L-T. SUMQCO. WEDNESDAY f SF.PTF,MHF,R 6 . 1959 GOOD EVENING EVERYBODY: Here1s the latest official communication from French General headquarters; Communique#©. ^The vanguard of the French troops is now advancing beyond the German frontier, in its curt, vague fashion, the French headquarters1 report goes on to say that the French advance is meeting resistance at all points by German automatic arms, meaning mac hi e guns, field guns, and mobile campaign units. French newspapers expand on this official information with considerable freedom. They say the French armies have penetrated Into the Valley of the Saar, the rich industrial mining region so coveted by both sides. The French newspaper reports also claim that three hundred British and French airplanes have made a raid on the industrial territory in the Rhineland. The Ruhr Valley, crammed with the mighty German steel and munitions factories, is only one hour * s flight LEAD - £ from the Saar. Brief — but itfs as much as can be actually Imown about the fighting on the Western Front. WAR ( Tonight the German armies are closing in on Warsaw from four directions. They captured Krakow, fifth largest city in Poland, almost without firing a shot. ) In fact the German headquarters / report states definitely that no resistance was offered, there was not even an attempt to destroy the bridges over the Vistula. Having occupied Krakow, Hitler’s motor units made a quick dash past the city to a point thirty miles on north of Krakow. From still another direction, a German army was pressing towards the big industrail city of I»odz. Another fiej-d gray canting occupied Bromberg and Kielce, sixty miles south of Warsaw. Still a fourth, is thirty-one miles northwest of their sweeping down from East Prussia. And all this is confirmed by Polish reports. The defenders of the unhappy country are feverishly digging in along the line of the Bug River | not more than ten miles from Warsaw^) The plight of the Warsonlans became all the more acute because their members were swollen by thousands of refugees from Lodz. But most of them stayed only long enough to get gasoline for their cars and continue their fli'ht eastwards WAR - 2 A Polish broadcast admits that the German invaders at one end of the line had reached a city only forty-four miles away from Warsaw, At another point only thirty-one miles away. And the German advance from the northwest is on a line twenty-two miles long. The Polish claim is that the armies of the defenders have been executing a strategic retreat, falling back according to plan, upon fortified positions. The plan, they say, is to compel the Germans to extend their lines of communications. I fe V.'ESTEKP LATTE The most romantic episode of the war so far is the prolonged seige of that tiny little Polish garrison in that fortress outside Danzigy It is not known even yet exactly how man^tnerei Somewhere between seventy and two hundred. But ^t is said they have enough ammunition, food ) and water to hold out for four weeks provided they can stand the continuous bombardraent by land, sea and air. In Danzig harbor lies a German naval ship, blazing away at thslfe little fortress. /V (f On one day alone, twenty-two German bombers tried to blast it out of existence. So far all this has failed to shake thirt tiny A garrison.^ It calls to mind the seige of tha Alcazar in Toledo After each during the early days of the Spanish Civil War,; bombardment of the fortress, there p®* an attack by German infantry. But the Polish defenders.had rtiTTii their machine guns A A so cannily that the GermarT tpp mnrin< fcp a withering fir^that seemed to come from every point of the compass. Some people think that the Polish defenders have dug themselves a network of underground defenses. ROME There were strange sights on the banks of Father Tiber today. Old Rome, the Eternal City, presented, a picture that recalled the days of good King Humbert rather than those of Victor Emanuel. This was because the.'restrict ions imposed by the Mussolini government upon private motor cars went into effect. go the Nineteen Thirty-Nine residents of the City on the Seven Hills found themselves going about their business in the same fashion (and as those of the Eighteen Nineties. Bicycle^^1 hacks drawn by horses, place of taxis and private A A /V Trolleys and buses were running* Taxicabs limited to less than three gallons of gasoline a day. So the Romans got a taste of v -.hat life was like in the days when the saintly looking Leo the Thirteenth v.as Pope. DOG FIGHT During auasLixaf the last war, practically all the dog fights in the air took place over French or Belgian territory. Today, the first one in this war, was fought over English soil. A squadron of twenty German raiders was flying towards London. They