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Show WEEKLY MEWS ANALYSIS Battle for Italy Grows in Intensity As Allies Close on Supply Routes; Pacific Sea Lanes to China Cleared By U. S. Triumph in Marshall Islands (EniTOR'S NOTE: When opinions ore expressed In these eolgmns. they lire those or Western Newspaper Union's news analysts and not necessarily of this newspaper.) Released by Western Newspaper Union., Italy Captured German prisoners are marched through Anzio at bitter battle raged for Allied beachhead below Rome. EUROPE: Fight for Rome In the coastal plains 18 miles below be-low Rome. Allied and German forces locked in battle for the Eternal City, while farther to the south, Fifth army troops closed in on the supply lines feeding the enemy forces resisting re-sisting doggedly in the Cassino area. While fighting in Italy rose in fury, waves of Allied planes thundered over Europe, pounding the French coast along the English channel to soften the Nazis' concrete and steel defense emplacements and rip their network of air fields, on which they are counting to check invasion forces. As fighting developed below Rome, the Nazis bi ought up heavy armored reinforcements to challenge the big Allied army operating along a 30 mile coastal stretch. Both sides threw swarms of planes at each other's oth-er's supply lines, with the German force demonstrating in strength for the first time during the Italian campaign. cam-paign. The Germans' hold on battle-scarred battle-scarred Cassino was shaken when Fifth army troops worked their way toward highways over which supplies sup-plies were being fed to enemy forces 'hatiging on near the town, key to the broad plain leading northward to Rome. RUBBER: U. S. Steps From Brazil After two years of pioneering deep in the stewing Amazon jungle, the U. S. is pulling out of rubber growing grow-ing there and leaving the job to Brazil, from whom this government will purchase the material for .60 a pound. To help develop an accessible source of natural rubber after the Japs overran the English and Dutch plantations in the east after Pearl Harbor, the U. S. decided to rebuild the industry in the Amazon basin, once the world's rubber capital and producer of the seed which was smuggled to the Orient for cheap cultivation there about half a century cen-tury ago. Since 1942, the U. S. spent large sums on recruiting workers for the steaming rubber districts, transporting transport-ing them to the sites, and maintaining maintain-ing them there, with equipment, food and medicine. As a result, rubber cost per pound was supposed to have risen to anywhere from $1.22 to $50 a pound. POST-OFFICE: Profit Shown A money-maker in the 12 months ending last June when it realized a profit of $1,332,849 for the first time in TZT' l 24 years, the post y office department is ' ' seeing red again & "'fri during the current i v T fiscal year. l y j Supplied by Post- -z master Frank Walk- $ i er to the house : V'r" committee consider- Ltr fa &j ing appropriations for the department Frank Walker for 1944-'45, figures showed that during the 12 months ending last June, gross postal revenues rev-enues totaled $966,277,288, of which $964,894,439 was expended. In addition, addi-tion, $122,343,000 of free service for soldiers and government agencies was rendered. For the fiscal year 1914-'45, the house committee recommended an appropriation of $1,105,697,583, an increase in-crease of $205,719,248 over the present pres-ent year. PACIFIC: China Bound The Pacific sea lanes to China are being cleared by U. S. army and ' naval forces for a grand assault upon ' Japan from bases in jJ&'-t' i t'ia country, Ad-'"f'- , miral Chester Nim- itz declared in re-tM&4$i re-tM&4$i viewing the quick V J'C'rf ' triumph in the Mar-'i'V Mar-'i'V f y -i shall Islands, where over 12,000 enemy Vl troops were killed to BsSiiV..tv.'-i: the Americans' General Smith 1.600. Revealing that U. S. policy was "to get our ground and air forces into China as early as possible" pos-sible" because "I do not believe we can defeat Japan from the sea alone," Admiral Nimitz said: "I believe the Japs can only be defeated de-feated from bases in China because they draw food, iron and other supplies sup-plies from Manchuria and China, and as long as they have access to these they will be difficult to beat." As Marine Commander Maj. Gen. Holland Smith's troops rung up Old Glory over the Marshalls, U. S. air forces again hammered the big Jap base.f Rabaul on New Ent-ain, Ent-ain, going after airdromes from which enemy craft have been taking off to blast American ground units on the western end of the island. MEAT SUPPLY: Civilians SJiare About 131 pounds of meat will be available to every person in the U. S. during 1944, and this supply might be increased if the government govern-ment can spare stocks from its emergency reserves, the U. S. department de-partment of agriculture announced. Reviewing the meat situation, the department reported that a record 25:000.000.000 pounds may be produced pro-duced in 1944, even though numbers of cattle, hogs and lamb on hand were about 15 per cent less than last year. The services, lend-lease and other U. S. agencies will get the 8 per cent increase. Cattle and calf slaughter in recent re-cent weeks has been heavier than a year ago, and about 46 per cent of the animals now on feed are scheduled sched-uled for marketing by April, the department de-partment said. OIL: Seek Arabian Reserves To relieve the strain on U. S. petroleum petro-leum supplies which will be called upon to furnish the fuel to enable