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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1941-12-31, Page 6T I -t PRESS SPIRIT OF CHINA clhungklug has a Rotary 41ub, ttte, members of which are partly IDativee and partly British and Am• Fricana, At the bettoln of the usual weekly notice reeently there ap, peered the following verse: "And when we meet again, let's speak Of anything You like—of piss that squeak, Of our vacation—books or toys, Of our"imagiuee troubles or real. 3oYa Of vice-versa'-put—my friend, Deal ask me when the war will end, Don't whine about the price. inmease, Dont tell me that your ser - vanes squeeze, Don't tell me of the housing dearth, Dotal tell me there's no pease on earth, Don't say that transportation's bad, Don't wail that coffee can't be had, Don't sing that old WOrn•out re- frain, Please--don't—when next we meet again!" The spirit of Chtmgking is rep- resentative of the will of the Chd- nese people, to break the spirit of Japan. —St Thomas Times-J'ourna . —v— NICKEL IN THE WAR Some etsiking facts are present- ed in a statement made by the In. ternational Nickel Company of Canada, Limited. World niokei ;ea- duction roduction and consumption tbia year have set alletlme records, and more than 00 percent of it le being used in war orders. The United *States thia year has used more than two- thirds of the world's total nickel output—double the peacetime Sig- mas. Prices were unchanged this year at figures wb0oh have pre- vailed for 16 years. And in an ef- fort to meet a constantly growing demand International -Nickel is spending *36,000,000 to increase its production by 50,000,000 pounds oanually. Canadian nickel Is playing a 71. fal r - tal role in the war, and it is a source of satisfaction to all Can - steams tbat their base metals In- dnatry has seized so magnificently Pa chance for public service. —Ottawa JournaL A FREE COUNTRY! We read with vast surprise that tpaarda have been placed inside the Japanese embassy at Wash. Ington in order to prevent Mr. No- mura slitting hie belly Open in tato ceremonial Japanese style. Surely if Mr, Nomura 'wants to commit euiofde he should be al- lowed to do ao. What is hapPentng ie American Iiberty7 —Winnipeg Prase Press. —v— LIFE CHEAP TO JAPS Oriental ilie la about the cheap- est thing on the market. 1t 6,000 ;taps are sunk it means nothing except that 5,000 Japa are remov- ed as a potential fighting force. Breaking down Jap morale cannot be an objective at alL That may seem calous, but it is the key to their philosophy- -St, Catharines Standard. —v— GOOD OLD DAYS The metals controller announces a ban on a whole lot of doo-dada tad things, including brass cloth- es hooks; which brings us back to the good old days when we hung ear coat and hat on a 3 -inch nail Muck in the wall. —Ottawa Citizen. —y— ALIBi Goebbels must be hard put to It Dor a satisfactory story explaining the large-scale German retreat in Materia. Couldn't he just say the arnny is coming home for Christ- mea.? —Cnrietien Science Monitor. —v— A coiled rattlesnake, we are told, Is able to strike two-thirds of its Melgth. Now let's see—bow Iong to Japan, end how far away from ems' British Columbia coast? --Stratford Beacon -Herald. ---V— PLACE FOR GOSSIPS Wonder where gossips would rEttand if there wasn't any middle et the sidewalk. Kitchener Record, THE BOOK SHELF BOTANY BAY by Charles Nordhoff and Norman Hall A penal colony of Australia in tbe eighte=enth century is the set- ting for another thrilling tale of adventure by Nordhoff and Hall, authors o1 "The Bounty" and "The Hurricane." Hugh Tarrant is convicted in 51ng1and of highway robbery and Is sent aboard a convict ship to I've a lite sentence. at Botany Bay. On the same boat is Nellie Garth sentenced for protecting two highwaymen, Talent, .Nellie and a few Yellow prisoners determine to eee opo from the pitiful, enrdid life of the settler meht, After nearl-breaking delays ,e 1 1.alt;rss attempts they set sail SCORING FOUR-DAGGEI OR DEFENSE • oz:, Babe Ruth, the veteran King of Swat, is doing all he can to help keep Uncle Sam right in there pitehin' against the country's enemies, The photo shows the Babe in New York looking over $100,000 worth of United States Defense SavingscBonda he has just purchased. In a small boat, are picked up by a freighter and eventually landed in England, A pardon for Hugh and the pros - peat of his life partnership with Nellie bring the itory to a Tory happy ending. Botany Bay ... by Charles Nor- boff and Norman Hall . . . Mc- Clelland and Stewart , . . Price 03.00. Saving Ontario's Natural Resources No. 70 Beaver occur all over Ontario. Tibey were absent for many years from the southern portion of the Panama but have staged a mar *cellons comeback under the protec- tive laws and are now found in many places close to our farming eomnminitiea. They should be wel- comed by the muskrat trappers for they raise and hold the water lev- els eeels on many small creeks and lakes that provide good habitat dor the smaller fur bearer. In the North country the beav- er are becoming more important each year. For a long time the In- dians aad the white trappers were encouraged to get all the Jur they could with the result that they periodically found themselves with- out any animals to catch. When this happened they starved or they bad to be supported by the Gov- ernment, e. rather costly procedure for the people. A few years ago the government decided to put certain areas under management in an effort to prove tbat the Indians could be made self-supporting. One such area was set amide around the Whale River on the east coast of James Bay. About 00 beaver were the total population of many thousands of square miles of the region. The Indiana, who were very poor, were toll that they could have complete rights to the region but they must lea*ce the beaver until they. in- creaaed and In the meantime the Government would hire them as guardians. An educational cam- paign was started among these forest people with the result that they now know that the beaver is theirs by right but that it must be protected and fostered until the increase Is large enougb to yield an annual take. Tree last information I received ebowed that the beaver In the area had inoreased to 60,000 pairs and that the Indians were fully aware of their potential value. In a year or eo they will start to catch part of the increase but you can be sure that it will only be part. They would not go back to the old ways eren it they could. SCOUTING ■ a One of the current wideepread war service activities of Scouts is the collecting of medicine bot- tles for military hospitals in prac- tically every province. Bottles of certain. sizes are sought, aa 'called for, A recent request was for col- ored bottles, and gallon glass jars for the Central Medical Stores. Al- ready many thousands of dollars have been saved to the Govern- ment by this Boy Scout activity. 100,000 tong of wastepaper was collected by Brtiish Boy Scouts during 1941, * • s For courage and coolness shown in the rescue of a young mother and her baby and an elderly wo- man during an air raid, two North- umberland Boy Scouts, brothers, have been awarded the Scout Gilt Cross for Gallantry. The brothers, .The and John Chambers, 16 and 17 years respectively, were on street fire watch during a blitz. A bomb partially wrecked a horse, end a young woman ran out, tem- porarily unnerved. The boys has- tened to her, and got her safely to a shelter. They then learned, From her disjointed remarks, that her baby was still in the house. John leaped over a fence, entered the house, found the baby, and returned, shielding it with his body from shell fragments and flying glass. He brought ^word also that there was an elderly woman in. the house, and that she refused to leave. Together the brothers re- turned, and between them picked up the old lady and brought her to safety, s « x As a variation from Scout war hem stories from Britain comes a unique aaeount of the circum- stances under which a London Boy Scout was chosen to take the role of Oliver Twist in a radio presen- tation for that famous story of Charles Dickens. Mr. Hugh Stew- art tewart of the B. B. C,, wbo had for some time been seeking a boy with the desired voice, suddenly heard it en a crowded bus. The bus stopped, and before he could reach the lad, who was in the uni- form of a Boy Scout, the boy dis- appeared. Stewart had noted the color of the Scout's neckerchief, however, and through this was able to locate his Scout Troop, then the boy himself, The boy, Scout Phillip Jones, agreed, and Ilia voice will be heard in the role of the famous little Dickens charac- ter who had the courage to ask for more porridge. HE WAR - WEEK -- Commentary 011 