~ kL) ditorially Speaking: Bill Jones Is Dead Bill Jones had just graduated from agricultural col- lege. He was ambitious to put into action all he had learned about conservation of soil, better breeding of cattle, rotating crops, because his dad’s farm was in pretty bad shape. When war came, Bill enlisted in the army. Bill went to the Philippines and the little town where he was billeted was over-run by a horde of Japs. Bill fought as long as he could and then, under orders, surrendered. ‘They tied his hands behind hm and a Jap soldier started to rape a white woman. He had torn her blouse off when Bill kicked him in the belly, and three Japs waiting their turn rammed their bayonets into Bill’s guts. This happened about the time you were telling the folks at your house that it was all darned nonsense to ration sugar because cake and candy were certainly no diet for soldiers. Bill Jones is dead. He was a soda jerker in a small town, and when the bands blared and the flags fluttered, he signed up for the navy. They put him on a torpedo boat. He learned to wear his hat on the corner of his head, and to roll when he walked. Then his boat got into a scrap down in the South Seas. Bill stood by his gun and laughed when he fired it, but a shell hit its deck beside Bill. When he tried to pull himself to his feet, he saw that his right arm was in the scuppers five feet away. He reached for his gun with his left hand and then things went black. The list of the ship rolled a dead sailor into the scuppers where his dis- membered arm lay. Its extended thumb touched the tip of his nose, so that in death as in life, Bill was thumbing his nose at the Jap ship that got him. This was the same day you were raising hell be- cause it was inconvenient to share rides with the other fellow. Bill Jones is dead. Bill’s dad had a lot of money, and when Bill wanted his own plane, dad bought it for him. Bill was a wild devil, driving a car out of all reason, and flying a plane the same way. But he was the first man in his town to respond to the Air Corps’ call for fliers. Bill got into a dog fight over the English” channel. There was six German planes. But with a “tallyho!”, Bill dived into the bunch of them. He got two before a third sent a burst of bullets into his back that almost cut him in half, but he held on to the stick until he rammed the fourth plane and went down with it locked in the flam- ing embrace of death. This happened about the time you were bellyach- ing and feeling abused because of the outrageous treatment given you by the tire rationing board which would only allow you recaps for your pleasure car. Bill Jones is dead. Bill was a boy who had inclinations for the ministry, but when the call came, Bill laid aside his Bible and joined the Marine Corps. Bill wasn’t much fun around the blan- ket where they were shooting craps, and he wasn’t so hot at the beer drinking contests in the jukes, but he earned his sergeant’s stripes before they sent his gang ashore in one of those new boats which land through the surf. The fistful of fighting fools charged a machine gun nest, and Bill had just taken careful aim and let go a hand grenade when another machine gun caught him. Four bullets in his head, but a Marine has four speeds forward and no reverse, and Bill fell toward the enemy. That was the afternoon when you were sitting at the conning club with a highball in your hand, telling ce fellows in your foursome that if in- heg were going to kill cprrik was a foc wi o had good prospects as | a professional coach at a emall college. Then came Pearl Harbor. Bill used some football language, and headed for town to sign up with the parachute troops. He did all right. Bill got action in an air raid in enemy country. He hit the ground with a dozen of his pals and raced to where their machine guns and grenades had landed near them. Fully equipped, they made for a nearby farm house from which bullets were spraying like water from a garden hose. Six of those machine gun bullets fairly cut Bill's legs off, but he lay on his belly in the mud and got two Heinies. Bill’s last words were “Of all the damn fool luck!” That was the time you were telling the boys at the poker game that the union racketeers and the mu- nitions manufacturers were making fortunes out of this war, when we had no business getting into it in the first place. Bill Jones is dead. Bill was an uneducated clam digger on the New Eng- land coast, but he knew about boats. He had only one eye and the uniformed ranks wouldn't take him, so he shipped on a tanker. His ship was bringing oil up the coast when a German pig boat came up out of the slime and sent a torpedo into the hull amidships. The freighter burst into flames and Bill went over the side into the burning oil. When he came to the surface, a machine gun was practicing on the bobbing heads. When the bullets hit Bill’s head, it burst open like a dropped egg. His charred bullet-riddled body sank beneath the surface. That was the night you were telling the folks at your party that there is plenty of gasoline and that you can buy all you want of it in the black market. Bill Jones is dead. When God in His infinite kindness meets Bill Jones at Heaven’s gate, He is going to say, ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant!” What He is going to say to you, God alone knows. — Labor Bulletin, Aberdeen, Washington. FROM. PILLAR