Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 28 August 1943 — Page 9

shows up sometimes in comical ways. * the' campaign the various army headquarters were

penny ante, too.

IN SICILY— (By Wirleless) —If e only a little more modernism and sanitation in Sicily I think a good many of us would sort of like the place. Actually most of us feel friendlier toward the Sicilians than we did to the French in North Africa. And in comparison with the Arabs—well, there just isn’t any comparison. Nobody can deny that north Sicily is beautiful. It is mountainous, and all but the highest mountains are covered with fields and orchards, Many of the hillsides are terraced to prevent erosion. Everything is very old and if it were only clean as well it wotild be old in a nice, gentle way. The north coast is a strange contrast to the solth. On the south coast the towns are much filthier and the people seem to be of a lower class. Coming from the south to the north eis a freshness about the caurtry and the people, “* The interior roads through the mountains are very lew, mostly gravel and quite rough. All through the eampaign our troops had to use mules to get their stipplies up to them in the mountains and three times during the battle men went without food and water for as long as 80 hours. How they kept going is beyond me but I've reached the point where nothing

X the infantry does startles me any" more.

A Fundamental Honesty

THE AMERICAN doughboy’s fundamental honesty All through

flooded with Sicilians bearing pencilled notes written on everything from toilet paper to the backs of

«envelopes saying, “I owe you for one mule taken for

the U. 8. army on Aug. 2. Signed, Pvt. John Smith.”

Actually’ the sharoptibling of captured enemy equipment (including mules) for military use is’

legitimate and. no restitution need be made but the doughboys, in their simplicity, never thought of that. Captured supply dumps are impounded by the army for reissue later but our soldiers often get in ‘to help ‘themselves before the army gets there officially. ‘Por example, at one time practically - every soldier you saw was carrying a packet of ‘German bread-thin, bristle stuff that resembles what we call rye crisp at home, _ The soldiers seemed to like it or maybe it was just

the novelty of the:thing. The Germans, as usual,

were well equipped and we are now sporting lots of|: their doodads. Many of the officers’ outdoor field messes are now served with brand new German folding tables and the diners sit on individual, unpainted) 1 German stools.

Acquire German Equipment

ALSO YOU see quite a few officers sleeping in Ger-| man steel cots with German mosquito net framework’ above them. Speaking of mosquitoes, the summer heat and the lack of sanitation have begun to take their toll. of the same queer fever I had and a good many are coming down with malaria. In fact, the correspondents themselves dropped off like flies with malaria in the last weeks of the campaign. Usually they went to the army hospital for a few days until the attack passed and then returned to work. : Our soldiers are very careless about their eating and drinking but you can’t blame them. One of the most touching sights to me is to see a column of sweat-soaked soldiers, hot and tired, march into a village and stop for rest. In a moment the natives

are out by the hundreds carrying water in glass| 8

pitchers, in earthen jugs, in pans, in anything, filling the men’s empty canteens. It’s dangerous to drink

Diarrhea is common and there is‘'a run|

this water but when you're > really thirsty you aren’t|¥

too particular.

|, Inside Indianapolis By Lowel! Nusshaum§

_ PROFILE OF THE WEEK: Ernest Park Akin, the jovial, friendly secretary-manager of the Columbia club. Aside from his club activities, Park Akin is

best known for two activities: (1) Golf, and (2) bridge. He plays golf several times a week, frequently gets in 36 holes in a day by going out at daybreak, and then shooting 18 holes in the late afternoon. He's pretty fair at ‘the game, too. Back in 1930 he won the Marott trophy in the annual Columbia club-I. A. C. interclub tourney, As for bridge, well, his friends say that the “moment you step in the door at the Akins’ there's a * bridge table stuck in your face.” He plays bridge as though life or death depended on every hand. He likes an occasional game of

Never Atop: Monument

BORN AND REARED' in Nashville, Tenn. he |g#==

started working there for the Booth Fisheries, and

was transferred here. A little later he quit and |%

went back to Nashville to enter the army. But before he was inducted, the armistice was signed. He weighed coal for a mining company several months, then at the age of 21, came to Indianapolis and got a job with the Columbia club, serving in turn as steward, auditor and assistant manager. He became managing director almost 23 years ago. . Although he’s been with the club almost a quarter of a century, he’s never stepped across the street and gone to the top of the soldiers and sailors’

monument, He doesn’t know why, unless it’s that he |*

just hasn’t had time, He makes a point of knowing all the club mem-

. bers by name, and there are more than 2500 of them,

including some from other cities who get. in the club only once or twice a year. One of the ways he keeps familiar with their names is by helping to send out

. the monthly statements. .

