The Mathis News (Mathis, Tex.), Vol. 26, No. 50, Ed. 1 Friday, December 12, 1941 Page: 7 of 8
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THE MATHIS NEWS
WHO’S
NEWS
THIS
WEEK
By LEMUEL F. PARTON
(Consolidated Features—WNU Service.)
"VTEW YORK.—Air Vice Marshal
Arthur Coningham, command-
ing the air arm of the British offen-
sive in Libya, probably could find
Psychologists Can around t h e
Find No Subjects fighting ter-
Among the R.A.F. rain without
a map or a
compass. For many years, off and
on, he has been scouting this sun-
burnt waste of jagged rock and sand,
with the British air force, based in
Egypt.
He is a husky and good-look-
ing 46-year-old Australian, a
group captain at the Calshot
R.A.F. station in 1939, upped
rapidly in rank since the start
of the war, a veteran of every
kind of air fighting and an air
buck^roo who has ridden every
kind of plane. His success and
responsibility, however, is not
all due to technical skill. It is
a personality success as well,
and it just now happens that
personality resources in air
wars is being authoritatively
examined.
Dr. Robert Dick Gillespie, distin-
guished British neurologist, now lec-
turing in this country, held forth at
the New York Academy of Medi-
cine the other night, on the lack of
neuroses in the R.A.F., as com-
pared to other arms of the fighting
forces. The doctor’s theory, which
he says has been convincingly dem-
onstrated, is that air training and
fighting makes for individuation
which greatly strengthens personal-
ity resistance to the devastating
nerve shocks of modern war.
Marshal Coningham would make
a fine laboratory sample. In all this
department’s gleanings about his
career, from various sources, it is
emphasized that his every relation-
ship in his fighting command is per-
sonal. He has a prodigious memory
and he likes persons, rather than
people. He has a keen wit and ready
humor. But he’s a hard-boiled dis-
ciplinarian.
He entered the World war from
native Brisbane, Australia, at
theSsiLSe °f serving first in Samoa
and rfe?n in. E^ypt. Coming to
Englancq!^ joined the Royal Fly-
ing corps, v^ere he knocked about
in all sorts of Ki™itive planes. He
won the military crtra^ and the dis-
tinguished service ordel
\\T HEN Nebuchadnezzar mafri'SuL
Y Y a country girl, the daughter of
Cyaxares, she was homesick and
wanted a bit of foliage around the
house. The
Aerial Gardens of king put in
Rockefeller Center just a few
Surpass Babylon*s w i n d o w
D O X 6 S cl t
first, then got really interested and
built his famous hanging gardens.
Rockefeller Center went botanical
for an entirely different reason, and
will, if it hasn’t already done so,
surpass anything Babylon could
show in the line of aerial agricul-
ture. The genius of the gardens in
the sky is A. M. Van Den Hoek,
horticulturist for the center, whose
wizardry with growing things he
successfully transplanted from his
native Netherlands lowlands to the
Sixth Avenue highlands.
We were checking with him on
that chestnut' tree he planted re-
cently. It has a mate and hive of
bees ready for the big job of pol-
lenization at the first signal of spring.
These trees were brought from
China.
Weather-wise and earthwise,
the sky-high farmer might have
come out of Vergil’s Georgies,
but there’s nothing rural about
his smart tailoring, or his red-
leather, push-button office. But
this setting is mostly for winter
farming. In the summer, he
wears overalls on his 59-1 acre,
ground-level farm near Flem-
ington, N. J.
After studying horticulture in sev-
eral continental countries, he went to
England, in 1905, at the age of 21.
There he worked in the famous Rose
Gardens of Hampstead and tended
the ancient grape vine, the fruit of
which goes annually to the king.
After 14 months in England, he re-
moved to this country.
He worked for two years in a
nursery at Morrisville, Pa., then got
a job with a Netherlands horticul-
tural firm. Advancing steadily in his
profession, he became the horticul-
turist for Rockefeller Center in 1933.
