Abilene Reporter-News from Abilene, Texas • 6

Tune In on KRBC THE ABILENE REPORTER-NEWS Wednesday Morning April 4 M4S PAGE SIX Traffic On Carrier's Deck Always Exciting gbflmt Jltporter-fitW A TEXAS NEWSPAPER Thought for Today He that kcepeth his mouth lircpcth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction Prpvrrbs 13:3 Be silent and safe silence never betrays you John Boyle O'Reilly FlkHtliti Twlra Dally Imil Oar lailiy ky Ik lErOBTII PL'BLIIHIKO CO North Second and Cypfta AbUono Taxaa TSLEHONBl DIAL Entered aa Second Claaa Matter Oct A Jdnn at llw aoatoffica Abilene Tma under the Act at March i ir7k tubarripllon By Carrier lioen-Ins and Sunday or Evening and nday SOe a week S5o a mo Morning and Evening an Sunday 30a a araak SlM By Mail In Wert Texas Homing and Sunday nr Evening and Sunday tSa a month Other ratea on rrqneet Memker al Anaelaled Preea Any arroneoua reflection upon the character Handing or reputation of any person firm or corporation which may occur in the columns of THE REPORTER-NEWS will be gladly corrected upon being brought la the at tentlon of tha minaaamanL The publtrhen are not raaponalbla far copy omUalona typographical artura or any unintentional erroia that may occur other than la correct in next Issue after it Is brought to hair attention All advertising orders era accepted an this basis only this: Is it fair and equitable to force men to risk their lives in battle without imposing the obligation to work upon other men? Mr Byrnes seeing the end of the war in Europe in plain sight did something he has long wanted to get out of public life lay aside the cares and burdens of office His resignation was hailed as proof that the manpower bill was no longer necessary' He was said to have "confessed" that it designed for war anyway but was a dirty low-down scheme to enslave men for the postwar period to regiment the manpower in peace as in war (Ninety-nine percent of the emergency acts of wartime end automatically with the declaration of peace or within six months thereafter) So we still have no answer to the old question: In time of grave national peril shall we maintain two classes of people in this those who must fight and die and those who are left to their own devices when it comes to working in support of the armed forces? A draft of industry' capital and manpower about which service organizations were vocal between the wars is still in the dream stage The senate which sent 18-year-old boys into battle lacked the courage to take a man from a non-essential job and place him in a job essential to the war effort where he would still enjoy all the rights and privileges and protection of carefully-defined working conditions including collective By ERNIE PYLE IN THE WESTERN (Dclayed)-The main thing I never understood about how an aircraft carrier operates is what they did with all the rest of the planes while one wti landing or taking off I had thought the flight deck had to be entirely clear of plants I thought that aa soon aa one took off they brought the next one up from the lower deck by elevator and sent It off It isn't that way at all There are always Idle planes standing on deck landings and takeoffs There have to be for the hangar deck below tent big enough to hold all the planes But these Idle planes are never along the side of the they are at one end or the other Here's how It's done: Planes always take off and always land from stem to bow of the or from rear to forward as you simple landlubbers would say For the takeoff all the planes are perked tightly together at the rear of the deck All have folding wings which has been one of the great contributions to this war Without them a carrier could hardly carry enough planes to Justify Itself These parked planes tike up maybe one-eighth of the flight the rear one-eighth When they get ready to launch planes all the engines are started and warmed up while the planes are still parked tightly together FLAKE-PUSHERS BUSY The noise is terrific Angry propellers whirl within Inches of the tall of the next ship by the dozen crawl around under and among these flying propellers adjusting chocks and untying the lines that hold the planes down When they are ready the center plane in the front row is taxied out a few feet Hie folded wings are unfolded The pilot tests his controls puts down his flaps A signalman standing ahead and to the right of him indicates by motions when he is to start He holds on hte brakes speeds up hte engine until the noise is ear-splitting and then the signalman leans over and dramatically swings hte arm forward as though personally to give the plane Impetus The plane starts rolling The deck behind him te packed with planes But the seven-eighths of deck In front 1s clear Not a plane or man on it No sooner has one plane gone than the next one te ready has Its wings unfolded and 1s running up his engine They take off one right after the other less than a minute apart until the whole flight te in the air SWAPPING ENDS The moment the last plane of the flight te off a klaxon signals the fact and the great flight deck Instantly becomes a swarm of men Usually there are several planes left on deck which weren't scheduled to go All these are Immediately towed to the forward end of the deck and reparked there For when the planes come back to land they must use that rear end of the deck While they are landing the whole front end of the deck 1s full of parked planes A barrier of steel cables stretched head-high