Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 21 July 1942 — Page 9
TUESDAY, JULY 21,
1942
* Hoosier Vagabond
SOMEWHERE IN NORTHERN IRELAND, July 21.—I got my first sight of an American soldier on Irish soil while riding on a train. Two soldiers got on at a little station and sat in the two seats next
a to mine, Being slightly homesick already, I couldn't
¥ ‘here.
resist starting a conversation. “Where are you from?” I asked them. “That town where the train just stopped,” one said. “No, I mean where from in the states?” I said. So one of them sgid he was from Maine, and the other from Missouri. “Have you been in the States?” the Maine boy asked. I told him I had spent many years there. “It seems as if nearly everybody you meet over hers has been in .the States,” he said. I've been taken for a lot of different things, but that’s the first time anybody ever took me for an
* Irishman.
No Summer, No Play
I AM TOO NEW here to know whether the friendliness I've noted is typical of the way the people feel about’the American troops, but from all I can gather things are all right on the whole. I think the boys would rather be back home than over here, but that would be true of all troops everywhere. That's human nature. The two main complaints among the troops are about the climate and the fact that they find Northern Ireland “dead.” There is hardly such a thing as summer over Right now, in July, it rains about half the time, and the air is chill and piercing. Many Americans are wearing heavy underwear throughout the summer. The troops have not been issued summer uniforms, and won’t be. In my hotel room I have been almost as cold as
‘By Ernie Pyle
I was that horrible November in Lisbon. As for gay life, the men are forbidden to cross the line into Eire, but they all long for a trip over there, just as a cow looks over the fence to the next pasture. They have heard there's more fun over there, more things to do. The people were a little standoffish at first, but now they've warmed up. They say the Americans got a bad name here before the troops arrived. That was caused by the “technicians,” as the Irish call them—a large contingent of civilian construction men who came long ago to build camps and storehouses ahead of the troops. They made big money, and they had almost no restrictions. They brawled and fought and caused trouble. The troops arrived with that to live dewn. As far as I can find out, they've lived it down.
They Work . . . and Work Hard
WE SOMETIMES GET the idea at home that all: the troops do over here is drink and pick up girls and go to dances. That impression is partly the
result of necessary censorship, which forbids telling}
about what the men actually do in training all day.
They work a great deal ‘more than they play, on|#8 Their daily life is very much like|,
the average. what it was in the camps back home. They are up eatly and they work hard. They are getting plenty: of toughening-up training, among other things.
In recent maneuvers a large number of them]
marched 32 miles in one day. That was followed |§
with .25-mile marches the next two days. After hearing that, I've decided that being a newspaperman is not so bad. No, American troops are not unwelcome in Northern Ireland. And they're behaving all right. Mainly they miss their home compsnionships. On my first day here I watched a lone soldier stand and read entirely through a show window full of scores of greeting cards. It was Sunday, and the store was locked. He had nothing better to do with his time off. It was sort of pathetic. There's more of that sort of thing here than there is of hell-raising.
Inside Indianapolis By Lowell Nussbaum
DR. E. W. MODE, the podiatrist, claims the walking championship of Indianapolis. He walks for a hobby—from his home to his office in the Roosevelt building, paces the corridors in beiween patients, plays 54 holes of golf a day and then takes a long hike in the evening ior relaxation. He always walks to the golf course—gets a friend to lug the clubs in a car—and he says he’s walked to every municipal course in town. Easter Sunday, he walked 27 miles out in the country. He’s never owned or driven a ¢ar. -At present he has invitations for dihner at Trafalgar, Brownsburg and Fountaintown, provided he walks all the way. He says he’s never been sick a day in * his life and expects to live to be “120. He always. walks alone, and it's no wonder. his jaunts, he keeps up an average only Sighily under 4 miles an hour.
Dry Land Fisherman
SOME OF THE BOYS have been kidding George Ruck, district line supervisor for the A. T. & T., about being a “dry land” fisherman, and we've just learned why. Of course, you kncw, you can’t believe a darned
2 4 word a fisherman tells: you about his fishing, but
here's the story one of George's fishing companions is said to vouch for: On vacation at Hurd’s Acres, Minn., George got up before breakfast and tried casting for a while. He was using live frogs for bait. Called to breakfast, he carried his fishing rod up to the back door of the cottage, leaving a frog on the
¥ *\_ hook. A féw minutes later he heard a noise. that
RE AN Ei ER RT
Engi RUE It
t
fn i }
sounded like his reel turning. He decided to investi-
On - Around the Town
gate and found the line played out. a woods, he saw a large snake on the end of the line.