The skyscraper onion crop was
exceptionally good this year—also
the cabbages, tomatoes, mint, kohl-
rabi, spinach and carrots. The
espalierd pear and appie trees are
getting on famously as are the 150
plane trees and the eight 50-foot
elms that were planted around the
center.
Mr. Van Den Hoek just recently
planted 25,000 tulip buibs, of Hol-
land ancestry, via England. He says
that these tulips are extraordinarily
varied and beautiful, and seems to
see in each of them a chalice of
hope for his native homeland.
Washington, D. C.
BRITISH DIPLOMACY
The British barring of Russian
Ambassador Litvinoff from an air-
plane en route to the U.S.A. has in-
creased Washington whispers that
it is about time the British did
something to clean up their mori-
bund diplomatic service and cut
out snubs to people who are trying
to help them.
It has long been the belief of
Americans, too polite to mention it,
that the British embassy in Wash-
ington can make more mistakes to
the square inch even than Mr.
Hull’s state department—and many
of the state department’s mistakes
come from trying so ardently to ape
the British.
For years the British embassy
has sat on its hilltop, well removed
from the bustle of Washington, and
looked with slightly disdainful
amusement upon the hoi polloi of
congress. An invitation to the Brit-
ish embassy in those good old days
was considered by the dowagers as
better than an invitation to the
White House.
But those good old days, un-
fortunately both for the dowagers
and the embassy, are gone, never
to return. However, the embassy
appears completely unaware of that
fact. And its charming young men
go their charming way, saying
sometimes too audibly: “We must,
be nice to Americans’’; while the
real work of defending Britain takes
place in the British Purchasing com-
mission, largely under the direc-
tion of hard-boiled Canadians and
Australians.
• Viscount Halifax is one of the
most delightful and genteel persons
ever to grace the embassy. He tries
hard. But hard as he tries, he
cannot overcome the bubbling
Charles Peake, who minces around
him as if his lordship still were
viceroy of India with white and
crimson-costumed Sikhs mounted
on black chargers outside his pal-
ace, in Calcutta, instead -of being
in a city where politics are very
earthy and where the congress-
man’s wife from Keokuk has a lot
more influence than the pink tea
protocol experts usually seen at the
British embassy.
* * *
WASHINGTON SOCIETY
Washington is a city where de-
bate may rage furiously on the floor
of the senate, but simmer down to
friendly story-telling in the ante-
room or around the dinner table
afterward. This is not always the
case, however, and sometimes
Washington society becomes so
aroused that it is dangerous to in-
vite certain strong-minded people
to dinner.
This was true during the fight over
^dgfievelt’s Supreme court bill; and
during Tbs Roosevelt-Willkie elec-
tion campaign; and it is somewhat
true during the^neutrality controver-
sies today. Old h^ds at the game
of controversy, however. manage to
keep their tempers. FJjxinsfance,
seated near each other at dinner the
other night were Sen. Burt Whe\2’f<,D
than whom there is no more ener-
getic isolationist, and Undersecre-
tary of the Navy Forrestal, just as
energetically interventionist.
Wheeler was talking about the re-
cent neutrality debate, telling how
Roosevelt forces influenced votes by
promising jobs and dishing out pa-
tronage. Interrupted Undersecretary
Forrestal:
“Senator, did the neutrality fight
reach the depths of your fight to
pass the Wheeler-Rayburn act?”
(The Holding Corporation act.)
“No,” shot back Senator Wheeler,
“I didn’t have the patronage.”
The two men continued a good-
natured discussion of neutrality,
Wheeler maintaining that time
would prove that his anti-war stand
was right. After the war, he con-
tended, history would reverse the
present tide of war sentiment and
there would be a revulsion of feel-
ing if not a virtual French revolu-
tion.
“And when the guillotine ax be-
gins to fall, senator,” said Forrest-
al as he departed, “will you be my
attorney?”
* * *
FINNS VS. NAZIS
Intelligence reports from Europe
for the first time indicate friction
between German and Finnish
troops on the eastern fronts. The
Finns are sore because the Nazis
have been living off the country and
have not been at all scrupulous in
paying Finnish peasants for pigs,
cows and chickens.
