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Show ! WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS See-Saw Offensives Rage on Red Front As Nazis Hurl New Divisions Into Drive; Battle Lines Drawn for Skip-Year Tax; Aerial Action Paces Activity in Tunisia (KDITOK'S NOTE: When opinions are expressed In these columns, they are those of Western Newspaper Lnion's news analysts and not necessarily of this newspaper.) I Released by Western Newspaper Union. - I il X , Sms . ' v? v ' 1 " ; r h iC. ... : ' -' f " " . s ' : tr "tf . -' - - fkf j?. I - With snow underfoot, these muffler-bound, ear-muffed members of the New York Giant pitching staff are going through their paces in one of the most unusual spring training seasons in baseball history. Their camp is located at Lakewood, N. J. Left to right: Cliff Melton, Van Mungo and Carl Hubbell. Southernmost of all major league training camps is that of the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals, at Cairo, III. GIVE AND TAKE: In Russia Kharkov had fallen once more to the Nazis and still they pushed eastward. east-ward. This was the story from the Ukraine sector of the broad Russian front. In another important sector, further to the north, the Russians were having the better of it as their four-pronged offensive swept swiftly swift-ly through the area around Smolensk. Smo-lensk. This and the fighting around the anchor point of Orel were more immediately im-mediately important to the Russian cause than what happened at Khar-, kov. For Orel serves as the turning point between the southern and central cen-tral fronts. Hitler could ill afford to lose this base. While Russian sources admitted that Kharkov was important they also pointed out that a strong defense de-fense line had been established beyond be-yond the city and further claimed that Hitler's troops found nothing but dead Germans on the city's streets when they took it. Military experts reasoned that Hitler had thrust about 25 fresh divisions into his drive for that point. Moscow said that the reason Germany wanted want-ed the city was to atone for the great losses suffered by the Nazis at Stalingrad in midwinter. TUNISIA: Aerial Action Bad weather which has slowed ground activity in Tunisia has been no barrier to the growing Allied Air force. As a prelude to General Montgomery's Montgom-ery's expected push against Marshal Rommel, Allied planes have been pounding the Mareth line. An elaborate elab-orate system of fortifications hewed into the- mountains, this line stands between the bulk of the opposing armies. Alter a month of offensive operations opera-tions against the American and British Brit-ish lines in central and north Tunisia, Tu-nisia, Rommel has pulled in his wings. Although the Allies restored much of their original position, they have concentrated their effort on softening up the enemy from the air. Allied air operations have been particularly extensive over Sicily. American and British bombers have been pounding the great Axis base at Palermo. Proslnone and Pozzal-lo Pozzal-lo were the latest Sicilian centers hit. MORE TIRES: On April 1 Liberalizing tire rationing for the second time, Price Administrator Prentiss Brown expressed the belief that all motorists would be able to keep their cars on the road as the result of the release of additional tires by Rubber Administrator William Wil-liam Jeffers. Effective April 1, grade 2 tires will be available to drivers with gasoline gas-oline iileage allowances exceeding 240 miles a month. This includes most B, C and T card holders. Motorists Mo-torists eligible for 560 or more miles will be allowed a limited number of grade 1 tires, the highest grade casing. cas-ing. However, all must be obtained with certificates issued by local ration ra-tion boards. These changes do not affect A card holders, who are eligible for used or recapped casings. Most of the rationing formalities on recapped re-capped tires have been removed by Brown. SKIP -YEAR TAX: Battle Lines Drawn When House Democratic leaders decided to support a tax collection system, without abatement, as approved ap-proved by the ways and means committee, com-mittee, their action presaged a pay-as-you-go tax battle which may reverberate re-verberate in the 1944 political campaign. cam-paign. Party lines in the house were well defined, for the most part. Republican Repub-lican leaders were lined up for and Democrats against the Ruml plan to skip an entire income tax year. However, there was some cause for worry among opponents of the skip-a-year proposal. In addition to the powerful Republican membership which had lined up for abatement, some Democrats indicated they would vote with the Republicans. THUNDER: Over Germany Since the RAF staged its first colossal 1,000 plane bombing of Cologne last spring, Nazi industrial and communications centers in both Germany and the occupied countries have been subjected to concentrated pounding from the air. Out of 500 bombers, 475 returned after the last shattering attack on Essen. Railroad lines and the big automotive auto-motive center of Rouen have been the principal targets in France. The extensive system of canals has been bombed in Holland and Belgium. And in Germany, the great naval base at Wilhelmshaven, the big port of Hamburg, the steel industries of the Ruhr, and the engine factories of Dusseldorf and Nuremberg have been steadily plastered. In flights into the interior, the RAF has been using giant Lancasters, Halifaxes and Stirlings, which carry the devastating block busters in Jheir bomb racks. Wellingtons have headlined in the bombing and strafing straf-ing attacks on communications centers. cen-ters. The great raids, with hundreds of planes participating on a daily schedule, are believed to have caused considerable damage to communications com-munications which the Nazis will