Cumberland Sunday Times from Cumberland, Maryland • Page 4

FOUK SUNDAY TIMES, CUMBERLAND, SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1944 Crirr Afurnaen Kicipt Sondiy) Uornuz, Ud. by Ac JUUfMtlta Company, 7 9 South UKbanla Cumbd' Wi, tnurtd at Audit BurMd el llrmbtr of FTIU The AwocUud la OM tar o( iti ervi ta tt u4 lock) thtrcla. rot Mill Sunday Morning, September 24, Our Prayer Oh God, from Whom proceed all holy desires, all right and just works, grant unto us, Thy that peace which, the world cannot give that our hearts may be devoted to Thy teroict and that, delivered from the fear of our enemiet we may pass our timt in peace under Thy protection. in vain. "It cannot change human nature, and we know from that ancient history which leads us baclc to the there have always been men who aspired lead the world and who hate prepared for that leadership by endeavoring to conquer It, Hitler and Mussolini are only the modern counterparts or many others who have gone before.

A century from even sooner will be those who will long to set forth on an expedition of world conquest. This war. or no other war, can stamp out that spirit. But this war must show uturt generations that it is unwise and to attempt world domination. There must be a law governing the crossing of Rubicon which will be so drastic that not even a potential Caesar will dare to violate It.

BUB-A-DUB-DUB, MOST ANY DAY, NOW 53Exp food of Amc o'clock Amerta psychol present- tJcdicat Infonw of Trite Tne dsscribj They broadcs which The Washin a. drar four sp FCC wi nounce Ot.iirrs Ehenvo On P. Rudv Barry Mayor Baker, Parade 8:30 i Tomm3 barrio; Am "Whirs CROSSING THE RUBICON History has repeated itaeU times without number during the present war. Many ot the correspondents and commentators have remembered their school books sufficiently well to call attention to the background of. certain incidents and as a result all of us have been given fairly liberal education in those events which rocked the -world in the past which often enough goes back for centuries.

Now comes news report to the effect that Greek troops have hoisted their flags on the main post- office at Rimini, thus dispelling any hope that the Nazis may have cherished of able to keep the Eighth Army away from the Po Valley. We are not quite accustomed to the idea of Greek forces participating in the action which the United Nations are now staging in Italy, Prance and within the borders of Germany, but there is much satisfaction to be taken from the fact that at long last, they are able to come forth again and strike a blow in retaliation for the punishment they were compelled to take when the war was still in its infancy. The Greeks made a noble stand back in those days and every Greek must rejoice that after long subjection this ancient nation has been liberated and Is able to take up the fight. And when we speak of the Greeks and their place in the history of the world, the Romans are bound to come to mind and suddenly we realize that when the Gothic line is penetrated at Rimini, one of the dramatic events of ancient history be repeated and the Rubicon will be crossed again. "Crossing the Rubicon" has taken its place in the English language at a figure of speech which means a.

tremendous action or decision from which there can be no turning back. Many persons ust it in this connection "who, perhaps, never read a line of Caesar's Commentaries. But the boy or girl who has had, and profited by, two years of Latin, will instantly recall that it was Julius Caesar crossed the'Rubicon although it is likely they will be somewhat In doubt as to just where this crossing took place. For that matter, there is some dispute among scholars as to exact location of Caesar's memorable crossing, but the of opinion holds it was at the present Flumlcino, once called the Rubicon, Is about 12 miles north of. Rimini.

There a three-arch bridge of Roman construction gives the place Its proper setting even in these 20th Century days, and near at hand, in the Piazza Giulio Cesare dl Rimini, a stone was erected during the Renaissance period, to commemorate this Just why should the crossing of the Rubicon by Caesar have constituted a world event? To answer this question it should be understood that the Rubicon was a small river which marked the boundary between Cisalpine Gaul and Roman Italy, and there was a law that no general, returning from foreign wars, could cross It with his troops under arms. Evidently no Roman leader before Caesar had dared to effect this crossing at the head of an armed force, anrt Caesar, knowing the consequences of such an act, hesitated before taking the irrevocable step. According to the semi- mythical history of the time, Caesar's rebellious crossing was accompanied by supernatural jjortents, all of which have been described by Suptonius. That author's version Is worth reading: "Overtaking his cohorts at the River Rubicon, which was the boundary of his province, he (Caesar) paused for a while and realizing what a step he wis taking, he turned to those about him and said: 'Even yet we may turn back, but once cross yon little bridge and the whole issue Is with the sword. 1 As he ytood in doubt, this sign was given him.