Cilrrellt Ivelits Ebb and Flow of World War Across Oceans nd Continents The SONO of the war le .ale preaching a maaimubn of vastness, extending front the western shores_ Of America, amxtes the l'aelfic, ael'aSe Asia, Europe and Attlee, and across the Atlantic to the eastern shores' of America. Everywhere in_tbe Pacifl8 Japan Is on the offensive, Hong Hong is being mercilessly pounded, the lahil1ppines increasingly harried, Singapore 'threatened by an over - laud drive from Malaya and Pearl Harbor preparing for further con- tact, Singapore -Thenaval base on 'Singapore 'Ie• •land lite been called the world's largest, Fifteen years of labor and $80,000,000 went into its construe. don, It can hold the entire Bra. tieh fleet, diydock the biggest battleship. Its eighteen -such coast- al guns have a twenty -five -mile range. Dominating the sea lanes between the Indian Ocean and the waters of Oceania, guarding the oil and rubber of the Indies and the tin of Malaya, Singapore Is widely regarded es impregnable to attack from water, most vulner- able to attack by land. It was by land last week that the Japanese were striking toward this key ,t0 the Allied Fax Eastern defense. The only land approach to Sings. pore runs down the Malay Penin- sula, Pram its beginning at the top of the Gulf of Siam to its end •above Singapore, the peninsula- ot Thailand, 1n the first days of the Pacific conflict, opened the way for an unopposed Japanese drive more than half way down the nar• row approach to, the British Malay- an alayan frontfei, some 360 miles north of Singapore. The sinking of the Royal Navy's capital ships, Prince of Wales and Repulse, gave the Japanese control of Malayan wat- ererWith these advantages, plus numerical superiority, the soldiers of the Rising Sun battled their way forward last we against the stiff opposition of British Em- pire troops. Jungles and Mountains The terrain; in many Ways, was We of the most difficult yet en- countered anywhere in the world by the war's fighting melt. Mal- aye's damp, hot jungles climb up the aides of granite mountain ranges. Rubber plantations, a few paved roads.. built by the British, the open pita of great tin mines, break the clotted mass of under- growth. Along,the peninsular coast lies. a belt of fairly flat, open ground. The almost impenetrable bush is the home of tigers, leop- ards, elephants, rhinoceros, Pam• pire bats, brilliantly plumed birds and ,deadly reptiles. Its climate has always been unhealthy for the., white man- She Japanese had apparently prepared carefully for the fighting in the lush .wilderness. Clad in lightweight unllroms, supported by one-man tarjks and other special equipment, adopting the infiltra- tion and ambush tactics of the Am- erican Indian, the Nipponese sol- diers forced back their foe: At one point they were 250 miles from Singapore. They compelled tbe ev- acuation of Penang on the Wert Malayan coast; that exotic resort town and secondary naval Kase could serve as a springboard for a jump to the Indies or for raids oa Burma-and-India•bound ship- ping Meanwhile, a Japanese land. Sag on British Borneo appeared to be an attempt to gain a base on Singapore's flank, Philippines In the first phase of the war Nipponese blows were chiefly aim- ed at Manila. Last week a land offensive was attempted. Tokyo as- serted that troops were landed on beach -beads north of the capital and later far to the south on the island of Mindanao, A hold on this island would provide Japan witb valuable bases for raids on Manila. Hong Kong Siege A Century -old outpost of empire, the island of Hong Kong (thirty-- two square miles) is perched on the South China coast, overlooks the long supply route between Ja- pan's stain islands and the Malay Pe1insula. More titan a year ago Hong Kong's link with the Chin- ese hinterland Was severed by ,iap- aneae troops; still it served as a clearing bailee where Free China ordered the American goods tilat REG'LAR FELLERS—Slightly Used CERTAINY, MISTER DUFFY 1 IF YOU WANNA BOY A New CAR JUS' TURN IN YOUR OLE ONE. I'LL GIVE YOU A SWELL, DBAL C1N IT r DON'T CARE WHAT CONDITION ITS IN /SST BRINCl> IT HERE AN I'LL cove. YOU 50°,F,ON 17, eventually traveled too Burma Road, The elty long stood its a ly{nbOl of British .prestige in the t......r. as rote in en Anglaalapau- ese War was s09n as a.. Potential meneeo to Nipponese sea lines; its