake the vital
rail hub of Korosten in their slow
drive on Kiev.
Capture of Korosten gave the'Ger
mans their second important com
munications point in the region, the
rail center of Zhitomir having pre
viously fallen. Both centers are situ
ated on Russia's last north-south rail
line, and also command lines run
ning west into prewar Poland.
As the Germans Increased their
pressure on the rich rural province
of Kiev which they have always fan
cied, they pulled their lines in to the
north, approximately 300,000 Nazis
reportedly retiring from Gomel. As
they fell back, the RedL tried futile
ly to seal off their escape corridor.
In the Crimea which commands
the Black Sea, the Axis were report
ed withdrawing Rumanian troops,
thousands already having been evac
uated.
CIVILIAN SUPPLIES:
Picture Brightening
In a move which it deemed as
protection against shortages of ma
terials essential to the prosecution
of the war, the army put huge stocks
of surplus materials on sale, while
the office of civilian requirements
granted repair men larger alloca
tions of metals.
Issuance of catalogs to guide
manufacturers in bidding for the
goods reveals that sales will include
a variety of items ranging from
hammers to buckles.
From the 830th army air force
specialized depot in Memphis. Tenn.,
catalogs listed such salable ma
terial as fuel pumps, refueling fun
nels, drain cans, lubricators, manu
al and hydraulic jacks, and preci
sion tools for carpenters, plumbers
and machinists.
Under the office of civilian require
ments ruling, electricians, plumbers,
blacksmiths, radio, upholstery and
farm machinery repair shops are
permitted to buy up to 20 tons of
carbon and alloy steel, 500 pounds
of copper and brass products, and
200 pounds of aluminum In certain
forms. Once scarcer than a hen's
tooth, copper wire will be available
for limited use.
• • •
Loat on a dive-bombing attack on
a Yangtze river port in China Octo
Lieut.
Tom Harmon
ber 30, Michigan’s
former All-America
halfback, Lieutenant
Tom Harmon picked
his way back to Al
lied linen from Jap
dominated territory.
For Lieutenant
Tom It wan the
aecond time that he
had bobbed up after
a flight crash. Last
April, be bailed
from a bomber dis
abled In a rain
storm over tropical
French New Guinea.
Slashing his way
through the Jungle,
he met obliging natives who then
guided him to a settlement.
CANADA:
To Resettle Vets
To give its returning soldiers the
opportunity to get into productive
enterprise after the war, the Cana
dian government will spend upwards
of 400 million dollars to buy land
and chattels to resell to vets at 53
per cent of total cost.
Under the Canadian Land Vet
erans act. maximum cost of land and
buildings is $4,800 and of chattels
$1,200. Of the $0,000 outlay, the vet
will subscribe a minimum of $480.
or 10 per cent of the cost of land
and buildings, then pays off the bal
ance of $3,200, or two-thirds of the
cost of land and buildings, at 3t4 per
cent interest.
Designed to accommodate 100,000
vets, plans call for confining full
time farm operations to experienced
hands, with other kinds of trades
men allowed to purchase small
homes with acreage outside of ur
ban areas at a cost of $2,500 to $4,000.
WORLD RELIEF:
V. S. Takes Lead
To the U. S. will go the lion's
share of providing funds for the
billion dollar United Notions Relief
and Rehabilitation administration
program adopted in meetings at At
lantic City, N. J.
Aim of the UNRRA under General
Director Herbert Lehman 6f the U.
S., is to feed and clothe the im
poverished masses in countries
wrested from the Axis; resettle peo
ple shifted to other localities by the
Axis in their native lands, and to
offer means for reconstructing farms
and industry.
With unoccupied countries figured
to contribute 1 per cent of their na
tional income for the UNRRA work,
the U. S. will advance approximate
ly 1% billion dollars; the United
Kingdom, about 320 million dollars;
and Canada 90 million dollars.
LEND-LEASE
Up to August 31, 1943, Australia
has contributed goods and services
valued at over a quarter billion dol
lars in reverse lend-lease to the Unit
ed States. Much of this repayment
is in form of food for U. S. soldiers
stationed In and around Australia.
A total of 146,298 tons of food and
eight million clothing items were
piovided.
Other lend-lease goods included
technical equipment, trucks, air
craft supplies, and communications
supplies.
