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WLjZpa0301___WILMINGTON, N. C., FRIDAY, AUGUST 16, 1940__ * * ESTABLISHED 1867
ARMADA OF 1,000 NAZI PLANES BATTERS LONDON
. :
BRITISH CLAIM
114 ATTACKING
CRAFT DOWNED
ALSO RAID SCOTLAND
England Says Nazis Sent
Plunging To Earth At
Rate Of 1 A Minute
CROYDON IS BOMBED
Smash . At Objectives On
Thames; British Silent
About New Plane Trap
LONDON, Aug. 16.—(Fri
day)— (AP) —Britons dug
their dead and wounded
early today out of the bomb
ruins of the biggest air at
tack in history, executed by
an armada of more than 1,
000 German planes which
struck eight miles from the
heart of London and spread
destruction from the Scot
tish border to Lands End.
In the last dusk-hazed
fury of the fighting yester
day, planes were reported
plunging in smoke-trailing
death dives at a rate of one
a minute.
British Claims
The British total claim for
the day—144 German planes
to 27 British—dwarfed pre
vious reports on successive
assaults since last Sunday.
Yesterday’s fierce air siege
overshadowed all earlier mass
raids.
What the British losses
would amount to actually in
dead and wounded, splinter
ed homes and ■ smashed
buildings remained obscure
despite communiques compil
ing reports from cities from
the English channel to the
Irish Sea.
Listings of deaths were
scattered and the ministry of
home security summed up
the assault with the com
ment :
“Little success at a high
cost.”
Tide Nears City
London echoed with the bandshee
Rail of alarm sirens as the tide of
SJ a z i bombardment ripped close
ibout the sprawling city, heart of
in embattled empire.
Big dark dive-bombers screamed
lown within a few hundred feet of
:he ground to dump tons of explo
sives at the Croydon airport in the
(Continued on Page Three)
BRITISH RETREAT
BEFORE ITALIANS
\re Driven From Mountain
Pass Defending Import
ant Port Of Berbera
<
CAIRO, Egypt. Aug. 15.— <*> —
land have been driven by the
talians from their positions in a
nountain pass defending Berbera,
he capital and chief port, the Brit
sh acknowledged tonight.
Official reports said two Italian
ivisions (perhaps 25,000 men),
ulwarked by planes, artillery and
nechanized forces, had wrenched
ugargan pass from “a small Brit
sh holding force.”
The pass is about 35 miles south
f Berbera, and the Italians ad
anced from Hargeisa.
Berbera and the British Somali
oast constitute the southern flank
£ the gulf of Aden, an integral
nk in Britain’s empire lifeline,
’he Italians are trying to snap
nat lifeline throughout easUytfri*
a. from Suez south *
f. -T- H
Nazis Claim
Vital British
Areas Bombed
Attack Presses Through
Hell Of Anti-Aircraft
Fire, Pursuit Planes
i _
98 BRITISH DOWNED
I
, Invaders Scatter Bombs
Amid Vickers Armament
Works, Other Plants
BERLIN, Aug. 15. — UP)— Germ
ny threw the weight of her aerial
hosts directly at the great throb
bing heart of Britain’s world em
pire late today as warplanes
British admitted Croydon airport
was bombed—and smashed hard
at the broad Tilbury wharves
which stretch down the Thames
from the capital.
The attack, pressed home
through a veritable hell of anti
aircraft fire amid wheeling British
pursuit planes, was part of a syn
chronized onslaught upon all of
Britain’s vital centers and up and
down her coasts from far north
east Scotland to extreme south
west England Wales, said DNB,
official German news agency.
Thames Attacked
DNB did not say definitely that
London was bombed, but declared,
“the entire Thames valley wit
nessed the methodical, irresistible
German air attacks which threat
en all military establishments wiith
destruction.”
It first listed 36 British planes
destroyed as against four German
but later increased the figures, re
spectively, to 8 and 2. German
fliers reported they shot down five
balloons and put out of commis
sion eight planes on the ground.
(The British listed 144 German
and 27 British planes lost.)
The raiders scattered their
bombs amid the sprawling build
ings of the big ickers Armstrong
armament works at Hebburn
Wells; at Sherrness, Chatham and
Rochester, locations of navy yards
and arsenals; at the big eastern
port of Newcastle-on-Tyne; and at
the southeast "bridgeheads” of Do
ver and Folestone, the agency
said.
The airplane plants of Bristol
were threatened, and Wales, to the
southwest, got its share, said DNB.
Airports were a particular object
of attack, those at Hawkinge and
Lympne in the southeast shore
area were scenes of a particularly
bitter battle with the British de
fenders.