;

"These are great days at Lake Shakamak. Four mermaids from the Multnomah club of Portland, Ore., are (top) left, Maryanne Hansen and right, Nancy Merki. Below are left, Brenda Helser and Suzanne Zimmerman,

ak I

One of the best divers at the Women’s National Senior A. A. U. outdoor swimming and diving cham- :

pionships is this miss—Jeanne Kessler of the Lake Shore Athletic club from Chicago, : She-is diving from

a board 33 feet high. The events at the downstate park continue today and tomorrow. The local Riviera

club team is tied ‘for the lead. Joan Rogle, 15, evened the score for the: local club when she successfully

’ defended her 300: meter individual title yesterday.

Jane Dillard, Ft. Worth, Tex, unattached to any club, is entered - in the 100-meter breast stroke event. She’s a top swimmer down there in the Panhandle. Jane will take to the pool today to Seek the crown,

Ya Races Out of His Qffice

| {a

{ { }

a RE

a ‘Doesn’t Mr.

PARK AKIN is a big, likable chap with a hard-to-ruffle disposition. He's 45, stands about 5 feet 10 or so, weighs a good 190. He used to weigh at least 225, but he’s dieted away quite a few pounds. .. His once black hair is thinning and graying, his forehead is high, his face is round .and his eyes are “lively; blue ,and frienidly, He has. a hearty laugh,

+ and is easy ‘going and diplomatic. -

‘Of a nervous temperament, he walks rapidly, and «t's a common sight around the Columbia club to , sée him come racing out of his office as though it were on fire. ~ Occasionally he lapses into the dialect of his native Tennessee. He gets a kick out of hearing and telling humorous stories, both of the parlor and the ° traveling salesman varieties. |

“Washington

, WASHINGTON, Aug. 28—You __ stand on the proposition that a man who has made @ success in his business or profession takes a 50-50 " ehance of being discredited and publicly humiliated x Wen. he accepts a responsible post at Washington. . That is a terrible thing to - say. But far worse than the saying of it is the sad fact that it is substantially true. Many names will come to your mind. When Elmer Davis came to Washington only a year ago he was one of the most respected of all radio commentators.: He had worked hard for years to win the confidence of people in his integrity, judgment and ability as an analyist of events. After having achieved notable

be "success by a lifetime of work, Mr, Davis was drafted

40 become chief of OWI. A Now, a'year later, Davis is bruised, discouraged, held up to savage attack in congreks and in the And his chief who brought him here gives "him the rough brushoff, and leaves him standing «alone and exposed to every political brickbat. Roosevelt know that he is the real target of these brickbats? Yet men like Davis must stand out in front and take them—and with ng pro-

! 5 tection, no support, no thanks from the chief they

#erve.

fi ew Deal Wastes Brains

: THAT IS only a handy illustration of the care- . Jess and callous waste of brains and ability by * this Sministration- far less | excusable than waste

‘Editor's N ote:

could almost

Light On His Feet

HE LIKES TO dance and, despite his size, the girls say he’s a very good dancer. He loves steak and’ fried chicken, always explains that he eats spinach as’ a medicine—not as a food. He's crazy + about cokes but since he’s on. a diet he can’t drink them; so now it’s milk for him. Currently his favorite . dessert is peaches: and cream. He's definitely not a movie fan, and one of his || pet peeves is for someone to turn on the radio while he’s reading. He enjoys driving his car, dislikes picnics unless he can eat at home before going. His favorite vacation spot is Lake Wawasee. Up there he spends his time, not fishing---he considers that too slow—but golfing.

By Raymond Clapper

Where is the reputation of William 8. Knudsen, who spent a lifetime to achieve supreme success in automobile production? Or of Donald Nelson, a crack business executive? Or dozens of others you could name who have been pulled through the Washington knotholes? To turn to another type, the men who hoped to make careers of public service, men-like Leon Henderson and Milo Perkins? Both are men of exceptionaly devoted fo public service. Both were kicked out as sacrificial goats by the president, for whom they would have laid down their lives. Wallace is getting it, foo. In many countries, and in this Susliry in. the past, it has been considered an honor to work in public office.

