Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 29 January 1945 — Page 9

Woefully Inadequate

{Coniinned From Page One)

| the army issue light wool gloves. He géts the regulation‘ issue. wool trousers which won't keep his legs warm. - Shoes and overshoes are woefully inadequate. Lt. Paul Behrends of Los Angeles, supply officer, told me that he cannot draw dry trousers to take to Ho, the men in the foxholes without written statements from each man or commanding officer that they are (ot excess issue. “You mean they demand thai red tape when the men are freezing?” 1 asked. ’ “That's right,” he replied. “And often it is not possible to go and get such signed papers. , But we know they need 'em.” The" soldiers . in Italy ere issued sheepsacks, made of heavy == rubber soles and sidewalls with heavy leather tops reaching almost to the knees. We hear this type of equipment now is coming to this theater—with most of the winter gone and thousands of soldiers hobbling on frozen feet.

‘Overshoes Won't Do the Job®

TANK CREWS wear heavy, felt-lined duck combat trousers and jackets that are very warm. The doughboy in the snow gets an old wool trouser. Tank crews and a few othér units get heavy all-rubber overshoes. The doughboys fight in cloth-top overshoes that won't do the job. Soldiers agree that the best jacket the army produced was a !ined combat affair with web cuffs, belt and collar, They're not made any mere. The new jacket is a coat affair with open wrists and little else to recommend it except good pockets.

Ls 5 » ©

Alr corps men get the finest of all types of clothing. Airborne outfits are well fitted in “the states, but the new issues aren't up to the early standard. The doughboy just wades.along, the mightiest man in any drmy. = 4 Badly frozen feet can cause amputations. Frostbite and trench-foot go together—“And nothing but warmth and rest can cure them,” said Maj. Merlin Newkirk, Los Angeles, executive officer of the ‘Mth division medical battalion. “Poor circulation and cold are a bad combination,” he said. “When the men can't take.off their shoes for long periods and the weather is near zero, frostbite is inevitable. When feet get ‘wet also, it is worse.” I will not forget the little soldier who watched the doctor examine his feet, then said, “How soon can 1 get back with the outflf, sir?”

‘Army Didn't Want Them’

LT. GEN. BREHON SOMERVELL, head of the army service forces, replied in Paris last week to criticism of American winter field equipment. He conceded that wool and leather gloves had been

found unsatisfactory, but said they were being re-|

placed rapidly with wool mittens in leather shells. He said much trenchfoot was believed due to discarding overshoes in battle. ! Somervell repudiated any suggestion that American tanks were inferior to those of the Germans. He said the Americans “had a Tiger type in 1942, and our army didht want them.” Discussions with officers and men on all fronts turned up only two cases in whicn ‘our ‘men would trade their equipment for that of the enemy, he said. One involved a matter of handling oil in the Pacific, and the equipment was produced The other was a light machine gun with a handle similar to a German handle, which also was produced.

Inside Indianapolis, By Lowell Nussbaum

NOTE TO STAMP collectors: Bob Osler tells us that Mario Cabeda, u South American businessman, is interested in corresponding with a Norteamericano in order to improve his already excellent English, As

an inducement, says Bob, he offers to send South American stamps to correspondents. Mr. Cabeda is manager of the conservation department of a large South American life insurance company, His address: Mario Cabeda, Caixa Postal, 76, Porto Alegre, Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil It's a chance to foster the good neigh--bor spirit. ., . One of our readers; a printer for more than a half century, has very little patience with modern theories of < : letting children have their own way in order not to give them complexes. He writes us that he saw a youngster of about 6 “deliberately get down on his knees on the wet sidewalk and yell for mama to help him up, which she did.” Our correspondent adds: “If he were my kid, I would give him something to yell about. He sure will lead mama a dog's life.” , . . Maxine Overlease thinks the newspapers are unconsciously ignoring the exploits of a former Camp Atterbury outfit. In proof, she quotes a short item from one of the papers describing how. the 773d tank destroyer battalion had just knocked out eight German tanks east of Bastogne, thus becoming “the first American tank destroyer outfit to pass the 100 mark in enemy kills.” When the 773d left Atterbury a year ago, they left-behind in Indianapolis many wives and sweethearts, Miss Overlease says. Okay, gang; hats off to the 773d.

