McCormick messenger. (McCormick, S.C.) 1902-current, September 29, 1938, Image 2
McCORMICK MESSENGER. McCORMICK. S. C.. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1938
MARS COUNTS NOSES
ARMIES
RUSSIA
NAVIES
GREAT BRITAIN
Regular Army ... 1,600,000
Reserves •'•••• 18,000,000
Tonnage: 1,758,478
(Including 20 Battleships)
19,600,000
ITALY
Regular Army A • • 658,000
Air Force 50,000
: Reserves • • • • • 6,300,000
UNITED STATES
Tonnage: 1,407,945
(Including 17 Battleships)
7,008,000
FRANCE
Regular Army . . . • 658,000
Air Force • • • • • 50,000
Reserves • • • • • 5,500,000
JAPAN
Tonnage: 898,691
(Including 10 Battleships)
6,208,000
GERMANY
Regular Army .... 900,000
(Inciuding Air Force)
Reserves • • . • • 300,000
Nasi Units 2,400,000
FRANCE
Tonnage: 699,342
(Including 9 Battleships)
3,600,000
GREAT BRITAIN
Regular Army • • • • 292,000
Air Foree •••••• 75,000
. Reserves •••••• 550,000
ITALY
Tonnage: 668,668
(Including 8 Battleships)
917,000
UNITED STATES
Regular Army . • • • 177,000
(Including Air Force)
National Guard • » • • 195,000
Reserves •••••-• 100,000
472,000
GERMANY
Tonnage: 438,364
(Including 10 Battleships)
Despite the fearsome thunderings of Adolf Hitler and Benito
Mussolini, a paradox of war-mad Europe is that the foes of
Germany and Italy have far superior military equipment.
Though Rome and Berlin may shout and boast, a cold anal
ysis of comparative strength shows that the inevitable “allies”
can eventually defeat them in a war which might last as long
as two years.
This fact has long gone unnoticed. It was not brought out
until a few weeks ago when Germany opened her autumn
maneuvers and began looking with hostile eyes at little Czecho
slovakia, whose Sudeten German minority has allegedly been
discriminated against.
Though Czechoslovakia herself is weak, though even Great
Britain has a surprisingly small armed force, the mighty power
of Russia and France is some
thing to be reckoned with. Rus
sia cannot afford to throw her
entire ..weight against a Euro
pean foe, because the threat of
Japan necessitates mainte
nance of a.good-sized force in
tjie Far East. But the Soviet
military machine is a wonder
of the modem world.
In her weakened condition
from the Chinese conflict,
Japan cannot be considered
an important factor in any
current European war. The
above figures on- ^comparative mili
tary strength — furnished by the
United States army and navy de
partments—do not even list Japan’s
land forces for this reason. Tokyo’s
only power lies in whatever “nui
sance value" she might provide in
Siberia to help her Fascist allies,
Germany and Italy.
U. S. by Comparison.
Figures on America’s military
power are provided only for com
parative purposes. Though the
United States has abandoned her
policy of complete isolation, her
neutrality position is stronger than
it was in the World war, when
American aid was» deemed neces
sary to crush Germany’s imperial
ism.
Thus the lineup of great powers
finds Germany and Italy on one
side, opposed by Great Britain,
France and Russia. Such European
countries as Jugo-Slavia, Rumania
and Hungary are minor factors.
Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Den
mark and Finland have, avowed
their intention of escaping compli
cations.
Here, then, are the figures. In
actual army strength — including
standing forces, airmen and re
serves—Russia, France and Great
Britain have 26,725,000 men. Italy
and Germany have less than half,
or 10,725,000.
Great Britain’s navy is alone big
ger than the combined fleets of Italy
and Germany, whose tonnage is
1,107,032. Britain’s 1,758,478 tons,
plus 699,342 tons from France,
makes an opposition force of 2,457,-
820 tpns. Some of this naval equip
ment will not be ready to use for
several months, but the actual ratio
at the present time is about the
same..
In air strength, the “allies" have
15,400 planes, while Germany and
Italy together have 11,500.
A Week or a Year.
It is interesting, though admitted
ly horrifying, to contemplate how
long a genera] European conflict
could continue. Several years ago
the Italian general staff made the
rash prediction that the next war
would be finished within a week.
This belief was based on the rising
importance of fast planes, gas, long
distance guns and other fiendish
implements of Mars.
But the theory has not been borne
out in the three conflicts the world
has seen these past five years. It
aly’s campaign to capture Ethiopia
lasted an amazingly long time, con
sidering the crude type of opposition
offered by Haile Selassie’s forces.
And in China the Japs have met
with similar resistance. Shanghai
was not captured overnight by a
terrific bombing attack; the cam
paign lasted closer to five months.
The most striking example of
modern warfare is in Spain, where
two powerful forces are fighting
their battles along tactics similar
to those used in the World war. Ma
drid was bombed hundreds of times
and still found itself able to hold
out against Generalissimo Franco’s
rebel troops.
Thus, militarists of 1938 are of the
opinion that warfare has not
changed much in the past 20 years.
As in the World war, the doughboy
is the most vital factor in land con
flict. A similar comparison can be
made on the sea, where the battle
ship is still the backbone of the
fleet despite mighty naval planes.
“Ersatz" to the Fore.
Perhaps thp major difference be
tween 1918 and 1938 is that gold is
not now so important. The “allies"
have behind them a gold reserve
almost 30 times the value of that of
Germany and Italy, but the latter
two countries now boast of their
RIGHT—How France and Ger
many face each other with their
amazing Maginot and Siegfried
lines. BELOW—Czech soldiers,
small in number but great in brave
ry, stand ready to defend their na
tion against German aggression.
