davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-02-19
Mud, Sand and Men

The following editorial, taken from the New
York Times, illustrates plainly the natural
obstacles encountered by American soldiers
at the war fronts:
Mud is no respecter of person or OF rank.
It plays no favorites and bestoWs no favors.
Commander in Chief and enlisted men share
it alike in war and grin if they can, for bear
it they must. It stalled General Eisenhower S
car the other day, and Field Marshal Mont
gomery was found ankle deep in it. Farther
forward in some places fighting men sank in
it up to their hips.
Here in the United States midwinter mud
seems strange. That is because the ground
freezes to depth Of a foot or two before snow
flies. Then snow comes as covering and seals
in the frost, so that when the spring thaws
come the ground still rings hard for a little
while. On the western front that is not the
case. Usually the frozen surface of the soil
comes in great falls and it rarely lasts When
it thaws, which may be the next day, the
ground beneath quickly becomes churned to
mud by heavy transport Rain invariably fol-
lows and today's mudhole becomes tomor-
rows lake. Trucks sink to their hub caps;
tanks weighing up to fifty or sixty tons have
been known to disappear from view Fighting
forward on such ground is heartbreaking or
deal
Tn the Pacific the difficulty may be mud,
but more often it is sand. That, too, is formld-
able When soft it is firing to marching men,
Unlike mud. the wind lifts it and blows it
around. Then it strikes the soldiers face with
agonizing, pin-point blows. 1t fills his eyes
his ears, his nostrils, his mouth. 1t seeps into
his clothing, his shoes, his pack 1t gets into his
rifle, his canteen even into his food. At such
times mud seems preferable; but given mud
again, the soldier wishes it were SAND. Then
he thinks of the flies that come with the sand
and decides to put up with mud.
West and east such conditions may delay
our progress. If the going at times seems SLOW
we at home would do well to realize the
enormous difficulties our soldiers have to face
to overcome the enemy.
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-02-19
Would You Like This?

Suppose you picked up your morning
newspaper and read that the Federal govern,
nent by authority of an act of Congress- was
going to exempt the residents of the follow.
ing towns from payments of taxes on cigar
cites: Los Angeles, Cleveland. Seattle, all
cities in Tennessee, Jacksonville, and dozens
of other hand-picked communities, while the
cities of New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, De-
Hoit, Pittsburgh, Boston, Baltimore WASH
tngton and approximately nine out of every
other ten cities in the United States would
have to 60 on paying the Federal tax on their
smokes.
We can readily imagine what storm of
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-02-19
Your War; With Ernie Pyle

HONOLULU, - Covering this
Pacific war is, for me, going to be
like learning to live in a new city.
The methods OF war, the atti-
tude toward it, the inconsistencies,
the distances, the climate-ev-
erything is different from what we
have known in the European war.
Here is the beginning, l can't
seem to get my mind around it,
or get my fingers on it. suspect
it will take months to get ad-
justed and get the 'feel' of the
war
Distance is the main thing. 1
don't mean distance from Amer
lea so much, for our war in Eu-
rope is a long way from home too.
1 mean distances after you get
right on the battlefield.
For the whole Western Pacific
IS our battlefield now, and where
as distances in Europe are hun
dreds of miles at most, out here
they are thousands. And there's
nothing in between but water.
You can be on an island battle
field, and the next thing behind
you is a thousand miles away.
One soldier told me the worst
sinking feeling he ever had was
when they had landed on an is
land and were fighting, ad on
the moring Of D-3 he looked out
to sea and it was completely emp
ty. Our entire convoy had I'M
loaded and left for more, and by,
did it leave you with a lonesome
and deserted feeling.
AS one Admiral said, directing
this war is like watching slow
motion picture. You plan some
thing for months, and then final
ly the great day comes when you
launch your plans, and then it
is days or weeks before the at
tack happens, because it takes
that long to get there.
AS an example of how they feel,
the Navy gives you a slick sheet
of paper as you 60 through here,
entitled "Airplane Distances in
Pacific" At the bottom of it is
printed "Our Enemy, Geogra-
ply" Logistics out here is more
than a word; it's a nightmare.
Here's another example of their
attitude toward distances in the
Pacific:
At Anzio in Italy just year
ago, the Third Division set up
a rest camp for its exhausted in
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-02-19
Swapping Freedom

