The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1942-03-14
. New York
Listening Post
Norneo b.
Alsfer n. lGAAa
enSiOn in
California
IsGroWinq
NFW YORK

NEW YORK - People in the
east have No conception ~ N.
mounting tension in California
caused by the presence Of japan
csc residents.
Very few more overt acts by
fisei traitors need occur before
there may be a regrettahle emo
tional explosion in which white
vigilantes might substitute d.
rect action for the putterng
methods SO far used by Attorney
General Biddle, whose dilly-
dallying in the face Of peril has
enraged normally calm citizens.
old-timers remember Oct. II.
1872, when a mob broke into the
oriental sections and left
string Of corpses in the streets.
The recent mysterious air raid
scare has not soothed nerves in
Los Angeles. People swear they
watched red flares sailing up like
balloons toward the orange
bursts Of anti-aircraft fire.
Others cross their hearts when
recounting how incepdiaries
caught In tree branches and
hlazed for a half-hour.
Japanese were arrested and
witnesses insist the aliens were
sending UP signals and winking
house and auto headlights ac-
eording TO a telegraphic code.
Air raid wardens assert I'M
known assailants shot at them
from the dark.
One may shrug off such re-
ports as a second witchcraft
delusion,' but that superficial
explanation does not quiet jit-
ters. The reaction is proof that
the population is on edge, espe-
cially as 1t hears of the F.BI.
catching Japs with stored am
munition, guns and bombs, and
Is told by storekeepers that fur
tive Nipponese have tried to
purchase explosive chemicals.
Law abiding West Coasters
try to he patient with govern
ment Inertia, but they are grim
~ resolved they will protect
themselves rather than permit =
duplication Of the Hawaiian fifth
column outrages. The proposed
loyalty boards" are not enough.
Word seeps in to New York's
Yugoslavian community regard
Ing the fiction like exploits Of
Serbis's ghost army, which
strikes the Nazis and then dis
appears into the mountain mists
like wraiths.
The Chetniks are the only or
Ksnized army stiIl fighting
against the Axis In occupied
countries. Led by Vojvoda Mi
halloween, on whose unbowed
head is a dead-or-alive reward Of
100000 dinars. they make II i'm
possible for invaders TO leave
the security Of their barracks
unless in groups.
The fierce patriots ask no
quarter and give none. They use
orthodox military tactics or
lone avengers shot in the dark.
They have no modern arsenal
to supply their needs. Their air
planes are made from junk parts
sslvaged from wrecked planes.
Quisling Nedieh's troops were
sent against their countrymen's
heavily wooded hideaways, but
the soldiers skedsddled or join
ed the outlaws.
The Serbs espionage is so
clever that when their home
made air force recently bombed
Belgrade every egg plopped on
building occupied by Germans.
They have blown up 400 am
munition dumps and over 200
railroad bridges, snarling trans
portation so badly that the Ar
gentinean minister en- route from
Switzerland to Turkey wasted
IL days on a line which normally
takes "a hours. General Mihailo-
vich's warriors swear blood
oath never tn surrender. But
unless they receive outside NUM-
tons soon they may be eornered.
Despite "sll's-well with the
world" pep talks by Washington
press agents. bottlenecks in the
clearance of contracts for new
construction are stalling our 100
octane gasoline program. One
firm needs a million and a half
dollars To complete machinery,
but so far the final papers are
held up on dilstory desks in the
capital
Our requirements Will be more
than 10000 barrels a dsy be-
fore years end. Big outfits m
New Jersey are producing
enough for the present but
famine will strike when We reach
our 12s000 sirplsns quota UNI
less new refinsries are started
Immediately.
We still suffer from short
sightedness. Auto plant con-
version was theorized months
ago, but We have waited 80 long
We are swamped- We knew We
would be n pauper in rubber II
the East were lost, but We
pinehed pennies and our pro-
posed synthetic industry VAS
born late.
Tokyo offered to sell us an
enormous supply OF silk for para