Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 24 November 1944 — Page 19

Spanish Border

By Tom Wolf

Mr. Wolf, European war correspondent for the NEA Service, is substituting today for Ernie Pyle who Is on vacation but expects to return o ah assignment on the war fronts in the near future. v

FRENCH-ANDORRAN FRONTIER, Noy. 24.—No more aid from France is going to reach the antiFranco underground in Spain for the next few months. To be able to say this categorically it is only necessary to stand here high in the Pyrenees and look at the snow on the mountain peaks. » The passes through which no roads wind are already under snow far ~ too deep and rocky for crossing even were there snowshoes and k. sleds available, » As for crossing the border by road, cars were starting to get stuck - on the higher ridges two weeks ago, Now it’s snowing almost every day. Horse-drawn plows cannot keep these mountain roads open. There is insufficient . gas gvailable this year for rotary plows. Winter has already sealed this border, This, of course, provides no permanent solution to the Spanish question, There are in southern France today about 100,000.refugees left of the 500,000 who fled across the border at the end of the Spanish elvil war,

Two Main Groups

THESE ANTI-FRANCO Spaniards are organized into two main groups: The Democratic Alliance and the National Spanish Union: The Democratic Alliance believes generally that Franco cannot be over thrown without powerful help in heavy arms and equipment from outside powers. The National Spanish Union, which includes many Communists and the more left wing refugces, tends to favor infiltration and immediate action—simply with rifles and machineguns, if that is all that's available—to keep the pot boiling. The Democratic Alliance opposes this policy as likely ta lead to a premature, badly prepared blow against Franco which would be both costly and unsuccessful. For the moment, at least, the National Union is the more important of these groups for the very reason that it does want immediate action. The National Union has clandestine headquarters inside Spain. Toulouse in southern France is to this half of the Spanish underground what London and Algiers were to the French Resistance. Its goal is the overthrow of Franco and the establishment of republican Spain before the end of the European war, so that Spain can come to the peace table as a republic, “Our aim is a republican Spain, a Spain of tolerance for all political and religious groups, a Spain without imperialistic desires,” Dr, Jean Aguasca, presi-

dent of the National Union, told me. “You in America must see that a republican..government in Spain is as vital for you as for us. Republican Spain will not, just as the Spanish republic did not, foster antiUnited States propaganda in Latin America as Franco's Fascist Spain is doing so actively, “We consider that the present war is simply an extension of the war between fascism and democracy, which started in Spain, We who believe in democracy will do everything in our power Yo rid Spain of Franco and his fascism.”

Units Still Fight

THERE is little doubt that when the times comes, in the vanguard of this anti-Fascist army there will be a larger part of the 12,000 to 14,000 Spanish refugees who fought with the F, F. I. in the Maquis in France. Some of these Spanish units are still fighting as integral parts of the F. F. I. Their record in the Maquis and after is oné of bravery and usefulness. Some French cities were liberated by entirely Spanish units of the F.'F. I. In view of this record of aid to Fraace, it's not surprising to find many French units in southern France sympathetic to these anti-Franco Spanish. On the other hand, the F. F.4d. has enough internal troubles of its own without getting involved in international problems on the border. The Fo FP. L therefore made two moves this fall to prevent over-eager National Union sympathizers from crossing the border into Spain. The fact that these moves were not a hundred per cent successful and that some infiltration was made into Spain-on a minor scale is not an indictment of the F. F. I. on this score. In the first place, the F. F. I. established a 25-mile no man’s land behind the Spanish frontier. The F. PF. 1. headquarters in Toulouse ruled that no Spanish F, F. I. units might be stationed forward of this zone and none might be allowed through it. - Secondly, Toulouse has established entirely French horder patrols and a system of sentry posts every few kilometers along roads leading to the frontier. Driving to the border I was stopped at least a dozen times in the last 25 miles and asked for my pass. If and when the Spanish underground—whether through the Democratic Alliance or the National Union—makes its bid to oust Franco, it would be surprising if many French members of the F. F. I. did not volunteer to fight with it. At such a.time, it seems unlikely that French members of the F. F. I. will be much impressed by lofty verbiage about international law. They already are convinced from hundreds of indications that Franco is enlisting Germans in his armies, preparing for the fight which seems inevitable,

