Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 31 December 1942 — Page 12

By Ernie Pyle

, cleanliness ‘of the farming colintry, even though I

pod. They're macadamized, with: banked 8t like ours. Driving around this country, . somewhere. in the United States. This long coastal plain stretching across North Africa, between mountains and sea, is,‘as I've said before, very much like parts of our own Southwest. It's bare of natural trees, but it’s not exactly desert. In fact, it's very fertile and almost wholly under cultivation. The soil resembles red clay, and

is. a regular gumbo after rain. The Arabs raise some oats, and

I've seen some uncommonly long -but most of the land is in vineyards and

is slightly rolling, and you can see for miles or more. The fields are and at this season most of them are

Tended by Little Children

AMERICAN soldiers have had their first nee of picking olives right from the trees and m-—or, I should say, biting into them rather them, for they try it only once. There most violent spitting, spluttering and you ever saw. It seems that an olive has i in brine before it's edible. lack and beautiful on the trees, but they r, puckering taste that’s beyond descrip-

Ces U

all been impressed by the neatness and

de Indianapolis By Lowell Nussbaum

ADDEN, chairman of the state highway received a pretty nice Christmas present. ¥t heard anything from his son, Bob, in nd, like any father, was worrying about him. m Christmas eve, he got .a letter from Bob, He reported he was over in Africa, with the commandos, And he has been promoted to sergeant. . . , Albert J, Wedeking, another highway commissioner, has a friend who is an army captain. The captain brought a detachment of 150 men. through here by train not long ago and stopped off long enough to eat. He took the. men to a downtown restaurant. When he got the bill, it was for 160 men, and the waitresses showed sales slips for that many. But when he : men back to the train and counted them, were only 150. He figured 10 other soldiers, the ways of the army, just got in line and

. Public Service Co. of Indiana) daily a load of passengers with him. Among

‘the Gas Company. It’s still dark when they bt little after 7 a. m. Last Monday, Mrs. ked over to the Williams home and ng to Mrs, Williams while Mr. Williams r out of the garage. He drove right past Lassiter standing there. She thought he intended to pick up one of the other “return for her, But when he didn’t, she ng to the bus line, Mr. Williams realized

here with regard to suggestions appearatches from London that Gen. de Gaulle be

i remark that it’s hard to realize we're not

Evidently the plan is regarded with favor

in London, because it was outlined in dispatches following a meeting between Prime Minister Churchill and Gen, de Gaulle. At first glance the idea is appealing. It is appealing on ideological . grounds. Gen. de Gaulle * is a- fighting Frenchman who struck out from the ‘very first against the axis. He never surrendered and never collaborated. The British government took him up and backed him as the rallying standard for the French people.

can't say the same for the cities. maculate. ' There is no. refuse” or squandered growth or stuff lying around, as on so many American farms. The Arabs do all their farming with horses, which seem to be in good shape. But you seldom see one a those beautiful Arab steeds that you read shout “Sheik” books. Ron in the country you see many herds of goats and sheep, usually tended by liitle children. We've seen cute little shepherdesses, not more than eight years old, in hoods and nightgown-like dresses, who smile and make the “V-for-Victory” sign as you pass.

Strange, but Friendly and Happy

THE ARABS ARE strange people. I can’{ pretend to know anything about them yet. They are poor, and they look as tight-lipped and unfriendly as the Indians in some of the Latin countries, yet they're friendly and happy when you get close to them. I still haven't got the religion question straight. Some Arab women wear white sheets and hoods that cover the face, except for one eye sticking out. The soldiers call them “One-Eyed JIlossies.” But they are in the minority. Most of the women show their faces. As far as I can figure out, the pnes who cover their faces are the severely religious. | The rest are good people, but they don’t observe the ancient customs and restrictions. Just at sunset yesterday we passed a team and a wagon carrying a whole Arab fainily. The man was down on his knees and elbows at the edge of the pavement, facing east toward Mecca, but the women and children were sitting in the wagon just as usual. One of our party wisecracked, “I guess he's making a deal for the whole family.” That was the only Arab I've seen praying.

see her, so she turned back. Pretty soon, she saw him going past again, toward town this time, and again was unable to get his attention. She wound up by taking the bus and getting to work quite a bit late. In case she needs confirmation of her -excuse for lateness, here it is,

Is This 1943?

