The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-02-11

sabotage consti- tutes one of the most notable of the l home front victories. It is also a tribute to shore and border patrols of the armed forces in keeping the foreign agent Saboteur outside the United States.
 Emphasis in these records is of course placed on the fact that it is the foreign directed sabotage which has been checked. The record on domestic, made-in-America Sabo- tage is something else again, and it is sad confession that while for eign- directed sabotage has been so successfully prevented, homemade sabotage by Americans in their own country has not been checked.
 TECHNICAL" SABOTAGE
 Tn the three years from Jan. 1, 1940, to Jan. 1, 1914, 13,672 cases of reported sabotage have been investi- gated by the G-men. Technical sab otage of some type was found iri 1404 cases-a little over one out of every 10 cases, but in the vast ma. jority the sabotage was motivated by juvenile delinquency, spite, care. leSsness, pranks or just plain ordin. ary dumbness.
 There have been sos convictions for sabotage in these three years, with convictions totaling 1342 years, one life sentence and six executions, fines and recoverieS of over $250, 1000
 Nearly half of the reported cases of sabotage-6723-were in 1943 And while no foreign-directed acts of sabotage were uncovered during the year, technical sabotage was discov- cred in STA cases.
 The pattern of these cases in the past year showed one notable change. A large number of the sab otage reports investigated by the FBI involved acts committed by ju- veniles.
 In Alabama, 12-foot length ot green timber and cast iron sign post were placed on railroad track by 16-year- old boy, who thought that by wrecking a train he might obtain canned goods and candy.
 Three fires in a Boston shoe fac tory were traced to another 16-year- old boy who merely wanted to tease girl employees until they "blew their top"
 CRANE CRIPPLED
 More serious was the act of an 18- year-old boy who stuffed waste into the machinery of an overhead crane he was operating in a Pennsylvania steel mill. The crane broke down and a large portion of the plant had to be shut down as result because the crane handled all the mills raw materials. The boys reason for the sabotage was that he had been out carousing the night before and needed sleep He thought he'd catch up while the crane was being re- paired.
 This bay had a record of delin- quency going back some five years, had trouble in school, was expelled for stealing from the church poor box, breaking showcase windows hanging around taprooms. His greatest defenders were his parents. who, not realizing what they were doing, let the boy grow up to be- come saboteur.
 Desire to get off from work early so as to keep a date with a girl friend caused a youthful employe in Los Angeles steel firm to com- init an act of sabotage. He took 8 sledge hammer and beat on an elec- tric furnace till the fire brick lining inside collapsed. Of course the plant had to shut down and the young man kept his date. Later, he threat ened to kill anyone who reported the incident, but five employees willingly reported to the F'BI just what had happened.
 Activities of juvenile saboteurs are cited by FBI Director Hoover in is- suing a sharp warning against com- placency. "The war is now going our way" he says, but it is reason able to assume that as the moose tightens on the necks of the Axis tyrants, still greater effort may be made to disturb production on the home front. Juvenile sabotage may be the worst danger now, but we should continue to guard against the foreign agent"