Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 21 January 1943 — Page 17

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= i ’ x: ¥ : ak esl’ ; i (Continued from Page One) vg Joud. One man clutched a leather cap with blood on it. The pilot's hands were very white. . Everybody knew the pilot. He was so young, a couple of hours ago. The war came inside us then, and we felt it deeply.

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_. Half a dozen of us went to the high control tower. We go there every evening, for two things—to watch the sunset, and to get a report on the progress the German bombers that fre-

quently come just after dusk to

are truly things with a soul. The

violence of their color is incredible. They splatter the sky and : : the clouds with a surging beauty. es ta The mountains stand dark against the horizon, and palm trees silhouette themselves dramatically against the fiery west. As we stood on the tower looking down over this - powerful scene, the. day began folding itself up: Fighter planes, which patrol the field all day, were coming in.’ All the soldiers in the tent camps had finished supper. That noiseless peace that sometimes comes just before dusk hung over the airdrome. Men walked in low tones about the dead pilot ‘and the ‘lost fortress. ; : A Tiny Black Speck— WE THOUGHT we would wait a few minutes more to see if the Germans were coming tonight. . + And then an electric thing happened. Far off in the dusk a red flare shot into the sky. It made an arc against the dark background of the mountains and fell to the earth. It couldn't be anything else. It had to be. The 10 dead men were coming home! * “Where's the flare gun? Gimme a green flare!” yelled an officer. :- :

Vagabond 1»

He ran to the

moving, alone, two itself home. I am a layman, and no longer of the

n fraternity that flies, but I can feel. ‘And at that moment I felt

ward us with such pathetic slowness.

‘one else was there. With our nervous systems we seemed to pull the plane toward us. I suspect a photograph would have shown us all leaning slightly to the left. : : Not one of us thought the plane would ever make the field, but on it came—so- slowly that it was cruel to watch. ry It reached the far end of the airdrome, still holding its pathetic little altitude. It skimmed over the tops of parked planes, and kept on, actually reaching out—it seemed to us—for tke runway. A few hundred yards more now. Could it? Would it? Was it truly possible? : / Theéy cleared the last plane, and they were over the runway. They settled slowly. The wheels touched ‘softly. And as the plane rolled on down the runway the thousands of men around that vast field suddenly realized that they were weak and. that they could hear their hearts pounding. The last of the sunset died, and the sky turned into blackness, which would help the Germans if they came on schedule with their bombs. But nobody cared. Our 10 dead men were miraculously back from the grave.

TOMORROW: How they did it.

Inside Indianapolis By Lowell Nussbaum

THE WOODS are full of amateur weather prophets, but we've just learned about one of the more eminent of these local prognosticators. He is Charles W. Buennagel, engineer for the William B. Burford Printing Co. Mr. Buennagel has quite a reputation ‘as a weather seer his own circie of friends and atquaintances. When he opines that it’s going fo rain, his followers just naturally reach for an umbrella. He has his own method of telling on how many days it will snow during the winter. The system is one handed down to him by his grandmother, and he’s never seen it to fail, he says. The system depends on the day the first snow occurs in November. Whatever the : : day of the month, that's the number of days it will snow that winter. The first noticeable snowfall came on Nov, 29. So Mr. Buennagel predicted snow on 29. days. Some folks laughed. But it looks like he may show them. Every day it snows, he puts a mark on the wall of the engine room at Burford’s, and already there are 18 marks there. Yes, with January not over yet and bruary and March to go, too. - Up gt the weather bureau, they were politely skep- ~ tical en we told them about Mr. Buennagel’s system. Never heard of it, they said with an air of

one less than Mr. Buennagel's records show. Probably just professional jealousy.

Trouble Ahead

OH ME, OH MY! Now we're in for it. Yesterday, we got an anonymous letter entitled “Good Luck of London.” The letter instructed us to send it and four copies to friends within 24 hours and we’d have good luck four days afterward. Break the chain and we'd have bad luck. It said Gracie Fields received four million dollars after receiving it. And, shucks, the 24 hours is past and we forgot to copy it. We're looking

