The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

PAGE TWO THE OSHAWA DAILY TIMES, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1940 Survivor Tells of 72 Days At Sea After Nazi Sinking n Nassau, Nov. 12. -- "With God's will and British determination we . are trusting to meet a ship or make land in the Leeward Islards." Thus began the log for the epic seventy-day voyage in an open boat which two of seven men sur- vived under baking skies, short ra- tions, seaweed and raw fish, after their ship had been sunk without warning by a German raider. The lone survivors of the heroic battle against the elements are Robert George Tapscott. 19, of Cardiff, and Roy Widdicombe, 24, of Newport. Both of them have been in hospital here since Oct, 31, and their condition remains uncer- tain, Their hospital was visited by the Duke of Windsor, Governor of The Bahamas, and his Duchess, They were not gllowed to see Tapscott, but physicians - did let them talk with Widdicombe, Who withstood the terrifying hardships of the trip better than his younger companion. From Widdicombe they neard the story of the trip in faltering speech. Widdicombe was at the wheel of the British merchantman Anglo- Saxon, 500 miles from The Azores on the night of Aug. 21. during the: watch of the freighter's third offi- cer. The whole ship was in pitch darkness. "An enemy ship from a mile off without warning fired four-inch shells into the poop and gun plat- form aft," the sun-blackened, suf- fering helmsman related. Salvo Kills Many : Many men in the forecastle were killed in the first salvo, he sald. "Then the raider steamed to within three cable-lengths and yaked our deck with incendiary bul- Jets," he went on. "Then g shell hit the engine room and the main boiler burst. The bridge and radio room were raked with pom-poms and machine guns," Widdicombe continued: "Some of the crew attempted to get out the boats and were mowed . down. Machine guns destroyed two big boats and the wireless smashed. "Captain Flynn was shot while dum; apers overboard." Te sailor claimed that . when survivors' boats were put overside, the raider was a half-mile distant and the lifeboats apparently were not noticed--for a while "A few minutes later, though, the gaider fired tracer bullets into two of the lifeboats, apparently wanting pone to escape," Widdicombe said. The Anglo-Saxon sank g little while later and the raider disap- peared toward the east. "Out of a crew of forty, only seve en of us got away," Widdicombe . pesumed. "They were: Chief Offi- per C, B. Denny, Third Engineer H. %.. Hawkes, Second Wireless Opera=- sor R. H. Pilcher, a wounded gun jayer, F. Penny; the Cook, L. Mor- : Tapscott, who was wounded, myself. Cut Own Throat . The Chief Officer started keep- - fog the log of the journey, until he gamped overside when he realized . be was dying. Another cut his throat gnd jumped overboard. Then Widdicombe took over "until the ninth of September, when I became $00 weak." Denny decided $0 head for the Beewands, despite the fact there Were no instruments to ald in navi- gating the frail craft. The stores for seven men consisted of: One : tank filled with dry biscuits; eleven Sins of condensed nulk; eighteen ds of boiled mutton; a half- er of water. "We bathed our wounds with t water," Widdicombe recounted. ey gradually swelled up and fes- fered, producing delirium "Our days were divided between blinding sun in cloudless skies; be- oalmed and frothing storms. We gelied on a compass in the daytime and stars at night. "Usually the daily ration was half @ dipper of water, half a biscuit and g little condensed milk. I once made each man a cigaret with a plece of newspaper and half a tin of tobacco. We had just eight matches. "Occasionally we dipped out bodies overside to refresh them from the scorching sun" 'Widdicombe went ont "On Aug. 29, Plicher was weak, his leg was dead. Nobody was hun- gry but our throats were parched No one complained." Log Tells Story Quoting from the log book, he sald: "Sept. 1, so little water could- n't digest mutton ration. We yearn- ed for fruit juice, lime juice. Pil cher died that night. I'm sure these fruit juices should be a part of lifeboat rations. "Sept. 3, Denny going fast. "Sept. 4, Everybody weaker. Pen- ny goes overside. "Sept. 5, Denny and Hawkes go overside. "Sept. 9, Morgan mad, goes over= side. "Sept, 12, cloudburst yielded days water, Getting very weak. "Sept. 24, water gnd biscuits ex- hausted. Still hoping make land." From that time on, he sald, "we drifted aimlessly, unaware of time and partly delirious." "After that there were occasional showers of rain. One sailfish and one gar were washed into the boat We ate them raw and also ate sea- weed." The two men were found on the beach at Eleuthera on Oct. 30. Hair trailed down their necks and their bearded skin was almost mummified by