DR. GAYLE WOLFE, the .denlist, says he’s going to keep his office locked up tight all day Friday. Either that or take his telephone receiver off the hook. That's because his number is LI. 1943, and he doesn’t want to spend the day picking up the receiver and hearing wags ask: “Is this 1943?” . . . John Mellett, whose hair was red before it began to fade and turn pinkish, couldn't say “no” the other day when three boys drove up to his house, 336 Ripple rd., and offered to sell him a load ofywood. All three of the boys had red hair, They made a sale. .. . Seen and heard on Monument circle: Two girls, arm in arm, whistling at a nice looking young sailor as he passed them, He marched right along, looking neither to the right nor the left.

Rainy Day Tip TODAY'S BEST TIP to “rookie” car riders: Don’t stand too near the car switches these rainy days or you may get splashed with muddy water from head to foot as the switch switches automatically. It happened several times at the corner of Pennsylvania

and Washington the other day, and probably a lot of other places, too. . Add hardships of war:

L. A. Krebs, exalted ruler of the Elks; is sending] ‘out cards notifying the brothers that the usual “free

Saturday lunch” is being discontinued because ' of conditions and the food problem. , . . Jimmy Carvin (Power & Light) has been promoted from lieutenant to captain in the air corps, out at Chico air field, Cal. Bet he’s really strutting now. . . . Lieut. Spencer Trudgen, the research director for L. S. Ayres, has been promoted to a captaincy (field artillery), somewhere in the southwest Pacific, _

By Raymond Clapper

- Africa, it would move into France when the Germans

were driven out. It would become the government of France. Those constituting the proposed de Gaulle government would have acquired a vested interest in this government and would have consolidated themselves by virtue of being recognized by the united nations and by having title to the assets ofthe French empire. They would move into France in an entrenched position.

Would People of France Accept?

THE AMERICAN POSITION thus far has been that any arrangements should be temporary, that the people of France should have opportunity at the end of the war to choose their own government, and not be handed a government that had been set up by the allies. The question is whether the people of France

“The fields are im-|

oil. And it tastes the same.

XXll—The Destroyer Stands By

THE OIL AROUND the destroyer seems about two feet thick, solid oil. To me it looks like dirty black castor

A rope with a loop at the end is tossed 30 feet from

shouts at the destroyer. “Heave up, heave up!”

“Of course. Don’t worry

about me. I'm all right.” And the men on the destroyer pull me off the edge of the Carley float. I sink underneath the oil, and for 10 feet while I'm dragged underneath the surface I feel I'm plowing my way through some kind of a solid wall. The pressure “pounds at my head like a great rubber hammer. Then I'm beside the destroyer. A wooden ladder hangs over the side. “Grab hold — hurry!” someone on the destroyer yells down. I try to reach the bottom rung and can’t. It is four feet above the water. The gentle undulation of the oily waves brings me nearer. I make a lunge and get my right hand on the bottom rung. “You'll have to help yourself,” a man on the destroyer calls. Down the side of the destroyer there are other ladders, and rope mats and nets; but I am afraid

if I lose my grip this time I can never make another try. A frenzied voice calls, “Hang on, hang on! But hurry!” I get up the ladder and four men drag me over the taffrail. The deck is ‘burning hot on my bare feet. They strip off my clothes and someone hands me a heavy woolen parka. I put it on, and one of the officers says, “Are you all right?” “¥Fm fine,” T say. “Who has a camera on board this ship?” The officer: doesn’t know, but he calls over another man, saying, “Find this man a camera. There must be one on board.”

TRAFFIC TOLL HAMPERS WAR |

At Least 18,000 Workers Are Killed in Year, Council Says.

Cecil Brown

national safety council said today the same wartime driving that brought about a 30 per cent decrease in 1942 traffic fatalities below 1941 resulted in the death of at least 18,000 war. workers and injury of a half million others. Sidney J. Williams, public safety director of the council, estimated the 1942 traffic deaths totaled less than 28,000, a drop of approximately 12,000 from 1941. “But from the standpoint of national survival,” Williams said, “the 1942 traffic casualties are a more

the destroyer to us. We miss it. The rope is hauled back and again is hurled. Someone grabs it, but Graney tears - it out of his hands and roughly passes the loop over to me. “We have an American war correspondent here,” he Then he waves and shouts,

He asks solicitously, “Can you hold onto the rope?”

