Served By Leased Wire Of The ■ Dedicated To The Progress Of
/Sir 1 , ton Horning B’tar
\V^J±IN0‘ --— _______WILMINGTON, N. C., MONDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1940 _FINAL EDITION_ESTABLISHED 1867
LIGHTNING OFFENSIVE INTO LIBYA
nir A i i . _ _
TROOPS CROSS BORDER
AS THEY FIGHT PARTS
OF GRAZIANFS FORCES
— - — ____
BITTER WIND BLOWING
Information Scarce But
Communique Says Situa
tion Is ‘Satisfactory’
RAF BOMBs'aTrFIELDS
Fascist Army Draws On
Reserves To Stem Eng
land’s Mighty Attack
CAIRO, Dec. 15.—W—British
forces were reported tonight to
have carried their lightning desert
offensive over the Egyptian fron
tier into Libya.
“It is well nigh impossible to
give an accurate idea where the
front line is,” a military spokes
man said, “but it can be assumed
that some British forces already
have crossed the-'horder.”
Bitter winds fouled the air with
clouds of dust as the British mobile
forces—tanks and armored cars
and trucks carrying infantry and
machine gun units — battled the
remnants of Marshal Rodolfo Graz
iani’s Egyptian forces in the Sa
lum, Egypt, and Fort Capuzzo
areas on the border.
Situation “Satisfactory”
Information from the fighting
area was scarce, but a communi
que indicated the situation was
“satisfactory.”
(British warships poured shells
into Italian positions along the
coast all night long, a Reuters,
British news agency, dispatch
from Cairo received early Monday
morning in London said.
(Under this incessant bombard
ment, the Italians were "frantical
ly” trying to consolidate defenses
in an attempt to withstand an on
slaught by British land troops, the
dispatch said).
The Royal Air force was still
pounding Italian airdromes and
Continued on Page Ten; Col. 3)
GERMANS CONTINUE
RAIDS ON BRITAIN
Mist In Franc* Believed To
Have Reduced Intensity
v The Attacks
) ---
LONDCh -(Monday)—VP)
Brilliant ru .,ower the way
for widespre.- >iv rv'ds over
Britain last n.,t the} never
reached the ", 1proportions of
earlier provincia attac s and peter
ed out before mm nigh i
It was believe ii .t mist in
France cut the F zi ai: acti.i’y
short.
During the attacks gor.fire v.
almost incessant in hip "and
town. AVatchers in an east mi anu
town reported hearing sounds of
aerial combat and air raid ward ns
said they believed machine-gun
tracer bullets seen in the sky wero
fi-Qm a British fighter plane ceas
ing a raider.
Serious fires were caused in tho
east midland town in a raid c ...
centrated on industrial quarters.
The bombers withdrew after
pounding the town several hours
(Continued on Page Ten; Col. 5)
French Block Nazi Plan To Aid Italy
- *r—___*_
Refuse To Let
Troops Move
Through Land
Germany Rebuffed With
flat ‘No’ From Chief Of
State Marshal Petain
SOUNDED OUT LAVAL
Also Refuse Suggestion
Calling For Use Of French
Naval Bases By Axis
BERN. Switzerland, Dec. 16.—
(Monday)—tffl—A reported German
attempt to send Nazi troops
through France to Libya and
Greece to help Italy without dis
mrbing the Italian home morale
was declared today to have been
rebutted by France with a flat
"no" from Chief of State Marshal
Philippe Petain.
Petain and a majority of his min
isters were said in advices from
Vichy to diplomatic sources here
to have considered th e German
move, reportedly made through
Vice-Premier Pierre Laval before
he was ousted last week from the
French government, as an Axis at
tempt to gain a foothold on the
French Mediterranean bases.
Sounded out Laval
The Germans, it was reported, -
sounded out Laval while he still
was "No. 2 man” in France, as
vice premier, in an effort to find
means of getting aid to the Italians,
hard pressed by the British and
Greeks, without passing through
Italy.
It was feared, these reports said,
that passage of troops through
Premier Mussolini’s country to but- :
wark Italian forces in Greece and ■
Africa would have a bad effect on .
Italian morale.
Germany, it was reported, want
ed to send troops through unoccu- '
pied France to a French Mediter- ]
ranean port, where they would be
picked up—apparently—by Italian
transports.
