Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 26 February 1942 — Page 15

a oi, Feb. 26.1 happen to be; here in some. day may be the “Rubber Capital of rica,” and I thought I'd write some pieces about

A Taritt chico last September wade : a thorough survey of our rubber possibilities, and by curling up. for 10 minutes with the commission’s report I have becorne a rubber expert. Out of all my wisdom on the' subject I can draw only one conclusion—we’re in @ mess. There are three ways to get rubber: 1. From trees, most of which ‘are in the Far East. Now gone or rapidly going. 2. Synthetically, 'from coal, lithestone, | oil, ete. Very expen- : ‘and not real rubber, | "3. From the guayule bush, which cin be grown in this country, and is real rubber. New what are the possibilities? ava? +1. It takes a rubber tree seven years to mature, "80 i ‘we were to splatter Central and South America right now with millions of trees the rubbér, consistent th allied ‘policy, would arrive “too lati.”

Big Plant Facilities Needed

. WE COULD EVENTUALLY make huge quanlies of synthetic rubber, quite good enough to serve purpose. However, it requires terrific plant facilif . The tariff commission reports that “from three Ho ve years would be required to construct and equip a. jcient number of plants to supply the rubber sents of the U. 8.”

i Again—too late. { 3. The guayule bush, It could eventually supply our total rubber demands, but like the others, it takes itime. There is not enough seed in existence to start

t off with a bang. The most hopeful estimate

J

Ta INQUIRING of the Power & Light Co. why the street lights sometimes are turned off in the cs while it still is dark, we ran into some eresting data. The turning on and off time is J. ted. out | 0 the minute for a 10-year period when 0d the City signs a street lighting contract.| | The almanac is used to determine the| time of sunrise and sunset, and the lights go on a half hour before sunset and they're turned off |a half hour before sunHae. Sometimes in cloudy weather t’s still dark after the sun climbs he the horizon, and that accounts for the premsture turnoff of the lights some mprnings, The actual turning on and off os is done by an astronomical clock— that operates on a 365-day basis. Every five days ‘slips, or: something else technical occurs, and clock automatically adjusts itself fo take care of the lengthening or shortening of the day. turning on time varies from as early as 4:46 . in early December to:7:44'p. m. in June, while turning off time varies from 3:49 a. m. in late le to 6 :41 a. m. around Christmas time.

gration Starts |

SPRING IS coming soon, judging from the way the ys are flocking back from Florida. | Among the arrivals ase Henry T. Davis, manager of the apoliy Convention Butea, and Mark PF C. A McLaughlin,

3 on the third floor of the I. A. C. And A.

aay at Pt. Lauderdale and is frequenting his d the schools’ business director, is skedded

/ Washington

WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 ~The cry for merchant )s is becoming louder. Energetic action is needed 4 re “the united nations from being choked for ‘ of cargo ships. It does no good to turn out weaporis if we can’t

carry them to the | t fronts —and that Is becoming the big question, The united nations are suffering slow strangulation because there are not enough ships. Prime Minister Churchill advises commons of the most serious increase in shipping losses. The same concern exists here. Production officials : are devoting " much time in conferences now. to finding ways of increasing immediate merchant-ship output. The Ing fangs program is in

Hew &

‘| Reverses in the Far East Have increased the length of ‘haul necessary. The shortage of fighter planes not be overcome without more ships to deliver tis hem Long-range bers can deliver themselves, ut everything else must 80 by ship—and the hauls je fantastically long, most of them some 12,000 miles.

Machine Tool Shortage

| soME ‘SHIPS ARE completed except that they n't get Diesel engines. Some ways have had to stand idle recently because there ‘were no plates. Within a shorg time it is hoped that ‘situation can g cured. | | One trouble was that under - old ‘specifications, ps were of such width that the standard strip which have turned out automobilz sheets could e used, Epesisaions » yre being changed so that

1 spent an hour ‘with

not: been very well, and then I ! / 5pring clothes, though I must ad sot ‘seem very spring-like, It st about as cold and windy

d possibly be, but I have k ahead and be prepared for*

* it will live 50 years or more.

* Whole Bush Ground Up

nside Indianapolis By Lowell Nussbaum

all about us. Many of them, of course, probably grew fo love music through tke youth concerts which Mr.

