Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 16 July 1942 — Page 15

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A GROUP OF ABOUT 50 selectees from board 4 was being inducted at the motor armory the other day, following physical exams. The lieutenant in - charge inquired how many were veterans of World

y: War L Three responded. As an afterthought, ap-

parently, the lieutenant inquired if any of the three ever had drawn ‘disability compensation. “I'm drawing $33 a month right now,” said one. We understand he was rejected pronto. . . . Hugh Barnhart, state conservation chief, celebrated his “half century of progress” with a birthday party at the Claypool Tuesday. During the luncheon, a Western Union messengerette—Peggy Kid_Well—arrived and sang “Happy 1 Birthday.” It’s hard to tell who was more embarrassed over the song—Hugh or Peggy. Anyway, he introduced her to Governor Schricker, who was among the guests. . “Are you really the Governor?” the awed girl quavered. Uncle Henry put a fatherly arm around her shoulders and she blushed. ‘Then she beat a hasty Tetreat,

Cheer Up, Sister:

THE DAUGHTER of an Indianapolis newspaperman drove down to Union station not long ago to bid. adieu to ‘her boy ‘friend who was leaving for military sérvice. ‘She wept as he climbed aboard the train. A: group of about 10 soldiers was passing her, having just gotten off the train. One inquired why she was crying. Informed, he said: “Why, there’s nothing to cry about. We all left sweethearts at home, and nothing’s happened to us. Your boy friend will ‘be okay, S0 cheer up.” Whereupon all 10 of them

gallantly escorted her down to her car and started her home,. =

Gimme a Ply Swatter, Quick WE FIND ‘the following communique from our Agent’ G. Whiz: “The other evening William Lam-

bert wag sitting on the steps in front of his grocery

"In side Indianapolis 5 Lowell Nussbaum DRAWS PLAN TO EASE PROBLEM}

‘at 3027 W. Michigan st. Everything peaceful ‘and quiet, when all of a sudden a young man came rune ning up the street to Mr. Lambert and says, ‘Quick, give me a fly swatter; my wife is having a baby. Mr. Lambert sold him two fly swatters but he still doesn’t know why.” Neither do we. . .. If bus drivers have pet peeves, we'll bet one of them is the gink (male or female) who stands at a bus stop, right

out on the curb, expectantly watches the bus pull{

to a stop—and then turns his or her head the other way; just waiting for a friend. We wonder how many new cuss words have been invented over such incidents.

Vell, Vell, Vell, Virgil!

V STANDS FOR Victory, but it also stands’ for the Virgil Sheppard family. Virgil, many of you know, is with the state welfare department. His wife’s name

is Vergie, and each of their six children has a

middle name beginning with V. / Virgil was in the office the other day and we asked him the kids names: “Well, there's Charlene Virginia,” he said. “She’s 19. Then there’s Stanton Vincent. He's 15. Joan Vonda, 13; Jeanette Varla, 11; and Cherry, er-er, and Elinor.” Then he started. blushing. He'd forgotten the middle names of Cherry, 8, and Elinor, 6. He phoned home and got the information from 15-year-old Vincent. It’s Cherry Viola and Elinor Violet. Incidentally ‘Charlene Virginia and Elinor Violet have the same birthday. They were born on June 22 just 13 years apart.

Street Scene

IT WAS NOON. An elderly man, indifferently dressed, stood peering into one of Wasson’s display windows, From out of nowhere: came WIRE'S chimes. The selection was the national anthem, The crowd went on about it’s business, pretending not to hear. But not the old man. He removed his tattered hat and drew himself up to attention, unashamed to show his respect. And when it was all over and another selection was" being played, he stepped out into the street and looked this way and that, trying to figure where the music had come from.

. Einie Pyle is in Ireland. His stories from the army camps are now expectedto start within a few days. . . . Raymond Clapper is on a month’s vacation.

