Evening Star Newspaper, February 4, 1942, Page 4

A—2 wxw Free Insurance Plan For Men in Service Aired in Senafe ‘It's Next Logical Step,” La Follette Says, After War Damage Bill Passes By the Associated Press. Senate passage of the $1,000,- 000,000 war damage bill giving property owners free insurance up to $15,000 damage has raised the question of providing free life insurance for members of the armed forces. Although such a proposal has not 4 been presented to Congress, Senator La Follette, Progressive, of Wiscon- sin, told the Senate yesterday dur- ing debate on the War Damage Corp. bill that Congress might as well face the “next logical step”—free insurance for the men who fight. “I merely wish to point out,” he said, “that if we are to accept the principle that damages sustained to property through war, up to a limit of $15,000, are to be shared equally by payments in restitution from the Treasury of the United States with- out any contributory premiums, we ought to be prepared to take the next logical step—and I do not see how we can escape it—and that is to provide insurance to the men in the armed services, many of whom are under fire, without extracting & premium from them.” One Plan in Effect Now. Men in the armed services already are provided Government war risk insurance, but they must pay pre- miums in relation to the amount of insurance they obtain. The new war damage bill would not require premiums from property owners until a damage ceiling of $15,000 had been reached. Above that point, insurance would require premium payments to be established later by the War Damage Corp. Senator Taft, Republican, of Ohio told the Senate yesterday that the British system required com- pulsory premiums of every British property owner for war damage in- surance. American constitutional provisions, he said, prohibit such compulsory levies because they would be considered a Federal tax on property. Senator Danaher, Republican, of Connecticut first raised the question of free insurance for soldiers when he questioned Jesse H. Jones, Secre- tary of Commerce and Federal loan | administrator, during consideration | of the property-insurance bill by the Senate Banking and Currency Com- mittee. Danaher Hits “Free Ride.” “Why should we give property owners a free ride under this pro- tection and yet require all the boys that are sent into the service to pay for their coverage?” Senator Danaher asked. “I cannot argue with you on that,” said Secretary Jones. “Of course, this is property insurance.” Senator La Follette carried the question ;urnher on the Senate floor when he added: “1f the Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey is to be reimbursed for dam- age to its Bayonne (N.J.) plant up to $15,000 without contributing a penny to the Treasury of the United States to help carry the cost of that insurance, I do not see how Con- gress can decline to extend insur- ance to the men in the armed serv- ioes of the United States without extracting & premium out of their $21 a month.” Communiques MacArthur Repulses Night Flank Attack War Department communique No. 91, outlining the military situation @s of 9:30 a.m. today, follows: 1. Philippine theater: During the night of February 3, elements of the 16th (Kimura) division made a local attack on our left flank in Batan. The attack was sharply repulsed. Our troops continued to mop up tattered remnants of the Jap- anese who had previously landed on the West coast or who had infiltrated behind our lines. These enemy troops were from the Tatori group and the Ki- mura division and were found in isolated pockets. No rein- forcements were able to reach them. The enemy had attempted to supply them intermittently with food and ammunition drop- ped by parachute. However, most of these supplies fell into our hands. The Japanese prisoners of war expressed great surprise at the humane treatment they are re- ceiving at our hands. They said that they had been told we would execute all prisoners. On our right there was little sctivity during the last 24 hours. Enemy air activity over our Tines was limited to a few spor- adic bombing attacks which did no damage. 2. Netherlands Indies: A delayed report advises that seven heavy American Army bombers of the flying fortress type attacked Japanese shipping at Balik Papan, Borneo, on Feb- ruary 2. Two enemy transports were sunk and a third, which was hit repeatedly, was probably sunk. All of our planes returned to their base undamaged. It is believed this attack is the one mentioned in Gen. Wavell's com- munique of yesterday. 