Washington

WASHINGTON, Jan. 21.—Not in 50 years has the senate rejected a diplomatic appointment. Seldom does it even ask questions. ~ For '10 years President Roosevelt has been making diplomatic appointments. It must mean something : that suddenly, after all this time, furious controversy should break ou over ‘the appropriateness of one such appointment. The controversy cannot be treated as the Democratic - natignal committee attempts to treat it. At its meeting this week. the national committee adopted a rather intolerant resolution stat- : ing criticism of the nomination of Edward J. Flynn to be min- : ister to Australia was a treasonEe do able plot to destroy confidence in ‘+ the commander-in-chief. - : ** That hysterical resolution was the first act of the n committee under its .new chairman, Post- * master General Frank Walker. The committee resolu-

'¢ tion pretends that the whole question about the fitness. .4f the Flynn appointment is a plot against the presi- of its ideals for a better world after the war, and its . “dent, an act of sabotage. ;

{3 Trying to Obscure Blunder

BUT THE MISTAKE obviously was the president's,

. 3" tn naming Mr. Fiynn,

for diplothatic posts, without any criticism being reg-

+ to Great Britain.

without con- -

for trouble most any minute now. . . . State Senators Chamberlin and Brokenburr, along with Carl Dortch of the C. of C. and Jack Reich Jr., C. of C. president, spent an uncomfortable 30 minutes Tuesday. They were aboard a state house elevator when it got stuck between the second and third floors. Someone finally got the third floor door open and handed down a chair and they managed to crawl out.

The Same Mistake

L. E. KELSEY, one of R.CA’s engineers, was downtown on business the other afternoon, Starting back «to the plant, he absent-mindedly got on an E. Washington streetcar, instead of the E. Michigan. A block later, he discovered his error, obtained a transfer and got off. Boarding the next car that came along, he discovered he was on another E. Washington. This time he was too embarrassed to ask for another transfer, so he just rode on out, then walked north to Michigan. . . . The Marion -county committee on ed“ucation for war savings stamps and bonds got busy the other day and checked up on reports of bonds and stamps sold in the schools during September, October, November and December. They totaled $111,976. Good work, boys and girls. That's enough: to buy our troops 745 tommy guns. Look at all the Japs tHose tommy guns will mow down. If you add in what’s probably been sold thus far this month, it’s probably enough to furnish the army with a fast pursuit plane, which costs $137,000. Keep it up, kids. * acy it

1 finality. They. ‘up Jags reo ds and could find, 2 Sia a {ily 1 days Sith more ThE 4 race oF stow, "That's ~ATOUNH thE TOR 8

VIRGINIA MILLER, personnel clerk in the state welfare office, is recuperating at home, 746 N. Pershing ave, after a serious spinal operation. She’ll be in a plaster cast until about April 1, but manages to keep in touch with the world through a telephone at her bedside. . . . The bread ads in the streetcars and busses are out of date now. They still say “It’s sliced.” Some of the wrappers say the same thing. ... Employees of the National Household Distributors, Inc. had a going-away party last night for their boss, David Gifford, who leaves tomorrow for VOC traininggin the army.

By Raymond Clapper

A diplomatic appointment, like one to the cabinet, is a highly personal matter with the president. The only cabinet appointment to be rejected since reconstruction days was that of Charles Beecher Warren to be attorney general under Coolidge. He had been charged by the federal trade commission with violating the anti-trust laws and, whether fairly or not, all the Democrats in the senate and 10 of the progressive Republicans felt it was inappropriate for him to be attorney general.The Democratic national committee is attempting to obscure the president's blunder by denouncing the critics as being guilty of an unpatriotic and backhanded attack on the commander-in-chief, If that is to be the technique of the new management of the Democratic national committee, then the job of the administration will be more difficult than ever—and it won't be easy under the best of conditions.

World Ideals Given a Rough Jolt _

THIS ADMINISTRATION is in severe danger o becoming isolated from the American voters. - The administration’s best appeal now is in behalf

ability to turn those ideals into reality. It was partially

‘ “sold the country. i

-- But all of that takes a rough jolt when the president makes a cynical appointment like that of Ed Flynn to one of our most important and difficult as-

signments. ; Also it is depressing to see us importing into North Africa, under the banner of the four freedoms, the

es istered. Often they have been political appointments former Vichy ambassador to Argentina. He flew from

- Buenos Aires to North Africa a few days ago and has

~~ “Joseph Kennedy and Robert Bingham were.named been: made governor of Algiers. : at Dr. William Dodd fo Germany, 4 Claude Bowers to Spain and ‘Chile, Bert Fish to tions in North Africa to reach the American public.| tht §{ Portugal, Laurence Steinhardt to Sweden, Peru,. But Ernie Pyle’'s recent dispatch about snakes in| 1 + Russia and Turkey, and one of the most outstanding North Africa is enough to prejudice me. - of all, Joseph E. Davies, to Russia—all

Censorship allows few facts about political condi-

\ of ammunition free by this administration.

x By Eleanor Roosevelt | FOF :

8: 0.

