davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-12-23

DEF ONE w. INIO
Twas the night before Christmas when all through the
Not creature was stirring, not even mouse;
The stockings hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that ST. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar. ums danced in their heads;
And mama in her kerchief and in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for long winters nap
When out the lawn there arose such a clatter,
sprans from my bed to see what the matter.
- Away to the window flew like flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new.fallen
Gave ustre of midday to objects below;
When what my wondering eyes should appear,
But miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer
With little old driver so lively and quick,
knew in moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whisted and shouted and called them by
"Now, Dasher! now Dancer, Now Prancer and Vixen!
On Comet! on, Cupid! on Donder and Bitten!
To the top of the porch, to the top of the wall!
AS dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys-and ST. Nicholas, too
And then in a t,vinkling heard on the roof
The prancing and paving of each little hoof.
AS drew in my head, and turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with bound.
all in h,rf b;ch
And his clothes all furnished with ashes and SCOT;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back
And he looked like pedder just opening his pack.
His eyes, how they twnkled! His dmpes, how merry!
His cheeks like roses, his nose like cherry;
His dro little mouth was drawn up like bow,
And the beard on his chin white as the snow
The stump of pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encrcled his head like wreath.
He had broad face and little round belly
That shook, when he laughed, like bowl full of jelly
He was chubby and pump-a right jolly old elf
And laughed, when saw him. in spite of myself
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know had nothing to dread.
He spoke not word, but went straight to his work.
And filled all the stockings; then turned with jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving nod, up the chimney he rose.
He sprang to his sleigh, to his gave whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle;
But heard him exclaim ere he drove out of sight
Happy Christmas to all, and to all goodnight"
We can add Just one thought TO the poem above -.
Which help you choose gifts for the Children you Iove
Be sure that the presents you place meath the Tree
Are labeled and stamped "Yc Old Hecht Companie." /.
Evening star., 1945-04-16

Two German divisions hit the I'd
Armored Infantry Saturday morn
ing.
The bridge of the division which
cracked the German front wide
open with a dash from the Rhine
to the Elbe was damaged four times
by German guns and the unit was
unable to send tanks over to sup
port the infantry, which had crossed
in boats 48 hours previously.
Doughboys of the I'd Armored
Divisions 4lst Regiment and the
3Oth Division fought two days with
out sleep and with little food before
coming back across the Elbe with
heavy casualties.
While a setback it is but a drop
in the bucket in the whole western
Evening star., 1945-04-16

also used jet and fighter planes in
continuous attacks.
Another factor contributing to the
setback was the rapid 9th Army
dash to the Elbe, which left it with
out the power punch it possessed
when it crossed the Rhine.
Ammunition has to be brought
several hundred miles by truck.
While tactical planes have been
hampered by poor weather at their
bases, the front itself has been
marked by clear weather, partic-
ularly around Berlin where Ger
man fighters now are based.
The 9th Tactical Air Force has
been slower in moving bases for
ward to keep pace with the Amer
ican advance than the tactical air
Evening star., 1945-04-16

front picture.
The Germans pitched In precious
divisions against the I'd Armored
because it represented the most
dangerous threat to Berlin.
But the 83d Infantry crossed
with little opposition and there was
no indication the Germans can
parry other 9th Army thrusts Or
those of the American 1st Army
to the south.
Two divisions were thrown against
the I'd Armored Division. One was
from Berlins inner defenses, the
580th Potsdam Division, and the
other was from the eastern front.
1t is not Immediately apparent
where the German tanks that at
tackled came from. The Germans
Evening star., 1945-04-16

forces in Italy and Africa. which
moved with front-line troops and
often had planes based almost
within artillery range.
The problem of the 9Th Army in
furthering the Berlin drive now is
not one of fighting ability, but of
bringing up the tail of the Army,
which includes supply, close to the
front-line troops for a new blow
forward
An American Thunderbolt pilot
gave his life helping to save go men
of the I'd Armored and 30th Infan-
try Divisions during Saturdays Ger
man attack.
An artillery observer with the mer
Evening star., 1945-04-16