The reports to diplomatic sources 1
here said Marshal Petain refused
'he request on the grounds that the |
wly port through which such ,
koops could board Italian trans- 1
(Continued on Page Ten; Col. 1) 1
100SEVELT TALKS !
AT WARM SPRINGS:
President Tells Patients He 1
May Spend Two Weeks <
With Them In March j
-(
Warm SPRINGS, Ga., Dec. 15 J
President Roosevelt had a 1
telephone conversation with i
dretary Hull in Washington to- ]
?ay and later told patients at the 1
dffldation for infantile paralysis
•dims here he would spend two 1
, ,s with them in March ‘‘if the 1
*orM survives.” i
Ttie remark was made extem
wraneously jn a short talk at a ■
tj. eon> with no amplification to '•
mate whether any special sig- i
■ cance should be attached to it.
j ree hours later the President ]
-Parted for the national capital
• special train. At the station he 1
[^^ntinued on Page six. Co, 5) ,
T> ~ ~ --
THE EMPTY STOCKING - - - - - F. S. Manning
. ...—s
Council Man Is Wounded
When HaltedBy Wardens
BUIE IS IN HOSPITAL
Five Men Arrested; Con
flicting Stories Told To
Police Officers Here
Douglas Buie, of Council, was
shot and seriously wounded early
yesterday morning in Bladen coun
ty when he and five other persons
were accosted by game wardens
while in their automobile on the
highway about a mile and a half
south of Council.
Buie was brought to James Walk
er Memorial hospital here for
treatment of a wound in the left
side. Attaches at the hospital said
last night that his condition “seems
satisfactory.”
Two conflicting stories were told
to police officers here yesterday
morning about the shooting,-which
has resulted in four men being ar
rested on charges of violating the
game law and Game Warden Earl
Carroll being charged' with an as
sault with a deadly weapon.
Carrol’s Story
Carroll, a Columbus county game
warden, told officers here that he
and the Bladen county game war
den, Jim Holton, discovered a par
ty composed of Mr. and Mrs. Doug
las Buie, Mr. and Mrs. Mack My
ers, of Whiteville, C. L. Heath, of
Acme, and Sam Owens, of Council,
hunting deer near Council station
in Bladen county with a spotlight.
He said that he placed all of them
under arrest.
At this point, he related, Buie
grabbed his gun and in the strug
gle that ensued the gun went off,
shooting Buie in the left side.\
Carroll said that all six persons
we in the car with the spotlight
and that there was a high-powered
rifle in the automobile. He said
that he brought Buie to the hos
pital after the shooting.
The shooting took place about
2:30 a.m., and Buie reached the
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 5)
Italian Sub Is Sunk
By British Destroyer
LONDON, Dec. 15—(/P)—The
sinking of an Italian submarine
by a British destroyer in oper
ations off the Sidi Barrani
Bardia battlezone in Africa
was announced tonight by the
admiralty.
The communique said that
the Italian submarine Naiade
“attempted to interfere*’ with
a night warship bombardment
of Bardia, Italian coastal base
in Libya, and was immediate
ly sunk by British destroyers.
The Naiade displaces 590 tons
tens at the surface and carries
’ 41 men normally.
The naval operations were
support for the many driving
against Italy’s Libyan de
fenses.
SMITH RETURNED
TO GREENSBORO
Will Face Charges Of Con
spiring To Violate State
Anti-Lottery Laws
Guilford county , authorities re
turned George (Crip) Smith, describ
ed as the head of the numbers racket
over the state, to Greensboro about
noon yesterday to face charges of
conspiring to violate the state anti
lottery laws.
Smith, along with James Davis
and James Irving, negros, were ar
rested here Friday night by sheriff’s
officers on a similar charge.
Sheriff C. David Jones said that ;
(Continued on Page Ten; Col. 2) ^
WEATHER ;
forecast (
North Carolina: Rani and continued -
cold Monday and Monday night. Tues
day cloudy somewhat warmer.
(By V. S. Weather Bureau)
(Meteorological data for the 24 hours
ending 7:30 p. m. yesterday).
Temperature
1:30 a. m. 46; 7:30 a. m. 46; 1:30 p. m.
54; 7:30 p. m. 52; maximum 54; mini
mum 44; mean 49; normal 49.