Gen. John Millikin,
Following it to] :
That's why they call George a “dry land” fisherman.| ~~
That Army Cooking WANTED—AT FI. HARRISON: One first class recipe for mashed potatoes. A brand new soldier tells us the food out at the fort is “darned good,” on the whole but that the “mashed votatoes have no taste.” If any of you ladies have a good recipe for
cooking mashed potatoes in 130 gallon lots, just for-|
ward it to the boss cook out at Ft. Harrison. , . . The phone rang in our society department. It was a man asking: “How many pages in the paper to-
day?” Told how many, he said, “Thanks,” and hung . Overheard | ;
up. Shopping around fer shelf paper? . . cn a bus: “If I'm drafted, we're going to get someone to take care of the baby and the wife's to take my job at the office. Hope she gives it up when I come back.”
A LUNCH WAGON out near the Curtiss-Wright plant seems to have the soft drink situation in reverse. Instead of the usual “no cokes” sign, it has a sign reading: “Yes, we have Coca Colas.” Must have an A-1-A priority rating. . . . Last week, residents in the vicinity of School 86—49th and Boulevard place, —rubbed their eyes when they saw a sign on the lawn reading: “For Sale—See Emil C. Rassmann.” It was just like those on some nearby vacant lots. Now that the sign’s gone, some of the neighbors want to know “who bought the school.” . . . The cycle cops, we hear, still are having a field day nabbing left turners at Massachusetts ave. and New York st. during the evening rush hour-—some evenings. Their antics often attract a crowd of spectators. And you ought to see the cops go to it then.
Raymond Clapper is on vacation.
He will return in about three weeks.
India’s Cris: WASHINGTON, July 21.—Imperiling as it does the whole allied cause, there is a growing conviction here that the Anglo-Indian dispute should be subjected to a final effort at settlement . . . perhaps under the auspices of the united nations. Reports from London indicate that Britain does not intend to budge another inch. Gandhi, Nehru and other Indian leaders just as clearly mean to plunge the country’s 390,000,000 into “open rebellion,” and possibly civil war, unless their demands are met.
Meanwhile the Japs are in
Burma, on the borders of India, waiting for the monsoon season to end in November. And waiting also, no doubt, for the natives to prepare the way for invasion as did the Malayans and the Burmans. If Gandhi opens the door to the Japs, it not only would destroy India’s last hope of freedom but also jeopardize the united
~ nations as a whole. Axis strategy is clearly to isolate
the continents of Europe and Asia. It may sound like a large order, but the fact is the plan is already well advanced. . It is altoget ier possible that India may prove to be the last remaining gateway to China, to Asia, and even to Russia. And if that were closed, a complete allied victory would then become difficult if not impossible.
Fireworks Begin on Aug. 7
THIS, THEN, IS NO time to let pride stand in the way of a final effort at settlement. If the Indians seem disposed to commit suicide unless they get what “they want, Britain, the United States and their allies already have lost enough face in the orient not to worry overmuch about losing a little more in India. The working committee of the All-India Congress has drafted a resolution demanding immediate inde-
My Day
NEW YORK, N. Y., Monday—Much to our pleasure, the concert given yesterday afternoon by the Dutchess County Philharmonic society was very well attended. On the whole this local ‘orchestra is really remarkably good, and I think the opportunity to have Hans Kindler lead them and to play to such an audience will serve as a stimulus for more work in the future. It may also be useful in awakening the people of the neighborhood to the need for supporting local talent. Orchestras . such as this very often furnish the real musical education of a people and are the reservoirs where great talent is discovered and developed. I have a letter today which Fprings up a& point that I have wanted to discuss in this column before. At one of my press conferences 1 was asked whether I would approve of the drafting "of boys in the 18 and 19-year-old group. Frankly, Yo. of eourse; 3 hope we will ney Be. foresa
By Wm. Philip Simms
pendence. It will be presented to the fun committee of the congress when it meets on Aug. 7. It will almost certainly be approved. After that, apparently, the fireworks will begin. The comniittee admits there may be bloodshed. It admits that ill will is growing in India against Britain. It admits there is “a growing satisfaction at the success of Japanese arms.” Finally, it admits that what it proposes to do may be dangerous, but blandly adds that “such risks have to be faced by any country to achieve freedom.” Gandhi and his followers apparently have made up their minds to rule or ruin.