3. There is nothing to report from other areas. The Navy Department communi- que, based on reports received up to 5 p.m. (Eastern standard time) yes- terday, follows: 1. A motor torpedo boat of Ad- miral Hart’s command is believed to have torpedoed an enemy war- ship in night action inside Ma- nila Bay. Although under heavy fire of the warship’s guns, and in the full glare of her search- lights, the motor torpedo boat managed to fire two torpedoes and survive the action without being hit. 2. A naval battalion composed of bluejackets and marines has been organized and is fighting on Batan Peninsula with Gen. Mac- Arthur’s command. 3. The U. 8. S. Neches, a naval THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTO. CONTRIBUTION FOR DEFENSE—Secretary of the Navy Knox (left) presented to Secretary of the Treasury Morgenthau yester- day a check for $1,684,612.50, representing Defense bonds pur- chased in December by civilian employes of navy yards and other naval shore stations. —A. P. Photo. American Industry Goes to War— Jig Designing Is Bottleneck In Mass Production of Tanks Buick Factory Engineers Building Skill Into Tools to Achieve Fastest Possible Output (Fourth of a Series.) By THOMAS R. HENRY. Many thousand men who have spent most of their working lives making shining blue, maroon and black bodies for Buick automobiles now are trying to adjust themselves to making tanks. There is actually almost nothing in common between a Buick automobile and a tank, except that both are motor vehicles. The great automobile plant here has been developed through the years into a vast mechanism of almost perfect efficiency and precision. This is due largely to the%- system of jigs and gauges. An un- i finished body comes slowly down the ::Ydi;?]’_mmbl" in the case of embly line to the station where oo All-Welded Tanks. the doors are to be put in place. Each door is clamped on by means| Welding armor plate, it has been ofa ‘fjig," which holds n_m an exuct‘ found, is quite a different job than :’gj‘ef;":u‘;”g:f;‘;"‘fifi’g:;‘h UNCANNY| Gelding the thin sheet steel of & When they are through—a matter | Buick body. It will require a skilled of l{essfit;nxi_) ::&na::—pg: ktiol;rc:: | welder two or three months to make perfectly. " | the change. These tanks are to be structed {ig, there has been 1o POS- | o firely welded. Riveted tanks have proved dangerous under shell fire. Another problem is the disposal sibility whatsoever of a misfit. The jig was made for one size and shape of personnel. On a car body four or five men could work at every station of door to fit one precise model of on the line. There were all sorts of automobile. interior jobs to be done. With a Can't Make Mistake. tank, designed for anything but ‘The same is true of every other part that enters into an automobile luxury and comfort, there is nothing of the sort. Its production will be body. Relatively little skill is re- quired of the worker. In a couple slower. The “line” will move at a snail's pace. Where once a thou- of months, at the most, he can learn to handle his own little job and he | sand Buick bodies went over it in 12 hours, only a few tanks will creep will never get any better or any worse. He cannot make a mistake. along. This means that other jobs must be found for many of the men. The jig will not let him err. With | the bodies rolling along at the rate | of one every minute the factor of | President Summons Labor War Board to Its First Conference human fraiity must be discounted | Hillman to Participate entirely. That, explains the superintendent, | In Conversations - As U. S. Official is the secret of mass production. The | skill must be in the tool, not the | man. Far removed from the noise | and distractions of the assembly line very skilled men indeed are at Seeking to assure most effective participation of organized labor in the war effort, President Roosevelt today invited the new- ly-formed Labor War Board to work designing jigs and gauges with | measurements down to thousandths | the White House tomorrow for its initial round table confer- of an inch. Their rooms look like | dressmaking shops where patterns for the spring styles are being de- ence. Containing three members from both the C. I. O. and A. F. L., the signed. But once they have done their skilled job, it suffices for a new board is to sit periodically