Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 16 October 1942 — Page 19

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LONDON. Oct. 16 —Patricla Hartnett is oie of the’ According tos any any git plan at a ey ust mean- ' Red Cross girls who came over here to work as host- dered along esses, entertainers and general all-round pals tothe American troops who live at Red Cross clubs while on the dock’ to leave, ’ “She comes originally from California, now calls with: ‘musette bags, gas masks, helmets, luggage and

‘Washington, D. C., home, ‘and be-

fore joining the Red. Cross was. 8 to wave at us and wish us welcome: - Wy

stewardess on Pepnsylvania-Cen-tral Airlines. She is smart, ‘pretty, ‘gay-dispositioned, and thinks everything is wonderful.

She is stationed at ‘the Mile-

stone Club, and you needn’t write ‘her any proposals of marriage, because she’s already agog about. an army officer, the cur. bg All the Red Cross girls are pop-

ular, but Patricia especially seems" the; wrong side of the road all the way. to the hotel. |}

CG to have hit London right smack in

the eye. She is very photogenic, and her picture has

made half the newspapers and magazines over here,

+ I think. Photographers and feature writers always”

eAter wi goed ve walked dn a large group. from) railroad station, loaded to the teeth | shy grins—these last because everyone left his work/ “I was even — us, and I'm beginning to. wonder where that famed British. reserve is—they are as .informal as people in a small town in the Middle West. “We arrived in London so late I 3 more interested’ in dinner and bed than sightseeing, but Paddington Station didn’t seem much different from Pennsylvania Station in New York—except that, most .of ‘the porters were women, and that we drove on

"furprised to «find every one ‘so friendly;

“] Have a Terrific Time”

‘ “LONDON IS IN much better order than I thought

call for Patricia when they want something with a .it would be—every one really goes about his business|

Red Cross angle. So while all the other§ are working themselves to deatir trying to write stuff about Patricia, I just outflanked the pack by getting Patricia to write sul for me. For the next two or three days she'll be teiling You how’ wartime London strikes a large-eyed girl from America, Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Patricia: Hartnett—

So Here She Goes—

| “IT WAS A MISTY cold morning when we came into an English port. I watched the shoreline, think

* ing I am not on the Staten Island ferry—that isn't’

the Jersey coast—it’'s England! “There was difference in the landscape. The houses seemed smaller and more individual, and the Streets didn’t look as though they'd been laid out

Inside Indianapolis By Lowell Nussbaum

ONE OF OUR feminine agents gave a hitchhiking

soldier a lift into town the other day and in typically’

feminine fashion pried a military secret out of him. This soldier—she thinks he had something to do with

military intelligerice—dropped the remark that he.

could tell a soldier, even though .. the soldier might be in civvies. Our agent was all ears, began pumping him discreetly until he revealed the secret. “Well, mam,” the hitchhiking soldier explaified, “just watch the way he gets rid of his cigaret stubs. If he tears the stub open, scatters the tobacco broadcast, then wads up the paper into a tiny ball and flips it away, you can tell he’s a soldier and has had to pick up all cig- . aret stubs, ete. in the company streets.” Might be a good idea if civilians would get the habit, too.

Doing Double Duty

JOHN: VOLLRATH JR., the Pontiac salesman, is one of the workingest men in town these days. Last 4 year he was “boss” salesman in the Cincinnati Pontiac zone with 252 new car sales and 140 used car sales. When war came, he tried to get into any branch of the service possible, but couldn’t because of a disability resulting - from the last war. ‘So, he.went out to Allison’s—as the next best thing—and got a job resetting gauges—a delicate job—but didn’t give up his old job at Meridian Pontiac.

a. m., then goes to the sales agency and stays on the Job ‘all: day—sofmetimes until 9 p. m. He sells. some cars, too; sold one to his boss at Allison two weeks after he started there. Some of his friends wonder

Washington

Oct. 16—This is just a nickel’s worth and it isn’t part of any plot to get rid of congress. It isn’t typewriter strategy, nor is it intended

WASHINGTON,

to be destructive of our institutions. . As a matter of fact it isn’t anything world-shaking, but just a small

suggestion that might save the’

time of busy men who have‘to win . the war. Why do the house and senate military affairs committees have

to hold ‘separate hearings, on the

same day with the same witnesses, over legislation to draft 18 and 19-year-olds? Gen. Marshall must be rather .~ busy with the war right now. Yet he had to go first to the senate military affairs. committee and testify, and then hustle across the eapitol plaza to give the same testimony before the house military affairs committee, making the same points, answering about the same questions—but tak-

ing twice as much time as was. necessary away from

his desk at the nerve center of the army.

