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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1942-9-9, Page 3ALL HANDS PRESENT AND ACCOUNTED FOR In an emergency every man aboard a fighting ship must know his station, The above photo shows the crew of a Canadian destroyer during "aband on ship" drill. A leading -seaman checks with the officer in charge of this particular station and ma hes sure every man is on hand. ✓ OICE OF THE P RESS A REPORTER JOINS UP When an R.O.A.F. mobile re- uniting unit stopped off at Kirk- land Lake, Ont., a while back, the editor of the Northern News sent Stew Bridges, his star re- porter, to cover the event. In the due course Stew Bridges re- turned to the office . wearing a pleased expression.„ Where's the story?” his editor demanded. "Oh, the story?" mumbled Stew Bridges. "Sony, I forgot all about the story. We got talking and the first thing I knew I had joined the R.C.A.F. • —Maclean's Magazine. EACH - OF US . The thought Qt the week comes from Brooke Claxton, Montreal M.P., who said in a speech at Cleveland: "The Government can order, control, tax and ration, but the extraeffort which measures the difference between democracy and dictatorship, between victory and defeat, can only be given freely by each of ns." —London Free Frees. — 0— INEFFiC1ENCY The nicest indictment of med- iaeval inefficiency we've seen for some time is that of a transport authority who points out that the 19 stone piers ,of Old London Bridge were "constructed without engineering experience adequate for the enterprise" so the bridge functioned only 600 years. —London News -Chronicle. ,—e— JUST REVENGE Porcupines don't know there is a war on. Otherwise they might have spared the tires of a Plum- ner, Idaho, man's car. Instead, one animal stuck in • a couple of quills and put two tires out of business, Its action was . in re- venge, of course, for being run over. —Lethbridge Herald. --o— MORE THAN SANG FOR SUPPER Casting bread crumbs on the lawn is almost as self -rewarding as casting your bread on the wa- ters.. A robin in Kentucky drops a dollar bill on the back porch of a man who fed the birds, thereby doing more than sing for its supper. —Hamilton Spectator., —0— HARD-BOILED TEA All this advice about how to bever- age cup p of "the ago that cheers" from a minimum of tea is going to be wasted, we fear, on Jim Cm'•an of the Soo Star, who says tea isn't worth a hoot unless it's been boiled twen- ty minutes. —St. Thomas Times -Journal. —0— IT'S AWFUL Now it's the men who are be- ing bit. The number of fur felt hat shades is to be reduced from 42 to 18 and Wool felt shades frofi'i 18 to 10. Boys, it's aWful l • —Owen Sound Sun-Timea, _o— THE FUNNY SEX • Funny sex: They paint their legs to look as if they wore etoek- ings' or they wear stockings that make their legs look bare, —Brandon Sun. Ceylon, which was an ancient centre of civilization, has been held In turn by the Portugese, Dutch and British, Swiss Maintain True Democracy • Self -Government Has Work- ed For 661 Years, Says The Cleveland Plain Dealer More than 4,250,000 people have just paid homage to a successful idea—the idea that men do not have to speak the same language to dwell in harmony as a nation; that free men are capable of de- fending themselves and that dem- ocracy is the best form of gov- ernment. These people knew what they were doing, for the idea has work- ed for 651 years. ,It works today although their land is surrounded on all sides by an enemy who stands for the antithesis of every- thing they cherish. -Yet this small nation has much to teach the great powers of the world, for Switzerland has stood as a beacon light through Europe's stormy history. Perpetual Pact Formed It was on Aug. 1, 1291, that the men of the mountain regions of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden formed a perpetual pact to defend themselves against the tyranny of the then dominant House of Haps- burg. Other men joined them un- til the Swiss confederation was formed. Today its people speak four languages, 2,900,000 Germane, 880,000 French, 240,000 Italian and 44,000 Romansch. Yet few nations in the world are as unified as is Switzerland. The secret may be the high degree of self -govern - meat which the Swiss enjoy. The Swiss still hold their open- air Parliaments in their cantons. But this earliest form of democ- racy is no barrier to ewift action