need to shift troops and supplies to meet an Allied' invasion. German war industry appears to have been badly crippled. But with the American Amer-ican air force joining in the attacks in increasing numbers, raids to date may have been only a good beginning. begin-ning. FARM PLAN: From Cornbelt The importance of a strong home front especially in the food sector was re-emphasized when officials of 12 cornbelt states concluded a series of meetings to ' offset what former President Herbert Hoover calls "symptoms of a dangerously degenerating degen-erating agriculture." Governors of eight states and high ranking officials of four others drafted draft-ed a series of recommendations that, among other things, would: Recognize farming as an essential war industry; release immediately all present stock of farm machinery now in the hands of leaders or distributors dis-tributors and provide sufficient material ma-terial for completion of other units not now finished; grant selective service deferment for "all experienced experi-enced labor essential to farm production" pro-duction" and "terminate the present unsatisfactory system" which sends farm machinery where "it is not adapted." FLARE-UP: In France Hopeful eyes turned for several days on the high mountain passes near the French-Swiss frontier where large numbers of French patriots had mobilized to launch guerrilla warfare against Italian and German troops. For the most these forces consisted of young Frenchmen who were being recruited recruit-ed for forced labor inside Germany. First reports from Zurich and Berne, Switzerland, indicated that British RAF planes were dropping guns and ammunition to the men waiting in the Alps. German sources soon claimed that many of the men were deserting because of the lack of such supplies. This claim was substantiated by neutral reports. Much support and advice to the movement was given by the Algiers radio. This source claimed that Italian troops in the area were refusing re-fusing to help pry the patriots loose from their positions. An ultimatum had been issued by the Germans before the fighting began be-gan but the French declined it saying say-ing that they were ready to fight through to' the end. While non-Axis nations were cheered by the news of the resistance resist-ance there was little hope that the uprising could spread far. DINNER TABLE: And Points While American housewives were studying what the effects of the rationing ra-tioning of meat, canned fish, butter, but-ter, cheese and edible fats would be on their family diets, the Office of Price Administration announced' that April points for processed foods would be same as in March a total of 48 per person. These would be the points on the blue stamps let- RATION DATES March 29 First day for rationing of meats, canned fish, butter, cheese, edible fats and oils. March 31 Final date for first inspection in-spection of passenger car tires ' for "A" card holders and motorcycles; mo-torcycles; last day on which A, B and C stamps in war ration book 2 may be used, (Stamps of second ration period may be used from March 25.) April 12 Expiration date for Period 4 fuel-oil coupons. May 31 Last day for use of stamp No. 12, good for five pounds of sugar. June 15 Last valid date for stamp No. 17, good for one pair of shoes. September 30 Expiration date for Period 5 fuel-oil coupons. tered D, E and F in war ration book No. 2. In announcing the meat rationing, government officials were careful to point out that while the total amount to be consumed by the nation would be cut 12 to 15 per cent, there would still be enough meat to allow healthy diets for U. S. citizens. Meanwhile the department of labor la-bor reported that the average increase in-crease in food costs throughout the nation during the past month had been 0.5 per cent. SECRET AIRFIELDS: Held Dutch Harbor The story behind Japan's failure to seize Dutch Harbor, the navy's Alaskan stronghold, is due largely to the "existence" of two imaginary salmon packing companies. The facts have just been revealed. The two packing firms were no more than covers for one of the Alaska defense command's most remarkable re-markable jobs the secret construction construc-tion of two airfields to guard Dutch Harbor. When the Japs approached the naval base last June 3 (with two carriers, three cruisers, eight destroyers de-stroyers and four transports perhaps per-haps as strong as the forces which, struck at Pearl Harbor) they understood under-stood there was no airfield within 800 miles of Dutch Harbor. In the midst of their assault the Japs found themselves hit from behind be-hind by land based planes and bombed and torpedoed by land based planes. Their spy work so successful success-ful at Pearl Harbor had failed. LITTLE STEEL: Formula Fades A source of comfort to almost every ev-ery labor union official is the fact that the Little Steel formula is fast disappearing as a factor in wage increases in-creases approved by the War Labor board. The bulk of wage adjustments adjust-ments now is based on "inequalities." "inequali-ties." Reason for the disappearance of the much-debated formula is that a majority of employees already have received the 15 per cent general increase in-crease permitted by the formula as a cost-of-living adjustment. WLB officials of-ficials state that scarcely any important im-portant branches of industry have not raised wages at least that much since January 1, 1941. JAP FORCES: Above Australia Word from Allied headquarters in the South Pacific indicated that Japan's invasion forces appeared shifting to the ring of islands north of Australia. This new menace was emphasized when 49 enemy planes 25 bombers and 24 fighters attacked Port Darwin Dar-win in Australia. It was one of the heaviest raids in months, although the Japs were driven off with only slight damage and casualties. |
