Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 12 December 1942 — Page 1
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» hea dway today with signs that the
. shattering blow at Naples.
_ forces of tanks and infantry were
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nly 4 of 4000 Troops Lost As U. 8. Transport Sinks.
ITALY BEGINS 70) FEEL FULL ALLIED MIGHT
Nzples, Turin and France 3ombed; Hint Attack on
1 Rommel Renewed.
'4'3y HARRISON SALISBURY | United Press Staff Correspondent The allied campaign to subject Italy to the full might of British and American air power gathered
imperial eighth army is moving into action against Marshal Erwin Rommel,’ : British planes struck at Italy frora the north, attacking Turin for tli¢ third time within a week, while
American long-range bombers from the Middle East dealt another
Meanwhile allied planes, possibly in record-breaking numbers, roared over the continent in a virtual nonstop attack on French objectives. The daylight attack was reported to be one of the biggest in many weeks.
4 Just a Foretaste
‘The co-ordinated air thrusts were believed to be only a foretaste of the attack which will strike Italy with growing strength as the allies drive the axis out of Africa. Rich- » ard Casey, British minister of state at Cairo, was quoted as saying that by early 1943 Italy would be undergoing a full scale attack. ; In Africa there were strong signs’
tazt the eighth army has finally |
begun its move against the Nazi lines’ at’ El Agheila. “British, observers doubted that Rommel actually] would put up an all-out ‘stand there unless required to do so hy Adolf Hitler as a matter of prestige. They pointed out Rommel could make much better use of his limited forces if he falls back to Misurata or some other point close to his supply base. =
Face Uphill Job
Reports to allied headquarters in North Africa said that German
developing their attack on the Medjez-el-Bab grea, about 40 miles
west of Tunis and 50 miles south-|.
west of Bizerte. It was believed the Germans feel (Continued on Page Three) = ” 8
On the War Fronts
(Dec. 12, 1942)
NDON — R. A. F, blasts Turin and north Italy for third time in a week; other allied formations jopen big daylight sweep over occupied Europe; allied forces in Tunisia hold 25-mile front after falling back 12 miles.
AIRO—American heavy bombers attack Naples, hitting vital port ‘installations and shipping; British eighth army believed to hdve -opened long-awaited offensive against remnants of Afrika Korps.
ME — Italians admit Naples theavily damaged, 57 killed and 138 wounded; high command rei ports British attack at El Agheila, clainting it repulsed “with deteri mination.
OSCOW—Russians break through first German defense line at Rehev, killing 800 Nazis and de- * stroying fortifications.
spUTH PACIFIC—Army bombers isink Jap tanker, down six zervs rin rald on Faisi harbor.
LEARL HARBOR — Double allied | offensive against Japanese in | New Britain and northern Solo‘mons soon may be launched from iNew Guinea and southern Solo- : mons,
EN. MacARTHUR’'S HEADQUAR- | TERS—Allies trap strong Jupa/nese force near Buna.
| TIMES FEATURES | ON INSIDE PAGES
1)Inside Indpls.
9 10 10 11 3 Pegler ....... 10 Pyle iccisenees 9 Radio ....... 14 Real Estate... 5 Mrs. Roosevelt 9
tack the allies made
VOLUME 53—NUMBER 237
ATION HEADS HER
® 8 =»
FORECAST: Colder this afternoon and tonight. Occasional light snow this afternoon.
8 8 8 .
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1942
Clothe-A-Child wants about Everett.
—with a break. And a solid citizen. »
8 8
He's a well-built youngster. He looks like he'll be a football player
He came to the Clothe-A-Child office yesterday with his mother and six younger brothers and sisters. carrying a couple of the. tots. He sat on the back row and held the baby. When his time came to go to the store for new clothes, he walked at
The Diagnosis Is Simple— Everett's Undernourished
(List of Donors, Page Three) to tell you per mind the
s
A doctor
He was
Everett is
the back of the group to help the dob
He had little to say—pleased with anything he received. Then he fainted.
mother was summoned. Everett faints often, said his mother. The doctor's diagnosis was brief— undernourishment. Everett had had no breakfast. That happens often.
dozen or so little boys.
was in the store and his
only 12,
| WASHINGTON
A Weekly Sizeup by the Washington
Staff of the Scripps-Howard Newspapers
action there.
» ” 8
WASHINGTON, Dec. 12.—Watch Burma.
lies China, and the short road to Japan.
