Evening Star Newspaper, February 1, 1942, Page 10

A-10 = THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, . FEBRUARY 1, 1942. Furious Baffle Rages As Jap Forces Pound Amboina, Indies Base Dutch, Ashore, Race With Time to Lay Waste Vital Facilities By the Associated Press. BATAVIA, Netherlands Indies, Jan. 31.—A furious battle on land, sea and in the air flamed today between the Dutch de- fenders of Amboina, the Nether- lands Indies’ second naval base, and a Japanese invasion force which struck with great strength into the strategic bastion on the archipelago’s eastern flank. (An Australian communique said Japanese troops were trying to clinch a beachhead from a fleet of four transports, three cruisers and six destroyers.) ‘While the transports edged close to shore, Japanese cruisers and de- stroyers poured shells into the island; bombers and fighters pound- ed Amboina port itself in furious force and, & communique said, “The ! d battle was raging everywhere.” Ashore the Dutch were engaged in a race with time to lay waste the facilities which—in the hands of the enemy—could menace the main In- dies-Australian communications of the United Nations and facilitate invasion of Java and North Aus- tralia. Vital Points Destroyed. Flames from demolitions on the | island licked at the sky and it was| announced officially that “all pre-| paratory destruction of vital points | of the tanker Rochester, some | Murray Says Industry Creates "Arificial’ in Amboina and vicinity was ordered | and immediately carried out.” The island is in the Molucca group | which forms a barrier between the Molucca passage from the north and the Banda Sea to the south. On the west is Celebes; on the east, New Guinea. The Australian naval base of Port Darwin is 634 miles to the southeast, Java not much farther to the southwest and the island of Timor lies only 350 miles distant. By Thursday it was apparent from reconnaissance that the Japa- nese, bleeding from the pounding they received at the hands of Dutch and American planes and warships | in their abortive attempt to force the strait of Macassar, direct route to Java, were maneuvering for a thrust down the Molucca passage. | In the Macassar waters to the west a Japanese armada had been battered and halted with nearly two score warships or transports sunk or damaged and its only achievement an empty invasion of Balik Papan, East Borneo oil port where the Japanese found oil fields and refineries in embers from the torch of the Dutch scorched earth policy Two-Hour Assault by Japs. The first attack on Amboina be- gan yesterday morning with two hours of assault by Japanese bomb- ers and machine-gunning fighters. A church and a school were de- stroyed and a radio station damaged slightly, but the population escaped casualties. Amboina’s . .destruction squads, well informed of what was in store by scouting Dutch and Australian aircraft, sprang quickly to execu- tion of the well-laid demolition plans which have been a part of | the grim defense of every important Indies base since the fall of the homeland. By the time the enemy’s trans- port fleet was spotted off the island the work was well along toward | completion. | At 1 pm. yesterday the Jap- anese warships and invasion liners | could be seen from Amboina, the city on the south coast of the island. “In the evening, the enemy be- gan the real attack,” the Nether- lands command announced. “At sev- eral] points along the coast cruisers, destroyers and transport ships were lying, while on various places de- struction was still burning. “This morning at 6:20 enemy ships and aircraft were shelling and bomb- ing the island and the battle was raging everywhere.” This was the fifth enemy invasion front in the Indies, and by far the most strategically important. Other Japanese footholds in the Dutch possessions are at Balik Papan: the oil island of Tarakan, off North | Borneo; the Minahassa Peninsula of North Celebes and Pemangkat, on Dutch West Borneo. The enemy also occupies Sarawak, British North- west Borneo. Today there were reports of new Japanese air raids from Sumatra to Celebes, one of them on the Borneo airdrome at Banjermasin, 300 miles northeast of Soerabaja, Java, the Indies’ principal naval base. Moreover, a transport trans- ferring German internees from the Indies to British territory was the target of unspecified “Japanese ac- tion” which, an official announce- ment said, killed and wounded a great many of Japan's allies. A Dutch warship, maintaining the Netherlands’ armed forces schetule of hitting one enemy ship almost every day, sank a Japanese subma- rine in Indies waters. In Java, the United Nations’ com- mander, Gen. Sir Archibald Wavell, toured the military bases about which the final defense of the Indies will be