exposure, and their eyes were bloodshot. Widdicombe, stronger of the two survivors, lost eighty pounds during the trip, but still was able to stand on his own feet. Tapscott had to be carried, however. Book Week at Public Library The week of November 10 to 16 has been set aside by libraries in Canada and the United States as Book Week for 1940. The purpose of Book Week is to stimulate the interest of teachers and parents in better reading for boys and girls. With this in mind the Oshawa Pub- lic Library has arranged book dis- plays and bulletin board exhibits. Lists of suggested Christmas books and special bibliographies will be available, New fall books will be displayed along with attractive editions of standard children's books. Special attention will be focused on outstanding = picture- books and their illustrators. May we insert a plea for more careful buy- ing of picture-books this Christmas season. Canadian book shops are too well filled with mediocre books, of unattractive format and with second-rate illustrations. Children of the sixteenth century were entertained by the -horn book. Children of the twentieth century take for granted the modern Boys' and Girls' Libraries stocked with books whose authors and artists write and draw their best. It is a long step from the New England Primer to the modern American children's library, The golden age for children is especially applicable to the real pf beoks. But only in a democratic country is it possible for children to.enjoy books written by authors of other lands, regardless of nationality or political belief. The modern German child must spend his free time laboriously copying economic statistics quoted from his dictator's latest fiery ora- tion. Our Canadian and American children may go to their own book shelves and browse and choose of their own free will. Kenneth Grahame has said that children are the most important people we have left to use, so let us expose our children to beautiful books as to "a simple atmosphere of all fair things, where beauty, which is the spirit of art, will come on eye and ear like a fresh breath of wind that brings health from a clear up- land, and insensibly and gradually draws the child's soul into harmony with all knowledge and all wisdow, so that he will love what is beauti- ful and good, and hat that which is evil an dugly (for they always go together) long before he knows the reason why." Plato. POLISH EYES London (CP)--Polish pilots are credited with having the best eye- sight in the Royal Air Force. "They can see a Hun miles away," a Brit- ish pilot sald. "'I have good eyesight but these Poles are surprising." be i Fo Far from their harrowing experience, these survivors of the sinking | of the Canadian destroyer Margaree are pictured as they recuperated | beneath the sunny skies of Bermuda before going back to war. men were saved when the Margaree was sliced in half by a merchant- Only 34 Survivors of Margaree Disaster Recuperate in Bermuda man which she was convoying. After the collision the after half of the destroyer remained afloat and it was from this half of the ill-fated | warship that the survivors were rescued. CANADIANS FAIL SUFFICIENT USE OF HEALTH AIDS Best Use of Services Sup- plied Not Taken by People of Dominion Ottawa, Nov. 12--(CP)--Mainten- ance of public health in Canada costs $193,000,000 or $19 a person, annually, according to latest offi- cial figures. This, say experts of the pensions and health department, is a higher figure than Canadians spend on education and cnly just below the sum spent on clothing each year. The National Comm!itee for Mental Hygiene has just concluded a thorough survey of medical care and public health services in Can- ada and concludes that full advant- age of what science has made avall- abfe for use in prevention and treatment of disease, is not heing taken, Death rates for first-year infants varies greatly in different parts of Canada where conditions are com- parable, the committee report sald, adding that 2,500 more beds are needed in Quebec and the Mari- times for tuberculosis cases alone, and 500 for other provinces. An ad- ditional 8500 beds are needed for treatment of mental illness in Can- ada. Medical Service Army The report sald more than 55,000 Canadians, including 10,000 physi- clans and surgeons, 4,000 dentists and 20,000 graduate nurses earn their living by providing public health and medical services Of the $193,000,000 spent annually, the committee's survey showed that 72 per cent is paid by private indivi- duals, 21 per cent by governments and seven per cent comes from philanthrophy and industry. Of the annual expenditure rough- ly $80,000,000 goes to rloctors and dentists and nurses; $50,000,000 re- presents hospital costs, less salaries of personnel; $12,000,000 is spent for physicians' prescriptions; $50,000,- 000 