The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-10-18

exports 10 Japan. W6WUS V8NtOm The Mikado's armies in China and his warships on the seas can be refueled with oil which would be coming into the United States if the major oil companies ,, could settle their quarrel with the Mexi- can government.
 Until recently, Japan bought little oil from Mexico-les than 100000 barrels in 1888 and only 174,000 barrels in 1939. But the total jump ed to 455 ,000 barrels last year and has gone much higher this year. Right now, it is reported, three Japanese tankers which formerly ran between Japan and California have been diverted to Tuxpan. Tux pan is on Mexico's east coast, which means that it must past through the Panama Canal to reach Japan. U. S. THREATENS TO SUIT
 VALUE ON MEXICO
 Those figures are small, of course, compared with former American shipments to Japan. In the first eight months of this year, for in- stance, Japan bought 2, ,480 900 bar rels of American crude oil, nearly 3 3,5O0,O00 of gasoline and 1883 900 barrels of residual fuel oil. Yet Jap anese purchases of American oil are of sharply, as compared with last year. Aviation high-octane gas has been embargoed Purchases of crude oil are not likely to run greatly above half the figure for 1939, and gasoline exports are down almost in proportion
 Meanwhile, oil men in Washing ton are waging merry fight to shut of even the small trickle Of Mexican oil which is now getting into the United States. It is inn ported chiefly by Sinclair, which has settled its scrap with the Mex ican government and is taking oil in payment for its appropriated properties Oil interests barely fail- ed in an attempt to get a law through Congress to keep Sinclair from importing this oil, but new law is being drafted and will be offered little later, If passed, it would of course increase pressure on Mexico to sell to Japan or any other buyer.
 Both the major oil companies, like Standard, and the myriad in- dependents are working together on this scrap, since Sinclair is un- derselling its competitors with the Mexican oil it brings in.
 BRITISH LUKEWARM
 ON FLYING ACTRESSES The British are due to get a flock of the U s. Armys flying fortress bombers shortly-and the ironical part about it is that they don't want 'em nearly as much as everybody thinks they do.
 | Early models of the flying fort ress (which are the models the British will get) haven't impressed the British experts much. The claim is that they have blind spot" in the rear-in other words, that there is one angle of approach which these early models can't cover wit htheir own guns.
 Models now in production, to- gether with some already in serv- ice, have corrected this defect. But these, according to the dope, are the ones the British won't get.
 One big reason for the intense British desire to get new planes from the U S. is that both they and the Germans have their own fight ing planes on mass production basis now. That means that when and if the British can put into ac- ton new fighter which can out fly and outright the first-line Ger man planes-a CurtiSs P-38, for in- stance-the Germans can't bring out new plane to match it with out throwing their entire produc- ton schedule out of gear.