centered. Accidents (Continued From First Page.) after she was injured in a three-car collision early yesterday near Belts- ville. Police said she was a pas- senger in a car driven by Edward Patterson, 41, colored, 1518 Montello avenue N.E. Six Persons Killed In Virginia Accidents By the Associated Press. Six persons were killed in acci- dents on Virginia highways yester- day. ‘The dead included: Mrs. Myrtle Shankle, about 35, of Big Stone Gap, killed in'an acci- dent on U. S. Route 11, near Bu- chanan, Orville Presley, 25, of Olney, Md., suffered a fractured jaw in the ac- cident which took the life of Mrs. Bhankle. = Scrap Iron Shorfage Spokesman for Institute Accuses C. |. O. Officials Of Blocking Shipments | By the Associated Press. | Philip Murray, C. I. O. president, | and Edwin C. Barringer, executive secretary of the Institute -of Scrap Iron and Steel, fell into argument yesterday over the reason why more scrap was not going into the arma- { ment program. Mr. Murray, who also is chairman | of the Stee] Workers Organizing Committee, charged that the scrap | steel and iron industry had created an “artificial shortage” in an at- tempt to break price ceilings set | by the Office of Price Administra- tion last spring. | Mr. Murray made public 8 mem- orandum to Donald Nelson, War | Production Board chief, which said an investigation by his union “dis- closes there is no long-term short- | age” of scrap steel and iron—that there is enough “to keep the mills going at 100 per cent of capacity | for the next five years.” | Big Loss Charged. | “The Nation,” Mr. Murray con- | tended, “is losing more than 2,000,- | 000 tons of steel annually because of | an alleged scrap shortage—a ‘short- age’ which does not exist and which | is created by brokers to drive prices upwards, and by an important seg- ment of the steel industry to pre- vent ex on.” Mr. Barringer said in a statement that “interference by C. 1. O. offi- cials with the collection and ship- ment of scrap and inability to get 500,000 tons of scrap out of coal mines because the union refuses to adjust overtime rates” was responsi- ble. Organizer Accused. “In Michigan last fall, when scrap dealers were makjng every effort to increase the supply,” Mr. Barringer said, “August Scholle, was an S. W. O. C. organizer, publicly charged that the scrap campaign was a political scheme on the part of Gov. Van Wagoner, attacked the head of the Michigan Council for Defense and generally hampered our industry.” Mr. Barringer also asserted that| “at present, C. I. O. pickets are tying Up several auto wrecker yards in St. Louis.” Coal mine operators, Mr. Barringer said, say that about a half million tons of scrap left from operations in their mines can | be brought up only on Sunday “but | to pay the required overtime would make the labor cost exceed the mar- | ket value of this scrap.” Russian (Continued From First Page.) lines in the Ukraine and are racing | forward after capturing 200 villages, while in the northwest ski-mounted artillery is enabling the Red Army to wade deep into enemy-defended | territory, Russian war reports said. The Kuibyshev radio yesterday | said more than 3,000 Germans were | killed in the Ukraine advance. Four Planes Shot Down. The Soviets said they shot down four Nazi planes Friday in air com- bats and destroyed 16 others on the ground. Five Russian planes were lost, the communique added. While front-line dispatches indi- Choose Your Piano As The Artists Do! 4 NORFOLK, VA.—SURVIVORS OF SUNKEN TANKER—Survivors o« more often than not, when \ you hear piano music HUGO WORCH SOLE AGENT 1110 G St. N.\W. NAtl. 4529 still wearing their lifebelts, are shown after their arrival at the Naval Operating Base here yes- terday. The tanker was struck < by two torpedoes from a German Capt. A. L. Clark of West Bedford, Mass. (left), talking with reporters after his rescue. crew related tales of bad marksmanship on the part of the submarine when she shelled the tanker, but said some one aboard shouted a warning in English to a boat crew in line of fire to “get out of the way. We are going to fire.” U-boat in broad daylight and sank off the Virginia coast Friday. ‘The torpedoes plerced the aft portion of the 6,836-ton ship ahd 13 shells were fired at the hulk. (Story on Page 1.) His —A. P. Photos. cated stiffening German resistance on.the western, southwestern and southern fronts, with fighting raging in all sectors, these reports said the Red Army was continuing to make gains. Some of the most violent fighting was going on northwest of Kalinin, where the Russians have thrust deep toward the Latvian border. Red Star’s correspondent said Rus- sian troops had forced the crossmz‘ of a river and was approaching a | town of great military lmpomnce‘ in that sector but