2 tl & SR o = i? By Ernie

i i sr a Ca

guayule is 1946. Once more—too late. .

However, slow or not, guayule is going to become] . a very prominsdt bush Within the next few years| Incidentally, it is pronounced “y-oo-ly,” with the }

Farmers. all’ through the southwest will ‘be

accent on the “00.” Guayule is a gray-bluish bush about. as high as your knees. It takes it around seven years to get that high, and then it doesn’t get any bigger, though

"It is a desert bush, and needs a little rain in the winter but none in the summer. Like all wise desert plants, it stores up stuff inside to live on in some future drought. In the guayule this stuff happens to be rubber—pure rubber, not gn imitation.

SO FAR AS IS KNOWN, the bush is native only to northern Mexico and southern Texas. It grows wild, but there isn’t enough wild growth to keep us going, for you don’t tap a guayule bush for its sap year after year, You cut it down and grind the whole bush up. However, guayule can be cultivated as a crop like corn or beans or wheat, and that’s what will be done. They've been experimenting with guayule since the first of the century, first in Mexico and then in California. It costs slightly more than East India rubber, but wouldn't if produced on a large scale. All the experimentation has been done by one

private dompany—the Intercontinental Rubber Co.|

It has spent millions, proved that guayule is feasible, yet has deliberately held back production. Why? Well, they say it’s because the company is owned by the world’s great rubber-producing companies: (mainly Dutch) with vast rubber holdings in the Far East. Congress recently passed a bill to buy them out for $2,000,000. Even critics of the company admit they've spent that much or more on experimentation.

up for a month: or two at Tucson, Ariz. sends back one of those tourist folders with a lot of pretty postcard views in it. “Thesé are views like we see from our little Spanish cottage out here on the désert,” he writes. (The views all are of various species of cacti.) It’s pretty desolate out there in the desert, he writes, and he sounds pretty lonely. The address: Route 2, Box 155, Tucson, Ariz.

75 Teachers in Army

THE CITY SCHOOLS have lost about 75 teachers to the armed forces since the defense emergency began, and more will be leaving soon. Three were given leaves of absence at the board meeting Tuesday night. They are Bowman Hall, of Manual’s physical education department; F. M. Howard, of the Howe art department, and Marion K. Mathis, School 8 industrial arts teacher. In addition to the 75 in the military forces, many others have resigned to take defense jobs. . . . Bill Evans, the schools’ safety director, has on his desk a very realistic looking incendiary bomb. It’s just a dummy, though. Tech pupils made the drawings for it, and it was made, bf wood and metal, by Joseph Smith, of the schools’ supply department. Mr. Smith is going to make some “come apart” models to be used in demonstrations at the schools on how to extinguish incendiaries safely.

Artistic License

SOME WAG Has been “improving” the advertising cards on one of. the N. Illinois streetcars. Ribald comments have been added to some of the advertisements, and passengers sometimes are startled to observe, in place of the usual warning, a new admonition: “Please Do Smoke.” Tut, tut, boys. ... Lyman Hunter admits with some pride his ‘ability as a candy maker, . He's especially good at fudge, he confessed at a recent meeting of the Ad Club board. :

By Raymond Clapper

smaller plates can be used, and then additional mill facilities can be utilized. Shortages of turbines, of shafts and other items of equipment are other factors. Part of this trouble goes back to machine-tool shortage. There appears to be drastic need for increasing machine-tool production. It has expanded greatly but not enough. Only a small percentage of the machine-tool industry is working three shifts— probably about 15 per cent. Also, prodding of the maritime commission is being talked of more and more. Some old priorities need overhauling. More use of the automobile industry in pre-fabrication work is being urged.

There. Is One Bright Spot

OFFICIALS HERE ARE thoroughly awake to the situation. That is the most favorable factor. And it is the new fdctor that has come into Washington during the last three months, particularly since President Roosevelt gave Donald Nelson full power. The inside drive has increased tremendously’ through that move. It is breaking-through the red tape and bureaucratic obstruction.