It’s Not Simply « Detail

* CONGRESS IS MOVING with all desired speed on the draft legislation, and this isn’t a ‘complaint on that score. Actually the house- leadership is putting of a demonstration now of “how congress can act

+ efficiently even in,an unpleasant ‘matter.

* These men are all up for election in less than three weeks and it isn't easy to face mothers on an issue that touches them as closely as this one of calling for 4 their sons still under 20.

But the president and the war department feel

that. it is a military necessity, and congress is responding to that necessity with prompt action. A few instances of this kind will go a long way toward re-

has enlisted in the marines and leaves tomorrow

Now he works at. . Allison's on the “graveyard” shift—midnight to 8

«= %

. year, the more absent minded patrons show up at the

1 started an overail plan tor civilian participation in the

pattern tried in other places and to work on'it them"selves as their contribution to the war effort. It seems ATs. = tv me ‘that they have been enterprising and . far-]; ! 8, seeing, because they are. laying the foundation for : ~ post-war activities on an intelligent ;

as usual, and except for the occasional bombed see-| tions (which are all cleaned up) you could*forget that . war has visited: here,

on the train’ seemed eager to talk with §

“I have a terrific time crossing the streets, because, § ;

you have to look first right and then left, instead of! * left and then right,” which \is even more confusing than it sounds. “The cars and taxis look funny becatise they are so small, ‘but they say they can turn around on tuppence, and Heaven knows they need to in some of the narrow streets. We’d never at home call some of them anything but alleys, although Philadelphia has a few like them. “Except for being red instead of green, the busses look : familiar, for they are doubledeckers and built the same as Fifth ave. busses, except you enter at the ‘back. Many of the conductors are girls, and the price ‘of your ride is according to how far you go. The most I paid for one trip all day was tuppence (5 cents) and that was a long ride.”

when he sleeps. The answer is: At odd moments he catnaps in the corner of the salesroom. And he seems to be thriving on it.

More Name Trouble re

‘THE JACK HATFIELDS, both of them, seem to be having name trouble. Jack Hatfield, the medical student, who was married to Virginia Davis a couple of months ago, keeps getting congratulations on his “selection as director of the Civic theater.” Hatfield, the Civic director, frequently receives inquiries about his “new wife.” Actually, the two Jacks are cousins, but haven't met since they were boys. And their fathers both are named Frank. . . . Capt. Wally Middlesworth of the air corps left Stout field night before last for Austin, Tex. . . Capt. John Rickles, the lawyer, is reported “somewhere in England.” , . . Don McClure, picture editor of the Star,|.

for Parris Island. He served with the marines in the other war.

Spare That Lamp

- KIDS WHO THINK it’s fun to break street lamps as a Halloween gesture should think twice this year. Not’ only are the lamps and globes almost impossible to replace this year, but with the lights out, there is an added traffic hazard. And besides, says Dan Hess, the Power and Light Co. vice president; it makes it easier: for purse grabbers, assailants of women-and other criminals—maybe even saboteurs—to operate. « « « Now that the Indianapolis symphony tickets are to be distributed soon, Dorothy Knisely, the orchestra’s publicist, is cautioning her friends to be sure to bring the right ticket. They're all on a long strip, the ‘dates ranging from Nov. 7 to March 27. Each

first ‘concert: with the tickets for the final affair, It causes all sorts of confusion.

By Raymond Clapper

storing public confidence in the ability of congress to do the hard things that have to be done for the war. The point I am raising is a detail—and yet not a det because over a year’s time the duplicating committee hearings consume many unnecessary days for hard-pressed executive officials. Admiral King, with the entire burden of all our naval operations on his shoulders, had to ‘sit around in an empty committee room for 40 minutes because the senate committee was out to lunch. - Several committees of congress have had Paul McNutt, Gen. Hershey and other officials up for hours of testimony time and again, each committee going over about the same ground as-the others.

