f^dicaied To The Progress Of -
WILMINGTON Served by Leased Wire of the
And Southeastern North ASSOCIATEDPRESS
Carolina With Complete Coverage of
___ State and National News
-— -------WILMINGTON, N. C., MONDAY, MARCH 4, 1940 jl. ESTABLISHED 1867
Finns Continue Withdrawal To New Lines
~~ ~~ 1 _
Move Troops
On Isthmus’
Western Side
Defenders Claim They Are
Still Holding Off Rus
sians At Viipuri
JHANY soviets killed
jy Officials Call Finland’s
Claims Of Recent Vic
tories ‘Absurd’
—
By WADE WERNER
HELSINKI. March 3— <iP» —Fin
nish troops continued their with*
jrjival toward new defense lines at
m points on the western side
j( the Karelian isthmus today but
reported they still were holding off
jjS£ian forces pounding at the
fites of strategic Viipuri with un
denting fury from three sides.
With the Viipuri defenders gener
llly repulsing the savage Red army
thrusts, the Finnish high command
reported that in yesterday’s fight
ing the Russians also were beaten
back with heavy losses on the east
ern end of the isthmus and north of
Lake Ladoga where 1,000 of the
enemy were said to have been killed.
Kussian l minis
(The Red aimy high command re
ported early Sunday that its forces
had taker. Viipuri’s railroad station
and that the southern part of the
ancient port city was being occupied
during Saturday night.)
Devastating punishment was in
flicted on the Russians on the east
ern pan of the Karelian isthmus,
the high command said, when the
enemy was concentrating for an at
tack in this area where the Finns
still hold their original Mannerheim
fortifications. The Finns reported
nine Russian tanks and several guns
destroyed in this action.
Above Lake Ladoga, the high
command announced that Russian
a.tackers ran into a withering fire
at Kollaanjoki, Aittajoki and Kol
laa- In addition to 1,00 Russians
k®d at the latter point, the Finns
laid one propeller sleigh, one armed
car and one tank were put out of
action.
Attacks Turned Back
Farther north, at Kuhmo and
jalla, on Finland’s narrow waist
ne' ‘‘"’e Finns said Red army in
(Continued on F’age Three, Col. 4)
itOBESON NATIVE
KILLED BY AUTO
JoJ>nD. Smith, 50, Fatally
Injured On Highway
West Of Lumberton
WMBERTON, March 3. — John
w. ' about 50, native of Lum
»as res>dent of Charlotte.
y iniured at about i
hruck h" " mormr,£ when he was
life L 3n unidtrniified autorao
hcre er °n bighwa-y 74 west of
tight birKtS had been mafle to
lighwavtnC.°Unty officers and state
Heir search"0’?3011 "ere continuinS
triver. ^or the hit-and-run
Jsnte? Victim was a car
had recently arrived in
Page Three; Col. 5)
leather-]
'will FORECAST
t>teoWenra\„Mo,stl-v cloudy nnd
ff fain in ' , sl'’ Preceded by
^ ffostlycloudy. CaSt P°rtiou;
"feo°gpiCa^ 'or the 24 hours
a; hi 'Hi. ijji • 7 • ‘Ui
m'ax/innm*063;
,7:30 p. m. 9o U' m- 95: 1:30 P
«l°tal (or o4Prreipitalio„
ihDclles;4tota“rS^'n<iinK 7:30 P- m
"th- f inches. Sn,Ce first of the
Jfj. T"I<!s For Today
‘"«ton High Low
haSon. t'Tfia 0:50a
0nb6P> Inin «:3Cp I :28p
Sun,- - t :34a 10:38a
tij Vise 6:97a. „ «:47p 10:54d
:o0ai moonsc'"S- ®:llp • moon.
tinned 1
on Page Three, Col. 2)
• - # ’Ole m*:, ,.
-—- .v*^ ^ ° <9>___
A comfortable seat by a warm fire replaces dark, cramped, DeTow-rteek quarters on a prison ship
tor these two British seamen, pictured recuperating in a London hospital. They were among prisoners
f fordSrecentfy1 **ri*IS 1 cru,ser Cossack ran the Germ an prison ship Altmark aground In a Norwegian
Installation Of Phone
Dials Nears Completion
TO BE FINISHED SOON
Conversion From Manual
;To Dial Telephones Is
Scheduled In June
Installation of dials on telephones
in Wilmington is now about 95 pet
cent complete and will be entirely
finished in about one or two weeks,
J. R. Thomas, local manager of the
company, said last night.
