THE WAR IN CHINA

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4817, 31 July 1939, Page 3

THE WAR IN CHINA

STRAITS OF JAPANESE. GREAT METAL SHORTAGE. Japan has begun, stripping manhole covers and tearing up iron park fences, postal boxes, and even telephone posts* to feed the hungry industries —principally its munitions and shipping industries, writes Kimpei Sheba from Tokio to the Chicago Tribune. This drastic step was taken by the Government in an effort to check the outflow of the country's rapidly dwindling gold holdings.

Twenty thousand iron postal boxes and an unestimated number of manholes and iron telephone poles will be the first to be sacrificed. They are to be replaced by concrete and porcelain products, of which Japan has a plentiful supply. It is expected, however, that at least two years will be required before a sufficient number

of substitutes can be manufactured to take the place of the iron products which will be sent to the scrap heap. Next to go after the postal boxes and telephone posts will be the iron fences in the public parks. Unlike the United States, Japanese municipal officials are not satisfied merely with putting up signs asking the public to keep off the grass. They have made it a practice to erect high fences around the parks and have strung iron' chains around lawns and other sections where trespassing was not desired.

These fences have been an eyesore, and it is not without some satisfaction that the public look forward to having them . removed. There are enough fences and chains in Hibiya Park, Tokio, it is said, to build an ocean-going steamship.

Radio Appeal Made.

The Government is broadcasting an appeal for contributions of iron and steel ash trays and of charcoal braziers, with which most Japanese heat their homes. It has promised to replace these with porcelain ware. As fast as the scrap is smelted it is gobbled up by the industries. One of the hungriest is the shipyards. Japan to-day has 4,5000,000 tons of commercial ships of over 1000 tons afloat. The Navy Minister during questioning in the Diet said the Gov-

ernment intends to double this fleet during the very near future. Last year Japan outstripped England in shipbuilding. Whether, in view of fter serious shortage of iron, Japan can go through with her present programme i. a matter of much conjecture. Optimistic Government officials and industrialists boast that in five years Japan will be getting so much iron out of ManchUkuo and China that she will not need to import a ton of scr&p from western countries.

Neutral observers claim that this is wishful thinking of the same category as the predicitons of foes that Japan could not carry on the war in China for six months. Besides iron, Japan is in need of rubber. It is reported that in the Ford and General Motors assembly plants here cars frequently cannot be put out on the streets because of lack of tyres.

In some cases buyers in a hurry bring their own tyres. Worn-out tyres are no longer thrown into the junk pile. They are recoated much in the manner that a worn-out shoe is re-soled.

The Government has also cut down the rubber allotment for the manufacture of sporting goods to a small fraction of the normal demand. The biggest sufferers are tennis players. The output of tennis balls has been restricted to 34,800 a month. -