For instance, navy department procurement has been completely overhauled. A hide-bound little group of separate autonomous bureaus each controlled its own procurement. But when congress passed the Overman act, and when Mr. Roosevelt gave Mr. Nelson full powers, it became possible for undersecretary Forrestal to reorganize this archaic system. He a vice admiral in charge of supply and three ci respectively in charge of planning, procurement and production. The key spot is procurement, which is now in charge of a businessman, Frank Folsom. .. He clears all contracts ‘and is the contact point with the war production board. It is a complete unit which could be lifted out-and put into a, ministry of supply if such an organization were to be set up, as many hope it will in time.

By Eleanor Roosevelt

‘ This is a young opera company and the orchestra and the singers are a most refreshing group. Their performance, given in English, was full of life. I discovered for the first time that Mozart's “Cosi Fan Tutte” is really a comic opera, perhaps not quite Gilbert and Sullivan, but certainly full of amusing by-play. The audience, as well as,the actors, seemed to me remarkably young. Service men and students were

"popular. of the operas company, David the people who work on the me-

chanics of this performance, are so enthusiastic, that |. of fa 1 fa evniaaly be 3 vet Soin na we |

EE I inount’ af daly 1 fied tse p and Snjshed a Book whieh I ute shivyed

st forces, looks

Dutch put the torch to the oil of the Indi vaded.. Great blazes and blasts, long prepared for with installations of explosives, swept through the forests of derricks, pumps, storage tanks and refineries even as the enemy parachuted out of the sky or landed on nearby beaches. First to go was the oil of Sarawak, destroyed by the British; then followed Tarakan, Balik Papan and Palembang, as the Dutch scorched earth with the hottest of fires.

Citadel of the Indies

High on a plateau in the mountains of Java is Bandoeng, truly. the ‘citadel of the East Indies. Here is the hub of allied military . . action in the Dutch islands—air bases, military encampments, guns, oll, ammunition, food, supplies for a, long siege. If Batavia, and even the Soerabaja naval base, should fall, the fight would still be far from over on Java. ‘In the equatorial hills that cover that island's southern section, Duis, Amtrisats apa: Austrian fsecoy yet wiie 5 dai} stant’ Vite Vink Of MaSAVEUF: oh BN stan.

when the Japs in-

2 a RE

Sa NSE TESS

This is how war swept through ‘the Indies until Java was ringed by Japs. Enemy’s strategy was to thrust forward a few hundred miles, establish air and sea bases, then attack points farther on within range of these new bases. Cost was great to the invaders, in men and ships; it was also high for the defenders, in land lost and in oil: properties destroyed.

Dutch Vice Admiral Conrad Emil Lambert Helfrich, 55, commands united naval forces at Java, believes “the best defense is offense.”

Out of the north a relentiess Japanese invasion armada forced its way down into the Indies, through

bombs, shells and torpedoes, past the Philippines, Borneo, Celebes and Bali to the very

shores of Java.

At Davao, Dutch and U. S. planes struck hard at massing enemy vessels. But the Jap warships and transports sailed 100 strong into Macassar Strait, where half their number were sunk or damaged and thousands of sailors died in the sea. ‘Off’ Bali’s idyllic beaches scorés more ships of the Rising San sank into the Java sea. ‘Allied bombers roared over enemy f{ransports; U. S. destroyers matched their guns with Jap warships; Dutch subs dispatched torpedoes to stem the flow of the Yellow Tide.

WAR IMPROVES FACTORY LOOKS

Impressive Beauty Born Out of Need. for Speed, Architect Writes.

By DAVID DIETZ Scripps-Howard Science Editor One permanent change in American life that is already emerging from the war is a new type of industrial architecture.

signed and “built. in the minimum of time. And out-of this has come new and impressive beauty.

scribed by: Albert Kahn of Detroit, regarded by many as the country’s leading ' industrial ‘architect. Mr. Kahn has designed more than 50 defense projects, including the Wright aeronautical plant in Cincinnati, largest building in the world: the Chrysler tank arsenal in Detroit,” a number “of plants for

Bases in Hawaii, Alaska and Puerto Rico, .

v Nonessentials Are Out

“Hlimination of nonessentials and o: all else save the ‘purely utilitarian is ‘imperative in these structures,” Mr. Kahn says. “But the: very observance: of these requirements contained an element. which made for = attractive ‘external effect, It

{made “for grandeur and dignity in structures.

these mammoth. “Just as the mere clothing of the

for line and a sense of fit--an object of beauty,

War plants have had to be de-|

How this was achieved is de-|

General Motors and Ford, and air|

modern airplane by desigriers with|

HOLD EVERYTHING

“Why don’t you do something so I can Be proud of you? Look at my sister’s boy friend—he’s been promoted to court-martial!”