There’s. a Real Point to This

SO FAR AS I KNOW there is no reason for continuing this time-wasting practice except the inertia of habit. Wossibly there is a feeling that the selfimportance of each branch of congress requires it 'to run its ownr committee shows: - But appropriations hearings, tax hearings, and most of the mormal business that goes through the house and senate might be handled at the committee level by joint hearings, after which each group could prepare .its own legislation or amendments.

agency put it, thinned down to a payoff organization.”

without a leader, function as a financing appendage of the war production board's conservation division.

Soldiers at Ft. Belvoir, Va., got a taste of what's ahead of them when Warner Brothers staged a battle there for the forthcoming government picture, “The Fighing Engineers.” As Japanese, to play the part of Jap soldiers in the film, were a bit scarce in the neighborhood, 50 Filipinos were brought in to play the parts of the “enemy.” were the battle scenes and so well were the “Japs” made up that the U. S. soldiers had

HOPWOOD OUT;

WMI SCRAPPED

It’s Just a Payoff Unit

Now, With Skeleton Personnel.

DALE McFEATTERS Times Special Writer

PITTSBURGH, Oct. 16. — War

By

Materials, Inc, once an energetic collector of scrap, today had pretJacki. much scrapped itself.

Its president was gone; several

key men had resigned, 40 to 50 field men had departed, six regional offices were ordered closed, plans to establish six to eight more were|: discarded.

As a remaining member of the “WMI has been

War Materials, at the moment henceforth “will

WPB officials in Washington say

this is what WMI oyiginally: was intended to be. Retiring cflicials insist the-agency ‘was supposed to gather scrap.

Losing Battle WMI fought hard for an active

status in the scrap field, but withdrawal yesterday of its president, John M. Hopwood, signalled a losing battle,

Mr. Hopwood retired without

comment other than that he has

coneluded his “first and last venture into politics.” dustrialist, of four industrial and chemical engineering firms, into public affairs six weeks ago when he accepted the presidency of War Materials, created to recover scrap that is too expensive to move in regular channels. #

The 60-year-old’ in-publicity-shy president

first ventured

On taking the job, Mr. Hopwood

warned that his sole objective was scrap metal, that he would not tolerate red tape or anything that would interfere with the job at hand.

Moses Quit First Quickly he was contracting .to

tear down useless train sheds, rip up‘ abandoned railway tracks, pull out old mining machinery, itiated scrap. projects with 216 railroad and street railway companies.

He promoted the appointment of Robert Moses, noted civic planner, as director of industrial salvage in New ‘York. ' Hé'called in the overlooked scrap industry to advise

He in-

In fairness to busy executive officials and in fair-| wMTL.'

ness to itself, congress could improve its own efficiency with good results to government all aroufid. We soon will be coming into complicated reconstruction problems of feeding and rebuilding warruined countries, adjusting our tariff and trade policies to post-war needs, reconverting our own economy back. Promn: improvement of congressional machinery, preparation for doing the technical research necessary so that members are adequately informed when they legislate, are of utmost importance if congress is to be a really functioning body. Otherwise"the job will fall to the utive by default.

¥ o ’ By Elearior Roosevelt

Now they are back, and most anxious to see thelr,

hasis. | The other day I talked at length With the head |

That all wasn’t going well how-

ever, was disclosed last week when Mr. Moses resigned, asserting that he could get no action from federal officials and that Mr. Hopwood was stalled -in his tracks. Shortly there~ after WPB Chief Donald M. Nelson advised the Reconstruction Finance Corp., WMUs parent, that Mr. Hopwood’s © activities were conflicting with the duties of WPB’s special projects section. “WMI was ordered to drop its direct salvaging operations and stick to financing, Hopweod was advised to close six regional offices already set up.

Mr.

Frustrated, believing that WPB’s

action was in contradiction to the original directive creating WMI, Mr. Hopwood pulled “out and returried to private life. : ; ;

So realistic

ER

IV. Russians Who Fight in. American Tanks

By LELAND STOWE Copyright, 1942, by The Indianapolis Times and The Chicago Daily News, Inc.