with the President in an advisory and million automobile bodies. Obviously a jig for the door of a Buick would be worse than useless for the door of a Chevrolet. Once a planning capacity. It was created last month after a proposal had been made by John L. Lewis, former head of the C. I. O, that peace particular model of car is discon- tinued, all the jigs used in produc- negotiations be resumed between the two labor factions. The new board ing it are so much junk. But the jig system is absolutely essential for will map labor’s co-operation in the general war effort. mass production. Without it the ‘The White House announced to- assembly of an automobile body would be largely old-fashioned handicraft. Jigs Before Tanks. The company’s engineers have be- fore them the stupendous task of de- signing jigs for tanks. This is prob- ably the biggest single job required before mass production of these monsters of modern war can be started.. Already a couple of tanks day that Sidney Hillman, a member of the War Production Board and head of the labor division in that agency, would participate in the Labor War Board conversations in the role of a Government official. Mr. Hillman is a former officer of the C. I. O. Representing the A. F. L. on the new board are President William Green, Vice President Daniel J. of the required design are near com- pletion. Some of the best engineers Tobin and Secretary - Treasurer George Meany. The C. I. O. rep- and mechanics of the factory have resentatives are President Philip been working night and day on them. If production continued at Murray, R. J. Thomas of the United Automobile Workers and Julius such a rate the supply of tanks to the Army would be a mere trickle Emspak of the United Electrical Workers. compared to the thousands vitally needed. Even so, it would be im- possible to obtain men with suffi- cient skill to do the work very effi- ciently. It may require months to com- plete the tank jig system. The de- signing requires the best brains in the General Motors Corp. Once it is constructed and in place, tanks can start rolling in numbers which will make up in a few days all the time which is lost now. Different in Germany. The situation, it is explained, is quite different from that which ob- tained in Germany since the start of the Hitler regime. There a fac- tory might be erected ostensibly to build automobile bodies—but they would be only an excuse. The jigs were constructed primarily for tanks and automobile patterns and dimen- sions were designed to fit them. But the equipment of this automobile plant in Michigan was designed for the sole purpose of turning out as rapidly as possible bodies for Buick automobiles and nothing else what- soever. Even the factory itself was de- signed for this purpose. A mass production tank plant requires a carrier system which will not fit. Only a few parts of this factory are adapted to it. The personnel problem presents complications, although not as seri- More Rayon Is Ordered Set Aside for Hosiery By the Associated Pi v American women accustomed to sheathe their legs in silk and nylon may have to learn to use rayon. This was ‘indicated last night in & War Production Board order no- tifying all rayon producers to set aside larger quantities next month for the hosiery industry to assure them of “an adequate supply to meet military and civillan de- mands.” The board explained that Army chute manufacture apparently would absorb a large part of the 1942 nylon output. tanker, has ‘been torpedoed and sunk by an enemy submarine. One hundred and twenty-six members of the crew have reached port safely. FPifty-six men are as yet unaccounted for. » ous as might be expected. With the machine providing the skill a man on the “jigs” probably can learn in changes Woman Writer, 86, Dies DALLAS, Tex., Feb. 4 (#)—Mrs. mms Cobb Evans, 86, clubwoman and Navy requirements for Dara-|ie;day Naval Shore Units Buy Defense Bonds Worth $1,700,000 Check for December Sales Is Presented To Morgenthau * Secretary of the Navy Knox last night presented Secretary of the Treasury Morgenthau with a check for approximately $1,700,000 repre- senting total sales of Defense bonds at naval shore establishments dur- ing December, and in the presenta- tion, told Mr. Morgenthau that civilians as well as service men are which we can all be proud,” said Mr. Knox in a broadcast over the Blue Network from Mr. Morgenthau's office. Mr. Knox added that civilian workers