Show weekly news analysis nazis reel under pressure of heavy air attacks and sea losses EDITORS NOTE when opinions 0 ions A us expressed in these colan columns t faey ey are JT those thos e of 0 I 1 western Nes newspaper paper union news analysts sad and sot not necessarily of 0 this newspaper INVASION eisenhower Elsen hower commands hillers Hit lers agh command shuttled troops in astern western europe as americas fourstar four star gen dwight D eisenhower assumed command of allied forces and the stage was set et for the big second front britaina Brit ains air chief marshal arthur tedder stood at general eis en bowers howers side as deputy commander with britaina Brit ains adm bertram ramsay as the leader of naval forces and britaina Brit ains air marshal trafford leigh mallory in charge of all air forces As the allies supreme command buried itself in the mass of invasion detail the tensed germans reported heavy aerial bombardment of their channel fortifications and commando attacks along the french coast to test their defense As the germans awaited the grand assault said nazi marshal erwin rommel our defenses are technically cor FORTRESS EUROPE step up action bringing heavy artillery into play gen mark darks clarks fifth army blasted the nazis from strong points blocking the 75 mile road to rome while farther to the east the british clambered past the adriatic bastion of ortona won after more than a week of vicious street to street fighting As U S and british troops punched their way through the nazis stiff mountain defenses in ift southern italy aerial and naval warfare in europe stepped up fleets of allied bombers winged their way over the english channel to pound nazi fortifications along y I 1 t e 1 Z germanas germanys Germ anys scharnhorst the french coast and the RAF rained another 2234 tons of explosives on battered hapless berlin following the british home fleets sinking of the ton nazi battleship scharnhorst off north cape norway light allied and german naval units tangled in the atlantic off the french coast with airplanes being called into play to help sink three enemy destroyers and a speedy blockade runner RUSSIA reds advance delivering trip hammer blows all along the mile russian front red armies surged forward again in the south as germanys germanas Germ anys harassed high command shifted forces to cheik the big push the reds heavy blows in the south fell as german resistance stiffened in the north around quickly shifting the gravity of their attack the russ struck on a mile front in the south first punching hard at mir then punching still harder above that railway hub at Ko resten this winters russian offensive was a real slugging match with each tide side in the south primarily concerned with exhausting the other A 16 pae Z D y ai NEV BRITAIN DEC IS new britain m mp map P shows points of U S landings on new britain island at araw on south and cape gloucester on north seel see southwest pacific agriculture meat production farmers received an all time high of four billion dollars for livestock slaughtered under federal inspection in 1943 as meat production also reached an all time high of more than 24 billion pounds fifty per cent more meat was produced than during the 10 year prewar average but after allocations to the government civilian consumption was held to the prewar rate of pounds per person because of rationing however supplies were more evenly distributed than formerly meat output for 1944 was estimated at 25 billion million pounds of which 8 billion million pounds I 1 will be required for military and lend lease purposes program to help stimulate production and fulfill commitments to support crop and ave Uv eSk prices the commodity credit corporation spent 3 billion dollars during the 1943 fiscal year As of december 18 possessed bushels of wheat under 1942 loan while bushels were redeemed wheat s stocks at that date totaled bushels principal objective of the 1943 program was to increase the production of vegetable oils dairy and poultry products and meats an and d at the same time to underwrite OPA price ceilings U S NAVY 42 carriers the U S finds itself well equipped as naval operations throughout the world quicken with uncle sams navy boasting of 42 aircraft carriers including sleek destroyer escorts for protecting convoys the U S started the war with seven corsair and hellcat fighter planes taking off from the carriers decks have increased their striking power and a deadly new dive bomber has been put in service during 1943 the navy trained twice as many pilots as in 1942 and three times as many combat planes were sent to the front during 1943 arming of merchant ships was speeded now being outfitted with weapons FOOD chickens points As the war food administration requisitioned lak million pounds of dressed chicken nd ind fowl for th the e government OPA slashed point values on canned vegetables and ordered frozen vegetables point free action was prompted by the governments inability to obtain more than 20 per cent of the fowl they required in recent months and the army was said to be particularly anxious to get the poultry for sunday dinners at camp and hospital diets civilians may be little aff affected act by order however since it does docs not apply to stock stored after december 30 1943 because of comfortable stocks of canned green and wax beans zero point values were established for them A 10 per cent reduction in consumer demands for canned peas and tomatoes during the last two months led OPA to chop their point values for no 2 and 2 cans to 15 in an attempt to move frozen vegetables from storage to make room for record pork stocks all point values were removed OPA UPHELD reply to house officials of the office ot of price administration in replying to a house committee charge that the OPA was guilty of usurpation and abuse of its powers pointed out that the courts have upheld the OPA orders in nearly all tests out of cases to the end of september the courts have rendered decisions favorable to the OPA in all but actions officials said they also denied that OPA regulations have caused widespread business failures RAILROADS strike