davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1942-08-02
The Air Bottle

During the week the German air force
renewed Its attacks on Great Britain
The heaviest attacks early in the week
were over the Birmingham area. A few
bombs were dropped on London and the
raids were answered by a new type Of
British anti-aircraft gun.
The British struck back with. venge-
ance. First came the blasting OF Ger
many's second city-the great seaport
and industrial center of Hamburg. It
just missed being a second Cologne
Large sections Of the metropolis were
left In flames. On Wednesday came a
heavy bomber attack on the rich Rhine
land city Of Saarbrucken.
Whole acres of buildings, it was re-
ported, were wiped out by more than 50
2-ton bombs dropped on Duisberg, big
German railway and shipping center of
the industrial Ruhr.
Foeke-Wulfs Significant was the fact
Shot Down that over Duisberg the
Raj flyers apparently
bested the German Focke- Wulfs, So
called superplanes with which the Nazs
are replacing the latest model Messer-
schmitts. Seven United States pilots &C
companied the Raj on this daylight
raid. One did not return. A heavy raid
on Dusseldorf also occurred.
The War Department communioue is
Evening star., 1942-08-02

The declaration Of war, say returning
American journalists at first horrified
the Japanese people.
Jop cIoims 1t seemed national sui
Brine Smiles eide. They have been
cheered by news of the
initial successes of their fighters, which
have been greatly exaggerated in the
national press Now they think that
they may beat Uncle Sam after all.
American reporters at Lourenco
Marques told frightful stories Of the tor
lures to which they had been subjected
on trumped up charges Of espionage.
They smile at tales OF their former jap
anese colleagues In Washington. New
York and San Francisco Of the indig-
mites to which they were subjected In
that well-known hell-hole-White Sui
phur Springs, w. Va.
Ship sinkings In the Atlantic have been
heavy, but are expected to be cut down
henceforth by Caribbean conveys.
There were confirmed reports Of at
least seven more sent to the bottom. Ger
man claims were extreme and hardly are
to be credited-24 merchant ships. 10
sailing vessels and one escort ship Five
ships aggregating Al 900 tons were re-
ported sunk out of heavily protected
conveys in the Middle Atlantic. The
same announcement said that of the
coast of West Africa seven ships aggre-
eating $1,000 tons had been sunk, and
that the sinkings Of the week increased
the allied losses by another 10000 tons.
For the first time it was learned, un-
of1cially, that there are American troops
in West Africa-probably in connection
with the global air transport system
being built up by the United States.
Evening star., 1942-08-02

sued after the Duisberg raid was the
first official word that American fighter
pilots were operating from the British
Isles.
Russians joined in making life miser-
able for the Germans. Large Red squad
rons bombed military and Industrial OBJ
jectives in East Prussia.
Ever since the magnificent job of the
Raj at Cologne there has been much
speculation as to why the same tactics
are not repeated every few nights. They
would have disastrous effect, at least.
on German morale. It would be ex-
tremely dindcult, however. to launch
Evening star., 1942-08-02
A Made>to>O Order Nation
1raq, With Its Hodgepodge Population, Still Is
Danger Spot for Great Britain
By WHIiam T. Ellis.

