North Carolina Newspapers

Dedicated to the _ __^ — - - .' -V _ __ Served by Leased Wire of the PROGRESS TUE Cl IKIPykwLV mmk P ■ M C" lUJf C3fc ASSOCIATED PRESS irr;“ I TIC □UNlrMT,5i‘= ;jl An NEWS L-— —_^LfwE.PORv -ciw©FPia®<ai3iEIa pile as Master — VOL O—NO- 49l___^____WILMINGTON, N. C., SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1940_* + _ PRICE FIVE CENTS Many Die, Damage Is Widespread Wave After Wave Of Nazi Bombers Drop Missiles On English Capital MIDLANDS ALSO GOAL Numerous Fires Started; Attacks Are Under Way As Daylight Nears BY H. TAYLOR HENRY LONDON, Oct. ?0— (Sunday) — OP)—High explosive uombs dropped by German raiders in the heaviest early-evening assault since the Battle of -Britain began killed many Londoners last night and caused “severe” damage in the British capital. One bomb landing outside a ho tel killed an unannounced number of people in the bar; two others were killed when a bomb hit a cafe, and a direct hit which de molished a London club caused an undetermined number of casual ties. Suburbs Hard Hit The furious pace of the raid con tinued on after midnight before a lull brought the “all clear” around 2 a. m. (8 p. m. EST) but it did not last long. The raiders returned to the attack within a few minutes and another alarm was sounded. The Germans apparently concen trated on distant outskirts of the city as they resumed the assault, however. Only the sound of the outer defense guns was heard. When the salvos of bombs first poured down, it appeared that the raid might prove the heaviest at tack of the war but for some reas on the Germans did not continue the fast attack on the city itself in the early morning hours. Bombs scored a direct hit on a hospital, considerably damaging one block of wards. There were heavy damage and undetermined casualties in another district of the city. The raiders also attacked the midlands, concentrating on two towns around which numbers of high explosive and incendiary bombs were dropped. Numerous fires were caused in one town, but were controlled by firemen. Houses were demolished but most of the people trapped in them were rescued. There was a short lull after 2 a. m. (8 p. m. EST). The all-clear (Continued on Page Nine; Col. 3) BRITISH BLOCKADE GROWING TIGHTER Mediterranean Fleet Haa Barred Axis Vessels From Suez Canal BY LARRY ALLEN ALEXANDRIA, Egypt, Oct. 19. — <iP)—War or no war, the S-ez Canal still is open to international ship ping, including Germany’s and It aly’s, the French director of opera tions said today, but added in ef fect: “Just let the Axis powers try to get their boats near it.” “We are acting with total inde pendence of any suggestions ema nating from Vichy,” declared Baron Louis de Benoist, general represent ative of the canal company. “We will continue to afford all possible facilities tc ships flying any flag.* The baron was speaking in behalf of the French-dominated operating company. He took into considera tion, however, that it is the British fleet, standing guard at both ends, which is exercising real control over the 104.5 mile-long “jugular vein” of the British Empire. His big "if” concerning the chance* of Axis shipping reaching the canal was emphasized by a British tabu lation of losses inflicted by the Brit, ish Mediterranean fleet in 23 weeks of smashing at Italy’s sea power. Twenty-one of Mussolilii's reported fleet of 100 submarines, at least 10 of his destroyers and the world’s speediest cruiser, the 5.069-ton Bar tolomeo Colleoni, have been sent to the bottom since June 11, the Brit ish reported. Moreover, they said, seven Italian supply ships and one depot vessel have been destroyed, along with 28 bombing planes. In addition, nine submarines were ■ listed as probably sunk and the tab i (Continued on Page Three; Col. 1) A 1 Yugoslavia SigB* Treaty As British Confer - 31 -----—i. _ ' _____ Envoys Seek lo Preserve Turk Front British In Bulgaria Burn Documents, Are Ready To Leave Quickly YUGOSLAVIA GIVES IN Little Nation Agrees To i Exchange Farm Goods | For Nazi Promises By the Associated Press SOFIA, Bulgaria, Oct. 19.