off seeking to avert a threatened strike after the switchmen conductors and firemen and engi nemen had refused his offer to arbitrate their wage demands against the carriers president roosevelt quickly seized the nations railroads for the government ern ment representing about men the three unions had balked at presidential ident ial intervention even after the trainmen and engineers accepted proposal as a result of at which they received an overall pay increase of 9 cents an hour also accepting offer at the last minute were the 15 non ing railroad unions representing employees who suddenly agreed to a former government proposal of pay increases ranging from 10 cents an hour for the lowest paid to 4 cents an hour for the highest paid but also insisted on overtime compensation past 40 hours biggest year nineteen hundred and forty three was the greatest year in iii the history of american railroads 1 billion ton miles of freight were handled a ton mile equaling one ton hauled one mile 2 passenger traffic totaled 85 billion passenger miles 3 gross earnings exceeded 9 91 billion dollars although net operating income amounted to 1 billion in million on dollars LEND LEASE aid A id to russia with many of its great industrial cities razed and natural resources overrun 3 billion dollars of lend lease assistance bolstered soviet russia in its critical hours to the russ the U S has sent nearly planes tanks submachine sub machine guns trucks jeeps field telephones and miles of field telephone wire in addition the U S has sent tons of steel tons of nonferrous non ferrous metal tons of chemicals tons of petroleum products and more than metal cutting tools besides sending wheat flour meats tats fats and oils the U S also has supplied tons of seeds to russ farmers GOODS distribution change allotments communities that have been finding difficulty in getting their share of such scarce items as flashlights bobby pins cooking utensils and electric appliances can expect a larger supply soon the war production board has asked manufacturers and wholesalers to make voluntary changes in their allotment schedules shortages are particularly acute in cities that have expanded in the last year or two because of an influx of war workers merchants in these communities were allowed only about the same quantity of goods that they had been buying in prewar years wholesalers promise to rectify this unfair situation highlights in n the weeks news INSURANCE british maritime insurance companies have reduced the war risk rates on cargoes to and from the united kingdom to about half the former rate reflecting the greater security of the seas 0 cartoonist arthur young famous cartoonist and author is dead at 77 in new york he was active in campaigns for woman suffrage labor organization abolition of child labor and other reform movements he worked on chicago denver and new york papers AUTOS postwar postwar a automobiles 1 uto mobiles will be lighter and will consume about half as much gasoline as the present models do says an official of the vacuum oil company he also mentioned the possible development of steam and electrically propelled cars to save motor fuel 0 PRESSURE COOKERS the government has taken pressure cookers off the ration lists list but all purchasers will be required to specify that they intend to use the cookers tor for preserving food bretal retal retailers lers have SOUTHWEST PACIFIC bombings jar japs japans great air and shipping base ot of on new britain came within closer range of U S bombing planes with the marines capture of el two air strips on cape gloucester on the western end of the island following up ra g heavy bombing which helped crumple the strong line ot of pill boxes the marines stormed remaining gen krueger jap positions with flame throwers th rowers As the marines advanced at cape gloucester elements of gen walter krue gers sixth army encountered heavy resistance at to the south the allies made increasing use of air power to jar the japs loose on the wide pacific front dropping gasoline tanks on enemy strong points on bougainville bougainvillea Bou gainville and sending fleets of bombers to pound installations on the marshall islands ier ATHLETE S awarded trophy gilbert dodds a boston divinity student has been voted the athlete who has done the most to advance the cause of sportsmanship during the year he was awarded the james E sullivan memorial trophy by the amateur athletic union dodds is a track star who has won the national indoor mile title and the 1500 meter race bill smith swimmer from ohio state U who is now in the navy placed second and joseph perennial handball champion from chicago was named hamed third the trophy was first awarded in 1930 when it went to bobby jones the golfer nine other trac kmen before dodds have been honored similarly DEBTS going down while the federal debt has been soaring all other obligations both public and private have been going down since the beginning of the war a survey shows states and cities have been employing their increased revenues resulting largely from greater busi ness activity to paying off their bonds and notes most corporations are applying part of their improved earnings to debt retirement too during 1942 total nonfederal non federal debt declined 3 billion dollars been instructed to take the customers word for it those wan wanting tin 9 cookers for other purposes must make application with the war food administration office in washington restaurants the nations restaurants hard pressed by food restrictions and difficulties in keeping employees are serving 25 million persons daily 0 0 FAT the housewives of america have salvaged million pounds of fat and turned it in tor for manufacture since the campaign began in july 1942 it is announced 0 0 0 ROOSTER A crow less rooster and a new breed of all purpose chickens are on display at the poultry show in new york FASHIONS ruffles and unnecessary trimming are coming off costumes of movie actresses as designers strive to comply with wishes of the office of price administration th the e new and simple fashions are intended to save cloth released by western newspaper union |