davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1944-06-14
Cherbourq Fortress

Inc fortress OF Cherbourg origi-
naliy was designed by the re-
nowned engineer, sebastien LIE
Preste de Vauban 1633-17o7), who
also planned Clermont-en-Argonne
strasbourg, Landau, New Breisach
and many other famous defensive
establishments. He had been a
starveling orphan among the i'm
poverished peasants of Yonne and
had been made marshal of France
In recognition of discoveries in the
science OF war which still are con-
sldered valuable: But his proposed
protection of the coast of Normandy
was not attempted seriously during
the lifetime OF its sponsor. Indeed,
1t was not until the reign of Napo-
leon III that the works were COM
pleted.
To comprehend their character it
Is necessary to visualize Cherbourg
as the elevated northern end of the
Cotentln Peninsula. It fronts a bay
bounded by Cape La Hague on the
west and Cape Levi on the east.
Slopes of pale brown and yellow rock
and sand rise above the lower por-
tions of the town Still higher are
series Of verdure-covered hills
among which villages, farmhouses
and the country residences of few
bourgeois families are scattered
The harbor is guarded from the
ocean gales by breakWater two
miles long, begun in 1882 and esti-
mated to have cost fifteen million
dollars. A passage half a mile wide
gives access to the Bassin du Com
merce for civilians and the military
piers and docks behind the Caserne.
More than thirty years ago four forts
and twelve batteries crowned the
breakwater. The number of en-
placements on the heights above the
shore never has been published. A
hint at their dimensions as we'll as
pA4SAA AAA0AO1PiASloJt 4iOWCNC1, Ildy NC
found in the first Bonaparte's
declaration: Il have resolved to re-
produce at Cherbourg the marvels
of Egypt" When his nephew fin
ished the task, he invited Queen Vic
toria to inspect his achievement.
That was in 1858. Much was done
by the French after that date, and
1t is possible that still more has been
attempted by the Germans in recent
months.
Whether or not the fortress of
Cherbourg itself is taken promptly,
it is important for the Allies to con-
troll the English Channel in its
neighborhood. Students of the his
tory Of the American War Between
the States are familiar with the fact
that 1t was only nine miles off the
Cotentin headland that the c. s. 6
Evening star., 1944-06-14
Pointed Desert

Here Is the artistry most ancient knotDr.
The seasoned ,Dtnds all shun her
bright abyss,
But feel compassion for the yoang clouds
blot1n
Into the sterile orbit OF her kiss.
For old minds knotD her ctrpes are fdt-
tering lies,
Though scnrped In tint OF ruanbotps.
Bursting seed
Could find no catdlyst beneath her
thighs
Nor rain suffice her cold, fictitious
need.
n uny tren1uloas cloud would Anger here,
Suspended br6pely from the mother
ing blue,
Some kind old breezs might ichisper In
his edr.
Nearby a fertile held a.odits for you--
50 look you not too long upon the dead,
Who oires you sto~s. but not q crust OF
bread"
RUBY ALT1zER ROBERTS.
Evening star., 1944-06-14
The House and the Peace

Unlike the Senate, the House has
no constitutional role to play in
treaty making, but it's influence on
American foreign policy is never
theless most weighty and funda-
mental BY the way it votes, for
example, it can decide the fate of
such far-reaching international in
struments as leaselend, reciprocal
trade agreements and other under
takings that are operative not on
a national but on a world basis
Accordingly, since it can do much
either to weaken or strengthen our
participation in system of COL
lective security after the war, Sec
retary Hull has wisely begun to
consult with it in much the same
manner as he has been consulting
with the Senate.
In the case of the Senate, Mr..
Hull has been holding series of
profitable meetings with special
committee made up of four Demo-
Gratis, three Republicans and one
Progressive. In the case of the
House, he has just held his first
session with a group made up of
four Democrats and three Repub-
licans This group does not have
the same status as the Senate's
formally appointed committee of
eight, but in time a similar COM
mittee of Representatives may be
named. In any event, the mere fact
that Mr.. Hull has thus moved to
establish a closer liaison with the
House is another promising step
toward insuring that Congress and
the executive branch of the Gov
ernment will not operate apart from
each other but will instead keep in
constant consultation in drawing up
plans for the Nations collaboration
In the next peace.
It is true that not very long ago,
when Mr.. Hull took a group of
House members into his confidence,
he had the disappointing experience
Evening star., 1944-06-14
Battle for Cherbourg
By Maj. George Fielding Eliot

