The Seaforth News, 1942-01-01, Page 6VOICE
Oir THE
PRESS
DREADFUL D12UMF1RB
Behind the row of the flaming
hell that ip. the Russian front, be
hind ire clangor of the clash in
Libya, behind tite steady boom of
bombs flattening a score of Ear-
open
aropen olden, there is a dreadful
obligeto 9f rlfletixe, it is the Gen,
9nan executions in eouquered land*.
Ae many ':le 100,000 men and
'women have died before these
Nazi firing,equade, the Inter -Allied
Information, Committee in 'London
estiiiatee. ' Whether that is an ao-
Manta figure we do not know, No
one kuows, not even the Nazis,
in Poland alone 82,000, people
have been executed during two
years aa occupation, this committee
estimates, 'Every' conquered coup•
try has contributed Its toll of those.
who were led out to die unarmed,
unconvicted of any offense,
in no modern war has auything
like this, or anything approaching
sneh a scale, been permitted to
happen, It is the measure of a Nazi
future. —Guelph Mercury,
—v—
NOT LOUSY IN ENGLAND
The Canadian soldiers overseas
are not bothered by lice, That is
something for which they must be
ga•atefttl. No matter how clean
the, troops tried to keep them-
selves in. the last war, when they
were in the front line areas, they
were troubled with body lice.
Splendid sanitary arrangements
bare been made. Hot baths are
provided and the quarters are kept
scrupulously clean at all times,
The men are provided with clean
underwear and steam units go
drum camp to camp to give dirty
clothes a thorough cleansing.
And, in case there is any man
In a company who just doea not
want to take a bath, the men
of his Rection see to it that he
does no go batrless,
—Windsor Star,
—y—
"THEM WERE THE DAYS"
A placard on the wall of a Cali-
pornia hotel in the, goldrush days
of '49 stated:—"Board must be
;paid in advance. With beans, 038;
without beans, $12. Salt pork free;
Potatoes for Sunday dinner, pook-
e'ting prohibited. Extra charge foe
seats around the bar -room stove,
Lodgers must rind their own
straw. Beds on bar -room floor re-
served for regular customers. Lodg-
ers must rise by b a,m. in the barn
by 8 a.m. No Bighting at tables.
Anyone violating the above rules
will be snot."
—Belleville Intelligences.
—v—
REALISM AND SACRIFICE
Many men and women in Bri-
tain's
rFtain's war plants work sixty and
,seventy hours a week, with no day
of rest either. They do it heartily,
not because they particularly like
long toil, but because they know
it is the only way that victory can
be won. On this side of the Atlan-
tic, how far we are from realism --
d sacrifice*
—Hamilton Spectator.
—v—
FINE YOUNG CANADIANS
In. this country but three years,
' and unable to speak English when
they arrived here, two Czecho-
slovakian children win the annual
speaking contest in the publio
schools of Wentworth County.
Theirs is a remarkable achieve-
ment and in them the Dominion
has two fine young Canadians.
Hamilton Spectator.
WHY BOTHER?
Vocal choruses are not suitable
for broadcasting through factories
to relieve the strain of close work,
because the workers grow tense
trying to catch the words. After
hearing the words of some of the
popular genas, we wonder why
they bother,
—Stratford Beacon -Herald.
—v—
SOLILOQUY
The change that has come over
America can be appreciated when
you recall that not so long ago to
convoy or not to convoy was the .
soliloquy in every hamlet.
Windsor Star.
UNUSUAL. EGGS
From Pembroke c01001 news of
an egg with ten V's on its shell.
That's almost as many as some
eggs have on their car windows,
—Ottawa Citizen,
REALLY BETTER OFF
When a. fellow is turned down
'by a girl because he isn't well off,
he really la,
—Kitchener Record.
:That Word "Panzer"
Two requests about panzer
reach me from different quarters.
One is to say what it means; the
Other is to get the term dropped
fn favor of good plain English.
Well, panzer means armor and
since the German armored divie-
ions have been more conspicuous
than any other down to the in-
vesion of Russia, we have adopt.
ed the German name for then*,
inuch as we habitually speak of
Ile German Luftwaffe instead of
lase 'German air force or '11-boasa
(unterseeboete) instead of Ger-
Man submarines.