did not name the | river or town. | Fighting still is in progress at the approaches to the town, the cor- respondent said. Another town was| captured and more than 2,000 Ger-‘ | mans killed in desperate street fight- | |ing, he said, while sireet fighting/ (was still in progress in the center of a third town. The Germans made counterat-| tacks in some sectors there, but were | | said to have been beaten back every- where. | Fiercely resisting bands of Ger- | mans left behind the Russian lines | in the swift advances of recent days | are being mopped up methodically, this account said. Skies Used Effectively. It was here that ski-borne artil- lery was found particulary useful. Advancing over countryside where | the roads had been obliterated by | deep drifts, the gunners kept pace | | with swift moving infantry to give | close up support in reduction of | German strong points, Red Star said. Ski-mounted planes also at- tacked at many places along the front. Everywhere German guns, mortars, trucks and other equipment 1m-{ mobilized by the snow are being | captured, the Russians said. The Soviet Information Bureau | said the Germans had attempted another “psychological attack” in fighting for one village, but that like all the others in which the Ger- mans charged shouting and waving, the Russians held their fire until their foe was very close then mowed over the radio, it is some one “at them down. The Russians said 100 Nazi bodies were left on the field. A success on the Leningrad front also was reported in the communi- que which said 14 German block- Combined supply is & war program designed to bring the United States victory as quickly and completely as possible. The workings of the com- MissPerkins Scooped by Woman InD.C. AreaonFarmeretteldea Mrs. Dupuy’s Feminine Land Army Already on March; Courses, Jobs Planned Secretary of Labor Perkins re- ported yesterday that she is con- ferring with Secretary of Agricul- ture Wickard on a plan to recruit in cities a big corps of farmerettes— with overalls as uniforms. But as far as the Washington area is concerned, the cabinet members have been scooped by Mrs. R. Ernest Dupuy, operating from headquarters in the stables of Undersecretary of State Summer Welles. Wife of an Army colonel, Mrs. Dupuy revealed yesterday that she is ready to offer Maryland farm Jobs to girls and women who will milk cows, pick berries and do odd tasks for 30 cents an hour. Aware that the urban woman does not possesse many rustic skills, Mrs. Dupuy s supporting harticulture, dairy and poultry courses to be started next week at the University of Maryland by the American Wom- en’s Volunteer Services. She prom- ises that farmers will be delighted to hire the trainees because trained labor recently has been their big headache, with the draft and a booming Washington draining off hired hands. Antique Hobby Dropped. ‘What Mrs. Dupuy is doing here is similar to the farmerette movement Miss Perkins recalls she headed during the last war in the Hudson Valley. To the truck and fruit farms | streamed girls from Vassar Col- lege and women from New York factories. Agriculture -has now stolen Mrs, Dupuy’s attention from the hobby | of acquiring early American an- tiques for her 200-year-old home in Georgetown. With four years of experience on a Vermont farm be- hind her, she decided to stage a one-woman battle for a feminine land army in the District. | P Mrs. Dupuy got the extension service of the University of Mary- land to offer six weeks of training in its dairy barns, vegetable gardens and poultry yards. Somewhere along the line the A, W. V. 8. gave her an office in Mr. Welles' stables and asked her to start training farm helpers under its auspices. She was offered an Olney farm as experimental station and home for about 40 girls, though most volun- teers are expected to drive daily to their stations from Washington. The Fairfax County Agricultural Board got interested in the idea and | appointed a committee to advise Mrs. Dupuy. Army to Be Well Trained. On Februray 9 she will take a big step toward formation of her land army with the beginning of three poultry classes a week from 10:30 am. t0.12:30 pm. and three horti- culture classes a week from 1:30 to "14:30 pm. at the university. Classes —_—— — | of lease-lend program of her own in relations with the United States. Much of the food for American | forces abroad, for instance, is being | drawn from British supplies and | turned over on a quid pro quo basis. | A&N Trading Co. Serving the Service for 25 years in dairying will begin March 15, three times a week from 1:30 to | 3:30 pm. ‘To her this is only the beginning, she sald yesterday, of an army to be as well-trained and disciplined as the men commanded by her hus- band, at the War Department, and