davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Wilmington morning star., 1945-03-17
Za1nboanga

Zamboanga is familiar name in Ameri-
Philippine history. This seaport OF Min
danao was center for American campaigns
against the Moros forty years ago.
Before the United States took over from
Spain, the fighting Moros Of Mindanao-those
gaudily dressed, kris-wielding Mos,ems W h o
make up some four-ffths OF the islands popu-
lation-had long maintained fanatical resist
ance to Spanish subjugation. Today, they are
again living up to their warlike reputation
but this time as American allies who support.
ed U. S. defense against the Japs when the
enemy moved in in 1912, and who have since
carried on stubborn guerrilla activities.
Zamboanga is nearly $50 air miles south Of
on North Borneo to the southwest 1t over
looks an important channel between the Cele-
hes and Sulu Seas, on the southern approaches
to the central Philippine area now held at
many places by the Yanks.
This channel, Basilan strait, is about 10
miles wide and % miles long, and is flanked
on the south by the small mountainous island
of Basilan The northern, Zamboanga, shore
lis largely sandy beach, heavily wooded, with
occasional sharp, rocky bluffs. Fierce and
sudden southwest gales which occur in the
neighborhood have wrecked many Ship but
the present spring months come within the
more favorable season of eastern and north
eastern winds, when the roadway is calm and
sheltered. Zamboangas climate is more
agreeable than that found in most places in
the Philippines. Cooler than at Manila, its
nil hts are pleasant, and there is usually a
breeze from the sea.
Before the war, the port of Zamboanga had
a population of between twelve and thirteen
thousand. Together with associated towns, it's
inhabitants numbered nearly $4,000. Ranking
with Jap-predominating and trade center OF
Mindanao specializing in the important Phil
ippine exports abaca, or so-called Manila
hemp, and coconut products. A small amount
of -ubber was produced little Basilan is.
land and the nearby mainland.
Many Improvements in Zamboangas ship
ping and other facilities had been made under
U. S. rule. Petit barracks, Zamboanga, was
Uncle Sans most distant army post
The Wilmington morning star., 1945-03-17
Gasoline Makes History

When handful of British pilots held the
whole German air force at bay in the oatus
~ britain the course of world history was
determined for centuries to come. however,
+ha battle of Britain was actually decided long
before those fateful days when machine guns
crackled thousands of feet above the city OF
london. It was decided in laboratories many
vears before 1t was decided when the planes
and the fuel were designed which proved su'
pr.or to the best that the Germans had IN
the crucial test of combat
dozen years ago, scientists IN the OIL
industry had managed to bring the production
cost of the new 100-octane gasoline down to
a dollar gallon. Military authorities, 1eel-
ing that its value outweighed its cost ordered
a whole tank car to be painstakingly pro-
duced with small scale apparatus. So promls'
ing were the results and the progress OF Pc
troleum laboratories in making synthetic tules
at lower cost, that well before this war be-
IN, our Army and Navy decided to build
their engines to operate on 100-octane fuel
When the battle of Britain occurred it was
fought and won with 100-octane gasoline.
As a prominent chemist remarked: Zen
- thirteen octane numbers may well have
shaped the history of the world in that battle!'
The Wilmington morning star., 1945-03-17
A Nazi Trick

When Volkssturm parades were held among
the rubble of Berlin the spectators were anaz'
ed to note the soldierly bearing of the march
ers and particularly the fine arms they Shout
it could call up such splendid body OF Old
sters and youngsters and arm them so per-
fectly.
But it was only a Nazi trick this arning
Of the Volkssturm The guns they carried were
reouisitioned from regular Army units and
were returned to their rightful bearers as
soon as the parade was over.
Now it becomes known that inability to arm
the Volkssturm adequately accounts in part
for that organizations poor showing in &C
ton and failure to hold up its end of the
battle, wherever it is called upon to lend a
hand.
One plan Of the German High Command
was to use this organization as 4 civilian
defense force, to serve as patrols in areas
from which regular Army units were with
drawn for combat on exposed fronts and to
fight delaying actions while new front lines
were being established.
This program has failed because the High
Command could not deliver equipment. The
Volkssturm has some small arms but the
supply is negligible. Consequently the great
peoples army which was paraded in the shat
tered capital to boost the morale Of the popu-
lace is playing a decidedly inconspicuous part
in the defense Of the Western 'front.' where
the American and British Allies are forcing
the issue with daily gains
The Volkssturm is typical or Nazi trickery.
The Wilmington morning star., 1945-03-17
Vargas Fulfills Promise