of the Navy are committed to buy Defense bonds during 1942 with a maturity value of $62,000,000. “On their behalf,” he said, “I am proud to hold up their record as a challenge to the country at large.” Mr. Morgenthau thanked the workers through Mr. Knox and said, “Let the Nazis and the Japanese look at that response, and look at it well. It is just another example of the spirit that is going to win the war for freedom.” Meanwhile, Rear Admiral George Pettengill, in announcing the results of the first day’s sales in the Wash- ington Navy Yard, said “The United States is fighting mad.” “In one day, January 30, the men of this yard guaranteed to allot from their pay each month $35,000 for the purchase of ‘bonds to bomb the Axis’,” he said. “If the reaction of the people of this Yard is any sam- ple of the way all the United States feels, there can not be any question as to the outcome of the war.” From this beginning, he said, the Yard is aiming for $600,000 per month of salary allotments. Pre- viously, sales in the Yard had been made by agents, and had totaled over $500,000. Slain California Girl, 6, Was Victim of Assault By the Associated Press. SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.,, Feb. 4 —Garroted with her jumping rope, the body of 6-year-old Shirley Marie Bell was found yesterday partly buried in forbidding Lytle Creek Wash, more than 24 hours after she disappeared. County autopsy Surgeon F. S. SHIRLEY MARIE BELL. —A. P. Wirephoto. Small said the little girl had been criminally assaulted. Bicycle tracks led Police Officer Lee Robb to the body in brush land five miles northwest of San Ber- nardino. The child last was seen riding on the handlebars of a bicycle pedaled by a man about 30 years old. She had left home for school a short while before. A playmate and H. C. Boone, a rancher, both reported seeing Shir- ley, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Bell, on the bicycle with the | grot stranger yesterday morning. Mr. Boone said the girl was crying, but he suspected nothing at the time. Children Escape Injury Evacuation caused by the war has already saved 9,000 London school children from death or serious injury in traffic accidents, according to the British Ministry of Health. RED CROSS GETS ITALIAN-AMERICAN SUPPORT—A $100 check is presented by Ben Crifasi (right), president of the Lido Civic Club, a group of American citizens of Italian extraction, as their first gift in a drive to aid the Red Cross. Accepting it is Admiral Charles Conard, executive vice chairman of the War Fund campaign. Mrs. Addison G. Foster of the Red Cross staff looks on. Decision on Selling 3Tokens for 25 Cents Postponed for Month Hearing Is Concluded; Briefs by Citizens and Company Awaited Decision on the petition of organ- | ized citizens for sale of Capital Transit Co. tokens at three for 25 cents, instead of & minimum of six | for 50 cents, has been postponed by | the Public Utilities Commission for | more than a month. | When public hearings were con- | cluded yesterday, Commission Chair- | man Gregory Hankin, granting time | for filing of briefs by the Federation of Citizens’ Associations, the Fed- eration of Civic Associations and the Capital Transit Co., said the case would be concluded 30 days after certain exhibits had been completed by agents of the commission and the company. This latter work is ex- pected to take but a day or so. 0ld Arguments Revived. Many pages of testimony have been taken from representatives of the public and the company and many of the same arguments were employed that were used when the token fare was changed from four| for 30 cents to six for 50 cents, several years ago. These may be summarized as fol- | lows: For the public: That sale of tokens at six for 50 cents or three for a quarter is a mere mathematical matter and amounts to the same thing; That sale of tokens at no less than six at a time places a hardship on the poor, many of whom are un- employed or only intermittently em- ployed, to whom 50 cents at a time for transportation is a relatively large sum; That in the majority persons in| the lower income groups do not have $125 for the weekly streetcar and bus pass; or 50 cents for tokens, but that they might have 25 cents for three tokens; That operative time for streetcars and buses is lost as change is made on the six for 50-cent basis, more s0 than on a basis of three 1or 25 cents; That some patrons buying as many as six tokens for 50 cents