Dedicated To The Progress Of f-————
WILMINGTON Served by Leased Wire of the
And Southeastern North . ASSOCIATEDPRESS
Carolina With Complete Coverage of
____ State and National News
11!^--—- WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 1940 jl jl ESTABLISHED 1867
ALLIES AN - FIGHT FOR GATE’ TO OSLO
★ A Sir ^ - a - a Ail w
'' n, K K
Guffey Leads In Pennsylvania Vote
Klan Unmasks Itself
'iHnr ...:-'x:;'x'-:,::‘.':::-:-:':‘:*tx-:-;-"-:‘:-:-:v:-x-:-v.wy.'->^v/A-.
Imperial Wizard James A. Colescott (right) shows how the Ku
Klux Klan will dress, after his recent order to unmask. Old regalia,
with sinister, eye-slit hood (left) was abandoned coincidentally with
trials of 17 Georgia Klan members for flogging. Colescott denied any
connect i.»n between trial and new Klan regalia.
Wheeler Says Farm Debt
Problem Must Be Solved
' M-—
TALKS AT CHAPEL HILL
Deplores Farm Credit Poli
cy Which Creates Many
New Tenants
CHAPEL HILL, April 23—(iP)—
C tor Wheeler (D-Mont) held up
tie farm debt tonight as one of
tie notion's principal problems and
said that unless it were settled by
'no iol action” now, “drastic ac
ton. fascist or communist” would
follow,
A Mressing the Carolina Political
Union, he deplored a “farm credit
lolicy that creates new tenants
through foreclosure faster than any
government agency can rehabilitate
them'’ and called for “a new philo
=:• hy of agricultural credit” that
would keep the farmer on his farm
and afford him a “measure of
security."
Wants Interest Cut
He urged the passage of a bill
introduced by himself, Senator
Bankhead (D-Ala3 and Senator La
'ohette (Prog-Wis) which would
reduce interest rates on government
loans to farmers and provide a
(Continued on Page Seven; Col. 4)
BROCKWELL VIEWS
UNSAFE BUILDING
Board Slated To Consider
front Street Structure
Problem Today
following an inspection yesterday
Sherwood Brockwell, state fire
’narshal, the city commissioners will
today give further consideration to
l'le Problem of the reportedly unsafe
rendition of the building at 22-24
• orth Front street.
'0 details of Broekwell’s report
;'o available yesterday, but city of
(toutinued on Page Seven; Col. 2)
[weather"
x. , TO RECAST
v[r;;n,‘ .Carolina. Showers, slightly
aAVi-fi."r in east and central portions
e,, av: Thursday fair, cooler in
an(* central portions.
c;i<| , rr* c?logical data for the 24 hours
** ' ->,() P- m. yesterday).
IVnrii.e-ature
ii,. 7;i.a'- 7:3o a. m. 52; 1:30 p.
it. I.nun,' p m- 59; ma.x?Tr.i.m 63;
lrnuiu 46; mean 54; normal 64.
‘ i .oa Humidity
„, ,*.!•"» 7:30 a. m. 72; 1:30 p.
,0‘ 1 :-10 p. m. 82,
Toi o , „ Precipitation
r,",,,.:*24-hours ending 7:30 p. m.,
2.2c, inciiV.1 £lnie first of the month,
Tides For Tgday
.- lA'fah
iIaSOnb“„ miet ....... ^ 3^
Sunrise v>n„ 9:55p 3:28p
r " ;^;,AU7ab»6:S0p; moo“
Woutuiued on Page Seven; Col. 4)
O’SHEA SAYS REDS
DOMINATE UNIONS
Claims They Are In Posi
tion To Paralyze Import
ant Transport Systems
WASHINGTON, April 23.—(H?)—
From red-beaded Thomas Humphrey
O'Shea, who said he was the first
president of the Transport Workers
union, the Dies committee heard to
day that communists were in a posi
tion to paralyze the transport sys
tems of New York and Alaska.
