davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1942-05-31
Caribbean Front

On Tuesday, the United States de-
stroyer Blakeley, patroling the Caribbean
waters near Martinique in accordance
with agreement between the United
States and Admiral Georges Robert,
French high commissioner of Martinique,
was struck by a torpedo from sub
marine. 1t was the first time an armed
vessel of the United States Navy had
been attacked in that region, although
five days previous the Dominican steam
er Presidente Trujillo was torpedoed and
sunk one hour out of Fort de France,
Martinique.
The Blakely 18th American destroyer
sunk or damaged in the current war.
proceeded to Fort de France under its
own power with 10 members of its crew
missing and six injured. The next day
Ensign Edward G. Binning, naval air
pilot, said in st. Lucia, British West
Indies, near Martinique, that Navy
ply bomber attacked and sunk an
enemy submarine of Martinique believed
to be the U-boat that attacked the
Blakely. Ship sinkings from submarines
in the Caribbean area and other watery
regions close to the United States re-
main numerous.
Evening star., 1942-05-31

II was inevitable that when the time
CAM to make somebody the wartime
chief of the Nations transportation sys-
TENS. the choice would be Joseph b. EAST
man.
For more than a decade he has been
the kew link between Government and
the transportation industry. whenever
there has been monumental job 10 oe
done in his field, Mr.. Eastman has oeen
intrusted with it. 1t isn't only a matter
of his ability. His personal character
istics have earned him an almost Legend
aSy reputation as public servant.
In this city, where there are celebri.
ties by the hundreds, there are lew
heroes: old-time observers have seen too
MANY white knights develop flaws IN
their armor. But in his 23 years on
the Interstate Commerce Commission,
where he has been chairman since 1899,
Mr.. Eastman has won respect and conn.,
dence that amounts practically 10 rev.
erence in some circles.
Seldom do Interstate Commerce Com
mission members emerge as personalities
out of their welter of statistics and heavy
technical reports, but in Congress and
throughout Washington oficialdom, Mr..
Eastman is symbol. Even the rail-
roads, whom Mr. Eastman has repeatedly
spanked, scolded and handled roughly,
applauded his appointment on January
2 as director of the Office of Defense
Transportation. Railroad men say that
even when Mr.. Eastman disagrees with
them, they know they can count on him
giving a fair hearing and a thorough
study of their case.
Praised by Brandeis.
The late Supreme Court Justice Louis
D. Brandeis once said: Joe Eastman has
more interest in public service and less in
his own career than any man I have
ever known"
Mr.. Eastman bachelor, is welded to
the I. c. c. He labors there day and
night, coming and going with the pre-
cision of well-run train. He arrives
lust before $3.50 am; takes a short nap
on the leather couch in his office at $50
pm; has brief workout at an athletic
club on the roof of downtown office
building, and after dinner at hotel
returns to the office, where he works
until nearly midnight.
On Sundays. the only variation in his
routine is that he doesn't arrive at the
Office until 10 am, and at the end OF
the day he has his one dinner Of the
week at home. He lives in a modest,
semi-detached house on the edge Of Rock
Creek Park with his sister, Miss Elizabeth
Eastman.
Since much of his day is taken up with
appointments is one of the most ac-
cessible officials in the Capitalize gets
the heaviest part Of his work done at
night, the reading and digging for facts,
the writing of decisions.
These documents, famous even in the
Supreme Court for their clarity and
thoroughness, are produced when he Is
quite alone. sitting in massive leather
chair, a pad on his knee. litter Of notes
and other material spread out on the
Evening star., 1942-05-31
Russian Front

The spacious plains of Russia provide
a fitting setting for great battle that
is playing a part in the decision of the
cosmic question whether the Axis will
win or lose. The week began with the
Russians claiming gains for Timoshenko
in the Kharkov region and strong de-
fense against the German counteroffen-
sive in the Izyum- -Barvenkova sector.
One of the major developments emerg-
ing from the Kharkov battle was the
Russian resistance to German tanks, a
resistance described as uneQualed in the
last II months of war. Izvestia, Soviet
official paper, said the Red Army was
using a light gun called the "PTO" as
we'll as anti-tank rifles, heavy artillery,
anti-tank grenades and simple gasoline
filled bottles to smash up German tanks
in close range fighting.
BY Tuesday the Kharkov action had
become for the time being little more
than a matter of consolidating positions
Evening star., 1942-05-31