Reports indicate that consum er-labor
groups are bringing organized pressure to
bear in favor of frightened price and rationlng
control If this is the result of patriotic con-
Germ for the war effort, no fault can be found,
but there are ample grounds for suspectng
that furthering the cause of victory is not the
major factor in such pressure group maneuv-
ering Apparently it is an attempt to escape
the squeeze of initiation by turning to increas-
ingly stringent government regulation. If this
process was occurring in peacetime, these
groups would be guilty of attempting to barter
away the peoples freedom for bag of gro
ceries swap that history has demonstrated
cannot be made.
After the war, the people will have to make
up their minds to reestablish the unregulated
ways of peace regardless of temporary hard
ship. They cannot expect government to set
the price of everything they wear and eat
and tell the producers and distributors how
and when to operate, and still preserve a
representative form of government
Hundreds of thousands of retail distribu
tors willingly surrendered the right to carry
on business as Independent individuals, be-
cause they believed they were helping the
war effort They did not surrender that right
for the convenience Of any pressure group.
And when the war is over, they will eventually
demand that the management of the distribu-
ton industry be returned to those who bear
The responsibility for its successful operation
ME store owners themselves.
Efficiency and volume are the bywords
of every modern chain Or independent mer-
chant. The high standard of living which the
country now takes for granted, depends upon
the maintenance of this volume and this eff
hciency. Cumbersome centralized regulation,
carried indefinitely, will result in less
goods for the consumer not more, as compe-
tition is stifled and the incentive to serve is
plotted out.
Yes, we can keep freedom or we can lose
freedom, but we can't swap 1t for groceries.
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-02-19
HIST LIKE A BROTHER

MUNCIE, Ind, Feb. 18.-U.P)-
Pvt. Denzil M. Edwards wrote to
his parents, Mr.. and Mrs. John
Edwards, that he returned from
a field trip in BELGIUM one night
more tired than he had ever been
while on duty, only, much to his
disgust, to find someone in his
bunk. Too tired and weak to argue
with the Intruder" Denzil said
ne found himself an empty bunk.
When he awakened the next morn
ing, he went over to his own bunk
to check on the Intruder 1t was
his own brother, Gale, whom he
hadn't seen for 16 months.
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-02-19

I fantrymen. The rest camp was
less than five miles from the
front line, within constant enemy
artillery range.
But in the Pacific, they bring
men clear back from the western
islands to Pearl Harbor to rest
camps-the equivalent of bringing
an Anzio beachhead fighter all
the way back to Kansas City for
his two weeks rest.
It's $500 miles from Pearl Har-
Dor to the Marianas, all over
water, yet hundreds of people
travel it daily by air as casually
as you'd go to work in the morn
ing
And there's another enemy out
here that we did not know so well
in Europe-and that is 1nonotony.
Oh sure, war everywhere is mo-
notonous in its dreadfulness. But
out here the niceness of life gets
monotonous.
The days are warm and on our
established island bases the food
is good and the mail service is
fast and there's little danger
from the enemy and the days go
by in their endless sameness and
they drive you nuts. They some
times call it going pineapple
crazy"
Our high rate of returning men
tai cases is discussed frankly in
the island and service newspa-
pers. A man doesn't have to be
under fire in the front lines
finally to have more tnan he can
take without breaking.
He can, when isolated and home
sick, have more than he can take
of nothing but warmth and sun
shine and good food and safety
when there's nothing else to go
with it, and no prospect of any
thing else.
And another adjustment I'll
have to make is the attitude to-
ward the emmy. In Europe we felt
our enemies, horrible and deadly
as they were, were still people.
But out here I've already gath
cred the feeling that the japanese
are looked upon as something I'M
human and squirmy-like some
people feel about cockroaches or
mice.
I've seen one group of Japanese
prisoners in Wire-fenced court
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-02-19
LETTER BOX