British Anglicans. Their religious loyal
ties transcend any national feelings.
mysterious group. persisting despite
frequent prosecutions. are the Sabeans,
centering at Bagdad and Amarra. Theirs
is an unknown religions, claiming dis
cipleship to John the Baptist and rela-
tionship to the Magi of the Christmas
story. These people, the men all beard
ed, in features resembling no other one
of the races amid whom they dwell,
maintain themselves largely by = secret
process of freehand black engraving upon
silver Their handicraft is highly priced
by tourists.
Pervasive Armenians, whose homeland
Is to the northwest, are a numerous and
important element of the population,
especially in Bagdad. They are extern
sively in business.
Kurds, strapping big fellows, maintain
ing their bellicosity as mountaineers, are
an important and troublesome element
in Northern Iraq which includes many
of their villages. Tney are the Car
duchi" of the Assyrian monuments
troublemakers even in that long ago
time.
Others Worship Devil.
Little known to the outside world, but
stoutly maintaining their identity and
their secret religious rites are the Yezi-
dis, or devil worshippers, who center
about Mosul. An easy way to get into
row is to speak slightingly Of Satan to
a Yezidi.
Restless and ambitious and enterpris-
ing Syrians also constitute a noteworthy
element Of the population. especially in
Bagdad and Basra.
Persians In large numbers dwell in
Iraq. partly for business reasons but
largely because their two most important
shrines. at Kerbela and Nejef, are within
the confines Of modern Iraq. Samarra,
up the Tigris, where stands the only ex-
tant ziggarut or Tower Of Babel type
Of building, is also holy place to Per-
slams and other Shah Moslems.
In Iraq also are communities OF IN
dians, and, last Of all, the British Of
ficialdom ana businessmen and military
forces.
How is that for melting pot? Only
there is no common fire OF patriotism to
fuse the diverse elements. The recent
rising was not . national expression, but
the result OF Nazi bribery and intrigue.
Before the war all this region was
part of the Turkish Empire. For pur-
poses OF her own. Great Britain arbi-
trarily consolidated the vilayets Of Mo-
suli, Bagdad and Basra, and called
them 1raq, a inundated territory. Thus
they took into protective British keep
ing the oil resources Of Mosul; the po-
tential granaries of the once-fertile
fields of lower Mesopotamia (since dis
appointmenD and the route to Bagdad
the Persian Gulf and INDIA we'll
publicized ambition OF the kaiser.
When the French drove King Feisal
out Of Syria tho British set him on q
brand-new throne In Bagdad, and called
Iraq a kingdom. After some unsatisfac-
tory years. in the hope OF allaying the
continual unrest of this divergent popu.
lation. they granted independence t.
! Iraa
Evening star., 1942-08-02

The japanese formations over Port
Darwin were broken up. This was ac-
cepted here as further evidence that the
fabulous Zero is far from as good as it
is credited with being in some American
quarters In fight with American
planes at equal altitude 1T has little
chance.
The same is true. apparently, for most
American weapons. THE Heinies are
going to get some terrific surprises" was
the verdict of q House subcommittee
which visited the Aberdeen Proving
Ground, where they saw some devices
not yet revealed to the general public.
The critical battle in the Middle East
seemed to be stalled for another week.
Evening star., 1942-08-02
(Plblished by special arrangem


When Roger D. Lapham of San Fran
cisco. chairman OF the board OF the
American-Hawaiian Steamship Co., was
appointed by the President member Of
the old National Defense Mediation
Board one of those who had good word
to say about the selection was Lapham's
No. antagonist on the West Coast-the
radical leader of the longshoremen,
Harry Bridges Mr.. Bridges said that
Lapham was fair and honest" en-
ployer.
Mr. Lapham today is the dominant in
nuence in the employer group on the
Mediation Boards successor, the National
War Labor Board. He works hard at the
job. When the employers disagree with
q board fnding-as they did. for notable
instance, in the Little Steel" case over
the union security issue, 1t is usually
Lapham who writes the dissenting opin-
ion.
He enjoys the respect and liking of the
labor members. They "rib" him at board
meetings and he ribs" them back
Mr.. Lapham enjoys good relations, too,
with the public members. He has not
found 1t possible to go the whole way
with them on the troublesome issue of
union security" but he has gone a con-
siderable distance, and each side grants
the others sincerity and good intentions.
There's a note Of genuine affection in
DR.. Frank P. Graham's voice when he
speaks Of Roger, and Roger says Of DR..
Graham that Frank would cheerfully
die at the stake for cause he believed
In"
Educated" by Rivals.
Close observers of the boards work say
that in the give-and-take between Mr..
Lapham and the labor members, Mr..
Lapham has been educated" by them
and in turn has educated" them. Ger
tainly without surrendering any fun
damental principle, the employer men,
bers and the labor members have at
times come remarkably close together.
The influence Of the public members,
who hold the balance Of power, pulls
toward the middle ground and this in
fiuence has been greatly aided by the
realistic attitude of Mr.. Lapham. He
starts from the assumption that the
unions are here to stay and the employer
has got to learn to live with them.
Roger Lapham," says one OF his coll
leagues among the employers. "is trying
to work out a sane solution OF manage
ment-labor problems When he tells the
unions that they have got to accept re-
sponsibility commensurate with the
power they have been given, he is show
ing himself no enemy Of unionism but
one OF the best friends that unionism
ever had"
Mr.. Lapham is now campaigning In
the board to require the unions, in return
for the grant of union security" to file
with the board copies of their constitu-
tons and by-laws. and-what IL more
important Of their receipts
and expenditures.
He began by opposing the xnion
maintenance provision, q an invasion
OF individual rights. and then turned to
voting for It after the board had hit On
Evening star., 1942-08-02
Russian Front

