North Carolina Newspapers

Dedicated To The Progress Of I Served by Leased Wire of the WILMINGTON *%***'+%•#**% ASSOCIATED PRESS And Southeastern North jCM ■ ■■ H 2^/TmL With Complete Coverage of ^aro ina State and National News WILMINGTON, N. C., WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 1940 * J ESTABLISHED 1867 GERMANS CONTINUE HUGE AIR ATTACKS ON BRITAIN i A_ A - A _A_ _A A A A ... A. -__ - X X x x * * XXX xxx Army Boost Pla/'s Delayed _ _ ’• <3f$i HE Ik x___» 1 Strike Snag; Conscription Row Blamed Wheeler Says Passage Of Bill Will ‘Slit Throat Of Last Democracy’ burke "ends speech \rmy Intended To Have 900,000 Troops In Uni iorm By Early Fall By RICHARD L. TURNER WASHINGTON. Aug. 13.— Wi Senator Wheeler (D-Mont) has warned the senate today that pas sage of the pending conscription bill would ‘‘split the throat of the last democracy still living today” while army chiefs, chafing at con gressional delays, said they had been forced to postpone plans for having 900,000 troops in uniform by early fall. Delivering the day’s principal address of opposition to the draft bill, the Montana senator argued that there was no foreseeable dan ger of an attack upon the United States, that the army was taking advantage of a crisis psychology o “saddle” the country with con scription, and that the army’s le gitimate manpower needs could be filled by voluntary enlistments. Demanding to know where Sec retary of War Stimson and other “men of the stamp of Stimson” planned to send the conscript qy* my, he asked: “Are these administration men not counting upon our invading arge parts of South America— Mexico perhaps—all in the name of defending our country?” Burke Ends Speech Earlier, Senator Burke (D-Neb), finishing a speech begun yester day, contended that voluntary en listments were too slow to meet the necessities of the times and asserted that ‘‘this country does not want to wait until war comes if unhappily it should ever come, before we start training our citi zens.” “Let no one here deceive him self into believing that his would be a happy lot if by his action he helped to prevent or postpone ade quate military training for those (Continued on Page Two; Col. 3) SEVERAL HIGHWAYS CLOSED BY RAINS Asheville Is Isolated From The East With Exception Of One Route Raleigh, Aug. 13— (a>> —Heavy !?ns, loosed upon the mountains of * wth Carolina by the remnant of e storm that spent its fury Sun a> on the Georgia and South Caro !"a coasC tonight isolated Ashe ?! e Cfoin the east except by one highway route. C- S. 74 and u. S. 70, main eastern '■ates into Asheville, were blocked, "ay officials reported, and all taffic is being routed by way of - arion, Rutherfordton, Tryon and Randersonville. Lhe torrential downpour caused landslides, washed out roads and •Continued on Page Two; Col. 4) '^WEATHER North p FORECAST Ofort-isi. M„rollna’ South Carolina and TlnirsdaV ■tHy clou'ly Wednesday and com in Wlt ‘ scattered showers ex thp mountains Wednesday. tnd’in~e7^iogical data for the 24 hours ' '"iu P- m. yesterday). 1:30 a Temperature to- 84- 7^; ‘‘i 7:30 p. m. 78; 1:30 p. t’nimiim p' m- 80: maximum 84, “m <6; mean 80: normal 78. 1 •9|i _ Humidity to. 67: 7-.3®- ®: 1:30 a* m. 82; 1:30 p. ’ 1 •«* P. in. 81. 1 , Total to- -i/f^'P'tation ,J-« inches- t\°l!rs €ntling 7:30 !>• 10.57 incheV firSt °£ the Tides For Today "‘Iminzton High Low - 6:37a i;32a Fhsonboro Inlet 7:10p l:49p TO Inlet-4:39a 10;48n ..Sunrise a-"7.. 5:22p ll:30p 5;sS,7:00t; moon ‘Costumed on page Two; Col. 2) Scalise An Accompanied by his attorney, Martin W. Littleton, right, George Scalise. left, ex-convict and former union leader, is pictured as he ar rived in New York’s general sessions court for trial on charges of steal ing $60,087.27 from the Building Service Employes’ International Union, which he headed. If convicted on all 60 counts of his record indict ment, Scalise could be sentenced to a maximum of 545 years. Asheville Is Threatened With Shortage Of Water _ IS RESULT OF FLOOD Three Main Lines Washed Out; All ‘Big’ Water Users Cut To Minimum ASHEVILLE, N. C., Aug. 13. This mountain metropolis, beset by floodwaters in low-lying sec tions, was seriously threatened with a water shortage tonight as the three main lines serving the city washed out. P. M. Burdette, city manager, said the 24-inch main from the Bee Tree watershed and the two 16-inch mains from the North Fork watershed went out during the day. There was a 36-hour supply in the two reservoirs here — White fawn and Beaucatcher—at 9 p.m. tonight. All “big” water users have been reduced to a minimum, Mr. Burdette said. Lines Out The city manager reported that the North Fork lines have been out all day, and