On a sudden there appeared hard by a beitis ot wondrous beauty and played upon a rcficl. And when not only the shepherds flocked to hear him but also many of the aoUile.rs left their posts, among them some of f.h<? trumpeters, the apparition snatched a trumpet, from one of them, rushed the river, and rounding the war note with mighty blast strode to the opposite bank. Then Cnesar rricd: 'Take we the course which the stmu of the nods and the false dealing of our foes point out. The die Is ca.st So that i.s the story of how Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon and it to mind the thnt his pitiful little Bonlto who longed to or- another Caesar just as Adolf Hitler 'o be another Napoleon, was not so iful. Where Is Mussolini today? Flo dropped from view apparently, but we what, he mast think as he I he Greeks hoisting their flag on of Rimini while the Eighth Army prepares for its push Into the hi.s- Po But what Is morn Important, we winder whnt.hcr the fate of Mussolini Hitiri- in Ihctr efforts to emulate the trulv warriors of the pn.st, will have on men of ilk who nr'- --'lit iiuijorn but who, in to come, overwhelmed by tho ogolstlc If this war does not teach a l.i.'.inr; then will havf: lit-on fought ELECTION UNCERTAINTIES When will the name of the next President be known? If there is a landslide, it will be on Wednesday, Nov.

8. Otherwise, perhaps not till three or four weeks later. The catch is the soldier vote. More than 2,000,000 men and women in the armed forces have already applied for absentee ballots, with more applications arriving dally. In 11 states, with 118 electoral votes, the soldiers' ballots will not be counted for some time.

Pennsylvania, with 200,000 to 300,000 servicemen's votes expected, will not count them till Nov. 22. California's counting day is Nov. 24. Rhode Island waits til! 4, and North Dakota till Dec.

5. The election might easily turn.on these 116 electoral votes. Though of course the soldiers may divide between parties much as civilians do, in Canadian provincial elections this year they did not. They voted Tor more radical candidates than did the stay-at-homes, and sometimes turned the scale. In our own Civil war, only 55 per cent of the civilians voted for Lincoln, but 75 per cent of the soldiers.

MONEY STANDARDS We may be getting Into another of those old arguments about gold and silver, one of these times. The two metals are very Important because the nations use them not merely as valuable metal, but as standards of value in general. That is, houses or groceries or clothes are rated as worth so much gold or silver, and vice versa. Now governments have got Into the habit of gauging the value of these metals not exactly in terms of gold or sliver bullion In the metal market, but as exchangeable at home for goods and services at whatever rate the government chooses to fix. Thus the United States government may steady gold at the rate of $36 an ounce, when Russia, for example, can mine and sell it for about half that much.

It is very confusing to simple minds. WHAT A CHOICE! Have the Nazis any sense? The American Broadcasting Station in Europe has reported that Franz von Papen Is a probable German choice to negotiate peace terms with the United Nations. Even among the Nazla it would be hard to find anyone more widely distrusted than von Papen. In the last war as military attache to the German embassy at Washington he was sent home because he organized spying sabotage. After his recall a federal grand jury Indicted him for conspiring to blow up the Welland canal.

He engineered the summoning of Hitler to the chancel- lorship, and ever since has been his handy man when dirty diplomatic work was to be done. As an envoy von Papen would be as welcome as smallpox. Green Dolpliiii By JOIfN SELBY New York Sunday Letter Maybe That's the Last Bell CHAELES B. DRISCOLL SNAPSHOTS ALONG THE WAY THE WANDERER. Some time back Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer thought up a smart scheme to get first look at the novels to be published in the 12 months from June of this year to June of next.

