Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 13 February 1942 — Page 1

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VOLUME 53—NUMBER 291

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FORECAST: Little change in temperature this afternoon and tonight.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1942

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The War and You—

RADIO PLANTS ORDERED INTO ARMS OUTPUT

Equipment and Labor May, Be Seized, Is Warning

To Manufacturers.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 (U. P) — The War Production Board today ordered all radio manufacturers to convert their facilities to war production within four months. R. R. Gutbrie, assistant chief of the WPB Bureau of Industry branches, told 55 radio set manufacturers that if they had not converted within “three or four months from now,” the Government might have to break up their plant, equipment, labor and management and shift them “to war production.” Mr. Guthrie said it is expected that a major part of the conversion will be accomplished by May. The industry did a $200.,000.000 civilian business last year. Its civil-

ian output already has been cut

approximately 40 per cent. |

Local Druggists Bar ‘Nuisance Deliveries’

“Nuisance deliveries” such as two! package: of cigarets and a favorite;

magazine by your druggist are out— Delivery of essentia! sick-room| supplies will be coniinued— Beginning Wednesday, drug stores will make a chaige of 5c on any delivery below $1, excepting the sick-room supplies. These are the highlights of a program to conserve equipment designed by the Indianapolis Association of Retail Druggists and announced today by its secretary, Albert C. Fritz. “Although not a government order to curtail deliveries, the druggists realized that it would be impossible to get new eguivment. There will be, however, no charge on prescriptions, hospital supplies! or deliveries to any hospita’, den-} tist’s or physician's office,” Mr. Fritz said.

s , through a test three] weeks ago, that an appeal to the

CRIS FACED

In a statenfent appealing for im-| | mediate

| (This picture was passed by censor.)

financial help for the or-

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An American soldier, member of the American Expeditionary Force, enjoys a mug of tea on a dockside, in “a Northern Eire port.”

Real Silk Stock “Spurts 3 Points

nihilation in the first year of a war! and that their importance in main-

buyers to cease “nuisance deliveries” taining morale is appreciated only.

was largely ignored.

Higher Income Tax Tax Rate Urged

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 (U. P.). —The Administration, searching for annual war revenue of $27.000.000.000, today offered a plan for increasing the taxes of everyone except the very poor whose earnings “are no more than enough to maintain health and morale.” The financing program outlined by Chairman Marriner S. Eccles of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, called for: 1. Reduction of personal exemp-| tions, and “great increases” in indi- | vidual income tax rates. 2. Steep increases in corporation

to collect part of individual income |

taxes at the source, or from pay|Present war is being waged,” Dr.

envelopes. ! 4 Extension of excise taxes to! “an increasing number of articles.” 5. Closing of “glaring Toopirojes” | in tax laws: i 6. Government borrowing from “current incomes of individuals and! corporations.”

“We looking taxes, especially excess profits levies, | the fact

3. Addition of a withholding tax| the great music of lof the principles

|after a nation adjusts itself to “the.

Fifteen meh who along with Dr. Clowes comprise the board of diree-

ci i, ogniz that the pe: of is one or wher ti said. ; “We think, too; that everyone! (Continued on Page Four) LOCAL TEMPERATURES . 32 19am ... 25 32 Nam: ...92

. 23 12 (neon)... 29 . 33 ipm. 30

Appellate Court Sustains Provisions of Deeds.

The Appellate Court ruled in ef-

{fect today that no liquor may be

E51, 131 fi

“inequitable to enforce the restrietion as to the sale of intoxicating

beverages.”

.|which are not now confronted with

, formed by agencies not concerned

boys where to start curtailing, the

NONMILITARY STAFFS PARED

Calls for Survey to Put More Men at Work on

War Duties.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 (U. P). —President Roosevelt today directed heads of non-military government agencies to determine at once how many men they can release for war work. He said that excess personnel must be “effectively channeled” into defense jobs. But he placed on Congress the responsibility of eliminating functions of non-military agencies which may be considered unessential. Mr. Roosevelt told a press conference he had sent a directive to agency heads ordering them to “survey every operational activity! and determine those employees who may be promptly released for employment in other agencies” more directly involved in the war. Criticizes Bright Boys He pointed out that the extension of the work week to 44 hours in most Government agencies had greatly augmented the man-hours of Federal employment. But agencies which were adequately staffed on the basis of the 38-hour week, and

an increase in work programs, are now overstaffed, he atided. “It is imperative that this manpower be immediately capitalized and effectively channeled into deActua) elimination of services per-

directly with the war can be carried out only by Congress, he said. He then launched into a sarcastic discussion of bright boys, as he termed them, who scream for blanket curtailment of all non-war Federal expenditures, Queried on CCC But just ask one of these bright

President said, and he will dismiss it as a mere detail not of his concern. Mr. Roosevelt included in his jdesignation of bright boys some unnamed members of Congress and similarly unidentified newspaper columnists. The President was asked whether he regarded as essential the Na{tional Youth Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps. | Mr. Roosevelt replied that the NYA was turning out from 80,000

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the War Fronts

LONDON: Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen, leading German battle fleet, escape from Brest through English channel. Churchill's government rocked by Singapore and channel events.