WITH. THE RED ARMY ON THE RZHEV FRONT.

—From the time we reached the first front zone headquar-

ters I began hearing comments about American tanks, but not exactly the kind to make you throw your hat in

the air.

“they burn like torches”

The major general expressed it bluntly when he said,

It should be noted that this remark concerned the only

American tank whieh has yet seen plenty of action in Russia, the original M-3, which is called the Gen.

Grant. These tanks have been used on the Rzhev front for several months now; along. with Russian tanks and British Matildas. But because the newer and improved American: ‘models. have not yet undergone battle tests, it is unfortunate, but true, that American tanks at present have a definitely bad reputation in the Red army. On performance over this exceedingly difficult marshland ferrain, they are widely outranked—the M-3 medium, that is—by both Soviet and British models of similar size. The major-general and: brigade commissar both cited to me some of the major failings of the Gen. Grant tank.. I also learned that ' in one recent operation, three out of four tanks lost were American. It was a rather sharp blow to any American’s industry - conscious egotism to hear their factual reports—but that is part of the price that is exacted ‘for. the United States” failure to create an up-to-date war industry years ago. That, of course, does not make it any easier on the young Russian tankmen whe- also "have to risk paying the price in. American Gen. Grants, 2 = =

Talks to Crewmen .

I DECIDED I must talk with Russians who fight in our tanks. In another sector, many miles

away, another general arranged - The major of a.

for me to do so. ‘battalion of American tanks and several of his tank crewmen were brought back from their battle positions’ so I could get absolutely first hand testimony of M-3 per“formance along the Rzhev front

in the past several months of

fighting. Maj. Ivan Irmakov, 32 years old,

has been a tankist for 10 years in

the Red army and has been handling Yankee Gen. Grants for the past six months. He is a slender, keen-eyed, extremely intelligent officer and obviously a first-class technician. “We used American tanks in combat here for the first time about four months. ago,” + Maj. Irmakov said. “When we got more of them I was assigned to command a battalion of American tanks,” he Shas “Have you actually fought in American "I asked: ‘That brought a smile to Irmakov’s face. “Naturally, I lead our tanks in

5, |attack quite often. ' I have led attacks in American tanks 13

Once I was wounded in » » .

The Good and the Bad

* Red army's tank bat

can tank’s firepower is very good, .

both cannon and machine guns. Its munition is good and its nose construction, slanted so as to ricochet the enemy's fire, is also very good. This is the model which you call the M-3's. Yes, it has its cannon down low, on the right side instead of on top. “Now as to the negative. First, the tank’s turret is too high. It makes too. much: target. The British Matildd’s turret is much lower and it’s much better in this respect. “Second, the American. tank takes fire very easily. Its motor used airplane gasoline. It is not Diesel-motored, like our ‘Soviet tanks and the fumes-from its gasoline make the whole tank burn quickly. You can't do anything to put it out. Then, third, is the fact that the American tank's treads are much too narrow for the kind of muddy, ground we have in Russia. For this reason, your tanks bog down more easily than ours do, and they. are dificult to maneuver.” - EJ f J .

Lists Secret Faults

SO FAR MAJ. IRMAKOV had mentioned criticisms of the. Gen. Grant which ‘I had heard before but never from someene. so qualified to speak with final authority. As regards American tank in Russia, these particular weaknesses long ago ceased. to be a military secret as far as the Germans are concerned. But the ion commander had by no means finished his report. ‘ Maj. Irmakov cited five more specific items 'about the M-3 tank which either heightened its vulnerability or handicapped to a notable degree its offensive capacity. He explained each point clearly, convincingly:and in some cases told how improvements could be made with a comparatively simple alteration ‘here or there. These, however, are not matters to be reported in. daily newspapers in war time. Nevertheliss, there was no particular consolation for American -pride ‘in the fact that, with the

: second - world war already ‘under

way, such a great industrial power as the United States should produce a medium tank with no less than eight serious faults or: weaknesses. With only 20 years of industrialization, the Soviet Union had produced an infinitely

swampy

HOLD EVERYTHING

, to' be cautioned continually to go easy with their bayonets. In the picture at the left, the Filipinos are made up for their roles as Jap soldiers, In the center, the battle is on and “enemy” machine gunners train their weapons on the U. S. engineers. At the right, - the “battle” is; over and some of ‘the retreating “Japs” have been rounded up and brought back to watch the U. S. soldiers tear the Jap flag from its standard.