TO POST between sunup and breakfast, hardy souls who realized the dangers of their chosen life and stood ready By Mrs. T. M. B. Hicks, Jr. The Great American Public is about to get its tongue scraped. And far from doing any of us any lasting damage, it is going to be a very good thing for all of us. Some of us are of early Colonial stock, with ancestry that braved the frontier and thought nothing of picking off a black bear or an Indian Brothers On Furlough to take refuge in the community block-house at a moment's notice. Others of us, in the person of grandfather or father or great- grandfather, came to this country somewhat later, but always with the idea of opportunity in a new land, and a realization of the effort in- volved. (Continued on Page Seven) George and Robert Ray, sons of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Ray, Shaver- town, missed meeting each other by two hours last weekend when they were both home on furloughs. Bob, home from Cherry Point, N. C., where he has been stationed with the Marines for the past six months, departed for camp shortly before his brother George arrived from Camp Kearns, Utah. The Darras Post MORE THAN A NEWSPAPER, A COMMUNITY INSTITUTION Vol. 53 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1943 No. 7 Board Explains Present Ban On Pleasure Trips OPA Instructions Clarify Regulations In Shortage Area In response to many requests for clarification of the pleasure driving ban, Dallas War Price and Rationing Board has issued the following in- structions just received from OPA headquarters in Washington. The examples are generalized from particular facts. H. Austin Snyder, member of the gasoline ra- tioning panel, said that “it should be borne in mind, however, that particular circumstances of physical condition, age or distance might change the regulations in certain borderline cases. Before any mo- torist attempts to decide a ques- tion,” Mr. Snyder said, ‘he should ask himself as a patriotic American citizen if he really must use gaso- line.” Eligibles The following may be considered eligible even though other means of transportation are available: 1—Driving by military and navy personnel on furlough with proper leave papers, to visit relatives and pay social calls. While there are no restrictions on mileage, you ould attempt to discourage long trips. Permits to sleep off military reservation, returning to duty each morning are not sufficient as leave papers. 2—Soldiers and sailors, etc., who have proper leave credentials, may be picked up at station, or driven to station by family. 3—Driving by cripple for neces- sary shopping—transportation is not adequate as to him. 4—Organist at roller skating rink, {dancer at night club, musician at restaurant. All may drive, as this is occupational for them, even though patrons of these places may not drive to them. 5—Driving car for dead storage to nearest available place of storage which is further away than nearest place of paid storage, provided dis- tance is not unreasonable. 6—Driving for tire inspection. 7—Driving by grocery and liquor salesmen since this is occupational. 8—Driving by real estate broker to inspect properties under his man- agement, since this is occupational 9—Driving by members of a wel- fare organization to deliver essen- tial clothing, food or medicine to shut-ins, if such work is regularly performed, since this is occupational. 10—Driving to sell car to used car dealer. 11—Driving car to repair station to have necessary repairs made or for necessary services, including battery charging. > 12—Driving from one city to an- ‘other in connection with bona fide change of residence. 13—Driving cripple or invalid around in cases where doctor certi- fies it is absolutely essential to pa- tient’s recovery. Should not be pez- mitted if it is merely for "diversion. 14—Driving by storekeeper for pickup and delivery since Ais is occupational. 15—Driving as member of Draft Board or Local War Price and Ra- tioning Board since this is occupa- tional. 16—Driving to court by lawyers, (Continued on Page Seven) New Signals Explained To Raid Wardens Rally Is Largest Ever Held In The Area Of Zone 9 Two hundred air raid wardens jammed the library and corridors of Kingston Township High School Wednesday night to listen to Zone 9 and District leaders outline the new air raid warning system. It was the largest outpouring of civil- ian defense workers since the es- tablishment of Zone 9 and but for a conflict with a Boy Scout rally that crowded. them out of the school auditorium would probably have been the most successful meet- ing of its kind ever held here. As it was, wardens listened in- tently to instruction from Zone Wardens Robert Currie and Clarence Laidler and asked ‘questions that showed their keen interest. Charles Doran of the County Council of De- fense also spoke attempting to clear up any questions wardens might have about their work and respon- sibilities. : Mr. Doran emphasized the im- portance of having “adequate equip- ment on the west side of the river to care for any emergencies. He said that under bombardment the whole West Side could be isolated from Wilkes-Barre by the destruc- tion of bridges and for that reason it is necessary to have a complete listing of all available equipment in this area so that it can be called into service wherever needed. Clarence Laidler