WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16, 1944 THE MICHIGAN fDAILY PAGE THREE Initial Resistance Fails To Materialize in Southern rance ndications Of Struggle Not Present By KENNETH L. DIXON Associated Press Correspondent WITH ALLIED FORCES ATTACK- ING SOUTHERN FRANCE, Aug. 15 -Until a few hours before troops stormed ashore today in southern France, the coastal defenses of the underbelly of Hitler's Europe appear- ed about twice as tough as those en- countered in Normandy. But the expected resistance failed to mater- ialize. I watched the landings from a B-25 *Mitchell bomber 1,000 feet above the beaches. Signs Lacking As far as twenty miles inland there was a consistent lack of any sign of struggle to mark the entire rugged landscape. From my vantage point, it appeared that the new Allied blows to liberate France were meeting al- most no resistance in the first stages. Preliminary reconnaissance indi- cated shore defenses would form a hard shell, not too well supported from behind. Twice during recent days I have flown over those defen- ses in reconnaissance planes. They were bristling with guns behind heavy emplacements. However, I saw few indications of strong de- fenses farther inland.I It still seems incredible that wel were not fired upon as we flew in with the gliders and parachute troops. It is also strange that the naval ships and landing craft un- loading their cargos of men and equipment should not be showered1 with enemy fire. Shore Defenses Neutralized Apparently both the air forces and navy did a powerful job of neutral- izing those shore defenses during the thundering three-hour bombardment before the landing assault. Along the entire coastal sector an- ti-aircraft batteries were so densely. packed a few days ago that planes1 officially recorded flak as "intense." Yet no one aboard the plane from1 which I watched the assault saw a single shot fired or any sign of activity as the gliders landed. Pilots who carried parachute troops, over also reported they encountered2 no fire and all planes apparently re- turned safely.1 Cracking of the outer shell was impossible until a few hours beforei the, actual landings started. Other-E wise, the bombardment would havec telegraphed the punch.R V42 Men Asked To Sign for Union Cards Registration for Union membership1 will be held today for members of V-12 on the halfdecks outside the messhalls from 11:30 a. m. to 1 p. m. today. All men who have not yet received their complementary cards of Union membership are urged to register ati this time. ALLIES ENTER FLORENCE-Spearheaded by a S outh African tank unit of the Eighth Army, Allied forces enter the Italian city of Florence on Aug. 14. Porta Romano is at left. This is a British official photo. ALLIED SPY NEST: Street in Heart of Rome Is Used as Center Of pyActivitly During Nazi Occupation U.S. Bombers Blast Nip Bases In Kurile Isles Shipping, Air Fields, Defense Positions Hit J By The Associated Press WASHINGTON, Aug. 15-Pound- ing the north Pacific Kurile Islands on two consecutive days, American bombers blasted shipping, airfield in- stallations and defense positions on Paramushiro, Shumushu and Araido Islands Friday and Saturday, the Navy reported today. Shipping was struck near Para- mushiro and Araido, northwest of Paramushiro, on both days. A pa- trol vessel was sunk by strafing near Araido in the first reported attack on the Japanese positions there. Between 15 and 20 enemy fighter planes attempted to halt the 11th Army Air Force Liberators carry- ing out the Friday raids, but succeed- ed in inflicting only minor damage on two of the big bombers. The Navy reported that three of the enemy planes were shot down, five probably shot down and two damaged. Several enemy fighters also at- tempted to intercept the Ventura search planes which struck Araido but did not press home their at- tacks. Three Venturas were dam- aged slightly. The Navy also reported that an "aggressive group" of enemy fighters was encountered by another bomber flight which struck far to the south Sunday at Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands, about 700 miles south of Tokyo. Allies Hark Back To Napoleon's Day By The Associated Press The Allies, in landing in southern France, may be attempting a strategy similar to that of Napoleon's. Napoleon, escaping from a short exile on the island of Elba, landed with 1,000 men near Cannes on March 1, 1815, in the gulf now named for him, and began the 100-day cam- paign to reconquer the throne of France. Knowing his enemies would expect him to take the easier path up the narrow Rhone Valley, he deliberate- ly struck across the difficult French Alps. The French rallied to him and he made speedy progress. The cam- paign ended at Waterloo, north of Paris. A rarely publicized war is being fought in the South Pacific theatre against the 