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Zurich Herald, 1942-06-18, Page 2VOICE OF THE PRESS WOMAN 1N THE CHAIR Though . it was accomplished quietly and without ceremony, a trulyhistoric occasion took place when Mrs. Cora Casselman, M.P. tor Edmonton East, sat briefly as Chairman of the Committee of the Whole House at Ottawa. It marked the first time a woman bas ever presided over a sitting of either House of Parliament in the Dominion Capital. This country has been compara- tively backward in putting wo- men in Parliamentary office. Tthere are but four of them in the Commons and Senate today. But we are progressing. Mrs. Casselman's oacupan cy of the Chair, brief though it was, demon- strates how far we have gone along the road of finally admit- ting that women are "persons." --.Windsor Star —o— CORSET'LORE Discussions as to the possibil- ity of a shortage of feminine form compressors such as corsets and girdles due to the need of con- serving steel and rubber for war needs recalls the Iines of Samuel Noffensetin: Nothing from a straight line swerves So sharpiy as a woman's curves. These are indeed times that must try the souls of stylish stouts. Some time ago in. Eng- land corsets were rationed be- cause of the acute need of steel. ]St was then Louis Shaw wrote: The ship of state for an even keel, Needs tons and tons of corset steel, The die is east, the fates have written The ladies now 'must bulge fox Britain. —Dunnville Chronicle —0— LESSON FOR FATTIES Ten co-eds of the University e?f Chicago went without sugar in their food and drink for two weeks by way of experiment. At the end of that time they had lost an aggregate of over 25 pounds. This may teach some- thing to men, as well as women, in the fatty forties and fifties. —St. Thomas Times -Journal. WANTED TO KNOW Someone has reported the text of a telegram sent to railway headquarters in Nairobi, East .Africa, by a native telegrapher down the line. 'I:he telegram. read: "Three lions on -platform. Station master in water tank. Please wire in- structions." —Boston Globe —o— BRIGADIER IN IROQUOIS Brigadier O. M. Martin, named to command a brigade in the 7th Canadian Division, is a full- blooded Iroquois. Tecumseh would be proud of him, especially as he fought overseas during the Great War with the Canadian infantry and the Royal Flying Corps. —Brockville Recorder and Times —0— TASTE OF BOTH It was Wordsworth's lament that "plain living and high think- ing are no more." But now the plain living is being enforced and we are beginning some tall think- ing. • —Kansas City Star NO OIL; NO DUST Why worry? There won't be enough road oil to lay the dust that motorists won't raise anyway. Kitchener Record Tank Fights Duel With Italian Sub What seems to be the first duel between a tank and a submarine at sea was fought just before the British campaign in Libya opened, says London Calling. A British #icer, telling the story in a BBC broadcast, explained how, in snaking our preparations for the offensive, we reinforced the To- bruk garrison with heavy infantry Prinks Without the Geamans suspect- ing, 'the tanks were taken up to Tobruk in small barges—shallow draft vessels with no great turn of speed. One barge was nosing ;gently along the coast bound for Tobruk when an Italian submar- ine surfaced near her and opened fire. The crew of the tank were Simard and fortunately in their machine when the attack began. "The turret of the tank was just !protruding above the gunwale of the barge; it was rapidly swung 'round and a two -pounder with sannor-piercing shot was turner] on the 'Italian submarine. The Italian got the shock of his life when a little flat-bottoin- ed tub of a boat suddenly un- leashed rapid• and sustained fire that was altogether too accurate. The submarine ceased fire and clival. The barge and cargo went en its way THE FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST SCIENTIST The great task now confronting a liberated America, which more than three-quarters of a century ago fought a four -years war to free the slaves, is to aid in work- ing out the freedom of the whole world from slavery, The Christian Science Board of Directors told several thousand Christian Sci- entists gathered in annual meet- ing in Boston last week. Meeting in their Mother Church under the world -enveloping shad- ow of what is proba.biythe gravest threat to political and religious freedom since the advent of Christianity, the visitors were re- minded in a report by The Chris- tian Science Board of 'Lecture- ship that the union of Britain and America was foreseen forty-four years ago by Mary Baker Eddy, Discoverer and Founder of Chris- tian