Inside Indianapolis By Lowell Nussbaum

WE GOT A LAUGH out of an advertising placard on a utility pole out at 34th and Central—northeast gorner, At first glance, it read: “Republican Proseeutor—Sonja Henie.” Closer inspection revealed that it was really two placards—one advertising the Sonja Henie show, This one had been @®laced so it only partially covered one of the numerous “Republican Prosecutor—Sherwood Blue” signs, Just goes to show you that even billposters must have their fun.... The girls in the auditing department at Ayres’ have fun with the names of a couple of their coworkers. One is Louise Fate—the other, Esther Love. . , . We don't want to start another epidemic of bus drivers’ wisecracks, but maybe . ‘we can get by with this one. We're told the driver on a Madison bus had a new idea Sha ines morning for getting folks to move back. He out pleasantly: “Shove each other back, please.” And the orowd sheepishly moved back. . . . Analee Moodey, a drug store employee, has a suggestion for solving the cigaret shortage. Her idea: “Have everyone bring in an empty cigaret package in order to get a full one. That would keep the hoarders from getting too many.” And she adds that it would slow up those that don’t smoke but buy for others,

Times Have Changed

GEN. TYNDALL takes us to task about our recent reference to the former location of the Y. M. C. A, We said the “Y,” which soon will observe its 90th bifthday, formerly was on the site now occupied by the Three Sisters store. The mayor says we missed it by a few feet. Actually, he says, it was located right

America Flies

OKLAHOMA FARMERS and their wives have ore ganized a flying group with a membership that is using airplanes in actual conduct of farm operations. They call themselves the Flying Farmers, many of whom have been using planes as & piece of routine ' farm equipment for several years. They also use them’for pleasure and cut the long distances to “town”. to a flying time of minutes. Twenty farmers and their wives recently flew from widely separated points to a meeting at the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical college. They parked the planes on a flying field during the session, then flew home-—some a considerabld distance—to resume farm operations with practicaly no interruption. Wheat fields, pastures and other open spaces provide their landing fields, Farm buildings, sheds, barns’ or other structures act as hangars. The planes are used in locating cattle, checking fences to locate breaks, flying to town for supplies, emergency trips for machinery repairs, delivery of light produce to market centers—particularly perishable foods and out-of -seasqn produce which command fancy prices.

‘Flying Coyote Hutt

A SPECTACULAR three-day coyote hunt was staged recently by the farmer fliers in western Oklahoma. A total of 257 coyotes were bagged, either shot from planes or located for crews which executed them. Scarcity of ammunition has caused the ooyotes to Severe unusually numerous and destruc-

HYDE PARK, Thursday.—T had a few busy hours

In New York City yesterday morning, doing the things “I had not been able to do the day before because I

where the Murphy 5 & 10-cent store now is located. “T ought to know,” said Gen. Tyndall; “I spent enough time in it.” He recalls that a youngster named Selby who used to box a bit at the “Y” left town and subsequently rose to fame under the ring name of “Kid McCoy.” The general added: “The Y. M. C. A. officials of that date were horrified at the thought of having contributed to this young man’s downfall— that's the way they regarded professional sports in that day. So, to make certain it never happened again, they forbade all boxing, and wrestling, too, in the ‘Y’ gym. We boys used to have to sneak a tumbling matZinto a sideroom and wrestle secretly. It wasn’t until the ‘Y’ was moved to its new location that the boys were permitted to resume boxing and wrestling.”

The Jolly Postman »

IT'S JUST LIKE old home week up at the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce offices when Pat, the postman, arrives, While still walking down the hallway, Pat calls out cheery greetings: “Hello, Charley; hi, Bill; hello, Myron.” counter, he starts reading off the mail: “Florence gets a letter; it’s from a soldier. Marie gets a letter, And here's a bill for someone.” Quite a jolly time they have. . , , While we were in the C. of C.“offices Wednesday afternoon, talking to Bill Book, in came Marie Brown, his secretary, carrying an interestinglooking cake, and a knife. We had been lucky enough to call on his birthday. In between bites of cake and ice cream tone, we joined Marie in a rendition of “Happy Birthday.” P. 8. The cake was swell. . « . We hear Florence Stone, the chamber’s assistant director of safety, has been invited by the Louisville safety council to speak before a mass meeting there Tuesday, on Indianapolis’ traffic safety campaign.