Russia is fully aware of it's extreme
danger. On Thursday Premier Stain
issued a command to the Russian Army
mot to step back" The Soviet press
called on the army to die rather than
retreat and implied that the period of
any strategic withdrawal was ended.
Detailed reports from Russia con-
tinued somewhat confusing as the tide
OF battle surged back and forth on
various sectors. There has been little
news, for example, of a great battle
which has been raging for a week over
= wide area northwest of Stalingrad.
Upon its outcome depends whether or
not the Germans will be able to take
the entire stretch of the right bank of
the Don.
With Russian forces facing the most
critical weeks Of the war, talk of the
necessity of second front in the west
increased in both the
Second Front United States and Great
IL ljroed Britain. But it was all
uninformed talk, for
military authorities in both countries
kept silent.
There were, however some develop
ments which lent substance to the spec
ulators. One was the arrival in Great
Britain of top-ranking United States air
officers, including Brig. Gen. Frank o.
Hunter. Another was the debarkation of
new contingents of Canadian troops
Whether a second front is possible this
summer has been thoroughly discussed
In Allied war councils here. Military
authorities are convinced that the estab-
lshment Of such front is likely to prove
Evening star., 1942-08-02

a costly and dangerous Job. At the same
time there is no denying Of the dire
need of Russia.
Folks who talk lightly of second front
may not have taken into consideration
the extreme difficulty of landing troops
at any point on the Nazi-held shores of
the European continent, or the dificulty
of keeping them fed, clothed and armed
once they are landed. The best military
brains in the world are working on the
problem and until they make some de-
cision speculation is worthless.
Its only possible value, perhaps, is to
keep Hitler worrying over the prospects
On Thursday Soviet Ambassador
Maxim Litvinon conferred with Presi-
dent Roosevelt. He denied that the visit
was due to his country's new peril.
Evening star., 1942-08-02

When Iraq was suDdued by Great
Britain, this romantic Garden-of- Eden
section Of the Oldest Inhabited quarter of
the earth passed temporarily from the
news. But it Is bound to emerge again,
II Hitler succeeds in his project of cap
turing the major sources of oil in the
Eastern Hemisphere. For Iraq oil fields
and those contiguous in Persia, must re-
main a major issue until the war comes
to a final decision
Also to be borne in mind is the simple
geographical fact that Iraq stands
athwart the near road to India and the
Far East.
Rather disturbing is, the realization
Shat, as country Iraq itself is a broken
reed upon which to lean. It is a his
torical museum piece, rather than
vibrant political entity. 1t lacks what
1t takes to make people great There
is no cohesion or solidarity of the in
Sabitants.
Iraq is not naturally born and de-
veloped nation; but rather like some fam
tastic creation Of a novelist's laboratory
1t Is 4 made-to-order country, erected
to suit certain special needs of its builder,
Great Britain. Before the World War
there was no such nation as Irak and no
cohesive group seeking national express
sion.
A Hodgepodge Population.
The region is romantic and historic
and full Of economic and political pos
sibilities. but the population is hodge,
podge. Look at this list OF its outstand-
ing faces and groups:
First are the Arabs; the citifed town.
dwellers Of Bagdad, Basra, Mosul and
lesser communities; the Bedouin of the
al-surrounding desert. acknowledging no
allegiance outside their tribes, and never
wholly conquered by their former nomi-
nal overlords the Turks; and, finally, the
marsh Arabs" a half-naked, semi-sav-
age multitude who live miserably in the
lowlands of the Tgris and Euphrates
delta.
Then there are a multitude OF Jews
whose number astonished me as I once
AAAnAS q CAoV JoAAACy AOWA VIC 4ASl Ia
from Diabekir to Bagdad, on a goatskin
raft. The Jewish women are distin-
guished by square .horsehair VEIL The
rabbis Of the poor synagogues, and many
Of the laity, wear loose-flowing gowns
like those In use in Bible times. The
Grand Rabbi Of Bagdad told me, after
confirmation by his group of venerable
rabbis, that the supposedly "lost 10 tribes
Of Israeli were never really lost; they
had remained in Babylonia after the exile
and are there to this day. scattered all
over Mesopatamia and Persia.
Assyrians Still Survive.
Bulking large in the population are
the descendants of the ancient Assyr-
ians, with physiognomies strangely like
those pictured on the monuments. These
Assyrians (who were our smallest and
most shamefully treated allies in the
World War u are divided into Mes
torians. members of historic church
OF departed glory: Chaldeans, or Roman
Catholics; and evangelicals, converts ol
the American Presbyterians and OF tn,
Evening star., 1942-08-02
Germany Hits Hard Caucasus Russians Cling Desperately Vital

