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Show NEWS FROM OUR CONGRESSMAN W. K. GRANGER Strategic Materials Two bills designed to prorn mineral development during fc. war have been passed by . Senate and sent to the Hou: The McCarren bill would suspe. . for the duration a restriction o, loans for development of minea deposits, a restriction which po vided that such loans must result re-sult in a profit. The Hayden bh would authorize the FRC to make loans to individuals desiring to engage in producing minerals oi value to the country in wartime. At present, the RFC is authorized j to make such loans to persons already al-ready engaged in mineral devel- ! I opment. Navy t The manpower shortage and ; the need for highly specialized personnel have resulted in the adoption by the Navy of an ex-; panded system of classifying its officers. Thousands of reserve officers who have been called to active duty have brouht with them qualifications and skills representing almost every known industry and profession, and in order to utilize these talents to the fullest extent, the Department Depart-ment is indexing detailed information infor-mation concerning every qualification qualifi-cation an officer has. When this system is adopted, which is expected ex-pected to be in full operation within 60 days, the Narvy will be able to spot almost immediately the best qualified officer for any specialized duty. A compact fishing kit is to become be-come standard equipment on all ; lifeboats of Navy and Merchant Mflrinp vessels nf 3 00(1 tnne nr. more, and lighter kits will be at-1 tached to life rafts carried by airplanes. First deliveries of both ' kinds of kits will be made Febru- . ary 20. Educational Institutions The Branch Agricultural College, Col-lege, at Cedar City, Utah, is o.i. of the 51 colleges and unwe. sities approved for utilization by the War and Navy Departments for specialized war training pro-, gram. The BAC will train Army Aviation Cadets. Selective Service United States citizens of Japanese Japan-ese ancestry who are 18 to 38 years of age and wish to volunteer volun-teer for the Nisei combat units, now being organized by the War Department, may apply at any local board if they are outside War Relocation Authority Centers. Cen-ters. While many U. S. citizens of Japanese ancestry are in War Relocation Authority Centers, others are located outside such centers, and they may submit their applications for voluntary induction to any local board. Red Cross Activities The first confirmation that American Red Cross relief goods and mail have actually been received re-ceived by American prisoners in the camp at Zentsuji, Japan, has been received by the Red Cross. A representative of the International Interna-tional Committee visited the 234 Americans at the camn on De-comber De-comber 2S, and reported that their health was saticfactory. Priscneis Of War The list of foods that may be shipped in gift parcels to members mem-bers of the Uni'od Nations' ;;rp-o t,y, vti i Drtscviers .;' a c: ;o in.e.s:ol United Nations' civilians held by Axis powers has been increased. Lists of the articles and commodities which may be sent to such prisoners pris-oners by their next of kin or designated beneficiaries in the United States are available at all post offices. Now added to these lists are: cereals of whole grain variety, such as oatmeal or dark farine, biscuts or crackers, bouillon bou-illon cubes, sweet chocolate in I bars, rice and nuts. Playing cards i ; may not be sent in gift parcels to prisoners held in Italy, and only khaki-color shirts may be ' sent to members of the Army or Navy who are prisoners of war in Italy; nail files may not be sent to any destination. War Information A 41-minute technicolor movie showing American troops in combat com-bat in North Africa will be released re-leased for public showing March 25. The film, called "At The Front," shows the first engagement engage-ment between American tanks and German tanks outside Te-bourba Te-bourba in Tunisia, the capture of German and Italian prinson-ers, prinson-ers, Nazi air raids, and one sequence se-quence shows Lt. General Mark Clark meeting with the late Admiral Ad-miral Francois Darlan. The film is the work of 42 Army and Navy cameramen. Welfare of The Armaed Forces Hollywood first-run pictures are being brought to the bedside of patients in U. S. Army hospitals hospi-tals in a new program introduced by the American Red Cross. This new project, which is a part of the Red Cross hospital motion picture service, will for the first time bring 16 mm. first-run movies to bed patients in military mili-tary hospitals on a nationwide scale. "Var Casualties When a casualty report is received, re-ceived, usually by radio or cable, it contains the serial number of the individual, as well as his name and grade. These data are immediately checked with the "emergency addressee card" which is one file for every member mem-ber of the Army serving overseas, giving his full name, serial number, num-ber, and the name, address, and relationship of the person to be notified in case of emergency. Intensive precautions are taken to guard against the possibility of mechanical errors in transmission. transmis-sion. Cases of identical names, and sometimes almost identical serial numbers, mean that at times the records of various other agencies of the War Department must be consulted which is the only kind of delay that is permitted per-mitted in the transmission of casualty information to the emer-ency emer-ency addressee. Verified information infor-mation is never withheld, and as soon as verification has been completed, a telegram is dispatched dis-patched by the Department to the addressee, before the name is included in a published casualty casu-alty list. In case of death, the telegram to the next of kin is followed immediately im-mediately by a letter of sympathy sympa-thy giving all the known circumstances. circum-stances. Enclosed with this letter let-ter is a bulletin of information for beneficiaries, informing them of the proper procedure with regard re-gard to matters of insurance and pension, gratuities and the collection col-lection of arrears of pay. Agriculture The Agriculture Department has announced it will purchase the 1943 sugar beet crop at $1.50 a ton over 1942 prices in order to secure a greater production without with-out increasing consumer prices of sugar. The payments will assure as-sure growers an average of about $11 a ton, exclusive of the sugar program payment of $2.50 a ton made last year and again offered of-fered producers this year. House Action The House passed a resolution creating a seven-man committee to investigate Government agea-cies agea-cies and Departments to determine deter-mine whether any action is beyond be-yond the authority granted by Congress or Executive Order, violates the constitutional rights of citizens, inflicts penalties for violation of regulations without affording the accused "an opportunity oppor-tunity to present their defense before a fair and impartial tribunal." |