lose some of them before they can use them; and That an “unjust” discrimination results from sale of tokens at no less | than six for 50 cents, which should | be corrected. The Other Side. For the company: That in any token sale it is possible that there is some “dis- | crimination” but that the only test | is whether there is an “unreason- able” discrimination, and in this case the company denies there is an “unreasonable” discrimination. ‘That if the token sale is changed | to three for 25 cents the company stands to lose in annual revenue | between $190,000 and $260,000, as | cash or pass users change over to token fare. | That such an experience is to be | expected on the basis of previous | history. | That the argument that low income | groups are suffering a hardship is | not well supported, in that this| up is among the heaviest users of the $1.25 weekly pass. | That the token fare is intended for the “quantity” buyer of transit company service, rather than the occasional or casual rider, and that if the argument were carried to an extreme one token would be sold for 814 cents, or thereabout, elemi- nating the difference between the present 10-cent cash fare and the 8%-cent token fare. Weather Report (Purnished by the United States Weather Buresu.) District of Columbia—Higher temperatures tonight, with lowest temperature slightly below freezing tomorrow morning. Gentle to moderate winds. Maryland and Virginia—Warmer tonight with occasional freezing | rain beginning in west portion by morning. West Virginia—Slowly rising temperature today, warmer tonight. SR e e River Report. Potomse and Shenandoah Rivers clear at Harpers Ferry; Potomac slightly muddy at Great Falls today. Report for Last 24 .;Irl. S empe: 3 Yegterday— Degrees. D. 24 Hours. (Prom noon yesterday to noon today.) Highest, 35, at noon today; year Lowest, 17, at,.5:50 a.m. today; ago, 22. Record Temperatures This Year. Highest, 65, on January 18. Lowest, 6, on January 11. Humidity for Last 24 Hours. (Prom noon yesterday to noon toasy.) Highest, 75 per cent, at 7:30 a.13. today. est. 20 per cent. at 7:30 p.m. yes- Precipitation. Monthly precipitation in inch the Capital 1l:llrr!nlwmnnlh to date) - . Average. 8 @siomon M ot e P BIRERREIS in Various Cities. ‘Tempera- Precipi- Highest Towest; 54 24 hrs. 12. hrs. hrs.in. [ex. B8 32 46 168 Temperatures Albuquerque, N. Atlanta, Gi Bostor 20 30 23 BRERIRBREHIRY D. C, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1942. —=Star Staff Photo. Congress in Brief Senate: In recess. House: Considers $500,000,000 aid-to-Chi- na appropriation. May act on Sen- ate increases in record-high Navy appropriations bill. Immigration Committee studies bill to give citizenship to native Pilipinos now permanent residents of United States. Defense Migration Committee in- quires into use of women in war occupation. California Movements By Enemy Nationals Restricted Sharply Persons Affected to Stay In Homes at Night, Within 5 Miles by Day By the Associated Press. Attorney General Biddle today designated as an area of sharply restricted movements for German, Japanese and Italian nationals the California coast from the Oregon border south to a point 50 miles above Los Angeles and running in-[ land from 30 to 150 miles. The order is effective February 24. After that date, enemy aliens in that area must remain in their residences from 9 pm. to 6 am, and at all other times they must be at their homes or their places of employment or en route between the two, or in any case within § miles of their residences. Internment is the penalty for vio- lations. United States attorneys may grant exception to the restric- tions, Mr. Biddle said, “only in cases where a compelling reason exists and after completion of a suitable | investigation.” The north-south lengths of the area in a straight ilne is about 500 | miles, but the coast line is consid- erably longer. U. S. Freighter, Adrift For Days, Is Towed 1,300 Miles to Brilaini Crew of Vessel Wins Admiralty Praise for Coping With Storms | By the Associated Press. Educafors Propose Wartime Aid by U. §. For College Students. Also Recommend Funds For Special Programs In Essential Fields By the Associated Press. Federal financial aid on a broad scale to accelerate the education of college youth, for assurance of “an edequate and continuous supply of men and women trained for various wartime services,” was propoused to- day by the Wartime Education Com- mission. The