across the deck stops any wild-landing plane from crashing Into the bunch of tightly parked ships ahead As soon as a plane lands the barrier te dropper the plane taxlcs over-It and the barrier te raised again for the next guy coming In The plane that has Just landed te parked among the other Inert ones up front and the pilot shuts off hte engine When the last plane 1s down the klaxon squawks all the men rush out and all the planes ere towed beck to the rear of the deck ready for the next takeoff ALWAYS RE-SPOTTING Almost never during actual landing of the planes te the elevator let down It te used only between flights to take planes down to the or bring up fresh ones This moving of planes from one end of the flight deck to the other 1s called "re-spotting" It goes on all day back and forth back and forth The planes are pulled by tiny Fordson tractors As they run around they look like these little electric cars you bump each other with at carnivals At night probably two-thirds of the planes are on deck They are parked tightly together and tied down to gratings in the flight deck by heavy rope If we're galling Into a storm they're tied additionally with steel cable And all night long men are posted among them to see that nothing breaks or goes wrong Despite all this there have been times when the ocean was so rough and the deck careening at such a steep angle that planes would break 'all their moorings and go screeching over the side That would be when was down in my cabin very seasick Victims and Victimizers As the allied meat-chopper whittles the Wehrmacht down to size and the nation that was to conquer and rule the world slowly but surely disintegrates General Dwight Eisenhower warns German farmers to stick with their plows for Germany will need all the food it can produce in the months following the cessation of hostilities He reminds all Germans that Germany has lived in plenty right through the war by the simple process of robbing its neighbors but now that the day of reckoning has come Germany will be expected to feed itself The hunger and starvation that Germany imposed on other Europeans for five years now faces the Fatherland The slave labor that has tilled the German fields will be freed and German farmers will have to go to work The old Goering doctrine that all Europe would starve before a single German went hungry is going into reverse AMG adopted and has put into effect in occupied German territory the policy of forcing the Germans to feed themselves from stocks piled up when the going was good West of the Rhine they found plenty of nourishing food to sustain the population without digging into allied food reserves What they are finding east of the Rhine Is not yet dear but General Eisenhower has warned the Germans that they'll have to feed themselves Probably there are reserve food supplies there the main problem is getting it distributed Transport railway highway are destroyed or disorganized Getting them into working condition will be an allied problem but finding the food and distributing it will be up to the Germans themselves with a minimum of allied interference First call on our sympathy and assistance are the peoples who have been ground down by five years of German terrorism looting and enslavement Our policy should all we can spare for the victims of German militarism nothing for those who victimized all Europe That seems to be what General Eisenhower is telling the German people Discharge Credit for Soldiers Is Fixed Washington As Scheduled Senator Tom Connally of Texas chairman of the senate foreign relations committee says the San Francisco conference of the United Nations will go on as scheduled April 25 He made the statement after conference with Secretary of State Stettinius This scotches the rumors and speculations set afoot by commentators and busybodies who had it all figured out that the conference possibly be held The advanced many plausible theories wny a postponement would be necessary including the approaching end of the war in Europe and problems connected therewith that would keep many of the bigshots busy at home These same only a few months ago were insisting that the conference should get under way immediately and criticizing the Big Three for not having called it sooner Now if they run true to form they will start criticizing responsible heads of government for going ahead with the meeting at this time Discovery of the "secret whereby Russia and the agreed to ask for three votes each in the assembly of the proposed peace organization set the boys off into an orgy of speculation recrimination and woodshed lectures But this "deal" like many another will be settled at San and high time the delegates got together to settle them thus heading off rumors and harmful misunderstandings Russia and the with three votes each will exactly balance the voting strength in the assembly with the British Commonwealth of Nations thereby removing one of the causes of friction in the original league Since the six components of the British Commonwealth do not always vote Canada and Australia are especially jealous of their rights as independent nations and South Africa is even more there is little likelihood that six votes ever will be able to overbalance the six held by the and the INTERPRETING WAR NEWS Still No Answer The resignation of James Byrnes as war mobilizer gave senate opponents of the work-or-else bill and their apologists something they have been looking for with great