There have been various estimates
from enemy sources of the strength of
the Allied armies now committed to ac-
tion in France. Monday the Germans
were saying that we had from az to a
divisions ashore. Tuesday the Vichy
radio estimated that the number had
risen to 80. From Allied sources there
has bee1 no estimate, but We have had
identifications Of some of the divisions:
The U. 8. 1st, Id, 4th and 2oth In
fantry Divisions, and the 82d. and 101st
Mr-BoSne Diyisions-the British 50th
infantry and 9th Air-Borne Divisions
the Canadian Sd Division. This Is total
0fnIne Identified Allied divisions. Ger.
tAtnly there are more than that. ME-
Our front III France = nov shout %
miles in length. It is 4 fiuctuAtine fYont,
with the heaviest fighting Ia progress on
its eastern end, around Carentan, and
In the Cherbourg Peninsula. 4 division
in an, inner position, that Is, with It's
TANKS protected by other troops, mAy
deploy for the attack on . front Of 4,000
yards or little more-say 2h miles.
Therefore 60-mile front would seem to
cali Tor "a divisions. OF course, this cans
not be figured out with mathematical
precision. Deployments will be narrower
In exposed positions, where the division
has to look out for Its own flank or
flanks, and also where great sustained
striking power Is demanded. Deploy-
ments can be wider In purely defen.
sive sector, or where division Is moving
ahead in country where 1t Is not ex-
pected to encounter strong enemy re-
sistance during the day. It would there
fore seem likely that the estimate Of
20 divisions may be somewhere near the
truth, with the higher estimate OF 80
divisions not at all impossible, especially
If the smaller size Of the air r-borne divi-
sions be kept in mind.
Against these Allied forces, the Ger
mans are now said to have some is
divisions In line, with more coming up.
The Germans may be outnumbered for
the time being, but there are signs that
they are getting more troops into the
crucial areas, notably the Cherbourg
Peninsula, where strong counterattacks
have been opened against Carentan and
Montebourg. But there Is as yet no in
dication that we have faced anything
more than counterattacks by German
local reserves, and the truth Of the mat
ter seems to be that the Germans have
not yet been able to do anything except
try to plug up the holes in their lines
as we strike our successive blows at
Evening star., 1944-06-14

As the war on four European fronts
increases in intensity, the shortwave
war on the propaganda front also goes
into high gear. The interesting fact
about this war Of the wave lengths is
that we hear only one side Of 1.-THE
German side. The chief impact of 1t
comes blaring over our Atlantic wall
for hours every night.
After listening to this stuff with some
care since the invasion began, l ind
several main themes In the Goebbels
attack
The first is the German effort to fan
nti-Russian sentiment In this country.
In perfect English and with carefully
calculated amount of incidental enter
tainment, the various broadcasters tell
Americans, in one breath, of the ter
rible losses they are sustaining on the
French front and in the next that Stain
is the master-mind behind the whole
war. Roosevelt and Churchill are
portrayed as Russia's puppets. The
words "Bolsheviks" and Communists"
are in nearly every sentence OF the
news commentary. Titos army is called
merely Communist bandits" red
Europe" Is the objective OF the Allies.
The war is a red war"
Second, there is lot of stuff in the
broadcasts intended to fan racial and
religious prejudice. This is Jewish
war" Negroes are being given the
toughest jobs In our military services,
and the like.
The eternal German pundit always
appears in the course of the evening.
He tells us that many historic Anglo
American statements of principle are
just high sounding punches of words.
intended to cover a special interest.
The Magma Charta, for instance, was
declaration Of the barons. for the bar
ons and by the barons All recent dec
larations of Allied unity they insist,
are Of the same sort. Rapidly switching
into the Communist line, which they
condemn only by name, they tell US
Evening star., 1944-06-14
Incentive ENOUGH