SINGAPORE: British hold out on battle lines three miles outside Singapore.

PHILIPPINES: Japanese planes mistakenly attack own lines, inflicting heavy casualties.

RANGOON: Jap drive into Burma halted temporarily by one defeat at Paan; new battle

raging. BATAVIA: Dutch admit Macas-

sar's fall imminent.

AUSTRALIA: Parliament called for special war session Feb. 20.

WASHINGTON: U. S. announces fleet destroyed 15 to 17 Jap ships, 41 Jap planes and extensive shore installations in Marshall and Gilbert island attack.

RUSSIA: Red Army reported rolling into White Russia, 400 miles from Moscow.

M'ARTHUR MEN URGE ‘MOP-UP'

Bataan Defenders Clamor To Take Offensive

Against Japs.

By FRANK HEWLETT United Press Staff Correspondent WITH GEN. MacARTHUR, Feb.

13.—Cocky American and Filipino veterans of six weeks war against Japan clamored today for U. S. troops to take the offensive after outwitting, out-fighting and mopping up more than 1000 crack Japanese troops lanced behind their lines on the Bataan coast. I have just finished a tour of all our front lines, where I found morale at top-notch levels and the position of Gen. Douglas MacArthur's gallant corps seems to be the strongest since it first withdrew into Bataan Province.

to 90,000 trained mechanical defense workers every three months. Most CCC enrollees are not eligible for the draft, he said. He added that the total strength of the CCC had been greatly reduced. The remaining CCC boys, he said, are being rehabilitated for defense jobs, if not for posts in the front lines of military service.

“TIMES FEATURES ON INSIDE PAGES

Obituaries ,. 10 Pegler ....... 22 ciseissee A

Schools Serial Story . 31 Side Glances . 22 Society. .23, 24, 25

In Indpls. ... 3 Inside Indpls. 21 Jane Jordan. 25

Enemy Fliers Bomb

Their Own Men

WASHINGTON, Feb, 13 (U, P.). —Japanese dive bombers have aided Gen. Douglas MacArthur's beleaguered forces on Bataan Peninsula by mistakenly bombing and machine gunning their own infantry, the War Department revealed today. This attack by their own planes caused “heavy casualties” to the Japanese group forces, This twist in the Philippine fight-

ine occurred as Japanese forces . 18

stepped up the tempo of their patrol actions against MacArthur’s defenders of Bataan, apparently in an effort to feel out spots for the contemplated: all-out effort to force them off the peninsula. There was “aggressive enemy patrol action.” Victims of the erroneous Japanese attack were elements of the 122d Japanese regiment of Gen. Akira Nara's 65th division. Two Japanese dive bombers were

Johnson ..... 22{Sports ....26, 27 Millett Stage 16

Model Planes. 11|State Deaths. 10

shot down by MacArthur'$ anti-air-craft guns,

anapolis Time

Entered as Second-Class Matter at Postolfice, Indianapolis, Ind. Issued daily except Sunday.

RUSS FORCES

DRIVING INTO WHITE RUSSIA

‘Dutch Admit "Macassar’s

Fall Near; Battle Raging

In Burma.

By JOE ALEX MORRIS United Press Foreign Editor Gallant Singapore fought on today against hopeless odds while the British press blazed with angry frustration at the daring with which a Nazi battle fleet had steamed through the English channel waters Britons had called their own since the days of Charles II. The only note of optimism in the day's budget of pessimistic news came from the report of the U. S. Pacific fleet and Russia's drive into White Russia. Still Outside City A communique from the imperial garrison. at Singapore revealed what generally had been suspected—that Axis propagandists were making more rapid progress in overwhelming the British, Australian and Indian troops than were the Japanese attacking forces. The Singapore commander reported that his men still are hold-

