k±±!i __ SUNOCO. TUESDAY, APRIL 15, 1941 GOOD EVENING EVERYBODY: There*s no detailed information tonight about th<§ new defensive line of the British and Greeks. Berlin today told of a thrust of sixty miles into Greece, and gave the names of captured places — these far behind the previo I Allied defense lines. Athens and London report that their forces / had retreated forty or fifty milej - abandoning Koritza for example, that Albanian citadel which the Greeks captured from the Italians in bitter fighting, ^t's to be noted that the Allied retirement a began on Saturday, but mighty little news was allowed to leak out — until today. The British and Greeks & kept it hidden behind censorship - and so did the Germans. Both sides are long on secrecy. The best indications are that the new line is straight - BALKANS _ 2 right across the peninsula Greece, it seems to be based on the Mt. Olynipus area, north of Larissa - and then straight across. The former line was in an area of mountains, protected by rugged heights - and so is this new one. The topography is such that the British and Greeks can establish a mountain front all the way west from Mt. Olympus. ?or an example of the character of the terrain, we can go back to classic legend - which abounds in the area where modern war now rages. Mt. Olympus, the home of the gods - rising in a region of craggy ravines and gorges. 0ne of these - the immortal Veix of Tempe. That narrow defile was sacred with classic mystery, dim, with a beauty so great that it frightened the mortal soul. Today, after those many centuries, the Veil of Tempe is still regarded as the most beautiful scene in all the beauties of Greece. TT SS^The ancient myth told how the giants, the Titans, wanted to storm the heights of Olympus, the home of the gods. They*d have to * pass through the Veil of Tempe - but that was too difficult , the Is 3 1 ^ 4 gorge toB^sttg^etk. So the giants, to reach the height of Olympus, tried to pile one mountain on top of another - two neighboring BALKANS . 3 duXLA. r peaks. Ossa and Pelion. Froni which comes the classical allusion famed in English literature - piling Ossa on Pelion. All this is like a dream out of the poets of the Grecian past, but itrs also an apt illustration of the difficulty of the terrain for the Nazi motorized column to storm in the vicinity of Mt. Olympus. An illustration, likewise, of the advantages the British and Greeks can employ in the establishment of a new defensive line. Will they be able to hold it? That lies with the future. If the Germans break through the new front - southward lie the plains of Thesaly, famous in Homer. The Iliad repeatedly speaks of Thesaly as a country of horses - suggestive of level plains. Suggestive also of the kind of terrain favorable for tanks and other motorized equipment. So tonight the question is - will the Panzer divisions be able to get through? They broke the first Allied line, but how about the new one? The latest is a report from Athens stating that the British and Greeks have taken up their new positions, and formed a defensive front. ^Completely consolidated,n says Athens. i BALKANS _ 4 The Nazis keep hammering a*ay with the statement that the British are planning another evacuation. Soaw Axis dispatches ^dec^are that the imperial forces are already on their way out. Berlin con inues to tell of British transports waiting at the at transports, to block the British line of retreat out of Greece. These reports, we may note, would be quite in line with German propaganda, seeking to dismay and confuse the Greeks with the belief that the British were about to abandon them. Herefs the latest:- a Nazi bulletin claiming disturbances have broken out at the Greek harbor of Piraeus, port of Athens - trouble between the Greeks and the British. All because of preparations for British evacuation, which the A Greeks resent. So says Berlin. The possible propaganda aspects are vividly apparent. ounters with a flat contradiction, declaring emphatically that the British forces in Greece have no idea of evacuation. 0n the contrary - London tells of Bmpire reenforcement being hurried to the fighting line. There1s a similar contradiction in the news about BALKANS - 5 Jugoslavia. Berlin gives us a rumor that the Jugoslav government is asking for an armistice -- preparing to surrender. From the Jugoslav side the story is very different. Herefs the way one dispatch reads:- !,The Serbs,11 it says, nare now concen­ trating on a drive southward in an effort to join the British and Greek forces in Greece.” Btt those forces, meanwhile, have retired southward. All of which is an indication of the confusion of the war-news nowadays AP'hiCA There1s not much news from north Africa. The swift Nazi t^2 drive wa» reported to be at pretty much of a standstill. Berlin told of various successes, claiming/_ 3 n* of those advances /< O expressed in terms of many miles. Cairo