That way Time's ripe for f
s »
Hitler's troubles multiply daily. Pefain, Mussolini, Horthy, the
badly, for him,
u
i
royal families of Bulgaria, Rumania, all are his prisoners. under. close ‘watch ‘hy. Gestapo: Hitler can't afford fo have any: of them drop’ out of the war, especially now when things are going
All are
# » »
‘Wateh Tor a conference of French leaders early in 1943 to settle
Roosevelt nor Churchill is happy
the dangerous Darlan-DeGaulle feud over North Africa. Neither
about present situation. They're
said to feel that if French factions can’t work together mow—even temporarily—when France's existence is at stake, anything can hap-
pen after the war.
’ # #H ”
Production Picture Bright
PRODUCTION FRONT: Army's hint of new planes which" will
“make the angels gasp” didn’t tell the whole story by any ‘means. In tanks, electrical equipment and elsewhere proud manufacturers are anxious to tell about what they've developed; can’t do it’ till"the
armed forces approve.
Leveling-off of production curves is biggest worry here,
possible, moment.
urge.
Armed services are bringing heavy pressure on some sections of industry to get a maximum of war. goods onto the docks at .earliest U. 8S. must produce to limit now to beat axis to the punch when large-scale battles resume in both hemispheres, they
Some smart airplane producers begin to argue for simpler instrument panels, less elaborate communication sets, to reduce slow, pains-
taking hand operations. They believe difference to fliers would be
small, difference in rate of production would be great.
8 4 = There's still complaint in war
industry about too much snooping
by government representatives, but increasing numbers of big executives credit WPB and army ordnance with doing a steadily better
job.
# # #
(Probably due to two factors—government men get to know their job better, munitions makers learn how to deal with them.)
» 8 n
Spain will not join in the war if Generalissimo Franco has his
way, loyalist sympathizers to the
contrary notwithstanding. Catch
is that Hitler may force his hand if things go badly for him in Tunisia. Experts say excitement over Franco's soft-soaping of Hitler and Mussolini was childish. Had he not done so it would have been news.
McNutt’s Troubles Just Starting
# » #
MANPOWER CHIEF McNUTT'S troubles are just beginning. He'll
not get from this congress the money and extra authority he needs
to put employment service on an efficient basis.
- And he may not get it from the new congress.
Legislative branch
is afraid of McNutt's presidential ambitions, wants to keep him relatively impotent. It’s one reason he was not the president’s first choice
to head manpower.
Yes USES is the key to manpower control, can’t function unless
it is expanded, given more money. Meanwhile it continues to lose (Continued on Page Three)
In N. Africa,
WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 (U. P). —Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson warned today that any public feeling, perhaps fostered by initial allied successes, that “all is.over” in the North African campaign “will only lead to disappointment,” “We are only just now approaching the main work,” he said. “Any idea that there is no toil and blood ahead will only lead to disappoifitment.” The secretary said, however, that the allignment of Admiral * Jean Francois Darlan with the allies has put us “months ahead” in North
Africa.
Stimson contrasted the “step by step” Japanese campaign in fhe South Pacific with the surprise atin" North “The North African operations
were in essence and by necessity surprise operations,” he said, “while
Japan's ‘campaign was a slow in.
‘Blood and Toil’ Face U. S.
Stimson Warns
Siam, then the Philippines, then attacks on Borneo, Java, New Guinea and the Solomon islands.” Pointing out the difference in'this type of warfare and surprise operations such as were undertaken in North Africa, Stimson said the latter had to take the enemy unawares to succeed. Once landed, ‘he continued, the allied light forces had to race ahead despite lack of airfield preparations. “If we hadnt, the Germans would have sent reinforcements across the narrow sections of the Mediterranean to-dig in and delay them,” Stimson said. Even so the Germans were able to send considerable numbers of troops to North Africa to meet the allied attack. Thus far, Stimson said, only light allied forces have been in contact with the enemy. Stimson described the current actions as merely harassing operations until supplies and heavier forces Tor the
final battles,
ST. LOUIS EDITOR
} | Faces Jail for Suggesting.
thits on another and shot down six
GIVES UP TODAY
The Scrapping of Capital Cannon.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. Dec. 12 (U. P.).~Harry Mackey, Cole county sheriff. said today that
Ralph Coghlan, head of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial page,
would surrender voluntarily to him. on charges that he instigated the|bor
attempted theft of a Mexican war cannon from the state house«isiwn. Mackey said Coghlan had contacted him personally and that he would arrive from St. Louis at 10:50 a. m. by train. He said Coghlan advised him to be on hand to make the arrest. Mackey said that arrangements had been made for Coghlan’s arraignment on charges of grand larceny.
