The Seaforth News, 1942-01-08, Page 2VQIC
OFTHE E ..
PRESS
SPIRIT OF CHINA
--Qhmgktng has a Rotary Club,
'Ottemembers of which are partly
Datives and partly Walsh, and Ana
ericane, M the bottom of the usual
,weekly notice recently there ap-
peared the following verse:
"And when we meet again, let's
speak
Of anything you like—of pigs
that squeak,
Ot our vacation—books or' toye,
Of our imagined troubles or real
Rale
• Of v ee-versa—but—my friend,
Don't ask tee when the war
will end,
Don't whine about tbe Wee-
Maness,
Don't tell me that your see -
vanes squeeze,
Don't tell me of the housing
dearth,
Don't tell me there's no peace
on earth,
Don't slay than transportation's
bad,
Don't wail that' ooltee can't be
had,
Don't sing that old worm -out re-
frain,
Please—don't--when next we
meet again!"
The spirit of Chungking is rep-
xeeentative of the will of the OM -
nese people to break tie spirit
of Japan,
—St Thomas Timee-Joui'nal,
—v—
NICKEL IN THE WAR '
Some striking facts are present-
ed in a statement made by the In-
ternational
nternational Nickel Company of
Canada, Limited, World nickel pro,
duction and consumption this year
, leave set alldlme records, and more
than 00 percent of it le being used
in war orders, The United States
this year has used more than two-
thirda of the world's total ndokel
outpat—double the peacetime fig-
uaea, Prices were unchanged this
year at figures which have pre-
vailed for 16 years. And in an ef-
fort to meet a constantly growing
demand International Ndokel la
apending $36,000,000 to increase its
production by 50,000,000 pounds
annually,
Canadian nickel is playing a vi
eel role in the war, and it is a
source of satisfaction to all Can -
teams that their base metals in.
*wary has seized eo magnificently
its chance for public service.
—Ottawa Journal.
A FREE- COUNTRY?
We read with vast surprise that
verde have been placed inside
the Japanese embassy at Wash-
ington in order to prevent Mr. No-
mura eluting hie belly open is
the ceremonial Japanese style.
Surely 1f Mr. Nomura wants to
commit suicide he should be al-
lowed to do so, What le happening
to American liberty?
—Winnipeg Frees Press,
—v—
LIFE CHEAP TO JAPS
Oriental life, is about the cheap -
eat thing on the market. If 5,000
daps are sunk it means nothing
except that 6,000 Jape are remov-
ed as a potential fighting force.
Breaking down Jap morale cannot
be an objective at alL That may
wean caloua, 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
sad things, including brass cloth-
es hooks; which brings us back to
the good old days when we hung
ear coat and hat on a 8 -inch nail
Stuck in the wall.
—Ottawa Citizen. •
—v—
ALIBI
Goebbels must be hard put to 1t
ger a satisfactory story explaining
the large-scale German retreat in
Russia. Couldn't he just say the
army is coming home for Christ-
mas?
—Christian Science Monitor.
—V—
A coiled rattlesnake, we are told,
Le able to strike two-thirds of its
length. Now let's see—how long
is Japan, and how far away from
our British Columbia coast?
—Stratford Beacon -Herald.
—v --
PLACE
PLACE FOR GOSSIPS
Wonder where gossips would
stand it there wasn't any middle
el tbe sidewalk,
—Kitchener Record.
THE BOOK SHELF
BOTANY BAY
by Charles Nordhoff
and Norman Hall
A penal colony of Australia in
the eighteenth century is bhe set-
ting for another thrilling tale et
adventure by Nordhott and Hall,
authors of "The Bounty" and "The
Hurricane."
Hugh Tallant is convicted in
Iengl&nd of highway robbery and
is sent aboard' a conviot ship to
serve a life sentence. at Botany
Bay, On the same boat is Nellie
Garth sentenced for protecting
two high•wayrneh.