directed artillery fire on the town
in which they were hidden until
the Germans took refuge. While
the Germans were out of sight the
men made off on the double quick
for the river.
Four Thunderbolt pilots, informed
of the getaway attempt, swung low
over the fleeing men, strafing all
Germans in their path. They were
flying at treetop height and just as
the men reached the river one
Thunderbolt leader struck the top
Of a house and was killed. The
other fighters continued to support
the so men until they got across
the river.
Evening star., 1945-04-16
BY IVES GALLAGHER,
Associated Press War Correspondent

AT THE ELBE RIVER, April 10
The American 9Th Army yesterday
fought its most furious battle in
more than two months on the east
bank of the Elbe as the German
high command declared its inten-
ton of fighting for Berlin to the
last, even at the expense of the
Russian front.
A combination of German tenacity
and long lines of communication
Evening star., 1945-04-16
Iona Communications Lines
Partly Blamed in EIbe Setback

has caused a gamble to 60 wrong
and the slow movement of the 9th
Tactical Air Force to forward air
fields resulted in sharp setback
late Saturday.
For the first time in it's brilliant
record of 2l2 years of war, the I'd
Armored Hell on WheelS) Division
had to give up territory to the enemy
when it was forced to withdraw its
bridgehead from the east bank of
the Elpe River just south of Magde-
burg
Evening star., 1945-04-16
QUICKLY KILLS
BEDbuGS

Safe -. inexpensive way to get rid Of
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spray on beds-~hersver bedbuss
lurk and breed Over l,23o,o0o'eans
Of Peterm,n's sold last year. Get
Peterman'st today.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-05-09

The fact is the revival of the church
gives Russia powerful religious influ-
ence throughout the Balkans and the
Middle East where the Christian world
Is chiefly orthodox. While the East
ern church. by courtesy, is under the
patriarch Of Constantinople, it is &C
tually divided into national churches
OF which Russia is the vastest. 1t is
ruled by synod of four metropolitans
The Serb, Romanian. Bulgarian and
Ruthenian, all autocephalous or ma
tional. now are under Russian influence
and lately the Macedonian Church,
hitherto under Greece and Bulgaria,
also was made autocephalous, due to
Russian influence, it is said. 1t is
specialized that this is a possible fore
runner of an independent Macedonia
with Mediterranean harbor in
Salonika which would owe its existence
to Russia
incidentally, White Russians, of whom
many in the Middle East are wildly en-
thusiastic over the Soviet outlook. are
no longer anti-Bolshevik, but merely
Russian nationalist.
The election of patriarch in Moscow
Sdi1Co 0CicEdtcS tfOIu all eastern
churches and the Armenian Church
shortly will hold elections in Iran.
From all sees. including the United
States, the Russians. by concentrating
on certain names, will control leader
ship in this church which has bishoprics
in Egypt, Iran, Lebanon. New York and
India
Religion also is being used for pene-
tration of the Moslem world. From
the great Islam University in Bokhara,
the Soviet Union sent pilgrims to Mecca
last December and instructed them to
collect material for the Soviet Islamic
libraries and to study the modern re-
fornist movement throughout the Mos
lem world which is attracting younger
men.
Thus 1t seems that Russia, remember
ing the Tzar's authority as appointer
OF all orthodox archbishops, and using
rs or 80 millions of the Soviet Mos
lens and Eastern Christians, hopes to
become the protector of both in the
Islamic sphere while retaining the dy-
manic power of Communism among the
impoverished masses of the Middle
East, whose strong opposition to Com
munism hitherto has been religious,
and where Western civilization has
reached new low point in prestige.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-05-09
The Vanished Porty