‘Rubber Expert’

‘WASHINGTON, July 16.—There have been many congressional investigations of rubber. Too often they

_ have increased public confusion because the investi

gators started eut to “prove” that the facts were as they wanted them to be. One more investigation = might do. great good— ° If a group of congressmen with no axes to grind, no pet schemes to promote, were empowered to find the simple truth about .the charges made by Elliot E. Simpson of New York, who describes himself as an independent rubber dealer and “the only thoroughly qualified rubber expert in the United States.” The truth must be one of two things: Either the American people are

the victims of a vast official conspiracy—in which “even President Roosevelt would have to play a part

—to deceive them, subject them to terrible *and unnecessary hardships, endanger the lives of their

"y.sons in military service, and risk their defeat in a "needlessly prolonged war;

Or a committee of congress I ‘permitting Mr. Simpson to use it in a campaign of misinformation which is shaking public confidence in the government and the war production program, and which might prevent or delay measures said by responsible govern-, ment officials to be essential to national security and

? victorys 1 *

Who's “Telling the Truth?

@ ON JUNE 8, Rep. Andrew L. Somers (D. N. Y)), chairman of the house committee on coinage, weights and measures, announced that he had appointed Mr. Simpson counsel to a special subcommittee which would investigate the entire rubber situation. Previously Mr. Simpson had testified as an “expert” before several other committees, and his testimony had received some publicity. In his new capacity as counsel to the Somers subcommittee, however, Mr. Simpson hired a press agent and began issuing almost daily ‘news releases” describing the “shocking

: revelations” he was about to make.

‘Plain Stupidity

CLEVELAND, July 16—Even the connoisseur in bureaucratic stupidity finds it difficult to compre-

. hend these customs officials who insisted :that Ca- . nadian troops, rushing westward to help us repel the ' Japanese threat to Dutch Harbor and Alaska, must

pay duty on spare uniforms and military equipment before they could cross the border. The Japs seized two of the Aleutian islands, which they have held for a month and whence they have moved to a third. But that didn’t faze the treasury representatives. . They stood.by their guns and asked Washington for a ruling. Lawyers juggled ponderous tomes and checked cross references. Sure enough, they found,

' Canadian troops can’t come into U. S. to help us

against blitzkrieging’ Japs unless they pay duty. The state department was asked to assist. The Japs were coming, but the revenue law was well drawn. 1t had no loopholes.

What Gross Ineptitude!

FORTUNATELY OLD‘JEDGE HULL of Tennessee was around. In fact, he as head of the department

of state, - gu With tone mn chenk, we have no doubt, Jedge

My Day

| YORK, Wednesday—Now that it is in the *

s; that our guests over the week-end were her pe {thie queen of the Netherlands, her daughter, two

. -Queen Wilhelminia which I ‘think : may, be of interest.

¥; ‘While she sat on the grass

“near. the swimming pool with me, watching her two little granddaughters, the queen told me that she. made it a point to see every person who came out of Holland. ‘They inform her about what they had been through and what they were thinking about the future. These things, she said, helped her to have a vision of what will need to be done in. her eountiy

77 sn th ot war re

She overheard. me, for instance, talking to the faba the need for some sory of character

dren and various members of their: housetiold, I watt’ to. tell you one or two things about

By E. A. Evans

The semi-official status conferred on him by Mr. Somers drew more attention to his statements, and when the wisdom and propriety of giving him this status was questioned, Mr. Simpson was ready with a release quoting Rep. Somers thus: “Elliot E. Simpson is the Barney Baruch of the rubber situation —the man whose every figure and statement has proved correct.” The fact is that almost all of Mr. Simpson’s statements and figures are cockeyed if President Roosevelt and other government officials have told the truth.

Realizes Shortage Is Not a Myth; Restrictions Not To Be Relaxed.

Times Special WASHINGTON, July 16.—The tire - manufacturing industry is drawing up for submission to government agencies a plan which it hopes “may” help in keeping essential war materials and war workers on the highways.” Reports, ‘based on partial infor-

ber shortage .a myth, turned out to-

aggerated. The reports, headlined yesterday in the New York: Daily News and the Washington Times Herald, asserted that the major rubber companies had compiled “startling” fig-

that enough tires could be provided to keep all. motorists—including pleasure Srivets-tiing until July, 1944, President Roosevelt. and other officials, the stories added, will be invited by the companies to view an exhibition in the Mayflower hotel, at which charts will demonstrate that “there is absolutely no need to ration tires to conserve rubber.”