Talent,. Nellie and a few fellow
prisoners determine to escape from
the pitiful, sordid life of the settle,
went, alter heart -breaking delays
i lrnitless attempts they set sail
SCORING "FOUR -BAGGER FOR DEFENSE
Babe Ruth, the veteran King of Swat, is doing all hecan to help
keep Uncle Sam right in there pitchin' against the country's enemies.
The photo shows the Babe in New York looking over $100,000 worth
of United States Defense Savings Bonds he has just purchased.
hi a small boat, are picked up by
a freighter and eventually landed
!a England.
A pardon for Hugh and the pros -
pact of his lite partnership with
Nellie bring the story to a very
happy ending.
Botany Bay ... by Charles Nor -
heft and Norman Hall . . Mc-
Clelland and Stewart . . .,Price
$8.00.
Saving Ontario's
Natural Resources
No. 70
Beaver' odour all over Ontario.
They were absent for many years
from the southern portion of the
Province but have staged a mar-
vellous comeback under the protec-
tive laws and are now found in
many places close to our farming
oonrmanities. They should be wel•
corned by the muskiest trappers for
they raise and hold the water lev-
els on many amall creeks and
lakes that provide good habitat
for the smaller fur bearer.
In the North country the beav-
er are becoming more . important
each year. For a long time the In-
dians and the white trappers were
encouraged to get all the fur they
could with the result that they
periodically found themselves with-
out any animals. to catch. When
this happened they starved or they
had to be supported by the Gov-
ernment, a rather costly procedure
for the people.'
A few years ago the government
decided to put certain areas under
management in an effort to prove
that the Indians could be made
self-supporting. One such area was
net aside around the WOaale River,
en the east coast of James Bay.
About 60 beaver were the total
population of many thousands of
aqusre miles of the region. The
Indiana, who were very poor, were
told that they could have complete
righte to the region but they must
leave the beaver until they In-
creased and in the meantime the
Government would hire them as
gniardfane. An educational cam-
paign was started among these
forst 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 enough to
yield an annual take.
ins last information I received
showed that the beaver in the area
bad increased to 50,000 pairs and
that the Indians were fully aware
of their potential value. In a year
or so 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
even is they could,
SCOOTING .
a 5
One of the current wideepread
war service aotivities of Scouts
is the collecting of medicinebot-
tles for military hospitals' in prac-
tically every province: Bottles of
certain sizes are sought, ea called
for. A recent request was for col-
ored bottles, and gallon glass jars
for the Central Medical Stores. Al-
ready many thousands of dollen
have been saved to the. Govern-
ment by this Boy Scout activity.
*
100,000 tons of wastepaper was
collected by Brtnsh Boy Scouts
during 1941.
* R*
For courage and coolness shown
in the rescue of a young mother
and her baby and an elderly yeo-
man during an air raid, twee North-
umberland Boy Scouts, brothers,
have been awarded the Scout d•ilt
Grose for Gallantry. The brothers,
Joe and John Chambers, 15 and
17 years respectively, were on
street fire watch during a blitz. A
bomb partially wrecked a house,
and 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 hie 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.
* * *
As a variation Swam Scout war
hero stories from Britain comes
a unique account of the circum-
stances under which a London Boy
Scout was chosen to take the role
00 Oliver Twist in a radio presen-
tation for that famous story of
Charles Dickens. Mr. Hugh Stew-
art of the B. 'B. 0., who had for
some time been seeking a boy
with the desired voice, suddenly
heard it on a crowded' bus. The
bus stopped, and before he could
reach the lad, who was 1n 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, Scaut
Phillip Jones, agreed, and his
voice will be heard in the role of
the famous little Dickens charac-
ter who had the courage to ask
for more porridge.
THE WAR WEAK -- Comnaental•y ori Ctifeelit Events
Ebb and Flow of Word War
Across Oceans and ,Continents
The scope 00 time War is ap-
pr+oabhing a maximuex of easiness,
extending from the woetern *Mores
of America, acress the Pamtfio,
acmes Asia, l0urope and Atrica,
and - across . the Atlantio to
the eastern shores of America,
Everywhere in the Pacific Japan
is ou the offensive, hong Kong
is being mercilessly pounded, tke
k"lt1•lippines increasingly harried,
Singapore threatened by an over-
land drive.h'onie Malaya and ?earl
Harbor preparing' for further con -
Met.