Take 'Em Apart

R. A. SCHAKEL, mechanical engineer for Diamond Chain, read of the Ellettsville couple's futile efforts to get a pair of spectacles through to their soldier son in a German prison camp, and has a suggestion for them. He writes: “Overseas Red Cross workers must supply their own: footwear purchased

America Flies

KEEP YOUR EYE peeled for what Is coming in new weapons and counter-weapons in this war. So far, the most revolutionary development is radio detection, Radio detection enables airmen to locate aircraft not visible to the human eye. It enables surface craft and aircraft to locate unseen submarines, Now just let some scientist develop a method for jamming radio detection, and what will be: the result? Well, first you will have submarine warfare come smashing into the number one position again in this war, and bombing again will become" a relatively cheap operation in point of manpower 1 and plane losses. - And then well “see this war back where it was in 1939 and ready for a new start, ; : -— It’s foolish to think that such observations might

under the most impossible conditions be of aid or

comfort to the enemy, because the enemy undoubtedly has his keenest scientists working on these solutions, and here you are reading only practical deductions.

War Isn't Quer Yet

I DON'T BELIEVE the Nazi daydreams of secret weapons; but this war isn't over yet, and we cannot afford to dismiss any possible factor until the_last enemy is out in the last inning, The unbelievable jet-propelled fighter, with a speed of more than 500 miles an. hour is upon us in grim reality, running away from the very fastest American and British fighters, An American fighter pilot who has fought against these jet-propelled fighters said he had been sent out as part of an escort for a photographic flight. He had been warned to look out for Jet fighters. Keenly alert, he received a yell from his

My Day

WASHINGTON, Sunday-—Friday I talked for a while with a -epresentative of the East and West association, and was interested to hear of the plans for their. meetings here in Washington.

The effort to acquaint us with Oriental people and to change our rather narrow conception of them is a good preparation for what we all hope will be better co-operation in the future. . A few friends came to lunch that day, among them Miss Mar~ cia Dalrymple of the office of the co-ordinator of inter-American affairs, who has just visited nine of the Latin-American countries. She was most enthusiastic about ¢ her trip and spoke especially of 2 + the work which the women are doing in the various countries to improve the standard of living. Pn,

‘There is, of course, a great deal to be done from

the point of view of health and nutrition and educa«

‘ tion, Many of these countries are beginning today

‘on things which have long

‘been accomplished in the

“government girl workers

here and shipped to them. They are instructed never to have a pair of shoes shipped together as the temptation to piifer the shoes somewhere along the line is too great and the shoes sever arrive at their intended destination, Instead, they are advised to have each shoe sent separately with an interval between shipments. Single shoes seem to get through, Maybe the spectacles would get through if sent piecemeal. It might be worth trying.” . ... We knew we were speaking too soon. the other day when we remarked we hadn't received any “first robin” reports. - By return mail, Mrs, Robert Coffin, 2850 N. Adams, reports that her 13-year-old son, Richard, saw one Tuesday. . . . (Dutch) Behrent, who gets around the country-

LD. xP for the Tire Service Co., thinks it's a shame the;

way the grist mills burn corncobs; just-to get rid of them, when so many people could use them for fuel It's an idea. :

A Word From Home

WHILE WALKING across a muddy fleld in France, Maj. W. B. Matthew, the oculist, saw on the ground a newspaper with a familiar appearance. He picked it up, and found it was The Indianapolis Times. It was his first contact with home in quite a while, and he read it from cover to cover. Incidentally, Maj, Matthew, whose office was in the Hume-Mansur building until he entered the army two and a half years ago, met his twin brother in an aid station in France and the two were together tor Christmas. The brother, Capt. J. R. Matthew, is a doctor from Knox, Ind. . . . We've received a number of suggestions on a site for the future zoo, most of the suggestions favoring Broad Ripple park. But one reader favors Garfield park, and gives a logical reason: “When Uncle John and Aunt Bessie ~ome visiting, we won't have to drag them all over town to see the various attractions, An ideal summer Sunday for them would be a day at Garfield -park. - A picnic lunch, a visit to the gardens and to the pool to. watch the youngsters, then to the zoo, and finally the music under the stars. Only, have the elephants far enough away so the trumpets won't clash.” Among the other suggested sites are Washington and ‘Big Eagle creek parks, :

By Maj. Al Williams

L 4 wing man that a jet fighter was coming in at 4 o'clock, and by the time he had turned his head and located the beast, it had fired at him and was speeding off ahead. :

Back Already

HE FIRED long range, as did his wingman. And then he astonished me with this: “I thought he was beyond range when I fired, but fired anyway on a long chance. Looking through my sights, I located him’ again and the jet fighter seemed te be growing in size. I thought we might have hit and damaged him and that possibly we were overtaking him. Another squint and I recognized that it was the same plane that had skipped on- ahead—it had turned ardund and was coming back at us head on.” And the teller of the story was himself flying a Mustang—our fastest fighter plane. Incidentally, that's a sample of what it means to be outperformed by a hundred or more miles an hour in speed. Airmen discount the probability of the use of poison gas by the enemy. ‘It is, however, nice to know that our topside people, while sharing this opinfon, are leaving no stone unturned to offset such a development if the fahatical Nazis decide to turn it loose. The enemy's vulnerability is a disasterous factor and he knows it. : s = =

