Show WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS by edward C wayne greeks take second inning of war 2000 killed in rumanian earthquake rumors of changes in next cabinet british bombers raid italian fleet EDITORS NOTE when opinions are expressed in these columns they are those ol of the news analyst and not necessarily of this newspaper released by western newspaper union 1 I za 2 L A woodbridge N J this scene of desolation met the eye after a terrifying blast leveled the united railway and signal co here killing nine mine persons and injuring 33 though the plant made torpedo signals for railroads it was said to be working on a device of great importance to the army and navy for news of other powder plant blasts see DEFENSE supplies FOUR HORSEMEN war greece is connected to fascist held albania by three highways running through deep mountain passes down these three highways marched blackshire black shirt legions in the first week of his war with greece back up the highways hurried what was left of the divisions in the second week the greeks outnumbered two to one reported they had pushed the invaders back on the northern and central front on the southern front they also claimed victory said a complete italian division was surrounded and wiped out england still pounded by german warplanes war planes saw the tower of london ancient prison where famous prisoners were confined in the elizabethan era smashed by a bomb one night the raiding planes had an unaccustomed hum the english guessed they were italians a guess confirmed when one was shot down the italian onslaught brought demands in london for a raid on rome treasured architectural city until now protected by agreement said george bernard shaw there is no reason why rome should not have it if only people were not killed and we could select the places to be bombed I 1 would welcome an attack on london they are knocking down a good many things we should have knocked down ourselves long ago germany was being torn by tons of explosives also when adolf hitler visited the munich bee rhall nazi shrine RAF fliers sought out the place and dropped explosives hitler cancelled the broadcast of his annual speech the raiders found the spot just an hour after the address and sent high german officials scurrying to shelters likewise when soviet premier bolotoff Mo lotoff and 32 trade and commercial advisers came to berlin the route over which their private train passed was bombed tile the visiting diplomats escaped injury the following day bolotoff Mo lotoff and hitler held a three hour conference during which it is believed the course of the two nations in relation to the balkan countries was decided death the pale horseman rode over europe in more than war an earthquake shook rumania killing an estimated 2000 and causing millions of dollars of property damage destroyed also were some of the prolific rumanian oil wells which have been supplying adolf hitler with t the he gasoline needed for his war machine famine unable to ship food through the british blockade the american red cross prepared to close all its stations in occupied and unoccupied france all europe was under strict rationing pestilence how long england holds out may depend indirectly more than directly on nazi bombs millions of people were crowded into air raid shelters night after night in foul air and weakened by loss of sleep it is feared this may bring epidemics as soon as spring arrives on the continent other millions enfeebled by lack of proper nutrition also are susceptible to disease WAR AT SEA british losses britain wa was not hiding the fact that continued loss of freighter vessels was seriously interfering with the conduct of the overseas supplies neutral estimates have put the losses at tons out of an available the rate of sin kings has gone up sharply since june prime minister churchill told commons the losses were more serious than air raids and said the british must expect even heavier attacks next spring he sounded out ireland on the use of bases there but eire president de valera rejected the bid one day berlin announced that a convoy of 20 british ships had been attacked it was believed a sea raider of the pocket battleship type was at large in the north atlantic but three days later london reports of the attack on the same convoy varied greatly from this berlin dispatch said the british A german pocket battleship overtook a british convoy of 38 ships and a dramatic and heroic episode of the sea was then enacted the british armed merchant cruiser jervis bay steamed directly at the more heavily gunned and armored german ship and engaged in in combat though outclassed the gallant crew of the jervis bay continued shelling their enemy until at least 29 of the other ships of the convoy had made their escape under smoke screens in the end the jervis bay was lost and captain fogarty fegen wounded in the battle went down with his ship italian losses reports from london also told of a smashing bombing attack upon italis navy anchored in the mediterranean port of taranto british planes operating from an aircraft carrier were reported to have put out of action two battleships two cruisers and two auxiliary craft and severely damaged a third battleship aircraft were used in the attack a according cc to london because the harbor is too heavily fortified for surface craft to approach it while the italians described these reports as fantastic 1 I if they are true it means that english domination of the mediterranean is assured for some time toi to come the vessels sunk or damaged represent about one half of italis full fighting strength of larger vessels POST ELECTION the aftermath rumors of changes in the cabinet were given scant attention by president pr esi roosevelt although there are excellent indications some will be made when the th new administration officially starts january 20 secretary of interior harold ickes was the first to submit his resignation he acted the day after election there was no lindi indication cation the resignation would be accepted it merely was the same routine mr ickes followed four years ago to give the president a free hand 00 war secretary henry L stimson is ia mentioned among those who may leave new Y yorks mayor laguardia was mentioned as a possible successor the little flower knows the army was raised on an army post CONGRESS no business congress continues the fiction of being in session although virtually all but a few members left the city every other day officials of both houses appear open the session hear the official prayer permit speeches to be inserted in the record and then recess within a few minutes there is no embarrassing roll call agitation for an official adjournment is opposed by republican leaders as well as many democrats they hold congress should be in the position of instant action due to the troublous foreign situation one bill being worked out in the meantime is the measure for extension of the merit system to cover some more government workers the bill has been passed by both houses and is being delayed because the house won wont t accept changes made in conference final acceptance would make the roosevelt administration the record breaker for civil service extension debt meanwhile treasury secretary warned the ceiling on the federal debt must be raised soon due to heavy defense spending A formal treasury request for new taxes and a higher debt limit probably is not expected until next january however the present congress has voted almost for defense said the treasury has no idea of asking congress to pass a retroactive tax on government securities curi ties NEW STATE ry votes by a vote of two to one hawaiian citizens expressed a desire for statehood the vote was merely a plebiscite an indication of how the people of the 40 islands feel toward the question agitation in the islands to become the forty ninth state goes back beyond the time when the area was annexed to the united states an element in the island then sought to make the annexation dependent on statehood but congress merely granted the new land territorial rights the territorial legislature now is expected to petition congress again if the petition is granted the legislature must draft a proposed constitution ution which also must be approved by congress A congressional resolution is the final step in the admission procedure DEFENSE supplies to equip the men who will operate U S tanks trucks and planes the army quartermaster depot at philadelphia is working overtime in one week the depot accepted bids on bath towels pairs of gauntlets gauntlett gaunt lets field hats pounds of twine yards of khaki cloth roll collar wool overcoats pairs of leggings pairs of socks pairs of shoes and bugles engines by ford the ford motor company has been awarded its first defense contract acta a order for airplane engines last june henry ford declared he would accept orders for the united states but not tor for britain the number of engines in the order was not announced |