"FINAL HOME

PRICE THREE CENTS

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Japs Are Reported Stalled 3 Miles Outside Singapore

| | Doughboy Takes Tea in Eire[f, ]), R. ORDERS On

Latest Sea Hero

U.S. RAID COST JAPS 16 SHIPS

ing lines about three miles outside Singapore city with fierce battles raging in the vicinity of Pasir Pan|jang on the south coast and around the reservoirs northeast of the race course around Ang Mo Kio, three

'41 Planes Also Destroyed

Jan. 31 in Pacific; Admiral Decorated.

miles north of the town. Tokyo Changes Tune

pore town indicated clearly that re-

town are thus far mere propaganda.

eastern third of Singapore island. |be in the vicinity of Seletar air(Continued on Page Four)

2 2 = On Inside Pages Today's War Moves .... Page 12 Nazi Terror in Paris Burma, Russian Fronts ., Indies Front Japan Unmasked

CONGRESS PENSION REPEAL IS SOUGHT

Senate Debate Touched off By ‘Smear’ Charge.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 (U. P.). —Senate administration leaders today opened a drive to repeal the pensions-for-Congress: features of the recent federal retirement law after bitter Senate debate in which one member accused andther of seeking to “smear Congress.” A statement by Senate Democratic Leader Alben W. Barkley of Kentucky, condemning the pensions for elective officers as “unwise,” touched off general debate. Mr. Barkley announced he would vote for repeal, as provided in a bill now pending by Senator Harry F. Byrd (D. Va). The “smear” charge was levelled at Mr. Byrd by Senator Joseph C. O'Mahoney (D. Wyo.), who said the “impressior. has gone out to the country that members of Congress [ere voting themselves immediate | $4000-a-year pensions.”

A report that the Japanese are |shelling and dive-bombing Singa-

ports the enemy has entered the

The communique indicated that the British are holding most of the

Their northern anchor appears to

drome just east of the big naval

By FRANK TREMAINE United Press Staff Correspondent PEARL HARBOR, Feb. 13.—The United States Navy's devastating attack on the Japanese-controlled

Marshall and Gilbert islands Jan. 31, destroying a 17,000-ton aircraft carrier, four other warships, 11 auxiliary vessels and 41 aircraft, served today to lessen the danger of a second attack on Pear! Harbor and to increase the security of allied shipping lanes in the southwest Pacific. “We sure raised hell among those birds,” one sailor said today in summing up the Jan. 31 attack on the Jcpanese Pacific islands where the Navy exacted the first installment of revenge for Pearl Harbor. Official statistics tersely summed up the results as follows: Forty-one Japanese airplanes, including 28 bombers, known de- | stroyed. | - Sixteen Japanese vessels: known (sunk or destroyed, including a mod‘ern cruiser, the liner of the Yawata {class and ‘three big oil tankers. |. Five: to' eight others beached, heavily damaged or possibly sunk. Five hangars destroyed and four airfields damaged. Numerous enemy bases and fa(Continued on Page Four)

DON R. BERLIN JOINS G. M. ENGINEER STAFF

Don R. Berlin, a native of Spencer, Ind, has joined the staff of General Motors Corp. as aeronautical engineer on the staff of O. E. Hunt, vice president of General Motors, it was announced in New York today. Mr. Berlin, who graduated from Purdue in 1921, designed the famous Allison-powered Curtiss P-40 pursuit plane and was ‘director of military engineering for Curtiss wright. He has often visited in Indianapolis with his mother, Mrs. Maude Berlin, 819 W. 44th St, and two sisters, Miss Janice Berlin and Mrs.

P PERILS SHIP LANES §

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FLEET'S DASH FROM BREST STIRS BRITAIN

More Criticism Is Loosed Against Churchill After Defeat.

LONDON, Feb. 13 (U. P.). —The impudent daring of the successful dash of a strong German battle fleet from Brest through the Dover strait despite a fivehour British air and sea ate tack today touched off a new blast of criticism of Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s Cabinet. Torpedo and bomb hits by Brit= ish airplanes apparently damaged some big Nazi warships as the 26,000-ton battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, accompanied by many smaller vessels and hundreds of airplanes, made good their ese cape from the bomb-shattered Brest harbor to a German port.

Admit Attack Fails

But the British admiralty ace knowledged that the five-hour ate tack had failed. Newspapers, indignantly assailing Churchill's conduct of the war, em=

phasized that the Germans can now unite the two dreadnaughts and the cruiser with other naval units in German waters for raids in force into the North Atlantic, Mr. Churchill's own position, it appeared, still is safe, in part bee cause there is no readily available successor. But it was evident that the longcontinued ‘demands that he drase tically reorganize his government, eliminate dead wood and streamline hoary and tradition-festooned procedures couid no longer be Surtten aside by the Churchill ora. ory.