HERE'S A STORY that is supposed to exemplify the lightness with which life is regarded in China. It seems that two Chinese pilots flying a plane loaded with Chinese soldiers were flying a most difficult piece of country. The pilots were equipped with parachutes, and the passengers were not. The right motor splittered and stopped. The vibration shook the other motor so badly that its prop flew off. . The co-pilot bailed out, and ohe of the passengers asked the pilot— as he was preparing to bail—“What's the matter?” The answer was “Okay, you fellers sit tight—we're going down for help.” .

By Eleanor Roosevelt

arranged among men representing different professions or business occupations, will be of great value both to us and to our Central and South American neighbors. Much of the prosperity of the next few years lies in the development of untapped resources in .these countries to the south of us. One young veteran, at the meeting of veterans which I attended in New York the other night, asked me where the jobs are going to be found and how we expected to have full employment after the war. “ I pointed out to him that it was the development

of resources in other countries, and the buying of}

their goods, which will enable us to sell them ours, and that our jobs depend on better conditions for them. ° ‘In the afternoon I John McGarraghy, chairman of the Recreation Services, Inc., at the united nations service center, to discuss the possibility of meeting the recreation needs of more adequately than is how

opportunities were not needed, but that getting the| now available to the girls is}

information of what is not: being successfully done.

By Jack Bell

attended a meeting called by| -

SECOND SECTION

By PAUL GHALI Times Staff Correspondent ZURICH, Jan. 29. — Frantically the Germans struggle day and night to throw up fortifications around their -capital as the dreaded Russian hordes _ sweep hourly closer. With makeshift materials, the Oder river’ line is being fortifled as fast as is humanly possible. Two secondary lines are une der construction at distances of 30 and 60 miles respectively from Berlin, Meanwhile, within the coalless, hungry city itself, men, women and children labor on fortification work. They are digging trenches five weet wide at, all danger spots—at crossroads and in the great parks of the metropolis, such as Tiergarten. : In the direction of Lichtenberg and Weissensee activity is . the most feverish. Here trenches and pillboxes, hastily constructed from rapidly diminishing stocks, are being pointed in an easterly di rection, to a distance of 7% to 912 miles, ” td » THE ODER line itself starts at Stettin and reaches to Kues« trin and Frankfort-on-theZOder, where fortifications dismantled by the allies after 1918 have been put in order creating here a fairly strong belt, about 18 by 56 miles in area. The line goes to Oderberg in Silesia where it joins another fortifications system, which, following the course of the river, runs around Bratislava and continues to Lake Neusiedl in Austria. “i All men in barracks and training camps east of Berlin have been serit tothe front. Though led by first-class instructors, handpicked from elite wehrmacht formations, these troops have no military experience and only a few weeks training. Their equipment is rudimentary and inadequate. They lack warm clothing and their footwear leaves much to be desired. Their morale is neither good nor bad. They do their duty with more fatalism than heroism.

” » o RAILROAD NETWORKS are being disorganized by Allied bombardments which destroy a daily ‘average of 28 locomotives and

Gloom darkens Berlin, as the specter of Russian vengeance looms ‘ever nearer.

240 cars. This is more than German industry could make or repair in the days before the Russians entered upper Silesia and Poland. The loss of Silesia will, it is foreseen, shortly mean the loss of Austria and Czechoslovakia which will mean the loss of 48 per cent of the total war produc~ tion of Germany. The Ruhr and Westphalia represent 40 per cent but these two regions are certainly more than half paralyzed by allied bombings. The remainder of German production lies in the south, in the Saxony and Harz regions and Thuringia fo which many works have been transferred from the west. ¢ os » o GERMANY LOSES 2,000 carloads of coal, 14 synthetic fuel plants, many synthetic rubber works (buna), several rolling stock factories, such as Linke-

REDS THREATEN ONE-FOURTH OF NAZI SUPPLIES—

Frantic Germans Struggle to Defend

mines and 23 factories working in zine, whose total output equaled 18 per cent of the world’s production; 62 coal mines, the biggest salt beds in the world, and the great textile centers of Lodz and Kalice with more than 2,000 looms; withthe Russian capture of Silesia and Poland. Also the most precious spare parts—precision instruments—of the V-1 and II were made at Lodz. . = » POLAND, TOGETHER ,K with Germany and Russia, is one of the world’s greatest yeast-pro-ducing nations. It grew enormous quantities of sugar beet, flax and hemp. It had the third largest potato crop in the world. In 1940 it provided the reich with 7000 trainloads of corn. In 1943 it sent the reich one trainload of cereals and one of potatoes every hour. It also exported a prodigious number of pigs and 40,000 quintals of fish.