HONG KONG — $QUEEZED IN JAI' TRAP
Claiming that they were already in possession of Kowloon, the mainland section of the British a
crown colony of Hong Kong, seen above in the background, Japanese said they were preparing an attack
on Victoria Island, foreground—the location of the city of Hong Kong. British governor reportedly
refused Jap demand that colony surrender.
Tell Whitest Lie
Says First Lady
Mrs, Franklin D. Roosevelt says
she believes in telling the whitest
lie of them all, the fib about
Santa Claus.
In her question - and - answer
page in the December Ladies' •
Home Journal, the First Lady
says she subscribes to the telling
of fairy tales as well as children's
stories based on scientific fact.
"I certainly do believe in tell-
ing children to believe in Santa
Claus," she wrote. "They learn
soon enough that Santa Claus is
mother or father, or some other
kind person. Why not let them
have the joy of believing that
Santa Claus does come to all
children and that he is such a
jolly old saint?"
Dog -drawn Taxis
Appear In Paris
Dog -drawn taxicabs have ap-
peared on the streets of Paris, be-
cause the lack of fuel has forced
the withdrawal of motor vehicles
and most harness -horses have been
sent to the slaughterhouse.
A 1925 17.17 prohibiting the use
of dogs for traction power has
been cancelled and a new police
ordinance permits "canimobile"
taxis, provided they be drawn by
huskies fitted with painless har-
nesses.
The use of terriers or smaller
dogs for traction is still forbid-
den.
Fewer Gadgets On
New Car Models
Demand far materials in the
armament prograan may require
the U. S. automobile industry to
produce only two , and,. fourdoor
sedans without brightwork, wool
upholstery, rubber floor mats, and
other gadgets and finery. Station
wagons, limousines, roadsters,
ooupes, convertible models may
disappear.
Automobile officials said the
"Victory" model automobile would
,have no double -bar bumpers and,
bumper bars, clocks, cigar light -
tars, radios, dual tail lights and
extra pants. It will come In fewer
colors, with fewer coats of en-
amel.
Jap Empire
Exclusive of conquered pars of
China, which varies constantly,
Japan controls a Far Eastern Em-
pire that totals almost 900,000
square miles, although the area
of Japan proper is less than 150,-
000 square miles, says Pathfinder.
Japanese territories include Kor-
ea, the southern half of the island
of Sakhalin, Formosa, and a group
of more than 1,400 islands in
Oceania that formerly belonged
to Germany. Manchoukuo, al-
though not formally a part of the
Japanese empire, has been occu-
pied by Japan for ten years. In
addition, Japan occupies parts of
French Indo-China and Inner
Mongolia.
LIFE'S LIKE THAT
MRS, PIPS DIARY
By Fred Neher
./0
A
anairaa
L 0>9-11
��pi�`✓i,.�, /4E47F7-
i
"Oh, those X's are where wo marked the spots."
REG'LAR FELLERS—Just Supposin'
THATI3
A BARGAIN.'
cM
'nn SALE HAS GOT
E GOiidf, IBUT FOUR
OLLARS ISA We -TOLE
LOT OF Iv10NF.Y
Some Opinions
About Generals
After the latest reshuffling of
her generals, Russia seems, tem-
porarily at least, to have found ,
a winning combination. Perhaps '
Stalin has begun to chime in with
several 'of his distinguished pre-
decessors on the subject of gen-
erals.
Lincoln had a sour view of
them. On one occasion, when it
was reported to him that the Con-
federates had captured a briga-;
dior general and 12 mules, he
said: "Too bad. Those mules cost
us $200 apiece."
Margot Asquith once said to
Gen. Pershing, after the first
World War: "The only reason we
won the war was because there
were generals on the other aide."
And President Paul Kruger,
giving instructions to its Boer
soldiers in their war against the
British in South Africa, said:
"Kill as many officers as possible,
but for God's sake spare the gen=
erais."
Saving Ontario's
Natural Resources
CANADA'S FUR TRADE
No. 69
The value of the furs sold in this
country atthe present time is
quite large, probably about the
same as it was a hundred years
ago, but the emphasis is away from
the beaver, martin and fisher to
the muskrat, skunk and red fox.;
The number of people engaged In
the industry is probably much
greater, than was the case a ten-
tury ago hut, as I said, the ag-
gregate value of the fur is about
the same.