prolonged defense would metal a diverslon of Japanese strength from alner more vital sectors; Last wselt-•-its second of siege— the Empire garrison on hong Kong was hard pressed. A Japan• eee land•and-air assault eaptnr0d. le o W 10 o n- the eitY's mainland section. A landing was e0feeted ou 0long long Island itself and quokly the invaders rolled back the thin lines 04 the defenders, In London 10 was said that Br'itis11 Empire strategists hid long ago "written off" as Inevitable the loss of the outpost. Nazis Retreat 'Phe war tbat mune to. Europe in September, 1939, is entering its third Wintgr, its first was one of great uncertainty --the period et the "phony war," when millions lay in idleness along the Western Front while Germanys fluslted"with victory in Poland, quietly prepay ed her next Blitzkrieg. The second Winter followed England's ,darkest hour, when her cities shook 00' their foundations under merciless Nazi bombings, when only the ad. vance of General Wavell in Libya and the heroic resistance of Greece against the lumbering Italian arm- ies brought a ray of hope, Today, at the tW'eshold of the war's third Winter, the picture of ice battlefields in Europe favors the Allies. In sub -zero cold last week the German armies on the Russian front were falling back, Pushed by a widening series of forceful Soviet offensives. In Libya, the all but beaten German Africa Oorps was struggling to prevent withdrarwal from turning into full- fledged rout as empire troops swept' onward through the desert. Jap Sub Operates From Mother Ship Midget Two -Man Submarines Used In Attack on Pearl. Harbor 'Allied naval forces in the Pacific may find pitted against- them "schools" of tiny, • two-man sub- marines—probably no bigger than a whale. Secretary of Navy Frank Knot revealed that they were used hi the "sneak" attack on Pearl Har- bor. Knox said one was destroyed by depth charges and another was .captured. Naval experts estimate these tiny subs ase about 50 feet long, 'seven feet -wide, and have a dis- placement 00 about 50 tons, There is no indication as to how many were used in Pearl Hu- ber, bat they apparently did do New Air Force Chief In Hawaii Brig,Gen, 0, L/ Tinker is to now commander of U, S, .air ' forces in Hawaii. damage, At least one, however, did succeed in penetrating the harbor defences and coming Within "a few Yards" of an American ship before it was destroyed, Submarines the size of the Jap- anese two-man craft are too small to operate over distanoos greater than a few hundred miles, Naval experts assume that those engag- ed in the attack against Pears Harbor were operating them a mother ship, stationed out at sea. This ship, probably a recondition- ed freighter, w%uid be large, en*, ougb to carry several of' Meet "baby subs, naval experts said. It was assumed that the mother ship carries them within cruising range of their objective and thea lowers them into the sea. That would present no'. technical prob- lem, since the U. S. crane Ritjp Kearsarge has cranes than can lift 200 fon weights, Naval observers believe" that the baby. subs are miniatures of reg- ular submarines, Once in the water 'they would proceed to their target with abat- tery-driven electric motors driv- ing them at au estimated eight or nine knots below the surface. Standard Diesel -type engines would give them 12 or 13 knots on the suofaee. The ehief asset of such tiny. graft is their ability to operate in shallow waters and to get through harbor defences. Once within striking distance of their prey they would loose smaller, probably 10 foot torpedoes, They would not have to carry the standard 20 foot torpedoes because they attack at shorter range. Naval experts estimate that twc- man submarines would be able to stay at seafive days before re- turning to their nattier ship or base. Living quarters would be extremely Cramped, and supplies and fliel limited. Prepared Mr. Churchill who spends his week -ends in the country when he's not too busy to get away from Downing Street disclosed that he carries a tonuny-gun in the back of his automobile—just in case of parachutists. LIFE'S LIKE THAT 9-i2 "Office politics . , he's campaigning n raiser _ Hing for i BACK SO 50014? FAST WORK, MISTER OUFFY .,BUT WHERE'S YtlUR CleE CAR? --L, By GENE BYRNES THAT'S IT ;r THIS HAIRPIN WHAT HELD THE WHEEL ON Id ALL_II I.ONE.' LEFT % - V, a �IPoi 01a Alr',l h4 eNen