CHICAGO, Dec. 31 (U. P.).—The

THE RATING SCOOTS off, and

I stand there while Graney, who

has just been brought on board,

keeps urging me to sit down and

rest. “There’s plenty of time for that,” I insist. “I've got to get a camera.” Graney empties the pockets of my cover-alls, bush jacket and shorts, and hands over the precious notebook in which I kept this account of the battle. I open the notebook, and see every page is water - and - oil - soaked but still legible. About: a half dozen men' are dead on the deck of the destroyer. Others are being sick from the oil. Some men are laughing and joking and inquiring after their special buddies. : The hospital of the sick bay is jammed, “and some of the dead are .being carried out and laid on the deck. Men with blood on their faces are being carried back to the sick bay for attention. Still more survivors are being brought on board, and I snap pictures. I use up all the film. They find me another camera and I use all that

«. film.

By then my feet are blistered from the hot deck,~and I'm leaping from hot deck plate to hatch, to another hot plate, to another hatch, as though playing hop-

“The ; e ‘destroyer’s chief engineer, Frank McLeod of Southsea, Hampshire, comes up and says, “I have a pair of shoes for you.” He hands over a pair of the “Suitcase Simpson” caliber “Those shoes,” he says, “were last worn by one of the three survivors of the Hood. I gave them to a midshipman when I pulled him out of the water.” He gives me an engineers’ logbook, too, for taking notes. The destroyer is the

FUNNY BUSINESS

Electra,

Hn vr et

“Still more survivors are brougl.i

which took 1100 men out of the heli of Dunkirk to England.

®oon om

No Bitterness Apparent

THERE IS NO bitterness amo: z these men this afternoon about the absence of aircraft protectio:., just regret that they’ve lost ther ship. One man is wailing that he’d lost the pictures of his gi'l friend, his mother, his dad.

Another says he’s lost his per - knife, to which a third replies, “Now quit your grousing. Each of us lost exactly the same thing everything!” After about an hour, three Brewster Buffaloes came roaring over, sweeping 10 feet from th: ship. The Japs are Jong gone Ly now. In the steaming hot wardrooin of the Electra 40 or 50 officers arc "drinking ' tea, most all naked io the waist. The heat .is stifling, and’as we sit there—I taking notes—ihe sweat pours out of us as though we are under a showe:. As the sweat drips from me, ! remember how exactly 24 how's before I sat. in the comfortable wardvoom of the Repulse, talking: with the officers of the battle cruiser; and thinking of the British tendency to underestimate the enemy,

Some men sit. at the table,

mn board, and I snap pictures.”

Brown snapped.

their heads buried in their arms. A number of them have bandages on their heads. Men are asking each other, “Did you see So-and-

So?” 8 8 8

THE REMARKS I hear are these: “The first thing I'm going to do is send a cable home.” “This is a terrible blow.” “I hope they've ledrned their lesson. We must have aircraft protection.” “Those Japs were bloody good.” “This shows that if a de-

termined attack is pressed home,

you can sink battleships.” “They'll get you every time without escort and aircraft.” “Did you enjoy your swim?” “I owe him two dollars. If he’s

alive I'll give it to him. If he’s dead he won’t want it.” “I hear theyre going to form us into a naval brigade, give us rifles and tell us. to kill some Japs.” “We’ll handle those Japs yet.” I want to know about Capt. Tennant. One man speaks up: “1"saw him floating face down in ‘the “water? “I can find no one who has seen the other war correspondent. Gallagher. gone? I can’t believe it.

‘Y* HERE LISTS

HOLIDAY EVENTS

Open House Will Feature

Football Broadcast And Contests.

The New Year's day open house at the Central Y. M. C. A. will get underway at 3 p. m. with the diagramming of football plays as the ose Bowl game is broadcast from ?asadena.

Also scheduled for 3 p. m. is the showing of films on various phases if the war effort.

In an aquatic demonstration at

3:45 o'clock, swimmers will show nilitary drill, water combat and the ransportation of heavy objects.