Humidity
1:30 a. m. 94; 7:30 p. m. 96; 1:30 p. m. <
87; 7:30 p. m. 89. ;
Precipitation a
Total for 24 hours ending 7:30 p. m. 1
0.02 inches. Total since first of the >
month 0.39 inches. i
Tides For Today ,
(From Tide Tables published by U. S.
Coast and Geodetic Survey).
' High Low ’
Wilmington -10:51a 5:3ba
11:05p 6:22p j
Masonboro Inlet-8:28a 2:20a
8:48p 2:58p £
Sunrise 7:11a; sunset 5:05p; moon- £
rise 7:llp; moonset 8:24a. C
River stage at Fayetteville, N. C., i '
at 8 a. m., Dec. 13, 9.7 feet. *
g
'Continued on Page Three: CoL 1) a
DONATE TO EMPTY
STOCKING TODAY
Every Gift Goes Toward
Preventing Unhappiness
On Christmas Morning
Forgotten by Santa Claus, the
;hild shown above ‘clutches an empty
stocking and sobs broken-heartedly
while all the pent-up disappoint
ments of a life time unloosen them
selves in tears.
While the rest of the world awak
»ns to a Christmas morning filled
with joy and happiness, this child,
unremembered, weeps alone in a
home of poverty.
It is a home like millions—the mil
ions of poor children of the world,
rhey have been forgotten.
And it is to see that no such scene
ts this will be enacted in this section
:his Christmas that the Star-News
Empty Stocking fund is issuing its
ippeals for more and generous con
[ributions—contributions which will
]e used to ease the heartache of
jhildhood.
The Empty Stocking fund cannot
tnswer the pleas of all the children
(Continued on Page Ten; Col. 5)
AXIS MAY CARRY
WARFARE TO SEA
Italian Editor Says German
Navy Will Be Enlarged
In Near Future
ROME, Dec. 51. — <a>) — Virginio
3ayda, editor of the Rome newspa
jer II Giorndab d’ltalia and often
•egarded as premier Mussolini’s
ipokesman, indicated today the
itome-Berlin Axis would carry the
var against Britain to the sea in
941 with "growing naval forces."
Gayda said the German navy
ihortly would be enlarged with the
iddition of two 35,000-ton battleships
Continued on Page Six; Col. 1)
R. Expected To Discuss
Question Of British Aid
ffeh1A JTON’ Dec- 15- — t® —
4 ; atlministration officials said to
velt t ey ex‘)ected President Roose
tiai ° aiscuss the question of finan
forr"3 and increased material help
»nio -31 Britain in his “state of the
. JI1 message to the new congress
January.
Slj'1jeantinie' some believe, the ad
a, ,,S rati°n will let matters go along
4s‘hey are now_
Prof's6 sources sa‘d the President ,
rial , wou'd treat the controver- .
gen qUes“°n of financial aid only in .
terms, and suggest that (
att6 °as be worked out by congress ,
(r, c°nsulting administrative lead
(
They indicated that specific pro
posals for greater material aid might
be advanced—possibly dealing with
such items as trading more nary de
stroyers, apportioning more airplane
production, and selling merchant
ships to the British.
Despite considerable congressional
opposition, these officials said, the
administration has been setting the
stage very carefully for open con
sideration of the issue of financial
aid. One of the most important moves
was the summoning to this country
of Sir Frederick Phillips, undersecre
tary of the British treasury, to lay
(Continued on Page Three: CoL 61
Materials For
Holly Ridge
Camp Arrive
300 To 500 Men Are Sche
duled To Start Work Today
On New Army Center
PLANS ARE APPROVED
Erect Buildings To House
Offices For Contractors,
Army Officers
Workers by the dozens started
arriving at Holly Ridge early last
night to be ready for the beginning
of construction “on a large scale”
at the new $10,000,000 anti-aircraft
firing center this morning.
Between 300 and 500 workers will
start work today as several car
loads of machinery and materials
have arrived in Wilmington and
will be moved to the site of the
new camp this morning.
Plans Approved
It appeared last night that every
thing is now set for the starting
of actual work. Plans for the army
camp were approved yesterday by
General Prink, Quartermaster corps
area commander, who spent most
of the day going over the project
with Col. Albertis Montgomery,
construction quartermaster, and his
aides, here.