The Fifth War Loan drive, with
$4,000, ,000,00 as its goal, opens at
time when the people OF this
country are feeling the full and
terrible impact Of modern war.
For many long months our young
men have been lighting in the
islands of the Pacific. in Africa, in
Sicily, in Italy, in the Burma
jungles, and on the seas and in
the air. But we have felt in our
hearts that these engagements,
bloody and desperate enough, were
the preliminaries-that the hour of
supreme effort would come when
American soldiers moved across the
English Channel into the fortress of
Europe.
And now they are there-thou-
sands upon thousands of them
fighting on the beaches of France.
For some the fight is already over
the dead in their rude beachhead
graves and the wounded returning
to England. But for the others the
war goes on, deadly business full
of sound and fury, sweat and
anguish, in the lurking presence of
eternity.
No one should say that If these
boys can give so much we should
hesitate at the little asked OF us,
for this Is a comparison which bor-
ders on the odious. No buyer of
War Bonds can ever hope even to
approach the sacrifices and the con-
tributions of Americas fighting
men. But he can feel that he is
doing something, that within the
limits OF the means at his command
he is helping to win the war and
preserve the things for which it is
being fought. That should be in
centive enough.
Evening star., 1944-06-14

Alabama and the U. S. S. Kearsarge
met "by appointment" on June 10,
1854. The, rebel raider, COM
manded by Captain Raphael
Semmes, had sunk, burned or cap
tured more than sixty ships, but it
was handicapped by conditions
accruing from having been twenty
two months continuously active.
Faster and more easily handled was
the Union vessel in charge of Cap
tain John A. Winslow The battle
lasted from 1O:57 am. until 1924
noon. Crowds of French and British
spectators lined the cliffs to watch
the struggle. Finally the Alabama
went down, stern first. The victors
lost one man killed, one wounded.
On the other side the casualties were
nine killed, ten drowned, twenty-one
wounded.
Evening star., 1944-06-14
On the Record
Bv Dorothy THOMPSON

rosant, and 50 opposed in 1t that he was
nasty.
Yet it is impossible to believe that
the suppression Of De Gaulle Is per-
sonal whim. Gen. Girahd, too, Is .
difdcult personality. And so, both here
and in France, people ask: "Why?"
The argument advanced is that We
do not yet know what France" wants,
and that we will not impose any leader
ship, by our military activities. upon the
French people This policy. to my mind,
is meaningless. The will of the French
nation Is quite rs well known as the
will Of any other nation. The symptoms
all demonstrate that De Gaulle Is the
most important resistance leader. In
the last war We recognized Thomas
Masaryk as the head of q nonexistent
Czech state, in spite Of the fact that he
had many opponents In his home coun-
try. We recognized Badoglio, because
he surrendered to Us, but he had no
political following among the Italian
people.
Under these circumstances, the snub-
bing Of Gen. de 0aulle becomes, In
French minds, not q personal affair, but
q French concern. The French are
bound to ask "Why?" and, correctly or
incorrectly, to draw the following con-
illusions:
l. De oaulle fights for the recognition
Of France rs major factor In the
coming peace. His suppression means
that the Anglo-Americans are opposed
to this and want the big three alone to
settle the affairs of France, Europe and
the colonial world.
2. We want concessions from France,
which De Gaulle Is unwilling to grant in
advance of clarincation of the whole
postwar situation. As long as we do not
recognize even 4 provisional government
for France no equal negotiations are
possible and concessions would be uni
lateral.
8. De Gaulle champions q semi
Socialist program and the Anglo
American powers don't like it,
II these ideas grow up in the French
mind we shall get exactly the opposite
result Of the one we want. France Is a
defeated and humiliated nation and be-
cause Of that more jealous Of her pre-
negatives than she would otherwise be.
The man who will commend himself to
France will be exactly he who will stand
against her German enemies and resist
encroachment upon her sovereignty by
allies as well Everything we have
done has built up De Gaulle. Every
thing we have done has famed the
revolutionary flames and not mitigated
them. We have shown ignorance OF
national and human psychology and
We should not harden in our mistakes,
but admit them and change our ways.
RELEASED By the Bell syndicate, Incl
Evening star., 1944-06-14