Industry Realizes Shortage

However, the tire industry immediately made it clear through a statement by A. L. Viles, president} of the rubber manufacturers’ association: THAT, far from considering the shortage a myth, it agreed with Donald M. Nelson, chairman of the war production board, “as to the urgency of the rubber problem.” THAT its plan was not yet completed, but when it was it would be submitted to- the appropriate government agencies and made public. BUT THAT “this plan does not envision relaxation of present restrictions, does not permit pleasure driving, and even for essential car operation calls for low speeds and

. {continuous tire care.”

It’s a Job for Congress

MR. SIMPSON has asserted repeatedly that “the rubber shortage is a myth.” He says, “If $500,000,000 were spent to take ruber out of Central and South America, instead of ‘putting that money into factories to produce synthetic rubber, this country could get more than enough crude rubber to meet the requirements of our war machine, the government and all civilians.” The Simpson statement most often quoted—until recently—is: “There is a minimum of 10,000,000 tons of scrap rubber lying around all over the country.” The president's drive, which produced less than 5 per cent of that amount in a month of intensive effort, would seem to indicate that something other than scrap rubber has been lying around the country. But Mr. Simpson now charges that the president's drive has been made the excuse for permitting “four large scrap-rubber firms to reap enormous profits” as agents of the government’s Rubber Reserve Corp.— a charge which Jesse Jones says is totally untrue. If Mr. Simpson could have his way, it is apparent, the synthetic-rubber program would be abandoned, all efforts to conserve tires would cease, practically all government officials who have had anything to do with the rubber problem would be fired, and the: United States would depend solely on scrap collections and on South and Central American rubber trees. First, however, it might be a good idea for congress to find out whether Mr. Simpson knows what he’s talking about—and, if he doesn’t, why he is permitted to use a congressional committee as a sounding board for his charges.

By S. Burton Heath

Hull gravely dictated a two-page memorandum explaining that the Canadian soldiers were distinguished visitors and, as such, were entitled to waiver of duties. The situation was saved. But what stupidity—what gross bureaucratic ineptitude! No wonder the heroes of Bataan, Singapore and Burma, when they land on our shores, protest that: “This is a bloody war and the people at home don’t seem to know it.” No wonder Lieut. William M. Bower, who helped |, to bomb Tokyo, took off his‘@loves when he addressed Cleveland Kiwanians who h#¥ been worrying whether to enjoy a half-day picnic or an all-day boat ride.

We've Got to Fight First!

THE BOYS- AT the front aren’t having picnics, said he. He wants to go back to the fighting front, where the men realize that wars aren't won with boat rides, vacations from the production lines, battles over parity prices, 70-mile-an-hour joy-riding on irreplaceable rubber tires, attempts to collect duties from soldiers’ coming to our assistance in time of peril. “Hell,” says a wounded officer from the Far East, “we haven't begun to'win the war yet, and we're talking about how we will set down the peace terms. “We've got to get down in the mud and fight like hell, and believe me, we've got to do it pretty soon.” And cut out the boondoggling.

By Eleanor Roosevelt

people who have’ had some misfortune; such as unusual illness which has brought about a state of indebtedness, or where a litle money is needed to invest in future Security.

“That,” the queen told us, “is done by state pani? fo!

in Holland. It was one of my brain children after the last war.” Again she told me: tuberculosis prevention work in Holland and I have

remained the head of it. I am thinking now of the |

new ‘measures which will have to be taken to meet

new conditions of disease which will undoubtedly |

arise out of the present war.”. Perhaps you would like me to tell you, too, something which impressed me greatly in the education of the two little girls. - At breakfast with their mother, Princess Juliana, and their governess, Miss Feith, bath children ate with no assistance. When they were through, the older one climbed down from her chair and helped the younger one down from hers. Then she untied her bib and the

younger one progeeded to turn around and untie the |

. These loans, of course, are only to be made to

“My mother started the E

Problems Studied for Months

For several months, Mr. Viles said, the industry’s engineers, chemists, research men and statisticians have been studying the problems growing out of “the critical ‘shortage of crude rubber,” and have been giving special attention to the possibilities of using other materials to aid in transportation Necessary to the war effort. From other sources it was learned that the industry's plan, as it has evolved thus far, does not contemplate production of new passengercar tires, but would involve greater conservation of present tires—those now in use on approximately 27,000,000 cars ang those in dealers’ and manufacturers’ stocks—and a considerably larger use of processes for retreading worn tires. The government, it was said, probubly will be asked to allocate about 165,000 tons of reclaimed rubber and about 3000 tons of crude natural rubber, to be used for retreads. Guard Against Optimism