—The British legation was reported to day to have burned its confidential documents in case it is forced to withdraw hastily from this Balkan kingdom and the controlled press predicted failure for n last-minute British diplomatic offensive intend ed to halt Axis penetration of southeastern Europe. While British diplomats George Bendel, minister to Bulgaria, and Sir Huge Knatchbull-Hugessen, am bassador to Turkey, conferred at Istanbul, the newspaper SHovo said the measures decided upon there were bound to be fruitless. "Dislike” Prospect Greece and Turkey dislike the prospect of "sharing the fate of Holland and Belgium,” which they will invite if they comply with British schemes, the paper said. Observers believed the confer ence was bent upon checkmating the Axis' expansion in the Balkans as long as possible, possibly trying to persuade Bulgaria to defer ter ritorial claims in Thrace against Greece, and to reject any Rome Berlin invitation to join in a mili tary adventure against Greece and Turkey. While there was no confirmation in dispatches from Berlin, Rome or Athens of Cairo reports that a series of Axis demands already nave been made on Greece, vari (Continued on Page Two; Col. 3) MIS THREATEN GREECE, TURKEY ‘Just Too Bad’ If Nations Don’t See Which Side Best To Choose BY LOUIS P. LOCHNER ( Berlin. oct. 19.—up)—An au Aorized Nazi commentator declar ^ today that if Greece and Turkey 1 see that their bread is but jft'ed on the side of the Axis, it * just too bad for them. ^•e added, however, that Ger taav docs not need to get exicled f'". overt pressure on these Brit fl -guaranteed nations. !n ’de Wilhelmstrasse, reports '“f; Germany and Italy had made d1]Vl r ai and other demands upon j.mro wore denied categorically. ;.::c often-authoritative Fascist - Relazioni Internazionali, 11 ""ftuiicil on Page Two; Col. 1) WEATHER llv P* S. Weather Bureau y FORECAST "snn .-:11'°lina: Mostly cloudy ant Mi-liti • 3n4ay 1 Monday generally fair s',,..,’ '°°lor west portion, ly .,, Carolina: Mostly cloudy, slight dav-,, extreme north portion Sun Mien.; 0nday fair. slightly cooler latt ■»«on or night. .33v ' • S. H eather Bureau hiiinj .“'ogical data for the 24 hour! 1"" P- m. yesterday). 1:3(1 Temperature to. t;p.1 -P)■ 30; 7:30 a. m. 46; 1:30 p toiliitniJ :V? P in. 65; maximum 66 3 44; mean 55: normal 64. 1:30 . Humidity to. 4S.1'™- 5(1: 7:30 a. m. 74; 1:30 p ' ‘-30 p. m. 67. Total r,, „ Precipitation tone- , “4. hours ending 7:30 p. m. Il3 inchc • S3nce first °* the month Tides For Today ''lln>iiMr,t, High Lon ?toa - a 7:00[ Vnboro t 12:2°P 7:561 ro Met __9:44a 3:43( >nris(, 9:59P 4:18I use -la; sunset 5:32p; moon p- hioonset 10 :<)0a. ettevin.4 ear river stage at Fay *—« feet. u"t"iue«l on Page Two; Col. 4) » 1 V THE DUCHESS AIDS IN WAR WORK 4 One of the busiest places in Nassau, The Bahamas, these days is the Red Cross headquarters under the supervision of their president, the Duchess of Windsor. The -Duchess is shown inspecting one of the bed jackets before it is shipped to England with other, products of the unit. North Carolina’s Draft Quota Is Set At 15,613 TENTATIVELY FIXED Gen. Marshall Sends Out Call For Swift And Efficient Action > WASHINGTON, Oct. 19.—UP)—Na ional draft headquarters made known today the number of men each state will be expected to. con tribute of the 800,000 to enter Army training by next July 1. Assignment of the state quotas was the last major step in the draft program before the national lottery which will determine the order in which men will be called. The date for the lottery has not yet been set, but it is expected to be held within the next 10 days. A tentative quo-a of 15,613 selective service trainees which North Carolina will be expected to contribute to the Army between November 18 and next July 1 was announc ed yesterday. The maximum number of white and negro men who can be requisitioned from the state up to March 1 was listed as follows: maximum white, 5, 779; and maximum negro, 2, 120. With the program moving along swiftly, General George C. Mar shall, Army Chief