KS Here's the Way to Do It
LONDON SUGGESTS that the Indian leaders “may be bluffing.” That may be true. Nevertheless,
some officials here believe a final effort should be made to find a solution—especially in view of the pledges taken by all concerned under the Atlantic Charter. Why, not, it is asked, set a definite date for Indian independence and have the united nations underwrite it? Meantime, let the Indians, on their part, undertake to work out a constitution satisfactory to the 80,000,000 Moslems and other huge minorities. Under the Atlantic Charter, Britain and the U. S. blueprinted a new order of freedom in the world. After the axis is beaten, imperialism is to end. No people are to be governed against their consent. Specifically, Britain has already promised independence to India after the war. Then why wait? Why not set a date now—as the United States has done for the Philippines—and let all those who subscribed to the Atlantic Charter join in the guarantee? This entails no loss of face for Britain. As for the Indians, refusal to accept would place them definitely on the side of the axis. And the united nations would know where they stood.
By Eleanor Roosevelt
to do this. If it does become neecssary, however, to use younger boys on a draft basis, I think it should be done with the greatest discrimination. This mother who writes me from Atlantic City, N. J., points out that her older boy had three years of earning his own living before he enlisted at the
age of 21, while working, he was living at home and
therefore could be watched over by his family. On the other hand she feels that her younger boy, who is 18, has never been anywhere except where his family has taken him; so if he were thrown with a mixed group today, he ‘would not have the experience to know good companions from bad. In other words, she feels that her 18-year-old boy is still a child. % That is why I think draft boards, considering boys of this age, will have to consider first their physical development. Secondly, mental and moral dévelopment are important factors to be considered. If they have been sheltered and made somewhat too dependent upon their elders, it would be too great’ a hardship to plunge them immediately into military service, and they should probably have some intermediary preparation. ?
BATTLE IS WON,
Rommel Force’s Truimph at Hill of Jesus Quickly
Turned to Defeat.
By RICHARD D. McMILLAN United Press Staff Correspondent IN A FRONT LINE POST ON THE HILL OF JESUS. RIDGE, Egypt, July 20, 2 p. m.—Australian troops recaptured the Hill of Jesus railroad station after the Germans held it for only one hour, I learned today. It was 10 days ago when the Germans attacked the station with a force of tanks and they had been credited with holding it. But the Australians had courier, attacked at once. Their new sticky bombs smashed the German tanks and their rifles, sub-machine. guns and machine guns and inflicted such punishment on the Italian infantrymen trying to hold it that the enemy fled. This morning, I saw four German Mark-IV tanks of latest type lying burned out a few hundred yards from the battle-scarred stone hut station, with the graves of the tank crews alongside.
Tanks Fell Into Trap
An Australian officer named Hammer for whom Hammer's hill in this sector was named, told me how the tanks had fallen into a trap. He took me to the top of the hill and, with German shells falling round, pointed out to me the railroad and station and the other part of the Hill of Jesus ridge. “That was a nice bit of work,” he said. “Those tanks made a dash across the railroad tracks a few hundred yards east of the station and then turned west.
They Aimed Perfectly
“They outrange our two-pounder anti-tank guns which are stationed near here, so the artillery got to work at 2500 yards range. It was indirect fire and the gunners could| not see the tanks. “But they aimed perfectly. They put one shell under the nose of {the tank, another under. each ear and one on the back of the neck. “Then the. tanks turned to escape and ran slap into the anti-tank guns around the station. One gunner got three tanks. He was firing at the fourth when its 3-inch gun’ got his post and he was killed.”
SLIDE CARRIES 6 TO DEATH OAKWOOD, Va., July 21 (U.P). —A thundering slide near the Oakwood smokeless coal mines in western Virginia last night carried a
mother and five of her children to
death in a Pils of slate and shat-|
tered houses. - The woman, Mrs. | Howard Estep and hér children
were swept’ with their home down 1 | (
a hillside into. Levisa rife
LOST IN 1 HOUR
Cadre of the 83d division pass in
Civilian Wi
On Ne
By VICTOR PETERS ;
Camp Atterbury near |
sprawls and sprawls and
gd]
Comparing the camp wi
tive state, a Texan would right big.” And still a comparing “You can look farther a: there is more land and
E
and there are more cov:
milk than any place in tlie Applied to the camp th quotation would read, 'Y'¢
look farther and see | there is a dust and no
screen; there is more. lanl in
grass ’causa ‘the fart mushroomed into buil roads, and there are I
and less civilian cars ther 6.83
in the union.”
