davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1943-10-08

Swinging their armor to the Adrie
attic coast in an effort to stem the
British drive east and slightly north
Of Rome-87 miles southeast Of
which the Fifth Army stood at tho
Volturno - the Germans rushed
the 10th Panzer Division to the
first air-borne division.
indicative Of diminishing German
strength, the 10th division was re-.
ported able to muster only about 80
tanks.
All told, at least six German al
visions 10000 men at full strenglli)
were revealed to be facing the al
lies along the line on which the
first phase Of the battle for Rome
was being fought.
The drive to the Cciturno, the
main German defense line above
Nagles and one Of the strongest
positions on the way to Rome, was
completed 48 hours after the cap
ture Of Aversa, 10 miles TO the
South.
Rain SUws Advance
The showdown was due mainly Is
the sodden terrain In the north aec@
tor Of the Naples plain, plus the
fact that German mining and de-
noltion forced the trucks, tanks
and jeeps to veer off Established
roads and churu the terrain into
an almost impossible morass.
The presence OF the Allies ali
along the Volturno from Capua a.
its mouth largely nullifled the Civ
er's value as q defense line, since
from the lower bank a witherln2
machine gun, mortar and ARTILLERY
fire can pulverize the enemy posi-
tons.
But admittedly 9 crossing Of the
muddy, swollen stream may lake
preparation and time. Under nor
NAL conditions the river Is 100 ko
200 yards wide, but 1t was believed
to be out Of bank at some places.
The winding Volturno has nunaers
Gus switchbacks in its torturous
route to the sea. The Allies thus
had the advantage Of salients from
which they could keep up cross
fire on the German positions across
the stream.
The only appreciable advance ~
the Allied line was on the Volturno
front. The line now runs along Che
river to Capua, thence southeast %
Maddaloni, on the Benevent0 alad
beyond to q point II miles 10 the
east, and then due north to Ter
moli.
Driving over terrain heavy with
mud and German mines, Lieuten~
ant General Mark v. Clark,s Fifth
Army troops reached the Volturno
water barrier yesterday after an
advance Of 10 miles in 40 hours
from captured Aversa.
The heavy rains pinned most %
the Allied air fleets to their bass4
but sQuadrons Of light attack bomb
ers and fighters ranged ahead O. the
advancing troops bombing and ms
chine cunning the enemy road Tines.
"The Fifth Army has conkinAeN
to move forward in the V0lfuun
River sector" the communique sa1o
suggesting that the American A<4
British forces Of Clark's army MHs0
moving into position along the bank
of the strongly defended river "A
preparation for q massed assault.
Across the peninsula. the EsshtH
Arrny's battle hardened veterans
were meeting bitter resistance from
fresh German infantry and taz
force rushed into action BY Nax
Field Marshal Albert KesselrinB ga
desperate effort to stem the Brit
ish advance.
The fighting conferred around IsrH
moli, IS miles south Of the ANy
junction town Of Pescara, where tz,4
lateral road crossing the nppe
to Rome joins with the east eez
highway.
(Continued on Pare a
The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1943-10-08
Al JoIson Badly
Ill With Pneumonia

New York, Oct. 8.-(UP)-A Jol-
son, stage-Screen and radio singer
who returned last week from a a.
mile tour Of troops in North Africa,
was confined to his hotel today
with pneumonia and malaria.
"He is a very sick man and spent
a bad night" his nurse said. She
added that he was "holding his
own"
The 57-year old singer became Ill
on Monday,
The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1943-10-08
Injured Actress
Will Play Show

Boston, Oct. e-(UPl-Plucly
singer Jane Froman. crippled IN the
Lisbon plane crash that cost 90
lives, was In Boston today 10 star
in the new musical, artists and
models" which opens here Monday.
After eight months IN Portuguese
and New York hospitals and with
one les stu u q cast. Miss Froman
win be wheeled onto the stage 20
alng. She Gaid alae felt wonder
fur and was eager 10 perform
again.
The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1943-10-08
The Weather

Dimcut O;sS r. M. 70 B:as A. M.
tFulI weather Report Page q
The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1943-10-08

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The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1943-10-08

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The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1943-10-08

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The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1943-10-08

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Evening star., 1943-02-22
Grandmother