On top of this, the Nazis recently
ousted Finnish children from an
orphanage at Rovaninemi and used
it for the general staff. This made
the Finns boil with anger.
* * *
CAPITAL CHAFF
The government is paying out
more money than ever before in his-
tory for use of the wires and ether
Even with reduced rates for officia
messages, the tolls for telegraph,
telephone, cable and radio are tre-
mendous. '
Every time a government officia:
picks up the telephone to make ar.
outside call, Uncle Sam pays three
cents, the wholesale rate. In tele-
graph messages the government gets
a 40 per cent discount, though there
is a minimum charge of 20 cents-
WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS
By Edward C. Wayne
Rome Discloses Plot to Kill Mussolini
As Part of Widespread Revolt Plans;
Soviet Claims Gains in Bitter Fighting;
Nazis Stall British Campaign in Libya
(EDITOR’S NOTE—When opinions are expressed in these columns, they
are those of the news analyst and not necessarily of this newspaper.)
..... .....•Released by Western Newspaper Union.) __________________
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This air view made from a British bombing plane shows the result
of aerial bomb hits on enemy barracks near Mellaha, Tripoli, during
a fierce raid that preceded the British push into Libya. The attack
was carried out by planes which flew close to roof-height of the buildings,
ROME:
Admits Revolt
With an air of having quelled the
whole thing, official Rome had ad-
mitted that ever since the start of
the war there has been a huge fifth
column organization busily engaged
in sabotage of the nation’s war ef-
fort.
Sixty of the leaders had already
been arrested and tried, it was re-
ported and at least one plot to assas-
sinate Mussolini had been quelled.
Official Rome accused Britain and
Russia of sponsoring the group, of
financing it and directing it.
Of chief interest was the fact that
it was centered in Trieste, center
of the largest Italian industrial con-
centration, and that much of its ac-
tivity had been the blowing up of
munitions factories.
Though it was claimed that 60
leaders had been arrested, the Ste-
fani report stated that 11 actual
perpetrators of many of the out-
rages were still at large.
Listed as taken from the plotters
were 450 pounds of high explo-
sives, 149 hand grenades, 75 incen-
diary bombs, two machine guns, 85
revolvers, rapid-fire pistols and thou-
sands of rounds of ammunition.
Though the report was confirma-
tory in many respects of previous
stories of revolt and terrorism in
Italy, many observers wondered
chiefly at the purpose in making an
official disclosure of the facts of the
trial at Trieste.
BRITAIN:
Libyan Drive
The British in Libya, basing their
general tactic on a split-up of the
German mechanized divisions into
two parts, met their first setback
when General Rommel’s Fifteenth,
“fighting recklessly and ferocious-
'ij*>Xiaccording to the London com-
muniqu'3'SvJ3UCceeded in reuniting.
Fortunately"^ the British, the
union was formed '1‘N^ide the general
trap on the Libyan ^tmp-” And
battling on land, making landings
successfully at several points on the
coast.
- British spokesmen at Cairo re-
garded the incident of the juncture
of the German forces simply as
“one of the downs in an up-and-
down fight,” said the imperial troops
had not lost their confidence nor
their, initiative, and that British
mechanized forces and airplanes
still were dominating the fighting.
He said:
“In this fluid battle which had
raged on the main front with fluctu-
ations over an area of more than
1,600 square miles for. many days,
the center of gravity has altered
almost daily as our or the enemy’s
main tank concentrations massed
for attsck or counter-attack.”
That was as clear a picture as it
was possible to obtain. It was not,
however, immediately discernible
from the war maps where Berlin,
still worried over the situation, but
a little more confident, had any-
thing to cheer about yet.
STRIKE:
Rail Settlement
President Roosevelt disclosed de-
tails of the settlement which had
averted the rail strike of 1,200,000
members of the brotherhoods and
had resulted in an estimated pay
increase of $200,000,000 to $300,000,-
000.
The basic pay of 350,000 operating
employees was raised 75 cents a
day. The base pay of 850,000 non-
operating workers was raised 80
cents a day.
