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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1941-07-24, Page 2VOICE. OP THE PRESS IS PEN MIGHTIER? Hitler is now writing the Ger- man war reports. Can it be that he has discovered that the pen is mightier than the sword? --Chatham News —0— SCOTS WHA HAE As one might say: there'll al- ways be an England as long as Scotsmen like Robert Alexander Watson Watt go about inventing " things like the radio plane loca- tor. —Brantford Expositor —0— WOMEN IN UNIFORM Good luck to those Canadian women who will soon be wearing His Majesty's uniform. Good luck no less to those who will not; for let it never be forgotten that they also serve, and serve no less de- votedly, who continue at their un- spectacular jobs in the home and in civilian employment, carrying on without shoulder straps or chevrons the family life and the business life of the country. —Saint John Telegraph -Journal. —o— ONE LICENSE PLATE? Both the suggestions that have been made in respect to saving on ateel in the manufacture of On- tario motor license plates are worthy of consideration. They are that plastics be used instead of metal, or that the front license plate be abandoned. The latter proposal would seem to be the more reasonable. Plas- tics give promise of being an im- portant factor in our war effort, and there may be need soon for relieving industries manufactur- ing these materials of all unnec- essary calls. Issuing only one license plate for a car would save half the steel now going into these articles, and It would not be a revolutionary step. There is really little need for a plate on the front, and Florida, as an outstanding example, has for years got along very well with- out it. —Windsor Star. Suggestions For The Week -Ender Are You Planning to Visit Friends From Saturday to Monday This Summer? It Might Be Wlse to ' Follow These Rules There have been so many printed complaints against the summer week -end guest who forgets her bathing suit or who wants to bor- row a sweater or even a little cold cream that many hostesses are finding the guest -hostess relation- ship pretty strained in spots. There may be a lot of rules about not asking for things that haven't been put in plain view in guest or bath room. But it's ten times more annoying to any hostess to have a guest who won't wear a borrowed sweater when she is ob- viously cold than if is to have one just who up and asks for anything she wants, whether extra warm clothes or an extra blanket. Its easier on the Lostess to have a guest state her preferences about food than to say, "I like everything" and then not eat much of anything on the table. Saying "I don't play bridge" is easier on everybody, especially the hostess, than playing so badly that half the other guests are annoyed. Nuisances Any guest can tell her hostess that she would rather sleep than get up and go to church, or vice versa, No hostess minds having a guest sleep later than all ethers in the household, provided the guest doesn't mind making her own bed or offering to get her own break- fast. Be Natural Maybe this is the time for guests and hostesses to resolve to be natural and forget most of the ready-made rules. Summer week- ends might be more tun all tb) way around if guests just assumed that they were invited because they are liked and enjoyed and not because they observe dozens of rules. 12,500 Miles of Blades During the past twelve months, thirty-three British manufacturers, says Maclean's Magazine, have sent overseas an average of 1425,000 sailor blades a day End to end, the 456,250,000 blades would reach 12,500 miles. The value of these exports is something like $3,000,- 000 a year. The razor -blade export business used to be largelyin the hands of Germany. That is but one of the many ex- amples. In spite of war produc- tion, bombings and sinkings, Brit- ish industry is expandingits over seas trade. How Nature Helps Reds an Stalin 'Line FINLAND Helsinki Marshlands 9l. LATVIA ..ww. LITHUANIA '9 0 ,�` \�Vi1nq Borisov\ • ,.4 , N� . Minsk I;akes On and behind the line, Russia has millions of .mon to fight invader SOVIET • obruisk POLAND k�.14 Brest Litovsk, 11/arsaw ti i - 4. RUSSIA GERMAN' Guns, mechanized forces must de- fend flat Ukraine Tanks Ce mut HUNGARY Miles 0 100 RUMANIA Nature, as usual, is on the side of the defender in the Russo -German conflict as Nazis hurl new attacks at the Stalin Line, but even her aid: has not halted