The black earth yields its body to
her spade,
Grandmother reuels in its smell OF
spring -.
She plants, While all her soul is
listening
To God, through simple things that
He has made,
The cheeping chicks, plum trees
fragrant shade.
All life is hers, its beauty blossom
ing
In peace, no,0 anxious years haze
taken Uing;
The days are hers to squander
unatraid.
But surely God had need of her sweet
face,
That laughed its courage through
the hungry gears,
The little cricket charm Just hers
to giue,
Else 1Ohy our empty hearts and lonely
place;
The garden ouergro,Dn the rush
ing tears,
And death phen she had just
begun to liDe?
LUCILLE JONES STREACKER.
Evening star., 1943-02-22

abandon an advantage they had always
possessed and limit for the duration
their takings from the national income
to S25000 after first providing for taxes
and certain other fixed charges. In be-
half of the entire Nation the President
is reported to have entered into this
gentlemens agreement. BY and large
labor has kept its bond Lurid head
lines and Messers. Lawrence and Kent
to the contrary, strikes and tie-ups have
been trivial in silhouette against the
whole picture of millions and millions
of men steadily at work.
Now Congress, prodded by the favored
few and in childish pet of personal
pique, is about to repudiate this agree
ment.
One who is, in a very modest middle
class way, capitalist and whose family
background includes employers in the
most bitterly contentious of labor bat
tlegrounds-the soft coal industry, is not
likely to be prejudiced in favor of labor.
But to me it seems fair bargain.
Should Congress do this thing, let not
those whited sepulchers complain if that
wild man, John l.. Lewis, breaks out of
his lair, stampedes all labor and the
very devil is to pay this spring-while
we in the middle class are being crushed
beneath the debris.
DWIGHT T. SCOTT.
Evening star., 1943-02-22
1t. Gen. Krueoer

The assignment of Lieutenant Cen
eral Walter Kruger to command the
new Sixth Army in Australia-at the
request Of General Macarthur
brings well-deServed recognition to
man who is widely regarded as one
of Americas ablest soldiers.
Throughout the service, General
Kruger is known as a man who
came up the hard way" Born in
West Prussia SiXty-tWo years ago, he
came to this country at the age of
eight. He attended public schools in
of the Spanish American War he
withdrew from high school in Gin
cinnati to enlist in the Army. With
the exception of a four-month inter
val, he has been in the Army ever
since, and has risen through the
ranks to his present high command.
General Kruger is a strict dis
clplinarian. but he enjoys the respect
anu tOIlIlQGllIt VI tIlt IlltIl "IlU serve
under him. Back in l941, when the
present Army of the United States
was just beginning to take shape he
was in command of the Third Army
during the Louisiana maneuvers
The men had but little training,
equipment was scarce, and. outside
the Army, there was much talk of
diSaffeCtiOn. But there was no evil
dence of bad morale among the men
under General Kruger, who, for
purposes of the maneuver, were
pitted against the Second Army
which had superiority of armored
equipment.
For two hard weeks the Blue"
troops Of the Third Army fought"
through the Swamps and tangled
thickets of Louisiana, sleeping on
the ground and ignoring the sWarms
OF mosquitoes. In the end they
stopped the Second Army's tanks,
employing in more or less hypotheti-
Gal form the tank destroyer tech
Evening star., 1943-02-22
Dealing With Absentees

The experience of two war plants
in dealing with the problem of alb
senteeism-one successful, the other
failure-should prove helpful to the
House Naval Affairs Committee as it
begins hearings this week on the
Johnson bill to require every con-
tractor for the Navy to prepare full
and periodic reports on the absences
Of their workers
The Wiremold Company of Hart
ford, Conn, tried to overcome alb
senteeism in its plant by awarding
War bonds to employees with perfect
attendance records. But the expert
ment failed, the bonds proving no
inducement to those who chronically
absent themselves from work. At
the Bell Aircraft Corporation, how
ever, absenteeiSm has been reduced
by an average of 80 per cent through
adoption of an "A. w. o. L." card sys-
tenn. Under this procedure an absent
worker cannot return without the
approval of his foreman or depart
ment head, request for time off
must be submitted at least day in
advance and those who are sick must
bring doctors certificate upon their
return. There IS nothing drastic
about these requirements, but they
have reduced unexplained or needless
absences by more than 80 per cent.
and this experience suggests that
some form of penalty is going to be
necessary to overcome the evil.
A Naval Affairs Subcommittee has
found that absenteeism caused pro-
duction loss of 10 per cent in the
shipbuilding industry during Decem-
ber, and noted with concern that the
trend is upward. During the month
absent workers caused total loss of
100000 man hours in naval ship
yards-83 times as much as the loss
from strikes. Obviously, if this is
typical, the war production program
is being most seriously retarded.
1t is to obtain the full picture that
the Naval Affairs Committee has de-
cided to hold its hearings, and the
decision Is a proper one for it is
manifestly impossible to deal with
the problem until all of the facts per-
tanning to 1t have been established.
With the national labor leaders
aware Of the seriousness of this mat
ter and willing to cooperate in cor
recting 1t, there is reason to expect
that the committees action will prove
beneficial.
Evening star., 1943-02-22
FRANKLIN STREET NE.