Face Gun Charge
Meanwhile, the two-man “taxpayers’ expeditionary force” from St. Louis, Sidney W. Stearns and R. W. Riley, lolled in° the Cole county jail and an angry Republican governor pinned the blame for the entire affair on the PostDispatch. Searns and Riley not only faced grand larceny charges but an additional one of carrying concealed weapons. Vane Thurlo, assistant attorney general, said that a revolver had been found in the body of the truck “covered by a newspaper.” In a signed statement, the men admitted to Assistant County Prosecutor Paul E. Allen, that Coghlan had paid them enough money to cover the expenses of the trip. IU was a “small amount,” they said. The governor, Forrest C. Donnell, (Continued on Page Three)
JAP TANKER HIT, 6 ZEROS DOWNED
U. S. Planes Raid Harbor
Near Guadalcanal.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 (U. PJ). —Army bombers and fighters damaged a Japanese tanker, scored near
‘Prompt and Efficient Res-
| dent Coolidge, transporting approxi- | mately 4000 army troops, struck a
i
I —————
USS COOLIDGE IN S. PACIFIC
cue Work’ Cited in Naval Report.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 (U. P.). —The 22,000-ton U. S. liner Presi-
mine in the South Pacific and sank with a loss of only four men, the navy announced today. The vessel, owned by the American President lines of San Francisco, was chartered and operated by the war shipping administration for the army. The vessel was fully loaded with troops and equipment at the time, the navy said.
10th Transport Sunk
The Coolidge was the tenth American transport sunk in this war. Her skipper was Henry Nelson, 3714 ‘Irving st., San Francisco. He was saved. “Through prompt and. efficient rescue efforts, casualties were limited to four men,” the navy’s announcement said. A naval officer said these men were lost. The sinking oecurred in recent weeks, but the navy did not disclose the exact date or the part of the South Pacific in which it occurred.
Four Sunk in Solomons
NO The Asis of Ee ny se
a town —was announced recently. They were sunk off North Africa. Four’ transports — the Little, Gregory, Colhoun and George F. Elliott (formerly City of Los Angeles)—were sunk in the Solomons.
mine which caused the loss of the Coolidge was an American or an enemy one, Presumably it was the latter. : The President Coolidge’ was a ship of 21936 gross tons and was completed .in 1931 at the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Newport News, Va. She was 615 feet long, with a beam of 81 Teet and a draft of 28 feet.
FDR to Norris:
‘Remain Active’
WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 (U. P.). —President Roosevelt disclosed that hé! has asked Senator George W. Norris (Ind. Neb.) to remain active in public’ life after he leaves the senate next month so the people of the entire world may continue to benefit from his liberal teachings. He said he made the suggestion to the 81-year-old “dean” of the senate—who was defeated for reelection last month—during a conference Thursday. He added that he had-not asked Norris to remain in the government.
TRANSIT COMPANIES GET MORE MATERIALS
WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 (U. P). —The war production board today provided for increased materials in 1943 to maintain streetcars, trolleybusses, and elevated and subway
zeros in a raid on Faisi harbor, 275, miles northwest of Guadalcanal, the navy announced today. Meanwhile,” flying fortresses, blasted a new Japanese airfield in. the central Solomons only 150 miles | northwest of Guadalcanal. This, field is located at Munda on New, Georgia island and had previously, been reported under construction. | In the attack on Faisi harbor, which is near Shortland island, 11! fortresses and eight Lockheed lightning fighter planes bombed enemy surface vessels gathered there.
Frat eto, B
rolling stock now handling record! passenger traffic. : . Carriers will be allowed new parts for maintenance and repair 'next year in amounts proportionate to the growth of their passenger service. Production of spare parts was placed under regulatory control, but overall production in 1943 will be approximately 15 per cent above 1942.
RICKENBACKER SOON TO VISIT STIMSON
WASHINGTON, Dec, 12 (U. P.). —Secretary of War Henry L. Stim son said today that he expected to see Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker— ‘world ‘war. ace recently lost in’ the Pacific for 21 days—‘“walk into my office about the 15th. of this
Bliss: ‘Joseph a Hee x :
The navy did not say whether the|
Entered as Second-Class’ Matter at Postoffice, Indianapolis, Ind. Issued daily except Sunday.
FEAR COLLAPS
8 un»
BOARDS
Famed = Hoosier Movie . Actress to Appear at ‘War'Bond Show. _
Marjorie Main challenged Indianapolis to a “full house” for her show tonight, and indications are she’ll get it. : A total of $50,000 in “revenge” bonds is expected to be sold by tonight to admit purchasers to Loew’s theater for the midnight show when Miss Main will do her stuff. Tickets are .tree with $18.75 war bond purchases at banks and downtown department stores. Last night the Hoosier-born movie star filled a . gymnasium _ full - of “home town folks” at Shelbyville wher® she was plain Mary Tomlinson when she lived there with her father and mother, the Rev. and Mrs. R. J. Tomlinson, in the parsonage of the First Methodist church. Miss Main’s mother, Mrs. Jennie Tomlinson of Indianapolis, was on the stage with her. Miss Main worked 20 minutes selling bonds in the bond booth in the Claypool hotel lobby and sold $1325 in bonds. “It’s the best way to take in money that I know of,” she commented. 0 Miss Main's appearance is sched uled after aitombination screen and stage show including talent from Pt. Harrison and official war pictures from the office of war in-|. formation. Tickets also will be available at the Loew’s theater bond booth today and tonight. .The show was arranged by the motion picture industry and the war savings staff.