that the Bee Tree main was washed out between 3 and 4 p.m. Two crews were sent into the Bee Tree shed tonight to learn the situation and determine what can be done. The city manager reported they hoped to begin re pairs tomorrow afternoon if there are no further heavy rains in the Bee Tree section. There had been no report on the situation at North Fork. All tele phone lines to this watershed w_ere town and bridges on roads lead ing there were out. A crew of telephone linemen went into North Fork tonight in an attempt to repair the lines and learn conditions there. The city manager said that if repairs can be made to the Bee Tree line sufficient water would be available for Asheville. A number of persons living in Buncombe county east of Ashe ville are connected with country water mains which in turn con (Continued on Page Two; Col- 3) DISTRICT LEGION MEETING PLANNED Roy L. MacMillan, Of Ra leigh, Will Address Beach Session Tonight A meeting of the Seventh district of the North Carolina American Legion will be held tonight at 6:30 o’clock at the Atlantic View pier dining room at Wrightsville Beach. Roy L. MacMillan, Raleigh at torney and official in the North Carolina Boys State, will be prin cipal speaker. Legionnaires from Wilmington, Southport, Whiteville, Tabor City, and Fair Bluff will attend the meeting. Information concerning reserva tions and transportation may be obtained by calling A. T. Dowdy at 7932. 1 Student Drowns When Boat Goes Over Dam ASHEVILLE, Aug. 13.—(AP) Frank Nacke, 20, of Denver, Colo.i a student at Black Moun tain college near here, was drowned today when a boat in which he and a companion were riding plunged over the Lake Eden dam into the flood-swollen waters of Swannanoa river. The two had gone to the dam to open a flood gate. Nacke’s body was recovered several hours later 200 yards downstream. He apparently had been knocked unconscious when the boat went over the dam and had drowned. He was working at Lake Eden spmmer resort, operated by the college. GOLDSBORO BLAST BURNS TWO MEN Injured When Chemical Ex plosion Wrecks Section Of Weils Warehouse GOLDSBORO, Aug. 13.—UB— A chemical explosion wrecked a sec tion of the H. Weil and brothers storage warehouse here today and seriously burned two men. W. A. Jinnette, 40, of Grantham township, and R. W. Pittman, 29, were taken to the Goldsboro hos pital. The explosion ripped off a sec tion of the tin roof, tore out a section of the brick wall and sup porting timbers, and set fire to the building and contents. The men had been using the chemical to treat oats and other small grains stored there. Jinnette buried under the debris and grain, was extricated by Pittman and clothing on both was burning as they emerged from the building. The explosion was so great that dishes rattled in restaurants many blocks away. _^ Methodists To Meet In City November 5-8 Approximately 500 Min isters And Lay Delegates To Attend Conference PURCELL TO PRESIDE Selection Of City Over Dur ham Made By Special En tertainment Body The annual meeting of the North Carolina Conference of the Metho dist church will be held here on November 5-8 with the Fifth Ave nue church as host, E. T. Jones, chairman of the board of stewards of the church, announced yester day. Approximately 500 ministers and lay delegates will attend the con ference. Bishop Clare Purcell, of Charlotte, will preside. Mr. Jones pointed out that while Fifth Avenue church, of which the Rev. C. D. Barclift, is pastor, will be host, all other Methodist churches in the city and vicinity will cooperate in making arrange* ments and entertaining the dele gates. Other churches here are Trinity, the Rev. R. L. Jerome, pastor; Grace, Dr. J. F. Herbert, Epworth, the Rev. Walter Pavy, and Winter Park, the Rev. W. A. Notification Received Notification of the selection of Wilmington as site of the 1940 con ference was received ' yesterday afternoon by Mr. Jones from the Rev. A. S. Parker, of Kinston, sec retary of the conference commit tee on entertainment. Usually the location of the next conference is selected at the close of the previ ous one but last year, at the meet ing in Fayetteville, the Methodists did not follow this course but turned the matter over to a special entertainment committee, of which Col. J. F. Bruton, of Wilson, is chairman. Durham, through Trinity church, also extended a bid for the 1940 meeting. Mr. Jones said preparations for the meeting, the first conference to be held here since the one at Grace five years ago, will be started immediately. It will be the second since tli j unification of the three branches of the church, the gathering in Fayetteville last year completing the merger in the conference. 