w dS1l1llS tOll, -. ~
February IL, 1915.
Mr.. John E. Hope, Editor,
The Wilmington Star,
Wilmington, N. C.
Dear Mr.. Hope:
l have noted with much inter-
est the editorial attitude of the
Wilmington Star with respect to
the appointment by the President
of Henry Wallace to the post of
Secretary of Commerce.
appreciate the reference to my
work. 1t has been a long and
tedious Jobs years-constantly
calling for decisions that affect
not only those Immediately con-
cerned, but often many others
and sometimes the whole coun-
try. The added authority and
responsibility which have been
delegated to the RFC and me
from year to year, and the al
most limitless funds made avail
able to US have been very sober
ing.
1 am glad to be able to say
that operation of the Corporation
mas been on a non-partisan basis,
as was contemplated in the law
creating it.
It has been privilege to nave
had the opportunity to serve my
country since Jauary, 1882, first
in the depression and later in the
war. Undoubtedly errors have
been made, but I am satisfied
they have been relatively few
when compared to the wide scope
of the operations.
With best wishes,
Sincerely,
JESSE H. JONES.
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-02-19
BY w. G. ROGERS
"ENGLAND IN THE EIGH-
TEEN-EIGHTIES," by Helen



The state should not interfere
with the people "even for the
preservation of life, health and
education." If the laborlng classes
are poor, squalid and dependent,
tits because they have no efficient
desire to be anything else Any
governmental regulation of wages
or hours would be ridiculous
and unthinkable invasion of indi-
vidual freedom" Public works
.started for the relief of the I'M
employed are in the long run
an injury instead of benefit to
the community" An employers
liability act would interfere with
freedom of contract and the rights
Of property and would discourage
investmentof capital in industry.
All this reminds us of the more
extreme statements Of opposition
10 federal measures, labeled loose
w the New Deal, to end unempioy-
roent in the 1905. But these quo
ta+ions come and Mrs. Lynd
has done well to assemble them
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-02-19
RUSSIAN PROMOTED

MOSCOW, Feb. 13. -(P- The
Supreme Soviet today promoted
Marshal K. K. Rokossovsky's chief
of staff, Alexander Nikolaievich
Bogolubov, from lieutenant gener-
al to colonel general, in recogni-
ton of the Second White Russian
Army's successes in East Prussia
and the Polish corridor
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-02-19
ROTARIANS PLAN MEMORIAL

OKLAHOMA CITY. Feb. lS,-
U.H-The Oklahoma City Rotary
club recently launched a campaign
to raise $4,000 for construction
of a memorial recreational camp
near here. The center will be a
memorial to Rotarians and sons
of Rotary club members in the
service. Club members donated
more than IS. 500 to the fund the
first day of the drive.
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-02-19

yard, and they were wrestling
and laughing ard talking just as
humanity as anybody. And yet they
gave me acreepy feeling, and I
felt in need of a mental bath after
looking at them.
I've not yet got to the front,
or anywhere near it, to find out
how the average soldier or sailor
or Marine feels about the thing
he's fighting. But I'll bet he
dosen't feel the same way our
men in Europe feel.
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-02-19
DEER LOSES TO TRAIN

HOUSTON, Feb. 18,-(UE,-Dsro,-
hunting without ammunition M
shotgun was "enjoyed' by ,. .ns
crew Of a Rock Island-BurHhs..Iyy'
Rocket train near here recen ..r
Speeding along the route oe'@ o;,t
Houston and Dallas, a nlhe'pV A..
buck challenged the Rocket TO- u. d,
right-of-way. The train ere" a. 4,
vaged the carcass and heao '"
the animal.
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-02-19
LIKES THINGS CLEAN y,

KEMMERER, Wyo., Fen ; 10.
U.H-A traveller passing UNI IN
Kemmerer says he will volca ~,
cleanliness among the MaIn n..s
He was travelling in q day cuos,I
on a train and debris OF .1sr;,,
days had accumulated. A MAIN IN
on the train said he had pee. o.,.
the service five years ana H ,.o,
ed dirt, and forthwith got a Di0''
and swept out the coach'
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-02-19

rive the Red Cross from the roy
s1ties of her column
q Neither of which ever has been
answered.
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-02-19

Editors note.-The Star accepts no re-
sponsibility for the personal views of Mr.
Pegler, and often disagrees with them as
much as many of his readers His articles
serve the good purpose of making people
Think
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-02-19

BUY WAR BONDS AND STAMf'
Evening star., 1945-06-25
Army Discharges 13 More
Men From District Area