300,000 to 14,000,000 fun- go which exist in every ounce of surface soil, the millions in the air and on materials. Valuable equip- ment can easily be injured by the growth of these microscopic but ever- present plants, according to reports from Army Ordnance Depot at Fort Wayne, Michigan.. Fungi thrive in humid heat. Hence, in the Pacific theatres where rain is an almost daily occurrence, the hu- midity is high, and the heat oppres- Final Plans for Semi-Formal Being Made Final plans for the semi-formal dance to be held from 8:30 p. m. to 11:30 p. m. in the Union Ballroom are now being made by the somber Scholarship Committee, according to Jim Plate, chairman. Army and Navy men will be given late permission to attend the dance provided they purchase their tickets in advance and can show them to the officer granting permission. Tick- ets will be on sale in front of the general library today, tomorrow and Friday. They may also be purchased at the League. and Union. The Un- ion sales will be conducted from 5 p. in. to 7 p. m. today and from 10 a. m. to" noon on Friday. Ralph Wilson's "sweet and swing" band will be on hand to play every- one's favorite numbers. Jean Brooks will do the vocals. Iced gingerale will be sold by the Bomber Commit-- tee throughout the evening as well as at intermission. Members of the Junior Girl's Pro- ject Central Committee, headed by Jean Hotchkin, are assisting the Bomber Committee. Other JGP workers are Nora McLaughlin, Betty Vaughn, Paula Brower, Joyce Sie- gan, and Tady Martz. All proceeds of the dance will. be turned into war bonds which will be converted to scholarships for return- ing Michigan veterans. "The Bomb- er fund is a student project," Plate said. "This dance is a means of support- ing the fund and having an enjoy- able evening at the same time," he' added. sive these minute spores will germi- nate and. spread the. threads of the fungus over the surface of sub- stances-and sometimes through them. The variety of organic acids produced by fungi during their growth can etch away the surface of metals and may attack even such inert material as glass. As for their rotting, everyone is familiar with their work on textiles, wood and leather stored in a damp basement here at home. Fungi make no fine discriminations as to the type of material they will attack. They have impaired many lenses used in optical instruments, such as binoculars, range and height finders, and other sighting equip- ment. This material is waterproof but not airtight. It expands in the hot daylight hours, contracts dur- ing the cool night. Moisture is suck- ed into the optical instrument and will carry with it many of these microscopic forms of life, and the moisture will furnish them with the necessary nourishment, for their de- velopment. As the growth develops, the acids produced may etch the surface of the lens. Even when the fungous growth is very carefully removed, the, lens is often discolored,, and its usefulness is greatly reduced if. not entir-ely de- stroyed. This phenomenon had been ob- served years before by Philipino teachers in these tropic areas, when microseopes, in classrooms were at- tacked by the fungi. Much work has 'been done and re- search is continually being pursued by the Research and Development Service of the Ordnance Depot toward protecting material and sup- plies in the tropics, "Army Ordnance," said Colonel Adamson of the Fort Wayne, Ord- nance Depot," is making considerable progress in the control and treat- ment of fungous growths in optical instruments and other items of Ord- nance materials. The coxnplete solu- tion of the problem has not. yet been found. OUR MILITARY STYLES are designed to A.-youindividual tastes and need. New students are welcomed. Try our services. THE DASCOLA BARBERS Liberty off State ANOTHER WAR: American South Pacific Troops Contantly Battle Against Fungi By The Associated Press ROME, Aug. 9 (Delayed)- Via Margutta is a narrow little high- walled tree-shaded street hidden in the heart of Rome, a street of tiny taverns, of shoemaker shops and courtyards, shut off by huge gates with iron grills. Behind those gates and the stone walls are homes, apartments terraced one about another, flower gardens, rambling paths and alleyways that disappear into dim buildings farther behind the trees and finally up into the hills behind Rome. The little street provides the per- fect scene for the modern legend which has sprung up about it. English Predominates "During the Nazi occupation," Ro- mans tell you, "there was more Eng- lish than Italian or German spoken along the Via Margutta." And while that undoubtedly is a slight exagger- ation, still it is founded on fact, and it typifies the cockeyed conditions of espionage, counter - espionage and double-barreled intrigue which has been commonplace in Rome through- out the war. For years