Show aa R washington D 0 oi HOODOOED NORDI ANDIE there Is not much consolation to be had in connection with the virtual sinking of the S S normandie Nor mandle except for one thing the french had gone to a lot of expense to build the giant vessel so BO that she could be converted to an airplane carrier in wartime to this end tunnels funnels were arranged on the side of the deck to give space for runways especially large elevator i re s were installed at each end of the a ship and the top deck ck consisted of the biggest sports deck in the world however U S naval engineers decided that despite all the french preparations the normandie mandles Mor Nor mandle a upper decks were not strong enough to hold a flock of planes the french had sacrificed reinforcements below for or the purpose of beauty in the passenger salons As a troop ship the normandie Nor mandle was considered useful but not nearly so useful proportionately as is a medium sized vessel such as the manhattan reason big ships draw so much water that they could not efficiently carry troops to dakar or west african ports ST small boats akl bor would be necessary to take soldiers olal and cargo ashore also the normandie Non Nor mandle was too big to get through the suez canal SINKING V 8 S TANKERS the navy is 13 being more hush hush than usual regarding the sin kings kingg s or of oil tankers off the atlantic coast however here are a few important facts about the situation which are not mil military 1 t 8 ry B secrets first fact is encouraging the tankers sunk were old small and slow all of them were a 20 years old or over and the largest standard oils india arrow was tons on the surface this would in indicate di that olland oil and gasoline losses on the east coast would not be h heavy eavy Hoe however vei this is not the ca case s e for all of the big new american tankers have been taken over by the navy this was under an arrangement whereby the maritime commission had lent the oil companies around per vessel to build fast modern modem tankers making 19 knots this is so fast that they can avoid submarines and also keep up with the fleet i however these new tankers built in operation cooperation co with the navy are now with the fleet buy defense bonds HEAVY LOSSES two other factors indicate the importance of the sin kings on the atlantic coast one Is an announcement made by the british last week that sin kings for the entire atlantic including the east coast of the united states had been heavier to in january than ever before the other is the fact that comprehensive rationing of oil and gasoline tor for the east coast Is now a certainty in other words oil and tanker losses have been very heavy reason for these losses is easy to understand it requires no official explanation As everyone knows especially the enemy we had to rush various kinds of shipping to the pacific to replace the damage done at pearl harbor also we had a large number of warships busy convoying vessels across the north atlantic hence we have been caught shorthanded on the east coast note most people dont realize it but the oil shortage along the atlantic could be relieved considerably by a curtailment of tank car rates on gasoline and fuel oil last fall the rail rates were reduced on crude oil but riot not on gasoline or fuel oil POLITICAL GO ROUND democratic insiders are predicting that gov herbert lehman of new york will be persuaded to run tor for a fourth term this year lehman ha has s told party chiefs he want another term but they urge him to be a candidate again on the ground 0 of f wartime duty meanwhile former district attorney tom dewey Is busy behind the scenes organizing his political fences for another try at the governorship this will be the springboard tor for a second shot at the GOP presidential nomination in 1944 ins gov julius hell will run lor for a third term this year to get himself in position to take on isolationist sen alex wiley when he comes up tor for reelection election re tn in 1944 both are republicans but privately no love is lost between them florello fiorello La Guardias ambition always has been to become a U S senator after ht he steps step sout out as mayor of new york city buy De defense felise bonds MERRY GO ROUND in trenton Trento N J the giant gen eral electric company will be tried on charges of monopolistic control of electric light globe patents it will be one of the most important antitrust trials to in history it if the government wins the case the effect will have tar far reaching consequences on a all 11 patent controls 6 0 a the treasury department has or dered cus customs toms officials to wear black silk neckties necktie with their pew uniforms |