a plausible excuse -for throwing the manpower bill overboard Mr Byrnes was cited as the prime mover in behalf of effective legislation to get men transferred from nonessential to war-essential work This straight-out issue the senate ducked and dodged for months as the legislation forced a showdown on a proposition charged with political dynamite Minus frills and fancy footwork that proposition was homeland will be an accomplished fact Even communications with Japanese armies in China are in easy range of medium bombers and submarines The war against Japan te turning a corner on Okinawa Its seizure will finally seal off the whole South China Sea against Japanese use leaving by-passed Nipponese garrisons In the Philippines the Dutch Indies and Malaya hopelessly Isolated It will lay open all the East China Sea the Yellow Sea and even the Sea of Japan Itself to air and sea attack The strategic Importance of Okinawa no matter In what direction the next move develops te so undeniable that Japanese failure to have massed forces adequate at least long to delay Its Invasion can be explained only by sheer lack of the means to achieve such a concentration From the moment Admiral Nlm-lts signalled hte mighty carrier-borne air armadas Into action against the remnants of the Japanese fleet in inland sea hideouts there can have been no question in the Japanese high command but that Okinawa was hte objective Nlmlts virtually told the foe so when weeks ago he Mid that the next essential step waa to cut Japan off from China Landings on Okinawa were the logical execution of that design With Americans Busy Themselves WASHINGTON Here te how the Army will determine whet men are to be discarded after the war ip Europe te over Special forms have been quietly sent to commanding officers In all theaters They are to be distributed to the 11 who will fill them out try to figure out the number of credits they have earned to give them a quick return home The one thing still undecided by the Army te the number of credits necessary for immediate release This columnist te able to reveal however that: 1 All credits will be determined aa of the date of the war in Europe te over 1 2 Special credits will be given for overseas service and overseas service will mean any service outside the continental limits of the 8 Including Alaska Thousands of men who served In Alaska will receive overseas credit Overseas service will be determined from the day a man leaves a port of embarkation 3 Combat credit will be given only for those receiving the Medal of Honor Distinguished Service Cross Legion of Merit Silver Star Distinguished Flying Cross Soldiers' Medal Bronze Star Air Medal Purple Heart or Bronze Service Stan for battle participation No other awards or ribbons will be Included 4 Credit will be given for children who are under lg yean of age on the day the war In Europe ends but for some mysterious reason the Army will not allow credits for more than three children NOTE One mystifying thing about the forms which have been secretly sent commanders overseas te that they make no provision for a serviceman's age thus men over 38 many of whom have not been declared physically' fit to go oversets will have to sweat It out longer in uniform than younger men HENRY KAISER CONCILIATES Few people realize It and shipbuilder Henry Kaiser te too modest to admit it but he wu the guiding genius behind the recently signed pledge for post-war Industrial peace Just promulgated by Eric Johnson president of the Chamber of Commerce CIO President Phil Murray and A of President Bill Green Kaiser figured out the scheme last fall after seeing the terrific bitterness of the election campaign Ha first approached Bill Green told him that If Green was sincere about believing in a 60 000000-Job program management needed assurance of labor peace Oreen was agreeable Next Kaiser visited CIO President Phil Murray found he wee also in hearty agreement Murray even pointed out that certain CIO unions were already trying to sign post-war compacts with employers guaranteeing no strikes and full labor management cooperation Finally Kaiser went to Eric Johnson sold him on the Idea that a Joint pledge by business and the two big labor groups would be a great help to the nation Johnson agreed to call the first meeting Invited Kaiser Murray broad and deep beachheads established and secured almost unopposed several air itrlpa already In American use and ample room available to enlarge them or establish new onrs quickly the air bombardment of Japan te due to be stepped up many-fold without delay If the foe te to maka a teat desperate delaying stand anywhere short of the Japanese Islands themselves It would have seemed certain to be at Okinawa yet It did not come If the reason were known It might afford a clue to how long Japan can stand against the gathering Allied storm In her home waters and skies 472000 per year after taxes But In 1944 their profits before taxes were 8153193000 end after taxes $44110000 In 1041 however be-v fore price control tu established their before-taxes profit wu $71- 140000 and their after-taxes take $40650000 Net sales in the 1936-38 period averaged $2071265000 only 82908158000 In 1941 and $4551734000 last year The com- panles are Armour Cudahy mel Hygrade Morrell Rath Swift and email companies however are having hard sledding I JOES' RIGHTS Best book telling war veterans what their rights are In words of one syllable has Just been written by Corporal Max Novak