Science, as the instrument through which the rights of free peoples everywhere night be per- manently established and protect- ed. • This welding together of the two great democracies, under the impact of an international crisis, said the Lecture Board, isthe consummation of the fond hopes of all Christian Scientists. The Board alluded specifically to a poem written in 1898 by the Leader of this world-wide religi- ous movement, Mrs. Eddy, which reads in part as follows Brave Britain, blest America! Unite your battle -plan; Victorious, all who live it,— The love for God and man." X5j 1 •. IAN MAkIMCE /LIMN A Weekly Column About This and That in The Canadian Army National unity is a term that has been loosely, often much too loosely, interpreted to mean the interrelation of English and French speaking Canadians. So generally accepted has this inter- pretation become that most of us seem to have forgotten that na- tional unity is non-existent so long as the tribulations of Cana- dians in any of the provinces are not shared .by Canadians in the other provinces. What prompts this sermonizing is the recent flurry over the re- duction of the gasoline rationing unit in the Maritime Provinces from five gallons to two due to a shortage which by the time this reaches print may have disappear- ed. There was a perfectly natural feeling down east that it was not fair that Maritimers should be on "short commons" when drivers in the other six provinces still could obtain their full ration. Ottawa answered by pointing out reasons that fully justified the reduction. All of this is a preamble to the charge that we are failing to live up to our privilege of serving in the ranks of the Individual Citi- zen's Army. How? It should be obvious! Have we in the central and western parts of the country ,any moral right to five gallons of gasoline when because of trans- portation or any other difficul- ties, fellow privates in our behind the lines army — who are much closer to actual warfare and po- tential attack—have to be reduc- ed to two gallons? Why, if there is true national unity, do we not spare the public embarrassment of Ministers we employ to govern us by voluntar- ily reducing our consumption of gasoline to the lowest level forced upon any geographical section of the Dominion? Citizens of countries where "verboten" is a familiar word read garbled accounts of our pro- vincial differences, accounts that are magnified to the point of Making some of us appear to be "oppressed minorities," when such Stories are published. But the fact that such stories are pub- lished is the fault of the citizens who fail to give the lead to those they have set in authority. We Te cheerfully and voluntarily ration ourselves in the use of tea, coffee and sugar. Why not ration ourselves in the use of gasoline? If we can drink our fewer cups of ' tea and coffee unsweetened why can't we walk a mile or two and save the gasoline we would have used for war uses? Across this country from coast to coast, business experts are deg voting their talents to the working out of a system of price and sup- ply control that will spare us the horrors of inflation and maintain stocks of essential war goods for our fighting forces. Some of these men serve without pay, the others—away from their normal occupations—sacrifice the normal advancements and promotions they could expect if they stayed in their own jobs. These men don't enjoy restrict- ing and controlling their neigh- bours—it takes a Nazi mentality to enjoy that sort of thing—and they welcome action on the part of Canadians that makes their work easier. Why can't we then, who are all out to win the war in the best way we can, make rationing and control unnecessary; Surely we can stint ourselves for the corn- mon oomon good! The soldier who leaves a $150 a month job to volunteer to serve in uniform for (in the case of a single' man) a little more than half of that amount has voluntar. ily rationed himself much more severely than we have been called upon. Sugar, tea, coffee, gasoline and tires, as this is written, are the only rationed commodities. It's funny how some of them, tie in with each other. The use of leas sugar reduces the "spare' tires" some of us carry around. The use of less gasoline increases the life of "spare tires" we cannot re- place. Have you joined the Reserve Army yet? Encouraging signs are visible in'some parts of the coun- try since this workable body was set up to give those ineligible for active service overseas a chance. to train themselves for home de- fence but I have not heard any commanding officer say yet that he can't handle any more recruits. That's another branch of