SHRINE POTENTATE
VISITS CITY TODAY
Fiebach to Be Present for
Winter Ceremonial.
Imperial Potentate Albert H. Fiebach of the' Shrine in North America will make his annual visit to the Murat temple today when the local Shrine inducts more than 275 novices at its winter = ceremonial. Clyde B. Titus, illustrions poten- : rs of the
the highest -
tr i | the need for sationing and |
‘HOME
PRICE THREE CENTS
———
-
STAGGER UNDER
INCREASING BURDENS AND BUREAUCRATIC RED TAP
Lack Paid Help, Space, Funds to Operate;]
Face State-Wide Resignations Because of Long Hours and Rising Public Anger.
By EDWIN C, HEINKE Copyright, 1842, by The Indianapolis Times
The rationing system in Marion county and throughout
Indiana is on the verge of a complete breakdown, memo randa of rationing executives disclosed today. -
The boards, working amazingly long hours, can no
longer withstand public anger, but are helpless in the face of a lack of adequate quarters, lack of paid help, lack of funds to operate the rationing system properly, and lack
of co-operation by bureaucratic superiors in Washington,
“I will continue to work at this job until I drop,” wrote Alex L. Taggart, Marion county rationing co-ordinator, to
|James D. Strickland, state rationing director, “but unless
help comes . . . the boards soon will become inoperative and the entire rationing and price control program will collapse.” Mr. Strickland concurred in this opinion completely.
“The Vicious Circle Grows and Grows”
“Now that we are in it,” wrote Mr. Taggart, “I am sure that rationing must become successful. It is too late ./t0 do anything else. Maybe nothing else would do the job,
At least; we must carry on and make it work. I consider
it a privilege to have the opportunity to serve and I hops
that I can continue doing my small bit. 1 am sure many
men and women féel as I do. They have shown it by their .
untiring service. : “We have a work load of such proportions that with the paid staff that we have and the equipment and work space allotted to us, at best only a loose, inaccurate and totally unsatisfactory job will result. With records in such shape, the public can’t get satisfaction when they apply
for adjustment, and therefore more explaining and time -
is wasted.
“And as the work becomes heavier and the service less
prompt, the public becomes more irritated and the board members, overworked, become short and sometimes rude, and so the vicious circle grows and grows.
Need Tools, Manpower and Intelligent Planning “At times I wonder if I know what this job is all about, I have felt in the past, that given a definite work to do, that some way I could get it done, but anyone who does the job must have the tools and the manpower and a definite plan to follow. We do not have the tools nor the manpower and I doubt if there is any sort of intelligent plan. “The powers that be think out what they believe should
EE
be done and perhaps they are right, but they fail to plan i
or even think about the mechanics of carrying out their orders. It has always been too little or too late with forms, supplies, coupons and regulations. And yet the boards are told to handle the public so that it will be for and understand rationing.
“It would seem just common sense to have a boss ofithe. :
department looking after the mechanics of rationing, works
ing very elose to the boss who gives out effective dates of
rationing. But no, the boards must work out ways to fill
in for forms not here, make us do the job two or*three times ;
solely because we have no further forms or coupons. aA
‘Willing te “Go Down Swinging” “As I get the picture, we have just started rationifig,
and I must bring to your attention that no more can’ ‘be A
done urtil we are caught up on our present work and have a reasonable plan for the future. If you or. Cleveland or
Washington have a reasonable plan, then the boards should =
know about it. I realize that this is war, and we should obey orders, and I am willing to go down swinging, but going down swinging does not do the job. Give the boards the tools to work with. You say you cannot because of lack of money, etc. ~~ “If we cannot have money because congress will not give it to OPA while Henderson is tops, then Hende should get out. I say this bécause the public will not fo congress with rationing in a mess. I have been for Henderson because Baruch put his o. k. on him. “As to future rationing, regardless of directives as | what is to be rationed and when, I suggest that boards advised in plenty of time and you be sure they are read to handle it, and if they are not ready, protest to
in Cleveland. 0., Mr. flebach heaven. Let us have no Iare fuel rationing, nor gas
some’ ori ‘common sense, Eas the — mea results 0
ih