state* that brisk fighting /< \ was going on at the point where the German spearhead thrust * into Egypt near the town of Solium. But this, Cairo, consisted A 4 4 largely of artillery duels and skirmishes between mechanized patrols. TUle_ ✓ The British report success at Tobruk, where an Empire force has been isolated - tn standing siege. The Germans and /A Italians are attacking the place, but their assaults have been thrown back - says Cairo. Fifteen tanks destroyed and twenty-two Ayis planes shot down. In Ethiopia, the British have captured an important Fascist commander - General Santini. He!s of renown as one of Italyfs crack military leaders and colonial administrators. General Santini and a military force under his command were surrounded and in a hopeless position. They surrendered. Thereby increasing the long list of generals who have been captured in this war. Jt ^ J( i SHIP LOSSES This Tuesiay, April Fifteenth, was marked by one circumstance - an omission. Every Tuesday since this war began, fhe British Admiralty has given out figures for shipping losses during the week ending ten days previously. Today this procedure »as ended. Instead of the usual figure for sinkings, the Admiralty announced that no such weekly information would be issued hereafter. The tonnage and number of ships sank by the Germans will be made public each month - not week by week, but month by month. And they *11 be issued fifteen days after the month is over. Thus the sinkings for April will not be given out until May Fifteenth. In London the withholding of the weekly figures was not interpreted today in any optimistic light. The new decision by the Admiralty was taken to mean that the weekly sinkings along about now 7 are pretty high. CONVOYS The ques +ion of Anierican convoys for British war supplies provoked sow lively debate in the United States Senate today. laffinah^x s were “considaring tbat Pr« 4 *ident b#—a«4vh^r i zed t<* req^riaition and jday-^for foreigi^-ehi^s in our ports - like^he vessels and Dgnes. course of-<tabet#, .'Senator Tobey of New Hampshire charged that there was secret maneuvering to put across the convoy idea. This, he said, v.ould lead to war. And, if we get into the to be faced.direct struggle, the issue ought indirection^ said the Senator. A directly - nnot by He stated that one high administration official has made the suggestion that the extension of the United States protection to Greenland might lead to an informal arrangement for convoying ships loaded with war materials for Britain. The idea would be a, that by making Greenland waters America.'wefd feel entitled to have our warships protect merchant vessels that far on the voyage across the ocean to Britain. There1s talk also of our sending warships to protect American freighters carrying supplies up the Red Sea to the CONVOYS - 2 Suez Canal. This surmise was raised when President Roosevelt took the neutrality ban off east African waters and opened the Red Sea to American ships. Secretary of State Cordell Hull was asked about this today, and said that he had heard no official suggestion that American materials bound to the Suez Canal be convoyed. c2w. This was followed by a statement by President - 5 * A /t hearing :on the convoy iiiS; wLixM press conference today,that the United States government is required to protect all American merchant vessels sailing on the sea - providing they are outside of actual war zones. TheyTre forbidden, of course, to enter the war zones. Iw H non—combat areas, they must be protected. Tnis, the President said, was decreed by federal law, and is not a question of any decision by the administration The presidential statements immediately suggested the RPd Sea and the Suez Canal, which the administration has recently opened to American shipping. The President was asked whether vessels carrying supplies to Suez would be convoyed. ae replied CONVOYS - ? with the s^a^ement that he knows of no American ships in that area now an^ has no information about vessels scheduled to go there in the near future. } 4 -£- <^t^rvjZ-eX~ LEND-LEASE ^resident Roosevelt today named a chief director of the Lend-Lease program* | Who is to be the head of the new agency in "'-J p- ^ control of the policy of all-out aid to the democracies? \ Harry / Hopkins/— and thatfs no surprise. Humor all along lias pointed to Hopkins as the one who would take command of the Seven Billion Dollar business of lendand lease. DOCTORS There will be a shortage of doctors in hospitals if the draft boards don't watch out. The boards have been refusing deferrment to medical students who have not completed their education and training. Already the staffs in smaller hospitals have been affected. And the larger hospitals are threatned because many doctors and surgeons who are reserve officers have already gone into active service. The New York Medical Society hQS put out a warning that if the