One reason. perhaps not generally ap-
preciated, Is that it is too hot In Egypt
for either side to fight.
Middle Eost Axis planes, however,
Bottle s.olIed raided Cairo for the
first time. They came
over the city in moonlit dawn. Bombs
were dropped, one person was killed, and
there was 4 little property damage.
Cairo's defenses threw up the greatest
anti-aircraft barrage yet seen in this
area. OF more significance than the
attack, per Sc, was the defiance Of Premier
Churchill's threat that II the Egyptian
capital was bombed the Raj would re-
taliate on Rome.
Both British and German armies re-
manned facing each other with no more
than sporadic air fighting There was
every evidence that Egypt has awakened
to its mortal peril and will give every
possible aid to the British henceforth.
Out OF Slovenia, part Of the old Jugo-
slavia, came one of the most pitiful
stories of the war-the deliberate de-
struction of So villages, the deportation
of 10000 men, and the shooting Of more
than 400 hostages. Resistance never has
died down either in German or Italian
occupied Slovenia.- The Moscow radio
announced during the week that Yugo-
slav guerrillas had killed 500 Italian
officers and men.
From all over NaA-occupied Europe
came stories Of cruel reprisals for acts
of sabotage. In Brussels so former war
prisoners who had been returned to their
homes were rearrested and held rs hos
tages against saboteurs. As further re-
prisals 100 Jews were taken from Brussels
Of slavery in Poland.
There was evidence of growing re-
sistance In France and assurance from
Free French leaders that there will be
enthusiastic support OF
Resistance any second front move
/. c,;,;,o ments which carries any
promise OF success. But
the prosecuted French hardly will be
enthusiastic over any half-hearted ges-
ture which carries scant promise Of
success.
There has been much speculation over
the locale of second front. In both the
United States and England, Norway fire.
quently has been mentioned as posi-
bility. These rumors have reached the
scared Quisling, whose name has been
added to English language as synony-
nous with traitor" He will make short
work. he threatens, Of any patriotic Nor
wegian who abets any such movement.
From Lourenco Marques, Portuguese
East Africa, where American diplomats
and journalists on their way home
crossed paths with Japanese diplomats
and journalists from the United States,
came strange stories.
One was to the effect that Japan was
plunged into war with the United States
against the better judgment of its EN-
peror and intelligent civilian popula-
ton by virtual revolution Of its extreme
militarists. They threatened mass assas-
sinations and even imprisonment Of the
Emperor unless their demands for m
immediate attack on the United States,
for which they deemed the time propi-
tious, were met.
Evening star., 1942-08-02
BY FELIX MORLEY.