Hold Archery Contest

This is one of the pictures Cecil

Wales’ Fate the Same

- DOWN THERE in the wardroom I am told the sequence of attacks on the Prince of Wales. The attack was similar to our own. High-level bombers and torpedo-carrying bombers. With four torpedoes in the Wales, Admiral Phillips * said: “Tell the Express (which was then alongside the Wales) to signal to Singapore for tugs to tow us home.” It was obvious the admiral hadn’t made up his mind that the ship was going to sink. I ask a lieutenant commander from the Wales about Admiral Phillips and Capt. Leach. They were last seen standing on the bridge of the Prince of Wales. “The admiral and the captain stood there together,” the officer says. “They would not go. As we started away, Capt. Leach waved, and called out: ‘Goodby. Thank you. Good luck. God bless you.’” Then the water rose up to meet them, meeting and then covering them.

NEXT:~Filing the dispatch of the historic naval disaster, despite a typewriter taboo.

50 opyright, 1942, by Random House, distributed by United Peature I ie Inc.) -

Human Hair Coat New Nazi Attire?

LONDON, Dec. 31 (U. P.) —German civilians are wearing overcoats and shoes made from human’ hair in an effort to keep Nazi troops in warm winter clothing, the British ministry of economic warfare reported yesterady, Civilians in Germany have been forced to sacrifice 50 per cent of their own clothing needs because Adolf Hitler is determined that his soldiers must be well-equipped regardless of suffering ‘on the home front, a ministry spokes‘man declared. German troops are better supplied this winter than last, when they suffered great hardship on the frigid Russian front, it was said. The spokesman said that a new

German thing ration coupon, to be

beginning Jan. 1, “appears fo show an increased reduction in clothing. The whole tenor of the card suggests that civilians will be sacrificed to supply the army.”

HOLD EVERYTHING

would be ready to accept such a government set up in Africa and transferred over after the Germans had san; been driven out. Predi 2-31 | About that opinions differ. There are those who ets Decline \ ™ doubt that such a government would be acceptable. Williams predicted traffic deaths| “rm hanging ’em upside down so theyll look right when I wake up That's about the line of difference that is develop-|of non-workers would continue to : . New Year’s morning!”

ing—as between those who would set up a French|decline but. car pooling, deterioraSEEK BLOOD DONORS | Yanks Are Given

serious loss than the larger casualty lists of previous years.”

Admiral Darlan out of the way, it is sugfed that the time has come when Frenchmen can Mhited under Gen. de Gaulle as head of a French t with its temporary seat at Algiers, pend3 time when victory would enable it to move p metropolitan France.

French Assets at Stake

[ME THIS de Gaulle government would

ol ripe «oti 1 The Cardinal City Archery club

will sponsor an open city archery journament at 4 p. m. at the ¥. M. md gymnasium exhibitions of maze unning, games, commando tactics, teeple chases, etc, are scheduled rom 4:45 to 6 p. m. The choir rom P. R. Mallory Co. will sing at

government now under de Gaulle and those who would | tion of tires and brakes and an indefer formation of a French government until the end | crease in drinking drivers would of the war, continuing the present arrangement in|keep the total of war worker cas-

pl over all French colonies that are not in Presumably the proposed French govern‘being recognized as the legitimate governFrance, would take title to the vast amount ‘French assets held in the United States and ¢ a French government now and set it.up s in Algiers would ‘mpose a kind of unity

colonial affairs, and in that sense is a de-

other hand, it has to be considered that if national government were set up now in

INGTON, Wednesday.—Mr. Jo Davidson's Senator Norris is a wonderful work of art, as would be. It is like looking at the senator e is humor, gentleness, strength and lines “which: time has etched into his face. A great artist has repro--

duced them, letting the spirit shine through and giving in lastE ing form the personality of his - subject. : The dinner to Senator Norris, given in New York city last night, was more than just a tribute, it was & plea from almost every speaker to continue the leadership in private life which the - senator has given during his pubtlic career. It is wonderful to have : been in public life for such a long e every act is scrutinized, and to come ie adinitation’ snd anfidence of such

Africa of military control working through existing local governments on the spot. My own instincts all go with the de Gaulle people, and my hunch is that the weary, beaten people inside France will be ready to welcome the leadership of such a courageous man whose flame of French patriotism never blew out during the storm. Yet there is a lot I don’t know about it. It is all delicate business. Perhaps it is a little like the recent second-front talk, We might be wiser to take it a bit easy for the moment and not kick up too hot an ideological family quarrel.