Thirteen more District area men
have received honorable discharges
from the Army at the Fort Meade
and Fort Dix separation centers,
according to the Army. Those re-
leased at Fort Meade were:
Sergt. Charles L. Beckner. Fair
fax Station, Va; Pfc. Louis ]. Cap
oraletti, 827 North Columbus street,
Alexandria; TIA Daniel A. McCann,
1860 Monroe street NV; Sergt.
Dale E. Dunn, 1926 Tunlaw road
NV; Capt. Bernard B. Eddy, Ar
lington; S/Sergt. Lewis r. Edelen,
2129 Eighteenth street NV, and
Pvt. Leonard G. Thomas, 404 North
Payne street. Alexandria.
Fort Dix discharge were Sergt
P. Albanesi, 209 c street NE; Corpl.
Frazer F. Brown, 3618 Connecticut
avenue NV: Capt. John H. Hurd,
1856 Montello avenue NE; T/Sergt.
Theodore L. Miazga, 4025 Thirteenth
street NE; Sergt. Jack O'Beirne,
1914 Connecticut avenue NV, and
Pvt. Victor j. Quintano, 10 Sixth
street NE.
Evening star., 1945-06-25
Senate Silver Bloc
To. Press Amendments
|ToBrenon Moods Plan
By the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
She Senate's silver bloc undertook
today to tie = campaign for world
monetary recognition Of the white
metal to the Breton Woods agree
ments.
Senator Thomas, Democrat, OF
Oklahoma, Its leader. told reporters
he would ask the Banking Commit
tee to hear him as witness on pro-
posals that:
/. The Treasury be authorized to
mint coins containing an ounce of
gold, and
2. The Treasury be directed to use
any silver not held as security for
outstanding currency to pay that
part OF the American subscription to
the proposed international monetary
fund which is not required to be
paid in gold.
Senator Thomas proposes these as
amendments to pending legislation
for American adherence to the Bret
ton Woods agreement.
This agreement, worked out at a
conference of A nations at Breton
Woods, N. H., last summer, calls for
establishment of an $500, ,00O, ,O0O
international stabilization fund and
a $9,l00, 100000 international bank
for reconstruction and development
Senator Thomas is chairman of a
special Senate Silver Committee
whose members have been holding
informal conferences on ways to
promote bimetallic monetary base
He said that, as drafted, his
amendments were domestic legisla-
ton which would not require any
changes in the Breton Woods
agreement.
Il would not offer anything which
would require reconvening con-
ference of nations" he said. Amer
lean economic leadership is Sc
strong, however, that If these two
matters were agreed to they would
set a policy for the world"
He said his hope was that event
ually world exchange payments
would be In terms of his proposed
new coin, the gold ounce, with silver
holding a ratio to gold based on
their relative production. The world
now produces about eight times as
much silver annually as gold.
Before Senator Thomas's move for
hearings on his amendments, Chair
man Wagner of the Banking Com
mittee had hoped to complete hear
ings on the Breton Woods agre-
ment by tomorrow.
Representatives of the American
Evening star., 1945-06-25
Series Of Nature Outings
Will Start Tomorrow

A series OF Junior nature outings
will be conducted by the Once of
National Capital Parks from 1890
am. to noon elch Tuesday, wednes-
day and Thursday morning begin
ming tomorrow and continuing
through August 81, Irving c. Root,
superintendent Of parks. announced
yesterday.
These outings are designed to
help Boy and Girl Scouts and
Campfire Girls acquire credits to-
ward their nature badges and
awards, but other children between
the ages of 10 and IS are welcome
to attend.
The Tuesday outings will be held
in Rock Creek Park. The children
will assemble at Sixteenth and Un-
derwood streets NV.
On Wednesdays the group will
meet at the Rosslyn Cva.) trolley
and bus terminal, from which point
they will proceed to Roosevelt Is
land.
The Thursday events are sched-
uled for Fort Totten Park, with as
sembly point at Allison street and
Hawaii avenue NV. This is the
last stop on the Rock Greek Gene.
terry busline, Route H-4.
Evening star., 1945-06-25
Belgian Communists
Threaten Strike in
Opposing Leopold

