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1 _ ... served By Leased Wire Of The associated press Dadicalai To Tia Pros«“ « «ilh Complete Coverage ol ‘ * WILHIMGTOR Siam and Rational Hewa ; , , And Southeastern Rorth _.— - Carolina ----.-WILMINGTON, N. C., WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1941 FINAL EDITION ESTABLISHED 1867 F. R. Asserts Solon Giving Nazis Comfort Senator, President Renew One of Bitterest Feuds in Capital’s History HOUSE ARGUES BILL Wadsworth Backs Lease Lend Plan, Gen. Wood Voices Opposition BY RICHARD L. TURNER WASHINGTON, Feb. 4.— UV — In a renewal of one of the bit terest feuds in the capital’s his tory, Senator Wheeler (D-Mont) to day accused the Roosevelt admin istration of denuding the nation’s aerial defenses to aid Britain, and President Roosevelt rapped back with a virtual charge that Wheeler was giving comfort to Adolf Hit ler. On hearing of the President’s re marks, the Montana senator then issued a statement saynig: “I’m perfectly willing to compare my patriotism with that of his closest advisers. I have no interest, finan , cially or otherwise, in Germany or England.” I Wadsworth Supports Bill The exchange came in the course of a day that saw Repre sentative Wadsworth (R-NY) swing his influential support behind the President’s lend-lease British aid bill “or something like it.” Mean while, General Robert E. Wood, President of Sears Roebuck, ap pearing before the senate foreign ; relations committee, opposed ♦he legislation as “a war bill” wh cn would place ai Mr. Roosevelt’s dis posal “the blood and resources of our entire nation.” The President and Wheeler have engaged for ceveral weeks in a bristling exchange of statements. In the last of them, the President quoted the late William E. Dodd, former ambassador to Germany, as having said Wheeler once de clared that Nazi domination of Eu rope was inevitable. The Montanan replied that this was a"slander ous” effort to discredit his opposi tion to the lease-lend bill. Today Wheeler said he had “ab solutely reliable information” that as of Jan. 1 the army had only 639 planes, none of them, capable of fighting under modern condi tions, because they lacked self-seal ing gasoline tanks, firing power or armor. Of 2,884 planes produced here last year, he asserted, 2,308 \.ent to England or other coun ' tries. Reporters raised the question of Wheeler’s statistics at the Presi dent’s press conference a few hours later. The chief executive replied briefly and without elabor ation that one could use figures, official and otherwise, to work out all sorts of things and that such use of figures must be very satis fying to the reichs-chancellor. At another point in the press conference, the President poked fun at those who have been de manding limiting amendments to the bill on the ground that presi dential powers it now contains are much too broad. A reporter had asked what the President would do first if the (Continued on Page Ten; Col. 3) I I ARMY ORDERS WASHINGTON, Feb. 4. — iJP) — Army orders today: MAJORS William A. Callaway, QMC., Fort Jackson to Camp Davis. Rollin L. Bauchspies, Me., Fort Bragg, to Fort George C. Meade. Stuart L. Cowles, FA., Fort Bragg to Washington. CAPTAINS Alfred C. Marshall, QMC., Fort Ben ning, to Camp Davis. _ . ” ” " . " ana Contract Awarded To Merritt 1 * Grading Work lo Be Started It Site Today Charleston Dredging Com pany Scheduled to Start Operations Sunday m MEN EMPLOYED More Land Cleared and Carpenters Start Erecting Temporary Offices A contract for the dredging of approximately 400,000 cubic yards from the Cape Fear river at the sjte cf the North Carolina Ship building company yards at Sun set Park was awarded yesterday to the Merritt Dredging company, of Charleston. S. C., it was dis closed here last night. The price involved in the con tract was not revealed. J. E. Dennis, of the V. P. Loftis company, one of the contractors on the shipyards project, said that dredging operations are scheduled to be started by Merritt here Sun day morning. Dredge Coming Here The dredge that will do the work is scheduled to leave Charleston for Wilmington this morning, he said. Dennis said that grading equip ment arrived here last night and that grading of the 70-acre site for the shipyards will be commenced today. The contractors also plan to sink several test pilings in the river about 1,000 feet west of the Texas Oil company docks today. Between 500 and 600 workmen were employed on the site yester day, with operations being carried on at two fronts. On the northern end workers cleared about eight acres of land of timber and under brush and at the southeastern cor ner carpenters began erecting temporary office buildings. Dennis said that the offices will be used by the associated contrac tors of Loftis, Underwood and Or cell and by officials of the ship building company. Materials Arrive Barge amounts of electric wire ■nd equipment is being brought to •e site and there is a possibility ,na night operations will be put ■••to effect soon. Building materials lso began to arrive yesterday (Continued on Page Five, Col. 4) PETAIN EXPECTED TO ANSWER TERMS [aval Minister Darlan Is Scheduled to Return to aris With Reply Soon I,eb' 4- — — France’s w J ‘n,fter Harlan was ex ***** to shuttle back to if st... a few days with Chief lit term ,lllppe Petain's reply to C"v under which Pierre Laval, te pr ,e premier, would return to rj encl> cabinet. »it’s m-retUrned °n,y today in Pe fsj c?r,i!Ife train frora the °ccu iour elf " here he had held a 27‘ tbetz cfCrence with Laval, Otto erman ambassador to Paris, 011 Page Five, Col. 4) __FIRST CONSTRUCTION ON SHIPYARD SITE I Shown above is the first construction at the Wilmington shipyards of the North Carolina Shipbuilding company be [ing erected at Sunset Park on a 70-acre. site. This building will stand at the southeast corner of the tract and will be used as a temporary office by Loftis, Underwood and Orrell, associated contractors. ACTION IN GREEK WAR RESTRICTED Athens’ Men Slip Through Italian Lines and Cut Communications ATHENS, Feb. 4.— (&) — Action over the entire Albanian front was restricted to patrol work and artil lery fire today because of heavy rain and mist, reports reaching Athens said. (Other reports to Bitolj, Yugosla via, said that heavy fighting, in cluding bayonet charges, went on despite the weather.) At some points, Athens advices said, Greek units slipped through the Italian lines and cut telephone communications. One of these pa trols returned with prisoners and equipment oftwo Italian machine gun nests, the reports saict. Greek artillery was said to have been extremely active hampering Italian efforts to organize their de fenses. A government spokesman said "our advance units continued to harass the enemy in retreat at dif ferent points on the front by accu rate and heavy artillery, mortar and machine-gun fire.” The spokesman said the Greeks were "still maintaining the initia tive in spite of the assertions of Italian propaganda to the contrary." “Our troops in the occupied re gion north of Klisura are engaged in consolidating the positions they captured,” he said. “Italian soldiers . . . said the enemy was busy organ izing and fortifying with barbed wire the positions to which they re treated.” Finance Group Debates Wine, Mules Tax Issues RaLf;', hKLKS VV- DANIEL Usance ' Feb' —The joint brisk, .hr„°mimittee debate<3 in a bx issupt66 °U1 session today the lilies j : presented by wines and ^ of „erminin5 only, in the Wham epresentative Bryant of lick.” ' nat "they both have a ^llG ktireser,0*?/''1'1156’ upon motion of ,!"i’ refen'l6 WlUiama of Pasquo ittee aii , ... £u a ]9-man subcom 'cr.tg „hi 'ls an<i related amend lle of ivir,C . 'vould regulate the th5 * U,e state a£ter extended •ad been presented by supporters of a measure to prohibit fortified wine sales in all dry coun ties, and by opponents of that bill— including representatives of the North Carolina Association for Wine Control—who submitted a substitute bill which would permit wine sales in dry counties under supervision of a wine control division to be set up within the machinery of the present state board of alcoholic con trol. The committee unanimously re jected a proposed amendment to the 1939 revenue act by the revenue (Continued on Page Five, Col. 2) Contract Is Negotiated To Improve Highway 17 ARRANGED WITH CLINE Platt to Widen Important Road from Pender County Line to Wilmington The first contract negotiated un der a new law to permit expedited) work on projects needed for na tional defense works has been ar- ( ranged for the widening of U. S. 1 highway 17 from the Pender coun ty line at Scott’s Hill to Wilming ton, W. Vance Baise, chief high way engineer, announced in Ra-! leigh yesterday, according to an Associated Press dispatch. The contract was arranged with F. D. Cline, of Raleigh, who al ready has machinery and equip ment for the job in this area. Cline is now engaged in paving work on the Carolina Beach highway and in providing asphalt topping for the runways at Bluethenthal airport. Subject to Approval However, consumation of the contract is subject to the approval of the State Highway and Public Works commission, which meets February 12, and by Governor Broughton. The section of the road involved in the contract connects at Scotts Hill with previously widened high (Continued on Page Five, Col. 4) WEATHER FORECAST North Carolina: Mostly clouCy Wednesday and Thursday, slightly warmer Thursday. (By TJ. 8. Weather Bureau) (Meteorological data for the 24 hours ending 7:30 p. m. yesterday.) Temperature 1:30 a. m. 32; 7:30 a. m. 29; 1:30 p. m 43; 7:30 p. m. 40; maximum 46; mini mum 28; mean 37; normal 47. Humidity 1:30 a. m. 73: 7:30 a. m. 59; 1:30 p. m. 34; 7:30 p. m 36. Precipitation Total for 24 hours ending 7:30 p. m. 0.00 inches. Total since first of the month 0.21 inches. Tides For Today I (From Tide Tables published by IJ. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey.) High ■ How i Wilmington- 4:14a 11:46a j 4:36p -p Masonboro Inlet- 1:45a 8:12a 2:08p 8:30p ; Sunrise 7:06a: sunset 5:46p ; moonrise t 12:21p; moonset 1:26a. ^ Cape Fear river stage at Fayette- i vllle on Feb. 4, at 8 a. m., 10.35 £ feet. . (Continued on Page Five, Col. 5) t 4; Chances of Obtaining Marine Base Are Good CHARLOTTE, Feb. 4.—(/P)— Josh L. Horne, Jr., Rocky Mount publisher and vice chairman of the State Board of Conservation and Development, told the Char lotte Rotary club today that North Carolina’s chances of ob taining a $30,000,000 Marine base were good. Horne outlined the organiza tion and general program of the hoard and said an important item in this program was activ ity to attract business and manu facturing establishments to this state. Included in the program is advertisement of North Caro lina as a desirable site for na tional defense bases. WILLKIE STARTS RETURN TO U. S. Visits Both Prime Minister Of Ireland and King and Queen of England LONDON. Feb. 5.—(Wednesday)— (JP)—Wendell L. Willkie left London early today on the first stage of his journey home, after a day in which he visited both the prime minister of Ireland and the king and queen of England. It was an unprecedented conclu sion to an unprecedented visit to (Continued on Page Five, Col. 5) ASSEMBLY GIVEN WAGE-HOUR BILL Committees Are Consider ing Measures to Provide Ninth School Month RALEIGH, Feb, 4.—UP)—A mo mentum-gathering general assembly today received a bill to establish minimum pay and maximum hours in intrastate industries, while its committees were busy considering measures to provide a ninth month for the school term and to set pun ishment to be meted out to fifth columnists. Both houses will not meet again until tomorrow night, in order that members may attend the funeral of Senator T. W. M. Long at Garys burg tomorrow morning. Among others expected to attend are Gov ernor Broughton, Lieut. Gov. R. L. Harris, Speaker Mull, and numerous other state officials. The Halifax county senator died unexpectedly last night. While the joint appropriations committee was hearing pleas for in creased funds for hospitals for the insane in order that “long waiting lists” might be accompanied, the joint finance committee heard argu ments pro and con on whether forti fied wines should be sold in the 74 dry counties. Finally, the committee referred to a 19 man sub-committee all bills and related amendments affecting the sale of wine. Opponents of the bill to limit wine sales to the 24 counties with liquor stores submitted a substitute meas ure to allow wine sales in dry coun ties under the supervision of a wine control division. This would be set (Continued on Page Five, Col. 6) Batista Downs Plot And Ousts Two High Officers HAVANA, Cuba, Feb. 4. — UP) — Two officers accused of a seditious plot against President Fulgencio Bastista—Col. Jose Pedraza and Lt. Col. Bernardo Garcia—were escorted to a Miami-bound plane late today, and it appeared that a brief Cuban political storm had blown itself out. Their alleged associate. Col. An gela Gonzalez, the deposed head of the Cuban navy, remained in cus tody, and Batista went ahead ener getically with the program which apparently had led to the trouble— a broad reorganization of the na tion’s armed forces.” Pedraza, who was head of the Cu ban army until Batista ousted him last night, appeared unexpectedly at the airport this afternoon riding in the automobile of his successor, Col. Manuel Lopez Migoya, and with a military escort. He entered a chartered airplane with Garcia, who was removed last week as chief of the Cuban national police; with his military aide, Capt. Owen Parr, and with Garcia’s broth er-in-law, Major Juan Serra of the police. ■ (Continued on Page Five, Col. 3)_ --—-* British Armyj Takes Cirene, Presses Drive Mechanized Forces Add Fourth Major Italian Base to Conquest ARE NEARING BENGASI RAF Planes Smash Felling Fascist Trucks and Then Strafe Soldiers CAIRO, Egypt, Feb. 4.— UPI — The mechanized forces of Britain’s imperial army have entered Ci rene, ancient city of western Libya, adding the fourth major Italian stronghold to their conquest of the North African colony and placing the union jack within 130 miles of Bengasi, their next b:g objective. Cirene, some 60 miles west of Derna, formerly was the general headquarters of Marshal Rodolfo Graziani, whose retreating forces now are strung out along the road leading westward to Bengasi un der savage pounding of the Royal Air Force. Advance 250 Miles With the entry into this biblical city, founded in the 7th century, B.C., the British in less than two months have advanced some 250 miles in their drive to throw Mus solini’s forces out of the North African desert colony. One of the choicest plums yet to fall into their hands was gained by the British at Cirene. It is the center of fertile table lands water ed by fresh springs and is only 10 miles from the Mediterranean port of Appollonia. Roaring ahead of the land forces, RAp planes pounced on Italian forces speeding by truck toward Bengasi and smashed their ve hicles with bombs, then came back to strafe the disorganized fascists with machineguns. An official RAp statement said many of the Italians were mowed down and that 20 to 30 of their vehicles were blown to bits. In one area alone, some 50 miles north (Continued on Page Five, Col. 6) ITALIANS ATTACK BRITISH CONVOY Seven Hits on Ships in Red Sea by Torpedo Boats Re ported by Command ROME, Feb. 4.