Tribune: "19 Enemy Ships Blasted ... 250 planes also downed." Even the most rabid pro-Japanese fanatic I know asked me somewhat skeptically: "Sa-y, this Bougainville-Rabaul affair ... what IS happening anyway?"

At the Astoria, Mike passed me his Tribune and said: "What's this, Mr. Henry? How many planes have the Americans got?"

I looked at him wearily as a voice from a corner exclaimed: "All bullshit!"

"Yes, that's what we all say at home," said Mike.

An unconfirmed report said the Lepanto power plant was blown up in an act of sabotage. The company uses some 300 trucks and employs almost 9,000 laborers. Workers are deserting because of poor working conditions, Japanese bosses, and a fear of bombings.

The Japanese operate a number of mines, including leading copper producer Lepanto, transferring machinery and trucks haphazardly from one to the other. Their methods are inefficient; they don't care about costs as long as they get the minerals they need. Motors are so scarce that they are being bought piece by piece and assembled. The Japanese recently paid P210,000 for a 450-horsepower National diesel lacking some critical parts. It remains idle because the fellow with the missing parts wants P180,000 for them. When a large shipment of ore leaves, the Japanese count the days until it arrives in Japan before holding a celebration. Occasionally however, the shipment becomes overdue and is considered lost [sunk]. Then the Filipinos celebrate!