By Eleanor Roosevelt

future, you had better write to the National Safety Council in Chicago for this booklet, It will give you good advice on what to wear.

Some of the things are very obvious, but we prob-| .ably need them: No jewelry,

| y no rings, should be worn. Low-heeled shoes will allow you to fill your daily stint with less fatigue.’ Wear goggles

and a cap which completely covers your hair, and

which has a visor broad enough tp warn you when your head is getting too near any part of the machine. Slack suits, jumpers and dresses should all be loose and comfortable, with no loose tabs, belts, or large buttons to catch in the machinery. Sleeves

_should either be short, or, if you prefer them long,

tight-fitting. These suggestions sti the fact that a woman can still look extremely attractive in her working clothes, but that the objec in going to work is to produce as much as possible. I have another letter from a dressmaker, who says she has designed a ‘dress which will conform to the WPB desire to use less cloth and % cut down on the variety of styles, which the big dress shops are now

~ making. She says Lier patter is a basis dress, whith in ¢ nanufacturers, and

ualties nearly the same. He attributed the 1942 decrease to a decline in driving because of gasoline and tire rationing and said the nation could not “feel too much satisfaction” over it. Cities reporting traffic deaths included: Indianapolis, 82 in 1942, 69 in 1941; Milwaukee, 43 in 1942, 50 in 1941; Buffalo, 45, 66; New York, 692, 744; St. Louis, 96, 81; Washington, 79, 75; San Francisco, 76; 84; Pittsburgh, 81, 72; Chicago, 415, 554; Cleveland, 107, 122; Detroit, 207, 256; Baltimore, 118, 133; Phila-

delphia, 216, 271; Los Angeles, 287,

458.

GOERING CALLS FOR BLASTPROOF WALLS

LONDON, Dec. 31 (U. P)—

‘Blastproof walls, with windows

sealed to the heighth of all eqiipment, have been ordered by Reichsmarshal Hermann Goering for Germany’s factories, the Evening Star said yesterday, quoting a Berlin In an effort to cut down destruction by the R. A. F., Goerinig also

buildings be kept to a minimum.

WPB 0. K.’S HEAT GADGETS

WASHINGTON, Dec. 31 (U.P.).— The war production board ruled yesterday that fireplace dampers or grates weighing 30 lbs. or less may be sold without preference Fate

ordered that factory windows in new

IN HOME CANVASS

Air raid wardens in the 10th district will conduct a house-to-house canvass for blood donors during the week of Jan. 11. Details of the campaign will be discussed tonight at 8 p. m. when the wardens meet in the auditorium of school 58, E. New York st. and N. Linwood ave. Plans for the drive were originated by Harold W. Brady, the district warden, and Ralph C. Werner, di-

rector of the Red Cross blood donor

center. Mr. Brady has named Chester O. Martin, 424 N. DeQuincy st., as campaign chairman. District 10 is bounded by E. Tenth st, Emerson ave. English

Marriage Rules

LONDON, Dec. 31 (U. P).~ United States army headquarters today outlined regulations for American soldiers wanting . to *marry while on duty in the United Kingdom. Soldiers first must obtain -permission from - their superiors. headquarters announced. They also must file an application twomonths before the wedding date. Married soldiers will not be allowed special privileges or living arrangements different from those provided single men.

‘SPONSORS CARD PARTY

‘The Old Age Pension. Program

club 3 will sponsor a New Year's

eve card party tonight in the Mec-

Kinley clubhouse, 2217 E." “Michigsr st.

30 p. m. and a community sing 7ill follow. , A girls’ basketball game between eams from Eli Lilly & Co. and jridgeport Brass is set for 7 p. m. n the game to follow, soldiers from *. Harrison will meet a team from Aallory’s.

Several exhibits are to ‘be held|P a connection with the event. In-| ES luded will be one of a propeller| i rade at Curtiss-Wright. Army field | Bg

ations and photographic and air aid equipment will be included ia ‘thers. Evan Walker is chairman of arangements. . SPONSOR WATCH PARTY Silver Star Review 15, Women’s: jenefit association, will have a ratch party tonight at Castle hall Irs. Lucille Johnson is in chargef {f the program beginning at 8 p. m.

rinse!”

ave.-and the Belt railroad. SUPERMAN

~By Jerry Siegel and Joo hu