The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-03-19

parent why. For while the Bri- tish cruiser quietly visited all the islands, raising the British flag, affixing markers, and leaving small groups of men to cllnch their claim on Canton, Phoenix, Hull and Sidney Islands.
 At this point, fortnight Secre- tary Ickes, in charge of insular affairs, sent a group of Ameri- cans to Canton Island. So for several months the British lived on one side of the island, the Americans on the other, both claiming 1t. Finally the State Department put the screws on. It flatly refused the British land- ing privileges on Hawaii, the most vital link between Australia and Canada, unless we got landing rights in the South Pacific.
 Necessity for this type of
 tough diplomacy makes a lot of
 people listen to Clare Luce'S
 plea that we nail down future
 air routes while the mailing IS
 good. But wiseheads among
 them think these bases should
 be like a union railroad ter-
 minal, with rights to all United
 Nations.
 NOTE: Mrs. Luce's counterpart in England is w. L. Runciman, of British Overseas Airways, who is always warning that "the Ameri- cans are going to over-run the whole of Europe" His father is the man who looked the other way while the Nazis prepared to take the Sudenland.
 WAR CHAFF
 Supplies of radio quartz crystals from Brazil are inadequate to . meet tremendous war demands, and the Signal Corps is scratch ing for quartz in Pennsylvania, Georgia, oklahoma and Arkansas. Signal Corps officers have found that police car radios are not sturdy enough for use in tanks. Colonel R. V. D. Corput sent pair of General Electric officials for tank ride, with a police radio, and after a mile of open road, the radio was shaken to pieces Life rafts are now being equipped with radio sending sets, so ship-wreck survvors can broadcast an sos U. s. Army is now equipped with blows. They are lowed behind truck for use in wire laying to estab- lish communications in the field. FRIENDS IN COURT
 If you have the right kind of friends in Washington, you can overrule even the high-handed Facility Review Committee of the War Production Board.
 This Committe sits on pile of applications for civilian construc- tion of all sorts - hospitals, roads, housing, airportS, etc. = and takes pride in its record of turning down almost all applications.
 One of it's recent rejectiOns was a project for constructing a hospital in Jacksonville, On- slow County, North Carolina. But Jacksonville had some friends at court and the project refused to stay dead.
 Sidney Weinberg, special aide to Donald Nelson, picked up a phone and called a WIPE office where he thought the project might have been snagged. "What's happened to that Jacksonville hospitaI?" he said.
 'Tt's been ruled out" was the reply.
 '.But we can't do that" expOs- tulated Weinberg. Marvin McIn- tyre Is interested in that project. Who ruled 1t Out?" (McIntyre, secretary to the President, has lived and worked in various parts of North Carolina).
 Weinberg was told that the Fa- cility Review Committe had vetoed 1t. wen have to have a re-hear- ing" decreed Weinberg.
 Result was that re-hearing was staged, local officials were brought to Washington from North Carolina at considerable expense, and the Committee graudgingly yielded to pressure. Thanks to amiable Marvin Mcln- tyre; the Jacksonvilel hospital will be built.
 Meantime, most projects, lack ing highly placed pleaders, fall by the wayside.
 NAVY RECOGNIZES
 FOOT-DOCTORS
 The Army is supposed to be the outfit which walks; the Navy sails. But strangely enough the Army