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Show Jot MMMmi ROBOT PLANE SCORES HITS WASHINGTON.-No military se-cret se-cret is more closely guarded than a lenrational new robot airplane now beinjj tried out secretly by the navy in both Hawaii and Langley field. Va. Navy experts have been working for more than 10 years to develop a reliable "pilotless" plane operated by radio control. Observers who have witnessed some of the latest tests, pronounce the device as near miraculous. A robot bomber takes efT, discharges its bombs over a distant dis-tant target, returns to base and lands without being touched by a human hand. The distance of the target is calculated cal-culated in advance, and when the robot reaches it a device automatically automat-ically releases the bombs. Naturally Nat-urally the aiming is largely a matter mat-ter of chance, but in the tests a number num-ber of direct hits were scored. The cruising radius of the robots is limited lim-ited only by fuel supply and the radio frequency .range. While most effective at short distances, dis-tances, the robot can be used for long-range bombing in conjunction with piloted planes or by a so-called system of "relay control," that is, by radio stations along the line ,)f flight. So closely is the Invention guarded that navy officers have been warned that any talk about it will be considered con-sidered a violation of the Espionage act, and make them subject to court martial and dismissal DEFENSE 'INFLUENCE There was a hidden brickbat in that sharp warning issued by Assistant Assist-ant War Secretary Robert Patterson that no one has an "inside track" in the awarding of army defense contracts. . What the mild-mannered former U. S. Circuit court judge didn't say was that he is planning to insert a little clause in every army contract requiring contractors to swear they paid no commissions or any other fees to obtain the order. Penalty for doing so is cancellation of the contract con-tract Under the law Patterson is legally responsible for the entire industrial mobilization program and passes on every large army contract The boasts of certain lobbyists and high-pressure high-pressure promoters that they can get army orders through "inside influence" influ-ence" are, therefore, a direct reflection reflec-tion on him. He doesn't like it one bit and has no intention of putting up with it Some of the "influence" operators have even told officials of cities they could deliver defense projects which bad already been located elsewhere by the war department for strategic reasons. ' DUTCH PRINCESS Inside story of the expected White House visit of Crown Princess Juli-sna Juli-sna of The Netherlands is that she and Mrs. Roosevelt have kept up a correspondence ever since the princess prin-cess arrived in Canada six months ago with her two baby daughters. The visit to Washington might have come sooner, but the princess put it off because she didn't relish round of extravagant entertainment. entertain-ment. She wants to avoid being dined and wined while her own people, peo-ple, now under German domination, are living on rationed food. The princess, with her two children, chil-dren, has been living in a rented house in Ottawa. Her husband. Prince Bernhard, is in London as aide-de-camp to Queen Wilhelmina, and her brother is reported to be in a German concentration camp. In Ottawa, the princess has not entertained, has amused herself by walking and playing tennis. She will be a White House guest for two days, beginning December 18. 'at aa aa CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS The man responsible for the light sentence given the eight divinity college col-lege students who refused to register for the draft was not the New York court but Attorney General Robert Jackson. The young men, who were students stu-dents of Union Theological seminary, were about to receive a three-year sentence. ' But as a result of Jackson's Jack-son's intervention, they got a year and a day. Jackson polled the judges in advance ad-vance of the decision and found they were all In favor of a long, stiff sentence. Partly for humanitarian reasons, and partly because he didn't want the boys to become martyrs mar-tyrs who would arouse wide popular objection to the law, Jackson instructed in-structed U. S. Attorney Cahill to ask for a short sentence. The students now may get out in even less than a year. The short sentence makes them eligible for White House reprieve, whereas with longer sentence, the President would not have felt free to Intervene. see MERRY-GO-ROUND Mrs. Roosevelt isn't the only White House devotee of square dancing. Another enthusiast is handsome young Jimmy Rowe, White House secretary, who belongs to a club staging square dances once a week. Jimmy's favorite is the "cowboy rtorap." |