The Arctic Marine - 30.10.1941, Blaðsíða 1

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No. 5.
THURSDAY OCT. 30, 1941.
PRICE 25 AURA.
THE BIG BUILD UP
BY DREW MIDDLETON
Drew Middleton, A.P. war correspondant in Iceland was
ont on a jjroblem witli A2-Tk the other day so not missing
a cliance to give the Marines first hand information, I asked
him to write an article for onr “Artic Marine”. Drew kindly
consented to write a storv for us, so here it is. — Thanks,
Middleton.
HALLOWEEN
And tlie gobblins will get you
if you don’t watch out! And the
witches will he out as usual on
this great occasion to employ
their powers to tlieir fullest ext-
ent. Boys and girls will be
drawn by these powers and
the devil will take cliarge of
their conscience for their even-
ing of mischief.
Remember the ol’ goat tliat
somehow got tied to the front
door of the high school princi-
pal’s home? The ol’ huggy on
top of the local power line? The
“dead end” street blocked by
logs, oil drums and saw-horses?
Tlie G. I. tissue that made such
attractive streamers on the lo-
cal hus and taxi cabs? The flat
tires and wheelless automo-
hiles? The “little red school”
houses that suddenly disappear-
ed or became over turned?
Those witches sure got around
and up set the social status.
Rememher the good old mas-
querade parties and balls?
Those were the times a man
would spend four liours at-
tempting to make his apipear-
ane resemble tliat of Mae West
or even Adam. Not that he did-
n’t look more like a Smithsoni-
an Geology department uncas-
ed, but he did change his ap-
pearance usually for the better.
Remember the “Sally Rann”
that arrived at the last hall?
Too had slie forgot the ‘fan’ that
escorted lier home so soon. Sucli
enjoyment, dancing in the fine
suit of mail from Sir Galahad’s
fine wardrohe. And those re-
freslnnents! The puncli as
strong as that of Joe Louis. The
pumpkin pies, apple cider and
douglmuts! Doesn’t your mouth
water just thinking about them?
Well, I’ll he dog—gone! I al-
most forgot where I was. Oh
well! Witli deliydrated pumkin
pie, powdered apple cider, doug-
hless doughnuts and a good sack
for a good niglit of sleep; we’ll
carry out tlie celehration in true
Marine Corps style. We know
the gobblins won’t get us and
only hope that Iceland won’t
keep us.
One sultry summer night in
1935 Joe Louis shuffled into
tlie ring at Yankee Stadium
and liit Primo Carnera with
a left hook wliicli broke Pri-
mo’s jaw and ended one of
tlie most pathetic and crooked
chapters in the history of the
American ring.
I liad a ringside seat at the
hig huild up which made Car-
nera lieavyweight cliamijion of
the world. Chums, it was a
great show while it lasted. It
could onlv liave happened in
our country, in what' West-
hrook Pegler calls “tlie era of
wonderful nonsense”. But
happen it did and as the song-
pluggers say “it went like this”.
Carnera was taught to box
in Paris by his European man-
ager, a smart little guy named
Leon See, who was not above
a bit of light hearted larceny
if opportunity knocked. Before
See found him Primo liad been
a circus strong man and a
wrestler.
Leon’s new figliter liad ev-
erything jt lakes to make a
circus strong man. He was too
big for a fighter, six feet nine
inches, 279 pounds. His broad
shoulders went straight out
like a padded topcoat denot-
ing an abscence of punching
power. ITe was fairly fast
though, and See, who knew a
good hit about hoxing, taught
him to jah and hook and move
around.
One thing lie did have, al-
tliough it was not disclosed un-
til the twilight of his career,
was plenty of lieart. There
was, as the boys sajy 'no ki-yi
in Primo.
But Carnera’s greatest fault
was this: he could not take a
puneh on the head. One tap on
the jaw and his eyes grew
glassy, tliat big mouth open-
ed and he faltered and shiver-
ed like an oak about to fall.
See was hroke in 1930, when
Jefferson Dickson, tlie Paris
promoter, told him a syndicate
in New York wanted to buy
a piece of Carnera.
The ^yndicate offered ten
(Cöntinued on page G)
Coltl Facts Abont
Icelaud
Land of frost and fire, of con-
trast and contradictions, of “the
grandmother of parliaments”,
of peace for a thousand years —
that is Iceland, whose defense
has heen undertaken by United
States troops in a dramatic
move into the region of the
North Atlantic. The move has
been followed still more recent-
ly by ship sinkings.
In a report on this volcanic Is-
land on the fringe of thé Artic
Circle, the National Geographic
Society points out that Iceland
and its larger western neighbor,
Greenland, might well exchange
names. While Greeland is all but
covered hy a vast ice cap, Ice-
land enjoys milder weather and
is able to support a population
of 120,000 by farming and fish-
ing.
Far North of the peacetime
steamer routes between New
York and Europe, the waters
around Iceland-warmed by the
Gulf Stream — have come into
wartime prominence he-
cause many British convoys
have moved through them to-
ward Scottish ports. Scotland’s
northern tip is about 500 miles
southeast, Bergen Norway, a
logical take off point for a
German attack on the Island, is
about 680 miles southeast. New-
foundiland lies approximatelyí
1560 niiles to the Southwest. A
direct line from New York to
Reykjavik, Ieland’s capital on
the southwest coast is 2600
miles.
Wjhether this island comes
geographically within the so —
called “Western” Hemisphere
of the Americas or the “East-
ern” Hemisphere of Europe is
a recently much-discussed ques-
tion. Actuallj', any division of
the glohe into exact eastern and
western halves must he an ar-
bitrary one. It is simple matter
to eastablish Nortliern and
Söuthern Hemispheres, for in
tliat case theboundry line is one
(Continued on page 2).