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duty all the year round—no holidays*. not even Christmas or Yom Kippur; no arms are issued to them, and they do not even have a uniform—their only authorized attireVand equipment are. a collar and the inevitable dog-tags to be worn at all times; in winter a fur coat; and in summer a fur coat and “pants.”You’ve guessed it!—Not Commandos. Not Supermen. “Pooches”!The canine corps describes definitely functions under army supervision, indeed, on the nation-wide and service-wide plane, under that of the quartermaster general himself, Major General E. B Gregory, and of his expert assistant in this respect, Lieutenant Colonel Clifford Smith, Q. M. C. Dogs long since won their laurels in battle and campaign. Accordingly, the army knows dogs and how to train them. In the present instance, wherever the use of datch-dogs in connection with war production at industrial plants is indicated—and it generally is indicated—the militaryauthorities provide the ownersand management personnel with the necessary instructions and supervision to enable them properly to discharge their mandatory responsibility for undertaking adequate counter-measures against air raids, fire, espionage and sabotage.Barring airplanes, which he classifies ingenously along with eagles, buzzards and such, as flightly in their ways but not dangerous, awatch-dog is invaluable in these respects. He is a natural sleuth, prone to investigate dubious sights, sounds, smells and shadows as a matter of principle; he has a constitutional objection to snoopers; while as for fires, anyone who has ever heard the frenzied barking of a trained watch-dog upon detecting smoke or flames in the wrong place will readily comprehend why insurance actuaries love dogs.Normally there should be one or more watch-docs at any industrial plant., no matter what the plant’s size, type or area may be. Dogs are especially valuable at tank farms, power plants, refineries, lumber yards and the like, or whereVthere is a large area with lots of fence line to patrol, or a number of detached structures, stock-piles, etc., to keep in view.These dogs of war on duty at industrial establishments in this region are usually the property of the operating company concerned, or of some individual.“A watch-dog need not be a pure-“but then the better the dog the bred. Major Robert Joseph, aformer FBI man. explains, “but then the better the dog the better the watch-dog—so why not? The allegation that purebreds tend to be too high-strung—-jittery or temperamental he demolishes by putting the shoe on the right foot instead of the wrong pew. “That is usually the trainer's, seldom the dog’s fault; it is a reflection of. and on. the man’s methods, not the dog’s character. And there’s the other extreme; the silk purse versus the sow's ear. Bad handling may sometimes transform a pedigreed pup into a pampered pooch, yes, but a cowardly cur remains always a cowardly cur.Conceivably some skeptical readers may be toying with the suspicion that using dogs for plant protection is one of those brilliant but not so smart, picturesque but impractical. or sentimental but outmoded ideas. There are several answers to that, the most timely one being that on May 5 the Associated Press expended some of its precious t'me on the transatlantic cable from London to report that the British government “is calling for more dogs for war service—to guard airdromes and factories,” and has “asked dog owners to lend their pets to thegovernment for the duration.Another answer, and it is a key to an understanding of the whole matter, is that a watch dog’s primary function is of a preventive character—to forestall trouble by giving warning beforehand — and only secondarily to give the alarm afterwards, or to catch the culprit.Criminals themselves realize this. Prior to their final liquidation, at least one of John Dillinger’s and “Bnbv Face’’ Nelson’s dramatic escapes and the tragic death of FBI Agent W. Carter Baum, at the outlaws’ hands on the same occasion, may be directly attributed to the gang implicitly relying and instantly acting upon the warning given by trained dogs at Little Bohemia I odtre in Wisconsin as the FBI agents closed in on their quarry, and any “revenuer” would hasten U assure you that it is a whole lot easier to locate and raid a still han actually jump a moonshiner on the job. The law may approachvouchsafe to bestow it. All your dog asks for, beside a bone to gnaw and a rug to snooze on, is an occasional nod of approbation from that god-like being, his master; just a random word of praise, an encouraging pat on the shoulder, to make him tingle all over, as four fingers of Scotch would make us humans tingle—don’t forget these small tokens: they’re his only pay....—V...—•SHE DID LITTLE THINGS WELL(Conrif»n*Pd from an artirlo by Homor Croy In Your Life Magazine )Naturally you want to do things the easy, careless, slipshod, just-get-by-way. That’s human nature. You have to fight the desire as you would a fire in the basement. What a fine victory if you fight and win. Let me tell you about a girl who fought and won superbly.Elizabeth Gregory MacGill was, oddly enough, studying aerodynamics at the University of Michigan. One day she didn’t feel well. Next day she felt worse, but exams were near and she continued to study until she was so ill that she went to a doctor. He lost no time getting her into a hospital. She had infantile paralysis.There she lay, when it was all over. But she wasn’t licked. Shf^ 1 the spunk to take her college e® from her hospital bed. Not only took them but passed them and became the first woman to graduate from Michigan in aerodynamics.When she came out, on crutches, she went to M. I. T. at Cambridge, Mass., where she studied air currents. She had got one tremendously helpful thing out of h^r illness, and that was to do little things well —the doctors had been meticulous in their treatment, and she was impressed by their attention to detail and resolved to put the same thoroughness into her work.One day she was offered a job in Montreal. She took it and became so expert that she was offered a better Job with a car and foundry firm in Fort William, Canada. Suddenly there was a change—war. The company was asked to build a training plane. Elizabeth MacGill, who knew how to master details, went to work on the design. After a time, the Maple Leaf Trainer rolled out of that factory—the first plane since the beginning of the world designed and built by a woman.That first plane was successful and Elizabeth MacGill went on to larger things. Today she’s chief engineer of Canada’s famous fighting plane—the Hurricane—which can do 400 miles an hour and a lot of damage. And she’s where she is, chiefly, because she learned that if you do little things well, you’llbe trusted with big things.—• • • W • • •CHAMPION STOCKHOLDER(From the New York Times)The United States Steel Corporation has 273.157 stockholders. About 150 of them were present last week at the company’s forty-first annua] stockholders’ meeting in Hoboken N. J. Most active of the gathering was Clarence Addington De Camp 83-year-old owner of one share of common and one share of preferred A veteran of many of the annua] meetings, Mr. De Camp seconded almost every motion from the floor When all business seemed to be cleared he rose to inquire of Board Chairman Irving S. Olds: “Is lunch ready? Thereupon the traditional meal of sandwiches, coffee and pie was served.Mr. De Camp describes himself a? a fourth-generation ironmaster. Hi? ancestors helped forge the iror from the New Jersey mines thal provided arms for George Washington's Continentals. He lives irloon ton and always rides to Nev York on the Lackawanna. He collects old forge relics, operates a farm near his home town, has met most of the United States Stee! presidents.•.. “ \ ... —WAR QUIZ!. This picture of our flag in form of a shield has what ^ k nificance in the army?2. Give principal reasons for the Japanese invasion of Burma.3. If an American soldier saysh* is fresh out ‘pocket lettuce, what does hi mean?Am wars t Page
Newspaper Details
Amarillo Globe
Amarillo, Texas, US
Wed, May 20, 1942
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
Nancy L.
NM, USA 29 Jan 2020
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