Evening Star Newspaper, May 9, 1937, Page 55

The’ %unfiag Star WASHINGTON, Stage and Screen F PAGE F—1 Part Four Part 4—8 Pages 'NAVY IS OFF TO T D. C, SUNDAY MORNING, MAY 9, 1937. HE WARS—MOCK WAR IN THE PACIFIC U. S. heavy cruisers in formation during fleet maneuvers. —Official Photo, U. 8. Navy. COLUMBIA RULES THE WAVES U. S. Fleet, 200 Ships and 50,000 Men Strong, Engaged in Annual | Battle Practice as Secre cy Guards Maneuvers of “Opposing” Forces. < The new Lockheed Electra of the U. S. Naval Air Force. —Photo by Washburn. PLANES OF THE FUTURE \American Factories Developing Sky Giants That Will Carry More People More Miles and Help Maintain U. S. Supremacy in Commercial Aviation. < By Alice Rogers Ilfiger.‘ ing hours, by Marines with “gats” at their sides. | Airplane carriers Lexington and Ranger from the Saratoga. —Official Photo, U. S. Navy . — ST e Battleships swing into action during war games. s —Official U. S. Navy Photo. e bde g b AT By William A. Millen. (14 LEAR decks for battle!” Such will be the dra- matic order given by com- manders of rival fleets, somewhere in the Pacific, between now and June 1, when they make contact on “the wandering fields of barren foam.” And against the day when the United States may face armed re- sistance afloat, these two fleets will be | preparing. For Uncle Sam .is about | to enact his gigantic war games with his battleships, cruisers, submarines, destroyers and aircraft, with their sup- porting vessels, as the pawns—and in supreme secrecy., In this martial array, perhaps spread out over a battle line 100 miles in length, will be upwards of 200 ships and 50,000 officers and enlisted men. The watery fleld of combat lies in a gigantic triangle, embraced by the Caiifornia coast, Alaska and Hawaii. There are romance and drama in this year's naval maneuvers. For the United States Navy is as surely on a war footing as it was 20 years ago this April, when America entered the World War. But the situation offers a marked contrast, although there is s parallel. The same old U, S. 8. Pennsylvania is flagship of the Amer- jcan fleet today, as it was in April, 1917, and there are many of the other old dreadnaughts—the Mississippi, the Texas, the Idaho, the New Mexico, the Nevada, the Maryland and others. Shortly after the World War the bat- tleships West Virginia and Colorado Jjoined the fleet and they are in the WAT Ames Now. A score of years ago, with the United States on the threshold of the war, the Atlantic fleet, as it was then known, was on its annual Winter cruise in Caribbean waters. America 'was proud of its Navy then, for the old “white squadron”—white hulls and yellowish smokestacks—had given way to the newer designs in battleship gray, the color they are painted today. When war broke, the bulk of the fleet was in the West Indies. The fleet was centering at Guantanamo Bay, Uncle Sam’s naval base on the south- eastern coast of Cuba, a heritage of the war with Spain. As soon as word that the United States had entered the World War flashed to the fleet over the radio, the floating fortresses went on a combat status. The Red Barn and Guantanamo were forsaken for native shores, as the Atiantic fleet steamed northward in war array, ever watchful for German U-boats. The great ships put into Hampton Roads, Va., and Admiral Henry T. Mayo, commander in chief of the fleet, who died but a few weeks ; A ago, ordered them to United States base No. 2—as the York River in Virginia was officially designated. In that spacious river, not so far from Washington, the battleships rode at anchor, behind & protecting sub- marine net. The York River remained the major base of the main fleet throughout the war, 'ULMINATING this fiscal year's activities afloat, the United States Fleet, as it is now officially termed, will engage in war maneuvers. But there will be the comforting knowledge that the ships are not called upon to 80 to foreign shores, as many of them did during the World War. Withal, the greyhounds that form Uncle Sam'’s line of defense will move with secrecy; will have a ‘“radio silence” imposed; will have strenuous watches around the clock; will keep just as keen an eye for the “enemy,” and will attempt to win, for it will be serious business. Secrecy drapes the movements of the vessels. The United States Fleet is split .into two opposing forces. Sealed orders are given the rival com- manders and they will have separate rendezvous and will attempt to better the “foe.” A defense of Hawali . . . an attack on Alaska . . . & sortie against the shores of California, or Oregon, or ‘Washington—these are major consid- erations in the war games. And sea- soned seamen will match wits and skill, tactics and strategy, in the lists. This is the annua] fleet problem In Wwhich the fleet gives a practical dem- onstration of some hypothetical prob- lem—with “all hands” participating. Due to the changes of personnel that periodically take place in the fleet, it is necessary to hold war games an- nually. The officers and men, at the outset of each year, start in with elementary