various parts OF the front. But as fast
as they do this we appear to be able
to hit them elsewhere, which certainly
conveys the impression of superior num-
bers and mobility on our side, at least up
to the present.
Two examples may serve to show how
this works out: The Germans are max
ing Z stout defense Of Caen, and west
OF CAen they threw In q considerable
amount Of armor and infantry in the
AxeA OF Tilly-sur-se -seulles, retakinG the
toWn after nuctuating but heavy fght-
hlg. But this has been rather more
1thsn countered. by the British capture
~ Ifoayn, miles east OF .Caen, which
&QMp1etAe . three-sided, Allied arc
around Caen, and by . sudden move Of
British armor into the important road
center Of Balleroy, west Of Tlly-Slir-
84alles. In the last case, the American
infantry in the Forest de Cerisy were
able to find . soft spot" and having
3n1uMcient armor Of their own "a. probe
III HcAll TOR British arnor, which moved
IA swiftly by secondary. roads and took
advantage Of the opportunity.
/ " \ y
The other example is In the fighting
Au tA1c SAlS4 bOA& 1CAA4loUAA, Wl1ClS, AS
already stated, the German local re-
action against the capture Of Carentan
and Montebourg has resulted In severe
fighting, with the Germans driving back
into the streets Of both towns. But
these local German counterattacks have
not prevented an American advance
westward between the two places to Pont
liable, only 3 miles from the one re-
naming German highway into the
peninsula, while to the south Of the
marshy region below Carentan, 1t Is re-
ported that Allied forces are within
miles of the key road junction OF st. Lo.
We should not, however, count too
heavily on this favorable state Of affairs
continuing, for the Germans are not
fighting 80 desperately for no purpose.
It Is very clear that they are holding
the main road functions Of Valognes,
Caen and st. Lo. in order to contain
our forces and trying to regain Carentan
In order to keep our two wings sep
arated, until they can drive home q
really powerful counterAttack which
may be in sufacient force to swing the
weight Of numbers to their side. We
can really breathe easily only after this
counterattack has been met and thrown
back, or after we have taken all of the
key points above mentioned and dug
ourselves in thoroughly
(cepyrisht, 1914, the Tribune COY
Evening star., 1944-06-14

From the st. Louis 6tar-rimes.
John M. Carmody, head Of the United
States Maritime Commission, speaking
In the local observance of Maritime Day,
revived the old question Of what we are
going to do after the war with our
merchant marine, which by June, 1s45.
is going to represent an investment of
$4,000, ,000, 600.
Strangely no one asks what We are
going to do after the war with the
Army and Navy. Obviously both are
going to continue f,Inctioning, though
at reduced speed And just as obvi-
ously there would be no question about
the merchant marine, as valuable In
time of war as either armed service, II
ever the problem Of the treatment Of
merchant mariners were to be solved
euuitably.
Evening star., 1944-06-14

Geoffrey Parsons jr., correspondent
Of the New York Herald Tribune in
London. reported on Monday that Gen.
de Gaulle had been banned from visit
ing France A question regarding the
report. put to Allied Headquarters,
brought the reply. mo comment" Mr..
Parsons commented that almost with
out exception war correspondents Who
have gone ashore in Normandy were
asked, Where is Gen. de Gaulle?'"
Meanwhile there are reports Of revo-
1utionary risings against Nazi-collabora-
tionists in large parts Of France. Via
Spain it is reported that French patriots
have occupied strategic centers in the
cities Of Toulouse, Limoges and Tarbes,
in Southern France, and have shot the
projects of police, mayors and other
collaborationist authorities. A major
uprising extending from Metz to Avig-
non is also reported from Sweden and
Switzerland.
Do we welcome these uprisings? For
four years the British Broadcasting
Corp. and, since our entrance into the
war our own short-wave stations, have
been calling on the French people TO
form patriot organizations to resist the
Nazis and their supporters. Our concept,
to be sure, has been to create q kind of
secret military organization, and not
have . general revolution of the
French nation. But that concept Is
without Imagination. That idea has
broken down everywhere, Yueoslavia is
the prime illustration. A desperate peo-
pie, pursued by foreign enemies and their
domestic supporters, do not become
Francs-tireurs, civilian soldiers, with
none OF the rights of prisoners OF war,
except under the pressure of extreme
passion, and without the feeling Of par
ticipation in 4 victorious movement.
The French Committee of Liberation
has produced program for q new
France In q new Europe. But for 4
revolutionary movement, program Of
words Is not enough. Such movement
forms around personalities. Neither
for Frenchman nor for any one else
Is there such a thing as abstract liberia
ton. That would be like imagining the
American Revolution without Washing
ton, Jefferson or the Declaration Of
Independence.
The Government of the United States
clearly does not like Gen. de Gaulle
1t seems to be generally accepted fact
that he Is dificult personality. He
has . long record Of incurring hearty
dislike from authorities. He was heartily
disliked in the French general staff-but
he was right He was heartily disliked
in high industrial circles, despite his
conservative antecedents. He was so
convinced Of his cause that he was ar
Evening star., 1944-06-14
Inside France