Hitler's mechanized forces in the past. Map shows how Russia builds her great line, using rivers and iliixicult terrain as natural defenses. THE WAR.WEE K—Commentary on Current Events Latest War Developments lnprove British Position Increased confidence was brought to the people of Britain and her allies by the speeches of Prime Minister Winston Churchill on July 14. This "dogged old warrior" said, to quote the New York Times, "that the tables had been turned on Ger- Many in the matter of air raids and increased bombings could be ex- pected, that there would be no truce with Germany, that Italy was on the bombing schedule and that Lon- don could continue to 'take it' if necessary." Only the Beginning "In tne last few weeks alone," Mr. Churchill said, "we have thrown upon Germany about half the ton- nage of bombs thrown by the Ger- mans upon our cities during the whole course of the war. But this is only the beginning. We do not expect to hit without being hit back, and we intend with every week that passes to hit harder." Shipping Losses Decrease That Britain's position had vastly improved from a year ago was the opinion of Kirke L. Simpson, Asso- ciated Press military correspon- dent, who stressed, among other factors in the situation, the sharp decrease in British shipping losses, He said: "London's ship -loss figures for June tell the story. They were the lowest since July, 1940 (329,296 tons), except for a period in the dead of last winter. Indications are that the present month's losses will fall even lower, due to Nazi air concentrations in the east, to prob- able withdrawal of some German submarines for use against Russia in the Baltic and to British counter measures at sea." The Battle of the Atlantic would appear to be veering in favor of Britain and the United States. Collapse of Vichy Resistance The British lifelines had also been greatly strengthened in the Middle East by the Syrian victory, and the political results, it was predicted, would be of much more consequence. There could be no doubt that the outbreak of the Nazi -Soviet war had much to do with the col - image of Vichy resistance to the British -Free French allies in Syria and Lebanon. It ended the last hope of the "men of Vichy" for effective German intervention there. Sur- render followed inevitably, British -Soviet Pact The new British -Russian pact sigiied at Moscow on July 12, said. Mr. Churchill, "is, of course . an al- liance and the Russian people are our allies." General Jan Christian Smuts, Prime Minister of South Africa, in commenting on Mr. Churchill's statement to the British House of Commons, said: "Let no one say we are now in league with the Communists and axe fighting the battle of Communism." The British -Russian treaty pledged that each nationwould the oilier in war against Hitlerite Ger- Saving Ontario's Natural Resources "�.�Pt-'1!•ow.rn• �.o o..:-.q,.y �.rs-+�•o+-.•aa. G. C. Toner Ontario Federation of Anglers and Bunters (No. 50) PROBLEM OF EROSION This article will deal with erosion, I showed last week how erosion cuts down the highest mountains, given time, and how nature uses it to fashion the earth. Butthis is slow natural erosion not the swift man- -ade Ida- tion'of the land that occurs when we .misuse our natural resources. One is necessary, the other will eventually make oiu land a desert unless it is controlled. Where soil or rock is exposed. tcp the atmosphere or to water chemical and physical changes take place. Freezing and heating 'break up the rocks and the harder soils. Acids from the air and. 4 from minerals acted upon by the air Whelp to dissolve away the hardest, rock. These reactions and many others are continuing all the time but very slowly for there are other factors acting against them. In Ontario's History In our land there are few places where the soil or the rock is nor- mally exposed to the air. Nearly everywhere under natural condi- tions a heavy growth of plant life covers and protects the soil. This protection cuts erosion to a mini- mumso that very little soil dis- appears into the rivers during the year. At one time every stream in Ontario flowed clear and cool the year around. Erosion hardly existed because of the cover of plants and trees. The first 'settlers needed agri- cultural lands so they cut the trees from many parts of the < country. Where the soil was ex- posed it was rich and deep, crops grew marvellously for the first ,r -years. Later as the rich