when it comes to protecting the country. Hitler and the detractors of democracy are completely re- futed by the example of the con- federation in defence. Every Swiss serves in the army. Completely Mobilized When war came in 1939 Switzer- land mobilized completely. Since June, 1940, the number of men in active service has been reduced to 200,000. The cost of this is heavy on a small country, particularly one which depended so much on. tourists and the luxury trade as did Switzerland. Yet the people bear the cost cheerfully, for they know that nothing could repay them for the loss of that liberty which they have maintained and defended since 1291. Butting Sheep Wins Bout With Bear Probably it never happened be- fore and never will occur again, but it is reported from Sussex, N. B., that a sheep did knock out a bear. Bruin, spying the tethered sheep in •a field owned by Adam Hughes, charged. The sheep also charged, butting bruin between the eyes. Down went the bear. He lay dazed for a few moments, then struggled to his feet and ambled away -in search of an easier meal. LIFE'S LNIKE THAT By Fred Neher elefee- o • • 1 IYAAtIld n- 1 t 1 iii' %i,lirl 41 i. 1110 1• 1,' Ph' /V'5 • "Never mind how long I've been here, . . Got 'me down! 1" THE WAR • WEEK •— Commentary on Current Events As Global War Enters Fourth Year? Are Allies Turning Tide Of Battle Three years ago last week the Nazi legions poured across the frontiers of Poland to loose upon the world rite second great con - Diet in a generation, says the New York Times. A European war at first, it became a world war after Japan's Pearl Harbor attack Met December. Last week as the war's third year was ending, British bombers were taking off to pound German porta and industrial centres with a view to relieving pressure on Russia. In Egypt there was om- inous quiet as the armies waited for the zero hour that might de- termine the fate of the Middle East. In China, the Japanese were in retreat, possibly with drawing forces for attacks elsewhere, and in the South Pacific they were hardeprossed as the first Ameri- can offensive threatened their position in the Solomous. India was tense for the blow that may eome in November when the rates end. On the other side of the world Brazil, by entering the was', had supplied new and strategic bases for fighting the Battle of the South Atlantic. The War Spreads This was the world war picture last week as the third year of the war drew near its end. The fires the Germans had lit when they marched into Poland in the early hours of Sept. 1, 1939—had spread around the globe. On that first morning there were lust two na- tions at war, Germany and Po- land. The number of nations in- volved has risen from two to forty- two, thirty-one of them on the side of the United Nations, eleven on the side of the Axis. It is a war that has spread in waves. Poland was engulfed in the finet wave, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium and France In the second, Yugoslavia and Greece in the third. Minor wars— Finland and Russia, Italy •and Greece—sprang np and were in- corporated into the big war. It beat against the defenses of Eng- land in the west, turned east onto the steppes of Russia. Battles were fought in North Africa and West- ern Asia and sea fighting brought the war to South America. Ger- many's partner, Japan, carried it on to the other side of the world, linked it with the war in China, made it, save for the fragile peace existing between Russia and Ja- pan, all one. As Fourth Year , Begins The prize for victory, then, be- came the world. But for Adolf Hitler, with throe years of many victories behind him, that goal still seemed far from realization. Before him, still in being despite herculean efforts" to destroy it, was the Red Army, and behind him a growing Anglo-American strength. In the Far East the Jap- anese, after five yeana of war with China and almost eight months of war with the Western democ- racies, faced American power on one side and on the other a Chin- ese Army that would not stay. beaten. These were the problems the Axis nations must try to solve in the fourth year of the war. From their very nature they raised anx- ious questions in the United Na- tione. Can the Russian - armies continue to hold out against the Wehrmaeht and launch new blows of its own? Ilas the growing strength of the United Nations reached the point, where