Evening star., 1943-07-11
Books
By Mary.C ayfsr Roberts.

1dI u68 6kl0Wu Tic VlSlO1l ana OAIlu&
which win be needed to reconstruct
society after the war. That agency
is American capitalism. Socialism
has been tried many times. and has /
generally failed. When 1t has sue
ceeded, 1t has done SO only under
the hand Of rigid dictatorship. It Is
incompatible with freedom.
Reforms, however. are necessary,
says Mr.. Queeny, and he calls for
a list Of them. These are various,
but they can be summed up by say
ing that pressure politics must end.
Business, which introduced the evil,
has paid the price. 1t now stands
ready to carry on the progressive
movement which it initiated cen
'tury ago. The scientists and engi-
neers Of business already have in
their possession new processes and
inventions enough to revolutionize
civilized life, to provide employment
and to raise the standard OF COM
mon living everywhere. But the
way must be left clear for them.
Americans must continue to have
one freedc.h-the name Of which is
liberty.
Thirty Seconds Over Toxic
BY Capt. Tea w. La,pson, U. S. A.
Edited by Robert Considine.
Random House.)
There are war books in plenty on
the market, and most of them are
good, but this book must take
first place in their ranks, and the
reviewer doubts that 1t will ever be
topped by many. 1t is the first
person story Of one OF the pilots who
few in the Army's raid over Toxic
last year. Not since They Were
Expendable" has there been SO
thrilling an account of American
courage and spirit. And no earn
est advocate of closer Sino-Ameri-
can relations has given anywhere
near so powerful reason for his
case as does Capt. Lawson. This is
"must" book. There Is no ques-
ton about 1t.
Capt. Lawson lieutenant at the
time of the flight is California
boy, one of the generation of Ameri-
cans who grew up with flying In
their bood. He tried for a while to
finance a night course in aeronau-
tical engineering by working in the
daytime at the Douglas Aircraft
factory. Then he went into the
Army Air Forces to learn while
working. BY this step. he gave up
s36 a week to earn $75 a month. 1t
was before the United States was
in the war.
He volunteered for the Toxic
flight without knowing what he was
asking Tor. beyond that 1t was a
mission described as important and
extremely dangerous. They were
aboard the carrier Hornet and sew
eral days out of port for Japan be-
fore they were told the facts. The
original plan was to go within 400
miles OF the Japanese coast before
taking of and then to attack by
night, but an encounter with Jap
patrol vessel changed that, and they
took flight 300 miles away from
their objective. The Navy promptly
sank the patrol. but 1t was supposed
that a warning had been sent. So
the boys went in daylight, expect
ing to find the Japs prepared and
waiting. That was mistake, how
ever, for the patrol went down too
quickly even to radio.
No planes were lost over Toxic,
and they dropped their bombs cor
rectly on their military detectives.
Their orders then were to fly on to
China, where by agreement with the
Chungking government they would
have the facilities Of Chinese land
ing fields. But fog came on, and
the fields could not be found. Capt.
Lawson tried to land on a clear
stretch of beach, only to have his
engines fail when he was few hun
dred yards off shore. The shock OF
the crash in the water injured all
five men seriously. Capt. Lawson
himself was thrown clear through
the sides of the ship; his face was
broken and torn. and one thigh was
ripped open to the bone. They man
aged to get to the land, however,
and were soon discovered by Chi
nese peasants. 1t is then, to the re-
viewers mind, that the really mag
nificent part of the whole fine story
begins.
The Chinese, though some were
tortured for 1t by the Japs, took the
Americans in, hid them by day and
carried them on their backs by night
until they got them to safety. Thou
~