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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