to Moscow reported that German as
saults there were universally repelled
and that constant heavy pressure from
it impossible for the Germans to dig in
on new lines The Germans were said
to have resorted to ruses in which some
Of their tanks few red banners and dis
played red stars apd some OF their
troops wore Russian uniforms.
There were also several psychological
attacks" in which the Germans charged
the Russian lines firing wildly and
shouting at the tops of their voices. In
one point, they tried the stunt three
on the field. This wild tactic had no
value. Russian dispatches Thursday
gave this story of how the Germans
main thrust in the IB sector was
checked:
The 1Olst German Infantry Division
was assigned to cross river IL miles
south of a fortified settlement which
was holding up the German advance.
The Germans marched up with a brass
band as though on the parade ground,
deployed along the right bank OF the
river and started down to the waters
edge. Russian forces on the left bank
remained silent and hidden until the
Germans were within easy range on
the rivers edge. Then they opened up
with everything at once, turning the
bank, by their fire, into mass of broken
trees, flying earth and shattered Ger
man bodies. AS dense clouds OF smoke
and dust rose over this scene Of carnage.
Russian infantry crossed the river and
finished the job with bayonets and hand
grenades. Some of the remaining Ger
mans assembled again later in the day,
without their brass band, and tried to
advance by stealth, but again the Red
artillery crushed them.
While this mighty struggle was In
Evening star., 1942-05-31
By John Lear,
Wide World.

-HQTT1S-EUlng PHOLO.
The whole purpose of the worlds econ
omy will be turned from the question,
How can we produce enough?" to the
question How can we consume as much
as the machine can produce when it is
going full speed?"
Government, Perkins believes, will
have to try experiments in distributing
goods if the experiments cost too much
for private businessmen to attempt. This
would be limited socialism. But Perkins
thinks it could work side by side with
capitalism, and would strengthen capi-
talism by leveling off the peaks and
sloughs of economic booms and depres-
sionS.
He Wrote Letter.
In itself this is not so surprising. The
idea has been proposed before. The sur
prising thing is that Perkins believes the
average businessman is as willing to try
new things as Perkins himself is; that
business would gladly give up some of
it's profits in return for fairer, steadier
life.
To democratic peoples, the most i'm
portant phase of world in which Per-
kins was average would be the freedom
it gave to individualists; because Perkins
is an individualist.
He wears a green sport jacket, brown
trousers, white shirt and red tie to the
office of one of the most important posts
in the Government of the United States.
When he got sore about politics, he
wrote a letter-not as most men would
write a letter, to the editor of the home
newspaper-but to the man in the Gov
ernment who he thought was doing most
to repair what Perkins was gripping about.
The man was then Secretary of Agricul-
ture Wallace. The year was 1885. The
grippe was food surpluses when people
were starving. The letter got Perkins
a Job as Wallace's assistant at one quar-
Evening star., 1942-05-31
WAR TRANSPORT CHIEF Welded TO HIS JOB
joseph B. Eastman Hos Made Career Of Public Service


the public interest in utility companies,
finally serving for four years as mem
Der of the Massachusetts, Public Service
Commission.
The central theme Of his life has been
insistence that the utilities, especially in
transportation, be run primarily in the
public interest, and that the Nations
utility resources be developed with all
possible economy and efficiency.
The I. c. C. chairman's approval Of
the principle of public ownership of rail-
roads has sent cold chills down the
spines of railroad executives many a
time; he still believes in it, but it seems
to be more matter of intellectual con-
viction than a course on which he hopes
to take action. At least, he told this
writer, now is no time to undertake it.
Under the stress of war conditions, he
says, it would be impossible to set up
the right kind of organization for pub
lie operation of the roads.
When asked what he thought ought
to be done about it after the war, he
replied, smiling, II haven't looked that
far ahead"
Mr.. Eastman, mild-mannered and
persuasive, for years has been the I. c.
C's chief contact with Congress AS
chairman of the commissions Legislative
Committee, he is usually the member
who appears at congressional hearings,
citing facts and figures by the hour with
scarcely glance inside his briefcase.
Feared by Rail Executives.
Railroad men have healthy fear of
him at commission hearings, for he
and he shows them up when they are
not well prepared.
When Mr.. Eastman cocks his long,
massive head to one side and humps his
broad shoulders over the bench, a zesttul
twinkle kindling in his blue eyes, the
right corner of his mouth turning in to
start a smile, the witness begins to feel
shaky, FOR that's the way Mr.. Eastman
looks when he is about to ask few
mild questions which will expose weak
points of the argument.
In politics Mr.. Eastman is an inde-
pendent When President Wilson nomi-
mated him he called him a Republican.
but Mr. Eastman promptly wrote to
Congress to correct the President.
In his present position, he is on leave
from the I. C. c. Mr.. Eastman has COM
plete authority over all forms of do
mestic transportation, including air, mo-
tor, water, rail and pipelines. While he
is relying on the industry to follow his
policies without compulsion, he has the
power, and the intention, to force them
to do as he wishes if necessary
He takes directives from Donald M.
Nelson, chairman Of the War Production
Board, concerning what goods must be
shipped first and concerning what ma
terials can be allotted to the transporta-
ton industry to build new equipment.
II shall be held to account if anything
goes wrong with transportation from
now on" says Mr.. Eastman. This is
inevitable and proper. Much depends
on my wisdom and powers of leadership.
hope they viii sufice,"
Evening star., 1942-05-31