Washington Digest;
Today's Battlefield Victims
Get Speedy, Effective Care
Blood Plasma, Sulfonamides and Organiza
tion of Medical Services Insure Prompt
Treatment of Wounded Men.
By BAUKHAGE
News Analyst and Commentator.
W.'iU Service, Union Trust Building
Washington, D. C.
A young reserve officer friend of
mine came up to say goodby to me
a year and a half ago. He flattered
me by asking for my advice before
he went into active service.
I knew he wanted to see action.
He had refused a desk job in Wash
ington. I knew he wanted to do the
job and get home to his wife and
babies.
So I said: "Hope for a light wound
and you'll hope for the best.”
Of course, nobody would try to fol
low such advice but my friend got
the wound (and a medal for bravery
too) and now he’s back in civvies
again.
He doesn’t like what the Jap bullet
did to his leg for he'll play no more
tennis or handball but his wife has a
live, if lame, husband and his chil
dren have something beside a pic
ture and a piece of ribbon to call
"daddy.”
When I gave that sage advice, I
didn't know how smart I was.
"The wounded soldier In this
global war, though he is exposed to
almost every health hazard known
to man, still has a better chance of
surviving and returning safely home
than ever before,” says Maj. Gen.
Norman Kirk, surgeon-general of
the army. .
The general gave three reason*:
first, the use of blood plasma to
avoid shock and hemorrhage; sec
ond, the use of sulfonamides to com
bat infection; and third, the mobility
and organization of the medical
services which insure prompt and
efficient medical and surgical treat
ment.
The Reaaone
I heard of widespread use of blood
plasma first in the Spanish Civil war
and Imagine much valuable experi
ence was gained from that conflict.
We know it was a proving ground
for Nazi and Fascist killing and un
doubtedly the Allies profited by the
efforts in life-saving as welL
The use of sulfa drugs is one of
the great blessings which modern
chemistry has given us. Recently I
stood in one of the plants of the
Monsanto Chemical company in St.
Louis, Mo., letting the soft, healing
powder drip through my fingers. Be
fore me, in a space hardly 25 feet
square, was a collection of small
kegs containing this wonderful anti
septic. There was enough within
my easy reach to serve the whole
Sicilian campaign, they told me.
Each soldier has his packet and fills
his wound with it. It stymies the
germs until natural processes anni
hilate them.
The mobility of the medical units
has been described in many dis
patches and you have all seen photo
graphs of the flying hospitals, the
great air transports with their equip
ment and nurses. The wounded are
rapidly returned to bases where they
get the best of care. Treatment on
naval vessels is equally effective.
It must be understood that the
drugs and the plasma in themselves
are not cure-alls. They are not
even cures in many cases. They
are preventatives. They are what
you “do with" until the doctor comes
—more accurately, until you come to
the doctor. Surgery is necessary in
j the cases of most wounds.
Capt. W. M. Craig, chief of sur*
gery at the Nava! Medical center,
Bethesda, Md.t just outside of Wash
ington, puts it succinctly:
"In the last war, when a man’s
head was cut open by a shell frag
ment," says Captain Craig, "the sur
geon had to operate at once, even
though the patient was in such a
weakened condition that he hadn’t
one chance in a hundred to survive
the operation. The surgeon had no
other choice: he knew if he waited,
infection would set in and that would
be the end. In this war it Is differ
ent; the patient is given blood plas
ma treatment to build him up, sulfa
to check infection, and if his condi
| tion permits, he is flown to a hos
i pital in the rear where the operation
is performed under ideal condi
j tions.”
Short Time Lag
In the last war, all wounded had
to have a powerful injection, a most
painful thing to endure, and nowhere
near as effective as modern treat
ment.
The army estimates that 80 to 90
per cent of the wounded get first-aid
treatment within an hour of being
wounded. Ships are well equipped,
the larger ones as well as a hospital.
The man with a not too serious
wound, and that is by far the ma
jority of cases (amputations are in
cluded), has a splendid chance for
recovery and a resumption of his
natural existence in civil life when
he is discharged.
In two categories this war has
been harsher than any preceding.
There is a greater proportion of
killed in action to wounded. Also the
mental casualties are higher in the
present war.