Whether Grand Admiral Karl
Doenitz, who came to power in the
last hours of the Third Reich, is to
be treated as war criminal or as a
defeated military commander will
be determined by the nature of the
evidence against him. But in either
event he has left with the German
people final message which should
be of interest to all men.
The Germans, in their hour of
total defeat, were deserted by the
evil politicians who led them down
the road to ruin. AS Admiral
Doenitz expressed it, the Nazi party
has cleft the scene of its activities"
Hitler and Goebbels and Himmler
and the other members of that in
famous crew had not the courage to
face the terrible consequences of
their madness. In their utterly
selfish bid for personal power they
created the myth of the superman
Exploiting all of the devices of
propaganda, they appealed to the
baser instincts of the German peo-
pie and received ready response.
Finally, when the stage had been
fully set, they deliberately resorted
to the war which was to determine
the fate of the Reich for the next
thousand years Now the war is lost
and Germany has been beaten as no
great nation has ever been beaten
before. But the Nazi politicians, the
architects of this disaster, have van
ished. And it remains for the Ger
man people, who cannot escape their
own responsibility for the crimes
which have been committed against
civilization, to walk and walk alone
down what Admiral Doenitz con-
servatively describes as the very
difficult path which lies ahead.
There will be few tears shed for
the people of the Reich. They
knew or should have known what
they were doing. II they did not
know, they will need the lesson
which the future will teach them.
Yet the fate which has overtaken
Germany should have a larger
meaning than for the Germans
alone. In the years to come other
false prophets will arise in other
countries, and they will promise
anything to tempt men to follow
them. But if the lesson of Germany
is taken to heart in all countries, if
men can remember how the Nazi
party left the scene of its activities
when the day of reckoning arrived,
the Hitlers of the future will not
find it easy to lead their people
into war.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-05-09

the Russian foreign commissar recon-
Giles his statement that the four leaders
agree to support the principles OF
international law, justice, human rights
and fundamental freedom for all" with
the facts which are known here, but
have received little publicity SO far
In spite of the drastic Russian CEN
sorship it Is no longer secret that
trainloads Of people-men and women
are departing every day from Ro-
mania and Poland to unknown destina-
lions in Siberia and other Soviet states.
No one knows what their offense is
II any. 1t may be that Moscow will
change its policies regarding these indi-
viduals later. But for the time being
there Is no indication whatever that
these mass arrests and deportations
are likely to cease.
On the question of colonial trustee
ships and strategic bases, Mr.. Molotov's
declarations indicated that Moscow has
still not made up its mind which way
1t Is going to lean. The matter of the
strategic islands in the Pacific is of
paramount Importance for the United
States while the maintenance of the
colonies which had been conquered by
the Japanese from the British, the
Dutch and the French and will soon
be liberated is of vital interest to those
three powers.
The impression created by Mr.. Molo-
TOYS declaration in diplomatic quarters
here Is that the USSR has found in
this matter an excellent bargaining
argument, through which it can
achieve many of its plans in Europe
Moscow is believed to hope that by
yielding to its major associates on some
of these points it can muzzle the OBJ
jections of America and Great Britain
in regard to Poland or any other plans
1t may have in eastern and central
Europe.
The Russian diplomat is fully aware
that the American Government is
keenly interested in seeing that the Sar
Francisco Conference is not a failure
But he also knows that there is little
chance of the Senate ratifying it unless
strategic bases conquered at a heavy
cost are handed over to the United
States. The Senate will be backed in
this matter 100 per cent by the War
and Navy Departments and by the
overwhelming majority of the American
people in insisting that the American
flag be raised over these barren and
SparSely populated islands.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-05-09

of disembarked ground forces and
paratroops which captured Rangoon.
That achievement logically ends
the campaign. Nothing now re-
mains except the hopping up of
isolated japanese pockets of resist
ance. This is fortunate, because
Rangoon was entered amid heavy
showers which denote the immi-
hence of the full monsoon at an
abnormally early date. This will
probably check pursuit of the beaten
japanese into neighboring Thailand,
but by next autumn their election
from that country and Malaga
should be fully prepared. Mean
while, the riches of Burma in oil,
lead and foodstuffs will be available
for Allied use, and communications
with China will be greatly enlarged
The recovery of Burma is thus
notable stage on the road to final
victory over Japan.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-05-09
Cleanup in Burmu