Dear Sir:
Last summer, when had my canary
at my kitchen window, I heard him
cheep piteously and on going into the
kitchen I saw bird clawing at the
screen, trying to get in. He looked like
a small hawk.
Several weeks after there was the
same piteous cheep and this time it was
blue jay. This happened again several
weeks after and the blue jay returned
two times though stayed in the kitchen
to watch for him.
Il finally threw glass of water at
him and he didn't come back
Would this indicate the blue jay was
trying to get at my canary to kill him?
People say the blue jay does not kill, but
I wonder.
II get the greatest enjoyment out of
your column. and very great pleasure
feeding the many birds around the
apartment house I live in.
Il always wet the bread throw out,
and they seem to enjoy it so that way I
enjoy. all the birds and must say have
the greatest respect for the little SPAR
rows-they are out foraging in all kinds
of weather.
II have also noticed how happy they
are when they have a chance to revel in
a bath. as they do in summer, at the
lovely fountain at the Folger Library.
I'VE have type of woodpecker here
which Is black, white and red He dis
appears for days at time, but always
appears again. Had not seen him in a
week, but Sunday he was back and peck
ing away for dear life at the tree
branches.
Il have also watched this woodpecker
chase other birds out of his tree They
get on either side OF him, usually one
on each side, but sometimes two, and he
will fly at one and then fly away, but
time on occasion, until they get tired of
teasing him.
Very truly yours, E. B. B."
The blue jay might have seen the seeds
in the canary cage.
While the jay is no ANGEL he is not
likely to try to kill canary inside a
house.
Of course, it might happen. He often
seizes and carries away young birds, and
eggs. One of Audubon's most famous
plates is of jay with dripping egg in
his claws.
The chances are that the Jay saw the
food in the canary cups.
Jays, as all wild birds, have marvellous
sight.
They are able to see small bits of food
for great distances. The turkey vulture,
or buzzard, as he is commonly called, is
said to be able to see mouse creeping
along the ground at distance of a mile.
4 \
The blue jay likes to collect food,
carrying 1t away to hide in crevices of
bark, or even to bury in the ground.
Evening star., 1943-02-22
Fair Bargain" Argued
In Behalf of Salary Limitation.
70 the Editor of The Star:

Az tiiN Eoiuoi Vi ne Sidl
Is the $4,000 income limit issue being
fairly stated? For long generations those
who toiled in America were forced to
offer their sole commodity-their labor
in glutted market. Above them hung
ever the threat of the lay-off and the
loss of livelihood. Meanwhile, atop our
economic structure sat a comparatively
lew individuals, who by great industry,
through unusual talent or even genius.
sometimes by mere accident of heritage
and more often still by simple native
shreWdneSs and highly developed ac-
quisltiVeness, found themselves in posi-
ton to dictate the division of income
between themselves and groups of work.
ers. In this division one in candor cam
not say that these favored few willingly
gave themselves the short end of if
From such an advantageous stance they
were prone to deal themselves in for
more than they had human need Of
Then came to our social structure
something new and shattering-a total
war. For the first time in history, labor.
strongly organized found itself in posi-
ton to dictate the terms of division.
Many in labor, unwisely and unpatriot-
ically, wanted to exercise this long
dreamed-of power President Roosevelt
sought out the more responsible and
far-sighted of labors leaders. They
agreed in this great national crisis to
refrain from using their new strength
But they asked that the privileged few
Evening star., 1943-02-22
The Mcclellan Bill