work and progress to the grand result, which is the pending maneuver, with some 5,000,000 square miles as the theater of operations. There are three natural areas in which the American fleet can logi- cally hold the war games. One is in the Caribbean, with the Panama Canal as the prize. The second is the California-Hawaii-Panama area, with the Canal and Honolulu as critical pivots. The third is the California- Alaska-Hawaii triangle, being utilized for this year’s demonstration. Theoretical studies carried on at the Naval War College, at Newport, R. I., by officers of the Navy and Marine Corps, are here carried into practice. Here is the opportunity to introduce certain phases of war plans that are Jealously guarded at the Navy De- partment, and patroled, after work- A | “The main reason for the war games is to put on a grand show that is the ultimate in training,” explained a | high official at the Navy Department. | The dates for the war games are | from April 16 to May 28. The ma- | neuvers are officially designated as | “Fleet Problem 18.” The “white” and | “black” fleets will represent opposing | forces. | "THE grand umpire in the games this | year is Admiral Arthur J. Hep- burn, commander in chief of the United States Fleet, who is aboard his flagship, the Pennsylvania. Com- manding the Battle Force is Admiral Claude C. Bloch, who is remembered in the National Capital as a former commandant of the Washington Navy Yard and later as judge advocate gen- eral of the Navy. Vice Admiral Wil- lilam T. Tarrant is commanding the Bcouting Force. This “big three” guide the war games over the vast triangle. There are indications that the new destroyer leaders—the 1,850-ton craft —will be brought into battle line as a division or two. A given situation is presented to each fleet commander and he must work it out to his best advantage, Of course, the Navy Department is withholding details of the current problem and not even a hint of it will leak out if the Government can prevent. This is a secret that is being kept within the bosom of the official family. The war games have been worked out at Secretary Swanson's direction, with the aid and advice of Admiral ‘William D. Leahy, chief of naval op- erations; the General Board, which | advises the cabinet officer on matters of policy; the Naval War College, ‘War Plans and Naval Operations. Sometimes there is co-ordinated action with the Army. This is de- pendent upon the nature of the prob- lem in hand. But the Navy carries its own “army” with it—the United States Marines. Recently, off the California Coest, at San Clemente Island, there were landing operations held by Marines from Quantico, Va., and elsewhere, in & series of war problems. These were the minor war games, the prelude to the big show going on now in the Pacific. With the Army co-operating, there are Army obeervers aboard the naval vessels. On each major ship are sec- ondary umpires, whose job it is to keep the official tally and notify head- quarters when a ship is “sunk” or “crippled in action” or just “hit.” The objective is to simulate conditions in real combat. During the games no shore liberty is permitted. That would be a grand give-away to have hundreds of biue- Jjackets trooping down the docks and giving a hint to the *opposition.” While the meneuvers are in progress officers and enlisted men are ship- bound. Not even s piece of mail is received—unless picked up from the “mail buoy.” Radio is silenced, save for urgent messages. The warships steem along in the dark with a minimum of light—and probably the old ban, used during the World War, of not permitting refuse or garbage to be thrown over- board during the daytime as a tell- tale, is clamped down. ‘The monster floating fortresses move shead in line or in column, as the fleet commander orders. By visual signals—the multi-colored flags—or by radio, the orders are transmitted, and keen-eyed ensigns and “J. G.’s” alertly pass the word to their superiors. Tel- escopes and binoculars are trained on every suspicious object, for one of the surface and do a deal of “damage.” MORE than ever, the “black gang,” down in the bowels of the mon- sters, is admonished to conserve fuel be an accusing finger of smudge across the sky and over the waters, in- viting the “enemy” to look and learn of the whereabouts of the others. Guns’ crews stand by battle sta- tions, ready to fire and put the “foe” out of action. Of course, real shells are not fired on the ships of the op- posing fleet, but the umpires réadily tell when one is “out.” ‘The fleet commanders deploy their ships in the most suitable battle for- mation. They “call the play,” and then it is up to each individual player to handle himself. Thus, junior offi- cers are enabled to prove their met- tle—or draw down censure if they make a misstep. On this grand scale the war games will move ahead. Dutch Harbor in Unalaska will witness strange sights this Springtime and the bears will blink in amazemenf at the big man- made contraptions speeding past their glaciers as mimic battle