By Max B. Cook

flew in mail and supplies for the community. Watson also took Carl Neumann, Custer county farm agent, on an aerial inspection of 165,000 acres of wheat land in an hour and a half. Henry Bomhoff, of Calumet, is president of the Flying Farmers. The group, with 38 charter members, has headquarters at Oklahoma A. & M. college, Stillwater. Other members are scattered through the wheat and cotton fields of the state. It is the first all-farmer group in the United States to receive a charter from the National Aeronautical association. Other chapters are being formed in other Middle Western states, it was announced.

‘Follow Your Nose’

‘FOLLOW YOUR nose” is beginning to mean something in the army air forces. “All purpose .noses,” in which various types of machine guns and. cannon may be installed on the production line for special missions, save trips to modification centers, Announcement of the new departure in production methods came when the war department revealed that every flier is enthusiastic over the A-26 Invader, the new Douglas light bombardment, attack plane now fighting brilliantly and destructively against the axis. Specified in 1940, the A-26 was in the air by 1942, after exhaustive tests conducted at the air technical service command laboratories at Wright field, Dayton.

Nearly all of the 12 testing laboratories contributed to

its development. When the first one was perfected it weighed less than estimated weight. The A-26 is essentially a low level destroyer. It is powered with two Pratt & Whitney 2000-horse power engines and carries a combat crew of two or three

men, It may be equipped with .50 caliber, 37 mm.

or "1 mm. guns in various combinations. It is “death™ to anything it hits, And it has an “allpurpose nose.”

By Eleanor Roosevelt Dethaps. in Sr communities we ought to make a men coming back from the ‘wars.

bad, spent a morning on the train peacefully read- -

g/#The Phra; Round by Joseph Gaer.

And when he gets to the]

Indianapolis

imes

SECOND SECTION

'MAN DYING' — MESSAGE

By: PETER EDSON NEA Staff Writer

BLUIE WEST ONE, An Army Air Forces Base in Southern Greenland, Nov, 24.—“MAN DYING.” That message, tramped in the snow of the Greenland ice cap by a survivor of an army plane crash, prefaced oneof the best rescue stories to come out of the far north during the

war, The snow message led to one of the most spectacular flying feats of the war, Lt. H. P. Wurtz of South Pasadena, Cal., pilot of the rescue plane, won the distinction of being probably the first man in aviation history to land a skiplane on a dry, hard surfaced and rocky runway, bringing his plane and its precious cargo in safely on a perfect ‘landing. It wasn't a stunt, Wurtz knew what he was.doing and showed his flying .skill in doing what most pilots would have considered an impossible achievement, He set another record for the army air forces search "and rescue service for which he flies, ” » » YOUNG WURTZ—he is only 23—is tall, dark, quiet to the point of shyness, and balding. He didn’t lose his hair by pulling it out in worry over tight situations. He's just prematurely that way, Nerveless, he tells his story simply and directly, with no show of emotion and with every apparent indication that this rescue flight of his was all in a day's work. It was last Oct. 7, but the full story-has just now been released to a group of newspaper men visiting North Atlaritic bases of the air transport command: A Douglas C-47 two-engined transport plane, military version of the planes commonly used by U. 8. commercial airlines, was on routine ferrying flight from Goose Bay, Labrador, to Iceland. There were seven men aboard. Over the tip of southern Greenland, the plane developed engine trouble. The piloy tried to return the 72 miles to this BW-1 —Bluie West One—base, but couldn't make it. One engine caught fire and the ship went into a spiral. Four of the men

