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VOICE OF THE PRESS WISHFUL THINKING Mussolini IB a vain, tat, bald- kaaded man of 59, who al*o loves to to around thumping on till bar* chest In emulation of youth- ful virility. He, too, may well be flirting with the undertaker, but that do** not prove that Italy la about to break Into 20,000 piece*. The more we refrain from indulg- ence In wishful thinking about how toon the Axis countries ar going to fall apart, and the quick- er w get busy tearing them apart, the better it will be for us. Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph. EMOTIONLESS To many of us in the western world strong emotion of any kind I* wholly unfamiliar; we do not hate, we do not love, we are not strongly patriotic and our laugh- ter to from the teeih outward. Our emotional range is pitiably limited; we are a* cold and apath- etic flan. We shall never win * war unless we are deeply stirred. Peterborough Examiner. FEW CLOTHES CHANGES The Wartime Prices and Trade Board order restricting, hence- forth, the manufacture of men's suits to single-breasted, cuffless models will save cloth but will not (reatly upset even the Bean Brummels. After all, about the only thln< the trouser cuffs were good for was to collect stray Batch ends and lawn mowings. Brant ford Expositor. ENOUGH FOR BOMBER Tillsonburg schoolboy, fishing in the Otter River, found 1< gallons *f gasoline some ohiseler had buried In the sand. Slit.-.-:, gal- lone? Not a great deal but it might be sufficient to get a hard- pressed bomber back to Britain after a raid on the Reich. R. M. Harrison in Windsor Star. PATRIOTISM And thsn there Is the steno- grapher in the front office who ean't decide whether it is more patriotic to erase and save paper, r to ose a clean sheet and save fee eraeer! Stratford Beacon-Herald. UNANIMOUS WISH What we would like to see Is erne large appropriation to handle Be German subs. Something la BB* natnr* of a sinking fund. Victoria Times. NO SCARCITY THEREI National Research Council says dandelions can't be need to make rabber; not enough of then; Has Be Council even seen our lawnT Owen Sound Sun-Times. Bomb The Truth Into Nazi Homes "Caat your mind* back, 700 people, to the wont day* of Cov- entry or Plymouth or Birmingham. Kejoic* to hear that damage just a* great aa* been done to Essen, with bljgtr bombs and bomb* not M bl( M they will b*. For never forget that these bom/b* ar* drop- ped on an *nemy that sat round a table at one time or other and aid, 'Lot'* have a war.' They ai*o aid: 'All our German history how* that war nvw hurt* us; tt hurt* the other fellow.' Oerman* tillage and ravage, with rape and rapine, generation after genera- tion in their neighbor*' homes and garden* and emerge- unaoathed in their own homes. But never again. The bombing pilots aud the work- er* in the bomb factories ar* teaching the German people that war hurt* their own Mrwide. To knock some of the picture postcard tuff a* wall as the war factories off the face of Germany will do more for future 'vuropi . peace than dictating terras from the out- side in any other Versailles." London Dally Express. Men Are Wanted 45 To 98 Years On April 1, Tin. Detroit News published a "Wanted Male Help" advertisement which read: Wanted: A-l toolmakers, ex- perienced jig an>l fixture in- spectors. Age limits. 45 to 98 year*. But it was uo April Fool joke. "That 98 years." said Albert F. K. . personnel director for the I'nited States Naval Onir.aned plant of the Hudson Motin Car Company, "is no misprint. U means what it say*. If an A-l toolmakur or jig and fixture In- spector la still able to work or to Instruct younger men, we want aim for war work even If he Is 100. We don't want men staying away because they may think they re too old." If a policy of employing older Ben f >r all-ui>ortaiit war work Is oniul. eortainly blanket discrim- inations against workers over 40. or even over 60 or 70, iu peacetime occupations seem to be unjust, if aot unwise. Ohrl.aian Science Monitor. Block Days in the Bay of Bengal ^.^.dfW ASSAM OA N D I A J> M C Vinonogrom no oo DISTANCES IN STATUTE MILES Fran Calcutta: From Ceylon: Akyob, 300 Andaman*, 800 Andaman*. 700 Singapore. 1700 Colombo. 