1 No Rain Forecast For City, Vicinity Today For the first time in days, the weatherman saw no rain in sight for today but partly cloudy skies were still on the menu. Temperatures yesterday ranged from a high of 84 to a low of 76 degrees, with the mean two above the normal mark of 78 degrees. Rainfall of .05 inches was reported yesterday, bringing the total since the first of the month to 10.57 inches. Moderate easterly and southeaster ly winds will predominate today and the humidity will be high, the weath erman said. FEDERAL RELIEF AGENCIES AID STORM VICTIMS IN SOUTH CAROLINA, GEORGIA CHARLESTON, S. C., Aug. 13. _ (/p> — Assisted by government relief agencies, residents of the coastal plains of South Carolina and Georgia went to work today to dig out of the wreckage of a tropical hurrican that look at least 36 lives, wrought damage of millions of dollars and left hundreds homeless. The Red Cross dispatched nurses to the stricken area to begin precautionary immuniza tion against disease and other wise minister to sufferers. The Works Projects administration sent Assistant Commissioner Fred R. Raugh from Washing ton to assist in emergency work. Beaufort, south of Charleston, apparently was hardest hit by the 80-mile-an-hour gale that swept out of the Bahamas Sun day, wrecking waterfront build ings and sending high tides into city streets and homes. The Red Cross reported from Washington that 25 negroes were killed on St. Helena island near Beaufort. Eight other ne groes died on nearby Ladies is land. Reports from these outly ing islands were described as in complete, and fear was expressed that the death toll would be higher. A CCC boy was drowned on Huntington island, near here, and two persons perished at Sa vannah, Ga. Sheriff J. M. McTeer of Beau fort'“county, appointed by Gover nor Burnet R. Maybank to head relief and emergency areas, esti mated that 700 persons in that area were homeless and with out food. He appealed to the outside for roofing material and food supplies as quickly as pos sible by truck. Large crews sought to open roads sufficiently for trucks to get through, and the state high way department announced that two highways had been opened into the stretch area for “light traffic-” Beaufort had been in accessible since Sunday except by foot. Batteries of trouble-shooters also were at work to restore communication facilities. Tele phone calis into the area were being accepted, however, subject to a five-hour delay. Port Royal, near Beaufort, counted damage to all its resi dences and business houses. Warehouses and the waterfront pier of the Charleston and West ern Carolina railroad were demol ished. Parris Island, site of a C. S. Marine corps base, reported heavy damage but no loss of life Damage to Charleston indus trial plants was estimated at $500,000, and Russell McGowan, Charleston attorney, said proper ty damage at nearby Folly is land would approximate $1,000, 000. Governor Maybank came here yesterday, surveyed the damage in this and the Beaufort areas, and offered the state govern ment’s assistance in relief work. He said food and chlorine to ^Continued on Page Two; Col. 1) / RAID INDUSTRIAL MIDLANDS AND BATTER SOUTH SHORE; CHANNEL WARSHIPS BATTLE - j Germans Believed Using, Huge Cannon On Britain (By the Associated Press) The possibility Germany now has turned her long - range cannon on besieged Britain was indicated yesterday by de layed and fragmentary cen sored dispatches from Eng land. Householders in a southeast ern coastal city, probably Dov er, unanimously believed the heavy explosions which killed two and wounded eight Mon day were caused by shells, not bombs. British authorities said there was no confirma tion. They collected fragments for study. Reports that the shelling of England had started were heard in Switzerland. Corres ' spondenis in Berlin were un able to obtain confirmation. Significance was attached, however, to an article by Hed tor C. By water, noted British naval expert, appearing in the London News Chronicle which discussed German use of “guns across the Channel,” or 1940 editions of the “big Bertha” that hurled hundreds of 264-pound shells into Paris in 1918 from 76 miles away. Germany has guns mounted along the French channel coast which could toss shells into London 90 miles away. From Calais on the continent, Dover’s cliffs are only 22 miles away. Bywater said long - range bombardment was “merely a nuisance,” because: 1. Britain has retaliatory cannon. 2. Effective shelling would presuppose that aerial “spot ters” could loiter above Eng land’s coastal targets to direct fire. (Continued on Page Two; Col. 2) Italians Accuse Greeks Of Territorial Designs _ <x TROUBLE INDICATED Greece Reported To Have Rejected ‘Suggestion’ To Renounce Britain By RICHARD G. MASSOCK ROME, Aug. 13.