Hoffman; Oberbedark, Orensteiwmg. Germany is, therefore, threat-

and Koppel, and so forth, 11 zinc

ened with a grave food crisis. Its

own soil cannot yield enough to fill the gap and next spring. it must call on its food reserves to carry its people over three months at léast. ’ ” 8 s FOOD RATIONS wiil have to be lowered. Half the potato crop is- frozen in the earth. Of the rest; 50 per cent has been requisitioned for the distillation of industrial spirits. This is today's picture as presented by cumulative reports reaching here from across the border.

The stunned people of Berlin according to latest news from the Nazi capital, make no protests. Practically all called to national service present themselves. But each morning new posters appear: “Look out! coming.” “Down with Hitler: We have him to thank for this mess.”

The Russians are

3 KILLED, ONE HURT IN HIGHWAY CRASH

Three Morocco, Ind, men were killed and another seriously injured last night when the automobile in which they were riding struck a tractor-trailer a half-mile north of Enos, Ind, in Newton county. The dead were identified by state police-as: George Fallee, 40, thought to have been the driver; Cody Penrod, 47, owner of the automobile, and Edwin H. Archibald, 66. In a Rennselaer hospital with both legs broken and other injuries is Eric Miller, 63. The tractor-trailer, owned by the Behrens "Trucking Co., Chicago, was operated by Harold Davis, 26. He was ordered released by the Newton county coroner. The passenger car was going south, state police said.

GRANDSON ARRIVES; SENATOR GETS CANE

Indiana senators took time out from the business of making laws today to josh a proud grandfather, Senator Clyde R. Block (R. Logansport). : Learning that a. son. was. born during the week-end to Clyde R. Black II, Senator Albert Ferris (R. Milton) informed the senate of the arrival of Clyde R. Black III—and presented the grandfather with a cane.

STATE POLICE SHIFT LT. H. A. SUTHERLIN

Harry A. Sutherlin, supervising lieutenant of . state police field operations, has been appointed head of ‘the department's communications and records division. / He succeeds Lt. Walter V. Mentzer, who resigned as head of the records division recently to enter private business,

>HANNAH¢

Kitchen Fats Help Power New Rockets : Used by U. S. Bombers in Lieu of Cannon

By ROBERT N. FARR Science Service Staff Writer WASHINGTON, Jan. 29. — The axis will feel the blast of eyour waste kitchen fats in at least one new propellant that has been tai-

lor-made for rockets. Developed by army ordnance’ in co-operation with the Hercules Powder company, the new propellant gives rockets in-

‘creased accuracy and makes them

more effective. It uses 50% nitro-

‘glycerin, made from waste fats

turned in by patriotic housewives. One of Best Weapons

Chief of the new rocket manufacturing problems is the propellant. Few of the propellants used in rockets today were developed especially for rocket use. In most cases they are modified forms of other propellants and were developed rapidly to meét the urgent need for combat tactics. Rockets have proved one of our

‘111 months that the army air forces

has been using them in: the China-

ern Europe against trucks and tanks, troop concentrations, radio stations, storage depots, shipping and railways. Se New developments in rockets are almost continuous. Launchers, which consist of nothing but rails, tubes or slides fitted with electrical ignition attachments, may now be made of plastic, saving tons of vital metal for other war uses. These launchers have none of the complicated recoil devices and heavy breech mechanisms of standard artillery. The four tactical uses of rockets are: Air-to-air, in which planes launch rockets at other planes; air< to-ground, in which planes uses rockets against fortifications and personnel; ground-to-air, the antiaircraft use of rockets; and ground-to-ground, including “such equipment as the bazooka and the M12

most successful war weapons in. the

artillery rocket launcher. Rocket

Boss Crump, Ruffled by Book,

Spites Blind News Vendor

By Scripps-Howard Newspapers MEMPHIS, Tenn. Jan. 29. — A blind man. who operated a tobacco and refreshment stand in the courthouse here for five years is being evicted by a special act of the Tennessee legislature. The Memphis Press-Scimitar charged that the eviction bill was instigated by Ed Crump, Democratic boss, because the blind man, Vernon Berg had at his stand a copy of a book which attacks Crump. It is “Democracy Begins at Home,” by Jennings Perry. Members of the Memphis legislative delegation denied knowledge of the authorship of the bill ‘but, the Press-Scimitar said, the county attorney drew the measure and was sponsored by the county mmission. 8 Ed Crump defended the action on the grounds that courthouse employees wasted time loitering around the stand and that it was time to pass the business around to other

"blind persons. He advocated abolish-

ing the stand and then permitting blind vendors to sell tobacco and sandwiches by going from office to office. Mr. Crump denied that the

| TRAFFIC SIGNS HERE

HELD UNDER LIMIT

satety

book had anything to do with the action.