Since President Getulio Vargas announced
be would not again seek the presidency of
Brazil there has been much and varied COM
ment on the political situation in that South
American republic. Chiefly the foreign posi-
ton is that Vargas, having suppressed all op-
position during his Dictatorship had by his
announcement, paved the way Tor being draft
cd With no competent candidate available,
ran this view, Brazians could not well avoid
demanding that the doughty general consent to
continue as the nations chief executive.
There may be some basis in fact for this
view But if there is, the most surprised Bra.
lillian of them all must be President (GeneraD
Vargas himself, for two candidates nave toss
Cd their hats in the ring and started cam
paigns. which already have become mufky
with mud-slingng.
General Eurico Gaspar Dutra, minister Of
ws.. and Major General Edurado Comes are
The Wilmington morning star., 1945-03-17

at it. tooth and toenail'' as the saying goes,
for the lob of succeeding Vargas, the latter's
hackers claiming that Dutra's candidacy is
trick to divide the Army into antagonlstc 1ae-
tions and confuse the issue.
It is the Army that occupies the principal
place in the campaign, as in all Latin Anerl-
can elections So far as the news reveals, there
is no reference to or even thought OF civilian
candidate Thus Brazil follows long establish
ed precendent on the continent to the South
candidate without the backing Of the military
lacks even a ghost of show OF election. Inc
candidate counting the greatest nufn0er o.
rifles among his following takes the Office
In the present case, it is only fair to note
that President Vargas, for all his dlctatorlal
policies and his talent for eliminating oppo-
sition, Ian example of which we have seen
in this country for some years pasO, has 1ul'
filled his promise to turn back to the people the
right to select their own next president.
The Wilmington morning star., 1945-03-17
WASHINGTON CALLING 6
by M!EM
MARQUIS CH1LDS &aw19,.3

lives or suffered terribly. Hostages
who were not tortured and killed
suffered fearful hardships. Thre-
fore, quite UNDERSTANDABLE, the
hatred of those on the political
right is now directed at lefists
who killed their relatives and
friends.
During my brief stay in Athens,
I saw a riot in which a crowd
of several hundred stripped the
clothes off three young men and
would have done greater violence
if the civil police had not inter-
fered. An English-speaking mem
Der of the crowd told an Ameri-
can bystander that the three were
communists who had participated
in the worst of the ELIAS excess
es in the city during the siege
Among the British, who had the
unpleasant job of depressing the
rebellion, there is deep resentment
of the attitude expressed by i'm
portant sections of the press both
in America and England. If
heard one officer talk about "arm-
chair theorists thousands of
miles away who didn't know what
they were talking about, l heard
dozen.
They were especially resentful
of the criticism by the British
press. It was highly DISAGREE.
The Wilmington morning star., 1945-03-17
The Literary Guidepost

1--we suffer hardship, hear ~.
means of the injured, look lns INV
the eyes of the dying, ana "e''
for the dead. - =,
The story begins in 1885 III NJ,
Greek town in the shadow Oh wv. wv.
Olympus, where Peas on n lll,
ing job meets Ganymede' lns.l ao'
in us an appreciation OF the p .rd
| pies sturdy, native qualities S"N
their peasant way of life ~.
It goes on to the attack by ~! ~.
ly and the Greek victories, ~, ~
attack by Germany and the ut sai.
defeat; the misery and Wre e.so.i.
ness of Greeks, especially A'he, .,
ans, under the merciless Nazl ns 81.
1t ends, with a kiss for the "''
rator, as he fees to Africa -.
Perhaps the best example o. ~ u,
story's intimate nature is the ". w
scription Of actual combat. II M
Tolstoyan method, or the Ine'n IN.
Of Stendhal; the war is the V, ~,
rock that gives him shelter , ~,
one shell that explodes near i! I;s,
the one bayoneted Italian VINO 0''
whispering 'Luisa.' u.
Peas is more interested III Wv ~.
man than in the soldier Wne'I li;,
or not the Greeks fought ih.e a.s
gently, you learn that they A"'
what they were fighting Tor
The Wilmington morning star., 1945-03-17
Out Of Luck