PLANES
RUSSIA
7,000
GERMANY
6,500
GREAT BRITAIN
5,000
ITALY
5,000
.
UNITED STATES
3,850
FRANCE
3,400
JAPAN
3,000
chemists who can manufacture “er
satz" or substitute materials of war.
These products relieve them of
some worry in the event of block
ade, but there are certain essen
tials—like oil and cotton—which ev
ery nation must have to carry on
successful warfare.
The discouraging inevitability of
war has been growing in Europe’s
consciousness for five years, and
out of that inevitability have arisen
new methods of defense unparal
leled in history. England, which is
especially invulnerable to modern
aircraft, has developed her “ARP"
(air raids precaution) program to
the pqint where almost every man,
woman and child kpows how to han
dle a gas mask. She has built bomb
proof and gas-proof cellars with fe
verish haste, constructed new coast
defenses and trained expert anti
aircraft gunners.
But these precautions are minor
compared to those of France, Ger
many and Czechoslovakia with
their amazing “lines." Between 1929
and 1936, France employed 15,000
men to construct the Maginot line,
a series of underground fortifica
tions which extend from Belgium to
Switzerland, aimed to protect the
country against invasion from Ger
many.
When the September crisis first
broke, France rushed hundreds of
thousands of men into this line and
Germany answered by hastening
work on a similarly startling series
of fortifications, the Siegfried line
-
lllfM
Aunt Tibby's
Trunk
By
D. J. WALSH
Copyright—WNU Service.
“DUT, Mazie,” remarked Bert
Howard to his pretty little
wife, “it isn’t quite fair that Aunt
Tibby should want to come back
so soon; it’s less than three weeks
since she left, and she had been
here six months. I have no ob
jections to your aunt; she’s a nice
old lady, if a bit eccentric, but
you always work so hard enter
taining her that you wear yourself
out. Between worrying over her
comfort and fussing about the
safety of that old cowhide trunk,
home becomes a place of torment
for me instead of a haven of rest.”
And then Mazie, whose bobbed
crown of glory was decidedly of
the shade beloved by Titian, and
with a temper to correspond,
replied thus: “If you were proper
ly interested in the welfare of
your family you’d want to keep
Aunt Tibby here all the time! Do
you fancy that she herself would
be so particular about that old
cowhide trunk, as you are pleased
to call it, if it didn’t contain valu
ables? She told me—no, I won’t
say she exactly told me, but she
gave me to understand, and, I
know all the family have the same
impression—that in it she carries
her stocks and bonds. She has
bequeathed the trunk to the one
in whose home she happens to
die."
“Mazie!” exclaimed Bert, put
ting his arms around his wife,
“waiting for ’dead men’s shoes’
is sorry^ business! Do what you
can for your aunt without making
your family unhappy, but put all
such ideas as you’ve just men
tioned out of mind; they* are un
worthy of you!” and Bert stopped
to kiss his wife good-by.
The first evening of Aunt Tib-
by’s arrival Mazie began, “Bar
bara! do sit still! You’ll make
Aunt Tibby nervous!” or “John!
don’t walk so heavy!"
Aunt Tibby had been with them
several weeks when she came
down with a cold. The doctor called
pronounced the trouble pneumo
nia. “Which at her age," said
he (Aunt Tibby was 86), “is a
serious matter. You had better
get a nurse.” Aunt Tibby had been
so humored by her niece, howev
er, that the nurse could do little
to suit her, and Mazie was obliged
to fetch and carry, to run up and
down stairs until, ten days later,
Aunt Tibby sank into her last
sleep.
After the funeral the relatives
who had gathered from far and
near demanded that the will be
read at once. So the old cowhide
trunk was brought down to the
living room and opened in the
presence of all. It contained Un
cle David’s army uniform, a few
books, half a dozen packages of
old newspapers—and a long let
ter written by Aunt Tibby herself.
This was addressed to her rela
tives in general and was a sort of
confession. In it she stated that
her income since Uncle David’s
death had been limited to a pen
sion of $6 a month. That in some
way the story had been circulated
that this old trunk contained valu
ables and she had never contra-
On the Highway
It is a curious trait in human
nature that we will take off our
hats when a woman enters an
elevator, and be most apolo
getic if we bump into somebody
inadvertently; but the instant
we get our hands on a steering
wheel we damn all mankind—
woman and man alike.
Too often, we are inclined to
look upon traffic guides and
regulations as irritating restric
tions designed primarily to
keep us from having a good
time, when the truth of the
matter is, they have been de
vised solely for our convenience
and comfort.
dieted it, fearing if she told the
truth some one might put her in
an old ladies’ home, an institu
tion she detested. She trusted her
relatives would pardon her and
that the old trunk would be kept
for her sake; that it might prove
a magic casket to the owner, just
as it had to her.
The trunk was left with Mazie,
as she was the only person who
displayed the least desire to pos
sess it. After everyone had de
parted she threw her arms around
her husband’s neck and cried,
“Oh, Bert, can you ever forgive
me?" Judging by the sigh of con
tentment she uttered Bert’s an
swer was satisfactory.
Aunt Tibby was right; the trunk
did prove a magic casket for Ma
zie. It stood in the upstairs hall
where she had to pass it many
times a day and whenever she
was seized with envy, stubborn
ness or a desire for finery she
could not afford, one glance at
the old trunk was sufficient to dis
pel such feelings in a twinkling.
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