They offered $125,000 outright for film and radio rights to a novel, which Is peanuts on the Gold Coast. In order to eliminate the lunatic fringe, they stipulated that only novels for whose publication a contract had been signed would be considered. They offered a $50.000 bonus to the author, contingent upon sales of 300,000 in the trade edition, and a tip of $25,000 for the blushing publisher. Perhaps the scheme didn't work as weil as expected, since many agents and writers were afraid to antagonize other film companies, and only 89 novels, a fraction of the year's good novels, were entered. In any case, the award has gone to an English writer, thus winning a $10 bet for this department.

She is Elizabeth Goudge, her book Is "Green Dolphin Street," and according to Richard Mealand, writing in Publisher's Weekly, Miss Goudge's American agent, Ann Watkln.s, "believed in advance that her client's book would win, but was prepared, if It hadn't, to sell the film rights to another Interested company at a price of $150.000." If Mr. Mealand Is correct, this is the first time in the history of "ten percenters" an agent ever turned down a sure thing. The book is an excellent Job in a popular field, that of the semi-precious English novel. That Is, Miss Goudge is less precious than Mrs. Woolf, for example, but more so than Daphne du Maurler.

Green Dolphin Is on one of the Channel Islands, It Is highly enameled by Miss prose, It.i people are just unreal enough for fictional comfort, and its period is insisted upon very firmly. Miss Goudge has taken a real witua- tlon, In which a handsome boy falls in love with one of two sisters, goes away to New Zealand, and sends back for a wife. Unfortunately, he asked the wrong sister to come out, but fortunately he and made a go of it. I liked the novel, although It- Is a pretty typical performance, and runs pretty long 275,000 words or more. Mosl of the surplus wordngf- Is dr- vou-d to loving description of non-essential characters and plnrrs.

Is woman's book, so. A group of local newspaper men sat together at lunch some days ago, and as is the habit with all their tribe, they were soon talking shop. The conversation swung to columns and columnists and the almost sudden rise and popularity of what in modern parlance Is designated as a "column." Wanderer searched his memory In an effort to recall the sort of columns that were printed, when he was a. youngster. The first to come to mind was that of Eugene Field, whose human Interest poems, chiefly about children, still have a wide audience.

What present day readers of Field's works do not so generally know la that during the greater part of his working life, he was a newspaper man and many of his verses which appear In book form were first written for his column which was many years regular feature of the Chicago Dally News. Field's column was called "Sharps and Plats" and consisted of verse, jokes and humorous little essays which averaged about 250 or 300 words In length. Field never thought of discussing the iHalrs of the day or editorializing in any way. He was not a news writer or Interpreter, but an entertainer, pure and simple. The whole Idea of his column was to give the readers of the editorial page of the Chicago Daily News let-down after they had read the heavy editorials and other ponderous matter which the newspapers of an older day considered essential to dignity and profundity.

Perhaps that Is why Eugene Field's lighter work was printed In the eighth column. It was assumed that the readers of the News would start with the flrst column and read across the page. By the time they came to the last column their mSnds would be staggering under the heavy load they had been 'compelled to carry. Field's column would offer what the dramatists call comic relief. We are willing to bet, however, that most readers read Field's column flrst and then skipped the rest of the page.

When The Wanderer was on the staff of the Chicago Daily News there were still men there who had worked with Field and known him well. This was in the old News building at the comer of Madison and "Wells streets, which had hovised the News from the time the paper was founded by Victor Lawson and Melville Stone in the late seventies. OFFICE TOO SMALL FOR LENGTHY HUMORIST It was a rattletrap building which had been enlarged from time to time as the newspaper grew, by taking over adjoining buildings nnd connecting them with doors. No two floors were on exactly the same level so that to pass from one room to another it was necessary to go up or down steps. Down a long, dark corridor there was a sort of cubbyhole which in The Wanderer's time was used as a store room and catch all.

It was not more than six feet long and Its depth from door to rear wall, was about four feet. This served as Eugene Field's office and it is assumed that most of hta poems which have gladdened the hearts of the American people were written there. Mr. Charles Dennis, who as a young man worked with Field and who. In The Wanderer's time on the News was editor-in-chief, once said that Field was so tall and his office so small that when he sat at the little table he used as a desk it was necessary for him to stick his feet out of the door into the corridor.