— m —Italian spokesmen accused Greec tonight of having terirtorial designs on Italy’s Albanian domain and indicated that Premier Mussolini sooner or later will demand slices of both Greek and Yugoslav territory in a "gen eral settlement’’ for Albania. The Italian press has been hitting at Greece since the week-end dis closure of the death of an Albanian patriot, Daut Hoggia, at the hands, Italians said, of two Greek assassins. Italians also charged Greec is a “silent ally” of Great Britain in the war. Yugoslavia Involved Yugoslavia entered the Italian pic ture only today, when the newspaper La Tribuna reported the killing of a minor fascist leader, Leonardo Ciurcovich, in the Italian town of Zara on the Yugoslav coast because he objected to a stranger singing a Slav song on Zara’s streets. These developments coincided with an italian battle with British de fenders of British Somaliland and a Big, four-hour night attack on the British Malta naval base in the Mediterranean. Italian troops in British Somali land are attempting to reach the Somaliland capital, Berbera, on the sea coast. The Italians were report ed to have taken Adadleh, about 50 miles south of Berbera. Virginio Gayda, often spokesman for the fascist regime, declared the Italian government expected the Greek government to "answer for its new crimes” and asserted that Italy could not tolerate Greece’s “acts against the independence of Albania.” “SUGGESTION” REFUSED ATHENS, Aug. 13.—(jP)—(Greece, faced by Italian pressure to alienate her and Great Britain, was reported reliably tonight to have rejected an axis "suggest'on” that she formally (Continued on Page Two; Col. 27 Air Alarms Sounded In Western Switzerland BERN, Switzerland, Aug. 14. (Wednesday)—(AP)—Two air raid alarms were sounded late last night and early today, warning residents of western Switzerland of the presence of unidentified foreign planes. The alarms, starting shortly before midnight, lasted for about an hour. They were heard in Bern, Geneva and Lausanne. No firing or explosions were heard and observers said the planes apparently lost their way and crossed over Swiss territory in the vicinity of the Jura mountains. ' The first group of planes ap parently flew south over west ern Switzerland. Later planes which might have been the same flew back over France. BRITISH REPULSE ITALIAN ATTACK Deliver Assault Against Defense Positions Cover ing Jugargan Pass CAIRO, Egypt, Aug. 13.—(A>)— Britain’s warriors in British So maliland, who let advancing Ital ian troops seize three towns, have repulsed one general attack, it was reported today. The British high command said the assault was delivered last Sun day on defense positions covering Jugargan pass, 35 miles south southeast of Berbera, capital and principal port of British Somali land. “In spite of intensive support by low-flying aircraft, the attacks were broken up and repulsed by our artillery and small arms fire,” a British communique reported. The Italians have been driving across the burning wastes of the Somaliland since they captured Hargeisa, Oadweina and Zeila last week. British sources have indi cated they would let the Italians advance, extending supply lines, until they are where the British want them. (In Rome, the Italian high com mand said sharp fighting is going on reported Italians had occupied Adadleh, about 50 miles south of Berbera.) 1 Mintz Recovering From Auto Accident Injuries Louis Mintz is recovering at his home at 1407 South Fourth street Crom injuries received when he was struck by an autmoobile near Clin ton Sunday afternoon. He received a broken leg, several bruises and scratches in the acci dent. His condition was reported as satisfactory last night. * 1 SCOTLAND ATTACKED Germans Apparently Hope Jo Smash Out An In vasion ‘Bridge-Head’ BERLIN HAS ALARM British Claim Bag Of 32 Bombers, 23 Battle Bomb ers, 14 Fighters LONDON, Aug. 14.