Careful efforts have been made to
screen out ♦hose showing character
istics indicating they are unable to
stand up under the mental strain
of modern warfare. More might
have been held out of service if the
psychiatrists had been able to carry
out their plans. They would btwe
been able to do so if there had be*.n
as thorough an understanding of that
branch of medical science as there
will be after the war. And because
of that fact, more of the mental
cases will be restored to normal.
The reason for the increased num
ber of mental cases is variously ex
plained: our troops have endured
longer periods of offensive action
than in the last war; the increased
fury of modern warfare; the domi
nation of the machine, and also, to
some degree, the complications of
civilian life which encourage neu
rotic conditions.
The science of warfare has moved
forward with seven-league boots.
Killing has become a mass produc
tion affair. But along with the char
iot of Mars, Mercury has advanced
on winged feet and the healing arts
have progressed to the point where
for those who escape the scythe of
the grim reaper there is a strong,
helping hand along the road back.
• • •
Crowned Head»
Prove Headaches
After the last war, some poetically
minded writer penned an editorial
which had wide circulation entitled:
“The Twilight of the Kings.’’ Many
a throne had tumbled as a result of
that last conflict, names that were
written large in history, faded until
they were less than memories—Ho
henzollern, Hapsburg, Romanoff, not
to mention a host of lesser majesties.
But some who survived are to
day problems of the United Nations,
like plebiscites, famine, frontiers,
lend-iease, airways and a thousand
other annoying questions that must
be settled when peace comes.
Of course, kings are not to be
I shrugged away lightly. Some of
America's best friends are kings.
But there are crowned heads who
are bound to be headaches for the
uncrowned brows of the statesmen
who have to put the world together
again.
There is the House of Savoy, for
Instance. The king of Italy has been
a problem. So are Balkan poten
tates in exile or in cahoots with Hit
ler.
About King Carol
One most romantic monarch who
is likewise exceedingly dynamic is
ex-King Carol of Rumania. Recent
ly. I received a communication from
him. It looked like a telegram but
it was not that intimate—it was
mimeographed. It contained a state
ment of some kind. I have forgotten
the exact nature of it.
But the other day, its source was
revealed when a certain publicity or
ganization registered with the de
partment of justice as all organiza
tions representing foreign elements
must. It developed that Carol had
arranged to try to encourage the
good will of Americans by hiring
this agent for $35,000 (ten grand
down, the rest in easy payments)
to express Carol’s views, all to be
democratic and pro-Ally.
But the interesting implication is
that one of the jobs of the press
agent is to remove the "ex" from
the title "ex-king" which seems to
have attached itself to Madame Lu
pescu’s husband.
And there is a roll-back which
only the temerity of an American
press agent would grapple with!
BRIEFS . .
by Baukhage
Season's Greetings, accompanied
by a check, have been mailed by
| the Santa Fe railway to its more
than 8,000 employees, who are sta
tioned in this country or throughout
the world.
• • •
The national income produced In
the United States in September was
i the highest monthly figure on rec
I ord. It amounted to $12,536,000,000.
Black market opera'ions in occu
pied France have reached the point
where color shades are being used to
distinguish reasonable from unrea
sonable illegal trade.
• • •
The American people have been
asked by the Office of War Utilities
to confine Christmas lighting deco
rations to Christmas trees inside
private homes.
Crib Traditional Christmas
Mark in Southern Europe
The Christmas Crib is as traditionally a part of Christmas
in southern Europe as is the Christmas tree in the northern
countries. In France, it is the Creche—or Cradle; in Italy, the
Praesepe — or Manger; in Germany, Krippe or Crib; in
Czechoslovakia, Jeslicky; and in Spain, the Nacimiento—or
Nativity Scene.
From the earliest years of Christianity priests and religi
ous leaders interpreted the Bible by literal representation of
plays, tableaux, etc., because of the lack of books and wide
spread inability to read. However, the first Crib was set up
in 1223 by St. Francis Assisi.
St. Francis received special per
mission from the Pope to erect his
‘Praesepe” in the village of Grec
cio, near Assisi. This first Crib was
an immediate sensation. Set up in
a stable, it was complete with live
animals, etc. Greccio became fa
mous for its Crib and miraculous
cures were attributed to the proven
der of the animals.