3 Adrift Since “Jan. 16 Are Safe

WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 (U. F). |

Three members of the crew of a

navy bomber have landed ‘on A

distant island in the South Pacific after being adriff in a rubber boat since Jan. 16, the navy department has announced. The. three bomber crew members, all enlisted men were given hospital treatment for exposure

and are reported “doing well,” | the announcement said. : : - No (other details were available

‘other ‘members

‘| regarding “of the crew, if any, ‘or the acci~

dent that’ befell the bomber.

.G. A. 'R. VETERAN DEAD

(SARLISLE, Veh 38 (0. P).—Sulsurviving Civil

U. S. LISTS CARLISLE MAN AS PRISONER

‘Times Special WASHINGTON, Feb. 26.—Edward

IN. Howard, of Carlisle, Ind.,, was

included today on a supplemental Hst-of 44 men the navy believes are Japanese prisoners at Guam. Mr.

Howard was a watertender, second |

Last week the navy announced a list of 2009 civilians, navy and marine personnel and five navy nurses presumed to be prisoners on Wake islatid; Guam and offer Adatis a=

x ther ioay sore Wie aa A

nouncement that William’ E. 'Kep-| ner, of Bunker Hill, Ind, had been|

SPLIT ON RECALL OF MACARTHUR

Washington Seethes With Argument, But Even Army Is Divided.

By CHARLES T. LUCEY Times Special Writer WASHINGTON, Feb. 26.—Wheth-

ler Gen. Douglas MacArthur should

be brought home or left in the Philippines is a question that is being increasingly argued here. While the war department declines comment, no early move to order him home is anticipated. ali In the army, as elsewhere, the thinking is divided. One group says the nation cannot afford to the general’s skill and experience and that he should be brought home; the other think we cannot “let the Par East down” and that he must be left there. «Officers ‘who know “Gen. Maec~ Arthur well say that, short of an order -by- the . commander-irr-chief, | he would decline to leave his troops. President Roosevelt has cast some

‘doubt on the feasibility of removing

Gen. MacArthur when he was questioned whether planes actually could be landed on Bataan peninsulal pressed. a belief that, while it would be hazardous, rescue by sea or ar should be possible, -

Fear Effect on Allies

Here are some of the arguments of those who say Gen. MacArthur should be left in the Philippines:

But other officials have ex-|'

better than many he could direct the procurement of materiel, train ing of men and planning of strategy to beat the Japanese. 2. He is widely regarded as the nation’s outstanding soldier, and the ‘army would ‘welcome him in a tp command post. 3. His return would give the coun« uy a tremendous “lift.” 4. The Philippines are “certain to be Tost. ” Gen, MacArthur should be returned to build up the nation’s defense at home, =~ Stimson Is Silent There is’ some contention here that Gen. MacArthur should not be brought hack to this country but should be evacuated from Bataan and put in charge of the united nae tion’s defense of Australia, to hold that area until we can take the offensive. Secretary of War. Stimson has been questioned about possible plans for evacuation of Gen. MacArthur, fut has declined to give any indi. cation of what the government's course might be. - A bill to name Gen. MacArthur Samniandess indie! of the United States’: forces has been. in by Rep. Hy ®. Wash). Srodused

TEST YOUR: KNOWLEDGE

1—What is the name of the mones tary unit of Great Britain? 2—What rank do students at: the . U. 8. naval academy hold?

.|3—Name the motion picture actor

‘who was recently appointed to direct the arts council of the . office of civilian defense. 4+-Of. what country - was . Frans Joseph emperor?

|5—Name the . capital of Puerto

“Rico.

|6=Strikes’ and spares are terms

' used ‘in pole, tennis or bowling? 1—Pound sterling.