stressed the necessity for all wardens to sign their oaths, properly witnessed, and have them returned to Zone leaders by March 1st. He also explained that wardens would be allowed suffi- cient gasoline by the local Rationing Board to perform their duties. Each man should keep an accurate record of mileage used in civilian defense and that this should be approved by his District Warden before any application for gasoline is made. He also said that air raid pen- nants are available for official auto- mobiles used during blackouts and that applications for them can be made through the Councils of De- fense. Applications will ‘then be handed to headquarters in Wilkes- Barre for approval. Clarence Adams, District Warden in Sector 3 (Shavertown) resigned and Herbert Hill was appointed to fill his position. It was brought out that a plan is under way to have competitions in first-aid between the various sec- tors of Zone 9 to keep men alert to their training and for their further development. More complete plans of these competitions will be an- nounced later. At the conclusion of the meeting wardens in the Shavertown and Trucksville districts received night sticks and. whistles provided by Kingston Township supervisors. The night sticks were fashioned by shop classes at Kingston High School from materials provided by the su- pervisors. Record Broken Boy Scouts of the Northwest Dis- trict met for their annual rally Wed- nesday night at Kingston Township High School. The Dallas Troop was defeated for the first time in five years. Are Included I Twenty-eight Back Mountain boys, many of them from the eighteen- year-old age group, will take their final physical examinations at Wilkes-Barre Induction Center next Tuesday. They are part of a big contingent of 114 men called for induction by Local Board No. 1 of Wyoming. Those who qualify in their final examinations will no doubt leave for military service on February 23. Some of the men will go to the army, some to the navy, and some to the marines under the new set-up for induction. Those called are: Dallas, John Jo- seph Miller, Star Route; Harry Am- andus Boehme, Center Hill Road; Walter Albert Meade, R. D. 1; Wil- liam Andrew Roberts, R. D. 3; Fran- cis Daniel Polachek, R. D. 3; Nicho- las Stephen Stredny, R. D. 1; Ernest Wyant Wood, Rice street; Leon David Emanuel, R. D. 3; Charles Twenty-Eight Back Mountain Boys g Draft Call Matey, R. D. 3; Joseph Carl Wallo, Huntsville Road; Arthur C. Houck, King street; Michael P. Sedler, R. D. 3; Louis Aloysious Cardinale, R. D. 3. ' Shavertown: Kenneth Charles Trudgen, Williams street; Michael John DiMuro, Beach street; Charles Martin Metzgar, Pioneer Avenue; William Clarence Malkemes, Main street; Samuel Harry Green, Mt. Airy Road; LeRoy Leonad Trudgen, Williams street. Trucksville: Cedric Robert Grif- fiths, Staub road; Harold Frederick Fritzges, Carverton Road; Frank Homer Billings, Harris Hill Road; Leo Baranowski, R. D. 1; Harold John Cooks Mt. Greenwood Road; Chester Leon Dalley, Mt. Greenwood Road; Bernard Joseph Wisnieski, R D. 1; Nathaniel Thomas Casterline, R.D.-1. Harvey's Lake: Calvin Weaver. “Here was a man to world, A man to match the sea. hold against the mountains and the * * * And when he fell in whirlwind, he went down As when a lordly cedar, green with boughs, Goes down with a great shout upon the hills, And leaves a lonsome place against the sky.” Veteran Of Quad Carl Carey, Trucksville arm chairs at his home in Trucks Wounded in action at the battle Defense Work | Saves Driver Brown Admits He Ran Down Melvin Swingle Pleading guilty to a charge of driving while intoxicated, James Ira Brown, 29, father of three chil- dren was saved from a jail sen- tence last week when Judge Thomas F. Farrell learned that he was a de- fense worker. Appearing in court with his young told the court that he had erred and awaited his punishment. When Judge Farrell reminded the defen- dant that he would automatically lose his driver's license, he also asked him how he would get be- tween Wilkes-Barre and his home on Hemlock street, Shavertown. Mrs. Brown answered by saying that he would have to use the bus and “it will be a good thing for him.” Melvin Swingle, 55, of Shavertown who suffered a severe head injury when Brown’s machine hit him on the Trucksville-Fernbrook Road, ap- peared ‘in court but did not press for a heavy penalty. According to State Troopers, Brown was reporting the accident on the advice of his wife when the troopers arrested him. It had been the practice of the defendant, police said, to get a few drinks on the way home from work. Judge Farrel fined Brown $100 and costs, placed him under a pledge not to drink for two years and held him under $1,000 bond to abide by the provisions of the sen- tence and also directed that revoca- tion of his automobile driving priv- ileges be directed to the attention of State authorities. wife, Brown offered no defense and | _— alcanal Fighting Ate Fish Heads And Rice For D Marine, Was Aboard Lexington When She Went Down Settled comfortably deep in the luxury of one of his mother’s big ville, lanky, nineteen-year-old Carl Carey, Marine veteran of the Guadalcanal fighting and survivor of the ill-fated Lexington boyishly related his experiences Wednesday morning. of Grassy Knoll when he received a bullet in the calf of his right leg, Karl was evacuated from Guadal- canal