on drugs and $33,000,0% on pa- tent medicines and drug sundries, Sanitation costs for a year run to $12,000,000. The committee reported that or- ganizations to secure medical care in groups gre growing in the Dom- inlon and through workmen's com- pensation several millions bf dollars a year are heing spent in this man- ner, Schemes whereby employees each contribute a small sum a week to tion Precision is essential in the manufacture of munitions which fs being carried on in Canada on a large scale. Draughtsmen of the gauge division of a large munitions plant are shown, LEFT, disc b- lem in connection with gauge design for anti-aircraft shells. » discussing a. pro Working side by side wit] 1 job of seeing that the hundreds of thousands of parts TC ta bo pig involved in Canada's output of war material fit snugly together when they roll off the assembly line, this talented young woman, RIGHT, ig a "tracer" in the draughting room. cover medical care are developing in the various provinces. most no- vel of these being the municipal physician system operating in west. ern Canada. This 3ystem has made the most progress in Saskatchewan, the com- mittee said. Under the plac a phy- siclan is engaged at a salary t¢ pro- vide general practitioner care fo: approximately 2,000 people living in a certain area. Cost is met through a land tax, the average annual price per person in rural areas $2.12, This plan, the committee found, is operating in gpproximate- ly 100 rural municipalities and 50 towns in western Canada, CANADIAN GORPS M0. USES JEEP T0 MAKE CALLS English History By ROSS MUNRO, Canadian Press Staff Writer With the CASYF.! Somewhere in England, Nov. 12--(CP)--Canadian troops' are .enjoying the finest fall weather England has known in re- cent years , made groves of trees in the camp area vivid with color -- almost as bright and variable as in the Do- minion--which is oonsidered usual in England You can countryside where autumn shades bring nostalgic memories to the men in khaki . , , the air is brisk and Invigorating . , . the tempo of army life peps up. Mud is going to be a pedestrian problem this winter , , . already it is heavy on some country lanes and ditches are spots to avoid . . . Four young officers, including Lord Tweedsmuir, a captain at Corps Headquarters, took to a ditch one dark night when a bomb whistled ter. Those official Canadian military pictures of the troops you see are taken by Lieut. Laurence (Laurie) Audrain of Winnipeg . .. In peace- time he built up an international reputation as a photographer in England . . . pre-royal tour pictures of the King and Queen at Windsor King and Queen at Windsor were his . . . now he shoots up the Cana- dian camp with his camera. Lieut. D. G. MacDonald of Toron- to, a medical officer at Corps Head- quarters, makes his calls in a 15 hundredweight army lorry . the kind they call "jeeps" in army camps in Canada . . . graduate of the University of Toronto Medical School in 1937, he is the most itin- erant medico in the camp . , . hus- tles about in his truck from unit to unit ministering to his sick and keeping them in good spirits, Canucks . . . a number of soldiers Romantic men these overseas are married or engaged. to English girls ©. . Cpl. William: E. Nicholas of Victoria is one of the latest , . . he will marry Anne Grace. Weeks on New Year's Day . .. H. Champ- man of Regina, ace Royal Canadian Army Service Corps driver, will be best man. A prairie infantry battalion has a new angle for its war diary , , , Lieut. Lavergne Mair of Saskatoon writes it and also takes movie ple- tures of parades and the battalion's activities generally . . . the film is sent home after its premiere in camp here. British Railways Carry On Despite Bombings London---British railway men con- tinue to work during air raids to ful. fill their "front line" responsibility of keeping the nation's railway ser- vices running. According to a railway spokesmin, being | Canadian Troops Enjoy- ing Finest Autumn in | . . touches of frost have | un- | walk for miles over gently rolling | nearby . .. It was a sartorial disas- | . + « pre-royal tour pictures of the | all branches of the railway trans- port services operate as normally as possible during air attacks. Both passengers and freight trains con- tinue to run, trainmen and signal- men remain at their posts and tick- ets are issued at the booking offices he same as usual. "All other railway staff continue at work during air raids until danger is imminent in the im- mediate vicinity of the places at which they were working," he said "Work is resumed again as soon as the immediate danger is past. "The closest co-operation exists between the railways and the rail- way trade unions in the mainten- ance of the railway ransport services." The spokesman sald that as a safety factor, the speeds of trains are reduced