New switchboards are now being
installed in downtown hotels and
business houses. Practically all resi
dence installations have been com
pleted.
The new switchboards in hotels
and business houses will include a
built in dial for each trunk line and
others will have a dial on each
phone. Most of the present boards
were not built for dials and had to
be replaced.
The date of conversion from
manual phones will be approximate
ly in the middle part of June, Thom
as said. The exact date will be an
nounced later.
The building at Fourth and Chest
nut streets is now completed and it
is planned to move the offices in
about the last of March. Furniture
is now being installed.
The placing of dial equipment in
the building is about 75 per cent
complete and is progressing accord
ing to schedule. After its comple
tion, it will be thoroughly tested for
several weeks before being placed
into use.
All in all, Thomas said, the change
over will cost the telephone about
$700,000, and will provide Wilming
tonians with the latest and most
modern type of dial telephone
equipment.
Workers Defense League
Says Mill Workers Beaten
WASHINGTON, March 3-— UP> —
The Workers Defense league de
clared today that textile workers
were being "beaten and relentlessly
persecuted" for union activities in
Gaffney, S. C
The league made public a letter
from an organizer for the Textile
Workers union (CIO) describing al
leged terroristic activities by mill
owners and urging Attorney Gen
eral Jackson and Governor May
bank of South Carolina to investi
gate.
CHINESE DROWN
SHANGHAI, March 3. — —
Three hundred Chinese men, women
and children were reported today to
have been drowned off Ningpo when
they became panic-stricken and
caused their launch to capsize upon
hearing cries of “Japanese planes
are coming.” The crew of the Ger
man coastal vessel Hohlenkof said
the Chinese were en route to board
their vessel off the Chekiang prov
ince port at the time, rfiiey said
the alarm apparently was false as
no Japanese planes were obseived.
^T- -
Leipzig's Great Fair
Opened By Goebbels
LEIPZIG, March 3. — (/P) —
Leipzig’s great international fari,
giving an impressive picture of
Germany’s industrial strength in
the midst of war, was opened to
day by Propaganda Minister
Paul Joseph Goebbels in a spir
ited speech reiterating the Nazi
theme of German invincibility.
Goebels characterized the fair
as a fort on the Reich’s economic
front reflecting the greatness of
the commercial structure expect
ed to contribute to ultimate vic
tory on the war front.
Asserting that the great trade
routes still are open to Germany,
Goebbels declared that the Reich
is trying to develop its commerce
naturally—a procedure which he
said would prove more effective
and lasting than “the political
buying which Britain has been
doing in all parts of the world.”
Village Near Louisville
Flooded By Salt River
LOUISVILLE, Ky., March 3.—CJP)
—Water from rain-swollen Salt riv
er rolled nearly five feet deep today
through streets of Taylorsville, oft
flooded, low-lying county seat town
of 900 about 30 miles southeast ot
Louisville.
County Judge E. J. Snyder re
ported between 200 and 300 persons
had been forced from one-story
homes. Others living in two-story
houses, he said, took refuge to the
second floors.
PETITIONS RECEIVED
WASHINGTON, March 3.— I® —
The Labor board reported today
that it had received 52 petitions
from employers since it changed its
rules six months ago and allowed
them to petition for elections when
opposing unions claim majority
membership.
IL DUCE PROTESTS
BRITISH BLOCKADE
Strongly-Worked Note pre
sented To The Britisk
Embassy In Rome
t
ROME, March 3.—UP)—Aroused
by Britain's newly-enforced block
ade against German coal shipments
to Italy, Premier Mussolini’s gov
ernment today presented a strong
ly-worded protest to the British em
bassy.
The government’s prompt action,
w'hich came within 36 hours after
the British clamped on the block
ade, was accompanied by a bitter
press attack by Roberto Farinacci,
outspoken member of the Fascist
grand council, who termed Britain’s
move ‘‘an act of arrogance and in
solence.”
Writing in his II Regime Fascis
ta, the only newspaper to comment
on the coal controversy, Farinacci
said the blockade was “the reac
tion to our refusal to sell arms to
England.”