1200 From CocanaaV Singapore, 1800 Andamsas, SCO Massing of allied and Jap battle fleets presages one of hisicry's- biggest naval encounters in the Bay of Bengal. Map shows prospec- tive battle arena and target town* along the eastern coast of India. A Weekly Column About This and That in Th Canadian Army Not very much has been said yet about the Pacific Rangers, whose existence on the British Columbia coast was mentioned recently after a ministerial Inspection of the coast defences was carried out. One reason is that not very much i* yet known outside of B.C. But this much Is certain. The organization of guerrilla bands, composed of hunters, trappers, loggers and other dead shots whose familiarity with the country coup- led with their prowess at wood- oratt and hunting makes them for- midable adversaries Is a forward move. Many of these bands have been in existence for some time now. They were formed by the men themselves and each .an Is armed with hi* own rifle a friend h* has had for years and a weapon a* knows he can rely on. They are not military formations and consist mainly of old-timer*, many of them old soldiers who know a few tricks they learned In the last war. They know every nook and cranny of the ground they are prepared to defend. In Montreal for the past two 7*ars, a somewhat similar branch tt the Individual Citizen's Army has been in existence. This I* known as the Mobile Force of the Civilian Protection Committee. Its functions differ from thjse of the Rangers to the extent that em- phasis in training has been against the possibility of sabotage. This outfit, in adition to supply- Ing Its own rifles and ammunition, also supplies cars and gasoline. Its training is based on modifica- tion of Canadian Army Reconnais- sance unit training, training hand books of the German Panzer divi- sions, Tom Wintringham's useful little booklet on new methods of war and a liberal sprinkling of imagination. The men mostly rotund middle aged citizens who have lost much of their rotundity since they start- ed training uniform themselves In khaki overalls and wear black berets and arm'ets. They have become expert in rapid mobiliza- tion, street fighting, industrial plant defence and open order skir- mishing around the outskirts of Montreal. Air Raid Precautions work, un- der various names in different parts of the Dominion, Is another branch of the Individual Citizen's Army that provides scope for will- ing war workers. Aud many a pri- vate soldier serves in that army without belonging to any unit of any kind. The man or woman who ie un- able to Join the Canadian Army or LIFE'S LIKE THAT By Fred Neher "Just an air-raid precaution, Mr. Smitheri!" MTT* regularly la any tt * a? war organisations still aasan opportunity to b* Of valua. Be- t-ween th* ae* of SI and M hj ar* aUdbl* to offer th*lr blood to Blood Donor Clinic* of the Canadian Red Cross Society. That* elinlcs operate in a number ( eitl** right across tie country. They are staffed by volunteers. A* a matter of fact the man or woman who cleans out the attic, removes inflammables from the cellar, and generally takes every precaution against fire, 1* a food private soldier In the Individual Citizen's Army. If and wiien the day come* that Incendiary bombs shower down on Canadian municipalities the house- holder who can handle hi* own Ores is doing a good job by leaving the firefighters clear to handle worse blazes elsewhere. Not much like soldiers? Well, I'm not sure. U you were to work out the actual percentage of hi* time a soldier spends in flgnting you would find that otaer ordinary prosaic duties take up more of hi* time than the; do of yours. Eating takes a fair amount ot that time, (or the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps seea to it that every soldier no matter where he isgets h:s food. And that's where we members of the Individual Citizen'* Arm; come In again. The soldier has :o be fitter than we have to be. So we can "fall in" by being a little more careful how we "fall to" at the breakfast, lunch and dinner table. The soldier needs to be clothed and equipped. The Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps looks after that Right! That's where we com* in again. We can make a suit last longer to provide wool for a uni- form; we can change from silk tt) lisle hose to make more bag* for cordite; we can eat less sugar to provide more quick energy for the boys overseas. The Individual Citizen's ArmyT That's us! In The Garden By GORDON L. SMITH Don't Rush Planting Many more flowers and vege- tables are lost through planting too soon than too late, and in war time especially we cannot afford such waste. There are, it ia true, a few things that are not hurt by sowing early, plant* that natural- ly reproduce- themselves in Can- ada. In this category will be onion*, garden peas, parsnips, lettuce, rad- ian, etc.. among