Muskrat and skunk sold for a
few cents in the early 1300's and
red fox and raccoon seldom went
over a dollar. Nowadays, these are
the mainstay of the trade but they
sell, individually, for much more.
Too, the fur ranches have come
into the picture and a great deal
of our fur is ranch raised. This
fur is probably better quality
for it is taken when the animal
is at its best and on the better
ranches it has been produced un•
der almost ideal conditions.
About 25 important fur bearers
coeur in North America and a
number of others may be taken
at times. The weasel family are
the most hunted and contribute
the major share of the pelts, Musk
rat lead all others in total num-
bers taken. Beaver were almost
extinct on the market a few years
ago but are now coming back.
Skunk, red fox and mink are of
considerable value to the trapper.
Altogether the fur trade of Can•
ado is an important asset. How-
ever, as I stressed in a previous
article it must. be handled intel-
ligently or it will be lost. The ani-
mals mast be protected when they
are scarce and they must have
places to live. I will write more
about this in another article.
THESE R t141G
ICE SKATES
MARKED D01411
FROM $9MTO
THE WAR WEEK
Comrneintary 011 Current Events
Baer Cold and Russian Power
Halt German Drive on Moscow
Two dramatio items show 1110
decudly pai'ailelof tile Runlets
Campaign, The first, a description
02 the French campaign In Russia.
in November x8'.2', reedit:
"'The road was even more thick-
ly covered with dead horses than
on'preeeding marches, There wero
many human corpses, too; and at
every bivouac one saw large pulpe.
bets that had died of Ruftboatioh
from the fumes' of fires, because
they had dragged themselves too
close when already frostbitten and
half-. frozen. Others stir moaned but
could not drag themselves away."
The other' item 1s from 0Nazi
radio broadcaster's description "o2
the German campaign in Russia'
iu November, 1041:
"Grey is bhe country, gree' the
sky, everything grey and empty.
With its aspect of 1o•elornness,
the whole country is frightening.
The road to Masoow resembles
one vast soaked sponge along
which man, ltcrses and lorries slog
painfully and strenuously. Slowly
they move, dragging themselves
step by step. Time after time they
are bogged down, This 15 Russia."
Everywhere from the Arctic to
the Sea of Azov the Germans are
retreating and, in many oases, re.
treating in disorder. The myth of
the invincibility of the .German
army is being torn to shreds by
the Russians. What will the people
of the Reich think now of Hitler's
boast made in Berlin two months
ago that Germany's eastern enemy
was crushed and would never rise
again?
Russla.n Army Reorganized
The German failures before Mos-
cow and at Rostov were evidence
that the Russian army had been
reorganized in the mldst'ot a ter-
rible campaign. Special Guard di-
visions were 2ormed, vast reserve
armies trained in the valley of the
Volga and important shifts made in
the High Command, Stalin is Com-
mantler-in-Ohier of the Soviet forc-
es and he is said to have person-
ally worked out details of the Rue
elan counter -offensive. The vast
masses of the people of Russia
were totally mobilized to work
wherever needed, and to work even
beyond their powers of endurance.
Every civilian in Russia was in the
front line.
The Cossacks Ride Again
Horsepower as of old, was a
definite factor in dispersing the
enemy. The Russians have for
some time been building up a
strong cavalry corps, 'especially
outfitted for winter .service. These
wild, hard -riding Cossacks were
loosed when Rostov was recaptur-
ed. They were on the Germans be-
fore a defense line could be eaten.
Mien 118 German tanks were
among the booty surrendered —
the horse is certainly still in the
war.
Perhaps the lowly louse will take
a decisive part in the war on the
Eastern front. The Swedish capital
reports that lice -borne tyPhits has
infected some German troops, al-
ready suffering from cold, hunger
and exhaustion. The epidemic,
which can exterminate ars many
men as all of Stalin's battling
forces put together, is spreading
eastward from the Ostmark area
of Poland.