of Staff, sent a message to the commanders of the four field armies, saying that “the task now looming before us is the expeditious development of a unified, efficient fighting force of citizen-soldiers.” He added that in reaching that objective there must be “no pam pering of individuals, no distinc tions between men because of their previous military' experience or (Continued on Page Two; Col. 4) SAILORS REGISTER FOR DRAFT HERE 18 Aboard Gulfking File Three Days Late After Tanker Docks “We want to register for the draft.” That was the plea of 18 sailors at police headquarters late yesterday afternoon. They had just arrived in port aboard the tanker Gulfking, docked at the Purol terminals. They had been at sea on Oct. 16, registration day, and it was under stood, are, under the law, given five days after that date to register. (Continued on Page Three; Col. 2) EDENINSPECTING NEAR EAST FORCE Palestine Defenses Being Strengthened; Holy Land Has Air Alarm CAIRO, Oct. 19— (Jl — Britain went methodically ahead with get ting her defenses in readiness foi any eventuality as rumors—manj of them conflicting—of a deepei Axis penetration in the Balkan; ran through the Near East tonight Palestine was said to be gettin; special attention in British mili tary plans. War Secretary Anthony Edei continued his survey of Britain’; (Continued on Page Two; Col. 1) F. R., Athlone Confer; Willkie Continues Drive BY DOUGLAS B. CORNELL HYDE PARK, N. Y., Oct. 19.—UP) —The chief executives of Canada and the United States chatted to night in the privacy of President Roosevelt's country, home. What passed between the Pres ident and the Earl of Athlone, the Dominion’s governor general, was their secret, felt to persons who ac companied the President here from Washington it appeared improbable they would disregard world events and their impact upon the neighbor nations. Mr. Roosevelt had termed the Earl’s visit a courtesy affair,- and White House officials said no im portant announcements need be ex pected. Even so, the meeting served (Contiued on ■ Page Three; Col. 5) BALTIMORE, Oct.' 19—W)— Re publican leaders interpreted Presi dent Roosevelt’s action today in declining a labor group’s invita tion to a meeting here Oqt. 30, as leaving Wendell L. Willkie a clear field in Baltimore that night. They said it apparently meant he was not coming at all. The President indicated yester day he might come here Oct. 30 —when the' republican presidential nominee is to appear in Baltimore —but did not say where he would speak. - ' Minneapolis, Minn.,:oct. 19— (A)—Saying he had not promised “to pull white rabbits out’of tall (Continued on Page Three; CoL 3] Japs Facing Firm British, U. S. Stands Minister Says England Now Able To Talk Straight Jo Tokyo Chiefs JAPS MORE PEACEFUL ‘Still Time To Arrive At Settlement Of Issues/ Itaro Ishii Says WAKEFIELD, England, Oct. 19. (JP)—Arthur Greenwood, minister without portfolio, declared tonight that the British “now are able to talk straight to Japan in a way that would have been dangerous four months ago.” Britain, he said in a political speech here, “is stronger tfian when there was the first impact of attack” but it still would be dangerous to assume she is “out of the woods.” “Dark Days Ahead” "There are going to be dark, dangerous days ahead,” he declar ed. ‘One is unable at this junc ture to prophesy who is going to be in this war and who is going to keep out of it before it is fin ished.” , NEW YORK, Oct. 19.—{&)—'The U. S. liner Washington, already a mercy ship in removing Amerift’.ns from war-torn Europe, sailed to day for the Far East to return Americans from China and Manila. XJ. S. Line officials said the state department had ordered that no in formation be given out about the vessel but it was known that she was equipped with hundreds of cots and would take on oil at San Pedro, Calif., before proceeding to Honolulu, Shanghai and Manila. At Hampton Roads tomorrow the liner will pick up 1,000 naval re cruits who will board naval ves sels at San Pedro and a group of Baltimore naval reservists who will disembark at the Canal Zone. WASHINGTON, Oct. 19.