Victor Lnwson, who was EuRenc Field's employer, started a mornint? paper In addition to the Daily News, which was published in. the afternoon. The morning paper was called the Morning News, but eventually became the Chicago Record nnd tlien the Chicago Record-Herald. The Record had a columnist work was not that of Eugene Field. His name has escaped memory, but The Wanderer vividly recalls thnt nx a small boy he rend this column every day.

One day In midsummer this must have been about nouncement was made that tlsn ciiHorm! column wnvild be suspended for two weeks as It.i writer wns going on vr.c.-.tioii—a flshinR trip to Canada. But before tlioie two weeks had expired a story was printed. The Record's columnist hfld been drowned while on his vacation. Whether he had a successor on tli? Record is not clear In mind, but ftlu-n DIP bernmp thr Rrr- iinl-Hrnilfl, llir edltcirliil pnxc rcil- iirnn conducted by man nr.mod 3. K.

KUer. who, Tht- Wanderer var. to loarn In lalor when hrr mot Mr. Klscr po.rs was not only a humorist who could turn out light verse and merry quips by the yard, but was likewise an editorial writer of parts. OLDER COLUMNISTS WROTE THEIR OWN STUFF Mr.

Kiser was with the Re cord- Herald for fourteen years, eventually going to the Dayton (Ohio) News as editor-in-chief. It was while he was with that paper that Trie Wanderer met him and had the pleasure of telling him that his column was one of the many bright spots which went to make the old Chicago Record-Herald one of the finest newspapers published in the United States. Although S. E. Kiser's especially his became as well known as that of Eugene Field, he has several books to his credit and his long series, "Sonnets of a Chorus Girl" is outstanding in the humorous literature of this country.

Investigation proves that S. E. Klser did not remain with the Dayton News very long. He was there about two and then seems to have retired. He did not die until 1942, but there is no record that he held a newspaper position after 1919 or that he published a book after 1927.

George Ade, who has been mentioned in "Snapshots" on several occasions was a member of trie staff of the old Chicago Record, but was never on the staff of the Record-Herald, having become a free lance writer before the Record and Herald were merged. But Ade, over a period of years wrote a dally feature called "Stories of the Streets and of the Town" which occupied two columns of space (with Illustrations) on the editorial page of the Record. Today he would be called a columnist, but in those days the meaning of that term was more and Ade was regarded as a feature writer. Peace Feelers Nazi propagandists have been throwing out suggestions that the war be halted now "to save useless bloodshed." In return for doing the Allies the "favor" of ceasing hostilities the Germans suggest that certain concessions be made to them. The reaction in Allied official circles to all suggestions of a negotiated peace has always been the same short of unconditional surrender will be satisfactory.

What does unconditional surrender mean? It means exactly what it Germany must lay down her arms and accept whatever the Allies choose to give her. There may be no Ifs, and, or "we'll surrender if you'll let us keep part of Czechoslovakia" or comparable deals. It Is interesting to recall the circumstances of Germany's collapse in 1918 and the maneuvers she went through to prepare a soft spot to light on. It Is not unlikely we will sec some more ot the same this time. It is true that technically the first World War did not end with Ger- many'n unconditional The armistice was negotiated with the understanding that per.

CE should bo settled on the basis of Wilson's points, but these were our condition. 1 Germany's. Andre Tardleu, the French journalist and statesman, wrote: "The armistice marked the capitulation of the enemy, a capitulation which was an unconditional surrender." The enemy began angling for peace as early a-s December 12, 1916. Wilson hlm.self suggested a peace program two "days this country was in the war. There were other proposals from both sides, throughout 1917.

Then, on January 8. 131S, Wilson made his famous 1-1 points In it he outlined what he as the Allied war alms. The points Included some general ones, such as freedom of the seas anri abolition of secret diplomacy; and some specific ones. Hke German evacuation of occupied territories and the formation of a League of Nations. The next several months Germany and Austria-Hungary quibbled with Wilson (through neutral negotiators) over Interpretation of some of the points.

