MUEliCE The latest tonight is - an armjs tice between the ^orwe^ian army and the Germans in the region of Namsos. The Norse units, a.tcr days of bitter battling, on the Steinkjo'front, have surrendered. This account comes from the United Press correspondent on the scene. He quotes the Norwegian Commander as declaring that there was nothing to do but call off the fighting - to avert "further useless bloodshed." The Norwegian General, in announcing the armistice to his soldiers, told them that the Allies had evacuated Namsos without consulting the Norwegian command. He charged that the Norse troops were left unsupported. All this comes in a cable from the United Press correspondent la in the Namsos area. Earlier in the day, there were stories of continued Norwegian resistance. These told that the fortress of Hegra was holding out. This stronghold near Trondheim has been resisting Nazi assaults ever since the invasion of Norway began. A mere hundred and fifty defenders - that handful of Norse warriors still refusing to surrender, - so we were told. London tonight officially confirms what was insistently reported all day - the Allied evacuation of the port of Namsos. British and French wife withdrawal from central aorthsrary^WiJc - whlcfr' port l&'-^g3=in hgld Today’s communique issued by the British War Office reads as follows:- nThe withdrawal and reembarkation at N&msos was carried out with complete success and without loss.” Tnat phraseology is a case of making an unfortunate event sound as well as possible. Reports from the Scandinavian area, however, state that the Allied arkation was made under heavy air attack. This phrase is used - ”a wits hail of machine gun bullets.” Another dispatch describes the retirement of the Allies in these words:- ”so hast%:l* that much of their equipment was abandoned in the streets and also along the quay.” An American eye-witness at Namsos states that the British and French got most of their equipment away irom tne Ti^hting front_all right, but had to abandon a good deal of it in the streets of Namsos, This - because of the constant Nazi air attack. It is apparent that the retreat from Namsos was planned in advance, along with yesterday.1 s withdrawal from Andalsnes, further to the south. The French units evacuated Namsos yesterday - the British following today. The most plausible reports seem to be that the retiring units are going to Narvik, the iron ore port two hundred miles north of the Arctic Circle, wiG join the fight A against the Germans there. However, another rumor states the destination Is a small Norwegian port^to the north of Namsos - ft* the Allies to take up a position there. are continuing the Norwegian campaign, but doing it away up in the north, It may be that Great Britain will not permit Norway to become a mere sideshow, as was promised by Prime Minister Chamberlain yesterday. But it will be a decidedly Arctic hie show. Norwegian^ Storiesyfrom Namso ^tell of N^n^e units fi the fugitive gover is with theVCermans. hear EUROPE Todays second Allied retreat only redoubles the result oi the iirst withdrawal yesterday. It increases the scope of the failure ot t ~re Franco-British camppign in Central Norway. It puts the southern half of that Scandinavian kingdom more firmly in the clutch of the Nazis. It emphasizes the strategic element — Hitler!s control of the eastern coasts of the North Sea — sea bases and air bases .^Then there*s the effectthe Allied nations. Yesterday1s® is* event caused theyg~to~' torn predicts# in Londtm that the Charaberlian 4 cabinet might be outsted — unless prompt good news came from Norway. We*ve just heard the news that came today, -^t increases the prospect of parliamentary trouble for the ^rime Minister. On Tuesday^w ‘jface® the commons for a full debate on the Norwegian failure. Things A ctre even more precarious for Premier Renaud in Paris. He had a slender hold on the Chamber of Deputies to begin witn, and the Norwegian affair is not likely to land .him any strength. H-w /r What about the countries to the south — the Mediterranean and Balkan areas? id to .'iag? Oe>«aay>. KURQBE - 2 London and Paris are worried about the possibility of another swift Hitler stroke to the south, Berlin today made noisy charges — tnat tne Allies were pla ;ning to extend the war to the Balkans and Mediterranean. This may possibly mean the familiar $azi strategy ol accusing the other fellow of what you1re afeout to do yourself. ►tut the number one center of uncertainty continues to be — Italy. Wot that there was any particular agitation in Mussolini»s land today*but,some might consider the condition one of ominous !ll:J 5 steamed quiet, j Meanwhile powerful squadrons of the Allied fleefnxixsamKii into the harbor of Alexandria today, in the naval redistribution announced by Prime minister Chamberlain yesterday — keeping an eye on Mussolini.