OCR Text |
Show Go-!Qurip kit flit) peurpiW&i'H Washington, D. C. CUTTING NAVY TAPE Behind Admiral King's forthright order slashing navy red tape 50 per cent and ordering more navy officers out of Washington, was an interesting comparison with the Japanese navy, conducted backstage back-stage by some of the President's advisers. Americans, recently familiar with Japan, have reported that the Japanese Jap-anese navy is staffed by only about 1,000 personnel in Tokyo. In contrast, con-trast, the navy department in Washington Wash-ington has more than 30,000 not including in-cluding the navy yard. The Japanese navy also is reported report-ed to have cut red tape and government gov-ernment reports to the bone and it gives widest latitude to commanders command-ers at sea. The U. S. navy also gives wide latitude to commanders in distant posts, such as Admiral Leary in New Zealand, Admiral Nimitz at Pearl Harbor. But in home waters, especially in antisubmarine anti-submarine warfare along the East coast, insiders say the navy has suffered suf-fered from a constant stream of reports re-ports and orders to and from Washington Wash-ington requiring a tremendous staff for the paper work alone. Now Admiral King offers promotions promo-tions to officers who will decrease their Washington bureaus rather than increase them. GASOLINE CZAR The one-man dynamo who runs the gas rationing system of the U. S. A. is a preacher's son and a former professor of economics. Though one of the most harassed men in Washington, he is constantly on the verge of breaking into a broad smile. Only 35 years old, he has gray hair about the ears, thin hair on top, works so late into the night that his wife, mother of a new-born boy, seldom sees him. "I generally general-ly make the 2 a. m. feeding," he says. Joel Dean was born in Vermont, schooled in California, and has a doctor's degree from Harvard, where he wrote a thesis on small loans. He spent a year as European manager man-ager of a travel bureau, two years as traveling salesman for International Interna-tional Business Machine, and seven years as teacher and research expert..' ex-pert..' As a fellow economist, he always admired Leon Henderson, but never met him until he came to Washington Washing-ton less than a year ago. To effect his own economy in gasoline, he formed a "Drive-In Club" with four other OPA officials. They take turns driving to the office of-fice from Arlington, Va., across the river. When brickbats fly in the OPA office, of-fice, Dean recalls that his father, a Congregational minister, wanted him to be a missionary on a South Sea island. "Many people," says Dean, "wish that I had fulfilled that mission." ARMY HOUR PROGRAM "Jamming" radio programs is one of the recognized weapons of modern mod-ern warfare. But it is a two-edged sword, and the war department radio ra-dio branch is ready to swing on the Axis if the prize Army Hour, on Sundays, is jammed again. . Jamming by manufactured static or other interference is feasible in the United States only on short-wave broadcasts. The Army Hour features fea-tures short-wave talks from all over the world, made by such noted personages per-sonages as Mme. Chiang Kai-shek, General MacArthur, General Wav-ell, Wav-ell, and others. The most recent case of jamming was during a talk by a high ranking army officer from the Dutch island of Curacao. A piano pi-ano banged loudly all the time he spoke. Winston Churchill's latest speech, which came on the radio immediately immedi-ately before the army hour, was jammed by a gutteral Teutonic voice carefully observing Churchill's own pauses in an effort to escape detection. de-tection. These two cases of jamming were traced by triangrulation to Axis broadcasting stations. The army proposes to retaliate if this deliberate interference doesn't stop. WAR FLASHES C If you are a business executive, and uncertain about tax deductions for advertising and pay increases, you can get "informal" advice by applying to the internal revenue bureau bu-reau under a new treasury ruling. C OPA agents are checking up on private airports on tips that they are bootlegging high octane gas to car drivers. High octane won't run a car by itself, but makes a very smooth-running fuel if mixed with lower grade gas. C. Guerrilla warfare in Russia has become so highly organized that every ev-ery third guerrilla now is armed with an automatic rifle, ft The war department soon will break still more precedents. It will start accepting women doctors in the army medical corps. They will be assigned chiefly to the WAAC, and also for general eye, ear, nose and throat work. ft The army's new M-l helmet, that comes far over the cheeks, neck and forehead and is much stronger than the old raky "tin-hat." is now being distributed to all soldiers. |