Wilson stood firm, although he himself WHS having some trouble the IS points to other Allies. Kltially Wilson nolifind the Clrr- imn.s (in Oaofoer 2.1 thai, if the fhuti'd "mmi wli.li the military masters of Orrmnny it nui.st drntiind. nnl (ynrr- Itfinx, bill Miirrnd'T." The same Is true of Peter Finlcy Dunne and his "Mister Dooley." Men like Field and Kiser and the Record columnist who was drowned, and whose name, it begins to dawn in The Wanderer, was Smith, wrote every word that went into their columns. There was no thought of printing contributed jokes, verse or comment. But a man named Bert Leston Taylor, who became almost immortal as K.

was to revolutionize all that. Taylor had a brand of humor that was all his own and when he chose to write verse he could do so with enviable ease. He founded a column on the editorial page of the Chicago Tribune called "A Line OType or Two" upon which he lavished meticulous care over a long period of years. But Taylor did little writing for this column himself. It was his job to select proper material from the thousands of contributions which reached his desk and to write poignant captions on those printed.

Taylor could get more real humor into a four word caption that most men could Bet into a stickful of type. SAME CONTRIBUTORS APPEAR TOO OFTEN He. likewise wrote the closing paragraph of the column, each day snapper, as it was and it always came like the crack of a whip. B. L.

column became so popular that it was considered a high honor to "make the line" as having a piece for it was called, and many professional literary men who could get real money for everything they were glad to put much time and thought into contributions for "The Line" and this for free. When Bi.T. died two or three members of the Tribune staff tried to carry on the orphaned column, but their success was indifferent. Finally, Richard Henry Little, who was recently mentioned in took over, and gave the column his own Individuality. This column was different from Taylor's and Little, who wrote at least one piece a day for It, maintained It on a high level until his death a lew years ago Richard Henry Little's successor is Charles Collins, an old and close friend of The Wanderer, who is an Indianan by birth, but was educated in Chicago and became a reporter on the Chicago Record-Herald immediately after his graduation from college.

While on that paper Collins was the assistant to James O'Donnell Bennett, then one of the outstanding drama critics of this country. Later Collins became a drama critic in his own right on the Chicago Inter-Ocean. He went to the Evening Post when the Inter-Ocean folded up and after several years with the Past became drama critic of the Tribune. But alas and alack, the theater went into a decline and drama critics in Chicago found time hanging heavily on their hands. Thrifty newspaper publishers were not inclined to pay good salaries to men whose specialty occupied but little of their time with the result that extra chores were found for them to do.

Charles Collins took over the column "A Line OType or Two 1 and now devotes his entire time to it. His column Is totally unlike that of B.L.T. and R.H.L.. but it is interesting and in The Wanderer's opinion, its principal feature is the little essay which Collins writes himself and which heads the column every day. Outside contributions take up most of the space and if there Is any criticism to be offered the present "Line" it is that the same names appear too often.

F.P.A. WELL KNOWN TO WIDE RADIO AUDIENCE The same Is true of another column published by the Chicago Tribune. This is "The Wnke of the News" which occupies prominent position in the sports section and was started a good many years ago as a sports column by Harvey Woodruff, then sports editor of The Tribune. It is now edited by Arch Ward, present sports editor, but only a pan of It haa to do with sports. It consists for the mast part of nnd wnlch are sent in by the thousand.

Every since Harvey Woodruff's dii.v contributions have been solicited through the medium of a Jingle which appears daily. "The Wake Depends Upon Its Friends. Help I Hctpl" Those whose contributions nppcar in the column are called Helpers. All of these are columns In the old of the (t-rm nnd ninny ntlii't'i could bo nn'iUioiiccl including famous Tower" whkli wn.i published In the several New York for which P.P.A. worked.

Initials, by the A lot of the pupils are playing hookey. School enrollment drags. The Are almost afraid to quote figuKa, bsesuss they might encourage more hookey. The net result of all calculations is that some millions of boys and girls who ought to be In school, if the American standard of education of the masses is to be maintained, didn't answer the bell this fall. It was always easier for some millions of pupils to play hookey than to go to scnool.