Many winter residents OF Florida are having
their peck of trouble. They have homes there
and as rule spend from six to eight months
per year at one or another of the popular
resort cities. Their long custom has been to
take meals at hotel, thus avoiding house
hold drudgery and, in these exceptional times,
achieving a great saving in ration points.
The arrangement worked fine until hotel
proprietors began to 80 short on coupons and
refused to feed outsiders. 1t was hard enough
for them to get points to buy sufficient food
for regular guests.
This is merely one of the many reasons
why winter in Florida this year is less than
heavenly.
1t would be better all around for every.
The Wilmington morning star., 1945-03-17
interpreting
The War =
BY KIRKE L. SIMPSON,
Associated Press 70, oN

There are broad intim.. M
from the Western Front thtl that ION
erican Third Army tanks ~. AM
the loose again, ripping ''t 90. on
way up the left bank of the p hsLs
IN Germany as they raced thrown. .
France to start the Nazi ratraSa
to fortified German frontier, "s'
One armored unit was renor,.,
virtually half way to the s;n.
bend of the river above coblsS sa
Air scouts spotted German ron.
voys streaming eastward out t', Il,
the Saar basin to escape entr, "
ment. And a wide and deep ~,
by American Seventh Army saw SAN
rades coming to grips with the l..,
segment of the once vaunted M.
West Wall defense system stin :.
German hands tended to verify ~.
impression that an enemy colisn,.
in the Saarland was impendinr
The significance of the Tb;r,
Army push up the Rhine towars
Bingen is two-fold. Main comm
nication lines serving all the NORTH.
ern half of the Saarland conyerg.
in the vicinity of Bingen. If the,
are reached by American troon,
before substantial Nazi forces stn
deployed in the northern hall NJ
the great industrial basin, Ger.
many's little Ruhr", make good
their escape beyond the Rhine an.
other heavy bag of prisoners could
result.
Bingen also stands, however At
the northwestern corner Of a broad
plain lying along the west bank
Of the Rhine from that point to
the Karlsruhe corner. That plain
apparently offers General Patton,
seasoned tankers the best terrain
they have had since they stormed
across France. There are no ma.
tural obstacles west of the Rhin.
to bar their surge southwark per.
haps to effect a junction with tn.
Seventh Army in the Karlsruhe.
Haguenau region to the south,
closing a huge trap on probably
tens of thousands Of Nazi troops.
If the looming American trap on
the west bank Is closed it could
leave that whole wide stretch Of
the Rhine from Coblenz to Karl.
sruhe virtually unprotected.
The importance of that cannot
be overestimated. 1t is the Co.
blenz-Karlsruhe span Of the Rhine
that guards the best military ap.
proaches to the great central plain
Of Germany into which refugees
from east and west have been
pouring. A crossing OF the river
anywhere between Bingen and
Karlsruhe would expose such cities
as Nurnberg and even Munchen
! Munich, Nazidom's birthplace, to
| early attack.
The Wilmington morning star., 1945-03-17

ATHENS-The estimate given
for the cost Of restoring Greek
economy 10 something like work.
ing order is 5000, 000,000 The ques-
ton that follows Immediately is
who is going to put up this sum
for small country whose exports
were at best meager before the
war?
The country today is almost at
a standstill. Under formal agree
ment to &C into effect in April,
UNRRA is coming in to try to
supervise the rudimentary task Of
getting food and clothing to the
people.
Already more than a hundred
UNRRA employees are working in
Greece, and shipments OF food are
coming in. Greece is the first
country to issue an invitation to
the United Nations organization,
which, under its charter, can op-
crate only on the request OF a
government desiring assistance.
1 talked with UNRRA officials
here who expressed the fear that
the American public has too broad
concept of what UNRRAs func-
ton is. They point out that they
cannot provide the machines and
equipment necessary to get the To-
cal system going again. Their JOB
| is primarily one of relief and re-
Mobilization on the level OF basic
needs.
Roy Hendrickson Of UNRRA,
who signed the recent agreement,
has just made a tour OF the prov
inces in the course of which ne
saw some small signs that trade
was beginning again. Farm Pro-
duce was being offered for sale
in the markets of small towns at
prices that were not too exorbi-
tant. At least they were not as
bad as prices in Athens, where
the fantastic initiation initiated by
the Germans as part of deliber-
ate economic sabotage is far from
being under control.
Boys on the street offer you ten
million drachmas for one cigar
cite. That is money printed under
the Germans and now invalidated.
It is, however, one Of the confus-
ing and disrupting heritages left
behind by master saboteurs.
Other inheritances are perhaps
less tangible, but no less trouble
some for the future. The hatred
famed by the German dictator
ship goes very deep. Extreme
cruelty, with famine as one Of the
chief W ca pons, was practlced
against the working classes. BY
contrast, many in the upper and
middle classes did well under the
Nazi rule, and not all of them
have been removed from positions
OF authority, by any mans.
Then, in the. ELIAS uprising
many people Of property lost their
The Wilmington morning star., 1945-03-17
BY VIC. ROGERS
"The Price of Liberty" by
Mikia Peas lives Washburn;