— m — The State department announced today that the steamship Monterey which sailed from Los Angeles Oc tober 16 would call at Yokohama and Shanghai to evacuate Ameri can citizens withdrawing from the Far East. The steamship Mariposa will leave Honolulu October 30 for Shanghai to take on Americans. Still Time SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 19.—(^P) Itaro Ishii, new Japanese ambas sador to Brazil, said today there was “still time and plenty of means to arrive at a peaceful set tlement of the issues between Japan and the United States.” Ishii arrived on the Asama Maru en route to his new post. He was accompanied by Toyoichi Naka mura, Japanese consul general-at large who is to tour the consu lates of his nation in North and South America. SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 19.—W The liner President Taft, equipped to accommodate from 800 to 1,000 Americans to be evacuated from the Orient, sailed today for the (Continued on Page Three; Col. 4) CATHOLIC CHURCH PROJECT STARTED New Chapel, Parish House To Be Built At Wright ville Beach Demolition of the Catholic church, St. Mary’s Star of the Sea chapel, built shortly after the turn of the century, and the nearby parish house at Wrightsville Beach was begun last week by W. A. Simon, general contractor. Simon has the general contract for construction of a $16,000 com bined church and parish house to be erected in the center of the two lot area occupied by the old struc tures. _ , The Kev. Father M. J. Begley said the building will be 72 feet by 125 feet, overall dimensions, and will be of brick venc •>r type, with the chapel interior finished in knotty pine panels. Completion of the structure by the first of the year is anticipated. NEW YORK DUMPS ITS CONFISCATED GUNS New York City Police Commissioner Lewis J. Valentine inspects the daily weapons confiscated during the past year, just before they were dumped into Long Island Sound. It is reported that about 30fl serviceable revolvers were saved for possible use by Home Defense units in event of a national emergency,_ Nazis Claim Subs Sunk 26 Ships In One Night ALL IN ONE CONVOY Berlin Also Claims Bombs Hit Factories, 20 p. c. Of Power Plants By The Associated Press BERLIN, Oct. 19.—(i3?)—In what Germans called the "greatest and most successful mass submarine at tack yet accomplished,” Nazi U boats were reported today to have sunk 26 ships totalling 150,000 tons out of a single British convoy in one night. These reported victims were among 31 ships aggregating 173,650 tons announced by the high com mand as sunk in recent days. 400 Factories Hit Coupled with these reports were the claims of Nazi military sources that more than 400 factories and 20 per cent of the electric and gas works in southern and central Eng land had been put out of commis sion by air bombings. In 100 days of fighting since July, they said, the British had lost at least 4,000 planes. The official DNB news agency said the attacking submarines swarmed about the convoy, broke it up then picked the vessels off one by one as they scattered. ' Accounts of this exploit all but overshadowed the air siege of Brit ain, which Germans declared con tinued without let-up after night attacks on London, Liverpool, Bir mingham and objectives in southern England. The high command said an ‘es sential waterworks in London was destroyed. It reported British speed boats attacking German supply ships were repulsed. Informed sources said German long-range guns also forced British destroyers back into British coastal waters yesterday after they attempted to negotiate the Channel. 