passed near the seaside resort of Southend. An eye-witness. from his bedroom window through his field-glasses, described the planes as looking like razor blades. They were attacKed, he said, by a fierce ground fire which broke around them like a kaocixaLf ball of flame. While anti-aircraft guns were bombarding the German flyers, a squad of English pursuit ships, called spitfires, swooped down upon them. The official report is that the German planes were put to flight, shot down, while the British lost two. Bub herefs a later version of that do^ fight. It just came over the wire. The official report is that the Nazi air raiders were driven back before they reached the English coast, driven back by British planes. By mistake, batteries oi British anti-aircraft defense opened fire on some of the planes of tte hoyal air force. BATTLESHIP Word of an air attack comes by way of a radio broadcast heard in Switzerland. A squad of British airplane raiders are supposed to have delivered another attack on the western entrance to the Kiel Canal and destroyed one of Hitler*s famous pocket battle ships. However, this report is vague, and totally without confirma­ tion, even from London. ESBJfcKG We now know aH about the mysterious bombs that fell on Danish territory. They were dropped not by a German but by a British airplane, and today the British fie Government was most vigorously apologizing. A German pmatsitfc pursuit plane was trying to engage a British bomber in a dog fight. The pilot of the British plane maneuvered himself into position over the German and thought that underneath them both was open water. So he aimed two bombs at the German ship. And we now know, he was unfortunately not over the water, but over Danish territory, and two people were killed. MASKS There was a wedding in London today, the first fashionable nuptials since the declaration of v.ar. The names of neither the bride nor the groom mean anything over here. I mention the affair only because it is announced that every guest carried a gas mask. But - and this seems to be the most Interesting part of it - the bride and the groom laid their masks aside as they approached the altar. DEFENSE SECRETS Quite a sensation v,as sprung in the Parliament of northern Ireland. It brought to light the fact that although Britain and Germany are at war, there is still a German envoy in Dublin. A member of Parliament from Belfast declared in the III House of Commons that the German legation in Dublin is becoming an intelligence station for the German army. The German Minister to Dublin has been gathering information about British plans for defense, and transmitting them to Berlin, facts about air raid protection and similar matters. The member from Belfast protested against the existence of the German Minister to Dublin when most of the empire is at war. But apparently his protest did not get anywhere. 4 ?: Lord Craigavon, Prime Minister of northern Ireland, replied that what the government was fully aware ^ the German Minister in Dublin A was supposed to be up to. CANADA The Jews in Canada are anxious to get into the war. The government has received a request from a member of a veterans' organization, known as the Jewish Legionnaires of Montreal. This man has asked permission to organize a legion of Jewish ex-soldiers evidently composed of men who served overseas in the last war. Ian MacKenzie, the Defense Minister of the Dominion, reports that there have been proposals of a similar nature from other cities. The death list from the ATHEIilJL disaster is now given as possibly one hundred and twenty-five. So announced in the House of Commons today by Winston Churchill, FirstLord of the Admlralt The survivors from the ATHENIA have added to the tribulations and hard labor of the American Embassy in London. They have swollen the list of the five thousand Americans waiting in London to get home. Some of them are without money. The Embassy staff has sent hundreds of them out into the country to wait there until ships can be procured. Our London Embassy lias even tried to charter a fleet of Norwegian whaling vessels. are the two hundred and sixteen people who were picked up by the American freighter, CITY OF FLINT. For this ship is on her way to the united States and 0ncie Sam's Coast Guard vessels are going to Probably the luckiest of the survivors from the ATHENIA meet her at sea and take off such of the passengers as are injured TREATY As might have been expected, all treaties liudting the size of navies, guns, or warships go by the board at such a time t-Y\, ^State Department Washington received noticJB today from Downing Stre«v>^ Great Britain officially denounces the London Naval Treaty of Nineteen Thirty-Six and all other similar agree­ ments. Uncle Sam was one of the