DJ tEe ASSOClAbeQ Fre6S.
BRUSSELS, June 25.-The Com
munist wing Of the anti-Leopold
front threatened today to call a
general strike If Ganshof van der
Meersch, Belgian high commissioner
for state security. forms a new gov
ernment at the request of the King
Van der Meersch, who is reported
to be the choice of King Leopold for
premier, was expected to return to-
day from Salzburg, where he talked
with the King. It was learned that
one Of his major tasks would be dis
tribution of police and military
forces to guard against coup by
anti-Leopold elements.
The Communist newspaper lie
Drapeau Rouge described Van der
Meersch, who prosecuted thousands
OF wartime Nazi collaborators, as "a
famous agent Of reaction, absolutism
and repression" It recalled his
prosecution Of Communists in 1899
and 1910, at time when the Soviet
German neutrality pact was in force.
Brussels, on the surface, continued
calm. although committee OF re-
sistance" claimed to have attracted
1000 persons to a demonstration
yesterday afternoon in Mons, de-
manding Leopold's abdication.
1t was disclosed that besides the
Belgian leaders who already have
flown to Salzburg to see the King
about 80 more have been invited to
consult with him in the next few
days.
A message from Leopold, brought
back to Brussels by Frans van Cau-
welaert. Catholic president of the
Chamber, and Robert Gillon, Liberal
president Of the Senate, was read to
parliamentary committees last
night, and 1t seemed to indicate the
King confidently expected to return
to Belgium as soon as a new govern
ment was formed
Evening star., 1945-06-25
Gas in Theater Kills I,
0vercomes ) in Detroit
BY the Associated Press.


DETROIT, June 25.-Two theater
employees were asphyxiated and
three other persons were affected
as poisonous fumes seeped into the
cellar of a Detroit theater Sunday
An audience of more than 300 was
dismissed from the Iris Theater as
traces of the gas reached the main
floor.
Police said George Spaeth, IS,
manager, and Charles L. Babcock,
%, were killed when they went to
the cellar to investigate a strange
odor.
A cashier noticed their absence
and upon investigation found the
two bodies. Benjamin Vinyard, 81
and Ted Yawrzynski, 26, attempted
to render first aid, but were over
come.
Fire Marshal Edward H. Hall Or
dered the theater closed pending in
vestigation of the source of the gas
which he described as hydrogen sui
flde.
Evening star., 1945-06-25
New Polish Government
To Be Announced Soon

LONDON, June Is (P.-Moscow
dispatches indicated today that
composition of the new Polish ma
tional unity government would be
announced within few days anG
the rival London exile regime broke
its silence on the Moscow agreement
with a declaration that. the new
Warsaw coalition was three-quar-
ters Communist.
Prof. Adam Pragier. Minister OF
Information in the exiled govern
ment. asserted last night that rec
ognition of such government,
formed in violation of all laws of
the Allied Polish republic, would
be merely an attempt to justify in
the eyes of the world the imposition
of dictatorship of foreign -spon-
sored Communist party in Poland.
But Moscow advices said United
States and British spokesmen had
expressed full faith that the forth
coming Polish elections would be
conducted in the spirit of the
Crimea Conference, which called
for universal suffrage and a secret
ballot
London and Washington were ex-
pected to withdraw soon their rec
ognition of the London government
In Glasgow, Scotland, DR.. Jar
Jagodzinski, editor of Polpress, Lon.
don organ of the Warsaw govern.
ment. last night asserted an at.
tempt was made to lynch him after
he had addressed public meeting
Jagodzinski said the back door o1
the hall was broken down by about
100 Polish soldiers and sailors. He
said they shouted they would moi
permit Russian propaganda anc
then they tried to lynch me but
police intervened."
Evening star., 1945-06-25
Plan Anti-Norcotic Meeting

A mass meeting announced as in
the interest Of crusade against
narcotic addiction will be held at
pm. Wednesday at the Seventh
Day Adventist Church, Eighth street
between F and G streets NE. The
meeting is under auspices of the
Anti-Cigarette Alliance, Inc. On the
program will be the Rev. Eric S.
Dillet, the Rev. Charles S. Longacre,
DR.. w. Sinclair Bowen and DR.. Rob-
ert A. Hare. The latter is medical
director of the Washington Sani-
tarium and Hospital.