with other wounded in an army transport plane on November 29 and taken to a base hospital in Brisbane, Australia. There he spent seven weeks before returning home this week aboard an army plane that required seven days to cross the far -Pacific from Australia to San Diego, California. He was with the Marines that made the first landing on Guadal- canal under Major General Vander- grift and he went through practical- ly all of the fierce enceunters to wrest that island from the Japanese but even before that he was a vet- | eran of one of the historic sagas of the sea—the sinking of the air- craft carrier Lexington. But let Carl, shy and modest, re- late his story punctuated only as he chews vigorously on his beloved chewing gum or pauses now and then to paddle his little sister play- fully as she crawls over those sprawling kahki-clad legs, and snug- gles in his lap. “I enlisted with “Bob” Lahr on July 22, 1941 while I was a Junior in Kingston Township High School. I'd always wanted to be a Marine ever since I had talked with a Ma- rine Recruiting officer once when I was a little boy on a vacation in New York State. After enlisting I went through boot camp at Parris Island, then to Quantico with the Military Police. From there we were transferred to sea duty aboard a cruiser on patrol along the east coast of Cuba, the Bahamas to the Chesapeake. That didn’t last long. We were trans- ferred to the Lexington and aboard her we went everywhere. Once we were in London for two days . . . and then one day we started out from Norfolk, down through the Panama Canal and off to New Zea- land. On that trip we picked up army nurses from Corregidor. Our ship stood six or seven miles off shore while Higgins boats made the trip in to pick up the nurses. I (Continued on Page Eight) Ration Board's Hours Come Up For Criticism Board Members Claim Clerks Work Anywhere From 50 to 54 Hours BULLETIN Fred M. Kiefer, chairman, Dallas War Price and Rationing Board late yesterday afternoon set the hours of the local office as follows: Monday through Friday 10:00 a. m. to 12 noon, and 1:00 p. m. to 5:00 p. m.; Saturday, 9 a. m. to 12 noon. Thursday nights 8:00 p. m. to 10:00 p. m. Under no circum- stances will the public be ad- mitted either before or after these hours as it is necessary for clerks to complete their rec- ords before and after these hours. Dallas War Price and Rationing Board was criticized this week by Shavertown citizen because mem- bers of the Board object to discus- sing rationing at their homes or places of business. It was the contention of this citi- zen that the board has adopted an “independent attitude” and has failed to adjust its office hours to the convenience of the public. “On the face of it” said this critic, “it seems reasonable that the Board members should not be bothered at their homes, but when you take into consideration that the hours the ra- tion office is open are from 9 a. m. to noon and 1 to 5 p. m. during the week and 9 a. m. to noon on Sat- urdays, how is a man who works from 8 a. m. to 5 p. m. going to do business since a large majority of the people in the Back Mountain section are employed in Wilkes- Barre and it takes anywhere from half an hour to one hour to get back and forth?” "#% =m “In other localities “the Board offices are open one or two nights” during the week to accom- Ltfiodate persons who cannot come to losing valuable time. It is possible if members of the Dallas Board were little instead of being so indenend- ent things might be better all around.” they realized the reasonablenzss of their critic’s contentions, they were surprised that he would lean into print without first ascertaining the facts. open from 9 a. m. to 12 noon and (Continued on Page Eight) Jackson Folk Plan Meeting Will Demand Action From Defense Council Dissatisfied with the apparent in- difference of their local Council of Defense, taxpayers of Jackson Town- ship have called a “town meeting” for Friday night at 8:00 o'clock in the Roan School House on Chase road. Spokesmen for the taxpayers and air raid wardens said it is important for every resident of the township to attend the meeting and discuss matters of Civilian Defense. One warden said that he didn’t believe members of the Council of Defense appointed by the Township Super- visors were yet aware of their ap- pointments. “All in all this matter has been handled in a lax and in- different fashion so that it has thwarted every effort on our part to set up an efficient civilian defense organization in the township. There should be nine or more members on our Council of Defense. We have only 5 and they are inactive. We expect to have Charles Doran of Kingston and Clarence Laidler with us on Friday night. They will ex- plain just what a Council of Defense is supposed to do. After the tax- payers have heard them, I'm sure the people of Jackson Township will do their part to see that we have a real Council of Defense. “Whether they have been notified or not, I don’t know, but the present Council of Defense members are supposed to include: Marvin Brown, Gwilliam Evans, Charles Behee, Wil- liam Hablett and J. K. Murray. I don’t believe they have ever held a meeting!” Ration the office during the day without willing to accommodate the publica While members of the Board said: The Board offices are regularly
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