Now, for the flrst time, the truant officer Is ashamed of himself. During the summer, a few million boys and girls became producers of wealth. They went to work in farms or factories. (Why we should say on farms and In factories, I don't know. You're no more on the farm than you're on the factory, and you're no more factory than you're in the farm.) So, they are still working, a vast congregation of them, in the farms and factories, and bringing home a nice little slab of bacon from the paymaster's office.

It's fool's gold, as President Roosevelt told us, before ever we thought we were going into this war and make a lot of money. The more of this particular kind of fool's gold we pile up, the worse for the country, a lew years hence. How long we will be engaged in more or less continuously, no man is wise enough to But it is a fair presumption that comparatively few of those now in the armed forces will ever go back to the classrooms or lecture rooms to read about Caesar's sissy Gallic Wars. They don't have to read about the Germans in Latin. They've been shooting them in English.

After the last war, it proved difficult to get the boys to finish their college training. The returned heroes just naturally made fun of the discipline attempted by the noncombatant professors, and smoked another clgaret while they issued the ultimatum: "Flunk me! What do I care? I've at least done K. P. What did you do?" They took it on as part of a revolution in which they wanted everything changed. If you had presented the Idea of changing black tO vrhltc Buld KiaXlriB all sweet at that time, the French would have gone for the idea in a big way.

Some other nations have accepted the metric system In principle. But nearly everywhere the common people cling to their old systems of weights and measures and nata- tion. It has often happened to me that an acquaintance made on a train or plane became a friend of many years' standing. Almost met on a train Alexis Mahan, who was in the piano business in Boston. I have corresponded with him irregularly ever since, and we have had much pleasure out of mutual exchange of opinions and reflections.

On a train to St. Louis a few ago, I met a very interesting lawyer, Mr. Donald C. of Wichita, partner of Payne Ratner, who was Governor of Kansas. Not only did the evening pass pleasantly because of the conversation, but.

I carry a distinct impression that, I'll meet that man again sometime, and have more good talk. My wife says that the nicest letters I get are written by George Matthew Adams. Of course, I must explain that she sees only about, one out of two thousand of my letters, because she is a busy woman. But it is certainly true that George Matthew expresses himself in a letter better than most people. He spent the summer at his Nova Scotia camp, Weskawenaak, not far from Halifax.

He invited me up there, as he has for many summers, but, as always, I couldn't get away from the typewriter and New York. Ill be seeing George in Manhattan soon, and, I hope, oflen. I wouldn't know where to find a more Interesting friend. Now we've got down to the grade schools, properly called the elementary schools. Boys and girls from the seventh and eighth grades, under inspiration of much patriotic propaganda, went out and pulled weeds, milked cows, or peeled potatoes in war factory cafeterias.

And they don't want to go back to school. In many cases, their parents are not opposing their patriotic endeavors this fall. That extra check Isn't to be sneezed at. Here's little Johnnie, more than earning his keep, if you don't count the inflation. And the teacher isn't earning much more.

How is Johnny going to take orders 'from that teacher? Well pay for it, a few years from now. The boys who don't know but that George Washington was an old fascist and Thomas Jefferson a boondoggler will be running the show, if we don't watch out. That would be all right, but maybe they won't know how to run it. Beaumont, Galveston and Port Arthur, Texas, are enjoying a surge of resurgence, or something of that kind. From these three towns I have been getting so many letters, photographs, folders and leaflets, all shouting for the dawn, that I am fair astonied, as the Elizabethans used to say.

I've always been acquainted with Texas and many of its towns. I've written reams about a wide variety of communities there, for you can find as many different kinds of life and living in Texas as you can in Asia, Africa, or the two Americas. You take In a lot of territory when you talk about Texas. come and over Port The metric system-is supposed to be perfect, easy to impossible lo make mistakes with. Nobody wants it except the French.

But something has Beaumont, Galveston Arthur. They are notifying the world thst the by-George top and blue ribbon prize of civilization is going to be captured by one or more of them, and that right soon. It seems that they have rubber and the ocean, for two things. I'd heard of the ocean, and, of course, rubber seems natural enough. Somebody sure has got it.

There's not enough of it in the waistbands to keep up my shorts any more. Somebody ought to send a representative down there. Like as not, those Texans are getting ready to take over again. Released by McNaught Syndicate. Ir.e.