Germany Biamoa the Weather
li spoltosman for the Cierinan
Army lata admitted a halt in the
Nazi drive. Ile said that Moscow
would not be captured this year,
that during the winter German
troops would• have to abandon the
war of movement, that all up and
down the 2,000 mile front they
were digging 1n. "Tho cold is ao
torriblo that even the ail freezew
in the mobilized volticles," he
said, "Soldiers trying to take cover ..
simply freeze to the ground. Eight
lug under tliose conditions is prao-
tioally impossible,"' It is a feet
that when the weather is below
zero, the steel of a riffle, barrel
burns like fire and a man firing
from a prone' position is apt to
freeze to the snow before he Can
•gather himself for the next rush,
Moscow's Version
Moscow ' a .version
of. the figlihad$ing. It wasdifferent not 0014
alone that caused the Nazi halt
but fighting Russian soldiers and
an organic defect in the work of
the German command in planning
the war. Sturdy determined Rue
sinus are edvenolug ceaselessly
through bitter cold against a be-
wildered and benumbed enemy.
The Crarmans are fleeing before
bayonets and. hand grenades and
bullets of the Russian army while
the artillery follows Close behind
pouring shrapnel and high explos-
ives into the hard pressed ranks.
The German High Command
speaks of "local actions" and "or-
derly retirements" but Moscow
claims that the retreat has be
come a rout.
A Long Way To Waterloo?
The significance of the Russian
su0cesses does not lie in aoeounta
of ground recaptured, says the New
York Herald Tribune. Per some
time there have been hints in
Berlin quarters that rectification
of the German lines would be '
necessary in order to stabilize a
winter front. This would .probably
involve withdrawals from the 'sal-
ients driven north and south of
Moscow and might mean extensive
movements westward along the
whole of the northern sector.
There is no very clear n.atunal'de-
fensive line for the Germans in
that area, and the ability to take
up strong posts must depend large-
ly on the skill and energy of their
engineers.
But it -is clear that the Red
Arany 1s not allowing the Germane
to complete their search for win-
ter quarters in peace. A retreat
is always a difficult operation.
Military observers have been won-
dering, since`ihe power of the Ger-
man
erman offensive was first displayed,
what would happen when. this .com-
plex mecbanism went into reverse,
and it is possible that the Rue.
stens, acting under climatic con-
ditions highly favorable to them-
selves, will now give a spectacular
answer. The Germans are being
pressed hard at very point they
are suffering new losses in addi-
tion to those inflicted during the
suicidal drives on Moscow and It
may well prove that the Napoleon -
lc experience will be repeated.
Let it not be forgotten, how-
ever,
owever,. that it was two years from
the time of Napoleon's retreat
from Moscow to the Battle of Wat-
erloo.
The Book Shelf
SARATOGA TRUNK
By Edna Ferber
Saratoga Trunk is a novel of
the 'eighties, the days of the rail-
road builders, Set against a back-
ground of the old World city of
New Orleans and the New World
city of Saratoga, the history of
this period is vividly presented.
Into it 1s woven the romance of
Clint Ivlaroou and Clio Dulaine.
Clio Dulalno, the daughter of a
New Orleans aristocrat and his
French mistress, grew up in Paris,
her young mind filled with the um
just treatment of her mother. She
returned to New Orleans and there
met Clint Maroon whose father
had been ruined by the railroad
' builders.
Each had one great purpose in
life -0110 to avenge the injustice
to her mother — Clint to avenge
the loss of his father's fortune.
They fail in love,aud set out to•
gether with a definite plan of re-
venge.
Launched on a romantic and re-
lentless career, they ieave the old
cultured city of New Orleans and
go north to test their wits against
the pleasureloving society of
fashionable Saratoga.
This latest, and perhaps best, of
Edna Ferber's many outstanding
novels paints a dramatic .picture
of the American way of life, and,
makes historical America live
again for this generation.
Saratoga Trunk a . . by .Edna
Ferber ... McClelland &'Stewart,
Limited . . Price $3.00,
Roosevelt Audience
President Roosevelt's radio ad-
dress of Dec. 9 on the basis of an
analysis by the broadcasters,
commanded the largest audience
in history -90,000,000 persons or
virtually every adult in the coun-
try.
lM IN A I AWFUL FIX!
r r CAN'T MAKE UP
MY MIND: 5
By GENE BYRNES
MOM! WOULD YOU ADVISE
ME TO BUY A PAIR OF
RAGING SKATES IF SOMEI30py
SHOULD GIVE ME
OUR DOLLARS?
RS?
1R
to