}Q1SL Italian naval and air units are reported to T - be concentrated at the Dodacenese Islands^— those is^a»4* of s crategically Greece which are Italian owned — and are-XixaiE&iaix situated in /\ /J the Eastern Mediterranean ITALY busiest kind of diplomatic activity between tne United States and Italy, but there*s also the profoundest kind of secrecy. The nearest thing to information was procured from President Koosevelt today, but it was the kind of illumination that kept things in the dark. The President stated that the Washington Government is working actively to keep the European War from spreading to Italy and the Mediterranean. He referred to the general policy of this nation as one trying to keep the conflict from extending beyond its present bounds. The full weight of American influence is directed to that end. Beyond that, the President would say nothing - no explanation of the kind of moves our State Department may be making in the direction of Home. The President was asked about the story we had yesterday - the report that the United States has informed Mussolini that American shipping may be withdrawn from the Mediterranean. TH9 answer ara.3^ in effect^ nNo comment .TT Unable to get anything much at the White House, tne newspaper men shot some questions at that monument of silence, ITALY - 2 Unaer Secretary of State Sumner Welles. I don*t suppose they had much hope, in which case they weren«t greatly disappointed. Welles answered no comment. It is known, however, that he took part in a conference that President Roosevelt had with the Italian Ambassador to Washington. This happened along with conferences in Rome, between. American Ambassador Phillips and Premier Mussolini Phillips also tws consulted with Count Ciano - twice, and he had a talk with the British Charge dfAffaires. The report in Rome is that our Ambassador has sent to Washington, an extended report telling the result of these various diplomatic talks - a report ten thousand words long. This afternoon Ambassador Phillips went to Florence to see Myron Taylor, President Roosevelt’s personal representative 4 at the Vatican.^Taylor^ tn tu»^|~has been in conference with prominent Vatican ecclesiastics. This, of oourse, ties in with the efforts that Pope Pius the Twelfth has been making to keep Italy from going into the war. And that’s in accord with American policy as expressed by. President, Roosevel'fei A BQIJBING A picture of sky bombing was given to us today in the log of an American merchant ship. S.S. FLYING FISH was in tbe Norwegian harbor of Bergen, when the Germans took the port. And the FLYING FISH remained there during sufcs equent fighting. The ship returned home today, and N.B.C. had quite a radio scoop in putting the captain and members cf the crew-on the air/ They told about the German seizure, and about British air raids that followed. A Nazi cruiser and a munitions ship were sunk by bombs. Herefs how the war of sea and sky is described in the shipTs log. It tells how early in the morning Allied planes flew over Bergen and rained bombs on Nazi naval vessels in the harbor. nOne German cruiser,n says the log, nwas hit amidships between its funnels. Clouds of smoke and flames were seen to rise from the cruiser, and an explosion was heard.11 The log of the FLYING FISH continues the story in nautical terms:- nThe cruiser,” it says, nbegan listing to forward and sinking by the head, as flames rose to a height of about a hundred feet. The cruiserfs head sank deeper and deeper,” the story goes on, "maning ka forty-five degree starboard list, her stern projecting into the air, showing her propellers.” BOMBING - 2 A Nazi supply ship, craiamed with munitions, was hit and olew up. it burned for a day and a half with explosions occurring all the time.» DEFENSE ' President had his say today concerning the problem of bombing plane versus battleship. I suppose we can picture Franklin Delano Roosevelt speaking, not so much as President, but more specifically - as the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States. He was queried about the statement made by Secretary of the Navy Edison, who said that at the present moment the war plane enjoyed a temporary advantage over the battleship. President said he thought that any such temporary advantage of the sky over the sea would be offset by the development of new defensive armor and armament for the battleship. Progress along that line will even the difference between ships of the air and ships of the ocean. His military philosophy was that offensive and defensive weapons would follow the same process of evolution which they’ve always followed - attack having the edge, and then defense catching up. He pointed to Civil