Cheers for the Medical Corps By JACK STINNETT to reports filled with superlatives reaching here, the Army and Navy medical corps have hit the top rung ot efficiency in the Invasion of Europe. With wounded casualties- mounting into the thousands, the report ot Maj, Gen. Paul R. Hawley, chief surgeon in the European theater, to Maj. Gen.

Norman T. Kirk, U. S. Army surgeon general, should be of some comfort to families of men shot down In battle. Wounded now are being sent back to England by plane within an hour after they reach evacuation fields behind the lines.

Twenty-four to 36 hours later, some of them are on trains In the United States, headed for base hospitals near their homes. It Is possible for wounded to be bedded in these hospitals here even before their next of kin can be notified of their injuries. Air evacuation from France has now supplanted almost all other types, Maj. Gen. Hawley reported.

Medical corps officials say channel evacuations by boat were planned for the early days of the invasion and, under direction of R. Adm. Ross H. Mclntire, Navy surgeon general, preparations were made to carry on for weeks until the air corps got its shuttle service orklng. LSTs and hospital ships were staffed with surgeons, nurses, and medical corps, non-coms and privates.

But within three days after D-day, the Ninth Air Force made its first evacuations and now has almost completely taken over the job. Field hospitals are moving up behind the lines as fast as air strips can be built or repaired. It's rare when wounded are kept there as long as 12 hours. In England they arc met by field hospital platoons who move them by ambulance to fixed hospitals nearby. port should be of double interest to the home front, for it is one factor in which many Civilians have shared.

"Both whole blood and plasa." he "have been ptentiful in every medical installation from the clearing station to the hospital, including LSTs and hospital carriers. There has been enough penicillin to treat all cases that required it and the freedom of wounds from infection has been a source of surprise to all our surgeons. "In every medical unit visited. I inquired especially as to the status of supply. I did not get a single answer that was not thnt they had everything they wanted." In this connection, medical corps officers here think it's particularly significant that those German nurses captured sometime and permitted to visit a field hospital before they were "sent home" under a flag of truce, spent much time "oh-ing" and "ah-ing" over Allied hospital equipment.

Casual Glances One of the general's re- usy, stand for Franklin P. Adams, nnd Mr. Adams Ls well known to all those who listen In on the "Information Please" radio program. But within more recent years, columns have taken on a different and many of them con- fist entirely of news Interpretation. There a time when news which seemed to demand Interpretation iccclved It through the medium ol editorials which represented the personal thought of the editor or the paper he represented.

Now the columnists give a variety of Interp elation to virtually everything thnt happens. Newspapers may or may not agree -vltli opinions expressed by their cnlitmni.sK. It Indicates a hroiider trend nnd tliu uMllnKnr.sv nn tha part ol American nnwapAp'r. 1 to all sides of question. Tim old columns, strictly so-cnllcrl may bocnrno obsolete.

"The United States should annex Formosa." So saj's Senator Kenneth D. McKellar of Tennessee, thinking this a safeguard against future Japanese aggression. That this Island Is thousands of miles west even of Pearl Harbor, and belonged to China until Japan conquered It, apparently makes no difference to him. With such a proposition it is hard to be patient. The Philippines have been a source of grave military weakness, just besause they are so far away.

Formosa, being farther nway, would be even worse. Bases will be needed, but should be wisely chosen. Le Clerc's men came In "on the same cold, chilly, foggy beaches on which the British and Americans landed on says war correspondent, Roellf Loveland. "They came a-ihore In the same gray landing craft, and when they came to the sand they picked it up in their hands and let it trickle through their fingers. Some of them had tears running down their faces, and some of them got down on their knees In the wet sand and thanked bon Dieu' thnt he had spared them to flght." Nfaybc politicians covet office as much ns over, but in their national conventions they at least preserve appearances better than formerly.

In the Republican convention of 188f) Delegate Flanagan of Texas won 1m- mortnllty when he blurted out, "What arc we here for if not for offici-s?" A good many campaigns, If they iiftVH not always waged with such embiirnutsing frankness, have seemed turn on no better issue than whether the ins should stay in, or be replaced by the outs..