The capture of Rangoon, the great
port city which is the sea gate to
Burma. signalizes the end of cam
paign which, though partially blan-
keted by climactic news from the
major war fronts, is of great imme-
date Importance and will presum-
ably rank in future military histories
as one of the most brilliant strategic
achievements of World War Two.
What has been accomplished in
this campaign can best be visualized
by recalling that just a twelve
month ago Japanese armies were
staging two-pronged offensive
from Burma across the Indian Dor
der which, If successful, might have
had the most serious military and
political consequences. Only by des-
perate fighting was the japanese
offensive stayed until it begged
down in the monsoon rains. The
monsoon is the basic factor of the
military equation in that part of the
world. Normally extending from
June to October, this season of tor
rental downpours and fierce gales
transforms the jungle-clad hills and
funnel shaped plains of Burma,
baked brick-hard in the dry season,
into huge morass of mud, render
ing both land and air operations
almost impossible.
The campaign for the recovery of
Burma thus could not get under way
until last autumn. Fortunately,
while the japanese drives on India
from the center and south were
being held, the Chinese American
Army of General Stilwell had lib
Grated large part of Northern
Burma and was ready to reopen
contact with China after the mon
soon. The main effort, however, was
launched by powerful Anglo Indian
armies operating from the coast
to the Assam passes through the
mountains sundering Burma from
India. An entirely new technique
had been evolved for this amazing
operation, the keynote being air
transport on vast, scale. Whole
British divisions were transported
by air and were supplied by the same
means. Thereby. logistical problems
which had hitherto baffled both
sides were solved. and Anglo Indian
forces were literally plummeted into
the heart of Burma, disrupting the
whole Japanese system of defense.
Another major factor in British
strategy was the regaining of sea
control, which enabled amphibious
forces to land on the coast, cul-
minating In the combined strokes
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-05-09
This Changing World
By Constantine Bro.pn

The happiness over the unconditional
surrender OF the Germans in Europe
was dampened somewhat, as far as
high officials In Washington are con-
cerned, by the views expressed by Rus
sian Foreign Commissar Molotov to
newspapermen in San Francisco Mon
day afternoon.
No military victory, 1T is admitted
here, can be OF real value unless it is
followed In due course of time by a
complete pacification of the areas in
which that victory has been won. Other
wise, the sacrifice of lives, materials
and money would have been in vain.
In his talk to the representatives of
newspapers Of all the Emitted Nations.
the Russian foreign commissar revived
the specter of the Versailles Treaty
and its League of Nations appendix
when he said that the Big Four agreed
not to make provision in the security
charter for the revision of treaties.
Mr.. Molotov had his own arguments
when he made that statement. But
those who have watched the complete
failure of the League of Nations re-
member only too keenly that the League
was destroyed by its creators.
Lie VERSAILLES treaty contained IN
equities arising from the fact that a
peace was signed when passions were
still hot. Yet, whenever it was sug-
gested that some of its clauses be
changed there was howl from Britain,
France and their satellites who were
the principal beneficiaries of that peace
instrument. This situation was partly
the cause of the rise to power of such
rabble-rousers as Mussolini and Hitler.
II the Soviet commissar actually
means what he says-that the same
shall apply to the regional treaties
which the ,USSR has signed with
other nations allegedly in self-defense
against totally Frustrated and dis
membered Germany-then the new or
ganization has certainly gotten off on
the wrong foot. 1t is true that the
treaties signed between Russia and
Britain, France, Czechoslovakia, Yugo-
slavia and Poland are not the actual
peace treaties. But the Russian leader
has indicated that they must remain
intact and inviolable even if a general
peace treaty were signed in the future.
State and War Department officials
who are aware of what is going on in
the liberated territories to which we
have no free access are wondering how
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-05-09
On the Record
BY Dorothy Thompson

