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Show kVl X1 DREVTPEAXSDN hri W C RQBERTAitLEN Washington, D. C. HOODOOED NOKMANDIE There is not much consolation t be had in connection with the virtua sinking of the S. S. Normandie ex cept for one thing. The French had gone to a lot o: expense to build the giant vessel sc that she could be converted to ar airplane carrier in wartime. To thi! end, special funnels were arranged on the side of the deck, to give space for runways; especially large elevators eleva-tors were installed at each end oi the ship; and the top deck consisted of the biggest "sports" deck in the world. However, U. S. naval engineers decided that despite all the French preparations, the Normandie's upper decks were not strong enough to hold a flock of planes. The French had sacrificed reinforcements below, for the purpose of beauty in the passenger pas-senger salons. As a troop ship the Normandie was considered useful, but not nearly near-ly so useful proportionately as a medium-sized vessel, such as the Manhattan. Reason: big ships draw so much water that they could not efficiently carry troops to Dakar or West African ports. Small boats would be necessary to take soldiers and cargo ashore. Also the Normandie was too big to get through the Suez canal. SINKING U. S. TANKERS The navy is being more hush-hush than usual regarding the sinkings ol oil tankers off the Atlantic coast. However, here are a few important facts about the situation which are not military secrets. First fact is encouraging. The tankers sunk were old, small and slow. All of them were 20 years old or over, and the largest, Standard Oil's India Arrow, was 8,327 tons. On the surface, this would indicate indi-cate that oil and gasoline losses on the East coast would not be heavy. However, this is not the case. For all of the big, new American tankers tank-ers have been taken over by the navy. This was under an arrangement arrange-ment whereby the maritime commission com-mission bad lent the oil companies around $800,000 per vessel to build fast modem tankers making 19 knots. This is so fast that they can avoid submarines and also keep up with the fleet. However, these new tankers, built in co-operation with the navy, are now with the fleet. Buy Defense Bonds HEAVY LOSSES Two other factors indicate the importance im-portance of the sinkings on the Atlantic At-lantic coast. One is an announcement announce-ment made by the British last week that sinkings for the entire Atlantic, including the East Coast of the United Unit-ed States, had been heavier in January than ever before. The other oth-er is the fact that comprehensive rationing ra-tioning of oil and gasoline for the East coast is now a certainty. In other words, oil and tanker losses have been very heavy. Reason for these losses is easy to understand. It requires no official explanation. As everyone knows, especially the enemy, we had to rush various kinds of shipping to the Pacific to replace the damage done at Pearl Harbor. Also we had a large number of warships busy convoying vessels across the North Atlantic. Hence we have been caught short-handed short-handed on the East coast. Note: Most people don't realize it, but the oil shortage along the Atlantic At-lantic could be relieved considerably considera-bly by a curtailment of tank car rates on gasoline and fuel oil. Last fall the rail rates were reduced on crude oil but not on gasoline or fuel oil. POLITICAL-GO-ROUND Democratic insiders are predicting predict-ing that Gov. Herbert Lehman of New York will be persuaded to run for a fourth term this year. Lehman has told party chiefs he doesn't want another term, but they urge him to be a candidate again on the ground of wartime duty . . . Meanwhile, former District Attorney Tom Dewey Dew-ey is busy behind-the-scenes organizing organiz-ing his political fences for another try at the governorship. This will be the springboard for a second shot at the G.O.P. presidential nomination nomina-tion in 1944. Wisconsin's Gov. Julius Heil will run for a third term this year to get himself in position to take on isolationist Sen. Alex Wiley when be comes up for re-election in 1944. Both are Republicans, but privately no love is lost between them. Fiorello LaGuardia's ambition always al-ways has been to become a U. S. senator after he steps out as mayor of New York city. Buy Defense Bonds MERJtY-GO-ROUND In Trenton, N. J., the giant General Gen-eral Electric company will be tried on charges of monopolistic control of electric light globe patents. It will be one of the most important ant trust trials in history. If the government govern-ment wins the case, the effect will have far-reaching consequences on all patent controls. The treasury department has ordered or-dered customs officials to wear black silk neckties with their new uniforms. |