organic ,humus, that held the soil together, disappeared, the land became more open and less packed. And under such conditions erosion is speeded up a thousand -fold. Every heavy rain carries away the soil to the rivers which are dirty from their heavy load of silt. As the top soil goes, the organic humus already' gone, the deeper soils are exposed and these cut away even faster until bare rock is reached. al,This is the problem wemust face ' very sooc. Prevent.erosiion or our agricultural lands will disappear many; and that neither would sign , forever. a separate peace with the enemy: The New York Times last week presented a clear picture of the moves a.nd counter -moven of the two great powers now in the. fourth week of war: "It is still hard to , believe that the German and Russian reports of hostilities ;are talking about the same war. Berlin tells of sweeping advances. Mos- cow reports victorious counter- attacks. "The German High Command re- stricted itself to a report of 'pro- gress' on the whole eastern front, but the German news agencies told of the imminent doom of two of Russia's greatest cities, Leningrad and Kiev. In the north the Nazis were aid to have crossed the Luga River, last great barrier to Lenin- grad, and in the south the fall of Kiev was said to be a foregone con- clusion. "The Moscow communique said the drive at Leningrad had been stopped with a successful counter- attack in which the Nazi columns were being hurled back or destroy- ed `section by section.' In the central sector, the Russian line was said to be holding at Vitebsk, while the southern thrust at Kiev was declared to have been thrown back in disorder near Novograd Vol- ynsk." Which Way to Jump The belief that something spec- tacular was brewing in the Land of the Rising Sun was vindicated last week when, after paying a visit to the Emperor, Premier Prince Fumimero Konoye resign- ed, and with him the entire Jap- anese Cabinet. Obviously this meant serious internal dissension in the matter of Japan's foreign policy, and disagreement over the steps that should be taken in the face of the changing international situation. European diplomats gen- erally professed to believe that the Nippon government had been considering some move to counter Russia's action in mining Soviet Far Eastern waters; in British ' and American circes in Tokio, at- ,tention was centred on French -Indo• China and Southeast Asia. But while the Japanese prepared tor. more "action." Washington was readying counter-measures that would almost surely follow a new Japanese act of aggression—ecu• nomic counter-measures, such as a possible embargo on shipment of oil to Japan. or blocking of japan from entrance into the Ir flan Ocean. Canada and the War :',A.—gallon a day keeps Hitler away," Canadians heard last week ' at the beginning of a government drive to cut gasoline consumption in the Dominion. Hours of sale (for the "buggy juice" were restrict- ed to between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. 'daily, not in eluding Sundays; and the price was upped by ic. 11 these gentle hints didn't work, car-driv 'ers'were cautioned to expect strict • irationing by fall. 1 ;The successful conclusion of thc' Canadian Army Active recruiting drive—the quota was reached last week—removed the possibility. •for the time being at least, that ,eensor]Iption would be introduced. The Department of Defense ci:• viously could get all the men ii ''wanted through the channels or ,voluntary enlistment, Could Mr King's tour to the west have acted as a strong stimulant to the re. .bruiting campaign? REG'LAR FELLERS—Taking No Chances WHEN MOM FINDS THIS OUT ITS JUST GOING TO BE TOO BAD FOR ME DID YOU SEE TI4E CAT AROUND, PINHEAD DID YOU LOU\ IN THE SECOND DRAWER !IJ MY BUREAU • +.441. aK �xw Stalin Line Makes 1,100 Mile Barrier FortiflcatIons Run From clack Sea to Gulf of Finland —Soviet Secretive About De- scriptions Few facts have leaked out about . Soviet Russia's Stalin Line, which the German war machine has been bucking for the past cotiple of weeks, and there is no reliable basis on which to judge its strength. Here is the best available pic- tur'e:— In general it is a 1,100 -mile man- made barrier running along the entire old Russian western frontier from the Black Sea to the Gulf of Finland, and it was built princilpaUY to guard against invasion from Germany. It combines the features of France's Maginot Line, including great, full -equipped concrete