“Besides it was hoped to oblige
our country to buy coal from Welsh
mines and put our ships in peril
in the North sea,” he said. “When
a fight is waged against unarmed
populations and not against armies,
any reaction is legitimate.”
Farinacci’s words gave a hint as
to the tone of the Italian note, the
text of which was not expected to
be made public until its transmis
sion to London.
The coal blockade has given oil
a companion commodity as interna
tional trouble-breeder, and it steps
on Italy's political as well as eco
nomic toes.
Diplomats are watching closely
the possible effect on Italian ad
herence to the precarious path of
non-belligerency.
Rome’s quick protest was prompt
ed above all by the Fascist regime’s
extreme sensitiveness to anything
that smacks of economic coercion.
This po’^cal fixation dates back
to 1935 when the League of Na
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 5)
---
Welles Leaves
Nazis, Turns
Toward Paris
Dr. Hans Dieckhoff And
Others Bid Farewell To
U. S. Undersecretary
TALKS WITH GOER1NG
Completes Program In Ber
lin Before Leaving For
Switzerland
BERLIN, March 3.—(iP)—Sumner
Welles left for Paris tonight after
a farewell from Dr. Hans Dieck
hoff, recalled German ambassador
to the United States, which aroused
speculation as to whether they
might have ironed out the question
of representation between the two
countries.
Dieckhoff, who has remained here
since November, 1938, when the
American ambassador was called
home from Berlin to report on the
anti-Jewish campaign, appeared
with other officials at the blacked
out Anhalter station to bid Welles
farewell—after being conspicuous
by his absence at Welles’ arrival
Friday.
Protocol calls for a diplomat ac
credited to another country, but
temporarily at home, to greet ar
riving diplomats from that country.
Regrets Absence
Quarters close to the German for
-eign office have said that Foreign
Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop
particularly regretted the absence
of an American ambassador from
Berlin at this time.
In Welles’ talks with Fuehrer
Adolf Hitler, Ribbentrop, Deputy
Party Leader Rudolf Hess and
Field Marshal Goering, the ques
tion of a possible improvement of
relations between Germany and the
United States was said to have re
volved around the question of a
return to ambassadors to Washing
ton and Berlin.
Welles wound up his fact-seeking
stay in Germany today with con
ferences with Goering and Hess.
Apparently Goering had plenty
to tell Welles about Germany au
tarchy, in which he plays a prime
(Continued on Page Three, Col. 1)
BIDS ON THEATRE
WILL BE OPE D
Estimates On Construction
Of New House To Be Re
ceived Here Today
Bids on the construction of the
new moving picture theatre to be
built at 16-18 North Front street will
be opened today at noon at the Cape
Fear hotel.
The new house has been authoriz
ed by Wilmington Theatres, Inc.,
and actual construction is expected
to start within the near future.
The present Furcell building, oc
cupied by Honnett's jewelry store,
Wulff's news stand and Baxter’s
pool room, will be torn down and
the new structure will be erected in
its place.
It is expected to be ready for the
opening by next fall. , No estimate
of the amount of the expenditure to
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 5)
Weds Musician
NEA Telephoto
Here's the latest picture of pret
ty Mary Cohan, daughter of
George M. Cohan, who now is Mrs.
George Ranken, wife of an ac
cordion player. The couple eloped.
F.D.R. WILL NOTE
7TH ANNIVERSARY
Silent On Third Term As
He Completes Seven
Years In White House
WASHINGTON, March 3 — UP) —
president Roosevelt rounded out
seven historic years in the White
House today without breaking the
third term silence which many New
Dealers believe will enable him to
win renomination or pick the 1940
democratic presidential contender.
He spent the day quietly with his
mother, who arrived last night to
worship with her son and his cabi
net tomorrow at church services
commemorating the aniversary ot
his first inauguration on March 4,
1933.
Any idea that the President might
make the anniversary the occasion
for an announcement of his attitude
toward a third term was dispelled
by the chief executive himself yes
terday. He told reporters he would
issue no anniversary statement on
the subject.
Although some democrats in con
gress have been clamoring recently
for Mr. Roosevelt to end the un
certainty as to whether he would
run for another term, many admin
istration supporters argue that he
would be in the strongest position
to influence the party’s choice if he
continued silent until the conven
tion met—or even until after its
first ballot. Regardless of whether
he has decided to run, the latter
say, his silence leaves third term
advocates free to line up conven
tion delegates which might be
swung either to his own support or
to a candidate of his choice.
