The Wilmington morning star., 1943-08-11
By WEsTBROOK PEGLER

by WESIDhOOA
NEW YORK.-Last winter newspaper pub
lished story in which some marines whose
names were not given told of the refusal Of
the civilian crew of merchant vessel to
handle cargo at hot spot in the Pacific.
| l have no conviction whether the story was
true or incorrect but I am convinced that it
was not cold-blooded fake because similar
incidents have occurred at sea on union YES
sells, especially on ships manned by the COM
munist union. However, the communists
promptly raised the devil and talked big
about the fair name of their organization and
Frank Knox, not wanting to admit that such
rotten conditions exist, although his inelli-
gence officers have reported at length and
in detail on them, has thrown screen of
secrecy over the information Officers and
blue Jackets of the navy who serve the guns
on merchant ships don't dare speak for pub
licaton and the logs, containing explicit in
formation, have been impounded for the du-
ration on the ground that they might reveal
to the enemy information with which he could
deduce the current or future position of certain
vessels. That, of course, is nonsense because
it would be of no value to the enemy to know
that ship identified only as the S. S. Name
less made voyage to Australia and paid
off six months ago.
Meantime, the Navy the Coast Guard and
the Army have been getting tough with drunks,
ship jumpers and insubordinates and Knox ap-
pdrenCly QeSlreS 10 Cream up Ile SltudtlOI diieA
hush UP the story until the war is over. Knox,
of course, has no sympathy for communists
but it is no credit to him that such things
could and did happen including continual har-
assment of blue-jackets and young officers
whose duties were tough enough without any
gratuitous trouble from their civilian ship
mates, and it is fact that the administration
has favored the communist unloneers OF the
sea consistently for years.
AS an example of the kind OF thing that
Mr.. Knox is suppressing cite herewith from
a report of a voyage by the 5. ). Nameless
At port in Africa the captain went ashore
and got confidential orders to sail early the
next morning. He Immediately returned 10
his ship and cancelled all liberty but was un-
able to tell his crew the reason In the first
place. he could have been sent to prison for
revealing secret information and, moreover,
some drunk in the company would have blab-
bed it all over the waterfront and some might
have jumped ship
But one of his ABS demanded an explain
alton and mustered the crew to urge them
to demand one.
After the vessel showed off the ensign in
command of the navy gun detail noticed that
several of the civilian sailors were not care
full to black out at night and cautioned TWO
ABS, who were tireless troublemakers all the
way, that light was showing from their port
holes at night. These two, who Knocked and
ridiculed the Navy gunners when they were
preparing to fire suspicious vessel, gave
the ensign nothing but back talk so, as a
precaution, the master ordered that there-
after the main switch controlling the lights
in their section of the ship was to oe pulleo
every evening" The ensign had legal right,
perhaps duty, to order his men to overpower
these sailors and lock them up for the safety
of the ship but had he done that ne might
have put himself in trouble with the politi-
clans who protect the communist union. Any
way, he didn't.
The water cooler in the crews mess went
on the blink and two of the three chief heck
lers in the Grey beefed loudly although plenty
of ice water was provided from milk cans
chilled in the refrigerator. There were no re-
pair parts an board so that squawking went
on and on and the two mischief makers crit
icized the Navy sailors for letting the ships
officers have some of their ice-water. They
said the officers ought to be made to drink
warm water at their meals until the ship
reached some place where repair parts could
be found
One morning an officer reported to the cap
tain that one of the hell-rasers, standing two
hour tricks at the wheel, had steered five
degrees off course for 20 minutes
trick and for Is minutes on another. The sail
or said he must have dozen off, although he
had not been working any extra hours.
The next day one of the trio tried to give
orders to one of the officers, claiming that
of the men, An investigation was made and
the men denied that they had authorized him
to do this in their name.
week later three sailors demanded that
the master show them list of the stores he
was buying in the next port. He told them
he was giving orders, not taking them, and
sent them away but that night one of the
delegates ordered the chief steward to let
him see the list The captain then told the
crew that he would lay charges of usurpation
with the consul in the next port. This worried
the crew and they sent delegation to tell
the master that on several occasions one of
the trio had pretended to speak for them
without their knowledge. They also told him
that two of the group had been threatening
them. incidentally, the skipper also reported
that the third officer had heard one of these
men say he would be giving the orders aboard
this ship before long.
Well things went along like that until they
were almost home when one of the hecklers
got into a fight with another sailor and they
went ashore to settle it whereupon another
OF the trouble makers followed along to help
his comrade. The Grey then petitioned the
skipper not to let the two bad actors return
"