One extraordinary aspéct of the situation was that the county commissioners, who sponsored the bill, have power to regulate any vend-ing--business inthe courthouse. Meanwhile, Mr. Berg, the blind man, has secured a stand site in

Burma-India theater and -in West=tte-ground and ground-to-ground

Green Scores Service Bill As Totalitarian

WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 (U. P). ~—President William Green of the American Federation of Labor to= day condemned limited national service as outlined in the May bill, . which ‘he said “embodies - within it the prin- . ciples of total- 4 itarianism.” In a letter to all members of the house, I which starts i debate on the bill today, Mr. Green described it as i “highly objec- od tionable to the working men Mr. Green and women represented by the A F.of L"” aS He also urged that if any new manpower legislation is enacted, administration of it be placed in

“the hands of the war manpower

commission, rather than selective service. = s . “THERE IS no shortage of manpower,” he said. “It is a question -of the proper utilization of available manpower,” he said. “It is a question of the proper utilization of available manpower. “American workers have shown during the period which has intervened since Pearl Harbor that free, voluntary labor can out-pro-duce forced labor.” 8: 8 ” HE SAID it is “contradictory” for the armeg forces to “fight, sacrifice and die to wipe out totalitarism” while at the same time “through the enactment of legislation we impose it upon free labor here at home. “The principle of force and compulsion runs through every section and line of HR1752 (the May bill),” the letter said. “It has for its purpose the substitution of military for civilian control over those employed in all lines of indusuy.”

development in the United States "Mas been aimed primarily at air-

use. The .Germans have tried air-to-air rockets against our bombing formations, but without much success. : B-25’s Use Rockets

In the army air forces our B-25 Mitchell bombers now have rocket tubes, replacing the 75 millimeter cannon; P-40 Warhawks, P-36 Lightnings, P-39 Airacobras, P-47 Thunderbolts, and P-51 Mustangs havezbeen fitted with rockets slung under the wings in three-tube clusters, using 4.5-inch M8 projectiles with M10 or M14 launchers. In Burma, AAF pilots combine rocket fire with bombing.. In Europe, Nazi troops are strafed heavily by rocket-firing allied aircraft. Aircraft rockets permit fighters, light bombers, and attack planes to hurl greater concentrations of fire than their own cannon. er machine guns and with greater accuracy than the equivalent weight of freefalling bombs.

The main advantage of air-to-

recoil to interfere with the smooth performance of the airplane, permitting it to get in” fast and get away fast. . More explosive can be put into the target with rockets than with air artillery.

The first rocket to be fired from an AAF plane was launched in the Southwest Pacific theater - last

March. According to rocket researchers, the greatest need today in rockets is for better sighting equipment to

another building.

improve accuracy.

With Mauldin

ground rockets -is-that-there is not

~We, The Women: : Some Wives Have All

The Luck

By RUTH MILLETT

THE BEAUTY OPERATOR answered the telephone, came

over to the woman under the

dryer and said: “Your husband wants you.” Just like that. The woman got up and walked to the telephone to answer. Neither of them knew what the war wife under the next dryer was thinking: “Your husband wants you.” What a wonderful, stimulating message. What a lucky woman to be able to walk over to a telephone and hear her husband's voice—no matter how trivial the message. What any woman with a husband overseas wouldn't give to hear her husband's voice on the telephone.” » 2 8 JUST THINKING of it made the war wife's knees feel weak as water.

“Why, try as hard as she might,

she. couldn’t even recapture. the

sound of her husband’s voice.

Wives who have their husbands still with them say and believe that they know how lucky they are. But only a wife whose husband isn't with her REALLY knows. » 2 . NOT LONG ago the careless message, “Your husbands wants you on the telephone” would have had no more significance to the war wife than it had to the Lucky Womany. It is as sad as it is true that only deprivation makes human beings fully appreciative of lifes everyday blessings. So only a war wife actually knows how lucky are the Lucky Women, with their husbands still at their sides. 2

Collins Sent Back To Army Hospital

Paratrooper Joseph Collins has