for Timoshenko while the nerce fighting
developed around Izyum- -Barvenkova.
All of this is slow work, with no blitz-
krieg about it, The Germans fight for
hills now in the Ukraine as they once
fought for counties. While the forces
under 1t. Gen. Viktor Won Schwedler
tried desperately to crack the Russian
Kharkov offensive by their drive on
Izyum- -Barvenkova, the Germans far to
the Arctic north in Russia renewed their
efforts to bomb Murmansk, an entry
port for supplies from the United States
and Britain.
Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy paper, said
six German planes we're downed and
six damaged in large scale air battles
over the approaches to Murmansk.
Fresh Nazi troops were reported massing
in the northern sectors, and Red Fleet
said the land artillery of the Soviet
northern fleet blasted IL underground
shelters and numerous other winter
quarters of these troops.
At the weeks end, as news reached
Evening star., 1942-05-31
MILO PERKINS PLANS FOR A BETTER WORLD
Warfare Chief Sees Fuller Life Ahead for Average Man
By Lear


ter of the pay Perkins drew as partner
in his Texas bag company.
When Wallace in 1899 assigned him
the double task of feeding the hungry
and getting rid of the surpluses, Perkins
called in his two teen-age sons Zone has
been killed in an accident Since) and an
old colored couple and explained his ideas
to them. When everything was simple
enough for the others to understand, he
put the food stamp plan to work.
The stamps were tried gingerly. Cries
of Socialism" and RECOMMENDATION" came
from mxly. Only one town, Rochester.
N Y. was risked at first. Today the
plan is used across the Nation, and there
is talk of extending it throughout the
Western Hemisphere.
Perkins Cuts Red Tape.
The same kind of row arose when
Perkins became director CT the Board of
Economic Warfare and got the job of
obtaining foreign raw materials of war
for us and keeping them from the Axis
This is war Get things done fast" was
his motto. Forget tradition. Skip the
precedents. Cut the red tape"
The State Department, accustomed to
slow peacetime diplomacy resented being
pushed. The Commerce Department
and the Export-Import Bank, with old
business traditions behind them, wanted
all war deals to be good business risks.
Pretty soon each agency was getting in
the others way. Parts of the war ma
chine slowed up some stopped. Matters
turned personal. The worst political
battle in modern Washingtcn's history
was on. It got so hot Secretary of State
Hull was called back from vacation to
ask White House intervention. Presi-
dent Roosevelt stepped in.
Perkins steadfastIy refuses to discuss
the feud publicly, or even to admit there
has been more than difficulties" With
brown hair unruffled, he turns aside all
questions by saying he is obtaining war
materials through existing agencies ION
a very friendly basis" He can afford to
speak softly. He has been empowered
by the President to set up his own pro-
curement units if existing agencies fail.
He is boss of all exports and imports,
leaving in State Department hands only
the diplomatic methods of getting what
he calls for.
Little News in His Job.
Like many bureaucrats, he hesitates to
allocate responsibility to underlings.
Consequently, he overworks. At the time
the economic war agency was estab-
lished, he was so far gone the doctors
despaired of his life. Vice President
Wallace. board chairman, waited for his
recovery rather than start with any one
else. Perkins has cut his coffee quota
since then to steady his nerves. But
he still smokes cigarettes rap:df1re FASH
ion, and crouches tensely in the leather
of his chair so that he looks even
smaller than his under-medium height.
In a place where publicity makes and
breaks careers, he sees few newsmen.
1t is not that he dislikes reporters, he
said. To be effective, the most news
worthy part Of his work-Amport and ex-
Evening star., 1942-05-31
By Clarke Beach,
Wide World.