the Individual Citizen's Army! X11 H.arbOir" Dutch Harbor is situated on tiny Amaknak Island in a deep Inlet of the northern shore of much larger Unalaska Island, ope of the long chain of A.leutiaana which string out in a sweeping are toward Japan. It is about 2,835 air miles from Tokyo on the Southwest, and 2,345 miles from San Francisco on the South- east. It thus forms the apex for a roughly triangular line which might be drawn on the map be- tween the three points. From Seattle, Wasli., to Dutch Harbor is abort 1,900 air miles. The United States has been building fortifications there since 1940. Their extent has been kept secret. Dutch. Harbor, which until re- cently was only a village with., a trading post, a fuel oil depot, and a naval radio station, receiv- ed its .lame because of the tradi- tion that a_ Dutch ship first en- tered its bay, a bulletin from the National Geographic 'S o c i e t y points out. Russian navigators, however, early came this way. They knew the then -busy- fur - sealing centre by its native Es- kimo name of Udakta. Later, the harbor became a way station for vessels making for the gold rush regions of the Yukon and Nome, Alaska. Dutch harbor is 1.1/s miles long by half a' mile in width. Water is deep near 'the shores and in most parts of the harbor; violent, gales occasionally sweep these waters, when mariners are warned to look out for williwaws, sudden gusts of cold land air, common along mountainous coasts of high latitudes. SCOUTING r a eB Scoutmasters, Cubmasters and Commissioners of India last year contributed 10,000 rupees, or 750 pounds, to Britain's War Dis- tressed Scouts Fund for Scout air raid sufferers. * i * Toronto Boy Scout Leaders have been giving cooking instruc- tion to a detachment of fifty girls of the Food Administration Ser- vice of the Canadian Red Cross Corps. The course is being given at the Crooked Creek Boy Scout campsite, and is a feature of pre- parations being made by the Red Cross against any war eventuality which niay call for the emergency feeding of large numbers of per - Sons. One war service job of Bethnel Green. (London) Boy Scouts was the erection recently of 4,000 bunks in local Tube shelters: * w + War Savings Stamps were the admission tickets sold at the door for a Boy Scout and Girl` Guide entertaimnent at the Noranda High School. Discussing the previous spare - time training of young 'recruits for the Imperial Forces, Brig. - General Clark, for over 30 years a training officer of Regular Army and Territorial units, .was recently quoted as giving first place to former Boy Scouts. Said General Clark: ."A batch of First Class Scouts or King's Scouts would prove more acceptable to a. Commanding Officer or a Ser- geant Major as recruits than a, similar number of lads with any other fors. of spare -time occupa- tion in their past." * * e The newest Canadian Bob*,Scout war service projeet is. the sending of good used Scout uniforms to British Boy Scouts now unable to secure them. * * * A growing proportion of the men of H. M, Forces who have distinguished themselves in im- portant actions with the enemy are being discovered as fotmer Boy Scouts or Scout leaders. Among the, Swordfish pilots who attacked the warships, Gneisenau and Scharnb.orst and gave their lives, was Lieut. Bligh, a mem- ber of the 159th North London Boy Scout Troop. Lieut. David L. Davies, who took a prominent part in the St Nazaire raid, also was a Scout, and the complete job of "quartermastering" for " an- other commando raid' was handled by a former Scoutmaster. Lord Lovat, leader of the Boulogne Commando ,raid,' is President of the Inverness-shire Boy Scouts Association. THE WAR - WEEK Commentary on Current- Events Six Months After Pearl Harbior Japan Strikes In North Pacific "The Japanese military leaders are presented by the New York Times as advantageously sitting in the centre of a circle. Their opponents have bad the. task of deciding at just what point on that circle they would strike. After the preliminary move against Pearl H.abor they moved south, There they atrengthened themselves on the rubber and tin of Malya, the oil and rubber and foodstuffs of the Indies. Then it was west into Banana, the gateway to Southern China and India. While their arm- ies last week marched toward In- dia and hammered at the vital central and coastal regions of China, their navy again fought in the North Pacific, Still their lead- ers could choose which of all these moves would be the main blow. Midway Attack The Japanese had done little in the north Pacific since Pearl Har- bor. Her ships and Zero fighter planes were busy in the south. Ship -plane teams won control