Both were made retroactive to
September 1 on a partial basis of
these raises.
The extra wages to be paid out
under the retroactive agreement will
be approximately $67,000,000, or
about $22,500,000 a month.
Following December 1 the ratps
of pay, however, were to be in-
creased about $25,000,000 a month,
most observers finured.
RUSSIAN:
Victory Develops
The Russian communiques had
developed the extent of the Red
army’s outstanding victory of the
war around Rostov, and finally had
claimed that General Von Kleist’s
forces were fleeing from Timoshen-
ko’s armies Tight into a Soviet trap.
Germany, admitting the retreat in
the southern central front, had
sought to belittle it as a mere “di-
version” attack, and concentrated
its interest on the holes its forces
were punching in the Moscow de-
fense ring.
Kuibyshev declared that the shat-
tered remnants of Von Kleist’s
army was fleeing westward along
the northern shore of the Sea of
Asov, arid that between it and es-
cape was another large Russian
force which presumably had struck
southward from Kharkov, and whose
cutoff of the German supply line was
not Only hampering retreat but
meant eventual annihilation of the
armies unless they could escape by
sea.
JAPAN:
Exchange
President Roosevelt, attempting
to clarify the Japanese issue, for-
mally had placed before the Nip-
ponese government a demand that
it explain why Japan had sent so
many military, naval and air forces
into Indo-China, probably a jump-
ing off place for an attack on Thai-
land or the Burma road, perhaps
both.
The President did not consider
this demand an ultimatum.
At the time the Japanese reply to
the President’s request was being
handed to the state department in
Washington, Japanese newspapers
indicated that the steady rise of re-
sentment against U. S. interference
in Far Eastern affairs was continu-
ing. From Singapore came word
that ships had been ordered to that
point to remove Japanese nationals
the royal navy rapidly rul&Jd'SpJ from British and Dutch possessions
inforcements ashore to the armiesp^ that area. The situation in the
Pacific was" getting more critical
daily.
President Roosevelt, in his press
conference at which he discussed
his action, stressed that the demand
was to a friendly nation with whom
the United States was at peace and
hoped to remain that way.
But,' he added, he had been dis-
turbed' by reports of the large mili-
tary concentrations already in
Indo-China, and by further reports
that additional forces of all kinds,
military, naval and air which re-
cently had been sent there had ex-
ceeded the numbers agreed to by
the Vichy government, which had
submitted under duress.
On top of this, he said, there were
reports that Japan was now send-
ing to Indo-China reinforcements ■>
many times the numbers already
on hand.
MISCELLANY:
Tokyo: Telling the people to be
ready for anything, the press in-
formed Japanese that the British
were about to invade Thailand-
usual Axis prelude to an invasion
by its own forces.
* * *
Cleveland: The first rivetless all-
welded tank was to be turned out
this month at a factory here. The
new tank will be called the M-4.
* * *
Chicago: A great city gave an
outstanding welcome to the Sun,
new morning newspaper, published
by Marshall Field III with more
pre-publication fanfare than had
ever greeted the formation of a
newspaper.
* * *
London: The British passen-
ger ship Meriones, trapped when
grounded off the English coast, was
located by Nazi airplanes and swift-
ly destroyed by bombs. Some of
its cargo had been salvaged before
the bombing started.
h rr~~ rW®
Eleanor Roosevelt
DINNER WITH PRESIDENT
We had a very pleasant dinner
party one night, consisting of my
husband and myself! He ate milk
toast and I ate one poached egg,
which was good for our figures and
permitted much conversation, since
neither of us had to pay attention
to our food.
I spent the evening wrapping
Christmas presents and was joiried
by one of my friends, who arrived
from the train. She remarked that
she had not found me in such a
carefree mood for a long time.
There was no mail in sight and no
interviews scheduled, just a deluge
of Christmas wrapping paper, rib-
bons and cards.
* * *
PRIORITY PROBLEM
One noon, I met a very charming
young woman who, with her sister,
has taken over her late husband’s
business, the making of wire screen-
ing. Priorities affect this industry,
especially where they use copper.