floor all around him. He writes with
pencil, using a homemade system of
shorthand which is the anguish of new
stenographers.
Just before going to bed, he spends
half an hour reading detective novels.
He claims to be pioneer detective story
fan, for he started with Sherlock
Holmes" when he was IL. and since then
has hardly missed a night with the
who done it, books.
Beginning the first week of his tenure
on the I. C. c.. he earned a reputation
as great dissenter." When the So
year-old Boston liberal came to town
IN 1919 after his appointment by Presi-
dent Wilson, the commission had just
filed report to Congress favoring rail-
road consultations. Instead of remain
ing discreetly in the background as new
commissioners usually do, Mr.. Eastman
ripped right in with dissenting report.
Often a Dissenter.
His diSsents came thick and fast for
a time, but in recent years he hasn't
OAACiCu Witll COllCdSucS 50 Il.
Some of the experts say that Mr.. East
man has mellowed since his days of
crusading liberalism. Others contend
that Mr.. Eastman simply has educated
the commission, so that now they usually
see things his way. His friends contend
that history has sustained mis- dissenting
judgments on such matters as security
issues and railroad reorganizations.
He comes from old New England stock,
descended from man who settled in
Salisbury. Mass, in 1888. His father
was Presbyterian minister; the family
lived in Katonah, N. Y, when he was
born in 1882, but they shortly moved to
Pottsville, Pa, where he was reared.
In the Is years between his graduation
from Amherst and his arrival in Wash
ington, he was associated with Justice
Brandeis, Z. A. Filene and other Bos-
tonian liberals in . movement to protect
Evening star., 1942-05-31
African Front

Last April 8, Marshal Erwin, the Nazis'
genius at desert and tank fighting, made
a tentative thrust with three columns
at the British positions in Libya. He
found those positions strong and at
tackled no more until last week, when
on Wednesday his armored troops sud-
denly swept deep around British posi-
tions to Bir Hachiem, 40 miles south OF
Ain El Gazala, where battle was joined
by British tank forces. Between April
8 and May 81, the troops OF Rommel
were receiving constant reinforcement
across the Mediterranean.
Bir Hacheim forms the southern
point of a rough triangle based on Ell
Mechili, Rommels striking
Tobruk base to the northwest, and
Aooin Tobruk, British coastal base
to the northeast. Tobruk is
so miles from Bir Hacheim, and Tobruk
is a paramount Axis objective. Italian
tanks launched the opening attack on
Bir Hacheim, and Free French forces
from Tahiti defended it..
On April 8, before his reinforcement,
Marshal Rommel, it was estimated, had
125,00O German and italian troops. In
the interval the Allied forces in Libya
also were reinforced with men and ma
terials, including armored divisions
equipped with new 23-ton American
tanks.
Aside from the prospect of another
of the familiar sep-Sau camnaipnS Ue
have come to associate with Libya, the
unreasonable move by Marshal Rommel
provides us with wonder whether the
Axis is launching formidable land and
naval move in more than one part of
the Mediterranean area. Reports from
Turkey said that in mid-May the Axis
moved six infantry divisions from Yugo-
slavia into Greece and Crete. In Italy,
Mussolini continued his pressure on
France and massed 100000 troops along
the French border.
Evening star., 1942-05-31

port of vital war stuffs-must be secret.
And the job of building fires under other
Government officials is not wise topic
of public discussion. That leaves the
weather, and weather conditions are
military information.
To those who accuse him of using the
war to put the Government into the ex-
port and import business in place OF pri-
vate enterprise, Perkins points to his
past record of lessening Government par
ticipation in the export business while
he was in the Agriculture Department.
Son in Navy.
"Why am willing to use unorthodox
methods to fight the war?" he asks. I'll
tell you why. My son is in the Navy
Flying Corps (the boy is leaving Swarth-
more College at the end of his sophomore
YEAR, and 1 want to see he has every
thing he needs to fight with. I'm sure
that's the way millions of other parents
feel"
Perkins believes that while we are
winning the war we should be thinking
and talking about the peace, not in any
sense Of mystery or puzzlement Dut as
people who know what we would like to
have and how we would like to attain it.
Many of his wartime deals concern
South America, the arsenal of war ma
terials for the United Nations. That he
thinks South America will be important
in the postwar world is evident in the
fact that he spends Sunday nights with
Nelson Rockefeller, co-ordinator Of inter-
American affairs, and Is learning Span
iSh.
THE goth century" he says, lis des-
tined to teach man how to make full use
Of the machine"
II that is true, Perkins may be the
man of the times. He was born 28 days
after the 10th century began.
Evening star., 1942-05-31