th vegetable*, and in the flowers cosmos, batchelor's buttons, sweet pea*, alyMum. All of these and some more will stand moderate frost and throughout most of Canada can b* sown just 'as soon a* the soil can b worked. But there ar* a croat many more flower* and vegetable* that will not survive trout. These must not be sown outside until the weather really turn* warm. Actually they will not make any growth until th soil 1* warm, usually in mid-May or later. There 1* nothing to be gained by rothlng them in too soon. Cultivation On* can hardly over-emphasise the importance of early cultiva- tion, once of course the soil I* tit to work. A little digging in the cardan then is worth a whole bunt of feverish energy later on. At tola time when th* soil Is moiat It 1* a aimple matter to get out twitch and other weeds, to stir the ground deeply. By doing so w* help push growth of vegetable* and flowers and conserve moisture and plant food. If this essential job I* left for a few weeks then weed* have developed tougher root* and are hard to remove and much valuable moisture is lost. In the dryer sections of Canada, fre- quent cultivation U de-pended upon to conserve the scant rainfall and it will keep vegetables growing steadily which thej- must do if they are to be tender. Robot Device Used A Blackout Warden Perfection of a "robot blackout warden" which douses store win- dow lights and illuminated bill- board signs automatically just as soon a* street lights are turned off in a blackout was reported by a Cambridge industry which has installed the devices in vari- ous east and west coast cities. The apparatus U based on the THE WAR - WEEK Commentary on Current Events Allies Launch Aerial Offensives United Nations Support Russia Raid* by American bombers on nemy-held base* la tfee Philip- pines and on four great eitiea in Japan would appear to b* a sign at a gathering Allied aerial offer. - siv* in the Far East Last week a formation of Fly- ing Fortresses, protected by fight- en, flew 2,000 miles from Aus- tralia and blasted Japanese sea baje in the Philippines and other important strategical objective*. Japan Attacked A little more than four months after Japan's treacherous attack on Pearl Harbor tb* forces of the United States carried the war to the heart of Japan in an air as- sault on her major cities. The ex- tent of the damage has not yet been disclosed by the United Nations but public alarm in Japan appealed to b* widespread. The Japanese dread a visitation ef high explosives and incendiary bombs over their match-box cities of flimsy, wood-and-paper homes. Effect OB fcUralc The four citie* attacked wex*: Tokyo, capital of Japan, the world's third largest city and a great industrial centre; Yoko- hama, the seaport ef Tokyo, a great naval base and home ef Japan's largest motor car factory now producing war vehicle*; Kobe, naval and shipbuilding centre; Nagaya, third largest city in Japan, which is the chief centra for the manufacture of military aircraft. Whatever the effect on Japan'* war industries and population centres there is no doubt that the attack has stimulated Allied morale and conversely will have considerably dampened the spir- it* of the Japanese people. 3,300 planes a month are flow- ing off American sasembiy line* and their weight 1* being fait en the battlefront. It I* reasonable to hope that they will in increas- ing strength and power of destruc- tion carry defeat to the Japanese homeland. Brituh Naval LM ( Recent British naval lo*s m the Far East have eauaed great concern and much criticism oi Allied naval strategy These losses may be due, la part, to the dilution of navy personnel. It ha* been necessary to take into the service many men who were not perfectly trained. In contrast, the Japanese navy for several years has been carry- ing full crews, with new trainee* taking the places ef the regular* when on furlough. It i*> granted that there are no better trained seamen anywhere. Japanese mer- chant seamen have alio been ex- traordinarily well trained. The enemy is apparently able to con- centrate enough power at the right time and in th* right place. Great Britain ha* been sorely lacking in dive-bombers and efficient torpedo - carrying air- craft, but it must be remembered, in criticising British naval strat- egy, that the Allied navies have not at any time yet met the Jap- anese navy on anything like equal terms. Strength of RuMia The prime aim of the United Nations i* to help Ruaaia at all costs and the prim* aim of Hitler i* to knock out Russia this