War experience, when the MONITOR defeated the MERRIMAC. That caused the MONITOR to be hailed as an invincible weapon of naval warfare. Presently, however. the MONITOR DEFENSE _ 2 revealed plenty of weakness and turned out to be unseaworthy - just a cheese box on a raft. He also cited first V<orld War experience when the German U-boat was away ahead as a weapon of attack. But as the war went on, an effective defense was developed, which greatly cut down the submarine peril. Today, in a similar way, the evolutionary laws of attack and defense apply to the conflict of aircraft and surface craft - a conflict that has been waged so intensively in Norwegian waters. What about the aircraft defense as applied to our own new warships? In Congressional circles it has been suggested that we ought to delay our warship building program - until the problem of protection against sky attack ha's been studied further. The chiefs of the Navy are admitting that fleet units already planned will have to be redesigned to make them safe against bombers. Notwithstanding this. President stated today that there A will be no delay in our warship building program. New devices of aircraft defense will be employed - but no delay in building. The President said that we are learning things from war DEFENSE __ 3 experience in Europe, and our armament experts are taking to heart tM: lesions learned from the military clash abroad. For example - ^ .1 'V.n fighting airplanes need improvement' — heavier guns, bulle t-proof gasoline tanks, armored prot ect ion«,for the While^^thae President was sayir^ this. General Arnold, ^ A A Chief of the Army Air Corps, was telling puch the same thing to a Senate sub-committee. He tackled the ‘question of how American built warplanes used by the Allies were standing up against the military aircraft of Nazi Germany. He stated that the American planes had the advantage of having x more durable construction, longer range, and the ability to -fly further per gaXlon of gasoline. If They are also more maneuverable and have a^onger life. On the other hand, American aircraft builders must adopt some of the features embodied in tne i^azi fighting planes. They must have a heavier firing power - like thirty-seven millimeter guns. These are small, rapid firing cannon, no mere machine guns. Our planes must.beL^* better armor to shield the crews from bullets. And they must have the kind of gasoline tank which is made non-leaKabn DEFI l NSK - 4 gas won t leak out through bullet holes and catch fire. These aircraft features are important elements in the strength of Nazi German air power, and General Arnold said that most of them will be embodied in the nineteen hundred combat planes u.s. which were recently ordered by the^Army- neral Arbold made \one statenlent which has a IhLgnificHJit that koine America 'lanes, us d by th British\and Fr^hch, have already bee vwith theyneeded provements. ^nd these, he atated, show Ifcixx his woulh seem to beYthat the N V k craft un&il noV have had at ledet some degree of superiority mselves FAnLEY Post master Jim Farley grew lyrical today - and why not? He wasnf t talking about politics. On the subject of election probabilities, Jim is largely statistical. The theme of the Farley eloquence was - "My Old Kentucky Home." Ah, how soulful! u Today in fact the Postmaster General was a£ My Old Kentucky Home. He presided at a ceremony in the town of Bardstown. It was there that Stephen Foster composed his immortal ballad - "We will sing one song," and so on. The occasion was the release of the first issue of commemorative postage scamps k in honor of Stephen Foster. They were put on sale at the Bardstown Post Office - by.PM.G. himself. A ___ c^w-vajp. And naturally Jim Farley made .a speech^ would have been more appropriate if he had sung a song - and you know what song. Just imagine Postmaster Jim raising his voice and singing in a good old-fashioned Irish tenor;— "Weep no more my lady, weep no more today." That would be so soulful that it v.ould maK.e us all weep. As it was, Jim came mighty near to singing - so lyrical was his flowing prose. Said he. •- "Our musicians, perhaps more than FAKLKX - 2 any other class of men, have made us inwardly happy.” Yes, L ^ ^ a wf c^‘ t. A.*.* .JL* - X j CL # that deep inward happiness, Jimi How we feel it - except when the jazz band begins to blast our ears. But Stephen Foster, bless ju £> wm all breathed a sigh of his memory, did not write jazz, to i«±±ixa±±xfexgafchx3txjLi.s&fcx»i A" approvalas the Farley eloquence on with these words: n0f all the poets and minstrels,” said he, ”none has done more than Stephen Foster to make us more simply, more universally, aware of our deeper national emotions.” W^> w >J s A sc JQ\^ yHirtL from Jim; and- now something from ftogfa James.