THE MICHIGAN DI~LY 1M l(M .14
Eft 1, 1444
Interpreting The World News:1
Defeat Of German Army At Rostov
May Prove Crushing Blow To Hitler'
ASSOCIATED
PUCTuURE
-
PRESS
NEWSRL ILIM
By KIRKE L. SIMPSON and all other anti-Axis oil specialists
(Associated Press Staff' Writer)now seems to be that, due to the un-
Aside from its prestige significance } expected terrific drain on German oil
as the first real Nazi military set-back sources and reserves in the prolonged
of the war, the German retreat from Russian campaign, Iitler is getting
Rostov under furious Russian coun- close to the bottom of the tank. Some
authorities estimate that he cannot
ter-attacks is a major disaster for have, even now, enough fuel to keep'
Hitler. going on all war fronts simultane-
Unless Russian, British, American ously for more than a few months
and all other students of Nazi war longer.
economy are wrong, dwindling oil Nazis Off Schedule
reserves led Germany to attemp't'the That the Rostov defeat has short-
Russian "crusade," circuited the German war schedule in
Only in lush Russian fields along Russia goes without saying. Just how
the far distant Caspian Sea could Hit- badly it has been thrown out of
ler find the oil essential not only to gear depends largely on the accuracy{
his vast tear effort but to his pro- of these estimates of Nazi oil con-
claimed "new order" economy in Eur- sumption and reserves, and upon howI
ope. long it might take them to turn the
Germans Had Neared Goal tables on the Russians in the Cau-
'With Nazi forces knocking at the casus if they concentrate all efforts
Rostov gate to the Caucasus and also there.
menacing it on the flank from the One thing is very clear. It is that
Crimea, the Germans were danger-
ously close to their goal. Yet close S
students of world oil sources and sup-.y
plies estimate that Hitler even then
was perilously close to oil starvation PhsIl e a d
of much of his war machine.
Columns of figures have been mar-1 WASHINGTON, Dec. 6-(A7)-The
shalled to prove the point. Among Navy relaxed its physical standards
them perhaps the most impressive for recruits today in an effort to in-
are~ from Russian sources up to thecraenlsm t.
time of the Hitler turn-about against crease enlistments.
Russia, Soviet representatives dicker- Unr ailents hetofore con-
ing with the Germans over trade pacts tain minor ailments heretofore con.
must have learned with reasonable sdered a bar to enlistment will be
acuracy these points: the amount accepted and, when necessary, the]
of German oil reserves; the capacity defects will be corrected.
linits of Nazi synthetic fuel plants; Defects which no longer will dis-'
the effect of sporadic British bombing qualify a prospective recruit include
of such plants on the output. Oil variococele, hydrocele, hernia (pro-
ofasuh prantscommodity the G - vided the applicant has an intelli-
was sh rn hr - de- gence quotient of 75 or better), nasal
ns south hi their peasrn neag- deformity, and seasonal hay fever
ings with their great eastern neigh- (provided it is not complicated.)
bor. They probably had to lay their (__s___.
cards on the table to get it.
And the consensus of bothRussian 1--~~-~--
if Hitler's oil need is as great and as
urgent as these calculations indicate.
he must now center his war effort
southward in Russia even at the cost
of greatly curtailing it elsewhere or
that long and winter-ridden East
Front.
i Neither German, Russian nor any
other advices have yet given any clear
indication of Nazi steps designed to
cope with the Rostov disaster. The
first necessity was to halt the Russian
drive somehow. Berlin now admits
that Nazi armies in the Crimea and
Italian and other allied units were
calleci upon to help stabilize the fight-
ingkines somewhere west of Tagan-
rog.
Will Concentrate Effort i
Behind that effort, however, must
lie German staff arrangements to fo-
cus everything on the Don-Crimean
front and side doors to the Caucasus
within the days or weeks ahead.
There remain some weeks of relatively]
good fighting weather on that flank'
as against the winter grip already
clutching 'the rest of the Russian
front from Leningrad south.
Just how and where the Nazi at-
tempt to write off the Russian Ros-
toy 'victory will come can onlybe
guessed at. That it will come and
soon cannot be doubted, however, if
Hitler's oil reserves are being exhaust-
ed even half as rapidly as oil experts
on both sides of the Atlantic believe.
Newman Club Breakfast
The Newman Club's first commun-
ion breakfast of the year will be high-
lighted by an address by Rev. Harry
Paul, editoi- of the Michigan Catholic,
on the Catholic press. William O'-
Brien, '45, is in charge of the event
which will open a three day retreat.
TAKE YOUR CHOICE' , C O U N TER -C L O C KW S5E-M embers of the Tarpon club of Florida state college in Tallti-
hassee, who are famed for their formation swimming, can handle formations on land, as well.
Former Professor
W'rites Best Seller
One of America's current best-
sellers and the December choice of
the Book-of-the-Month Club, was
written by a foimer member of the
University of Michigans faculty, now
at the University of California.
This novel work, Storm, is unique
in its treatment of a great wind as
an individual. The author of this
new book is Professor George Stew-
art, who was affiliated with the Eng-
lish Department in 1922-23. Prof.
Stewart isr married to the former
Theodosia Burton, '24, daughter of
the late President Marion L. Burton.
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11,
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D A KrA R V I E W-Hints that Hitler may try to put Dakar
(above), important French West African port only 1,620 miles
from Natal, Brazil, under Nazi domination are heard since ouster of.
Gen. Maxime Weygand, who opposed concessions to Axis powers.
4
11
It
's
Coming
. . .
f
D E E R A D O P T S F A MI L Y-"Baby" needs no introduc-
tion to the Mrs. William Wadkins family of Auburn, Wash., for
he's a special pet-and has been since his mother abandoned him
in a cow pasture, and, Mrs. Wadkins brought him home.
Gargoyle's
Take-off
11
On Mademoiselle
* A Men's Parody On The Women's Esquire
*'The Little Girl Who Made Good' In Pictures
* Leg Art And Personality
25c
Garg
S
Biggest Issue
P A S S I N G E S T P A S S E R-In "civvies" after a strenuous
gridiron season, Wilson "Bud" Schwenk, halfback at Washington
university in St. Louis, shows the grip that helped him set a new
national college record for pass completions. His mark for the
season was 103, and -that's a lot of passes for the book. A senior,
Schwenk measures 6'1" and tips the scales at 195 pounds.
BEE INE THROUGH P IN ES-Pinewoods nearSouth
Carolina's Pee Dee river fail to halt light tank engaged in war drill.
It
El II