AUTOGIROS TO HELP.
SEEKING FIFTH COLUMNISTS. 1
(By TOM SIMMONS.)
LAREDO (Texas)
The person who pictures a Texas border rider as a tall horseman with a handlebar moustache, a big white hat and an ancient six-shooter had better not try to slip into this country I illegally.
Man, they'd nail him so fast he'd think there was a fifth columnist in his vest pocket.
And the credit would all go to modern science. The Rio Grande border patrol has put to use inventions and instruments that most folks figure are still laboratory playthings. The latest, for instance, is the autogiro. The Government recently ordered the training of pilots, who will send it roving up and down the river valley, just skimming above the tops of the tallest cactus, looking * for fellows who haven't any business being in this country.
Once a suspect is sighted, down comes the 'giro, within easy shotgun or pistol range of its prey. It's all so sudden, this justice from the sky, that the invader is actually surprised into submission.
The H 30,000-Dollar Treasure." He wouldn't have a chance to escape, for most of the land is so desolate he could lie flat and still be spotted a mile away. That will make sleuthing easy for the patrolman who now has to jog over the uncharted wastelands by automobile or horse. And here's another new trick. Suppose an alien is picked up after wading the Rio Grande. He no doubt would try to look very innocent and give convincing answers to all the questions. "0.K." says the patrolman, "lenirue have your hand." So the alien extends a hand; the policeman takes it, and in a trice he [has the man's finger-prints,, recorded,
with the aid of his portable fingerprinting outfit. Then he fishes around in the luggage compartment of his car, drags out a little book, squints at the finger-prints, thumbs through the book and presently he knows the intruder's record (if he has one). If the patrolman is doubtful, he asks the man to wait. He has a two-way radio in that same luggage compartment that will enable him to learn quickly from Austin, the State capital, if he's wanted by the police. The little book, called the "30,000-Dol-lar Treasure," because that's what the] W.P.A. spent to compile it, contains the names, aliases, finger-prints and other} records of 50,000 aliens who have a habit of turning up in Texas. It's not on the border alone that these check-ups are available. Highway patroll cars in every section of the State are equipped with the 30,000-dollar book, the finger-print outfit and the two-way radio. All cars communicate with Del Rio, Laredo and other - border points several times a day. Any persons walking along the highway who arouse the suspicion of the police can be checked up in a few minutes. The Dallas patrol alone, in Northern Texas, 350 miles from the Rio Grande, catches about ten aliens a month in this manner.
Till the Fence Is Built. The patrol cars act as liaison squads between the border men and local sheriffs and police. When they hear of an alien who has waded the river they enlist the aid of the local men, and a real man-hunt is on long before the criminal has a chance to arrive. In addition to these scientific measures, officials are using time-tried systems to see that no fifth columnists or other unwanted alienists slip into Texas. The border patrol's force of 154 has just been ordered doubled. It's no easy task to be a patrolman, either. All must undergo training for seven months at El Paso, where men are trained also for the Canadian border patrol. Equipment for the patrols has been increased. For instance, the San Antonio district received fifty-one automobiles and two horses, in addition to its autogiro. Other 'giros will work out of Laredo, El Paso and Ohulavista, California.
These will suffice, officials hope, till Texans get that fence built.
The fence sounds sort of fanciful, in the same class with Napoleon's tunnel under the English Channel through which he'd invade Britain, but Texans are accustomed to speaking in large terms. It's no joke, either, to border county residents. For twenty-five years now they've asked for a 150-mile wire fence, about twelve feet high, frqm Laredo to Del Rio. That would stop cattle rustling, they point out. And it wouldn't make things easier for fifth columnists. No one in authority has given the idea a tumble. So until then the auto giros will have to suffice.—(N.A.N.A.)
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Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 230, 27 September 1940, Page 5
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757Untitled Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 230, 27 September 1940, Page 5
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