—UP)—Seven hits on a strongly escorted British con voy in the Red sea by a squadron of Italian torpedo boats were re ported today by the high command. The small speedy craft launched nine torpedoes in all last night, a communique declared. British destroyers and cruisers opened fire, the announcement said, but the Ital ians got away unharmed and re turned to their base. (An authoritative British source in London said that Italy could have stationed torpedo boats in the Red sea before she declared war last June, and that the boats possibly were based at Massaua, chief port of Eritrea.) The high command acknowledged that Italian troops, trying to halt (Continued on Page Five, Col. 7) War I Interpretive BY KIRKE L. SIMPSON Week to week fluctuations in British cargo tonnage losses in the North Atlantic, as reported by Lon don, are worth noting for the clue they may give to the timing of an all-out Nazi attack on England. Heavy winter seas, short day light hours and usually low visi bility combine to limit the effec tiveness of the German submarine and air campaign to sever Eng land’s Atlantic life lines. Not be fore late March, April or possibly : May can German strategists count with reasonable certainty on con- > (Continued on Page Five, Col. 5). ( I Weds Her Manager Osa Johnson, explorer-widow of Martin Johnson, was married to her manager, Clark H. Getts, by Mayor i'iorello H. LaGuardia in New York. Because Osa is working on a motion picture, the couple have no honey moon plans. She is not changing her name. NAZI PLANES RAID COAST OF BRITAIN Fly Through Bitter Weath er on Most Widespread Attack in 2 Weeks LONDON, Feb. 5.—(Wednesday) UP)—German bombers struck at England’s eastenr coast last night in the most widespread attack in about two weeks but nowhere was the attack described as “really heavy.” They flew through bitter weather that blanketed part of France with snow and concentrated on an east coast por* for several hours. One hotel was partly destroyed in a southeast coastal town, and among the bodies recovered from the* debris was that of Jim Me Murray, a former heavyweight boxing champion in the India army. Some fire bombs fell in Londrih. Hostile craft were reported over East Anglia, the Midlands, south west England and Wales, and near Liverpool. The Nazis flew through bitterly cold weather and a stiff northeast wind which swept the Dover Strait, and apparently were taking off from snow-covered airports in France. Before nightfall, during a brief period of exceptional visibility, people upon the English shore could clearly see heavy snow be tween Calais and Boulogne. The “all clear” sounded in the London area before 11 p. m. (3 p. m., E. S. T.) The day had brought announce ments of a punishing double Brit ish blow at the Nazi-occupied French seaport of Brest, and of the destruction of five German planes over Britain and the chan nel. The day’s bag, the British press association reported, brought to 30 the number of German planes shot down in 1941, against one RAF plane lost in defense. 3 Broughton Will Speak At B. & L. Convention RALEIGH, Peb. 4.—(iP)—Governor Broughton will be the principal speaker at a banquet June 5 during the joint convention of the North Carolina and South Carolina Build ing and Loan Leagues at Myrtle Beach, S- C„ June 4-6. He will be introduced by Governor Burnet B. Maybank of South Caro lina. Efforts To End Strikes At Defense Mills Pushed (By The Associated Press) A strike Involving approximately 1,300 Michigan City, Ind., workers was settled yesterday while federal negotiators continued efforts to ad just differences which are keeping two large defense plants idle in Chi cago and Milwaukee. The Michigan city strikers — em ployes of the Pullman Standard Car Manufacturing company—voted to re turn to work under a temporary agreement. Conciliators were hopeful of break ing the Chicago deadlock, involving some 6,500 tractor workers of the In ternational Harvester coiajjany. Aft ei a conference wtih representatives of strikers and employer they said additional meetings would be neces sary. In Milwaukee, 7,000 employes of the Allis-Chalmers company were still out. The plant closed down two weeks ago while working on $40,000, 000 of defense orders. Dr. John Steel man, director of the federal concilia tion service, discussed the strike with defense officials in Washington but said that no definite plans for action were formulated. The CIO cited figures which it said (Continued on Page Seven; Coj. 11
Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.)
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