C.’ P. Street, representative of
the P. M. Thompson, J. J. Mc
Devitt and E. W. Garlnis contrac
tors, said last night that some
work “has been started and is pro
gressing very satisfacorily."
He said that as soon as the
building is completed that an of
fice of the North Carolina State
Employment service will be opened
at Holly Ridge for workers to ap
ply for work. A11 applications for
jobs will be handled through this
agency, he said.
A call for 80 carpenters has al
ready gone out, and yesterday
workers were busy erecting tempo
rary buildings to house offices for
the contractors and army officers.
(Continued on Page Ten; Col. 6)
SOUTHERNERS URGE
HEP FOR BRITAIN
Declaration Addressed To
F. D. R. Warns U. S. Must
‘Choose Quickly’
SOUTHERN PINES, Dec. 15.—UP)
—Asserting that “it is both foolish
and fatal to half protect our inter
ests,” a southern conference called
by the southern policy committee to
day urged "imnSdiate full capacity
mobilization of all necessary resour
ces” to aid Great Britain.
The declaration, addressed to Presi
dent Roosevelt and congress and
signed by a group of 30 southern edu
cators, newspaper publishers, indus
trialists, economists and authors,
warned that the United States must
"choose and choose quickly” or
events may “take the choice away
from us.”
"The British,” the statement said,
"cannot be expected to win or to be
particularly heartened by what we
are able to sell them out of even our
present production.”
The statement declared that “here
we believe that many of our lead
ers, perhaps unduly impressed by
(Continued on Page Ten; Col. 4)
Guardsmen Hold Off Big «
Mob In S. C. Attack Case
GEORGETOWN, S. C., Dec. 15.
-W—A unit of hastily - mobilized
tate militia mounted a machine
;un on the second story porch ol
he Georgetown county jail today
md held back a mob of 300 men,
irmed with shotguns, rifles and
listols, bent on finding the alleged
legro attacker of a young white
/Oman.
While the troops—five officers and
0 men—held off the crowd for sev
ral hours, Sheriff H. B. Bruortoh
nd his deputies were scouring the
ountryside looking for the assail
nt, and they arrested a negro who,
resumably, was rushed off to
ome other part of the state for
afe-keaninfl- w
The sheriff said the negro was
George Thomas, 23, of Georgetown.
He was not taken to the jail here.
Instead, the sheriff said, he was
rushed to the state penitentiary at
Columbia for safe-keeping. The
prisoner, the sheriff said, was
identified by the alleged victim. pi
The mob began forming about w
dawn. Men went to the sheriff’s la
sleeping quarters and woke him; r;
then, despite the officer’s protest cj
that he did not have the suspect, b;
forced him to turn over all the ne
gro prisoners in the jail, anyway, ti
to see if the woman could identify ai
her assailant among them. ei
'Continued on Pjuta Throe: CoL 11 ((
Italian Claims Nibeiwa
Battle ‘Hell On Earth’
BY EDWARD KENNEDY
WITH THE BRITISH
FORCES AT NIBEIWA IN
THE WESTERN DESERT,
EGYPT, Dec. 15 — OB—An
Italian officer, captured here
last week when the British
opened their offensive, told me
today the battle which raged
for an hour around Nibeiwa
was “The nearest thing to hell
ever seen on this earth.”
Nibeiwa is a strong desert
fortress from which the Ital
ians had intended loosing their
thunderbolt against the Brit
ist lines in Egypt.
It was taken by surprise and
from what I hear the battle,
while not the greatest in Brit
ain’s smashing assault against
the Fascist troops in Egypt,
was perhaps the most deci
sive. For if, the attack had
failed it is doubtful that the
offensive would have gone on.
It was absolutely necessary
to reduce this fortress to per
mit the British forces to move
on to Sidi Barrani on the coast,
the main Italian advance base.
Nibeiwa stands on a circu
lar plateau, about one mile in
diameter, fifteen miles due
south of Sidi Barrani, and was
selected as the base from
which General Pietro Malet
ti’s crack troops, especially or
ganized last July as the van
guard of the Italian push, were
to make a dash for the Nile
and Suez.
But so great was the sur
prise element when the Brit
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 5)
Greek Counter-Invasion
Of Albania In High Gear
- *_
GAINING ALONG LINE
Air Forces On Both Sides
Active And RAF Attacks
Port Of Valonia Twice
ATHENS, Dec. IB.—Hampered for
almost a week by snow and rain, the
Greek counter-invasion of Albania is
back in high gear under clearing
skies, with gains all along the line,
dispatches from the front reported
tonight.