signers of that Nineteen Thirty Six treaty PATROL The entire eastern coastline of the United States is now being carefully and methodically patrolled. This is done by direct order of the President, who gave instructions that it should be done by destroyers, coast guard vessels, and airplanes. The patrolling craft will cover the Atlantic, from the waters around Puerto Rico to the extreme northeast. Since the World War, a hundred and sixteen destroyers of Uncle Sam’s Navy were laid up, in dead storage. They will be put into commission again and used for this patrol. They will go as far as two hundred miles -A. out to sea. part of Mr. Roosevelt’s precautions to keep the United States out of -war. Also to keep the war away from America. In case any of be notified. The Maritime Commission will then warn American vessels, and our government will advise the embassy of the nation to which the belligerent warships belongs to notify its captain of the exact location of any American ships that happen to be Steve Early, the White House secretary, said this is the patrol ships spots a warship of a belligerent country anywhere near the United States, the Maritime Commission will PATHOL - 2 nearby* Thereby the government will prevent any mistake of indent!ty resulting in damage to an American ship CANAL A later dispatch from Washington! ^resident Roosevelt has just placed the Manama Canal under full Military control. Normally the zone is under dual rule; part civil, part military. But today Secretary of War Woodring asked the President to issue the order to protect the security of the canal during the period of international tension MORPHY Here*s a message to everybody^from Frank Murphy, Attorney General of the United States• If you obserT® any actj.on that you suspect of being the work of a spy report it immediatexy. The place to notify is the nearest office of the F» B. I, the Federal Bureau of Investigation MARKETS Something happened today in the markets of the world that has a meaning for everybody, housewives, children and all. It was the continued jump in the price of commodities, food commodities, every important center of trading, prices wrent up to the imit of what was permitted by the regulations. For instance, wheat at Winnipeg and Chicago; hogs on the Chicago market, meaning a high cost for pobk and ham in the future. Sugar went up the limit for the third day in succession, likewise cocoa. The meaning is obvious. The first sour consequence to us of the war in Europe will be a big jump in the cost of living, heavy bills at the grocers and the butchers. Dunn and Bradstreet report a rise of sicteen cents in the food index of America DIES Earl Browder, Secretary-General of the American Communist Party, did some more testifying before the Dies Committee. He said that any Communist who criticizes the treaty between Hitler and Stalin gets hoofed out of the party. And he explained thatA» would demonstrate a most serious lack of understanding of political considerations. He added that the Communists of America have been helped by the Nazi-Soviet pact which is good for the party and good for the United States. J Browder then admitted that the Communist Party ’— Unittatgs is bound up with the Commintern .and that it is necessary for American Communists to agree with the decisions . ! ■ i of the Commintern. Someone then asked him, MDoesnTt that mean I ! that the Commintern rules American Communists." Browder said "No." He was then asked a trick question:- In case of war betv^een Uncle Sam and the Soviet Union, which would he support. Browder XEExiiBdxs wriggled a bit and t3fSR replied that such an unhappy state of affairs could only come about if the Soviet were in the control of the Tpotskyites. If such a thing happened, he said. he would favor a war against Russia. ne axso Said that if the United States opposed what he called^the peace policy of the Soviet Union,11 he would agitate against the United States^ taking any part in the war. TBKRIS Here’s something to interest the tennis fans. The victorious Australian players, the men who walked off with the Davis Cup this year, have received a reward from their countrymen* The regard was permission to remain in America until October Tenth. They were to have sailed for home next week to take up their military duties. But after their dramatic victory over our players, they were cabled permission to remain long enough to take part in the United States Rational Singles Championship. RQ0S3VELT War or no war. President Roosevelt aims to take this weekend off. He is going to leave Washington Friday night, at hi home, at Hyde Park. That is, providing nothing happens in Europe so serious as to demand his presence in Washington, -‘-n any event hef11 be back at the White House Monday morning