Singapore
The naval base on Singapore Is-
land has been called the world's
largest. Fifteen years of Iabor and'
580,000,000 went into its construc-
tion. It can hold ; the entire Bri-
tish fleet, drydoolc the biggest
battleship. Its eigliteen-inch coast-
al guns have a twenty -five -mile
range. Dominating the sea lanes
between the Indian Ocean and the
Waters o8 Oceania, guarding the
oil and rubber of the Indies and
the tin of Malaya, 'Singapore is
widely regarded as impregnable
to attack from water, most vulner-
able to attack by land, 1't was by
land last week that the Japanese
were striking toward' this key to,
the Allied Far Eastern defense,
The only land approach to Sings
pore runs down the Malay'Penin-
sula, From its beginning at the
top of the Gulf of Siam to its end
above Singapore, the peninsula of
Thailand, in 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 frontier, some 850 miles north
at Singapore. The sinking oil the
Royal Navy's capital ships, Prince
of Wales and Repulse, gave the
Japanese control of Malayan wat-
ers. With these advantages, plus.
numerical euperiority, the soldiers
of the Rising Sun battled their
way forward last week against
the stiff opposition of British Bae -
pare troops.
Jungles and Mountains
The terrain, in many ways, was
one of the most difficult yet en-
oountered anywhere in the world
by the war's fighting men. Mal-
aya's damp, hot juagies climb up
the rides of granite mountain
ranges. Rubber plantattons, a •few
paved roada built by the British,
the oven pits of great tin mines,
break the clotted mass of under-
growth. Along the peninsular coast
Hes a belt of fatly flat, open
ground. The almost impenetrable
bush 1s the home of tigers, leop-
ards, elephants, rhinoceros, vam-
pire bate, brilliantly plumed birds
and deadly reptiles, Its climate
has always been unhealthy for the
white man.
The Japanese had apparently
prepared carettilly for the fighting
111 the Lush wilderness. 01ad in
lightweight unifroms, supported by
one-man tanks and other special.
equipment, adopting the infiltra-
tion and ambush tactics of the Am-
erican Indian, the Nipponese sol-
diers forced back their toe. At one
point they were 260 miles from
Singapore, They compelled the ev-
acuation of Penang on the West
Malayan coast; that exotic resort
town and secondary naval base
could serve as a springboard for a
jump to the Indies or for raids
on Burma-and-India-bonuid ship-
ping. Meanwhile, a Japanese land-
ing 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
beaoh!heads north of the capital
and later far to the south on the
island of Mindanao. A hold on this
island would provide Japan with
valuable bases for raids on Manila, s
Hong Kong Siege
A. eentnry-old outpost of empire,
the island of Hong Kong (thirty-
two square miles) is perched on
the South China coast, overlooks
the long supply mute between Ja-
pan's main islands and the Malay
Peninsula, More thaw a year ago
Hong Kong's link with the Chin
ese hinterland was severed by Jap•
anese troops; still it served as a
clearing house where Free China
ordered the American goods that
REG'LAR FELLERS—Slightly •Used
eventually traveled the Bua'ma
.Road, T110 city long stool as , a
symbol of British prestige in the
it8 :nae in an Anglo -Japan-
ese, war was Neon as a potential
menace to Nipponese sea 1in05; its
prolonged defense: would mean
diversion of Japanese strength
from other mere vital electal's..