R.A.F. Reports Hits

British pilots officially reported that three or four topedoes struck home and that a big explosion was seen around one of the enemey bate tleships. Audacity and perfect organization on the part of the Germans, unexe plained delay in spotting their fore mation until more than four hours after daylight yesterday, and bad visibility in the channel combined to make the German “suicide dash” a success. Their daring venture, which was achieved by complete surprise, gives the Germans a home-based fleet which, due to the wide dispersal of the American and British fleets,

(Continued on Page Four)

Call LI-6501

If you have a question about Monday's draft registration for men between the age of 20 and 44, call LI-6501. A special information service for the registration has been installed at State Selective Service headquarters Here. Extra operators are on duty so that calls may be answered promptly. The Times will publish a list of the Marion County registration places tomorrow.

L. L. Solmer.

Casey's Ringside Story Of Pacific Coup: ‘Ships Lay Upended In The Placid Lagoon, Their Crews Dead’

By ROBERT J. CASEY

SEA, Feb, 13.—On the horizon behind us the Wotje Island naval base is still afire as it probably will be for cays, a pillar of smoke by day and a pillar of = fire by night 5 The tally of the fleet's catastrophic blitz against the Japanese sea forts in the southwest Pacifie is just about complete and probably by Mr. Casey now the home folks are finding; out something what happened to the imprenable Gilbert and Mar-|

Times Some Jap naval observer is having ‘to clean up among the blasted coral WITH THE PACIFIC FLEET AT reefs of the mandated islands

THA

ily

shalls. It is not a pretty mess that

"feat, virtually more, is

Japanese scout planes in

thé release of some details of what is the war's most perfectly timed and possibly most far-reaching—if

loose beyond the mandate

| tablishment—lay in ruins, its planes

lands—and you'll get some idea of the force of the blow that set the Mikado’s unconvinceable military clique back on its heels. A few hours ago we turned away column of smoke that place of desolated spreading smoke

completely equipped and most elaborate of the farflung Japanese es-

modern, radio station had been destroyed. Powder magazines had been blown up, producing the equivalent of a small earthquake. Ships lay smashed, upended in the placid lagoon, their crews dead. Shops, barracks, warehouses, wharves and boathouses had been obliterated. Half-a-dozen land batteries had been silenced. And now the fuel storage was burning— thousands of tons of oil that might never be replaced.

And all this was the toll on one base—just one of the group with which Japan had hoped to secure the proprietorship of the Marshall islands for all time. There were other islands; some better fortified, some worse, But they all went. You remembered with some satis faction that Pearl Harbor's base

facilities, undamaged by the Dec, 7

|attack, were operating a few hours after the Japs went away—these Marshall bases, now indefensible and far retnoved from supplies and labor material, may never be repaired. : Official descriptions of such operations as this are simple: “We went in under fire from enemy land batteries, surface raiders and dive bombers. In deliberate tempo—to make sure that no ammunition was wasted—we tossed over enough shell onto the enemy bases to disperse their personnel (a thoughtful descriptive word dis perse) and level their installations. “Having done that, we came out and fought submarines for 100 miles and bombers for 200”-—something

like that the communique would read and in the main it would be corrects, What it is drama.

You'd like some hint, for instance, of what the commander of this force had to contend with when he dared to swoop down on these islands with no assurance of what lay ahead of him, digging up their secrets with shell. Youd like to know maybe something about the untried kids at the guns and the untried kids in the planes—and there are other things— We got to our position in front of the atoll which was our objective about dawn after steaming fast all night. We idled for awhile, listening and scanning & sea that was brilliant under a full yellow moon. There were no traces of submarines, no lights or other signs of unusual activity on the western horizon our guarry lay, no

sounds of the Jap Navy. But we 0 Sgianting overhead. find out—that was

ably heaved an appropriate sigh, for this had been a dangerous bit of goe ing not only for us but for other units of the battle force that had swung off fanwise toward the southe erly islands—Jaluit, Melin, Kwaja= lein. There are subs in here—plenty of them—we had advance notice of . that even if we had not needed it so close to an important base. We were well inside the serial patrol zone. were apparently undetected—ape parently— Nobody mentioned it but everye body knew that almost anything might be waiting for us over there in the dive«

dark—torpedo-planes, bombers, land-batteries, bik unite of

But anyway here we i