Ready for Personne]
Today a cloud of brow g onic if rain comes, Gen. Mud wi! But not for long. : i} The camp is ready to »
over Camp Atterkury. over.
house the personnel of th
recruited 83d ‘infantry divisic: first ‘to' be formed in Hods'e All general housing ard portation facilities are cu civilian .workers are pu. finishing detailed touches
gigantic sun-swept area.
Bull-dozers chug, tractors rv road scrapers throw up. dust that lie a foot deej and jeeps dart. everywherp, ing more of the ex-farm, | sand i
the air.
§ i
Elog 0 % ;
Initial ‘Ceremonies Haid
stig!
Camp Atterbury sprawls in its newness and dust near Columbus.
After retreat in the barracks.
% 2
training center for the men of
umbus| America who will plunge, in time,
into the global war. Last week the cadre for the 83d division arrived at camp. Yesterday the first formal retreat ceremonies for. this first division of the state
S| vere held.
The cadre, who will act as in-
>| structors of the enlisted .men to
comé, number several hundred. In addressing his men, Maj. Gen. John Milikin said, “This evening marks the first formation of you officers and enlisted men who will,
2 before another month passes, bring
HOLD EVERYTHING
“That's aterine. silk or paper again! ( don’t know
It’s gigantic.
The line-up for evening mess.
rkers Putting Finishing Touches w Home of 83d Infantry Division
into being the 83d division. You are the essential skeleton framework upon which we expect to mould a fast - marching, straight - shooting, powerful-fighting, front line - division.” Fort Band Plays The Ft. Harrison band, present for the occasion, played the national anthem while all stood at atten-
tion. Then with eyes right, the men marched past Gen. Millikin and the first formal. retreat ceremonies were over. And like other army camps throughout the natjon, the men immediately went to dinner; then
some lounged at ease in the bar-|
racks while others threw sticks for the numerous dog mascots. In the slanting rays of the sun, the barracks, mess halls and still-to-be-completed field ‘house and chapels stood out in brilliant white relief against the brown of the earth. Camp Atterbury typifies America . it is America repeated through our history. Our country was built by tearing it from the sod. as the population moved westward. Camp Atterbury is like that . , . it is torn from the ground . . . torn from: the greund in an incredibly
| short space of time,
"JAPS RAID ALLIED BASE
GEN. MacARTHUR'S HEADQUARTERS, Australia, July 21 (U. P.),—Twenty-six heavy, ' Japanese bombers, escorted by 15 fighter planes, attacked the allied airdrome at Port Moresby, New Guinea, yesterday, but damage was light, a com munique. said: today.
BORER EXPERT INSPECTS GORN
Federal , Agent Here Study Damage of Insect.
A survey of the damage and progress of corn borers is being
made by G. T. Bottger from the federal office of corn borer investie gation at Toledo, O. Mr. Bottger is in the Indianape olis area because it has been pointe ed out to him as one of the most severely infested of all the corn belt. In his survey, Mr. Bottger is paying particular attention to fields of sweet corn.
Select 25 Areas
Approximately 25 sample dreas have been chosen west, southwest and south of Indianapolis and Mr. Bottger will spend at least two in each plot. The early crop of sweet corn is said to, have averaged bes tween 10 and 15 borers to the stalk, Mr. Bottger made an inspection yesterday and said this area is on the verge of receiving its second generation of borers and unless pree cautionary steps are taken new fields will be infected. As a preventive and exterminator, Mr. Bottger recommends any good garden dust or semi-poisonous spray. :
to
CURRIE, KAI-SHEK CONFER
CHUNGKING, July 21 (U. P.).—~ American Presidential Delegate Lauchlin Currie conferred with Gene eralissimo Chiang Kai-shek today, and gave him a message from Presie dent Roosevelt.
3 io
2%) by 3 ——— peor NASH
' I asked my mother for fifty, cents To see the Emperor jump the fence, I bought a stamp and he jumped like fun And scorched his pants on the Rising Sun.