acting to the Allied INVASION? mat
is a question not easy to answer,
because there is a dearth of exact
information. The small sample we
possess in the bit of Normandy oc-
cupied by our troops is perhaps not
representative, because the Normans
are proverbially hardheaded, canny
folk, who have also Jared some
what better than the bulk of their
compatriots because Normandy is
rich farming country specializing
in dairy products and other pro
tective" foods. For even a tentative
analysis we must use broader data,
supplemented by deduction from
traditional French national psy-
chology.
To begin with, it should be under
stood that almost no one within
German-occupied France is today
emotionally normal. The terrific
shock of Frances sudden collapse
in the summer of 1910, followed by
four years of uninterrupted humilia-
ton, the eXactions of brutal con-
querors, and increasing stringency
verging on mass starvation, eSpe-
cially in the cities, have combined
to engender a state of mind that
can be described only as patholog-
icaL Most Frenchmen apparently
suffer from a sort of induced schizo-
phrenia, which means split per-
sonality. On the one hand, they
have a touchy inferiority complex.
But this is combined with an equally
touchy national pride that is almost
as apt to vent itself upon their
foreign friends as upon their Ger
man foes. Even these emotions
tend to be spasmodic, the normal
mood of the average Frenchman
being probably a dull apathy coupled
with an almost aninal-like concen-
tration upon the getting of food,
fuel, shelter and other bare neces-
sites of life.
From all this, the logical deduc-
ton is that a majority of the French
people belong to two closely asso-
ciated categories-those who are
mildly. enthusiastic over an invasion
that still has to succeed and those
whose hope of liberation from the
detested Germans is cross-cut by
fear of what the invasion may do
to them personally in the shape of
intensified Allied bombings, German
reprisals, and the devastation inev-
itably caused by a spreading COM
bat zone.
There is unquestionably heroic
underground" composed of jealous
patriots ready to risk everything to
aid the Allied invaders. But their
numbers are relatively small and
have been reduced by German and
Vichy prosecutions. Outside special
areas like the mountains of Savoy
and Auvergne, large-scale guerrilla
activities are impracticable. There
is likewise a small minority of Quis-
lings whose collaboration" with
the Germans have made them
marked men, and who consequently
will fight on the German side to
save their own skins. Since they
are well-armed and backed by the
Germans, their effective strength in
occupied France may roughly bal
ance that of the militant under
ground. That wavering balance will
be rapidly upset as the Allied in
vasion deepens and German defeat
becomes an imminent certainty.
Evening star., 1944-06-14

It is said that even housewives In
Germany are now subject to forced
work in munitions plants. It is be-
lieved. however. that due to Allied
air raids, housewives without houses
will get the first call.
Evening star., 1944-06-14
Requirements

FROM the Topeka Capital.
1t must be discouraging to Hitler to
learn that, although he burns his
bridges behind him, Yank engineers
promptly rebuild them for the use 0f
pursuing troops.
Evening star., 1944-06-14
Praise for Cardoza Team

TT1lSe Tor AardoZa cam
To the Editor OF The Star:
The excellent sporting performances
OF our local Cardoza High School track
team deserve more publicity than the
Associated Press accounts give them.
This group OF athletes has made his.
tory for Washington in meets outside
the District of Columbia.
1t has won meets in New JERSEY.
Pennsylvania and New York against
the best scholastic competition the
Eastern part OF the Nation affords. One
boy was crowned the national inter-
scholastic dash champion indoors at
Madison Square Garden last winter
and has won every sprint run In the
meets he has entered He and his COM
panions have clipped seconds of events
in all of these meets
Cardoza High School, however, is not
the high school champion team in
Washington. Armstrong High School
has better all-round team and Is the
champion team for the local high
schools and the South Atlantic colored
AASAA oSAAooA dl CO. Dull NdIuOZd ana
Armstrong were winners of relays at
the Penn relay games
E. B. HENDERSON,
Head OF Department, Health and
Physical Education, Public Schools
OF the District of Columbia.
Sharp Comment on Prohibitor
To the Editor Of The Star
Unbelievable but true, two years ago
some fingers got severely burned for
prohibiting the delivery of fuel oil dur
ing the slack summer season. Today
orders for winter coal can be filled only
in part, the remainder not before Octo-
Der l, after the rush Is on. You would
think that even New Deal bureaucrat t
would have the mental age OF 18 months
and learn something from experience.
Or would your Z. G. STANTON.
Evening star., 1944-06-14
Maritime Future
By Dapid LaUrencs
Prom the st. Louis star-rimes

lReproduetion Rishts Reserved.