Tie MEE . < Sthind chulis:ofthe Russians,

stronger and less ‘inflammable tank than the Gen. Grant, a very considerable period before the Finnish war.

Expected the Best

I HASTENED to explained © the ‘major and his men that Soviet engineers had spent more than 10 years designing and building . tanks before the war began, whereas America’s tank industry was only created in less than two years. “There is a newer and improved American medium tanks,” I said, “and it is certain that some of the faults you mention have been eliminated. Whether all of them have, I don’t know. One thing, however, you can count- on: Americans are an extremely adaptable people and quick to learn by experience, Our industrialists have certainly improved their tank technique and they will continue to do so.” “We had expected that your tanks would be among the best,” the. major replied, simply. Then he added: “There are one or two other things on the good side I meant to mention. Your tank's radio equipment is extremely good. Also, your 37-mm. cannon has an. excellent angle for use against airplanes. But there's another thing.”-

The major grinned: “You know,

inside your American tank is |

typically America. Its very comfortable. It has special head and hump protectors and looks very handsome. But really, that's not for war. Your tanks could be made - cheaper © without those dress-up - touches: and be made more quickly—and for fighting, they would be every bit as good.” o # ”

M-3s Are 3d Choice

I PRESSED the Russian tank corps major in regard to the percentage of losses of American tanks here, as compared to Soviet and British tanks. But he clearly didn’t want to appear to be deliberately painting a dark picture. He merely replied: “When our tanks take fire, we can extinguish the fire quickly, or we can even take them back while

.| burning and then put out the fire.

But the American M-3’s go up in flames immediately.” I asked: “Which tanks have you lost the most of on the Rzhev front?”

Again the major paused. Then

| Hoe We Learned Lesson? § IP SERMEIQNLY FAIR am

at that time it was all we Nad to send. Improvements on the first models had only been made , after battle experience. Now America was producing better and also much bigger tanks; some of 50 or 60 tons or more, When those last tonnage figures were translated, one of the major's tankmen, Sergt. Ivah Salaskin, from Siberia, looked at a Leningrad youngster alongside of him and grinned a very broad and delighted, grin. 4 Judging by that grin, there is still a chance for the American tanks’ reputation to be retrieved in Russia—if our new American tanks are designed out’of the lessons from the old—and if we get them over to the Russian front fast enough. Tank Sergt. Ivan Salaskin won't care how big they are—so long as their American comfort is chiefly concentrated upon fire protection.

Tomorrow, in another newspaper classic, Leland Stowe interviews a 12-year-old “boy soldier” and gives in the child's words one of the most shocking first-hand aecounts of Nazi infamy and cruelty ‘to come out of the war.

END OF SUIT AGAINST PETRILLO HIT BY NAB

NEW YORK, Oct. 16 (U, P= The National Association of Broad casters said last night that “the social and economic implication” of

Federal Judge John P, Barnes’ diss Sl

missal of the. government's anil trust suit against James O. Petrillo and {he American Federation of Musicians “are far wider than the recording~issue” and permits < ers” of any category to strike = against machinery in their fetgs The NAB’s statement, its first on Judge Barnes decision, ‘ was con= Sained in a special bulletin to mem bers. It said: 3 “Judge Barnes’ decision thtetes the present state of the federal The social and economic ‘implic tions of the decision are, of cou far wider than the recording is “If the decision is upheld, ¥ only . ave federal statutes 2 tive against a strike by musiciar any - instrumentality whic brings music to the American ple... . but these statutes are ineffective asst strikes by ers of any category against chinery in their respective fields.’

LAURA INGALLS’ PLE

Neil!

WASHINGTON, Oct. 16 (U. leur. Ingalls; aviatyis Row | ing a two-year prison sente: failing to register as a’ Nasi 1 ganda agent, has been ¢

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