fort- resses built underground, with the advan.ta.ges of Germany's West Wall, which Is built in greater depth. Whether or not it can be flanked, as was the Maginot,' is a matter of speculation. ' Underground Fortresses The bulk of the Stalin system was completed in 1933, but the Red Army's leaders have added to it and strengthened it continually ever since, and are reported to have installed the most modern machinery available to keep the fortifications impregnable as new weapons of attack have been de• veloped. Details about the Stalin Line, ob• viously, are military secrets, but the Kremlin has not permitted even general descriptions as much as the French did. One exception was an article pub- lished April 11 in the Soviet Army newspaper Red Star—the first mention in the Soviet press of the Red fortifications in several years. A special correspondent told of entering a great steel and concrete underground fortress through a door concealed in a hillside. Inside he found a warm, well -lighted labyrinth of defence machinery, complete with power plant, dormi• tory and fire stations. The guns and machine gnus were said to be a unit in a corn pietely fortified zone of fire. • 25 -Mile Depth • These underground fortresses are provisioned with reserve stores for long sieges. An invader must do more than conquer these Maginot -type forti• flcations, however, for the Stalin Line runs in depth for distances varying up to about 75 miles in some places. The depth is said to average 25 miles. Making a Freight Car To build a box car for the freight services of the Canadian National Railways requires ap- proximately 2,000 man-hours of work. The Book Shell "The Forgotten Village" BY JOHN STEINBEC. K The top ranking American nov- elist who wrote "The Grapes or Wrath" has joined his superb tal- ents with those of the film director who produced "Crisis" and "Lights Out in Europe," to tell the story of the coming of modern medicine to the natives of Mexico. Steinbeck supplies the text, Kline the beauti- ful photographs for this study of the Old Mexico and the new — "The Forgotten Village." The camera crew that recorded this narrative of birth and death, of witch doctors and vaccines, spent nine months on the off trails o2 Mexico. They travelled thousands of miles to find just the village they needed; they borrowed children from the government school, took men from the fields, their wives from the markets, an old medicine woman from her hut by the side of the trail. The motion picture they made (for release this autumn) is 8,000 feet long. From this wealth of pictures 135 photographs were selected for the book. John Steinbeck himself says: "This is a story of the little bueble of Santiago on the skirts of a hill in the mountains of Mexico. And this is the story of the boy ellen Diego and of his family and of his people, who live in the long moment when the past slips reluctantly into the future." "The Forgotten Village" :.. by John Steinbeck ... Toronto: Mac- millan Company of Canada .. $3.00. Harden Surface of Dusty Cement Floor The most practical treatment for cement floors which seem soft and inclined to dust is to saturate them thoroughly with sodium sili- cate (waterglass) as follows: Wash the floor thoroughly with clear water, scrubbing with a stiff broom or scrubbing brush remov- ing all dirt. Allow the s 'face to dry. Mix one part waterglass (so- dium silicate) with three to four parts of water depending upon the porosity of the concrete—the denser the concrete the weaker the solution required. Apply with a brush, ore coat evenly over the entire surface. This will penetrate into the pores of the concrete. Allow the con- crete surface to dry; after 24 hours apply another coat the same as before. Again allow the sur- face to dry, and apply auotner coat. If. after 24 hours, the third coat is not flush with the surface in any part of the floor, apply an- other coat. That which remains on the surface can be readily re- moved, thus smoothing up the floor. That which has penetrated into the pores has conte in con- tact with the alkalies and salts in the concrete and formed into an insoluble hard mineral gine.— Ottawa Farm Journal. LIFE'S LIKE THAT By Fred Neher "Where are you going to be after Punch?" PINHEAD, L`iD YOU DO THIS1) v c By GENE BYRNES WELL, YOU SAID IF I DID ANYTHING NAUGHTY YOU WOULD TURN ME ItJTO .A MUSE AN' [ WANT TO GROW UP TO BE A /W;.',f4 INSTEAn • AM. t1. S, Doh Marc, MI Np6N tmorv«1 '