draft boards do not put young men preparing for medical careers on the defeated list, before long we will face a serious national problem. DEFENSE Tiie ^resident said today that plans are being studied to reduce the age limits forselecfcive service. These are now from twenty-one to thirty-five. He remarked the objective was to have evc»ry man give one year of his life to the government vetween the ages of eighteen and the early twenties — that to be a permanent form of consription. Secretary of War Stimson told a Senate Committee that the army must be prepared to fight at any points of North, South or Central America. n0r even possibly in other regions,Tt said he. But he did not explain what those T,other regions '1 might be, — where it might be necessary to send the army. Secretary of the Navy Knox told the House Naval Affairs Committee the great cridis of the present war is with us right now. "We are now," said the Secretary, "in the midst of the decisive period of the present "World War." He went on to discuss the labor situation and declared that he was opposed to denying men the right to strike. But he is in favor of legislation for a compulsory period of — Scooling off". Delay strikes to allow time to talk things over. DEFENSE - 2 Defense Director Knudsen, speaking in Boston, said that the nation-wide epidemic of strikes was about at an end — nV.;e are past the peak of labor trouble,” he declared. He added that defense industries during March turned out twelve hundred and fifteen war planes, "“e1!! be building twenty-five hundred planes a month by the end of the year,” said he. EARTHQUAKE Mexico had a severe earthquake today. The capitol of the nation south of the Rio Grande v/as violently shaken. Masonry from tall buildings crashed into the streets. The United Press correspondent tells how he saw cornices from a seventeen story skyscraper dislodged and shoot diagonally into the plaza. People dashed from shaking offices into the streets, only to find themselves in a line of toppling stone. There was a rush from the streets to open places, free fran the barrage. Ambulances and fire engines dashed by. &ight fires broke out, and at least one was a huge burst of flame. Mexico frequently has minor shocks. Today’s were the worst in many years. KILLING Today in a courtroom in far off East Africa was oinfoj-jed a tale of romantic melodrama which concerns the hi £ nest persons in British aristocracy. ^ ^ At Nairobi, in Kenya, Major Sir Delves Broughton, a baronet holding one of the oldest titles in England, was committed to trial for the murder of the Earl of Erroll, hereditary lord high constable of Scotland. The proceedings related that Major Sir Delves Broughton' received some anonymous letters. These told him that his wife, to whom he had been married for only one month, was involved in a love affair with the Earl of Erroll. The baronet confronted Lady Broughton with the accusation, and she confessed - yes, she was in love with the Earl. The testimony continued with an account of a gay and aristocratic party held some time later at an exclusive Kenya country club frequented by the British military cast. ?here Major Sfr Delves Broughton drank 'a toast with champagne - a toast to the future child of his wife and the Earl of Erroll. Rather startling that. But .nore startling still - some hours later the KILLING - 2 Earl was found shot to death in his automobile on a road in the bush country. Then at his funeral, Major Sir Delves Broughton dropped into his grave a farewell note written by Lady Broughton. He did it at her request. Now he is charged with the murder, and the evidence against him lies largely in the fact that two pistols that had been in his bedroom disappeared shortly before the crime. WIFE George Schermann of Jamaica, Long Island, has an enthusiasm lor tiie Id) tier branches of knowledge. But, George, with all his erudition, got married — to a seventeen year old bride. He was in exceedingly good to her —learned fashion. He told her to devote her spare time to what today was described in these words: "a study of the philosophies and teachings of Plato, Aristotle and Socrates.” He made her stop reading magazines and current literature As for the funnies — absolutely no! Hot one glimpse at "Little cs^Z Orphan Annie” or "Bringing Up Father .” Nothing but Plato, Aristotle, A and Socrates. Hubby grew indignant when seventeen year old wifie fourid these philosophers, as she said today - "uninteresting and difficult.” He said she’d have to peruse the symposium of Plato, whether she liked it or not. The logical works of Aristotle, whether she understood them or not. And the dialectics of Socrates, although they might tie her brains in a knot. All of which was hardly in accordance with the maxim — be kind to dumb brides. Today wifie sued for a divorce. Seeking to break the bonds of matrimony with her has band, Plato^Aristotle and Socrates.