proceeds. Honolulu, which, with all Hawail is assuming more and more impor- tance as aircraft take a major role in transportation, will see some of the towers of steel—the battleships, the destroyers, the submarines, the cruis- ers, the supply ships, the mine sweep- ers, the hospital ship and the smaller craft. For Hawaii looms large in the na- tional defense picture. There is the Army’s great Schofield Barracks. There is a major flying field. There is located the Navy's Pearl Harbor, near Honolulu. | “enemy submarines” might bob to the | is verily the first line of defense. and not make smoke, for that would | And during the war } The U. S. S. New York leading review formation. —Official Photo, U. S. Navy. games Hawail will be uppermost in the minds of the senior naval officers, for it would be a major prize indeed in a real war—a prize to hold—a prize to capture. So, with a circle of float- ing steel Uncle Sam will surround Hawaii to prove anew that his Navy ‘When the war games are all over, a round-table conference will be held. ‘This Navy men call a critique—a dis- cussion hy both sides. Each side will present its .case. The various com- manders. will tell their stories—their ‘part in the “conflict”—the bull's-eyes they scored, the times they failed even to come near the target. It will all be a sort of professional confessional. UT of the war games, the Navy will endeavor to learn valued lessons —where there are chinks in the armor, where the strength lies. And from this welter of discusison will come lessons to be studied at the Naval War Col- lege and mulled over by the “gray- beards” on the General Board. Out of it will come added knowledge of the value of the new cruisers and destroyer leaders and of what the battleships Uncle Sam {s about to construct should contain. Navy Department authorities em- phasize that the wer games are not necessarily devised with the idea of determining who won or lost. The games form a training ground. Each commander makes his recommenda- tions and voluminous documents will be written as the concluding chapter of the maneuvers. - For weeks and weeks preparations have been going forward. Some offi- cers have been detached from duty in Washington to join their ships be- fore they ‘“shoved off” for the war games. The only newspaper men per= mitted aboard will be representatives of the major press associations. Cameras will be taboo and every ef- fort is being made by Admiral Hep- burn to keep the moves under cover. 'ORLD supremacy of Ameri- can aircraft has become . such an accepted fact that the recent efforts of other nations to make their own place in the sun has practically. passed un- noticed in ¢his country. Yet, although our. ships and engines are flying in every part of the globe, although our total aeronautical exports for 1936, as reported by the Bureau of Air Com- merce; were over $23,000,000, and al- though the standard of our product is beyond cavil in the first rank, seri- ous competition from abroad is ahead, aviation authorities agree. The tre- mendous increase in the export figure, almost five and a half million dollars greater than in any previous year, is marred by certain prophetic facts, among which the most significant are Britain's building program, with particular reference to trans-Atlantic service, and the virtual loss of three of our former and principal markets. With their own factories now at large,| production, Germany bought only two planes from us, Russia one and Italy one during the past year. It is not, however, a discouraging factor, only & warning one. Because of military urgencies, nearly all other major countries and some minor ones are heavily subsidizing their factories, which leaves much of their commercial need to be filled by us, as well as the excess of fighting planes over what they can build themselves. Itis to the honor of American pluck apd inven- tion that under its power it has kept at the head of the procession. And both that pluck and that in- genuity are aware of what must be done to stay there. While the rest of the world shakes a mailed fist in the skies, our factory drawing boards are receiving the ink lines of new and bolder models, our research institu- tions explore balance and drag and a thousand other technical details in wind tunnel and compresion chamber, and in the air above seciuded fields test pilots zoom and power dive until the final Government .word is passed that the. “bugs” are out and another ship takes its place on the lines. IT IS not only from a dollars and cents standpoint that the impor- tance pf aviation supremacy looms in world affairs, nor even from a military one. Jobs for hungry men and women are involved; smoke for factory chim- neys, more comfort and mental secur- ity for your home and mine, a world frontier for children now growing up. Look at a map of international air routes as they are at present—cast your imagination ahead five years, ten, remembering that passenger svia- tion in the United States is just 10 years old, and the distance it has come in that decade. Visualize what