her son, a captain at Camp Bland- ing, Fla. Joking about the types of uniforms the women will wear and the vegetable patches they will ruin does not amuse Mrs. Dupuy. For instance, application cards already signed by about 50 women for the courses originally asked if the ap-| plicant were allergic to poison ivy or were subject to hay fever. Mrs. Dupuy goes on the assump- tion that any one mature enough to help with the serious problem of feeding the Nation's Capital need not be advised on hay fever or slacks versus shorts. Nor can volunteers learn how to milk a cow, feed chickens and grade berries, she said, without actually | working on farms afterward. Ex- schedule of women who will work on farms full time every day, part time, or perhaps spend their summer va- cations living at A. W. V. S. experi- mental stations and working for farmers nearby. Most of . the volunteers so far have been women free of actual care of their home and children and able to work during the day, Mrs. Dupuy is interested in the of- fice worker who might be trained at night and work on Sundays and on vacations. She pictures the day when office vacations will be worked out in accordance with berry pick- ing seasons. She is also considering suggestions made by the Fairfax County Board that women could take out their wages in further training, or split produce with the farmers. Sanifary and SaIeiyfiSurvey Is Started by Ruhland Health Officer George C. Ruhland yesterday announced the Health De- partment had begun a survey of sanitary and safety conditions in ‘Washington's industrial establish- ments. During the past year the District Minimum Wage Board was given responsibility for industrial safety, but more recently the question was raised at the District Building as to cept for a very few women already | whether $uch work more properl working full time on farms, who | should be assigned to mep;‘;’ffimf have been admitted to the courses for further training, Mrs. Dupuy is fixing & minimum of 144 hours of work this summer for trainees. Vegetable and truck gardeners are needed in Fairfax County, and workers are needed for Maryland’s tomato industry. Already produc- |ing one fourth of the Nation's to- | matoes, Maryland has been asked to increase its output 25 per cent Seasonal berry pickers will be needed in both States starting in May and continuing through the summer. Mrs. Dupuy plans to work out a Department. Without awaiting for a congres- sional decision? Dr. Ruhland yester- day announced that a sanitary and safety survey of all Washington's in- dustrial establishments had been started and that this survey was under direction of Russell Rossano, a Public Health engineer who had been loaned to the District by the United States Public Health Service. Make your “overtime” pay work overtime. Invest in United States savings bonds and stamps. 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Nelson, chair- | tion of the whole procedure of get- man of the War Productions Board, | ting supplies for the Allies in the is looked on as an essential pre- United States—the placing of the liminary to ‘the institution of the orders, the speed of manufacture, Allied council. | the transfer of raw materials neces- Representatives of the other 24 sary to the manufacture and the United Nations governments, in- |dispatch of the finished goods to the cluding Russia, are waiting for the | places where they are needed. completion of the new programs tg The Lease-Lend Administration be informed about the decisions has turned back to the British, it | that have been reached and the | was learned yesterday, many re- | meaning of those decisions for | quests for supplies which the agency future action. | considered not essential for the con- Psychological considerations as!duct of the war. Under the new well as grand strategy have dlcaated ‘ arrangement these requests, it is the scrapping of most of the lease- | expected, will be given greater con- lend operations. Lease-lend was a | sideration. pre-war program designed to “nid"\ It was learned that England in the fighting opponents of the Axis. | turn henceforth may conduct a sort houses were destroyed in two days. Arms Pool (Continued Prom First Page.) Enjoy o warm, draftiess home and SAVE % your fuel. @ Sizes and styles suitable for all types of wood and steel casement windows. @ All units ventilote easily— instolled and removed from inside. Combined With the N KOOL SHADE SCREEN Keeps your home cool and comfortabie in the summer by keeping out the sun’s hot rays. AIR COMFORT CORPORATION 14th & Spriny Rd. N.W. Washinaten, D. C. Phons HObart 8300 / e 7 ' i Chief Peity © Public Health ¢ Coast Guard OFFICERS Regulation Equipment at Lowest Prices! 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