The strategic position of Turkey as a
land barrier separating Europe from the
Near East has been emphasized through
out the war. It is the political i'm
portance of this still neutral nation
which comes increasingly to the fore
as the Germans drive ever deeper into
the southeastern section of European
Russia.
There is tendency to forget that the
entire oil-producing section of the
Caucasus, towards which the troops of
Marshal Won Book are now pointing was
part OF the Ottoman Empire until quite
recent times. It was not until 1878, for
instance, that Russia annexed from
Turkey the district OF Kars, containing
the important Black Sea port OF Batum.
Much OF the Russian population, south
OF the great mountain barrier of the
Caucasus, remains non-Slavic In race
end, excepting the Armenians, Is Mo-
hammedan In its religious affiliation.
Fraternity of Religion.
The fraternity of religion assists
greatly in making Turkey very signifi-
cant factor, not merely in the Caucasus
but also throughout the Islamic coun-
tries stretching from the eastern end
Of the Mediterranean to the borders of
India.
To considerable extent these coun-
tries were also once part of the Otto
man Empire. They have fought against
the Turks and gained their independence
from that particular overlord. But Islam
in general has never been enthusiastic
over the substitution of permanent
Russian and British control for that of
Mohammedan Turkey.
For this reason alone a collapse OF the
Russian defense in the Caucasus like
termination of the British hold on
Egypt, wo9ld Immediately profoundly
alter the whole political picture in the
Near East In these eyentualities the in
huence OF Turkey might Immediately
become stabilizing factor OF great i'm
portance over large areas of the Moslem
world.
Restrained Turkish Policy.
OAlCc CIlS treaty Oh Lausanne, IN 1873,
modified the settlement imposed on Tur-
key after the First World War, that
country has consistently followed a re-
strained and self-denying policy which
is the more worthy of admiration be-
cause so much at variance with Turkish
history in the past
Under Mustapha Kemal, the architect
OF modern Turkey. and his successors,
no dissatisfaction has been openly ex-
pressed with the modest boundaries es-
tablished a. Lausanne. The only quail
fication to this statement is found in the
dignified request for return OF the pre-
dominantly Turkish district of Alex
andretta, ceded back by Syria, after
amicable agreement with the French, q
few years ago.
1t is to be expected that the govern
ment Of Premier Saracoglu, who assumed
once on July Q, viii be equally opposed
to the cultivation Of imperialistic ambi-
tions Az Foreign Minister since 1888, ar
once which he retains as Premier. Mr.
saracogiu mas followed strictly along thu
lines laid down by Ataturk. To the new
Premier must be given full credit for tnl
Evening star., 1942-08-02
Rival Called Labor's Friend
Roger Lapham Hailed for Organizing Employers
on West Coast to Solve Disputes
By Charles G. Ross.

with the St. Louis Post.Dispatch.)
the escape clause which gives q union
member Is days in which to get out Of
the union If he does not wish to become
bound.
Then. m the Caterpillar Tractor case
a month ago, Mr.. Lapham voted against
union maintenance with the escape"
clause because the public members OF the
board had turned down proposal from
the employers that the union be re-
quired to file financial and other IN.
formation which, he said. mo semipublic
organization should be reluctant to make
available to responsible public agencies.' =
Native Of New York.
Mr.. Lapham was born In New York
City December s, 1883. and was gradu-
ated from Harvard with an A. B. de-
gree in 1905. 1t was during the Christ
mas vacation of that year that he de-
cioed he was not cut out to be lawyer.
He shipped on freighter that took him
through the Strait Of Magellen, and the
next summer went to work as clerk for
the American Hawaiian Steamship Co.,
which had been founded by an uncle.
He was married in 1907 to Helen
Abbot; they have two sons and two
daughters. Lewis A., the elder son, Ii
civilian aide to the general in charge OF
transportation at San Francisco. Roger
D., the younger, is an ensign In the
Navy.
Mr.. Lapham was with the company
In Seattle and Los Angeles before going
to San Francisco In 1915 For the next
four years he was tout Of It," You ask
what he means by that and discover that
he went to the Plattsburg training camp.
was commissioned q captain Of infantry
and served In the 77th New York;
Division from September, 1917, to April,
1919. He hadn't been long abroad when
he was gassed on the vesle River.
After the armistice he had . tour OF
duty with the Hoover Relief Admins.
tration in London, helping out In ship.
ping matters and then went back home
to San Francisco.
Five years later In 1925. he was the
president Of his company, and he Is now
chairman of the board. At the start OF
the present war he was operating Tine
Of some 20 freighters.
How did he become interested IN labor
problems7 In the spring Of 1884 began
the series Of bitter labor troubles that
eliminated in the San Francisco general
strike Of 1896. Harry Bridges rose to
power. and Mr.. Lapham. a. head Of one
OF the leading shipping companies, ex-
perienced nothing but grief" for three
years.
Il wasn't in the shipping business In
those years." says Mr.. Lapham wryly.
but was in the business OF dealing with
labor unrest. The employers learned I
great lesson from Bridges. They learned
that they had to unite-that they had u
meet organized labor with an orkanisa.
ton Of their own"
Out OF this conviction grew the Water.
front Employers' Association Of the -.
ctfic Coast. and later, under the proddins
Of Mr.. Lapham, the San Tranoisco Isn-
ployers Council. which takes = Vargas
employer groups.