Show 1 z E EN Washington D C 1 MEDITERRANEAN AN KEY Key to the fateful battle battIe of the Mediterranean wh ch is about to burst m full fury is not the Suez canal canal but Britain s great naval base at Alexandria miles west of the canal entrance The loss of Alexandria would de deprive de- de deprive deprive the British of their key bridgehead in northern Africa and ensure Axis on of the eastern Mediterranean Actually the Suez canal itself has been of 1 the value to the British for months It went out of use as the so called life line of the em emp emp p re when the Ax s air attack that severely damaged the air carrier II proved it was suicidal to attempt to convoy shipping through the long and narrow waterway waterwayS S nce nee then the ed has been a no man s land for all tIle the bell While 2 miles In length its narrow width at certa n places has made it extremely haz hazardous hazardous for both sides and the BrIt BrItIsh British Ish have been rout ng their shipping around the Cape of Good Hope for some t me Loss of the Mediterranean would of course be a ser ous blow to tIle the British but it would by no means end the war or mean victory for tor the AxIS With her fleet intact Britain would still be able to carry the fight to Hitler and Mussolini MACHINE 1 TOOLS Chief reason behind the big cur curtailment curtailment in m auto production was the release of urgently needed machine tools for tor defense The machine tool bottleneck could be broken over overnight overnight night if all the mach ne tools owned by the motor industry were turned to the making of planes tanks and other armament Defense experts est mate that there are around 1 machine tools in m the U S of which more than halt hall are in plants making motor mo motor motor tor vehicles or parts for tor them andin and andin m in the all ed metal fabricating industry m in industry The list includes grinders mil m 11 ng mach nes lathes boring machines presses gear cutters dr Hers llers and shapers all vital in m the product on of defense equipment New output of machine tools IS ISnow isnow isnow now speeding at the tIle rate of 14 U a month This is a spectacular achievement and a great tribute to the industry But it is only a drop m in the bucket compared to the machine tools already possessed pos possessed possessed by the auto and metal tab fab neat ng es as which army men say would increase defense production production tion to full flow immediately If pooled and devoted entirely to th s purpose HIDDEN COLLEAGUE A stocky gray haired man flanked by a group of sightseers approached a Capitol policeman and asked directions to the off ce of Sen Hiram Johnson of a Tucked away in an obscure corner con cor corner connor nor ner of the north s de of the Capitol where tourists never tread Johnson John Johnson Johnson son s office is one of the tIle hardest to find in the grea great t structure Ill I U 11 do my best to explain how to get there said the policeman Are ou JOU you a touriSt No grinned the tIle inquirer I m the other senator from Senator Downey TERRY FERRY SCHOOL Everybody is wondering how tIle the swarms of fight ng planes which U S factories will produce for tor the British in m the next 12 months willbe will willbe willbe ll be delivered overseas The answer for the tIle big ships is that they will willbe willbe willbe be flown and across across and in such great grea t numbers that the British are setting up a special pilot training school for that purpose in the United States The school will give an intensive refresher and training course to vol volunteer volunteer volunteer pilots to qualify them for or ferrying the big bombers across the Atlantic The volunteers may be British British Canad an or American However It is expected that the tIle largest numbers num numbers numbers bers will be Americans The British can use of them GOOD NEIGHBOR PILOTS Another Good Neighbor gesture will soon be made to our Immediate neighbor to the south Mexico The Thesta sta state te department will offer pilot training courses to a number of Mexican youths in the United States Initiator of the tIle idea was Vice President Henry Wallace When he vIsited Mexico last year one of the problems discussed was the short short- shortage shortage shortage age of aviators m in the Mex can army Wallace was told that Mexico Mex MexICO Mexico ICO wanted to undertake a pilot pilot- training pilot training program s milar to that m in inthe inthe the Un ted led States but lacked planes and instructors MERRY GO ROUND Leading economists rate the m in industrial and financial surveys com completed by the 0 O Mahoney monopoly committee as the most valuable source material on the economy of the country ever comp led Department of ot o agriculture is rec a new plant to hold so I 1 Im m in the gull cs but es-but but they wish the Japanese would tell how to produce the seed Known as kudzu it tt is one of the plant secrets of Japan It serves not only as a soil soli binder but ItI I Also as liS a feed teed surpass ng alfalfa |