S3).
The little things in war, the facts
as one man sees them, the talk
as one man hears it, with only a
rare word about governments and
cabinets, with Hitler and Musso.
lini mentioned just in passing.
such intimate details as these fill
this book and make it a moving
contribution to the literature of the
last half decade.
War is brought home to US here
in a personal way. We see it not
as the tremendous clash of Fascist
and democratic armies and ideol-
ogies, but as the problem of the
club footed inn keeper, the aero
bat, the sponge fisherman, the
girl and her lover, the abandoned
grandmother, the leper hiding his
ugly sores in Greece's beautiful
hills.
Son of Greek diplomat, the au
thor was lawyer. miner, linguist,
soldier and finally fugitive. His
book is informal; it meanders;
maybe even it's inexpertly ar
ranged. Yet it stirs us. Its people
are real. The way they fight be-
comes at once our war; with them
The Wilmington morning star., 1945-03-17
Your War; With Ernie Pyle

She has a preacher, she has
three doctors and two dentists, she
has two libraries, and movies ev-
cry night, except when they're in
battle. And still she is a tiny thing,
She has been out so long that
her men put their ship above
their captain. They have seen cap
tains come and 60, but they and
the ship stay on forever.
They aren't romantic about their
long stay out here. They hate it,
and their gripes are long and loud.
They yeern pathetically to &c
home. But down beneath, they
are proud-proud Of their ship and
proud of themselves. And you
would be too.
The Wilmington morning star., 1945-03-17

ship. More than 1000 men dwell
upon her. She is more than TOO feet
long. .~..s..~-.,.,.., .-
She has all the facilities of-.a
small city. And all the gossip and
small talk too. Latest news and
rumors have reached the farthest
Granny of the ship a few minutes
after the captain himself knows
about them. All she lacks is a
hitching rack and a town pump
with a handle.
She has five BARRIERS. a laundry,
a general store. Deep in her belly
she carries tons of bombs. She has
daily newspaper. She carries
fire-fighting equipment that a city
of so, back in America would
be proud of.
The Wilmington morning star., 1945-03-17

body lacking a sound reason for being there
to stay at home, as the railroads and the
TRANSFORMATION administration has so earnestly
urged.
Furthermore, Florida is being used as a
great rehabilitation center for soldiers and
sailors home from the war. They need the
states hospital and hotel accommodations in
finitely more than home-front citizens.
The Wilmington morning star., 1945-03-17
BY ERNIE PYLE


IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC
(delayed) An aircraft carrier is q
noble thing. 1t lacks almost every
thing that seems to denote nobility,
yet deep nobility is there.
A carrier has no poise. 1t has nc
grace. 1t is top-heavy and lop-si'
ded. 1t has the lines Of a well
fed COW.
1t doesn't cut through the water
like a cruiser, knitting Economically
along. It doesn't dance and cavor,
like a destroyer. 1t just plows. You
feel it should be carrying hod
rather than wearing a red sash.
Yet a carrier is a ferocious thing
and out of it's heritage of action has
grown its nobility. I believe that
today every Navy in the world has
as its No. l priority, the destruc'
ton of enemy carriers. That's d
precarious honor, but it's a proud
one.
My carrier is a proud one. She's
small, and you never heard OF her
unless you have son or husband
on her, but still she's proud, and
deservedly so.
She has been at sea, without re-
turning home, longer than any oth'
er carrier in the Pacific, with one
exception. She left home in NO
vember of 1913.
She is a little thing, yet her
planes have shot 228 of the enemy
out Of the sky in air battles, and
her guns have knocked down five
Jap planes in defending herself.
She is too proud to keep track
Of little ships she destroys, but she
has sent to the bottom % big Jap
anese ships Her bombs and aerial
torpedoes nave smashed into every
thing from the greatest Jap battle
ships to the tiniest coastal schoon'
erS.
She has weathered five typhoons
Her men have not set foot on any
soil bigger than a farm-sized un-
inhabited aton for a solid year.
They have not seen a woman,
white or otherwise, for nearly ten
months. In a year and quarter
out of America, she has steamed
total of 149, 1000 miles!
Four different air squadrons
have used her as their flying field,
flown their allotted missions, and
returned to America. But the ships
crew stays on-and on, and on.
She is known in the fleet as The
Iron Woman" because she has
fought in every battle in the Pacif-
ic in the years 1914 and 1915.
Her battle record sounds like a
train. caller on the Lackawanna
Railroad. Listen - Kwajalein, En-.
iwetok, Truk, Palau, Hollandia,
saipan. Chichi Jima, Mindanao,
Tuzon. Formoas, Nansei Shoto,
Hong Kong, Two Jima, Tokyo.
and many others.
She has known disaster. Her
fliers who have persisted could not
he counted on both hands, yet the
ratio is about as it always is
about one American lost for every
IN of the Exalted Race sent to the
Exalted Heaven.
She has been hit twice by Jap
bombs. She has had mass burials
At sea. with her dry-eyed crew
sewing 40-nillimeter shells to the
corpses Of their friends, as weights
to take them to the bottom Of the
sea.
Yet she has never even returned
to Pearl Harbor to patch her
wounds. She slaps on some patches
on the run, and is ready for the
next battle. The crew in semi-joc-
ularity cuss her chief engineer for
keeping her in such good shape
they nave no excuse to. go\ back
to Honolulu Or America for over
haul.
My carrier, even though classed
as light is still a very large
The Wilmington morning star., 1945-03-17
TKnuGHT FOR TODAY

Do not keep your religion Tor Sunua!
Take it into your everyday life e. Lev "
sanctify your home, and sweeten 'ne 'e
per, and bride the tongue, ana purny VI.
thoughts. Sunday religion alone Is nv
,yortb ba wing Some keep their religion
,ike an umbrella, for certain seasons; but
there is no day when we are safe without
;. H. ]. Wilmer-buxton.
The Wilmington morning star., 1945-03-17
Daily Prayer
FOR PRIDE IN OUR PEOPLE

FOR PRIDE IN OUR PEOPLE
We have goodly heritage by
Thy gracious providence, 0 Faith
er in heaven; and we thank Thee
for cody forebears, and for lla-
ton founded in Thy fear and in
an effort to do Thy will. Our hearts
are uplifted in gratitude for all
the millions of fellow Americans
whoare today praying to Ihee
and trusting Thee and seeking 10
live life according to the precepts
of Thy word. Make us ever glad
for this goodly fellowship. Esps'
cially do we thank Thee for our
stalwart sons, true to type, VINO
today high-heartedly wear thelf
Country's uniform and at the post
of duty guard our nation and our
ideals; and who, afar, do valiant
battle for the cause which !nou
hast taught us to hold sacred May
we at home never dishonor mem
by our fear or greed or fault-flha'
| ing or any other selfishness' IN
this hour of a re-shaping word
may we all be true to the amer
ca of our dreams, and Of our lore
fathers dreams. Grant US Ihlhe
aid in becoming a nation Wn n, $
God is the Lord. Amen'-"' - ~,
able job, and one which they Id
as professional soldiers as oWchy
and as mercifully as posslole;,
Once the shooting started-aaal
from all evidence it was the clVa
police who first started firing On
the unruly crowd-then the VIZ
lence spread. The troops hao .n ~
choice but to try to put an e nv
to what was rapidly developing Ill
to civil war. ,,,
Many of the officers and me-.
had served in combat for mol'
than four years. The attltuoe ss
pecially resented by those WIN. Nv
had this nasty duty showed WI W.
them was the one OF holler.In a..
thou which found expression IN tn'
press on both sides OF the A'i'A
tic.
The Wilmington morning star., 1945-03-17
Fair Enough

Editors note.-The Star and the News
accept no responsibility for the personal
views of Mr.. Pegler, and often disagree
with them as much as many of his read
ers. His articles serve the good purpose
of making people Think
The Wilmington morning star., 1945-03-17

Bv the hard road of suffering the uniteo
States sees now that it can no longer live alone
and should no longer live alone. we W. W.
emerge from this war the most poweriui d W.
the most Influential nation in the worlo: WI
cannot, if we would, ignore the respohsl ean
ties of leadership that will be ours - '''
Alexander Snnit, (R) Of New jersey.