The WPB and other federal agencies, it was emphasized, have been kept closely informed of the industry’s studies and are keenly interested in them. But government officials and rub-

cerned over the danger that premature discusison of the incompleted plan might encourage the public to believe that there was no shortage of rubber and that it was safe to resume driving as usual. The exact contrary, they- said, is true. Speeds will have to be limited to 35 or 40 miles an hour. The “share-a-car” movement will have to be greatly extended. .Rggular tire inspections will be necessary, and drivers who neglect or abuse their tires will be barred from obtaining “recaps” if the ingusiey’s plan is adopted.

TYPO AUXILIARY TO MEET

The monthly meeting of the Typographical union auxiliary will be held at the home of Mrs. Zetta Cole, 5703 E. Washington: st., at 8 p. m.| tomorrow. The annual picnic for members and their families will be at Riversedge Sunday: Mrs. Ethel Richards is auxiliary president.

LODGE TO INSTALL Newly elected officers of the Myrtle Rebecca lodge will be installed at 8 p. m. tomorrow at the I. O. O. F. hall, Washington and Addison sts. Mrs. Anita McConnell will be inStalling officer.

HOLD EVERYTHING

mation about this plan, that the|g industry is about to prove the rub-

day to be more than a little ex-

ures to convince the government.

ber-industry spokesmen were con-|

plaza last night.

A rising shaft} of warm air last night turned tle tear-gas bomb demonstration 10: the . Indiana state guard into & practical exhibition for the civjlian audience. State police iired a gas-filled shell from the south end of the World War plaze toward the state guard, 175 yards | away. The shell, which had a range of 125 yards, began to arch down’ well in front of the guard when

_ Members of ithe Indiana state guard wipe the tears from their ‘eyes following a jear.gas demonstration at the World War Memorial

the shaft of warm air caused it

_ to rise and carry another 100

yards. Striking the sidewalk at the north end of the plaza, the shell ricocheted into the side of an automobile owned by George Smart of Southport. The demonstration included lectures on various gases, the correct “use-of a gas mask and the walking through tear gas fumes.

George Smart, a spectator, laughs good-naturedly as the tears pour out.

Four companies of the second battalion, under the command of Maj. Howard Bates and the Indiana civilian air patrol, participated in the demonstration. Conducting the lectures were Robert A. O'Neal, Indiana co-or-dinator of civilian protection; Fred Fosler, state police detective, and State Police Officers Robert Shields and Earl Smith.

This is the second be a series of articles by Robert J. {iasey dealing with ‘the little understood aspects of the war in the Pacific. By ROBERT o. CASEY

Cony 1942, by Tli¢ Indianapolis Times The Chicago: Daily News. Inc.

One of the outifanding novelties encountered by tli¢ weary traveler when he puts ingb port in the United States at te moment is the! widespread and ove oh ioud report that the great naval battle of Midway was fought with li{tle or no assistance from the navi! It seems that a douple of popular Washington coluninists devoted a column to "this inferesting subject not so long ago. [Fhey mentioned in passing that: laii-based bombers (contributed to the festivities by the army) had sunk gil the Jap ships and generally cleaned up the Pacific as they previously had done in the Coral sea. Echoing them, disinterested supporters of horizontz! bombing comment that we ouglii to concentrate our production oi flying: boxcars

land eliminate carriers as well as

battleships. The nore conservative elements of this ,s:hiool of thought believe it: would be [zood enough to junk the battleships, leaving the carriers, But despite some | befuddling disagreements concerriing what ought to be done for the country, you get the idea that all of {hese people are unanimous in the hglief that navies and naval engagements somehow have become dissociated.

It Was a Navy Job

That the navy thigugh its method of disseminating the news may have fostered this odd belief undoubtedly goes without sayirig--but that, of course, doesn’t mae it any more true.

Just to set the mater straight at the outset, the bsiile of Midway didn’t get started until five minutes before noon. June 4.