the country's military and naval forces to help maintain collective security in the postwar world, the federal government will co-operate with the Standard Oil Company of California, the Texas company and the Gulf Oil company in exploiting Arabian oil resources. At a cost of approximately 150 million dollars, the government will build a 1,250 mile pipeline which will carry the crude from the companies' com-panies' fields to the Mediterranean coast, with the companies repaying repay-ing the principal cost plus interest within 25 years. The companies would maintain a crude oil reserve of 20 per cent of the total field for the government and sell to it below the market price. Since the consent of Saudi Arabia and smaller Kuwait would be needed need-ed before work could start, Senator Moore (Okla.) said the agreement would amount to a treaty affecting relations between the peoples of the U. S. and the countries concerned, thus requiring senate approval. GRAIN STOCKS: Rail Movements Spurt . With farmers anxious to move grain and fertilizer before the planting plant-ing season and box cars being diverted di-verted to haul in Canadian feed, rail facilities for the rural regions are tightening up. Further strain on rail transport looms with Great Lakes shippers asking for early movement of grains now aboard vessels in storage so that they can begin operations in the spring. While tightening of the rail situation situa-tion was announced, it was also revealed re-vealed that the Commodity Credit corporation's total wheat stocks at the end of January amounted to 87 million bushels, and corn supplies to only 1 million bushels, reflecting the big pinch in this commodity. Since July, 1943, CCC purchased 146 million bushels of wheat, of which 75 million bushels were Canadian. Since July, CCC wheat sales aggregated aggre-gated 230 million bushels. RUSSIA: Nip Threat Believed to be the spring board for future German operations in the southern Ukraine, the Nazi-held manganese center of Nikopol came under heavy fire of Russian forces driving in from the east. The Germans' position at Nikopol was their farthest extension eastward east-ward in Russia, following their withdrawal with-drawal along the whole 800 mile front, and with a similar eastward bulge further to the north, was seen as a possible prong for a gigantic Nazi pincer movement against the back of the Red armies far inside pre-war Poland. In the Baltic region to the north, the Russ pressed forward below Leningrad, and continued heavy attacks at-tacks farther to the south between the Pripet and Berezina rivers, where a break-through would enable them to loop the entire German army heavily engaged in the Baltic states. VETS: Discharged Redrafted Discharged vets who have fully recovered from battle wounds and can meet the physical requirements of the services, are being redrafted in accordance with selective service regulations, but not for overseas duty. In striving to meet its tremendous manpower needs, the army also has advised commanders to check men thoroughly in the light of lowered physical standards before discharging discharg-ing them. Many disabilities on which men formerly were released are no longer recognized, it was said. Aware of the redrafting of vets, the army has ordered restoration of their old ranks. Get-rich-quicksters are enjoying a field day in the Chungking, China, black market, where beef is selling at $2.50 for 1.33 lbs.; eggs at 35c apiece, and fish $10 for 1.33 lbs. Driving past WAC quarters in Algiers, North m,-,, Africa, one night, A1S ' Col. Oveta Hobby -.-Vj and Commander Vvl Maj. Westray Battle tl i espied a couple in a ' long embrace be- yX . ' j j bind a tree outside ji3t- -7 jM the grounds. There's , -'3 nothing wrong In a WAC kissing her lM boy friend good night, Maj. Battle C0L- HOBBY said afterwards, but she must do it Inside the company grounds. California's Senator Sheridan Downey received this postcard from an irate constituent trying to fill out his income tax report: "My Dear Senator: "I hope you roast a thousand years In hell for each minute I put in on this federal income tax re port. "Frank Warren." TRUCK RATES: Urge Competition Such factors as competition with the railroads should be considered when formulating trucking rates, the Supreme court declared. The high court took this position in disputing what it said was the Interstate Commerce commission's rule that lower rates for shipments by motor carrier were justified only when a reduction in operating costs is achieved. "Each form of transportation presents pre-sents its own problems for the function func-tion of rate making," the court said. "Hence in such situations, principles previously established for application applica-tion with a single form of transportation transporta-tion cannot always be transplanted without consequence unduly harmful." harm-ful." As an example, the court pointed out that by tying rates to weights, a railroad with carloads of 30,000 pounds would have a great competitive competi-tive advantage over a truck, for instance, in-stance, with 20,000 pounds. SHOES As shoe rationing enters its second year OPA officials stated that there will be about 25 million pairs of footwear available a month same as in 1943. That means about 2i pairs per person a year, or one pair every 21 weeks. The leather situation remains re-mains tight, and army needs are increasing, in-creasing, officials commented. Stamp No. 1 in Book Three (the airplane stamp) will remain valid until May 1, and No. 18 in the first book will remain good indefinitely. |