an invas- ion of the European Continent becomes possible? Can the British hold the Italian -German forces in Egypt away from Suez? Where will the Japanese launch their Fall offensive and will there be formes enough there to turn it back? The fourth year will pro- vide answers, Stalingrad Stands Out of the fighting that rages over the long Russian front one solid fact stands out. The Russians etill hold Stalingrad. The Volga city controlling the vital artery of water conrmimieatiou in Cen- tral Russia is this year's mitt German objective. The German High Command announced that it would fall last week. Afire and in rains, 1t still resists the invader. Hitler must have Stalingrad to pen the Russian armies behind the Volga and exploit his gains in the Ca.uceus. It will not suffice REG'LAR FELLERS—Question No, 5,726 T,1:1. ME,•POP, WHY IS IT THAT UNCLE GIEORRGE 15 MY UNCLE? BECAUSE IBES MY BROTHER! ANYBODY W140 HAPPENED TO BE MY BROTHER. WOULD BE YOUR UNCLE! to pass by such a stronghold and strike directly et Astrakhan and the Caspian Sea This explains the massive assault and the tremend• ours sacrifices the Germane are making. A week ago, when Nazi tanks swarmed - acmes the Don elbow, Stalingrad seemed doomed. But in the interval the Russians summoned fresh reserves, Now they may have a chance to repeat the indomitable detente of Lenin- grad and Moscow. Retch Hit From Air From Royal Air Force head- quarters in Britain last week came a grim estimate of the damage that had been inflicted on Ger- many since the beginning of the year. Five square utiles spread about in nine of Germany's large cities had been wiped out, More than 1,000,000 persons had been made homeless. More than 600 war factories had been destroyed. Reich Marshal Goering made a boast at the beginning of the war, that no euemy planes would be allowed to penetrate the German anti-aircraft defenses. The Reich was now being hit from the air from two sides. R. A. le. bombers were striking with increasing force from England in the west; from the east, planes of the Red Army were carrying out raids from East Prussia to as far as Berlin, attacking the new centres of production which have been established since the Re A. F. be- gan hitting the Ruhr and Rhine districts. American bombs on Tokyo last April awakened Japanese leaders to -the danger of future raids from Chinese bases within easy strik- ing distance of flimsy Nipponese cities. Two such bases were at Chuhsien and Lishui, amid the tea plantations and terraced moun- tains of Southeast China. The Jap- anese war machine was set in motion against the airfields; 100,- 000 troops pressed toward them in a pincers. move along a 260 -mile stretch on the Obekiang-Kiangsi railroad still held by the Chinese. By mid-July the whole rail line had been occupied and the Mik- ado's legions were in possession of both bases. Tokyo declared that the air-raid danger had been el- iminated,- spoke of using .the cap- tured rail line as a link in en all - land route to Singapore. Last week it appeared that the Japanese boasts had been pre- mature. Once more China had turned the tables on her enemy. 'Japan was in rapid retreat. In six weeks Chiang Kai-shek's men had •recaptured fifteen cities, among thein Chuhsien and Lishui, had re- taken 200 miles of the Chekiang- Kiangsi railroad; claimed 40,000 Japanese casualties. The sudden cbange of military fortune puzzled observers in China. In part it was attributed to the bombing of Jap - a n e s e airfields by American Manes, in part to the fighting qualities of the Chinese soldier. But these factors, it was held, could not wholly account for such major withdrawals. Chinese military experts were inclined to attribute the Japanese retreat primarily to a change of policy by the Mikado's war lords. In their opinion Tokyo has decid- ed to strike elsewhere, is giving up a conquest in order to shift troops to the new scene of action. Military experts pointed to four possibilities; (1) That Japan, her ]rand forced by the tipproach of Winter in Siberia, was making ready a long-delayed s tr o k e against Russia; (2) that the gen- eral staff, alarmed over American invasion of the Solomous, was about to reinforce Nipponese de- fenses in the Southwest Pacific; (8) that Japan planned to take advantage of Indian disorders and strike at the subcontinent; (4) that a new offensive in Nortir China, aimed at nutting the road