It’s Not the Public

NO ONE familiar with politics expects ‘democracies to be grateful. That is not the trouble here. It is not the public that is doing it. ise bard: working, loyal men here are around them, men above and below Ened pil yn the next office, men down the hall, ‘men they are sitting with in:conference every day. There is the smell of decddence over this place, and a stifling miasma of court intrigue. When a name ‘is mentioned, does the big man in the White House smile or frown? Who is in the doghouse this morning? Dozens of able men wake up every morning wondering where they stand. Efficient public servants never were more needed. But unless good men have behind them a number of _ southern Democrats in congress, they might as well “keep their trunks packed. An election is coming on and everyone is apt to be judged by the mabey of votes he swings,

By Eleanor Roosevelt

is. Huvhevelt Hiss aseived by eansyoit plane in New Zealand. Prior to her de-.

a parture from San Francisco jon "Aug. 17, she wrote the following column, explaining the purpesés of her

trip. This column was held

for release pending her safe arrival. Mrs. Roosevelt on this trip is traveling

. ‘as a representative of the American Red Cross, paying her own expenses. . All of her receipts from her

"SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 17~This column is Jing

4c Yuiiien on the plane just before réaching San Fran

a long trip which :

x ‘column will be divided between the American Red Cross and the American Friends Service Committee.

I hope that our soldiers, sailors and marines, wherever I see them, will know how much I sppre-1, ciate this opportunity to'bring them a ‘greeting from their commander-in-chief, and how deeply interested I am in them and their achievements. : Now that the tide of battle seems to be running|’ our way in the various theaters of war, and victory|. is no longer a grim determination but dally drawing} nearer, we have an obligation to think of the post-|g war period and the return of

Meet Priscilla Hirsch. shies only’ 14. She's the mascot of the Medinah. cla ‘of Chicago. The Me-

dinah swimmers are old rivals of Hoosiers, They've met’ Mequently 4% the Mamfwpolis

WAR AGAINST JAPAN Hull Takes Firmer Hold on Foreign Policy NOT BEING SUGHTED. To Preserve United Nations’ Co-operation]

HAMILTON, N. Y., Aug. 28. (. P.)—Secretary of Navy Frank Knox WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 (U. P.).—A vigorous and determined Cordell could see fit and see their way clear declared today that the navy has Hull today took a firmer grip upon American foreign. policy: and appealed to check ‘their facts as to their ac“dedicated itself to the task of de-|to the American people to let nothing interfere with this government's curacy. and : possible: misleading ‘nastroying Japanese power. ‘in‘ the| efforts to preserve the highest degree of friendly leosoperaion ‘with ture before: they Ppt out. their Pacific” and promised “there shall allied nations. ‘| publicity. be no turning backward” uti final) Rallying against attacks which have been made’ upon the: state “They. Know : aid: ‘we. know that victory. department and the foreign pol- too often a: misleading statement . Addressing a combined navy con- |icies ‘evolved under his leadership, | fully worked out policy toward the |or a false statement is immediately vocation-college commencement. at| Hull declared his forthright -con-|world of ‘tomorrow that is being seized upon by ‘Berlin and Tokyo Colgate university, Knox said united | viction that insccurdte public|fashioned today. .. |and widely - distributed with =the nations concentration on Hitler has| statements by certain writers: and| : It’ was: ‘against. that. background sole view to’ creating confusion. and not hampered the Pacific war effort. commentators - Were endangering that: Hull: ‘out. yesterday miswdemstatiding among the allied “Because Hitler was marked 8s target number one, however, critics in some quarters assumed and de-

Phe i of these publicity |

‘Barbata Earing is from the St. George Dragon club of Brooklyn. Athlete club. She is the national junior national backstroke champion.

TOWEL FIRM WINS SAFETY CONTEST

e Frank Selpaier Towel Supply ° Co., i 11 trucks traveled 108,505 miles’ in 12 months without an accident, won the Indianapolis Cham ber of Commerce inter-fleet safety contest," it was ‘announced today. Five other companies with no= accident records were Dilling & Co, Indiana’ Refining Co,’ Haag Drug Co., Holcomb & Hoke, and The Indianapolis Times. Awards will be ‘presented at the Indianapolis Abictie olub at a 6:30 : p.m. dinner Th :

penis eo ote fs 0

“Let. me ‘make. this ats

Seve Ss i de te ren