Last week—its seoond of Siege
the Empire garrison on' Hong
Kongwas hard, presser. A Japan•
ere Mad -and -air assault captured
Kowloon the eity's .mainland
section, A lauding was effected
on Hong Kong island itself and
quickly the invaders rolled' book
the thin lines 10 the defenders, In
London it was said that British
L}n>pire strategists had long ago
"written out" as inevitable the toss
0f the autlaasO,
• Nazis Retreat
The war that came to Europe in
September, 1980, is entering . its
third Winter. Its first was one ot
great uncertainty—the period of
the "phony war,' when millions
lay in idleness along the Western
Front while Germany, flushed with
victory in Poland, quietly prepay
ed -her next Blitzkrieg. The second
Winter followed i)ngland's daritest ,
Ihour,. •when, her cities shook to
their iloundations under merciless
Nazi bombings, when only the ace
yanee ot General Wavell in Libya
and the heroic resistance of Greece
against the lumbering Italian sem
les brought a ray of hope.
Today, at the threshold a the
war's third Winter, the picture
of the battlefields in Europe favors
the Allies. In subzero 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
Corps Was struggling to prevent
withdrawal from turning into full-
fledged grout as empire hoops
swept onward through the desert.
Jap Sub Operates
From Mother Ship
Midget Two -Man Submarines
Used In Attack on Pearl
' Harbor
Allied naval farces in the Pacific
may find pitted against them
"schools" of tiny, •two-man sub-
matinee—probably no bigger than
a whale,
Secretary at Navy Frank Kew:
revealed that they were used in
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 aa'e about 50 feet long,
seven feet wide, and have a dis-
placement o1 about 50 tons.
There . is no indication as to
how many .were used in Pearl Har-
bor, but they, apparently did no
New Mr Force Chief In
Hawaii
Brig, -Gen, C. L, Tinker I the,
new commander of U. 1S, air
forces in Hawaii.
damage. At least One, however, did
succeed in penetrating• the barber
defences and coming within "a few
Yards" of an American ship' before
1t was destroyed.
Submarines the size of the Jap-
anese two-man craft are too small
to operate over distances greater
than a few hundred miles. Naval •
experts assume that tepee engage
ed iu the attack :against- Pearl
Harbor were operating tram s:
mother ship -stationed out: at 5011.
This, strip, ,probaply a reliohditlon- :..
ed freighter, 'would be large en-
ough to oeary several of these
"baby subs," naval eaxperts Jeattl,
It was assumed that the mother
ship carries them within cruising
rauge of their objective and. then
lowers them into the sea. That
would present no.technical prob.
lent, since. the U. S. crane ship
Keersarge has cranes Ulan can lift
200 ton weights.
Naval observers believe that the
baby subs are miniatures of reg,
Mar submarines.
Once in the water they would
proceed to their target with bat-
terva-driven electric motors'"driv-
ing r them at an estimated eight
or nine knots', below .the swathe.
Standard Diesel -type engines would
give diem 12 oar 18 knots on the
surface.
The chief ,asset of such tiny
Draft is their ability to operate in
shallow waters and to get through
harbor defences. Once within
striking distance of thslr prey they
would loose smaller, probably 10
foot torpedoes, They would not
haVe to carry the standard 20 toot
torpedoes because they attack at
shorter range.
Naval expeat•'s estimate that two-
man submarines would be able to
stay at sea five days before re•
turuiug, to their mother ship or
base. Living quarters would be
extremely cramped, and supplies
and fuel limited,,
Prepared,
e
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 tommy-gain in
the back of his automobile -just
in case, of parachutists..
LIFE'S LIKE THAT
By Fred Nehler
u
•
"Office politics . . ...he's campaigning For &raise l"
By GENE BYRNES
CERTAINY1 MISTER DUFFY,#
IF YOU WANNA BUY A NEW
CAR JUS' TURN IN YOUR
OLE ONE- I'LL GGIVE'sDu
ASWELL DEAL ONITI
Z DON'T CARE WHAT
CONDITION IT'S IN/JEST
BRING IT HERE AN I'LL
COVE YOU 50%on IT!
BACK s0 SOON ? FAST WORK?
MISTER (BUFFY /BUT WHERE'S
YOUR OLE CAR ?
THATS IT 111415 HAIRPIN
WHAT HELD THE WHEEL. ON
IS ALL I HAVE LEFT e
B�.
P G011lie. Al rlk