It was ended, to! an intents and purposes, 15 minutes later when the navy dive bombers had smashed the flight decks of the (énemy carriers, making homeless tli the. Japanese planes then in the air. No land-based pliiies took part in that performance. | No land-based plane intervened to stop the suicidal attack of the homeless bombers on our fleet. No land-based bomber was pres-

ent when our badly battered but victorious torpedo bomber plane squads went in to administer the coupe de grace to what remained of the flaming Kagi and Akaga. This was definitely ‘a navy job carried out in the same fashion and as part of the same sort of fleet operation as in the blasting of the Marshalls and Wake.

Battleships Still Needed

. No one in his right mind would wish to detract from the work of the land plane squadrons. For the army and marine corps did their bit in spreading the Pacific with burning ships during the ensuing 48 hours. But neither will any dispassionate witness deny that by that time, with the Japanese air power eliminated, the battle had become definitely the sort of thing that a navy could take care of by itself. There are a lot of things not yet understood ' about this new method of “sea warfare. The problems of disposing of battleships with bombs is not so simply disposed of as some of the remote control strategists might lead us to believe. When we steamed up to Midway everybody in the fleet knew that a battleship - can carry 2500 one-ton shells—plus sundry little ones, a load that on any sort of long haul would require 2500 airplanes. ‘When the patrol planes reported that four of these ships were in the Jap fleet, it was obvious that they must not be allowed to get within striking = distance of Midway or Hawaii. If the results of the fight had been reversed and the Japs had put our planes out of action before we had a chance to sink their carriers, it would have been Jap battleships, rather than Jap bombers, that would have been the chief threats to the defenses about Oahu. Modern naval warfare is intensely | novel so lecng as the planes are working, but when they are removed from the equation the. business of sea fighting isn't much different from what it was in Dewey's time. |. With warships continuing to constitute a menace it is not to be expected that we shall immediately abandon them nor to hope that the enemy will abandon his.

MIAMI, Fla, July | 16 (U. P)— Nine flying tigers, firs: of the American volunteer group io return from China, today were looking for dates with niné: Americar girls.

the first thing they wanted upon their return to the United States— a date. Averaging 26 yea’: of age, they are typical American young men with a story, to tell that would curl the hair of the mos) hardened veterans of other wars. | Here’ s a sample of it: ; “We could have shved Bums if we had had a few more planes.” They claimed that the AVG

.|which they joined ‘icr the hell of

it”—had shot down inore than 400

Chaplain Paul Fril: wood, IIL, accompaiicd ‘the . “China will miss ‘them—and will the Japs,” he said, The AVG

5 corporated in the uv ~|forces. . Th i

They shouldn't have any trouble |fulfilling what they ll agreed was

Nine Flying Tigers Home and A Date’ 5 1st Thing They Want

on the -date business, other wishes were expressed, too. George Burgard, 27, Sunburg, Pa., the group's ace, wants a Turkish bath—*“to get about a year of the ‘orient out of me.” Fritz Wolf, 26, Shawnee, Wis, wanted a malted milk and some good meals. “We had the rhost fun in Burma,” Burgard said. = “After civilians

{evacuated, we moved into their

homes. And when the dishes got

dirty - we just moved to another :

house.” ° Sa “We lost damned 1 [

Japanese planes sin:: last Decem.| :

‘Midway ls Proof Land-Based Planes Can't Replace Carriers,

Says Casey

And that brings us around to another view of the current impracticability of replacing the navy with land-based bombers. So long as the enemy has warships operating in a sea such as

the Pacific, it is essential that they

be destroyed. And at present, the best instru-

ments of such destruction are torpedo planes and dive bombers.

Because of inherent limitations

in design, neither of these planes has enough range to operate effectively from a land base. For this, too, we learned at Midway as the bombs came down on us —high altitude horizontal bombin is a waste of dynamite against an fast maneuverable ship. The accuracy of the bomb sights doesn’t make any difference.

Most of these bombers work at:

about 13,000 feet. It takes about 30 seconds for a bomb to fall that far. So if the skipper of a 30-knot ship starts to move the second he sees the bombs start down he can be a quarter-mile away by the time it strikes. Compensation for the ship’s speed can be made only in one direction— and no bombardier can guess what angle the skipper will choose to take.