Intimates of the President con
tend that he has not actually made
up his mind regarding a third term
bid, and that he will not do so until
after he sees what developments
spring brings in the European war.
On the other hand, there have been
numerous rumors in the capita]
that he has determined to seek the
presidential nomination for Secre
(Continued on' Page Three; Col. 6)
LINER DOM ALA
REACHES PORT
AFTER ATTACK
Nazis Voice Regret
Over Shooting Down
Of Belgian Planes
_
BERLIN, March 3.—(/PI—Ger
many today expressed regret
when the Belgian ambassador,
Vicomte Davignon, protested in
the foreign office over the shoot
ing down of Belgian planes by a
German bomber in an air combat
over Belgian soil.
The fight occurred Saturday.
The following official German
version of the incident was given:
"A German scouter, returning
from the north of France was
attacked by seven planes of the
English hurricane type.
“Because of this, and the im
pression he was flying over
French soil, the German pilot
held the attackers to be English
pursuiters.
“In the air fight one plane was
shot down. The German reach
ed home safely. Later it was es
tablished that the fight occurred
a few minutes flying time from
the French border over Belgian
soil and the plane shot down was
Belgian.’’
(Belgian accounts of the fight
said three Belgian planes sur
rounded a huge Hornier bomber,
but did not fire until the Ger
man opened fire, shooting down
one of the Belgians and killing
the pilot. Another Belgian plane
later crashed with bullet holes
in its gasoline tank.)
PRESIDENT’S WIFE
CALLS AT RALEIH
Plane On Which She Was
Passenger Turned Back
By Weather Conditions
RALEIGH, March 3.—<iP>—Mrs.
Franklin D. Roosevelt landed here
tonight with a group of other pas
sengers on three northbound East
ern Air Line planes turned back
at Richmond, Va., because of
weather conditions.
The much-traveled wife of the
President stayed briefly at the
Raleigh airport, three miles south
of the city, and then was brought
into town in a state highway pa
trol car.
She planned to proceed on to
Washington by train, leaving at
12:45 a. m.
Mrs. Roosevelt was returning
froma two-week stay in Florida.
She boarded the plane at Miami,
Fla., at 2 p. m. for a flight to
Washington. The plane landed
here at about 9:40 o’clock.
She said she went to Florida to
make two speeches and then stayed
on for a brief “off the record”
vacation.
Laughingly she told a reporter
who asked the perrenial question
as to whether President Roosevelt
would seek a third term:
‘‘You’re getting the same answer
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 4)
The European
War Situation
(By The Associated Press)
LONDON—Admiralty announ
ces bombing of British liner
Domala, 108 persons feared dead;
British shot down one plane by
mistake, report three German
planes downed in two days on
western front.
BERLIN — American Envoy
Welles concludes German talks,
sees Field Marshal oGering and
Nazi Deputy Leader Hess, turns
towards Paris; Germany expres
ses regret for shooting down two
Belgian army planes on Belgian
soil; Nazis claim four French
planes downed in two days.
PARIS — French report Ger
man contingent captured in
western front ambush, two Ger
man planes sent down in dog
fights.
HELSINKI — Finns continue
withdrawal to new defense points
on western Karelian isthmus, re
port Russian attacks repuiseu
on eastern part of isthmus, 1,00(1
Russians killed north of Lake
Ladoga.
MOSCOW—Red army contin
ues to surround Viipuri, Moscow
communique reports.
ROME — Mussolini protests
Britain’s new blockade of Ger
man coal ships to Italy.
VATICAN CITY — Pope Pius
XII prays anew for peace at
special mass for Rome residents.
BATTERED, SET AFIRE
British Plane Shot Down
By Mistake By Royal
Air Force Fighters
NAZI PLANE ISDOWNED
British Officials Also Ad
mit Two More Freight
ers Sunk By Mines
BY EDWIN STOUT
LONDON. March 3.—(.T)—Bomb
ing of the 8.441-ton British passen
ger liner Domala, with a probabie
loss of 108 lives, was announced by
the admiralty tonight as the bat
tered and fire-scarred vessel reach
ed an English port after a night
mare voyage from Antwerp.