that next decade will bring, with science probing farther into the unknown than ever before. Trade still follows -the flag, but now that banner whips invisibly from the nose of a giant air clipper or swings from the undercar- riage of a Hindenburg. What was once imperialism in the old phrase becomes tomorrow the arterial sys- tem of a world that is finding its way into the future. And of the whole we will be a part. How important a part, how powerfully our national impulses will flow along those arteries depends on what we do today. Whether it is our flying boats that continue to “PUFF PEDDLER” PLAYS RICHEST RACKET Operator Scorns Plebeian Associations Among Other Chiselers. By Joseph Marian. N THIS article we will digress slightly from our treatise on “charity chiseling,” and write upon the ‘subject, “Puff Peddling,” s racket started immediately following the World War. Lying dorment dur- ing the first five years of the depres- sion, it has been revived only within the past year, and, having decided to pay & visit to our promising city, its principals are preparing to ‘“go to town” with a vengeance. ‘The writer was “hooked” by this proposition back in a more prosperous day, but it is through no thought of revenge or spite that this article is written. We do not wish to be placed in the light of a reform crusader, but it also comes within the classification of “the rackets,” and so long as they are permitted to thrive and flourish during these days of suffrance just that much longer will Old Man Pros- perity hang “around the corner.” For this reason, the manipulations of this racket, although not hiding behind the cloak of charity, should be < EDITOR’S NOTE—This is the fifth of a series of artic{es exposing vicious rackets being practiced in the name of charity on innocent victims in Washington. It is now estimated that well over a half million dollars found its way into the pockets of hundreds of organized “charity chiselers” in the District during the past year. The way in which these crooks operate, the methods used by them, the schemes and devices they em- ploy to mulct and defraud their victims will be explained in these articles, which reveal in detail actual, cases of charity racketeering here. contained in our series, as it has been our object to disclose the manner in which the schemer is mulcting the people of Washington, and the huge sum of money involved, as well as to point out just what good would come of this money if contributed to the proper charities. The “puff peddler” does not asso- ciate with his charity chiseling broth- ers. He is a much higher type, and since his operations are quasi-legal, though obviously of a questionable nature, he is making a handsome income bamboozling the public, and does not care to mingle with the “steerage,” as he terms charity racketeers. - His plan of cempaign is just the opposite to that used by the old scan- dal sheet, whose publisher used his columns to extract cash from his victims. This scheme came within the bounds of blackmail, since he threatened his prey with the pub- lication of embarassing news items | already. unless they bought him off. The “puff peddler” works along entirely different lines. His publication is used as bait. He reads a eulogistic news story to the subject and makes him pay to see it in print. The scheme’ is based on the theory that every one loves to see his or her name in print at some time or other, and if accom- panied by a cleverly written “puff”, will pay well for this privilege, when properly approached. THE success of the racket depends almost entirely upon the solicitor’s .'Vanity of Victim Produces Quick Response as Bait Is Valued Publicity. The operation of the racket entails the maintenance of a monthly pub- lication, with its accompanying over~ head. But the profits derived there- from make both the investment and the labor expended well worth while. The crew is composed of an editor, two rewrite men (ex-newspaper men), two research men and two telephone solicitors or salesmen in the true sense of the word. Each morning the editor arrives at headquarters very early, armed with all the daily papers, local trade maga- zines, etc. In a short space of time out come clippings of all kinds to be given the research men for- “follow- up.” They immediatly proceed to telephone canvass. This mild bit of [ gather’ the information required to oratory must be carefully memorized by the racketeer, and he must be ready with & quick reply to any query, for the prospect must be landed on the first call. They never bite the second time. ‘This project is just in the prelimi- nary stage in Washington, although they have made & fqw nice “scores” l insure a good “puff.” In no time, it seems, they have acquired a short history of the subject—whether he is single or married, number of mem-, bers in his family, business affiliations, clubs and civic activities. Their desks are cluttered with “Who Is Whose,” blue books, red books, socifd regis- ters, directories and books containing (Oontinued on Fourth Page.) » Interior