Dive Bombers Strike Hard

It was a torpedo plane pilot, miraculously brought back from the shambles of the attack on the carriers, who suggested that, in the new tactics of such warfare as this the dive bomber may supersede even the torpedo plane as a destroyer. “I was holding off at the edge of the attack waiting to make my run in,” he said, “and I got a good look at the opening of the attack. “The first eight’ dive bombers that came down on the Jap carriers made eight hits. And so far as the Japanese were concerned the Midway campaign ended right there. The decks were smashed, the ships were afire. The planes below decks would never get off again and the planes already in the air would never have a chance to land. “I saw 18 dive bombers come in in a matter of seconds and 16-of them made hits. The anti-aircraft fire was terrific, but it didn’t stop them and the fighter planes were all flying low, trying to intercept us, the torpedo carriers. “When we went in we took a fearful beating, because torpedo planes have to fly low and slowly and at a precise angle.

Can’t Move the Land “Maybe the disposal of our units wasn’t what it should have been for a torpedo attack, but in one respect. it was successful—just. as. simi attacks by the. Japs themselves have been. successful—it pulled away the defense so that the dive bombers could drop their eggs almost unmolested.” Returning shyly to this. contro-

versy about the relative importance |

of land bases: and carrier; quotes

ALLIED PILOTS [ERO FIGHTER

Race With Flying Fortress Reveals Its Speed and

Ability to Maneuver.

By HAROLD GUARD United Press Staff Correspondent UNITED STATES AIRBASE,

‘Australia, July 16.—The new type

Japanese zero plane that allied pilots rate one of the best fighters

in the world, is’ an indirect come pliment to allied engineers, for its engine, instrument panel and radio are American type and its armae ment is copied from the British. It is a tougher and less vulnere able zero than the former model, and it appears to have greater speed, During a flight in a flying fortress with Lieut. Bryan O'Neill of San

Francisco we spotted one of the new

zeroes at about 20,000 feet. It was far to starboard and a little below us. . O’Neill figured we could out race the Japanese back to our base. He ' climbed ga little and then leveled off at about 270 miles an hour. The zero stayed along at about the same speed until suddenly the pilo opened up and raced ahead like a bullet. Make ‘Marvelous Turn’ The zero not only had the speed but it had enough so it could cut in toward our line of flight at a 45-degree angle. When about 1000 yards ahead of the fortress the pilot executed what O'Neill termed “a marvelous turn.” ‘While going at great speed the zero went into what at. first ape peared to be a full loop. Then it hung vertically for a moment and in the next it was sweeping die rectly back at us. : I caught a fleeting glimpse of the plane with its light drab wing fabric, vermilion colored discs and the squat glass-domed cockpit be= hind the stub-nosed front end. And I heard cannon chatter as O’Neill put the fortress into a heavy cloud bank that hid us effectively and enabled us to get back without further molestation.

Acrobatics Win Praise

The acrobatics that the Japanese can perform in high altitude with these planes has won the praise of most bomber crews, who call the planes “aerodynamic honeys.” Originally the fabric used on their wings precluded steep power diving and made them exceptionally vulnerable during combat, but that appears to have :-been changed. - I have seen some of the old type

fire from allied bombers, but now it is Japan's most powerful single fighting unit and allied pilots say it is unsurpassed in its class. The motor develops 1000 horses power and is of the Pratt & White ney type.

BOND BUYING AT 44 PER CENT MARK

Yndiana, aided by the sales drummed up by Kay Kyser and his troupe, today was running strong in its campaign for the July quota of war bonds in 95 of the 114 units of the state during. the first 11 days of the month. Sales totaling $7,350,528.69—ap= proximately 44 per cent of the $16.=

—were announced today by the war savings staff. Three units in the drive to raise $18,800,000 during the present month already were “over the top.” They are Decatur county, Sullivan county and Tell City in Perry county. The war savings staff has urged Indiana citizens to try to buy one extra bond and dedicate it to the service men tomorrow, American Heroes day.

PATROLMAN GETS NEW HIGHWAY JOB

James Denbo, a patrolman with the state highway commission for several years, has been promoted to

trict, Samuel C. Hadden, highway commission chairman, today. Mr. Denbo succeeds Ray Colglaze ier who resigned to enter private business.

WAR QUIZ

¢ 1 " In which branch of the army is the American soldier who wears this insignia? It consists of golden ceduceus with a gold wing mounting. 3. If the driver of a deep

literally blown to pieces by cannon *

superintendent of the Paoli sub-dise.

announced