At Hawkinge alone, 11 British
planes were shot down by the
(Continued on Page Five)
* * * ★ * ★ •★ ★ ★ * * *
House Passe Call Measure
Downs Effort'
ToRestrict
Mens Service
Bill, Approved 342-33, Re
turned To Senate For Ac
tion On Amendments
senateIalks draft
Men With Dependents Will
Be Exempted From One
Year’s Active Duty
BY RICHARD L. TURNER
WASHINGTON, Aug. 15.—[B—
The house passed the national
guard mobilization bill by a whop
ping 342 to 33 vote today, after
crushing an effort to restrict the
service of militiamen and reserve
officers to the continental United
States and its possessions and ter
ritories.
The measure went back to the
senate for action on minor amend
ments. It found that chamber bus
ily debating the peace-time con
scription law and discussing a re
port that Great Britain had of
fered to lease Caribbean naval
base sites to the United States in
return for much-needed American
destroyers.
As it stood, approved by both
_ n. -_a • _i __a i_:n
»•**»«***.«, uu. uatiuiiai wii'
would exempt men with depend
ents, but other militiamen and re
serves would be subject at the
call of the president to a year’s
compulsory service anywhere in
the western hemisphere, the
American possessions and the
Philippine Islands.
Early Approval Seen
The changes made in the meas
ure by the house were of such an
unimportant nature that leaders
predicted either ready approval oi
them by the senate, or quick ac
tion in conference to bring senate
and house bills into agreement. In
cither case they expected the bib
(Continued on Page Three)
BEACH GETS MEET
OFCOUNTY BOARDS
1941 Convention Of N. C.
Associations Will Be Held
At Wrightsville
"’rightsville Beach was selected
v ^41 convention site for the
orth Carolina County Commis
,loners association and the County
Accountants’ association as the an
« convention of the organiza
ons closed yesterday in Asheville
cording to an Associated Press
wspatch.
Invitations for the meeting were
fended by Charlotte and
Addison Hewlett and L. J. Cole
11 ’ of the New Hanover county
(Continued on Page Eleven; Col. 5)
LWEATHER
Vmtv „ .FORECAST
and L,,„arjllna: cloudy Friday
horth-ccr^ . ' sho"'ers over east and
central portions Friday.
3048 f°r the 24 hours
“ '”u P- m. yesterday). ^
l:3fl ■ Temperature
in. 83-%?Sn S2; 7:30 a- m- 741 1:30 P
Minimum T» r' m- 811 maximum 85;
“u® 73; mean 79; normal 78.
1:30 3 .Humidity
in. 79- 7-»- 7:30 a. m. 98; 1:30 p.
’ 1 ■ot) P. ni. 82.
. Total f0r „,p.recipitation
73« inew t ?U,rs ?ndiag 7:30 P- m
month 13 ni . ,tal since first of the
■ m.04 inches.
Tides For Today
"'iilllinjtnn High L°W
ston - 8;21a 3;13s
JIasonboro i„i * 8:52P 3:3°P
0ro In|et - 6;20a 12:16a
.Sunrise 6:52p 12:25p
hise s■(»,.. ■°'ta■' sunset 6:58p; moon
•“P* moonset 4:28a.
ettruT ,™r, ri'er stage at Fay
fpet. ’ *■ 15> »t 7:30 p. m., 18.5
'^ntiuued on Page Eleven; Col. 7)
“FLASH” FLOOD DOES $2,000,000 DAMAGE IN NORTH WILKESBORO
-.— l - ■— ■
Raging flood water of the Yadkin swept through the industrial sectio 1 of North Wilkesboro. N. C.. and did damage estimated b.v Mayor R. T.
VIcNeill at $2,000,000 in the city. Five hundred people were left homel :ss and 2.500 workers were thrown out of employment for an indefinite
leriod by the high water and fires which destroyed two large factories. The plants were half submerged and surrounded by water and firemen
vere forced to stand on high ground and watch helplessly. This pictu -e shows the swelling tide surging through one section of the industrial
irea. In the background stretches water half a mile wide and 30 to 40 f eet deep. The flood rose so rapidly that the entire factory district was
submerged in less than three hours. (Associated Press Photo)._
CAPE FEAR RISES
IN UPPER REACHES
Stream Is Expected To
Reach 30 To 32 Feet At
Fayetteville Today
Heavy rains in central and west
ern North Carolina have started
pushing the Cape Fear river near
er and nearer flood stage and with
more rain forecast for today the
river is expected to overflow its
banks in several sections soon.
At Fayetteville last night at 7:30
o’clock, the river stage was be
tween 18 and 19 feet and stiU ris
ing. With the river rising at a rate
of about a foot per hour, it was ex
pected to reach between 30 and
32 feet early this morning.