The announcement followed swift
ly the disclosure that a British
plane had been shot down by mis
take by three Koyal Air Force
fighters and the admission that two
British cargo boats had been sunk
by mines yesterday.
Nazi Bomber Donned
On the credit side, Britain report
ed her air force had downed a Ger
man Heinke] bomber in France—
the third in two days.
(At the same time dispatches
from Amsterdam reported the arri
val of two Netherlands ships which
said they had been machine gunned
while en route from England by ah ,,
unidentified plane, which -..also
bombed and sank an unnamed BritV,_ 4
is'fl' vessel). ■
The attack on the Domala, tho
admiralty disclosed, occurred be
tween 4 and 5 a. m. yesterday in
the English channel.
In the light of a waning moon,
a German Heinkel swooped down on
the ship and dropped four bombs,
three of which found their mark
and set the vessel ablaze amidships.
The captain was killed by one o£
the bombs.
In addition to 108 persons listed
as missing and believed dead, many
others were injured, the admiralty
said.
Of the missing, 88 were British
Indian seamen who had served
aboard German ships before the
war, and presumably were released
(Continued on Page Three; Col. Z)
GERMANS TRAPPED
BY FRENCH TROOPS
Clear Brisk Weather Spurs
Aerial Activity Along
Western Front
PARIS, March 3.—OP)—The seconf
French ambush in two days was re ,
ported by the high command tonight
to have trapped a new contingent ol
German troops west of the Vosgea
mountains.
The French, at the same time, a*
knowledged the Germans had cap
tured "a few prisoners” during pa
trol raids in the Lauter sector.
Clear brisk weather returned to
the western front giving a spurt to
aerial activity on both sides follow
ing a day of combat yesterday in
which the French said they had shot
dow.,- two German planes and the
British two more.
(The official German news agency
reported an air battle between four
(Continued on Page Three, Col. 2)
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SENATE SLATED TO TAKE UP MEASURE
TO EXTEND HATCH ACTS BANS TODAY
By JACK BELL
WASHINGTON, March 3 —
(/P)—The senate will take up to
morrow one of the sessions’ most
controversial pieces of legisla
tion, a bill to extend the Hatch
Act’.: prohibition against pernici
ous political activities to a half
million state employes paid in
whole or part with federal
funds.
Although two staunch admin
istration supporters, Senators
Minton (D-Ind) and Lucas (D
111) have served notice of a fight
againsLthe measure, democratic
Leader Barkley of Kentucky,
said he thought there was no
doubt that a majority of the
senate favored enactment of the
bill. Barkley predicted it would
be approved speedih'
Both Minton and Lucas argue
that the measure proposes an
invasion of states rights- The
bill, sponsored by Senator Hatch
(D-NM) would authorize the
civil service commission to or
der government agencies to sus
pend loans or grants to a state
agency whose employes violated
the act’s drastic political curbs.
The commission would determine
whether there had been viola
tions.
The prohibition in the mea
sure, opponents and proponents
agree, would prevent employes
of state highway departments,
social security branches—and all
other state agencies which re
ceive federal funds—from taking
active parts in political cam
pains and from attending poll- i
•
tical conventions. Minton said
they also would prevent these
employes from contributing to
political campaign funds, but
Hatch insisted *hat voluntary
contributions would not be bar
red.
There was some talk among
opponents of the measure of of
fering an anti-lynching bill as
an amendment, a step which
they said would insure its defeat.
Perrenial proposals to make
lynching a federal crime invari
ably have drawn a filibuster
from southern senators. Senate
leaders, however, deprecated the
liklihood that opponents would
resort to such a move.
House and senate leaders will
confer Tuesday with President
Roosevelt. The conference had
been scheduled for .Monday but
was postponed on account of ac
tivities commemorating the ad
ministration’s seventh anniver
sary. Special interest is attach
ed to the conference because it
will be Mr. Roosevelt’s first
meeting with his congressional
lieutenants since his return
from his cruise.
House leaders expect to tell
him that they will be able to
clean up the routine business of
that chamber not later than May
15. Barkley hail predicted that
congress will adjourn by June 1.
There was speculation on the
question whether the President
might make a special request for
funds to start work on a third
(Con;:.- ed on Page Three, Col. 5)