JERUSALEM.-In the preceding COL
umn / asked the question whether
Russia, like many other revolutionary
powers, will embark from the position
OF unprecedented power upon a course
OF attempted world domination. I do
not know the answer to that question
But now that Germany is smashed, and
Goebbels and Hitler are officially dead,
1t Is high time to ask the question and
to weigh the evidence without worry
ing about what the enemy may make
of it.
The evidence is copious. 1t might be
well to note that political cooperation
without Russian Allies has been pos
sible only at the highest levels and that
the political agreements reached by the
Big Three in conference have not been
translated into reality on the spots
where they should have been carried
out. If Poland, Romania, Bulgaria,
Yugoslavia and other small nations ever
heard of Moscow. Teheran or Yalta,
the evidence is lacking.
1t is noteworthy that Russian propa-
ganda for home consumption especially
in the films, during the entire war has
been furiouSly imperialistic. Every tar
VAN SFCA VAtCAioC0 llC ClIlplIC ildS DcSH
glorified, including those who 20 years
ago were an anathema in every Soviet
school book. 1t is pertinent to ask
whether the Russian revolution was
like the French entering the Napoleonic
era when Napoleon took up war that
had begun under the Bourbons and which
then proceeded under the revolution
airy leaders in whose ranks he had
served and through whom he came to
power. Had he depended more on revo-
lutionary politics and less on the naked
sword, he might have succeeded.
Restoration of religion In Russia is
welcomed by the Western world as a
sign Of moderation. I presume that the
slogan, religion is an opiate of the
people" has been erased from the
Kremlin wall. But one is bound to
question whether the party leaders
whose rule is absolutely unrelaxed and
who have been educated for lifetime
in scientific materialism suddenly have
undergone conversion.
Especially here in the Middle East
one recalls the words of the historian,
Edward Gibbon, ITO the intellectual
skeptic all religions are false, to the
devout all are true, to the politician
all are useful"
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-05-09
-
Rheims

There is something of poetic SYM
boliSm in the fact that news of the
ending of the European phase of
this double war" came from Rheims,
the ancient coronation city of
France. Many Americans must have
thought of Joan of Arc and the role
which she played at the GROWING of
King Charles VII in the old cathe-
dral there in 1929 Her name on
that account will be associated with
the town forever.
But Rheims has other claims to
distinction which ought not to be
forgotten. 1t was the capital of the
Remi nation of antiquity and as
such was favored by the Romans,
who called it Durocortorum during
their rule of Gaul. Christianity,
established in the neighborhood in
the middle of the third century,
contributed distinctively to the i'm
portance of the community. The
new religion unfortunately also
attracted the hostile attention of
the Barbarians from the East. The
Vandals captured the city and MUIR
dered Saint Nicasus in 406, and
Attila subsequently looted and
burned what was left.
A native resistance, however, dis
tinguished the people as well as the
country round about. Their church
was the scene of the baptising of
Clovis by Saint Remigius on Christ
mas Day, 496. Perhaps because of
the possession of the famous Sainte
Ampoule, Rheims became the ap-
proved place for the amounting of
successive sovereigns Of the French
realm. The archbishops of Rheims
by tradition perform the ceremony.
AS late as 1925 king-Charles x
was crowned in the many-times-
rebuilt cathedral.
Wool and wine are the products
which normally have kept the old
town prosperous. The Second World
War, like the First, brought devasta-
ton, poverty and misery. But Rheims
always rises from the ruins, and in
its valiant Immortality the future of
all Europe perhaps may be discovered.