The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1942-11-27
Listening Post
Continual from Page 81

tOontlnuel rom rage %
ing has been abandoned in favor Of
head-on dueis.
We are producing = fighter craft
which can hold its own far above
the clouds. But our Flying Fort
resses and their companion types.
although primarily intended fer
precision bombing. carry such .
battery Of shooting irons that they
have successfully beaten off as
ssults and sent hostile ships plung-
ing to earth in 4 cloud OF flaming
gasoline. Another feature IN the
Caucasus theater has been the
close relation between ground ra-
dos and aircraft. This experience
proves that Uncle Sam was on the
right track when he placed em-
phasis In our training schools on
wireless communications
Physicians are exploring the
dark chambers Of the human mind
sometimes unlocked by the stress
Of war. Although little Is said In
public. they realize that mental
casualties win increase alarmingly
II the struggle Is prolonged for
years. One Of New York's special
lists on nervous diseases has sug-
gested that the war department
quietly attach experienced psychi-
artists TO its combat staffs to
ward off the effects of fatigue and
strain on officers lest blunders
under pressure should endsnger
their men.
The doctors say that filters
caused by sleeplessness In one Of
the worst perils Of this conflict.
Reports show that the malady ere
ated havoc among some Of the
bravest soldiers in the Spanish
civil war. The ordeal endured by
the marines in Guadalcanai. the
Tommies In Tobruk and Malta
and the doomed garrison at Cor
regidor caused terrible insomnia
cases. AL the resources Of medi-
cal science are being msrshalled
TO mitigate such conditions.
Another shock under investiga-
ton and treatment is torpedo neu-
rosis, the result of submarine and
castaway tragedies. Rest homes
are In operation at oyster Bay, N.
Y: Gladstone, N. j.. and Bay
Ridge, Md. where U-bost victims
recuperate from shattered nerves.
Some OF the patients have been
blown up more than once. A crew
drifted In an open boat in the At
lantic for 81 days and another in
the Pacific for 40. They were
rushed home and are now COM
pletely recovered.
Cheerful messages from Allied
fronts have had repercussions be-
hind closed doors in neutral capt.
tails. Statesmen In Madrid. Ank-
ara, Lisbon and Stockholm seek
formulas 10 convince the United
Nations they are friendly, without
arousing Hitler's violence. In the
past many waited TO see which
way the cat would jump: now they
are trying to explain their cases.
Highly placed Swedes in New
York are no longer tight-lipped.
when could we have gone TO war
with Germany" they ask. I'VE
had no quarrel in September. 1889.
Should we. a small unprepared
country, have rushed in when Nor
way was invaded on April Z, 1902
Everyone went TO bed that night
expecting that we would be at
tackled before morning. One hum
dred Nazi planes flew over our
cities and four were shot down.
France fell and Britain was too
weak and too far off TO help. Mos
cow then was Berlin's partner and
Washington was on the sidelines.
1t would have been foolhardy for
surrounded Sweden TO leap into
the fray"
They contend that their govern
ment refuses To sell its world
famous weapons TO It's neighbor.
In return for coal II ships across
the Baltic only the same amount
Of iron which the reich purchased
before the conflict When she ask
ed for the ore formerly sent TO
America and England the scandi-
navians baked and have placed ex-
plosives in the mine shafts TO de-
stroy them in case Of seizure.
Several weeks before the Anglo