—Wednes day)—Nazi warplanes shrieked, over the length and breadth of Britain today, scourging the in dustrial midlands and North Scot land and plunging into the fourth day of an unremitting assault on the south' shore, apparently aimed at smashing out an invasion of “Bridge-head.” Planes came over the midlands, heart of industrial England, in seven or eight waves. The defense of this stubborn is land kingdom mounted in tempo with the hourly-increasing threat of invasion, a threat enhanced by a clash of light-draft naval ves sels in the channel during yester day’s gigantic aerial conflict. Own Medicine The British, despite their pre occupation with bringing down 69 German planes yesterday, appar enuy iouna ume 10 give uermai^y a new dose of her own medicine. Berlin had a 47-minute air raid alarm this morning, and the big wireless station at Bremen shut down abruptly,' a possible sign of RAF planes in the vicinity. Some Britons even speculated that Germany might give up the invasion idea and try an aerial “starvation” blockade instead. This morning’s German attack on the English Midlands was tije biggest of the war for that dis trict. Bombs burst with a rum ble and great glares made the sky lurid. Anti-aircraft gunners kept up a scorching fire. Tracer bul lets and searchlights pierced the morning dark. The picture was much the same along the south coast, in Wales, and in Scotland. Houses were hit in one Scottish town, a row of huts set afire in another, and many salvos of Nazi bombs were said to have fallen in fields. One fatality was reported, and ‘minor’’* civilian casualties. Nazi Planes Dawned As for damage after Tuesday’s assault by hundreds of German planes on the channel coast, the British acknowledged only a se ries of fires and "a few casual ties,” while reporting proudly that their day’s bag of Nazi planes was the biggest yet—32 bombers, 23 battle bombers and 14 fighters. In the English channel itself, a force of German warships—both surface craft and submarines — as declared to have been beaten off by British motor torpedoboats in the channel, but these were ita (Continued on Page Two; Col. 6) FRANCE INDICTS ITS WAR MAKERS Former Premier Daladier And Ex-General Gamelin Apparently On List By The Associated Press RIOM, France, Aug. 13.—The armistice government of Marshal Philippe Petain formally indicted to night before a high court of last ap peal the government and military leaders whom it deems responsible for betraying the Third Republic by leading it, unready, into war and defeat. It did not name them but it lump ed them as a composite “Monsieur X” in a general complaint. The court itself will fix individual re sponsibility. As the blanket charge was placed before the nation’s new supreme court, the old marshal, chief of state, went before the radio with a stinging rebuke for those who stand accused—who obviously include, among others, former Premier Ed ouard Daladier and former General issimo Maurice Gustave Gamelin. He said France fell before laziness, incompetence "and even sabotage,” (Continued on Page Two; Col. NAZIS WIDEN RANGE Planes Flying 60 Miles In land To Shatter Many Military Objectives IS ‘GENERAL ACTION’ Germans Claim 96 British Planes Destroyed To Set New Daily Record BERLIN, Aug. 14—(Wednesday)— (IP)—German bombers now are fly ing more than 60 miles inland from the south British coast to shatter a great variety of military objectives, nazi commentators declared today, and are threatening London itself. The combat area extends "310 miles from the mouth of the Thames river, through Dover westward, it was stated, and the onslaught is not individual raids, but “a general ac tion,” developing according to a well laid nlan. Alarm In Berlin These reports came shortly after Berlin itself experienced a 47-minute air raid alarm this morning. The alarm was the third of the war, but no bomb explosions or gunfire were heard in the downtown area. Resi dents of some suburbs said they heard distant shooting. DNBj official German news agency said the German raids on Britain yesterday brought down or destroy ed on the ground 96 British planes —a new day’s record. Fifty were shot down over the English channel and the British Isles, 16 were brought down in Brit ish attacks on Aalborg, Denmark, and 30 were destroyed on the ground by German bombs, according to DNB. DNB termed the encounters the "biggest success” in the present heightened aerial warfare which pointed to an early zero hour for the long-threatened attempt to land nazi troops on the British Isles. The Germans put their own losses in the day’s actions at 24 planes but said five of the crewmen were saved. Fight Over Dover The latest fight reported by DNB was over Dover and the channel where 19 Spitfires and eight Hurri (Continued on Page Two; Col. 5) EXCESS PROFITS TAX DELAY ASKED Chamber Of Commerce Presents Request At Con gressional Body Hearing WASHINGTON, Aug. 13.—(AT— An official of the United States chamber of commerce urged con gress today to delay enacting an excess profits tax while a repre sentative of the National Associ ation of Manufacturers favored a “carefully drawn” tax of that type as a temporary, “emergency measure.” Ellsworth C. Alvord of Wash ington, chairman of the chamber’s federal finance committee, recom mended that congress go ahead and pass, separately from the tax, I (Continued on Page Two; Col. 4) j