editor of Yank Magazine's "What's Your Problem?" department Novak- the I Joe's legal eagle became thoroughly disgusted with the way discharged veterans are taking a beating on their veterans' rights through sheer Ignorance and so ut down and wrote a book to cash in on youj discharge benefits" (Copyright 1945 by the Bell Syndicate Inc) Exchange Club to 2 Sponsor Stamford Park Improvement STAMFORD April (Spl) Plans for converting Hannon Park into an attractive outdoor recreation center for youth of Stamford are well underway according 'J Gordon Davis president of tha Exchange club Tentative plans call for building' a fish pond around which landscaping and play equipment would te centered The dam for the pond would be Just south of -the highway Construction of two tennis courts repair of playground equipment now In the park and addition of other devices are Included in the plane The wading pool will be put Imu service for younger children with a senior Boy Scout as supervisor each day The grounds ere to be landscaped The Exchange club te taking tha lead in the project but other cist? organizations including the Business and Professional Women's club Pierian club American Legion and Rotary club are being asked to par- tlclpate In the project Boy Scouts will play an Important role In the program assisting with the wif and aiding In supervision- The Boll Conservation Mrvlce te to assist in the grading and In construction of the fish pond Flans for financing the project have not been completed but Drtti Mid contributions would be welcomed from public-spirited citizens Rotary club directors have agreed to cooperate In the plan and assigned the community service committee hMded by Johnson as its representative Parents Visit Major Middleton BALLINGER April (Spl) -Mr end Mrs Middleton have returned from El Peso where they visited their eon MeJ Price Middle-ton who has returned to the etates after being wounded In the big push against the Germans He 1a In Wiliam Beaumont General hospltalTe-celvlng treatment for a knee wound caused by three machine gun bullets Major Middleton served In North Africa and was one of the first ashoit In the Invasion of Italy and led his men through soutarn Franc and on to Oermany Merry-Go Round I DREW pIaison and Green to a hush-hush dinner in hte Mayflower hotel suite debated the entire proposal up down and sideways Not content with a bare statement of unity and pledge of labor-management peace Kaiser has now quietly proposed that the 8 chamber of commerce the A of and the CIO set up a new well-financed organization which can actively go about the business of contacting local labor leaden and local business men presetting tha gospel of cooperation mi thit level FETRILLO CRACKDOWN Congress te so steamed up about the rambunctious practices of hom-tooter James Caesar FetrlUo head of the American Federation of musicians and bushy-browed John Lewis mine workers' chief that responsible labor leaden are greatly worried that It may pass the Bailey bill Authorized by Senator Bailey north Carolina conservative Democrat the bill provides that employer payments to a union for any purpose other than a checkoff of union dues be outlawed This would Invalidate the agreement Petrillo won after defying the record manufacturer! end the government for two yean and which provides that the manufacturers pay hte union royalty on every record made It would also rule out the ten-cent-per-ton coal royalty Lewis asked after he uw Petrillo get hte Even though many of them have little sympathy for the Pe-trlllo-Lewla methods labor leaders see In the Bailey bill far more danger than appears on the surface For if the bill becomes law It will knock out not only Pe-trlllo royalty set-ups but also numerous negotiated agreements whereby employers agree to pay a email portion of their payroll Into health funds Jointly administered by the union and the employer These are used to pay sickness and accident benefits medical caste and death benefits for employes and more ahd more employers are agreeing to Include contributions to these funds In their' contracts with the unions There have been no complaints about these funds but they will be Illegal if the Bailey bill becomes law CAPITOL CHAFF Tha RFC haa named the New York firm of Fuller Smith and Rom to handle advertising bt surplus property to be sold through RFC This firm te also the advertising representative for the Aluminum company of America which haa a major Interest in plant facilities to be sold through RFC Despite the wide publicity ridiculing him a few months ago Representative William Gallagher former Minneapolis street cleaner has won the respect of hte colleagues in the house He till occasionally mistakes a young congressman for a messenger but hfi listened to with Interest when he has something to My about legislation while the meat packers howl about how they cant make any money OPA officiate are scratching their heads they rend the Industry's profit figures Eight major companies averaged from 1938 to 1938 a profit of $22383000 per year before paying $17- By KIRKE SIMPSON Associated Preis War Analyst Japanese failure to offer bl tier-end resistance to American landings on Okinawa te startling That key Island of the Ryukyu chain has been so obviously a strategic pivot of the American amphibious a d-vance that Tokyo's war lords can not have doubted that its seizure was 1m-pendl ng Yet they failed to meet the Invaders at the beaches Whatever resistance may