Show WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS allies jolt nazi grip in fra france n ce reds carry war to german soil summer drouth hits ohio valley released bv western newspaper union EDITORS NOTE when opinions are e in these columns they are those 01 western newspaper unions news analysts and not necessarily of this ag CALAI BRE T HAVRE RUSSELS C OUEN ETH VANNES edir EN N ES AR S ST N AZA 11 ILE let TOURS NANCY alt la ROCHELL FRA arg DIJ LIMOGES X VICHY SWITZ LYON GARONNE R 0 8 L E 0 4 TOULOUSE alle L SP IN MARSEILLE f NICE A TOULON i SEIN with landings in southern france and sweeping advances in the north the allies are forming a huge pincers to squeeze german forces in that country as arrows in picture show FRANCE form pincer with allied forces everywhere on the move the nazi hold on france loosened and german troops fell back to escape the death traps that lightning U S armored thrusts were forging Eor ging in the north U S columns that drove on paris threw out a long arm around the left flank of the german army that wriggled out of the falaise argentan argenian pocket in normandy threatening the retreating enemy with still another entrapment while these U S columns under leadership of gen george S patton pressed the germans around paris british and canadian forces hammered at the enemy in the region extending to th english channel to the north pushing him back on a continuous front swift allied advances in the north were matched by equally successful gains in the new invasion area 4 of southern france where liberation troops spearheaded spear headed by maj gen alexander M patcha american seventh army thrust far inland before encountering V stiffening enemy opposition in alaj gen the mountainous A al M patch country As the regular army formations drove inland they joined hands with scores of paratroopers who had been dropped far back of the beachhead areas to sever enemy communication lines and hamper his forward movements to the fighting zones As was the case in normandy many czechs czecho poles and russians were included in the german units which manned the coastal defenses and as the fighting raged further inland from toulon to nice the al to nice the al lies bucked up against a better caliber of enemy troops encouraged by the allied al lied successes the french underground intensified fied their sabotage of nazi communications and installations EASTERN FRONT enter prussia in the face of heavy nazi resistance and repeated counter attacks attack S supported by rocket fire russian russia n troops under 36 year old gen ivan crossed the east prussian border to carry a war to german soil for the first time in 30 years As the germans savagely countered the russian invasion of east prussia with continuing counter attacks the nazis were reportedly throwing fresh reserves into the battle from Himm lers home guard on other sectors of the 1000 mile front german resistance was equally bitter with the nazis yielding ground grudgingly in the baltic states and employing tank and infantry forces to slow the red drive on warsaw to the south the enemy also brought his mechanized units into counterattack to impede the russian advance on the central german border 75 miles away from the front CIVILIAN GOODS step although the war production board has allowed the use of surplus labor and factory facilities in the manufacture of civilian goods no appreciable increase in the output of such material can be looked forward to until germany is defeated when it should jump 39 per cent to prewar levels czar donald nelson declared order permitting limited manufacture of civilian goods constituted the fourth and final step in its program for gradual previous provisions allowing us use e of aluminum and magnesium construction of postwar working models of products and immediate ordering of machine tools under the latest ruling manufacturers able to employ surplus labor will receive priority assistance si for producing such items as electric ranges heating stoves pails and buckets electric flat irons farm machinery except tractors and water storage tanks for agricultural use PACIFIC step up bombing with U S bombers operating west of new guinea and pounding the shipping plying beyond the philippines and celebes islands the position of japanese troops trapped within american lines in the south pacific continued to deteriorate As U S bombers continued to ran range ge to the west of new guinea other U S aircraft hammered at japanese bastions in the bonin islands guarding the southern approaches pro aches to the nipponese homeland miles away while U S bombers continued their softening up campaign of the strategic island defense system american ground forces dug into newly won positions in the marianas mariakas Mari anas adm chester nimitz declared that it might not be necessary to invade japan to win a lasting peace DROUTH crops periled perilea with only half a month of the june august summer season remaining ma ining the ohio valley anxiously hoped that showers east of the mississippi sis sippi would develop into substantial rainfalls rain falls and break a two and a half month drouth during which tennessee had only about 45 per cent normal precipitation illinois 50 per cent indiana 52 per cent kentucky 44 per cent and ohio 61 per cent besides inflicting damage ranging from 10 to 70 per cent on corn crops in some areas and threatening soybeans and gardens the heat and drouth seared pasturage compelling farmers to dip into dwindling feed supplies and inducing many to hold back on purchases of stockers for future fattening although the ohio valley remained hardest hit by the drouth continued dry weather threatened crops and pasturage in a wide region including the north atlantic coast area the northwest and texas and oklahoma SOLDIER READING E ease ase restrictions irked by the ardys interpretation of the political propaganda ban in the soldiers voting law which resulted in exclusion of much popular reading matter in military camps the senate moved to ease the tight administration of this provision ol of the act originally the law stipulated that no newspapers magazines motion pictures or literature paid for or sponsored by the government and containing political propaganda could be distributed to the armed forces arces much of the trouble lay in the ardys rigid interpretation of the word sponsored which it took to mean per permitting the sale of popular reading matter containing political material at service posts or use of company funds to subscribe to newspapers WHEAT perennial brand agricultural pioneers even back to the days of the czars azars when they developed artificial insemination ia n at royal stables the russians russian is cl claim air m to have developed an edible perennial wheat with a gluten content of 60 per cent according to the soviets ace agronomist prof N V Tsi tsin the perennial evolved from cross pollination of wild grasses of the rum family with wheat produced satisfactory initial harvests with will real tests to come next season although plant breeders bleeders bre eders in th the U S have long worked on develop ment of a perennial wheat thea the have met little practical success thus far with one hybrid composed of wild grasses and the grain lacking regular qualities 10 no lo fun I 1 11 1 I 1 Z WAI V s I 1 no different than a million other young men but not as lucky george danhires 2 of pittsburgh pa crawled halfway through the opening of an eight inch areaway between the walls of his home before he got stuck firemen were compelled to chop part of the living room wall to free him it if the pictures any indication it was no fun fellas COTTON seek parity in an effort to raise cotton prices to parity which is from 6 to 8 per bale above 1944 loan rates sen john H bankhead ala urged growers to keep the commodity off the market senator Bank heads action came in the midst of his conferences with government officials and cotton manufacturers over elevation of the price level in conformance with his congressional act calling for attainment tain ment of parity of agricultural crops during the conferences senator bankhead said it was agreed that early OPA revision of textile prices to reflect parity would help boost the market As a last resort he said to per c ent cent parity loans were considered demobilization study discharges arges the all important but complicated problem of how to release servicemen and women from the armed forces after the war var is receiving the consideration of both president roosevelt and the high command it was reported under a reported proposal personnel would be discharged under a point system with so many points granted for service abroad length of service an and d number of campaigns and marital status and dependency personnel with the largest number of points would be the first released at the same time the president was said to be considering use ot of some camps and training facilities in this country for vocational study and rehabilitation of vets and modernization of others for future defense forces |