2 U. §: O. elub called “The Thistle.” I found.

as hostesses were all Scotch,

American isolationists are being handed a fine lot

that]

Pope Seeks to Prevent Attack By SEXSON E, HUMPHREYS London newspapers this week are demanding that Rome be bombed as well as Berlin. The editors who are making the demand know definitely that some of the churches and historical shrines that cover every part of the “eternal city” would be damaged in any raid, even with the highest precision bombsight. : It is for this reason that His Holiness Fope Pius XII has been reported working so hard to pre-. vent allied bombing of the city. Unless the pope is successful, some damage will be done to buildings beloved by the world’s tourists and the religious pilgrims who in times of peace come to Rome. It is possible, however, that Rome could be bombed by the huge allied bombing planes with a fairly small amount of damage to Rome's greatest treasures. The fact that the British raiders at Cologne were able to spare that city's beautiful cathedral is a promise that St. Peter's could be spared in a raid on Rome, but “block-buster” bombs could not be dropped--however precisely— where they would destroy Rome’s

military targets without damaging some famed buildings and ruins.

5 ” ” ” City Like Washington 'ANTHONY EDEN told the British parliament yesterday that “we have as much right to bomb Rome as the Italians had to bomb London.” That statement is not completely accurate. London has many important war industries. So do Paris and Berlin, There are none in Rome. > Rome is a city of bureucracy, like Washington. Its huge government offices are proper military objectives and so long as they remain in Rome, the city of the Caesars cannot be called an “open city” immune from bombing. Rome is a fair milifary target also because it is Italy’s greatest railroad center. Thorough destruction of all the railway lines in Rome would mean only one

southern Ttaly, probably the goal 2 of any allied invasion attempt.

VICTORY GARDEN DRIVE IS OPENED

Wickard Urges That Al _ Suitable Ground Be Used in Cities.

"WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 (U.P) — Food Administrator Claude R. Wickard today began a national “victory garden” drive to encourage production of home-grown vegetables. : Farmers and city people who have ground suitable for gardens were urged to grow and can as much as possible for home consumption. Vegetables canned from home gardens may be used in addition to each - household's ration. allotment, officials said. 3 : Wickard took personal charge of Ne to: persuade town, city and suburban families to make use of every “plot of open, sunny and fertile ground” for growing a egetable garden. M. L. Wilson, director of the department's extension service, made a similar appeal to farm families. ' “Victory gardens offer those on the home front a chance to get in

front healthy and strong.” Wickard recommended: that vic-

2That Is Reason

Fundamentally there are two outstanding bomb targets in Rome —the railway yards, between the terminal station and the San Lorenzo freight station, and the Venice palace, office of the Duce.

Museum Faces Peril

OVER MOST of the distance between the freight station at the southwest corner of the city and the passenger terminal there are no important churches or ruins, but the terminal itself faces the museum of the baths of Diocletian. This museum coatains a famous cloister built by Michelangelo: which in. peacetime at least houses some of the most priceless pieces of statuary from the Roman empire era. .. Among these relics are the Dis‘cobolus, the birth of Venus and the Venus of Cyrene, the bestknown head of Juno and the wellknown bas-relief of the judgment of Paris. Beside the museum is the church of St, Mary of the Angels, in which. sre buried Michelangelo and Marshal Diaz, Italian com-

would. link ‘Ge ny and = mandersin-chief in world war I.

125 ! § SHON . ment which would suffer if a block-busting bomb were dropped

on. Mussolini in Venice Palace would be the column of Trajan on which spiral the sculptural victories of that emperor. Windows would be broken and some other damage done to the buildings on the Capitoline hill, always the center of Rome's municipal government and housing in peacetime a great many ancient and medieval art treasures. Damage also would be certain to the best-known monument of modern Ilaly—the m Meum of Victor Emanuel II, who was the first king of a united Italy. The tomb of Italy’s Unknown Soldier +of world war I is in front of this monument. »

Would Follow Railways ,

MOONLIGHT BOMBERS approaching Rome would probably

. follow one of the glistening. rail-

way tracks. Any of these would take a pilot to the San Lorenzo freight station to drop his first bombs. He could easily follow the many. tracks from there to the: station.

oo a & ‘menus Phen” “he “would” ~double “back % TH a slightly to the east to army bars ‘palate fo

racks ‘and the modernistic aif

/ Editor's Note—This is the last article of a series on the food crisis.