to Rureia, was to begin. Meanwhile American aviation continued to aid. Last week Am- erican bombers blasted the Nip- ponese air base- at Lashio, Bur - .mese terminus of the now use - lees Burma Road. And in Chung- king the arrival of the first group of Chinese them trained in Am- erica was a farther symbol of • Chinese-American collaboration. The importance of Brazil's en- trance into tine war • should 'not be minimized., For one tiring, 11 will now be possible for the Mee Red States t0 collaborate in t con4truction of great bases, bo sea and air, In Brazil, and they will be edequstelY proteeted Again, the psychological eftect Brazil's . action will be fe throughout Latin -America and 19. all the Latin sections of blurope, Why did Hitler• decide to geed Brazil into active warfare? There seems to be only one reasonable explanation., namely, his couvio- tion that this would force a fur- ther diversion of American supply, and necesaltate transfer to Brazil of eeeential equipment that would otherwise have gone to the Euro- pean and other fronts. Undoubt- edly, there will be a marked stej- ping-up of shipments to Brazil (and from Brazil) but, on bale ance, the development is decided- ly favorable to the Allies, Getting Rid Of Bats In House The first step in getting rid of bats in an open attic must be to close all openings by which the bats can get in. Small bats Zan get through holes hardly one-half inch across. The best material for the job is oakum, which is tarred -felt fiber, Bats dislike the odor and will keep away from it. During the day all but two or three of the principal openings should be closed. These should be left open for a night or two until the bats have learned to use them, and should then be closed several hours after dark when all the bats have gone out. When bats collect within walls or under floors, they can be driven out by the liberal use of moth flakes, which will be effective even in the daytime. Openings should not be plugged when there is a chance that bats are remaining within the house. SCOUTING • • • A birthday coincidence, pro - belly unique in the world, is con- nected with the life of Lord Baden-Powell, Founder of the Boy' Scout Movement. Lord Baden- Powell's birthday was Februfwry' 22nd, and that of his wife, the Chief Girl Guide, the same date. Their son Peter Baden-Powell was born on the same date and married a young lady also born on February 22nd. To make the sequence even more unique their first child, a boy, was also born on the same date as his parents and grand --parents. * * * When a Boy Scout Headquart- ers in much bombed Malta was destroyed recently a framed pic- ture of the Scout Founder, Lord Baden-Powell, came through un- scathed. A newspaper photo- graph received recently from Mal- ta shows Rev. Bernard Hersey of the Grey Friars rescuing the pic- ture of the late, Chief from the rubble. Assisting him in salvag- ing effects of the building are a Boy Scout and a Sea Scout. * * * "When I see a Scout Troop at work I think to myself, 'By Jove, here's another group of Comman- dos almost ready to take their place in the fighting line' wrote a British Scoutmaster, now a member of a Commando unit. "I am very thankful to Scouting. Each man in a Commando has to go through the training a Boy Scout goes through from the Ten- derfoot stage, with a few' ad- ditions." The Cornwell Decoration, which perpetuates the memory of Jack Cornwell, who won the V.C. in the First Great War when he lost his life in the- Battle of Jutland, has been awarded to Scout Jitn- my Cluff of the 60th Stepney Troop, London. Jimmy lost a leg and suffered other injuries while on duty in a Nazi air raid and displayed the sante heroism as that exhibited by his Scout hero, Jack Cornwell. * * * The world's first Boy Scout Troop was organized at a camp on llrownsea Islandl, Dorset, on July 26th, 1907, by Lt. -Gen. R, Baden-Powell, for the world's first Boy Scout camp, The sole surviiing mennber of the camp G . z a V Everett," " � - now Sir Percy Iiiverett, and still active in Scouting as Deputy Chief Scout, paid at visit to Can- ada shortly before the war. IT WOULDN'T MATTER IF HE WAS THE BARBER,THE BAKER, OR THE CHIMNEY SWEEP, HE'D STILL BE YOUR UNCLE A5 LONG AS HE WAS MY BROTHER., By GENE BYR.N;F•S ''. WELL, MUPPOSI1i ! WAS-) YOUR BROTHER THEN iVOULD-) 1 BE MY OWm. UNCLE? • 5 al JAW • 'wet, n, p.� ariiee, All Hrri, r.Ge".rcn- G M