the United States through some chan
nels that Hitler was in
Germons Kharkov. the Russian re-
Bolked ports began to take cheer
full view of the Izyum-Bar-
yenkoya fighting. Front-line dispatches
Evening star., 1942-05-31

is cha aea a t
stu
ser o. Chin a a
At O.
csi Ra
Evening star., 1942-05-31

progress, the well-aimed bullet of a
patriot Czech struck
Heydrieh down Reinhard Aeydrich'
Shooting the acting FeicnSpro'ek.
tor in the provinces Of
Rohemia and Moravia. Heydrich was
Evening star., 1942-11-29

You'll love this new scent
called "Suivez Moi" It's the
aroma Of coffee percolating.
and men are simply crazy
about it,"
Evening star., 1942-11-29

JSeFUL os we'll as ornamental is vtoIIy
true Of diomonds in wortime. industrial
diamonds ore indispensable on the home pro-
duot'on front for mony purposes-for cutting
ond polishing the hardest steeis, for wire
drowine dies and eirouIor sows, for focinq
the grinding wheels thot keep the edge on our
tools Of wor Because Of their vitoI place in
the wor produoto moohine the War Produc-
t'on Boord hos placed the sole and delivery
OF rough industrial diomonds under Govern
ment control.
The picture obove shows on assortment Of
industrial diamonds which will move TO the
foetoy front through New York firm which
cuts ond mounts" the stones for their vorous
uses. They ronee in size from one holt
eorot to $50 eorots ond have market voIue
Of more thon Sl,200,OOO They ore block,
white, yellow. brown and eroysh white They
cost in the rough about 81 corot
Evening star., 1942-11-29

Thot grinding wheel con cut
or put on edge on the hordest
steel But it meets its moster
in the diamond mounted tool
thot's dressing its tooe os the
wheel whirIs oeoinst it. Wheels
require frequent dressing.
The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1942-07-14
WAR

Continued from Page One)
ported raging. Boguchar is 140
miles southeast OF Voronezh.
Situation Critical
Russian military circles conceded
that the situation all along the
Don was critical.
In Egypt the British eighth army,
stiffened with hard-hghting Austra.-
ians. Withdrawn from the Middle
East, beat off heavy Axis attacks on
their newly won positions west OF
FL Alamein. The desert skies were
filled with aircraft as aerial war
fare was intensified over the so.
mile battle line from the coast
south to the Kattara depression.
While the heaviest fighting GEN.
tered on the northern sector, patrol
actions were under way along the
liquid southern front where Gen.
Sir Claude Auchinleck's reinforced
imperial troops were warding of
Axis tanks and motorized infantry
units.
on the European front the Raj
smashed again at the German in
dustrial Ruhr cities during the
night in strong attack. Five
planes were missing, and the
losses indicated that 200 to 300
bombers had participated in the
raids.
The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1942-07-14
Ne,Us From, Willis

read and approved, followed by roll
call. II members being present
Mrs. Eleanor Smith read the treas
urer's report for June.
Mrs. Prout, committee chairman.
reported visit to Mrs. Graham
Day and infant son at Boyer Hos
pital, Ypsilanti. Mrs. Nora Flower
reported on defense emergencies on
hand at the church. II was decided
that Mrs. Grace Gonser, K. N, and
Mrs. Nora Flower as assistant, will
be in charge of the complete first
aid kit for the church.
Mrs. Bessie Brown reported on
the Girls Camp at Walden Woods
which is held Aug. 2-9. The group
voted to send one girl 10 camp for
a week and pay the expenses. Mrs.
Prout and Mrs. Garrod are to be
in charge OF this enterprise
Mrs Ruth Smalley gave a talk
on the L. S. o. o. at the Adrian
institute at Adrian College to be
utlu inc Allu anu -olQ VI July
It was voted that each commit
tee of the w. S. c. S. remember a
soldier boy with letters and cards.
Mrs. Bessie Brown was appointed
chairman.
Mrs. Helen Foster was elected
general chairman OF the Willis
Homecoming to be held Aug. %.
Mrs. Jean Mill has charge of the
kitchen and Mrs. Sauna Simon, the
dining room.
The meeting was then adjourn
ed with the decision to meet with
Mrs. Hazel Garrod in August.
Mrs Eleanor Smith read an
article on "Library's of Faith" after
which the women agreed to send
the books that have collected in
the church library to Edgefield,
S. c.