In the brogue of his native Ire
land, O’Shea testified that the com
munist party not only dominated the
Transport Workers union and the
United Radio, Electrical and Mi
chine Workers union (both CIO) but
that it held key positions in mari
time labor organizations.
Furthermore, he said, gun clubs
had been organized by Transport
union members for regular target
practice.
“Do they have these guns for the
same reason that these 17 Christian
Front people had them?” asked Rep.
Thomas (R-NJ), referring evidently
to the group prosecuted in New
York on charges of plotting to over
throw the government.
O’Shea agreed.
In New York. Micnaei j. «>**“•
international president of the
Transport Workers union, issued
a statement in which he
O’Shea’s testimony was ‘ absurd.
“There are no gun clubs in the
Transport Workers union," he said.
He added that the charge of com
munism had been “denied 100
times.”
Quill said O’Shea had been ex
pelled from the union in 1938.
O’Shea testified that the com
munist party controlled transport
unions in Alaska for the purpose
of committing sabotage in event
of war between this country and
RcTlling Quill a communist, the
witness said he had heard him say
at a communist convention that
his union would crush “the barons
of Wail street" as a steam hammer
would smash a mosquito.
STEAMER MACHINEGUNNTD
GIBRALTAR, April 23.-<A>>-The
Italian steamer Italo Balbo was re
ported here tonight to have been
mined, and then to have been ma
chinegunned by a German plane
April 20 off the southeast coast or
England Some crewmen were said
in this report to have been slightly
wounded. _
STEAMER SINKS
LONDON, April 23.—(A*)—1The 1,
969 ton British steamer Lolworth
struck a mine and sank oq the
utheast coast of England tonight.
H engineer and second mate were
kihed and eight other crewmen in
ed Coastal lifeboats went to aid
JUr1tor unidentified vessel reported
anoint
in distress nearby.
Takes Early
Margin Over
Walter Jones
Count From 702 Precincts
Gives Guffey 42,126
Votes; Jones, 34,512
G. 0. P. ALSO BALLOTS
Democrats In 272 Districts
Give F. R. 16,820
Votes, No Write-Ins
PHILADELPHIA, April 23.—(^)—
Pennsylvania’s junior senator, Jos
eph F. Guffey, built a steadily in
creasing lead tonight in his fight
for the democratic nomination for a
second term.
In the Pennsylvania primary cam
paign’s hottest contest, he started
with a margin over his chief op
ponent, Walter A. Jones, fellow
Pittsburgher, in the first Philadel
phia districts reported. His gains
increased as tabulations came from
other pvts of the state.
The Count
Unofficial count from 702 of the
state’s 8,105 districts for democratic
nomination for senator gave:
Guffey 42,126.
Jones 34,512.
In a less spirited republican con
test, Jay Cooke, 43-year-old Phila
delphia city chairman, supported by
the state organization, led rivals for
senatorial nomination by a 'wider
margin.
Unofficial count from 6S4 districts
for republication senatorial nomina
tion gave:
Cooke 84,364.
Ladner 19,852.
In a presidential preierenuai vote
that is not binding on delegates to
the national conventions, democrats
in 272 districts gave Franklin D.
Roosevelt 16,820 votes, with no
wTite-ins reported.
Republicans put spaces on their
ballot for a presidential preference
write-in, but filed no names. Scat
tered write-ins were reported, but
they were not tabulated in the early
vote count.
Only Name
Mr. Roosevelt’s name was the
only one on the democratic presi
dential preference ballot. His con
sent was not necessary, and his
name was filed by the democratic
state committee which endorsed him
for a third term. Republicans filed
no names but left spaces for -write
ins.
Republican leaders said the pref
erence write-in on their ballots prob
ably would be split among a half
dozen favorites, but counted on their
registration of 2,572,100 voters to
the democrats’ 2,046,129 to keep
their totals elsewhere on the ballots
heavier than the Roosevelt vote.
Democrats, however, had the only
free-swinging scrap — a contest on
which hinged leadership of the state
organization.