'Mollycoddling' Of Nazis Stirs

French Protests

Times Foreign Service PARIS, Nov, 24.—French resent ment at American treatment of German prisoners increases sharply every day, particularly in central and southern France where conditions are exceedingly difficult. The French are not the only ones to resent the mollycoddling of Germans. At least once a week the U. 8. army newspaper, The Stars and Stripes carries a protesting letter from an American doughboy. The latest, from an American guard in a prisoner-of-war camp near the front, stated that the G. I. didn’t mind not having hot baths or hot water for. shaving, but he thought it was a little thick to have to carry hot water for prisoners’ showers. The French, who do not all eat well, by any means, naturally look enviously on the fine fare German prisoners get. Although they recall the number of prisoners on starvation rations in Germany, they are not complaining of this, What they do resent is having the Germans lounge around reasonably comfortable prison camps

“I while Americans and Frenchmen

work like slaves draining the camps, building roads, clearing minefields and fixing up towns and airfields demolished by the Germans. They recall how the Germans made all prisoners, including Amer+ icans, work, and they wonder why we don't use prisoner labor ourselves, Resentment 1s ‘dangerously high in the south, according to the most reliable reports,

FARMER RETURNS $2700 IN WALLET

" FREEPORT,- N. ¥., Nov, 23 (U.

P.).~Bernhard W. Bopp missed his

wallet containing $2700 but couldn't believe that the same system of reward which once got him a $1 reward for returning $525 in Jost jewels and cash still prevailed. A turkey farmer telephoned Bopp and reported he had found the wallet on a manure pile, Bopp sent a reward of $270.

GUM TREES GROW ON RIVERS

SYDNEY, Australia~The Murray red gum tree, Eucalyptus rostrata,

ris found on the banks of nearly all

rivers in interior Australia.”

BARNABY

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1944

5 TRAMPED

iia

ed a

INTO GREENLAND SNOW —

Rescue Pilot Does the ‘Impossible’

When y Plane crash on the Sarren Greenland ice cap, rescue is made doubly difficult because landings of Search and Rescue Service planes are extremely hazardous. Even this handicap has been over-

come by ingenious Yanks.

were able to bail out, but the other three couldn't make it before the plane crashed, killing one, seriously injuring a second, inflicting first degree burns and shock to the third. a J . » THE PLANE had sent an SOS to BW-1 when it first encountered difficulties, and it was seen to crash by another plane in the same flight. So the plane was never lost. But it was three in the morning and dark. Guided by the fire, the four men who had parachuted to safety” were able to walk back over the ice cap to the scene of the crash, where they gave first aid to their two survive ing companions. BW-1 had a rescue plane in the air within an hour after the crash —another C-47 which located the wreck, dropped ‘seven rescue kits and a portable radio with instructions for use. The radio was damaged in the drop and before any other means of communication could be set up through ground panel flags, that all important message, “MAN DYING” was tramped in the snow and no other

> <

Eugene Loses Battle to Live

ENERGY, ll, Nov. 24 (U. P.), ~HBight-year-old Eugene Bridges, who has been fighting a losing battle with an incurable blood disease, couldn't wait to eat the Thanksgiving dinner his néighbors in Energy and kindhearted persons throughout the nation had helped to provide for him, He died yesterday, overcome by acute lymphatic leukemia and by difficulty in breathing caused by his enlarged thymus gland. Money that Herrin merchants collected, which was to have helped him to have medical aid and toys to make up for the Christmas they knew he couldn't live to celebrate, will be used by his widowed mother, Mrs. Effie Bridges, to defray his funena) expenses,

PERFUME FOR AMERICA

PARIS, France—Floral oils for American perfumery are produced in~¢large quantities in southern France in normal timés,

message was important, The C-47 being unable to land in the snow itself, wagged its wings in acknowledgement and went back to base. There were three possible courses of action. There was no snow on the ground at BW-1, so a skiplane. could not take off. There was a chance of sending up a liitle Norseman plane, which hag fixed wheel landing gear, and chancing a landing on the snow. » - . SECOND was the possibility of sending in a flying boat to land on the water near the crash and put ashore a dog team to climb the ice-cap. Third was the possibility of sending in a dog team from Cape Adalaer, 70 miles away. They settled on the Norseman as the quickest, and didn’t take time to change to landing skis. They got a volunteer crew. Flight Surgeon Willlam" A. Gannon of Pasadena, Cal, Sgt. Willie _ Hoskins of Denyer and Lt, Wurtz. They loaded medical supplies and plenty of warm clothing, figuring they might have to stay for seve eral days. !

