OCR Text |
Show llMhlixgfah in f9TAi,LBN Washington, D. C. , DONOVAN'S RKAL GOAL IS CRUF.L'E Inside fact regarding the present mystery trip of Col. William LVjno- van to Europe is that his real destination des-tination is Greece. F.n route, however, he will stop in North Africa where he will see his old World war friend. Marshal Weygand, now controlling the large French army in Africa. If this powerful force took the field on the side of the British, the Italians, already in a precarious position posi-tion as a result of their defeats in Greece, would be finished. This would release British naval forces for desperately needed convoy work in the Atlantic. Also it would have repercussions In tiie Far East, where the Japanese military have been greedily eyeing the rich Dutch East Indies and Indo-China. Indo-China. With the British supreme in the Mediterranean and their big fleet available for operations elsewhere. Japan would think twice before attempting at-tempting any new grabs. On the Greek front, Donovan will make a survey similar to that which he made in England last spring. In England last spring, Donovan made a thorough survey of invasion defenses, military intelligence and the royal air force. He spent a week in the field with the British army and made several flights with the R.A.F. Various U. S. army, air corps and navy observers are now attached to the British forces as the result of Donovan's trip; also he established close Intelligence ties on Axis espionage and fifth column operations. op-erations. On his previous British mission, Donovan traveled as the personal representative of Navy Secretary Knox. PRE-ADJOURNMENT JUNKET On November 19, when the house defeated a motion to adjourn until January, members righteously declared de-clared that congress should remain on the job in these grave days of emergency. But today a dozen members of the house are enjoying a cushy junket to Panama, at the expense of the government. And with one exception, everyone of the group voted to stay on the job. On December 5, a fortnight after so voting, they quietly sailed from New York on the S. S. Panama, which is owned by the government. They will spend two weeks cruising and three days in Panama. Several are members of the military mili-tary affairs committee and might have some legitimate reason for making a "defense inspection," but the war department says it knows nothing about the junket. LONGEST SPEECH Tom Dewey got a thrill and a chuckle from his luncheon at the Capitol with Floor Leader Joe Martin Mar-tin and other house Republicans. The thrill was an invitation to be the principal speaker at the G. O. P. Lincoln day dinner, which the ambitious am-bitious district attorney accepted. The chuckle was evoked by a story sto-ry about the "longest political speech on record" which gangling, curly-haired Rep. John M. Robsion of Kentucky, a member of the Lincoln Lin-coln day committee, said he made when he first ran for congress in 1918. One hot July night during the campaign Robsion addressed a big crowd in a county courthouse and was amazed by the enthusiastic reception. re-ception. Cheers rent the air with every sentence and there was a vociferous vo-ciferous "more, more" when he tried to conclude after an hour. As he was leaving with the local sheriff, Robsion boasted: "These people sure were enthusiastic. It looks like this county is in the bag." "Don't set too much store by the way them fellers carried on, Jack," confided the sheriff. "Nobody there (hie) was sober but you." WHAT BRITONS READ WPA's library service made an interesting discovery in a survey to ascertain what the people of war-strafed war-strafed Britain are reading these days. One fact uncovered was that the long, dreary hours of blackout, with no outside recreation, have greatly revived interest in household arts and handicraft Books on these subjects sub-jects are at a premium. Also, the classics are In heavy demand, with Shakespeare, Chaucer, Dickens and Kipling as the favorites. But the one subject in which Britons Brit-ons are most interested is the author of their affliction. The most widely read book in England, according ac-cording to the WPA survey, is Hitler's Hit-ler's "Mein Kampf." MERRY-GO-RGCND Every ship in the L. S. navy s being equipped with a DeGausslng cable, the anti-magnetic mine device de-vice used so successfully by the British. The installation job is tremendous tre-mendous and will require more than 40.000,000 feet of cable. Nels Anderson, WPA labor relations rela-tions director, received a letter from a wartime buddy addressed, "Nels Anderson, White House, Washington, D. C, care of Secretary of Commerce." Com-merce." Notwithstanding this, the letter was delivered promptly. |