Show Washington Washington Round Merry K earson o Drew I WASHINGTON The The Truman committee issued a report report report re re- re- re port on it yet but when some of its members investigated New England war installations they got a striking illustration of faulty teamwork between different different different differ differ- ent branches of the armed forces Major General Sherman Miles commander of the first service command with headquarters at Boston traveled with them At Atone Atone Atone one point they came across a cavalry outfit riding in jeeps They were operating in General Miles' Miles area presumably under his command yet he had not known they were there The war department had not notified him Traveling farther south General General General Gen Gen- eral Miles and the committee bumped into a signal corps company engaged in interceptor work work listening listening for enemy air air- planes Again General Miles did not know they were in his area At a certain airfield Senator Ralph O. O Brewster asked the commanding air corps colonel what he would do if a nazi submarine submarine submarine sub sub- marine was sighted in the bay bayas as as had happened not long be be- foreWell foreWell foreWell fore Well said the colonel Id run out and catch the commander command command- er of a squadron and try to persuade persuade persuade per per- suade him to fly out over the bay and bomb the submarine The colonel was not as dumb as he sounded For he had no command over bomber squadrons squadrons squadrons squad squad- rons on his field They are sent from other points for practice training for fora a few weeks at a time and there appears to be belittle belittle belittle little or no correlation between different commanders even when they belong to the air corps Note There is a notable improvement improvement improvement im im- im- im provement in cooperation between between between be be- tween men at the top of the armed forces but still a lot to tobe tobe tobe be learned by those lower down The army is on the firing linein line in more ways than one Colonel F. F V V. Fitzgerald works from 8 a a. a m. m until 7 p p. p m. m in war departments department's departments department's departments department's depart depart- ments ment's bureau of public rela rela- At night he tries to sleep sometimes without suc suc- l cess At 2 a a. a m. m one day he was roused by a phone call from a local news desk The colonel supposed it was nothing less than the opening of a second front Colonel said a voice at theother theother the theother other end Could you tell us the name of the chief of staff George C. C Marshall was Fitzgeralds Fitzgerald's patient reply what I thought said the newsman We Ve would have called our own military expert but hes he's probably asleep Government officials dealing with the problem of mileage rationing rationing rationing ra ra- ra- ra have eagerly awaited re reports reports reports re- re ports of the first months month's gas rationing in the eastern area These reports are now in and although not yet made public here are the official findings The goal was a 50 per cent reduction in the consumption of gasoline This goal not only has been reached but has been passed One oil company with gasoline gasoline gasoline gas gas- oline stations reported that sales dropped more than 60 per cent from the same period last year Checks made at certain strategic strategic strategic strate strate- gic points such as the Hudson tunnel have indicated a similar reduction in m traffic Furthermore it looks as if by September 22 when the first two-month two period ends the rate of reduction will be even greater since many people have not carefully carefully carefully care care- fully budgeted their use of gasoline gasoline gasoline gas gas- oline anti and now find themselves with only one or two coupons left When W. W Averill Harriman and Josef Stalin sat down at the same conference table in Moscow last month they charted ways of defending an area over which they once fought For the Caucasus contains not only oil but some of the finest manganese deposits in the world and Harriman once had a lease to develop them The lease was given to him by the soviet government government government gov gov- and Harriman spent several million dollars on transportation transportation transportation trans trans- facilities to export the theore theore theore ore from the Caucasus Then the soviet expropriated the property and for years Harriman Harriman Harriman Har Har- riman haggled over a settlement Now he is helping to defend it from the nazis War Var flashes Frank Grillo Grille president of the United Rubber Workers is one man who doesn't believe that labor leaders at home are more necessary than fighters at the front He has resigned from the Rubber Workers Work Work- ers and asked for his old job back in the army He wants to tobe tobe tobe be a sergeant Only 30 to 40 thousand men face each other in inthe inthe inthe the narrow strip of desert which forms the battlefield of Egypt About or thousand men are on each side behind the lines but the battle there is small compared with some six million men fighting along a mile 1500 front in Russia Most people think of ships actually sunk as the chief casualty in a naval bat bat- tle But one danger to the U.S. U.S. U U. S. S fleet in the south Pacific lies in ships damaged Some of Admiral Ghormley's ships naturally naturally naturally nat nat- have been hit and sometimes sometimes sometimes some some- times it takes three to four weeks to send a ship to Pearl Harbor or longer if to California California California Califor Califor- nia for Jor repairs For the time being a ship damaged is as bad badas badas badas as a ship sunk |