This was the fight for renomin,'.
tion of Pennsylvania’s junior sena
tor, Joseph F. Guffey, opposed by
Walter A. Jones, Pittsburgh oil op
erator who had the support of
Democratic State Chairman David
I,. Lawrence and several other party
leaders.
Third man in the race was for
mer Mayor William N. McNair of
Pittsburgh, who opposed the New
Deal. Both the others cited their
records of New Deal support, and
Guffey said if he was defeated "the
press of the nation would hail that
(Continued on Page Seven; Col. 3)
___1*
Lei Day Queen
~i-r■'
Barbara Smythe
A senior at the University of
Hawaii, comely Barbara Smythe has
been selected as Lei Day queen in
Honolulu.
TRAIN IS STORMED
BY MEXICAN GANG
Crowd Frightens American
Tourists And Threatens
Two Generals
NOGALES, Ariz., April 23.—<£>)—
A yelling, pistol-shooting crowd
stormed a United States-b o u n d
Southern Pacific train at Hermosillo,
Sonora, today, frightened American
tourists and threatened two Mexican
air force generals.
Gen. Gustavo Leon and Gen. Al
fredo Lezama charged upon arrival
that the demonstration was insti
gated by supporters of Avila Cama
cho, pro-government candidate for
President. The generals are leaders
in the campaign of the anti-admin
istration candidate, Juan Almazan.
Lezama reported the train was
surrounded by 300 men at it pulled
into the Hermosillo station about
4 a. m. After firing pistols in the
air and screaming insults, some of
the men boarded the train, seized
luggage, and damaged property, he
said.
None of the cars occupied by
Americans was entered, however.
Ben R. Meyer, Los Angeles busi
ness man, said he was awakened by
(Continued on Page Seven^ Col. 2)
GREATER SPREAD
OF WAR IS SEEN
Danger Of Sweden, Yugo
slavia Becoming Involv
ed Talked By Allies
PARIS, April 23.—VP)—1The dan
gers of a spread of the European
war into two now neutral spots—
Sweden and Yugoslavia—were re
ported to have been brought into
sharp relief at the two-day, eighth
meeting of the Allied war council
ending today.
Sources close to the French for
eign office sai dhte political and
military leaders of Great Britain and
France, joined for the first time by
representatives of German-con
quered Poland and German-occupied
Norway, considered the present
state of the war and studied pre
liminary plans for the future.
Earlier in the day French mili
tary commentators reported there
(Continued On Page Two)
British Adopt
Huge Budget,
HeavyTaxes
Gear Spending To Same To
tal As Spent In Last Year
Of The World War
$9,334,500,000 IS TOTAL
War Costs Will Amount To
$230 For Every Per
son In The Nation
By EDWIN STOUT
LONDON, April 23.—<£P>—G r e a t
Britain, less than eight months at
war, today geared her spending for
the 1940-41 fiscal year to virtually
the same staggering total which she
paid in the final, exhausting year
of the World war, imposed heavy
new taxes to meet part of the cost
and gave official impetus to a revo
lutionary economic scheme under
which the British consumer is ex
pected to rigidly “do without.”
The total of the budget which
Chancellor of the Exchequer Sir
John Simon drew from his little
red dispatch case in the house of
commons is £2,667,000,000, or $9,334,
500,000 at the New York exchange
rate of approximately $3.50 and con
siderably more at the British "peg
ged” rate of $4.02-$4.04.
$230 Per Person
It amounts (at the New York
rate) to $230 for every man, woman
and child in Great Britain. More
than half must be borrowed.
Moreover, this budget figure,
(which, naturally, is an estimate
very likely to be exceeded by sup
plementary war expenditures), com
pares with expenditures in the 1917
18 fiscal year of £2, 696,221,000.
That per capita bill for carrying
onboth the government and the war
is more than three times the per
capita cost of the United States
federal government in 1939—$70..
As for the cost of the war itself.
