The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-05-23

down to the officers quarters and get some dry clothes. The men, taking advantage of the situa- ton to play joke, got all dressed up in officers uniforms.
 Just about this time, the car rier was hit and became a mass of flames. Later, when the cruiser Santa Fe pulled along side to help. the men in officers uniforms, who had just appeared
 On deck, jumped from the Franklin to the santa Fe.
 Others, seeing these supposed ot- ficers jump, thought word had been given to abandon ship, and they began leaving the Franklin wholesale. This largely account ed for the great number of men who jumped to the Santa Fe or into the water.
 TRAINING FILMS DESTROYED
 The Army doesn't want it known but it has a new way of hand ling one type of surplus property. In the case of training and Orien- tation film, it burns old prints. According to a survey made by movie experts, old films last sum- mer were being burned at the rate of 225 tons weekly at Astoria, N. Y.
 Meanwhile other government
 agencies. schools and universi- ties are anxious to buy these ,,t, ,r,fe In fact, the U. $. Office of
 Transportation had to spend S60. eco of the taxpayers money
 to make ten new reels of it's own when the Army refused to
 sell it the Army's excellent
 series of twenty reels for the training of auto mechanics.
 Senator Francis Meyers of Penn sylvania, Democrat, has just written Maj. Gen. Harry Insles, chief of the Signal Corps, de- manding an explanation.
 The making of training films and orientation films by the Army has been major opera ton. Thousands of subjects have been turned out at tremendous outlay, and production schedules have been more crowded than those of any Hollywood studio. NO SECRETS WANTED
 The films have proved remark able training aids, with officers claiming that they cut at least in half the length of time need ed to teach men such things as first aid, signalling, and Ju-Jit5u. Some of the films dealt with such technical subjects as secret new weapons, so naturally could not be- given to the pubic, but many others dealt with training mechan- ics, storekeepers, clerk nd wood workers.
 A But the Army pictorial serv- ice seems determined that these films shall not pass from their hands.
 Organizations asking to pur- chase films dealing with these subjects have been told either that there are no surplus prints, or that clearance for general use is not obtainable. Some films, 1t is true, contain copyright music or feature Well-knoWn stars. But men in the trade estimate that 90 per cent of the films which would be useful to civilians would require no special clearance, and that clearance could easily be obtained for the other 10 per- cent. They recall that Col. Frank Capra's famous "Prclrde to Wa" and "Battle of Russia" were giV- en universal clearance, yet the Army refuses to sell prints of these films to -millimeter dis tributorS.
 Meanwhile Herman Weber and Morris Caplan, civilian movie ex- perts assigned by the War de- partment to do a special survey. have submitted a secret report that at Astoria, N. Y. last sum- mer the Army burnt an average of 12,500,000 feet of film per week. INDIA AND POLAND
 San FranciSco's hills are full e Indian loDoyiSts ai.u journal ists who have succeeded in putt ting British diplomats into poli- tical corners during the United Nations conference.
 One of them, Anup Singh, edi-