It is not a very large industry and
the amount of materials needed in
it are not very great, but Mrs. John
Ralston is here not only in the inter-
ests of her own plant or the indus-
try, but because of the danger she
feels a shortage of screen wire will
mean to the health' of the nation.
She points out that screens are
of vital importance in our camps,
and in all our defense industry
buildings. Without them, we lay
ourselves open to epidemics of all
kinds which are spread by flies and
mosquitoes.
* * *
HEALTH GROUP
Talking of health, a most inter-
esting health co-operative came to
my attention the other day. It is
called the New York Volunteer
Health co-operative. You have a
certain freedom in the choice of doc-
tors. You pay $18 a year without
hospitalization. You cannot belong
if you earn more than $2,000 a year
while single, or $3,000 a year when
married. There are already over
1,000 members.
There is much I should like to
find out about this organization. For
instance, just what are the services
rendered if hospitalization is not in-
cluded? I suppose if there is only
a .limited choice of doctors, there
will b.e the same complaint about
the doctor-patient relationship. Peo-
ple in this salary range do need
more access to good and inexpen-
sive medical care.
* * *
FULL SCHEDULE
Here was my schedule on one
busy day:
Beginning with a meeting in the
morning at nine o’clock at the of-
fice of civilian defense, I had no
free minutes until I was back at
the White House at 12:15 to meet
and be photographed with Miss
Margaret Hamma, the world’s
champion typist. Then I went to. the
Women’s National Press club lunch-
eon.
In spite of my membership in this
club, I rarely manage to get there
for lunch. Tuesdays come and go
and there always seems to be some-
thing desperately necessary to be
done at home.
At 2:30 I went to the sale for
United China relief, received a group
of 10 people at the White House a
little after three, and made a four
o’clock plane for New York city.
This was fbllowed by a speech
that night at Hunter college.
* * *
WAR NEWS
I find it increasingly difficult to
feel either elated or depressed by
the news which comes to us from
the actual theaters of war. When I
read one dispatch, the Nazis claim
continuing victories. When I read
another, the other side has moved
forward without any setbacks. I
now just pray that I can believe the
things which I want to believe, and
try to forget the rest.
* * *
MUSIC AND DEFENSE
One. morning there came to my of-
fice in Civilian Defense headquar-
ters, three women representing the
National Federation of Music Clubs.
They told me of the work they are
doing for defense, and what they
have accomplished is really astound-
ing. Through their state and na-
tional organizations, they have al-
ready given phonographs to every
camp. They provide records and
their members volunteer to teach
choral singing, to play for entertain-
ments and to give concerts in vari-
ous camps and nearby places where
the boys congregate on leave.
Here is an organization which
really has something to offer in the
way of entertainment and has quiet-
ly gone about its work and already
accomplished a great deal.,
* * *
‘UNEMPLOYABLES’
I received an interesting little
folder the other day sent out by the
Community Service society in New
York city. It describes their em-
ployment service, which is largely
devoted to placing people who, for
one reason or another, have lest
confidence in their own ability to
hold a job. This is a difficult serv-
ice because it is hard to find the
right conditions and the right peo-
ple to work together, so that the
person to be rehabilitated will finally
feel capable of standing alone.
IMPROVED
UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL
CUNDAy jj
Dchool Lesson
By HAROLD L. LUNDQUIST. D. D.
Dean of The Moody Bible Institute
of Chicago.
(Released by JVestern Newspaper Union.)
Lesson for December 14
Lesson subjects and Scripture texts se-
lected and copyrighted by International
Council cf Religious Education;
permission.
itioi
4
CHRISTIAN STEWARDSHIP
LESSON TEXT—II Corinthians 8:1-9;
9:fi. 7.
GOLDEN TEXT—It is required in stew-
ards, that a man be found faithful.—I Corin-
thians 4:2.
The Christmas season, when there
is so much thought about gifts, is a
most appropriate time for a lesson
on Christian giving. Dr. John Willis
Baer wa§ once asked: “How can
we raise money for foreign mis-
sions?” Quick as a flash, he an-
swered: “Don’t raise it, give it.”