President Roosevelt has summed
up in few words the basic objection
to the bill of Senator Mcclellan to re-
quire Senate confirmation of thou
sands of positions in the upper salary
levels. Passage, the President said
in letter to Vice President Wallace,
would sweep away years OF civil
service progress" That is an un-
assailable truth.
AS drafted, the bill would require
all incumbents Of positions above the
$4,000 level to be appointed by the
President and confirmed by the Sen
ate, and those now in office would
need to be reappointed through this
procedure to hold on after June 80.
President Roosevelt has estimated
that on this basis $4,000 persons
would be affected, but the Tennessee
Senator has suggested an amend
ment to reach the $4,000 salary
bracket, adding thousands more to
the list. AS concession" Senator
McKellar agreed to waive a pro-
vision limiting tenure to four years.
The injustice of such legislation is
so clear as almost to make comment
Superf1uouS. 1t should be pointed
out, however, that thousands of men
and women who entered the Govern
ment through competitive examina-
ton and attained a fair salary level
by hard work would see the labor of
a lifetime periled should the bill be-
come law. Competence in a job
would mean nothing unless bull
warked by political backing. That is
Spoils, not civil service. 1t was the
system that Congress renounced in
the passage of the Ramspeck Civil
Service Extension Act.
AS has been pointed out before,
hiring abuses by certain admins
trative officers who took advantage
of the war emergency have bred con-
ditions that made it possible for such
a program as that of Senator Nc
Kellar to get a hearing. Within the
past few days, however, the Civil
Service Commission has moved into
the picture with new restrictions that
promise to bring about improvement.
The commission is the proper au-
thority to effect the purported re-
forms at which Senator McKellar
aims, and President Roosevelt might
follow the letter to the Vice Presi-
dent with general instructions to the
executive agencies as a whole to see
that the commissions orders are
obeyed to the letter.
Evening star., 1943-02-22
Blessing in DISGUISE?

some care1ul experimenting may
be necessary to prove it, but the
Army's ban on sirens, except to signal
air raids. may turn out to be an un-
expected blessing in disguise.
Sirens on fire equipment, police
cars and ambulances have been so
effective and such an easy method of
soaring the daylights out of people
on the streets that we have suffered
them for years without much protest.
They were taken for granted as
necessary parts Of the city's din. But
suppose we should find that less
terrifying and less nerve-racking
warning signals would suffice: that
If the drivers of emergency vehicles
even sacrificed a little speed to
greater care the end results would
be as we'll achieved? What a bless
ing this would be, and what an
added incentive to getting the war
over with so we might settle down
and really enjoy some peace
In smaller cities or villages, where
dependence is still placed on volun-
teer firemen assembled in emer-
gencies by the shrieks of sirens, the
ban on such devices may prove to be
a greater handicap than in the city.
But even this handicap may be easily
overcome by resort to other signals
which in other days proved effective
enough.
The automobile was such a novelty
in the beginning, and its develop
ment matter of such keen interest
by an automobile loving people, that
we undoubtedly accepted as newt
able many of the evils which came
with it, among them the siren and
the electric horn. The noise of cities
became intolerable. We have a fine
opportunity now to examine more
closely the necessity for a lot Of
nuisances that have been accepted
in the recent past because they were
specifically identified with prog
ress,' We are learning to get along
without many good things Perhaps
we can dispense with some of the
bad ones at the same time
Evening star., 1943-02-22
MONDAY
February %, 1943
Washington Still Serves