Sir John told the house that Great
Britain spent £905,000,000 (about $3,
167,000,000) in the first seven
He declared that figure indicated
an annual war expenditure at the
rate of about £1,250,000,000), but that
the estnmate was rising and the
rate of annual expenditure would be
£2,000,000,000 (about $7,000,000,000)
by theend of the fiscal year next
March.
Large Increase
The budget represents an increase
in the expenditure of £850,000,000
($2,975,000,000) over the 1939-40
year.
Under it the government would
spend almost the equivalent of the
output of all the factories in this
industrial kingdom. The factory pro
duction under the 1935 census was
valued at £2,806,000,000 (then about
$14,030,000,000, W'hen the pound was
valued at $5.00.)
The amount to be raised entirely
by taxation, heaviest in British his
tory, is estimated at £1,234,000,000
$4,319,000,000), but the government’s
still must borrow £1,433,000,000 $?,
$15,500,000) to make both ends meet
in the 1940-41 fiscal year.
The British national debt already
is £8,931,000,000 $31,258,500,000), or
about $800 per capita as compared
with the United,, States national
debt of $308 per capita in 1939.
Wholesale Sales Tax
Sir John announced a proposed
new wholesale sales tax the rates
of which have not been determined
and which would “reduce the de
mand for supplies and conserve
manpower.”
Taxes were hiked on several other
items, but the heavy income tax
(Continued on Page Seven; Col. 2)
ANNENBERG PLEADS GUILTY TO INCOME
TAX CHARGES BUT JUDGMENT DELAYED
CHICAGO, April 23. — m —
>1. L. Annenberg, affluent pub
lislier who once dominated a
nation-wide racing news em
pire, pleaded guilty today to a
charge of evading $1,217,296
in income taxes but final dis
position of the case was de
ferred for a month.
The delay in pronouncing
judgment afforded time for a
settlement of civil claims m
negotiations through which
eventually the government
hopes to collect approximately
$9,000,000 from the Philadel
phian and some h,s many
corporations. - .
Annenberg, tall, gaunt and
grave, entered a plea of guilty
to evasion of $1,217,296 in
levies on his 1396 incomes.
That constituted one count of
a aix-count indictment alleging
failure to pay $3,258,809 alto
gether on his earnings from
1932 to 1936, inclusive. The ad
dition of $2,289,574 in penalties
and interest brought the total
sought to $5,548,383 and made
it the largest criminal tax case
on federal records.
The maximum penalty on the
count involving the guilty
plea would be five years im
prisonment or a $10,000 fine, or
both. But Annenberg’s counsel,
Weymouth Kirkland, intimated
he had hopes for leniency
when Judge James H. Wilker
son acts upon the plea on May
23.
At the same time, however,
U. S. District Attorney William
J. Campbell stated that “the
government has not agreed to
make any recommendation as
to the sentence to be imposed.”
Attorney Kirkland outlined
his client’s position this way:
“• . . My. Annenberg was
influenced by the fact that any
alternative would involve years
of trying and expensive Iitiga
tion. . . He hopes to dispose
of the civil claims for taxes
that have been made and will
be made against him and the
companies hi which he is inter
ested. He further hopes that by
taking responsibility upon him
self so far as he can, this will
be taken into consideration by
the government and the court
in connection with the charges
pending against his associates
and employes.
“In the proceedings upon the
imposition of the sentence, we
feel confident that the absence
(Continued on Page Seven; Col. 5)
BITTER WARSHIP-PLANE
WARFARE IS BELIEVED
RAGING IN SKA GERRAK
CONVOY IS ATTACKED
Warplanes And Warships
Engaged In Two Battles
In Passageway
DESTROYERS SIGHTED
Powerful Allied Force Re
ported Advancing In Di
rection Of Hamar
_
BY THOMAS F. HAWKINS
STOCKHOLM, April 23. -- UP) —
Fierce sea-and-air warfare, sparked
by an attack on a German transport
convoy, was reported raging in the
Skagerrak tonight while Allied
troops in Norway threatened Nazi
positions on three fronts.
The Stockholm newspaper Nya
Dagligt Allehanda reported from
Sweden’s west coast that warships
and airplanes were engaged in two
battles in the Skagerrak.