of the Macassar Strait from Ameri- can forces operating with the Dutch and British, defeated a Un- ited Nations fleet in the Java. Sea. Not until Japan reached the Coral Sea did her string of vic- tories end. There, supported by land-based aircraft, a United Na- tions fleet drove a strong Japan- ese task force north into her newly conquered island's, though there was no thought that that victory for the United Nations was final. Last week exactly six months atter the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan again tried her luck in the north. Raiding parties of Japanese aircraft hit at Dutch Harbor In Alaska's Aleutian Is- lands. Southward 1,900 miles, an- other heavier attack was directed against Midway Island, American outpost between Pearl Harbor and Tokyo. This time the Japanese did not find American planes lined up on the ground, so many easy targets for Japanese bombers. They were in the air and fighting. Japanese airplane carriers, battle- ships, cruisers and transports suffered heavy damage, damage far out of proportion, it is report- ed, to that suffered by the defend- ' ers. The Midway area not only remained in American hands but the Japanese force appeared to limp off after a bad mauling by Army, Navy and Marine Corps fliers. ' Keystone Of Pacific Both points attacked by the Jap- anese were shrewdly chosen to draw the concerned attention of American m i l it a r y chieftains. Their military value to America was great. Dutch Harbor, a small island of matted grass and five trees, stands near the base of the Aleutians that aro out 1,500 miles toward Japan. it is a place of rain and snow and fog and hard winds, and there the United States has a base which may• one dray be the springboard - for an attach, straight at the heart ,o± Jspan?, De- fensively it stands guard over the Alaskan territory .which has aopie to have increased strategie value with the increased military .value of airplanes. Prom Alaska the wide reaches of the Pacific grow small, come within the operating range af• aircraft.: the 5,135 miles from Tokyo to San Icraneittoo be- come 2,345 from Dutch Harbor, As long ago as 1920 Alas*, wap called "The keystone of the Pac- ific arch". Effect Undetermined Midway Island, the second, ob. jective of the Japanese force, la an atoll of two tiny islands sur- rounded by shoals and refs. Guarded heavily by Army, Navy, and Marine forcer, it eouati:tutes almost an outer defense for Pearl H,arbor, 1,300 miles away, Amer!, ea's bastion in the mid -Pacific, In Japanese hands it could be the base for harrying attacks against the big ships berthed at Pearl Harbor. The Japanese have paid . it .constant attention, attacking it at least once each month—ex- cepting for April—since the start of the-, warl..But ih l attacks have been light, by'occa.sional airplanes or submarines. Carriers and battle- ships attleships operating near Midway last week were attacking forces of a different order. it seems quite conclusive nbw that the Japanese ran into a trap at Midway Island and that they were. badly stung. B•etthe full ex- tent of the damage they have suf- fered and its effect upon possible future Japanese operations; re- mains to be determined. U. S. Strategic Succeas Other operations, perhaps even another attack on Hawaii or an. offensive against FBussia., may have been dependent upon the success of the Midway attack and the mysterious happenings near Dutch Harbor. And, in repulsing the Japanese, The Pacific Fleet • may well have dealt the euemyr severe blow in the East, l ut it would seem too early to conclude that the Japanese defeat is a dis- aster. Ine all probability, the Japanese possess •.sufficient sea and air strength, even after the Medway losses are subtracted, to attempt either new offensive actions or to put up strong resistance against any operations undertaken* by the United Nations. Nevertheless, in preventing the Japanese from gaining possession of Midway, American forces have achieved a strategic success of no mean importance. From Mid- way, the Japanese could have raided Pearl Harbor and possibly could have launched a major Pa- cific offensive with the ''/Teat Coast and the Panama *anal, as ultimate objectives. LIFE'S LIKE THAT By Fred Neher REG=LAR FELLERS -What's in a Name? SEE .HERE, YOU YOUNG.. SCALAWAG : STOP BOUNCING 'TWAT BASEBALL ,AGAINST THIS WALL.! ■ (AW, BE A SPORT, MISTER ! IT'S, THE BEST WALL IN TOWN CONFOUND Ii'r BOY! HOW CAN A PERSON REST WITH THAT ETERNAL THUMPING GOING' ON? NOW, GO AWAY Il. 11 teni •;rA...x..ra+A "Why do you always avoid me ?!l" By GENE BYRNES AVE. AT IA 1-1111.0 CU; ATHLETES! PHOOEY' • `) itt, U X rx,. WOO Ai+F Y,AtnM ,ure• _ .. LL i