By DANIEL M. KIDNEY "Times Staff Writer

WASHINGTON, Jan. 21.—With

farmers from coast to coast shaking

their fingers at Washington and crying for help, Secretary of Agriculture Wickard is trying his best to live up to his new title of food administrator. To date, he has found himself fairly well bogged down by the

bickerings of his own bureaucracy.

It was the last month of 1942 before President Rcosevelt answered

the rising fide of criticism over imminent food shortages, and alleged ‘lack of administrative planning for the home front, by making Mr. Wickard his wartime food chief. Former President Hoover, food administrator in world war I, and other prominent men experienced in this field had been suggested for such a post for many months. The final selection followed the wellestablished Roosevelt pattern of shifting the scenery, and adding new acts to the play, but keeping the same cast of characters.

FDR ‘High Gears’ Bureau The presidential order itself laid down a plan for high gearing the agriculture department to meet the new demands by establishing, under Mr, Wickard's direction, a food production administration and a food distribution administration. Herbert W. Parisius, one-time pas-

tor of a Rice Lake, Wis, Methodist}

church and later a farm security administration man at Madison, Wis.,, was chosen by Mr. Wickard

.{t0 head the food production admine |; istration. He has been in Washing-|, - |ton for some time as a subordinate

to former Governor M. Clifford

_. |partment when Vice President Wal-

secretary, was named to

and named Mr. Black his assistant. Mr. Wickard is a dirt farmer from Camden, Ind., and Mr. Townsend the same from Marion, Ind. Both have backgrounds of Democraticfarm politics in the Hoosier state. They understand each other. They also understand a third man who will have much to do with meeting the 1943 food production goals —Manpower Chairman Paul V. McNutt, who was Mr. Townsend’s predecessor as governor of Indiana.

Rift Subsides. Mr. Townsend dropped the interbureau quarrels at once and outlined a program to reach the 1943

Mr, Townsend lists the difficulties on the “Machinery

ing. everything possible to help “the labor needed to make and harvest a great food crop” Mr.

food-production front. as|

and rubber supply. |. : . .‘Wickard and McNutt are}

ible by the flames of the station. In bombing the Macao barracks, he could hardly avoid some damage to Rome's chief hospital, the Polyclinic. This damage would

be fully: reported in the next ‘morning's axis communique. From the air ministry, he would swing left, leaving undamaged the beautiful new university buildings where I lived in 1935-36 and turn north until he saw a broad straight street. That would be the ancient Nomentana way and he could circle at his pleasure over the .villa Torlonia, Mussolini's residence. + Completing the turn to the left and following the Nomentana way. back west toward and past the old walls of the city, he could bomb in rapid succession the state railway offices and: ministry of public works, the finance ministry, the labor ministry, the war ministry -and (in the notable baroque Barberini palace) . the general staff, 3 : :

‘wom. at

"might have’ orders not to ‘bomb

“Inter-Bureau Riff Handicaps Wickard in Food Rol

of an Indiana farm) has agreed to put our unit system for deferment of draftees into compulsory effect with the local draft boards, and

on farms. Deferment Yardstick

“The basic unit is one man for 16 milk cows, but this can be broken down {fo begin as low as eight, provided it will be stepped -up to ‘the full unit later. The cow units are applied to crops and all other essentials around the farm whith a ischuted in the new food

The agriculture colleges, through their extension services, are going to help recruit and train older men, women and children for the peak loads of the planting and harvesting season. FSA will -co-operal with the employment service, which is under the manpower :

commission, in building Tmigratory labor ‘batgS 2 gC.

ONLY TWO hlocks farther, still

that should-keep many needed men|all .

gee

Hild

est night—the white columas and gilded roof of the Victor Exnahuel

ministry of marine on the east bank. It is at these barra’ks he would have to exercise the great-

racks is only four blocks from Vatican city. North »f the: ministry of marine are the barr: cks of the artillery and the cavalry. * Following his visits to them he

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