From the roar of gunfire off the
coast, it said, the fighting seems
likely to prove the most severe in
the two weeks since Germany in
vaded Norway.
Destroyers Sighted
Many fighting planes were involv
ed in the battles and at one coastal
vantage point, 10 destroyers could
be seen speeding past, all of them
with their guns spouting.
On land, menwhile, the newspaper
Aftonbladet reported a battle in pro
gress “at th edoor of Oslo,” in the
sector from Elverum to Hamar and
Lillehammer, about 60 miles north
of Norway’s Nazi-held capital.
These reports said a powerful Al
lied force is advancing in the direc
tion of Hamar. The Allied forces, al
ready engaged in a widening series
of encounters with the Germans, ap
parently are heading toward a de
cisive clash there.
The Germans’ effort seems to be
concentrated on cutting the railroad
between Hamar and Andalsnes, Nor
wegian west coast debarkation point
for the Bi’itish forces, to isolate the
Hamar sector.
Important Junction
Dombas, which the Germans have
subjected to heavy bombardment and
near which they dropped parachute
troops, is an important junction on
the Andalsnes-Hamar line.
(Reuters, British news agency, said
in London that British and Norwe
gian troops are reported attacking
north of Hamar for possession of the
“gateway” to Oslo through the Great
Gubrandsnal valley, and that British
Norwegian pressure is forcing the
Germans back from Elverum, furth
er east.)
Another major battle seems to be
(Continued on Page Seven; Col. 3)
MEET OF DISABLED
VETS SLATED HERE
Approximately 150 Dele
gaes To Attend Sessions
June 21, 22 And 23
The Disabled American Veterans
ot North Carolina will hold their
annual department convention in
Wilmington on June 21, 22 and 23,
State Commander George E. Pickett
anounced in Charlotte last night.
Between 150 and 200 deiegates are
expected to attend the meeting.
Norwood S. Westbroow, of Wil
mington, D. A. V. official, said last
night that no definite plans for the
convention have been made, but will
be started soon. The invitation to
meet here was extended by Cecil
Morgan, of the Wilmington D. A. V.
post.
—
__ . - — ■■ - — T
The European
War Situation
(By the Associated Press)
LONDON—British battle for
“gate” to Oslo; other sharp
struggles north of Trondheim
and in central Norway; tax in
creases required for 10-billion
dollar budget; war on whole
German people — not Hitler
alone—is urged by Duff Coo
per.
STOCKHOLM — Sea-air war
reported raging in Skagerrak,
and Allied laud forces threat
ening German positions on
three Norwegian fronts.
BERLIN — Germany claims
fresh successes at sea and in
air while acknowledging that
British are fighting on Norwe
gian soil.
PARIS—Allied war council,
with Polish and Norwegian
leaders attending, studies pos
sible spread of war to Sweden
and Yugoslavia.
TOKYO—Japanese foresee Al
lied concessions in return for
‘‘benevolent neutrality” to aid
Pacific blockade; U, S. com
plains of Japanese - enforced
hardships on Americans in
Tientsin.
NORWEGIANS FACE
NEW NAZI THREAT
Swift German Troops Re
ported Moving In On For
ces North Of Oslo
OSLO, April 23.—<-T>—A portion
of the Norwegian forces fightihg'
north of here were described in mili
tary reports reaching German-held
Oslo today as threatened both from
the north and south by swift Ger
man troops.
The Germans, striking from Hone
foss, northwest of Oslo,, were said
her to be at Lillehammer, 85 miles
north of the capital. Another Ger
man group, swinging up the west
shore of Mjosa lake from Eidsvold.
yesterday reached Gjovik, about 60
miles north of the capital, and Nor
wegians caught between the two
forces were reported to have but
one avenue of escape left—westward
toward Fossei mfortress and the
Valdres valley.
The main Norwegian force north
of Oslo appeared to be closer to
the Swedish border, between Elver
um and Rena, and likewise in dan
ger of being trapped.