everyone has known that the German Gestapo operated in strength throughout the Italian cap- ital-from its cafe society to its un- derworld and sometimes the gap be- tween them was not so large. Germans Outwitted For months reporters covering this campaign have known that Allied espionage experts were practically commuting between the frontlines and Rome. For that matter, the Germans knew it too but either they couldn't catch them or prove it when they occasionally did get hold of one of our topnotch spies. I know of one such- spy who main- tained an apartment in Rome and a. couple of others who had difficulty explaining-in. triplicate-under ex- pense accounts why hotel rooms in Rome cost more than those in Naples. I know still another-who sat in the bar of the Grand Hotel sipping brandy and soda and yawning while' high Nazi officers frantically packed their bags and pulled out of Rome. Used as Spy Nest But still it is hard to believe such. stories-unless you see the Via Mar- gutta and its facilities for intrigue. American and British spies, Italian and Yugoslav Partisans, neutral Swiss and anti-fascist Romans lived here. There are a host of hideaways in every house and almost every building has several secret exists. The apartment where Ed Kennedy, A.P. bureau chief in Italy, now lives while in Rome has an escape avenue through the roof. It leads out over other roofs and disappears in a maze of tiled gables and concealing vines. Gestapo Makes Raids Also on Via Margutta, the building where A. P. reporters George Tucker and Lynn, Heinzerling make their headquarters when in the capital city is - similarly equipped for in- trigue. The windows can be used for lookouts covering every possible public approach to the building or for escape routes. The thick wooden doors have little iron grilled windows in them for identifying visitors- reminiscent of prohibition speak- easies. The Germans knew about Via Margutta. The Gestapo used to shake the street down regularly and stage "surprise" raids every now and then, but the tip-off and lookout systems usually worked. By the time Himmler's hirelings got inside the houses, everything was in order-not a questionable character in sight. But in between times the voice which floated down from the win- dows above Via Margutta's cobbled street were as apt to be English as Italian or German. Engineers Will Hold Election Elections for class representatives to the Engineering Council, student government body of the School of Engineering, will be held to'dy from 8 a. m. to 3:30 p. m. at polls located under the Engine Arch.. Those council represenatives elect- ed from the Freshman hand Sopho- more classes will serve in office un- til their graduation or for the dura- tion. This new procedure which the Council has adopted for the dura- tion was made. necessary because of the constant turnover in' the student body of the school, according to Council member Charles Walton. Those seeking election of the Sophomore ballot are Robert Dolph, Fred Dyson, Bennet Housman, Rich- ard Mixer and Jack Podliashek. Freshman up for election next Wed- nesday are Bruce Bugbee, Theodore Wellerson, Richard Stewart, Walter Bergner, Moose Dunne, and Arthur Shef. Speech Students Will Be Cited Students in the Department of Speech who are applicants for de- grees at the end of the present Sum- mer Session or Summer Term will be cited. at the assembly of the Depart- ment at 3 p.m. today in the Rackham Amphitheatre. Prof. K. G. Hance, concentration adviser in Speech, will present the students who expect to receive the bachelor's tiegree, and Professor L.M. Eich, graduate adviser, the students eligible for the master's degree. A talk on the social aspects of radio delivered by Robert L. Shayon. Producer-Director of the Columbia Broadcasting System will conclude the program. Michigan Strikes Show Large Increase in July LANSING, Aug. 15 - (.P) - The number of strikes in Michigan indu- stries increased from June to July but fell far short of the Michigan record set in May, the state labor mediation board reported today. The board said there were 57 strikes in July, involving 58,236 work- ers. In June, there were 40 strikes and 13,981 workers idle, while in May the record number of 80 strikes and 71,- 062 persons idle was noted. CLASSIFIED ( r y al K' I,; Beaut F 1 4 4 ice Powder Is "tiiJf ptHP~k~ IN OU R NEW CAMPUS CASUA L SU IT by JAUNTY THE BLAZER SUIT OF THE YEAR! Soft wool flannel man-tailored jacket and new wrap-around skirt in contrasting colors, with piping to highlight the youthful lines. Brown with aqua, beige with brown, grey with green, Each made for the other, both made for you-.. Beauty Balm, suave protection against dust and wind... perfect prelude to the infinite softness of Monteil's Face Powder. Beauty Balm 2.25 to 10.00. 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