OCR Text |
Show Washington, D. C. INDO-CHINESE BASES Public attention has been so closely close-ly riveted on the war in Europe and upon the Lease-Lend debate that alarming developments in the Far East have escaped almost unnoticed. un-noticed. This is the fact that the Japanese Jap-anese are now within definite striking strik-ing distance of Singapore and the Dutch East Indies; and that Berlin has been urging Japan to become the aggressor in the south Pacific In order to divert American attention atten-tion away from Europe. No one knows better than the German Ger-man foreign office that the American Amer-ican people are skittish about having hav-ing two oceans both Atlantic and Pacific churned up at once. So German attempts to persuade Japan to focus American attention on the Far East are nothing new. Absolutely new, however, is the fact that the Japanese are in a much more strategic position to take over the Malays and the Dutch East Indiestwo In-diestwo regions vital to the supply of American tin and rubber. For what the Japanese very quietly quiet-ly have done is to occupy the powerful power-ful French naval bases of Saigon and Cap St Jacques In French Indo-China. Indo-China. In gauging possible war in the Pacific, one should remember that distance Is all-important A Japanese Jap-anese fleet cannot cross the Pacific to attack the United States without great risk, because of distance. Nor could it have attacked Singapore, previously, without grave risk, because be-cause the distance from there to Japan is almost as great as from Japan to Honolulu. Now, however, with the French Indo-Chinese naval bases In her possession, pos-session, Japan is in a far better position posi-tion regarding Singapore and the Dutch East Indies than she would be regarding California if she occupied occu-pied Hawaii. It still will not be a walkaway for Japan to take these British and Dutch possessions, because they are well fortified. However, the Job is now about 50 per cent easier. Strategy which U. S. naval experts ex-perts expect Japan to follow is to begin the attack at the moment Hitler Hit-ler begins his long expected Invasion Inva-sion of England. 'MADE IN JAPAN' Recently, In a test of equipment at an army airfield, four parachute flares were shot from the ground. They opened beautifully, but only three ignited. The fourth was a dud. Several soldiers dashed out to salvage sal-vage the parachute. They are seldom sel-dom recovered, because being made of paper they usually burn up In the flare when they reach the ground. The failure of the dud flare to ignite ig-nite saved this one. But on retrieving it, Imagine the soldiers' surprise to find on the 'chute the interesting little stamp: "Made in Japan." The salvaged flare was one of a lot of 3,000 purchased several months ago from an Ohio company. Ordnance Ord-nance officials admit they knew the 'chutes of the flares were imported from Japan, but assert they were forced to use them because at that time no U. S. firm made the articles. arti-cles. They say they have now stopped the use of Japanese 'chutes In new flares. , QUARTERMASTER CAMPS Here is good news for some lucky draftees! Within a few weeks, the army will announce the establishment of two placement camps to train likely selectees se-lectees for the Quartermaster corps. First of their kind since the last war, they will be located at Camp Lee, Virginia, and Fort Frances E. Warren, Wyoming. Selectees with experience as auto mechanics, electricians, blacksmiths, black-smiths, truckers, machinists, painters, paint-ers, radiator repairmen, sheet metal met-al workers, storage battery experts, tire repairers, tool makers, upholsterers, uphol-sterers, and welders will stand the best chance of getting assigned to these camps for a three-month course in army buying, maintenance and transportation methods. CRACKING PEACE FRONT Meanwhile, the Isolationist front of the strongly paciflstic Women's International League for Peace and Freedom is cracking. Miss Emily Balch, one of the revered re-vered founders of the organization, has tendered her resignation from the executive board because she disapproves dis-approves of the anti-British aid stand of Miss Dorothy Detzer, secretary of the league and one of the most effective effec-tive lobbyists in Washington. Miss Balch strongly favors "all-out" aid to Britain. MERRY-GO-ROUND Able young assistant to the attorney attor-ney general Matt McGuire Is headed for a Judicial appointment probably the vacancy created by the recent retirement of Justice Petyton Gordon Gor-don of the U. S. district court for the District of Columbia. Presidential Secretary Steve Early Ear-ly has on his desk a brown bottle of vitamin pills, a gift of Joe Tumulty, former secretary to Woodrow Wil' son. Says Tumulty: "I wish they made vitamin pills when I had your Job." |