Flood stage at Fayetteville is 35
feet.
The upper Cape Fear was re
ported within its banks last night,
with slight floods predicted along
the lower banks. If more rain is
forthcoming from the northwestern
section, the Cape Fear may reach
flood stage in the next 24 hours.
Several places in the state had
from four to six inches of rainfall
for the 24-hour period ending early
yesterday morning. At Wilmington
the rainfall measured 2.36 inches,
bringing the total since the first of
the month to 13.04 inches.
With only half of the month
gone, weather bureau officials here
said last night that a new record
(Continued on Page Eleven; Col. 7)
*
SwollenMountainRivers
Recede, Leaving 26 Dead
FIVE STATES AFFECTED
Damage To Roads, Crops,
Factories, Communication
Facilities Great
ASHEVILLE, Aug. 15. — (A>) —
Swollen mountain streams receded
today, leaving at least 26 dead,
millions of dollars damage to prop
erty, crops and highways in five
states, while the ocean-ward sweep
of the muddy flood waters men
aced vast areas of flatlands.
While the inhabitants of the
mountain sections hit by the worst
inundation in years began to strug
gle back to normal existence,
there was a general evacuation of
homes in low-lying sections along
the lower reaches of the rampag
ing streams.
Communications Cut Off
Communication was still cut off
or crippled in many of the moun
tain communities, but reports in
dicated at least 26 persons were
drowned or killed In landslides.
There were reports of other cas
ualties but they could not be con
firmed.
The death toll by states:
North Carolina, 12; Tennessee,
5; Virginia, 3; Georgia, 4. A re
port from Boone, N. C., said that
at least ten lives were lost and
possibly a score of persons injured
(Continued on Page Eleven; Col. 7)
Red Cross Rushes Men
Into Flooded Sections
WASHINGTON, Aug. 15.—(/P)
—The Red Cross rushed addi
tional field workers into the
storm-stricken southern states
today and held others in readi
ness as weather reports indicated
new downpours in Tennessee,
Virginia and North and South
Carolina.
Thirteen more field workers
were sent to the four states
where the Red Cross said con
tinuing rains were swelling the
rivers into flood stages. Members
of the organization’s disaster
staff were making surveys to
determine the extent of the flood
damage.
U. 5., JArS UlVIUt
SHANGHAI SECTOR
Will Take C^r Duties Of
Maintaining Order In
British Section
SHANGHAI, Aug. 16.—(Friday)
—W)—Defense commanders of the
Shangahi international zone issued
a communique this morning con
firming that the British defense
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 8)
Greece Orders Ships To Stay In Port
After Mysterious Sub Sinks Cruiser
ATHENS, GrdeCe', Aug.' 15.—UP)—
A mysterious submarine sent the
2,115-ton Greek cruiser Helle to
the bottom of the Aegean Sea to
day within half a mile of a Greek
island quay and tonight the gov
ernment, wary of a fatal snap in
the tension with Italy, forbade all
Greek ships to leave port.
Official sources indicated, with
out saying so openly, that they be
ieved the attack was an effort to
force Greece into some retaliatory
act. The ships-in’-port order re
| fleeted the Greek official desire to
counter any repetition of the inci
dent.
Popular Greek feeling ran high.
An unstated number of civilians
injured on the quay at Tinos island
when two of the submarine’s tor
pedoes exploded against it were
among 40,000 religious pilgrims
who had gone to pray beside the
island’s health-giving waters.
Telephonic communication to It
aly was cut off after the Helle was
sunk, and a strict censorship im
posed on all calls abroad.
Police on Tinos island cabled the
Greek government that a prelim
inary investigation failed to estab
lish the identity of the submarine.
Premier John Metaxas, already
making preparations regarded by
foreign observers here as designed
to set up Greek defenses against
a possible Italian attack from Ital
ian Albania, summoned his mili- :
tary and naval chiefs into urgent
conference.
These maneuvers reflected the i
increasing gravity of Greece’s po
(£pntinued on Page Eleven; Col. 6)
CALEDONIA PRISON
DIKES THREATENED
Roanoke Pushes Out Of
Banks In Upper Reaches
To Set New Record
RALEIGH ,Aug. 15.—UP)—A huge
dyke at the Caledonia prison farm
was threatened tonight as the rain
swollen Roanoke river pushed out
of its banks in the upper reaches
to all-time-record flood levels.
Prisoners worked all afternoon
piling sandbags along the top of
the nine-mile dyke, which prtects
the prison camp’s rich farm lands
from inundation. Livestock was
evacuated from the low-lands.