of a new passenger transport plane. —Lockheed Photo. Sketch of a Lockheed Electra private cut their course at “Jones’s Corner” in mid-Pacific above brave ghosts of older clippers with their canvas piled cloudlike in the tropic winds, calls for every ounce of American enter- prise—the enterprise that irresistibly pushed back the barriers across the face of the continent. So the drawing boards with their three dimensional plans assume a vital position. Travel the road to Baltimore and on beyond a few miles to Middle River, Md. A clean cut group of buildings, surrounded on two sides by green lawn, and approached at the back by an inlet, bears the name of Glenn L. Martin. From this source for years has come a steady stream of ideas that took wings and flew. The Martin bomber, the Martin clipper— great ships. Now new plans are under way. Most recent was the announcement, some two weeks ago, that for the competitive service across the Atlantic, Martin had planned and would build the largest transport plane of any to date. No details are public as yet, but in comperison with the present clippers that cruise at 130 miles per hour, this ship is supposed to have a speed of 175 and a 5,000-mile range with pay load. With this equipment, Europe would be only about 20 hours away. The flying boat being built for the Russian government will weigh something like 60,000 pounds, cost over $1,000,000, have 4,000 horse power on four engines, a seating capacity of 44 passengers and a crew of four, and a maximum range of 4,000 miles, cruising at 160. Add to this the paper plans, into which have gone long and detailed experiment, of the Martin streamliner, which will be designed definitely for sub-stratosphere work, and you have one door at least to future possibilities in the air. UT in California, where aviation production is concentrating with s rapidity. equalled only by the early days of motion picturess, Douglas Aireraft is building fast and furiously. Its ships are flying virtually. around the world; on domestic airlines de- liveries can’t be made quickly enough to satisfy the demand. Luxury rides in these ships for the first time, built to order—United with its “skylounge,” & beautiful club car of the air; Ameri- can with its pioneeriing sleepers, where the customer stretches out full length on a down-filled mattress in privacy and air-conditioned comfort 10,000 feet above the earth; Transcontinen- tal, Western Air with its still more powerful version being released this week. 3 Hear what Jack Frye, president of T. W. A, had to say when I talked | that was built specially for us. air yacht. —Photo by J. H. Washburn. with him at the Carlton Hotel the other day: “We are releasing our combination sleeper and day plane with equipment There will be' actually 30 per cent less for the pilots to watch in flight than on the old DC-2's. “Comfort 1s paramount in the cabin arrangement—17 seats in a space licensed to hold 25. There is a 50« inch space between them so that even a tall man has plenty of room. These seats cost $450 apiece. The spring cushions are down-filled: under each seat is a steamer chair-type foot rest that can be pulled out at the pase senger's wish. “Raymond Loewy, who designed some of the streamlined trains, did the interior decoration, a combination of dark red leather, maroon and gray, with copper trim and goat skin-cove ered bulkheads. All the metal fittings are copper.” So much for the Douglas of today. The Douglas of tomorrow goes into the sub-stratosphere, with a modified version of the DC-3 as a beginning, and the DC-4, first of the four-engined land planes, to be adopted lated. Al- though no definite pronouncement is obtainable from the company as yet on the current progress of the DC-4, it is understood that the difficulties encountered with the plans for this ship, being developed as a joint en= terprise for the “Big Five” airlines, are being froned out satisfactorily and that real progress toward produc= tion will begin shortly, HAROLD CRARY, vice president of United Airlines, recently gave me an interesting group of approxi- mate figures on the DC-4 and the comparable iand plane recently an nounced by Boeing in its re-entry info the transport building fleld. In still air over a distance of 1,400 miles, the Boeing is supposed to carry 32 pas- sengers and 600 pounds of cargo; the DC-4, 40 passengers and 3,100 pounds— glving the Dougias the edge of some- thing like 4,000 pounds more pay load, but the Boeing an air speed 12 miles per hour faster. Both planes will cost about $275,000 each in inittal production, and will have high altitude possibilities, the DC-4 being startgd at current normal flight levels, the Boeing supercharged and ready for 20,000 feet cruising, but, again sc- cording to Mr. Frye, being tested firs around current levels. 5 “This Boeing,” he told me whén discussing T. W. A.'s order for six.of these high altitude planes to be de- livered and put Into service next Spring, “will be the first transport sip that will be as nearly streamlined agis (Continued on Sixth Page.) 4