One of the most famous Cribs in
the world was built by the Capuchin
monks, the shrine of the Madonna
delle Grazie, situated in a grotto
and surrounded by galleries of Sar
dinian cork giving a mountainous
effect Wooden figures, carved by
the noted artists Gaggini and Ma
ragliani, were arranged to move in
procession to the Manger. Other
celebrated Cribs include the one at
Caserta, Italy, where the most fa
mous Bambino in the world is an*
nually laid in the Manger amid tra
ditional pomp and solemnity, and
the Krippe at Oberammergau, where
the figure of the Christ-Child has
been a possession of the Lange fam
ily for many generations.
During the Renaissance the pre
sentation of the Crib became in
creasingly elaborate. The figures
were more realistic and richly
dressed, the devotional shrines and
processions becoming highly ornate
pageants.
Later, Naples was famed as the
city of Cribs. Every church had
its "Praesepe” and families erected
evergreen shrines on the fiat roof
tops of their dwellings, the back
ground being dominated by Vesu
vius and the beautiful starlit Neo
politan sky.
Charming Yuie Legend Tells Story
Of Village's First Christmas Candle
At Christmas, millions of little candles suddenly spring into being all
over it seems—on Christmas trees, on so many of our Christmas cards,
in the shop windows and in our homes. In these days of fluorescent and
neon lighting the candles often take on the form of a 25-watt bulb--never
theless, they definitely contribute just the right touch of reverence and
gaiety to the holiday season.
True, the custom of lighting candles in remembrance of the Star of
Bethlehem claims deep religious significance. But Christmas has also
come to be a children's festival, and wherever there are children there
is legend weaving.
And there is i charming legend that long, long ago in Austria, there
lived an old shoemaker In a little cottage on the edge of a village. Al
though this humble man had very lit*
tie, whether for himself or to share
with others, his goodness of heart was
such that each evening he placed In
his window a lighted candle as a sign
of welcome to weary travelers who
might he asking shelter.
War came to the village and fam
ine, yet the little light never wavered.
Each night it took its place to send
forth its beam as a message of cheer
to forlorn wayfarers.
It was wintertime and the suffer
ing was acute. Great hardships came.
Sons died in battle. Animals starved
for want of grain. Yet always, some
how the old shoemaker suffered less
than others. It was almost as though
there were a splendid charm upon
him. At last the peasants gathered
together and said: “Surely there is
something different about him that he
U spared. What does he do that we do not do? Perhaps it ia his little
! candle. Let ua, too, place lights in our windows.”
And the day the peasants took counsel was the day before Christmaa,
: and the first night the candles were set to burn in all the windows was
! Christmas Eve.
When morning came It was as though a miracle had happened. A
I soft mantle of snow covered the village like a gentle blessing, bnt there
was something more—a new air of peace and hope. And before the son
I had cast Its first bright gleam on the spire of the village church there
came a messenger riding to bring the great, glad news of peace. The
ehnrch bells chimed and the people knelt In prayer and there was a feel
ing ef Christmas glory such as there had not been In many years.
The peasants were awed. ”It was the candles,” they whisDC’-ed.
"They have guided the Christ Child to our doorsteps. We must never
again fail to light candles on His Birthday.”
From such a long ago beginning this beautiful custom has become
! very dear to our hearts. So dear in fact that year after year we light
our candles on Christmas Eve, and year after year, the holiday greeting
cards we exchange with our friends and loved ones carry the proud
motif of the Christmas candle. And this year the candles will still burs
bright, their light sending forth hope and cheer for the peaceful world that
soon must come.
There are scores of other legends surrounding the widespread use of
candles at Christmas time—and all of them have a simple beauty which
appeals to children and adults alike. The stories are told in every lan
I guage.
‘Yule* Is Ancient Word
Yale, as another name for the
Christmas season, is of great an
tiquity and its actual derivation is
still a matter of dispute. Some
philologists hold to the theory that
the term is derived from the Anglo
Saxon “hweol” (wheel). They be
lieve the wheel is related to the
j erroneous primitive conception of
the circular path described by the
sun during its annual journey around
the earth.
Irish Light Candle to
Guide Christ Child
An old Irish legend tells that some
times on Christmas Eve Mary and
the Christ Child wander abroad seek
ing shelter. Fearful lest they might
seek in vain, as they did in Bethle
hem long ago, a lighted candle is
placed in every window to guide
them to a place of refuge. These
are left burning through the night,
gleaming into the darkness, guid
ing any wanderer.