Germans extending their line
(Continued On Page Two)
COOPER GIVES VIEWS
English Leader Calls For
Total War Against ‘The
Whole German People’
WAR BUDGET IS GIVEN
First Major Battle Of Nor
wegian Campaign Begin
ning Near Lillehammer
By DREW MIDDLETON
LONDON, April 23— <iP> —'The
ifle of war on the hard northern
lattleground boiled tonight into
southern Norway and found Allied
md German troops, alike far from
borne, engaged in a battle of seem
,ng decision for the "gate’’ to Oslo
end, perhaps, command of the in
vaded nation’s destiny.
At home, on the day of St.
George, Britain’s patron saint, tha
war front hardened, too. Alfred
Duff Cooper, former war secretary
and first lord of the admiralty,
gave voice to the increasing senti
ments of the “treat Germany
rough” school of highly-placed Brit
ish thought.
Asks Total War
He called the nation to a total
war against the ‘‘whole German
people”—not only the nazis — de
clared ‘‘the German people” must
be beaten in battle and warned
them they need expect no sympathy
if, afterwards, they come ‘‘whining
and groveling” as he said they did
at Versailles.
But of more immediate concern
to every one of Britain’s people
was the £2,667,000,000 ($9,344,500,
000) war budet fogr the next fiscal
year, as unfolded by Chancellor of
the Exchequer Sir John Simon in
the house of commons.
While another uncommunicative
communique from the war office
pictured British and Norwegian
troops as fighting together and re
sisting ‘‘enemy pressure” in the
south of Norway, unofficial British
and neutral military observers
pieced together this picture of the
land war:
Major BaUIe Starts
1. The first major battle of the
campaign is beginning at the gate
near Lillehammer where the Great
Gudbrandsdal valley enters the
southern plain. It is at Lilleham
mer that the Allied columns must
debouch from the valley if they
are to strike across the plain at
German-held Oslo.
2. A flying column of Norwegians
and British has thrust southward
from the Britons’ central-west
coast landing places and, flanking
(Continued on Page Seven; Col. 6)
Germany Admits Direct
Fighting Within Norway
TWO TRANSPORTS HIT
Germans Report British Are
Driven Into Woods By
Fire Of Their Planes
BERLIN, April 23. — (.T> — The
first admission of direct fighting
between British and German land
forces in central Norway came
from authorized German sources
today hut German officialdom,
analyzing reports of additional air
and nava.l engagements, adopted
the attitude that “the more the
British attempt to land in Norway
the better we like it.”
Nazi confidence was bolstered by
news of the German bombings of
Andalsnes and Namsos, Bx-itish de
barkation points south and north
of German-held Trondheim; Grong,
railway point 30 miles west of
Namsos, and Dombas, another stra
tegic rail point 60 miles south of
Andalsnes. The Nazis said that An
dalsnes had been destroyed by an
all-day air raid Sunday.
Transports Hit
In addition, DNB, the German
official news agency, In reporting
today’s activities of the German
airforce said two British transports
were hit by bombs of heavy calibre
before reaching the Norwegian
coast and “probably were unable
to unload their cargo at their place
of destination."
In central Norway, the news
agency said British troops again
were targets of Nazi airmen with
(Continued on Page Seven; Col. 4)
}
1
10NAL
WANT Ad
^WEElfe
SPONSORED BY THE ASSOCIATION Of |
NEWSPAPER CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING MANAGERS
FLAT FOOT
FLUVIUS
Gnaeus Marius in ancient
Pompeii scribbled the announce
ment that he had a room to
rent and posted it in a “prom
inent place.” Read all about
Gnaeus on an inside page of
today's paper.
National Want Ad Week calls
your attention to the fact that
today the most “prominent
place” to make an announce
ment is through the columns of
the Star and News Want Ads.
Get your announcement listed
today in
The Star-News
Want Ads
During National Want AO Week
iVe are willing to run your Want
id 7 Days For 4 Day Price.
Telephone 2800
Ask For Ad-Taker
y