during raids so that drivers have trains fully under control event of a their in the | sudden emergency. WELCOME SERVICE STATION HELD UP FOR SECOND TIME Welcome, Nov. 12 -- Scene of a hold-up last December, when three bandits held up Roy Becket, night worker at the service station and then kidnapped him, Welcome Stores Service Station was visited by a loné gunman early Sunday morning, who threatened Roy Becket and Bill Simpson with a re- volver. In the general confusion which resulted, the bandit made off with $13 which he obtained from the back part of the service station where Becket sleeps. Provincial Constable H. McKellar, of Port Hope, investigated. Accord- ing to Becket, he and Simpson and a third man, Ray Kennedy, were on their way in to the front of the service station to see what had been taken when the gunman slipped around to the back and stole the $13. Bill Simpson, who had just come up from Montreal, was spending the night with Becket in his sleep- ing quarters in a lean-to at the south part of the building. Bandit Threatens Pair "About one o'clock Sunday morn- ing," related Roy Becket, "Bill and I heard somebody moving around in the store. We decided to get up and investigate. When I opened the coor at the east side of the build- ing there was a man in the door- way with a gun. He said, 'Come out here or I'll shoot you' I had an experience with hold-up men last December so I slammed the door in his face and 'locked it. Bill Simpson then shouted out that we had a gun, and the fellow outside shouted back to shoot away as he had a gun too. We didn't hear any- thing for a few minutes after that until Ray Kennedy, who comes to work at that time, drove up in his car, Waved Back by Gun "The three of us decided to go around and see what was going on," continued Becket. "Ray and Bill and I started around and then I re- membered that I didn't have the key with me, so Bill went to get it. Just as Bill was going In the door | for the key, the hold-up man came 'out, waved him back with the gun and then streaked it off in the dark. We got in the car and looked- ed around but were not able to find him." Investigation later revealed that the robbed had gained entrance to the service station by breaking a window in the door and reaching a in and unlocking it, The till was empty as the proprietor, Lorne Blodgett, had removed the money the night before. On Dec. 13th last, three robbers held up Becket early in the morning while he was ser- vicing their car with gas, forced him to open the till, from which they scopped up $5, then drove Becket up a side road, took $3 of his own money from him and then dumped him out .They were later rounded up by Peterborough police. EMPRESS OF JAPAN SAFE London, Nov. 11 (CP) The steamship Empress of Japan has reached a United Kingdom port under her own steam, but suffering "some damage" from an attack "by enemy aircraft," the admiralty an- nounced today. * ONE TEAPOT--S5429 London---(CP)--A gold teapot of the George II period, six inches high, was sold fer £1220 ($5,429) with the Rothschild collection of old silver here. The pot was orgi- inally the King's Plate. presented for a racing victory at Newmarket in 1736. ------ ONE OF OLD SCHOOL Withington, England (CP)--Jeth= ro Parish, 81, one of the "Manchest er Liberals," died here. He had lived here 55 years and was a contractor, specializing in church building. IN PROHIBITION AREA Thana, India--(CP)--Seven Bom- bay youths were discovered and sentenced under Bombay's prohibi. tion laws for smuggling hottles of liquor in rubber tubing aroun thelr waists. n Those Days They "Took Chances" WEA a thrill it was in the old days to watch a skilful tele. phone lineman spur his way to the top of a "big stick", Sometimes he put on quite a show--regardless of his own safety ..s accidents each year ran as high as 60 per 1000 plant workers. But those days are gone forever. Carefully planned accident pre- vention methods have been adopted, "safety first" preached. To- day accidents per 1000 have fallen to one-sixth their former figure. Telephone men realize that accidents are costly--to themselves, and to telephone service, What's more, over 90% of all Bell outside plant workers are skilled in First Aid. Working along our highways, they have been on the spot when many accidents have occurred; their expert min- istrations have resulted in saving precious lives. Records over past years illustrate what can be achieved when work- men are conscious of the need for avoiding unnecessary risk, and of being competent to act wisely when accidents do occur, The above was sketched from am old photograph now in the Bell Telephone Museum. Ar right are shown methods used in teaching safety and accident prevention, with miniature equipment ditions. duplicating actual situations and working con- OISTANCE TELEPHONE H. M. BLACK Manager