still be encountered the battle of Okinawa was lost almost before It began The gloom In Japan reflected In Tokyo broadcasts deepened significantly In the face of official Nipponese claims of damage Inflicted on the too obviously fabricated for even Japanese press acceptance Intercepted radio and press comment leaves no doubt that In Japanese public opinion loss of Okinawa will be construed as a fatal blow the beginning of the end for Japan With the big central Island of the Ryukyu chain available for American sea and air bases It certainly will be soon the close blockade of the Japanese now my constituents are rubber Along Rhine Honningen was a shambles In sections One old woman was down In her gutted ground floor walking around reeling the pipes In her kitchen A deserted cow mooed forlornly from somewhere within another row of wrecked homes Among papers lying around In a blasted garage was an advertisement of a 1938 Ford a paper symbol of the time before ell this began Copies of Goethe were lying around in a wrecked library In a living room the inner works of a piano lajf bare and chairs were toppled about We saw the bridge at Rrmagen where many engineer troops lost their livee when ft collapsed Unsung heroes One day In our travels we stopped for lunch with an Infantry regiment and were cordially received by First Sergeant Raymond Hsngevelt of Passaic one of a dozen who survived out of a company of 1ST from the hell at Bastogne In the German break-through last December At lunch the officers were kidding one of their number LleiA Virgil Lacay enviously about the leave on which he was to depart for home The lieutenant a tall boy with a drawl la from West Liberty Ky "When you've been with an outfit as long as I have you hate to even to go home1' he said Ho was serious The others received It quietly War has Ita deep comradeships (Copyright 1045 United Feature Syndicate Inc) The frayed itranda of a war which has moved much farther away (till are manifest In little pockets of resistance But the American sokllers along the Rhine In the supply forces and in the reserves waiting to move forward pay no attention nor do the inhabitants of this now liberated valley The children go right on playing In front of their homes not even looking up at the occasional burst of artillery from the heights above the river from both sides as tha guns snarl lazily at each other We passed American soldiers playing baseball on a beautiful spring afternoon We saw some pitching horseshoes Three of them had a speedboat and were racing up and down the river One waa washing his clothes in the Rhine Another wee writing a letter which may have begun: "Deer Mary Jane: I'm writing this on tha banks of the Rhine It's not so much of a river but there sure Is some pretty scenery castle way up on the hills and nice little houses along the banks like I would Uke to have for you some The Rhine valley Is a lovely place We crossed the river first on a pontoon bridge one of several thrown up hastily by those engineer outfits which do their Jobs so quickly and so well Just In front of us in the convoy moving supplies across to the armies ahead was a truck chockful of rations a sign that the boys ire In the field and must take their food along with them By THOMAS STOKES ALONG THE RHINE April 3 came In our roush-riding Cspt Robert Graham of Philadelphia formerly of Atlanta Ga and to the Rhine a few days ago at the very pitch of excitement Just when General Third Army waa starting ita crossing The armies are far away now racing acroia Germany At every camp where we stopped we watched the distance to Berlin grow STOKES shorter as briefing officers recounted the day's progress and shared the enthusiasm about this climactic assault on Nasi Germany You could feel the keen rivalry among the armies which Infected even the veteran war correspondents to whom It all is old stuff now Even before the armies pushed across the river In this new advance while they were waiting poised upon Its banks the Rhine had assumed an American atmosphere like the Hudson or the Ohio American boys are everywhere Iona tie banks The road signs In English direct you to their many outfits The fellow who paints the signs is the forgotten man of the supply forces He rides for miles and complains as one of them did: "I go but never see anything" There was evidence that tha enemy still was Just across the Rhine at various spots At Coble ns an MP Informed us that thers atlll waa machine gun fire the docks back and forth across the river and that the Germans still were tossing In an occasional shell from their how-Users The snipers across the Rhine ere cracking away too at any random target that offers itself in wrecked Cologne we learned when we stopped there a few hours Reporter-News Ration Calendar MEATS FATS Honk four red stamp T3 through XS good through April 28 Stamps Y5 and ZS and A8 through D2 good through Juna Xi ES through J3 good through June 30 K3 through li good through July 31 PROCESSED Book four blue stamps C3 through G3 good through April 2g 112 through M3 good through Juno 3 Nt through S3 good through June 30 T2 through X3 good through July 31 llook four ulamp lb valid for five pounds through June 1 Nezt ulamp scheduled to be validated May Book three airplane etampi 1 and I valid Indefinitely OPA ays no plans la cancel any 1BA coupons good for four gallons each through June XL B8 C6 B7 and CT coupons good everywhere for five gallons referring to me at a SYNTHETIC ttampr.