commission, established by the Federal Education Office, rec- ommended also that Federal funds be provided to pay the added costs that colleges incur by maintaining special programs in flelds essential to the war effort. The 30 commission members, representing various educational associations, made no estimate of the amount of Federal funds needed in their report to John W. Stude- baker, United States Commissioner of Education. They suggested that direct grants be made to qualified, needy students who want to speed up their studies in connection with the war effort, and that funds be made available for part-time employment of stu=- dents who could not otherwise con- tinue their education, regardless of whether they actually were studying in fields directly related to the war. Many colleges already are ad- justing their programs to provide intensive summer courses, with the | purpose of crowding into one year the equivalent of the study usually undertaken in a year and a half. The National Youth Administra- | tion now provides part-time jobs for | thousands of needy college students, NEW YORK, Feb. 4—The Ameri- can-owned freighter MacBeth drifted helplesly for days in stormy North Atlantic seas, an easy target for enemy submarines, before she was towed more than 1,300 miles to a British port, it was disclosed in a copy of a British newspaper arriving here yesterday. For thefr seamanship and “stout- hearted endurance,” the crew of the vessel, which flew the Panama flag, won the commendation of the Brit- ish admiralty, said the paper, the 'Liverpool Journal of Commerce. ‘The ship, the former 4935-ton Italian freighter Ida Z. O. which this country seized with other Axis merchantmen in American ports, was returning from a fall lease-lend voyage to Britain when she de- veloped trouble in her fuel oil heat- ing coil, shutting off oil from her boilers. mand of Capt. Duncan MacKinnon, 53, of Toronto, Canada, survivor of a torpedoing of the previous year. The Macbeth feared to radgio her position, but finally a tug from Can- ada managed to locate her. Then, the British paper said, she was towed 400 miles, in the face of gale- force winds, until the tug had to leave because exhaustion of fuel left the tug only enough to make port. After that came another period of drifting and waiting before a| British Admiralty tug, one of the most powerful in the world, reached | her, escorted by a corvette. Water had been rising slowly in the Mac- beth’s compartments because her pumps could not be operated. England was 900 miles off, and because of prevailing winds a deci- sion was made to head there. The voyage was accomplished without sighting any foe. She was under the com-| but the commission suggested that | all the aid proposed in its report be - administered through the United | States Office of Education. | Jewelry Store Robbed Twice Within 10 Days | The second robbery in 10 days |at an F street jewelry store was reported to police yesterday. | Frank Hamilton, manager of the | Swope Jewelry Co., 1114 F street | N.W,, told police that 20 rings and | 10 watches, valued at $45291, were taken by thieves from a show win- | dow early yesterday. The window | was broken. Red Cross Seeks Funds for War The District Red Cross is ap- | | pealing for $750,000 as its quota of the American Red Cross | | War Fund Campaign for $50,- | ] 000,000 to provide relief for | | American war victims and to | | carry on rapidly expanding Red Cross services for the armed | | forces. | Todey the District fund stands | | at $289,424.05. Checks should be made pay- | | able to the American Red Cross and envelopes marked “For the | | Any bank will accept your | | contribution and forward it to District Red Cross headquar- | | ters, 2020 Massachusetts avenue N.W. There are also booths in leading hotels, department stores and at Union Station. SUBSTANTIAL SAVINGS N THIS Sloane Sale or Oriental Rugs Three simple statements 1. A fine Oriental rug is an investment for a lifetime. 2. Sloane still has a magnificent collection of the finest weaves obtainable. 3. During this sale . . . every rug is sale-priced. Some examples: Shalistans 9x12 173, « 215. Regularly 225. and 275. Kirmans 9x12 393. « 645. Regularly 525. to 795. Sarouks ox12 noe 39D, Regularly 525. Many other weaves and sizes . .. ALL substantially reduced Unusual February Values in all Departments Courtesy Parking—Triangle Park- ing Center—1017 18th St. N.W. “r V“ISLOANE 1018 CONNECTICUTEER: . h *