“If all believers could come to a true
knowledge of what the New Testa-
ment teaches regarding giving, and
would seriously put -this knowledge
into practice, the Christian church
could advance more in the next 10
years than it has advanced in any
50 years in its history” (Wilbur M.
Smith).
I. An Example of Liberality
(8:1-5).
For some reason people are over-
ly sensitive when one speaks of
money. The subject must be ap-
proached tactfully, so Paul skillfully
directs the attention of the Corin-
thian church to their fellow Chris-
tians in Macedonia. They had been
in great affliction and were in
“deep poverty” (v. 2), but out of
their sorrow and want they gave
far above Paul’s expectation (v. 5)
and “beyond their power,” and then
pleaded with Paul that he should
let them give more. The explana-
tion is found in verse 5, where we
learn that they had first given “their
own selves to the Lord,” and then
in loving co-operation with Paul
himself, as the Lord’s agent, in this
matter of the offering.
Is it not strange that those who
suffer most for the gospel and have
the least to give are the most gen-
erous in their giving. Those to
whom the gospel has come easily,
who bear no special burdens for
Christ, and who are well situated
financially, are commonly the most
stingy with their money. Could it
be that they have not really given
themselves to the Lord? One won-
ders. ,
II. An Exhortation to Faithful-
ness (8:6-9).
Apparently the Corinthians had
made a promise Gr pledge to give
for the poor at Jerusalem, but had
become a bit forgetful and negli-
gent. It seems to be so easy to
neglect to keep up a pledge for the
Lord’s work. Some folk even feel
that they cannot make a pledge.
They pledge to pay their rent,
to make payments on a car, or a
washing machine; but to the church
they just can’t pledge, dr if they
do, the promise is often neglected.
Such things are dishonoring to the
name of Christ.
As they abound in other graces (v.
7), Paul exhorts the Corinthians to
abound in “this grace also.” So
giving is a Christian grace! And
why not? Consider Christ (v. 9),
who left the glory He had with the
Father and came to the poverty of
the One who had not where to lay
His head, that we through Him
might be eternally rich.
Christian friend, when that truth
lays hold of your heart and life your
purse strings will loosen, your check
book will open more easily, you will
gladly give—for Christ’s sake.
III. A Principle of Christian Giv-
ing (9:6).
The harvest is always in propor-
tion to the sowing of the seed. The
man who is stingy with his seed at
sowing time will reap that kind of a
harvest. The opposite is also true.
It works in the field of business
too. The merchant who gives the
fullest return for one’s money and
the most liberal measure of service
is bound to prosper, while the stingy
one is left to lament the fact that
his goods rot on his shelves.
In the spiritual realm it is even
more true. But, someone may
say, we ought not to do good that
we may profit by it. No real Chris-
tian will give just that he may pros-
per, but, mark it well, if he does
give for Christ’s sake and His glory,
God will prosper him. “You can’t
beat God giving.”
IV. The Spirit of Christian
Stewardship (9:7).
Our giving is to be done according
to the purpose of our heart—not
grudgingly, nor with grief, nor yet
by compulsion, because someone put
on pressure.
God loves a cheerful or (as it may
be translated) hilarious giver. When
done in the right spirit, giving for
Christ can be one of the happiest
experiences of the Christian life.
Let’s make offering time in our
church services the most joyful
time in the meeting. Then we shall
be liberal as well as cheerful in
this grace of stewardship.
Faith in Christ
“Martha said, ‘Lord, if thou hadst
been here, my brother bad not died.’
Of all the true d sciples of Christ
this may with perfect confidence be
said, ‘He is here, therefore they
shall not die.’ Faith causes Christ to
ae present in t’rife heart; and where
Christ is, eternal death cannot be.”
—Dean Howson.
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Blackwell, J. O. The Mathis News (Mathis, Tex.), Vol. 26, No. 50, Ed. 1 Friday, December 12, 1941, newspaper, December 12, 1941; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1039088/m1/7/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Mathis Public Library.