Ka Hoku o Hawaii, Volume XXXVI, Number 31, 26 November 1941 — Dutch Steeled If War Comes To East Indies [ARTICLE]

Dutch Steeled If War Comes To East Indies

By JOHN M. RALEIGH BATAVIA, Java — Gradually the Netherlands East Indies are adjusting themselves to a condition of war wherein sacrifices and alteration of daily life are common now. Since last year, when the Indies awoke to the shock of German armies pouring into Holland, the Dutch here have had to adapt an entirely new way of life, a policy totally foreign to everything these rich islands have embodied for decades. From the easy occupations of tea planter, rubber estate manager, or importer and exporter, colonial Hollanders suddenly faced the menace of total war. That meant siestas in the afternoon's heat, long weekends in the mountains, and a nearly courtly manner of conducting business all had to stop. Home News Lacking Before them were problems, not only unfamiliar, but seemingly unconquerable. There are very few Dutch homes in the whole of the archipelago that do not daily wonder what has happened to a loved one caught in the Lowlands when German soldiery poured over the frontier. Air raid precautions had to be organized; the army faced the task of how to double and triple its numbers in the shortest possible time. Navy officers submitted plans for new harbors, dry docks, submarines of the latest types, and more flying boats to patrol 6,000 miles of vulnerable coastline. Orders for American fighters and bombers were rushed to factories in the United States. Storage Caves Built In North Java's teemng city of Bandoeng, powder plants increased their staffs, instigated new depart ments, and hastily built vast storage caves back in impenetrable mountain country where shells and demolition charges were to be stor ed. A hundred different efforts began at once. Money exchange control organizations were formed. The Dutch ARP began the arduous task of educating natives and Dutchmen to the terrors of air raids. In a few months enough shelters to house 20,000 people had been built in Batavia alone. Gas decon tamination squads drilled. Ambulance and first aid units studied motors and manuals of field surgery. Export and import committees reregulated foreign trade. Propaganda departments, shipping boards, war measure emergency groups sprang up over night, mushrooming into a compact en-; tity bent upon the protection and defense of the Indies. Great Progress Made What the Dutch have done to secure one of the world's richest territories in a scant 12 month's time is surprising. Army and navy officers, facing realities, admit that the NEI is not an elongated Gibraltar. But neither are the islands as easy to invade as might be thought. Long range navy flying boats stay away from their main bases for periods of six months at a time

constantly covering lonely streches of coast and sea. Army airdromes—more than 50 of them — are buried in deepest jungle, hidden away and camou flaged in Borneo and Sumatra, the Celebes, and other outposts. Terrain Test Filters Pilots and observers are trained over territory that might become a battleground. Enemy air arms, even with the best of facilities, would find it difficult to operate above one of the most dangerous areas for flying in the world. Dense undergrowth for countless acres, and peaks that tower more than 12,000 feet make flights over the islands perilous to the uninitiat- ■ ed. An enemy, too, would have no radio to guide him. Night bombing would be largely a matter of guesswork. The country is fairly secure from air attack by its natural abundance of tropical foliage. While trees, bushes, and palms make emergency plane landings nearly impossible troops-dressed in light green re gimentals-may march unmolested along treelined roads, and still remain unseen from the air even at low altitudes. Among the nationally prominent artists who have designed Chirstmas Seals for the National Tuberculosis Association are Thomas M. Cleland, Ernest Hamlin Baker, Rockwell Kent, Rudolph Ruzicka, George Vaughan Curtis, Lloyd Coe, and John Evans. Stevan Dohanos designed the 1941 Seal. The annual death toll from tuberculosis in the United States would be more than 250,000 if the death rate of the early 1900's still prevailed. Under present mortality conditions, the annual death toll is about 60,000. Buy and use Christmas Seals generously this year.