YOUR G. |. RIGHTS—

Machinery Set in Motion i To Make Loans for Homes

By ANN BSTEVICK NEA Staff Writer * WASHINGTON, Nov. 24.—The jingle of that GI loan money veterans | have listened for since congress passed the GI bill of rights in June begins to be heard as long-awaited application forms for home loans | go from the government printing office in Washington to the nation’s

15,000 banks.

Nearby bankers 3 ooh first application forms and loan certificate No. 1

has already gone to veteran. Bankers in the rest of the country who don't already have application forms ready to go will have them immediately. That doesn't mean it's all over for the

a Washington

| |veterans but the

jingle of money, as pointed out by Joseph Brott,

‘|counsel for Amer-

fcan Bankers’ as- tevick sociation, w h o Amn 8

says, “The GI act does not in any way supersede or modify the banking laws, national] or state.”

Obstacles in Laws Veterans will still run up against

| a baffling variety of obstacles in

various banking laws. Some of these obstacles: can be avoided by shopping around among different types of banks, For instance, 6000 banks are nationally chartered, and subject to federal reserve act limitations preventing them from making real estate loans on a seaond mortgage. 8ince veterans’ - administration takes first mortgages on GI guaranteed real estate loans, it looks as if veterans will not be able to get the 50 per cent guaranteed home! loan from a national bank. The comptroller of the currency, however, has ruled that the second such loan, which can be 100 per cent guaranteed by VA when necessary to make up full purchase price,

| won't be considered a real estate

loan but a loan on VA's guarantee, Thus, under going rules, national banks won't loan you maney on the first 50 per cent guarantee deal at 4 per cent, but they'll make the second 100 per cent guaranteed loans which can also carry 4 per cent in-terest-—-nice work if you can get it.

Full Sum Possible ’

The federal home loan bank administration, on the other hand, has moved its old real estate loan limitation of 80 per cent of value

LT. WURTZ landed the plane after a run of about 150 feet in eight inches to a foot of snow, The doctor got the survivors in sleeping bags, administered plasma and morphine' and they all went to sleep. Lt. Wurtz went: back to the plane and tried to see what he could do about digging out a runway for a take-off, but couldn't make it. It was 6500 feet altitude and the plang didn't have the power to move through the snow. That. night, Lt. Wurtz and the sergeant slept in the plane to keep the wind from blowing it away, as there was no way to anchor it.. The temperature was about 14 above. During, the afternoon, a little two-place 'T'exan trainer plane with retractable landing wheels and skids had been able to make three trips to take out the sur vivors who could be moved, and skis for the Norseman had been dropped from another plane. Next morning Lt. Wurtz and Sgt. Hoskins. set’ to work to change the landing gear, but at that high altitude hard work was exhausting and it took them five hours. They finished the job at about three o'clock in the afternoon, and as one of the survivors was showing signs of developirlg pneumonia, it was decided lo load everything into the Norseman for a getaway as soon as possible, . ” o » . THE PLAN was for Wurtz in the Norseman to fly to a lake about 20 miles from BW-1., A flying boat was to land on the lake, . The patients would be transferred to a rubber landing boat to get out.to the flying boat, after Wurtz had landed on the snow and ice as close to the lake as he could get. But when Lt, Wurtz got the Norseman to the place where he was supposed to land, he found the ice full of crevasses. Besides, he would have to make a crosswind landing. It was too risky. 80, he says, he browbeat his superiors into letting him try the. ski landing on the hard-surfaced runway, They picked out the softest gravel spot they could find, just off the runway, and told him to come in there. Nearly everybody on the base came out to see him crash, But he didn't.

of property up to 100 per cent for GI loans, with only 30 per cent necessarily guaranteed by vet. eran’s administration. That means a veteran with a firm credit footing can borrow the full amount for a $10,000 home, with only $2000 guaranteed by VA. Veterans will find that state-

