Show WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS by edwa edward rd C wayne house and senate set 2135 21 35 age limit in draft bill volunteer plan dropped total air war blasts london area 32 killed in munitions plant explosion EDITORS NOTE when opinions ire are expressed in these columns column they are those of the news analyst and not necessarily of 0 this newspaper mi released by western newspaper union DRAFT in november prospects are that no american youth will be conscripted into army service until after election just before the house passed the draft bill by a vote of to and announcement no to this effect was made by representative wadsworth R N Y coauthor co author of the bill to make sure of this lio however wever the house inserted an amendment M 1 4 1 xa aw ra XA 7 4 A 0 1 col lewis B hershey pictured here now head of the joint army and navy committee in charge of selective service service plans who more than likely will become the power behind the draft after the conscription machinery gets underway while a civilian may be named titular head of the draft col hershey will contribute a major share oi of the work since he has spent lour four years eara developing draft plans sponsored by representative fish R N Y to postpone peacetime draft for 60 days while the president appealed for volunteers the house bill differed in two other essentials from the measure passed by the senate the senate called for an age limit of 21 to 30 inclusive the house wanted registration extended to 45 years in order to get a greater number of trained mechanics the house also modified the draft industry amendment so that factories where owners refused defense contracts would be taken over by the government on lease or rental the senate called for seiz ure lire and operation ironing out the differences house and senate conferees agreed e ed upon a bill that 1 fixed the age limit at 21 to 35 years inclusive 2 modified fied the plant seizure amendment and 3 eliminated the 60 day volunteer plan wendell willkie G 0 P presidential nominee added his opposition to that of president roosevelt on the amay 60 day delay amendment MUNITIONS disaster in what was declared to be the worst disaster in the history of the american munitions industry 32 persons were known dead 22 missing also believed to have perished and persons were injured in a series of earth shaking explosions which destroyed the hercules powder companas comp anys kenvil N J plant while the cause of the blast was not immediately determined federal state and local authorities began immediate investigations because the plant was busy at work on united states defense orders EGYPT offensive italis long awaited offensive against english forces in egypt got under way as artillery fire rumbled up and down the egypt libya border fresh italian troops moved up near the border as british and italian flyers clashed in the first f exchange of military blows on this front observers were of the opinion that italy was really beginning to play her role in the battle of britain this role consists mainly in diverting the attention of the english to some other quarter while hit lers attempt at an invasion of the british isles is carried out but egypt is an ally of britain but as yet has not declared war with the axis powers As soon as the italian an forces slash very deeply into egyptian territory this declaration is expected THE WAR london battered in the fifty third week of the war nazi air power began the long pro claimed action which it declared would end in british surrender or the destruction of the worlds largest city previous raids and previous bombings were as nothing Reich marshal hermann W goering from a safe seat in france personally took charge of the operations thousands ivantic bombers were sent across Jie e channel channel in waves at 30 minute intervals all were aimed at london seat of the british empire alarms continued from dusk un until dawn awn even ven in in daylight ay while air precaution wardens were digging helpless from the debris left the night before new planes arrived they dropped incendiary bombs which set great fires and led the n night ight fliers to their targets through blackouts gone now was raiding only of defense points and industries except for german propaganda sources none challenged the announcement that purely residential areas were being subjected to devastating explosions plo in world famous fleet street home of bf the greatest british newspapers isome of the largest buildings in the city were wrecked hospitals were wrecked subways demoralized gas mains broken and set afire in a two day period the british admitted killed and 2500 4 I 1 nv P vici N q h ALM F Z KING GEORGE VI strain of almost constant air raids 0 on n england E are telling on the boyish face of britaina Brit ains monarch pictured here as he chatted with a workman at aircraft factory factor y which he visited recently maimed even as they made the announcement the bombardments grew worse morale A delayed action bomb struck a section of buckingham palace the royal residence no one was injured objective of the terror was to undermine the morale of the ordinary citizen berlin said when this was w as accomplished the churchill cabinet would fall and a new cabinet willing to deal with the reich would take its place in the battered shell torn city however horev er the first day of the raids showed no kossof loss of determination to hold out the king visited a slum section where bombs had ripped great craters in the street where homes of hundreds had been torn to bits out of the window of a house still standing a woman shouted are we downhearted and the crowd gathered around the king cried no the king smiled that night there were worse ings retaliation british fliers reported by the german air arm to be reduced to ineffective operation were still able to get into the air and fight moreover they went visiting on their own docks at Harn hamburg burg ports along the channel coast in denmark and norway were given a treatment of aerial bombardments the british air ministry said the retaliation was so severe that the areas could not b be e used by the germans to launch a land invasion nightly there were air raid alarms in berlin too at least one bomb was dropped on the reichstag building parliament seat of hitler Hit lers s rubber stamp |