AuIdndm Lincoln, tne greatest
American of the nineteenth century.
warned his contemporaries against
any attempt to eulogiZe George
Washington, the greatest American
of the eighteenth; and his caution
stands. Yet each recurrent ami
versary of the birth of the father
of his country" prompts a natural
wish to comprehend and fully to ap-
preciate the Virginia planter who by
the exercise Of his own instructive
genius brought into existence the
, freest, the richest and commonly the
happiest nation of the world.
Washington, it is conceded, had
many distinguished associates, and
there is reason TO believe that, had
he never lived, there still would have
been a vast experiment in ordered
liberty on the part of the Thirteen
Colonies. What requires to be
stressed is the fact that the char
acter and the personality of the
leader of the Revolutionary Armies
furnished an inspiration, model, a
pattern for the establishment of the
United States. 1t is no accident that
his coat Of arms was adapted for the
Stars and Stripes. Neither is it by
6 chance that the Capital of the Fed
Grafton he created bears his name
Without him, America would have
been different in a deplorable way.
Certainly, Washington had his
faults. He errS as other men
do" wrote Thomas Jefferson, but
promptly added the stipulation that
his mistakes were honest, committed
with integrity" The same COM
petent hand reported: His mind
was great and powerful, without
being Of the very first order; his
penetration strong, though not so
acute as that of Newton, Bacon or
Locke; and as far as he saw, no
judgment was ever sounder." Lin
coin was correct in insisting on his
Importance "in moral reformation"
Much of his achievement was in the
realm of spiritual things. He left
his mark upon the souls of men,
The standard he set up for the
guidance of citizens of every class
still remains the highest, the noblest,
the most notably glorious.
In no more useful fashion than by
conscious effort to emulate him is it
possible to pay homage to Wash
ington. For soldiers, his example
at Trenton, Valley Forge and York
town will furnish confidence and en-
thusiasm; for the makers of laws,
his Craftsmanship of the Constitu-
tional Convention will offer both
stimulation and constructive diSci-
pline; for executives and admins
traitors, his conduct of the presidency
will provide both encouragement and
correction. He was born 211 years
ago and belonged to a time alien to
this present critical moment, yet his
services to America and to all man
kind are not finished so long as he
Is intelligently remembered.
Evening star., 1943-02-22

and radio censorship, war and farm
work and industrial safety pro-
cedures.
The cultural and spiritual aspects
Of the conflict are dealt with in the
magazine Education for Victory"
and pamphlets on What the Schools
Can Do" Democracy in the Sum-
mer Camp" Children and War"
ITO Parents in Wartime" Our
Countrys Call to Service" and The
United Nations Fight for the Four
Freedoms" Particularly engaging
are two issues for the whole public;
The Thousand Million" and The
Unconquered People" both intended
to demonstrate the relation of Amer
ica's cause to that of friendly coun-
tries near and far.
Evening star., 1943-02-22
THIS AND THAT
By Charles E. Trdce1oeU.

Often he covers food over with leaves.
Whether he ever finds it himself again
is a question. If he doesn't, no doubt
some other hungry creature does; in
this way one animal helps another.
This is natures way of instilling kind
ness in the living world 1t may be that
such kindness as human beings some
times manifest one to another, is merely
a conditioned reflex, as the psychologists
call it, of the unconscious habits of the
animals.
Nuthatches like to hide seeds in the
crevices of bark There they are found
by the small brown creepers, and others.
In cold weather, when many persons
who never think of the birds in ordinary
times put out bread for the hungry,
bits of crust will be scattered over an
entire neighborhood. None of it will go
to waste, the observer may be sure of
that. One of the good features of snow
is that it calls attention of many people
to the plight of the birds.
They put out food, and this not only
helps the songSters which winter with us,
but also it increases the interest of the
persons concerned, so that every winter
some of them realize that they have
been missing something, and continue to
put out food.
Very little good can be said for snow.
IN the economy of the city. 1t causes
increased traffic hazard, and great wear
on tires, now so precious The recent
sleet and snow made the axles of many
buses crack
When sleet covers every branch. it
offers the wintering birds one of their
greatest problems. In ordinary cold
weather, even with snow, there are
usually weed seeds, seeds of old ANIMALS
left standing, and berries of shrubs to
afford the songSters some food. But sleet
covers every berry and every seed, so
that there is no food at all, unless kind
hearted people put it out.
English sparrows, despite their repu-
tation, are among our cleanest birds.
Certainly no other species likes its
bath more. Even in the coldest weather
these sparrows will bathe In any chance
pool or puddle they find.
1t is easy to provide for them by plac-
Ing shallow pan of water in the sun
in the afternoon.
Any kitchen utensil not more than an
inch or two deep will do.
Another sort of bath the sparrows en-
Joy is of dust. This is easily provided
by stirring the soil in a flower bed or
border Often the birds make their own
by the simple process of fluttering their
wings.
We have always felt that persons who
feed the birds dry seeds and grains
should make special provision for drink
ing. since all such foods are very dry,
and no doubt the birds find foods dry as
well as we do. Usually a pan of water
will stay open, even in the coolest
weather, in the middle of the afternoon,
especially If the sun is out.