The largest Greek advances ap
peared to be on the northern front,
beyond Pogradetz, where the Italian
line runs along the Yugoslav-Alban
ian frontier.
Launch New Attacks
“In the northern sector, as soon
as the weather improved and snow
storms subsided,” one dispatch said,
“our units launched new attacks and
made gains equal to one entire
week’s activity.
“On the northern front, Greek
troops succeeded in making a gen
eral advance over a wide area in a
mountainous region held by the
enemy above Pogradetz where the
Italians had concentrated all their
reserves.
“Greek artillery, firing unceasing
ly for three days, has succeeded in
its main objective, particularly In re
gard to permanent enemy fortifiea
(Continued on Page Ten; Col. 5)
MEX1 U.STaID
PACT DISCUSSED
Is Expected To Shape Into
Far-Reaching Program Of
Full Collaboration
MEXICO CITY, Dec. 15—(A>)—
A mutual defense understanding
between Mexico and the United
States, expected to shape into a
Ear-reaching program of military
and "economic collaboration within
the next year, was reported unoffi
cially today under discussion be
tween Mexico City and Washing
ton.
A source close to the administra
tion of President Manuel Avila Ca
(Continued on Page Ten; Col. 2)
War _
Interpretive
BY EDWARD E. BOMAR
Britain’s latest moves to "put
;uns before butter” give added
>oint to the recent series of official
varnings on both sides of the At
antic that events are shaping up
•apidly toward a new and decisive ,
:risis of the war, to be expected '
>y early spring.
Notice that England’s meat ra
;ion is to be reduced further an^l
m estimate that her shipping loss
's have mounted to an average of
Continued on Pane Sin Cal, 3)
Greek Women Clear
Way For Infantrymen
WITH THE GREEK ARMY
ON THE ALBANIAN NORTH
ERN FRONT, Dec. 14—(Delay
ed)—UP)—Greek peasant wom
en, their faces wrapped in
shawls, weilded big snow shov
els in the mountain passes
here today to clear the way for
the steady push of Greek in
fantry forces against the Ital
ian army.
Four - foot snowdrifts and
near - zero temperatures have
become more of a factor in the
Greek drive than fierce Italian
resistance from mountain re
doubts.
Tractors, mules and horses
crawl over snow-blocked roads
at a snail’s pace between 6,(100
foot mountain peaks. Over such'
a terrain the Greek foot sol
diers doggedly pushing onward
without the of snowshoes
or skis.
blockade costly
TO GREAT BRITAIN
Maritime Source Says At
tacks By Axis Is Costing
62,000 Tons Weekly
LONDON, Dec. 15—(/P)—The Axis
blockade is costing Britain approxi
mately 62,000 tons of shipping
weekly, a maritime source said to
day, adding “this is not going to
slow down our war effort although
we may have to tighten our belts.”
If an answer to the shipping raid
ers is not found in more destroyers
for convoy duty or in permission
to use Irish ports, this source said,
Britain would simply “put guns be
fore butter.”
An unspecified number of de
stroyers is under construction, and
the effort to persuade the Irish
Continued on Page Ten; Col. 3)
Answer On Terminal Loan
May Be Made Next Month
An answer to the application of
:he City of Wilmington for a loan
)f $635,000 to constuct port termi
lal facilities and a tobacco storage
varehouse is expected to be made
>y the Reconstruction Finance cor
joratirjn about the middle of Janu
iry, J. T. Hiers, manager of the
Wilmington Port commission, said
ast night.
Hiers, together with James E. L.
Wade, city commissioner of public
vorks, C. D. Hogue, chairman of
he port commission, Col. D. B
shourds and Ralph Beam, advisor
mgineers, presented the applica
;ion to the RFC Friday.
The ‘self-liauidating division of
he RFC displayed considerable
nterest in the proposed project
md indicated that it will probably
send a representative here within
a few days to make a study ol
the situation.
Commissioner Wade said that
they had a “very satisfactory con
ference with RFC officials,” and
said the officials will probably taKe
several days to study *the lengthy
brief on the project submitted by
the Wilmington delegation.
l \ I I