Official of the weather bureau
here predicted the river would rise
at least to 48 feet—1 lfeet in flood
—at Weldon by Saturday.
There is a possiblity, they add
ed, that the rise may break the
previous record of 50.3 feet, estab
lished in Weldon in March, 1912.
Calidonia is situated in Halifax
county, a few miles from Weldon.
Prison officials were said that
(Continued on Page Five)
CHRYSLER GIVEN
TANK CONTRACT
Will Build Large Plant At
Detroit And Turn Out
$33,500,000 Order
WASHINGTON, Aug. 15.—<A>>—
The army took steps today toward
grand scale production of tanks by
giving the Chrysler corporation a
contract to build a $20,000,000
‘tank arsenal’ at Detroit and
;urn out an initial $33,500,000 or
ier.
Designed for ready expansion,
;he plant is expected to start mass
production in 13 months. Delivery
iates on the $33,500,000 order were
lot announced.
This order, military circles
leard, was for approximately 1,
>00 “medium” tanks of 25 or more
.ons, a weapon which figures
(Continued on Page Eleven; Col. 5)1
1
Lord Nelson’s Famous
Flag Still Waves On
Mainmast Of Victory
PORTSMOUTH, England, Aug.
15. — </P) — A naval officer con
ducted reporters over Lord Nel
son’s famous flagship Victory
here today to prove, despite Ger
man radio assertions, that the
famous British sea lion's flag
still fluttered at the mainmast
and that the famous ship was
undamaged by air radiers.
A German radio broadcast to
day said the flag and its staff
had been sent crashing recently
by a bomb which fell near the
old ship, now “ashore” as a me
morial to Nelson and his sea
victories, and that British sailors
viewed it as an ill omen.
BRITAIN SEEKS 50
U. S. DESTROYERS
Offering To Lease Sites In
New World In Return
Fot Old Warcraft
WASHINGTON, Aug. 15.—(AT—
Great Britain, seeking additional
weapons to combat the Nazis, was
reported today to be offering to
lease certain naval base sites in
the western hemisphere to the
United States in return for 50 or
more old destroyers.
These reports circulated in con
gressional quarters as Senator Lee
(D-Okla) told the senate that
transfer of the vessels ought to be
made in the interest of American
defense.
Lee, who visited the White House
during the day, argued that the
transfer could be made without
further congressional action, a
point said to have been involved in
the latest British appeal for de
stroyers.
Usually reliable sources said
they had been informed that the
British proposal had been trans
mitted to the White House and was
under study there.
They said it involved an offer bj'
the British to lease for 9 years
sites in British possessions in the
wetern hemiphere that would be
suitable for United States naval
and air bases to protect the Pana
ma Canal and to guard this coun
try against any invasion from the
(Continued on Page Three)
Wrightsville Beach Tax
Rate Reduced To $1.60
The Wrightsville Beach board of
alderman met last night and adopt
ed a budget for the fiscal year 1940
41 of approximately $32,000, while
approving a tax rate of $1.60 per
$100 valuation.
The new tax rate is 15 cents low
er than last year’s rate.
The reason for the lower rate was
given as an absence of oblgations
in judgments and notes present in
last year’s budget. However, the
property valuation is higher this
year and the income is expected to
remain about the same.
There is little difference in the
total budget figures of this year
and in last.
Milton Calder, secretary to the
board, said that the only increase of
any size in the budget was for the
street department. The increase
will take care of new street work to
be done on both the northern and
southern extensions and on Lumina
avenue.
Included in the budget figures
are allocations for the police, street,
fire, and sanitary departments, the
admnisctration and bond debt. A
separate budget is set up for the
wter department.
Board members present for the
meeting were Leon Andrews, J. Rus
sell Wood and Mayor D. J. Herring.
Aldermen absent were Louis Hanson
and Luther Rogers.
SoutheasternN.C.Weed -
Starts Moving To Marts !
With auction sales opening Tues
day morning and the hopes high
North Carolina’s crop of golden
weed has already started moving
to the seven border belt markets
in this state.
Practically every market in the
belt has tobacco pil-'d for the be
ginning of sales.
Although a considerable amount
of tobacco has been graded in the
counties of this section, rains this
week has caused a majority of
the farmers to halt grading for
fear of the weed being damaged c
by the wet weather. 1
Optimistic that opening day sales '
will average “80 cents or better ‘
a pound,” market officials said '
last night that everything is now
in readiness for the opening. c
On the seven North Carolina '
markets the auctioneer will begin
his chant Tuesday morning at 9 '
o’clock and, because of a short c
crop and the high quality of the 1
leaf in this section, most markets ^
(Continued on Page Eleven: Col. 8) c
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