sum- mer. Sonet* factors in this struggle are favorable to Russia and some to Germany. Russian representatKes state that their production is almost aa great aa it was before the German attack. This is important because the Russian losses in the early part of the war were extremely hea-.y. Russia's strength is further bolstered by the increas.ng volume of war material reaching; her from Great Britain and the United States. The Russian armies have been tried and have proved themselves; they are no* seasoned veteran troops. While losses in manpower on both sides have been tremen- dous it i* considered that Russia has a larger reserve ' of fresh troops than Hitler has, and there, can be no doubt that Stalin'* aoldiers weathered the winter campaign much better than did the poorly clad soldiers of Hitler. Strength of Germany The Russians have failed to break 'the Leningrad blockade and even with the help of General Winter they have not been able to reduce the German strategic tronghold*. The Germans still retain vital positions from which they can threaten Moscow and the main lateral railway supplying the. Russian front. Success in the expected German offensive in Russia will depend largely on air superiority. The feeling ia that it cannot be step- ped up to its 1940 peak of effici- ency. The cream of German air- men has been used up and though Germany may be able to replace lost planes, she cannot replace first-rank personnel. The loss of German officers, in :he air and on land, has been a significant feature of the campaign. Th Red Army had to face at the stan of the war in Russia a huge, well-trained air armada ten thousand strong, which was later increased to fifteen thous- and. At the end of March, 1942, it Is estimated the Luftwaffe's locses totalled 38,000 airmen. Consequently it ia now manned chiefly by 19 to 21 year old youths, many of whom have only had from three to six months training. R.A.F. Strength The growing might of the Royal Air Force is shown in the power- ful and continuous sweeps over occupied France. British bomber* have flown one thousand miles inside enemy territory, in day- light, to attack factories. So continuous have been the Royal Air Force assaults on the continent lately that they keep one and a half million German soldiers, airmen, ground staff observers, firemen and other civilian defense workers tied down. Thus none of them, lays the London Times, can be with- drawn for sen-ice on the Russian front where the Nazis are sending svery available man. -The best German pilot; are bein*, kept in the West to meet the British, and anti-aircraft ships also have to remain off the German coasts in- stead of being sent elsewhere. Thus the power of the Royal Air Force in diverting the Luft- waffe is a measure of Britain's aid to Russia. well-known principle of light con- trol by the electric eye, and the arrangement is such that a small box containing the mechanism i* pointed directly at a street light. When the street lights are doused, the breaking of the light beam activates a photo-switch in the "robot warden", causing signs or store windows with which it is connected to be darkened immediately. Good Nazi Scheme For Repair Work Under the non-committal title of "War Trade Business Front", a remarkable army repair organ- ization has been established in Germany. Its purpose i* to get all worn army clothing and equipment "made new" by work- ers in occupied countries, thus saving German workers for home tasks. Thousands of uniforms from the Russian front have already been distributed among Belgian factories. 20,000 pairs of worn boots have been sent to the fam- ous Bata factories at Zlin, Czecho- slovakia, leather equipment to Holland and the Balkan?. Widow'* Treasure One of the acts of the Ger- mans in Paris h;u been the open- ing of the safety deposit boxes in the various banks. In one bank was a safe belonging to an old lady in black. The officer in charge said, "May I beg of you, Madame, to be good enough to . ." "Certainly, sir." replied the lady, and when the safe was op- ened the officer was amazed to see nothing whatever but a shin- ing sword. He turned to the lady, who simply said: "That la my late husband's sword. 1 am the widow of Mar- shal Foch.'' The officer turned pale, saluted smi withdrew. REG'LAR FELLERS Not Mercenary By GENE BYRNES WATS NOT 90 } WUW4NAFWL/J LAWRENCE M^GONIQCE, iwe CHAMPEFN SWIMMER, jus' SIQNEO A comma A MUNERD THOUSMT DOLLARS TO QIVE SWIMMIN' XH8ITKS Ail AROUN' TWt NO, 1 CANT, BUT ALBERT HERE CAN / ONEY ME DOES tT fOff NVTHINV