3 BOYS ON BIKES STRUCK BY AUTOS Milton Sandy And Gilbert Thomason Badly Hurt; One Driver Held Three young boys were injured at different times and places when struck by automobiles in or near Wilmington yesterday while riding bicycles. Police last night were searching for a negro who struck Milton Sandy, 14, of 1117 North Third street at 10:40 o’clock yesterday morning at the northeast corner of Second and Parsley streets. Police (Continued on Page Nine; Coi. 3) COLD SNAPS HIT IN MANY AREAS Record-Breaking Lows And Snow Flurries Reported On Eastern Coast By the Associated Press Winter opened its bag of unseason able tricks yesterday and premature ly scattered record-breaking low tem peratures and snow flurries over the eastern seaboard and even teased the deep south with cooling sorties. While below-freezing weather was visiting New England, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, sum mer seemed loathe to leave the west, where abnormally high temperatures were equally remarkable. Californians sweltered—it was 101 at Culver City —and Kansans talked about record breaking temperatures in the high 80’s. Warmer weather was promised the Atlantic states today (Sunday), al though snow flurries were forecast for some parts of the New York New Jersey area. Down in the cotton country. Meri dian, Miss., Shivered under a light morning frost. The temperature dropped to 35 at Evergreen in deep south Alabama. Tallahassee, Fla. reported a 38-degree minimum while most of the south was bracketed in the 40's. Farther north, Richmond Va„ had readings of 30 degrees. The coldest "frost pocket” in the east was established at northern Vew York’s state ranger school al Wanakena where thef temperature pi immeted to two below zero. These record lows for Oct. 19 were estaWshed: New York city 30; Buff alo .1, Rochester 23, Syracuse 24 Fall River. Mass., 21, and New Hav en, Conn., 29. New York city’s temperature was the lowest for the date in 44 years and Pittsburgh, Pa., with 35 had its coldest Oct. 19 in 60 years. Boston’s 30 was the lowest in 18 years. Sault Ste. Marie on Michigan’s (Contiued on Page Three; Col. 5 INVASION PORTS BLASTED BY RAF Britain’s Bombers Also Dump Loads On Nazi Shipyards, Bases By The Associated Press LONDON, Oct. 19—(fP>—The RAF gave Germany’s “invasion coast” a Saturday night plastering tonight in a rolling attack which shook houses along the Kent shore 22 miles on this side the channel. The British bombers shuttled across the channel in bright moon light. A low lying mist hid the French coastline itself but the starlit sky above was sprinkled with bursting German anit-aircraft shells. For more than three hours Brit ish bombers hovered and diyed through thick clouds over Ham burg last night to heavily bomb the Blohm and Voss shipyards “where German warships are known to be under construction,” the British reported. Heavy damage also was believed by the raiding pilots to have been done the Germania shipyards at Hamburg, the air ministry news service said. Despite rain, fog and ice ,it ad (Continued on Page Two; Col. 5) POPE ASKS U. S. TO AID MISSIONS Americans Urged To Open Purses To Assist In Restoring Faith VATICAN CITY, Oct. 18.—VP)— Pope Pius XII in an appeal to the United States for generous contri butions to wartime foreign mis sions declared today “the peace of the world also is a missionary aim of the church.” The pontiff spoke in English during a brief broadcast on the (Continued on Page Two; Col. 4) War Interpretive BY KIRKE L. SIMPSON German and Russian army troops face each other in the Dan ube delta in Rumania under condi tions that could strike a w? spark in the Balkans at any moment. Anything can happen there, and well may, despite any Berlin and Moscow policy making. The Nazi and Red armies are traditional foes. The dubious Hit ler-Stalin friendship was based on pure- expediency. No still existent mutual interest supports it. It does not rest, as does the Berlin-Rome axis, on the same have-not eco L: ' ■<. . \ nomic yearnings and the will tc satisfy them by force. Russia is not a have-not nation. She has greater resources in man ifower and raw materials than anj nation but China. What she lacks is warmwater ports for year-round commerce with the world. That is precisely what she has not achieved by siding with Ger many for thirteen months. Hei costly victory over Finland, swal lowing of a trio of little Baltii neighbors, sharing in Polish parti i (Continued on Page Three; Col. 6 r