Tomorrow's : Congress Has Big Stake in Overhauling

By EDWARD ‘A. EVANS WASHINGTON, Nov. 24—Rep. Howard Smith of Virginia his been called one of the most conservafive men in congress, and Rep. Jeiry Voorhis of California one of the most liberal, These, two,” who have differed on many matters, agree with other members of a special house commit= tee that congress must either equip itself to do better work or 38 see its own prestige fade . ur. Evan while more and more power is concentrated dangerously in the executive branch of the gavernment. They are entirely right about that. Most of the agencies in the vast federal bureaucracy were created because congress granted the executive power to deal with problems of our complex modern life. But the grants, in many cases, are too bad and vague. As Mr. Voorhis says, they are loosely-worded instructions to find solutions, instead of clear, definite, basic legislation carefully drawn to guide the bureaucracy but to keep it within bounds and to protect the people's rights. Hn » ”

IT 18 no wonder that executive agencies have often been charged with exceeding their powers, The Smith committee, which was appointed to investigate such charges, admits that congress is largely at fault. The remedy, it says, is for congress to become better informed, more efficient, more capable of enacting laws that say exactly what they mean. To that end, it proposes that congress establish a new staff of experts to gather information about proposed legislation; that £ senate-lHouse committees study the expenditures and the work of executive agencies; that another senate-house committee study .the procedure of congress and, suggest changes. . i we THE Maloney-Monroney resolution for a bi-partisan joint committee to survey congressional procedure and recommend improvements has already passed the senate, unanimously, . A house vote could action’ on it in the next few ‘days, and work on this vital project could begin promptly, while consideration of the Smith committee's proposals could follow in due order. Democrats should be as eager as Republicans, and Republicans as eager as Democrats, to preserve the influence of Congress.

chartered banks have various time and percentage of value limits on | real estate loan payments, many

of which will be less than the 20- |

‘year, 100 per cent of value limit in the GI bill of rights.

Some Rules Eased

In some states where banking boards have power to change banking regulations, rules have been eased for veterans’ loans, In others, it must wait till 1945 when all state legislatures except those of Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and Virginia are scheduled to meet. In the meantime, afterwards in some cases veterans shouldn't be surprised if they run

into some legal snags in fulfilling all the promises of the GI bill

of rights on real estate loans.

Highlights of the rules for home only ones ready to go as Veteran can borrow money {with U, 8. government guarantee-

loans, yet:

Hing payment of 50 per. cent of loan up to a maximum of $2000, to buy,

ated in the U. 8, the main purpose |

of which is to be a home for the

veteran and his family. He can also borrow money to clear up past due indebtedness on such a dwelling is limited to not more than 4family units, or a combination business and dwelling unit,

JAP WATERS WARM ALASKA

FAIRBANKS, Alaska—The Alaskan archipelago has ‘a moderate

{climate unparalleled in any other

region so far north, because of the warm Japanese current in the Pacific which sweeps the Philippines, Japan, the Aleutians and the North

American, western coast,

By Crockett Johnson

i. , You're oll sef with that con opener.

(and aHoppy Thanksgiise or)

Thanksgiving, Barnaby, can never be

olwdys, deep in our hearts . , .

all over. . . I¥'s with us

and perhaps

| build, repair ‘or alter a house situ-|

We, the Women Returned Gl's Yes’ Men? It Won't Last!

By RUTH MILLETT

A RECENT ARTICLE in the “Family” points out that GI Joe may be a “yes man” when he first gets home, and says that veterans “have a tendency to stand in line,” that “they “wait patiently,” and “have to be helped to express negative ideas” since they have become so accustomed to saying “yes” and following orders. That sidelight ony the returning. veteran ought not Miss Millett to worry women. In fact it sounds as though GI Joe wil} come homs a woman's dream of as husband. » ” ” THAT 18, if he says “yes” when she suggests a movie or having the Browns to dinner, And if he is so unused to expressing negative ideas he will even accept his wife’s hats without a crack, or her political opinlons without pointing out to Ker just why she is wrong, » » »

AND if he is so used to stand~ ing in line he does it automatical« ly (the article says that it is with

‘

some difficulty that veterans are’

persuaded to take seats at the veterans’ service center), he may even do the marketing for the

“little woman and not say “Aw a

let's just go on home” when they

find a line ‘outside a movie thes

ater. But here's a warning. The article says such a’ state of

. wives, if for a short pe you have a man around - wha finds it hard to you, and doesn’t ob,

- keep him waiting.

AIDS EARWORM CA!