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Bulgaria To Join RoLie-Berlin-Tokyo Axis
—-- _._+_ _a.
Nazi Troops
Set To Enter
Balkanjtate
Great Britain Will Have to
Break Relations With
New Axis Recruit
YUGOSLAVS INFORMED
Bulgarian Leaders Are Fly
ing to Vienna to Sign the
New Agreement
BELGRADE. Yugoslavia. March
1 _ (Saturday). —W— Bulgaria
stated officially early this morn
ing that she will join the Rome
Berlin-Tokyo axis today
Before the ink is dry on the
documents at Vienna — expected
scene of the ceremony—German
troops already marching in Ru
mania will enter Bulgaria auto
matically as allies and Great Brit
ain will have to break relations
with the newest Axis recuit, keen
ly-watching diplomatic quarters
predicted.
The official word that Bulgaria
finally has yielded to the Nazi pro
gram was conveyed to Yugoslav
Foreign Undersecretary Smaljanic
by Bulgaria’s charge d’affairs,
Ivan Strateff.
Flying to Vienna
Diplomatic reports from Sofia
said Bulgarian Premier Bogdan
Philofi and ^oreign Minister Ivan
Popoff were flying to Vienna in a
special plane this morning to sign
the pact.
German Foreign Minister Joach
im von Ribbentrop and the Jap
anese ambassador to Berlin, Lieut.
Gen. Hiroshi Oshima, already are
in Vienna.
Thus, on Bulgaria's own official
word, she finally was yielding for
mally io the Axis in a few hours.
A Bulgarian merchant who ar
rived here late last night from
Sofia said that many millions of
Bulgarian levas (the monetary
unit) had been purchased recently
by agents fo- an unknown account
which was assumed to be the Ger
man quartermaster corps acquir
ing funds for the German troops
(Continued on Page Two; Col. 5)
TRIAL OF TRAFFIC
CASES SIMPLIFIED
System Set Up for Handling
Minor Violations in City
And County
Thf city, county and state au
thorities joined hands here yester
% in steps to solve the traffic
Problems of the city by inaugurat
ing a streamlined system of hand
ling minor traffic violations in both
Wilmington and New Hanover
county.
Under the program invoked yes
krciay it is possible for motorists
in submit their guilt and pay spe
'fontinued on Page Two; Col. 3)
WEATHER
V FORECAST
mm' 1 ^arolina: Generally fair anil
, “"W cold except rising tempera
.™ mountains Saturday. Sunday
r "ltb rising temperature.
data for the 24 hours
™un* i:3(l P- m. yesterday.
(®y C. S. Weather Bureau)
1. n.. Temperature
, :,1 ®. 35; 7:30 a. m. 33: 1:30 p.
7:30 P- m- 36; maximum 39;
“■ionium 32; mean 36; normal 50.
1 ;r, Humidity
K'-i0a. m. 89; 7:30 a. m. 91; 1:30 p. m.
T„t., , Precipitation
t„ „ ,(;'r. the 24 hours ending 7:30
tie mr.,,Vj 'jclies: total since first of
mouth 3.22 inches.
(From T-.i Ti31es iot Today
n o vl"5 Tables published by the
■ “■ Coast and Geodetic Survey)
tViin, High Low
12:08n 7:18n
boro Inlet_ 9:46a 3:38a
8m„. . 9:57n 3:57p
sunset 6:08p; moonrisc
d’ Looiiset 9:31p.
'Iat rlvrr stage at Fayetteville
"• -8- =t ? *. m., 9.SO feet.
'Continued on Page Two; Col. 3)
End Of The World Of Tomorrow
Only structural steel framework remains of the imposing trylon and
perispliere whicii served as the theme of the New York World’s Fair.
Three-fourths of fair construction has been demolished.
Wilmington Hotel Annex
Contracts Are Awarded
IS $100,000 PROJECT
Preliminary Work on New
South Wing to be Start
ed This Morning
Contracts for the erection of an
addition to the Wilmington hotel
costing approximately $100,000
were awarded yesterday, accord
ing to E. B. Bugg, owner and
manager.
Bugg estimated from 50 to 60
workmen would be employed on
the project, which would require
about four months for completion.
Preliminary operations will be
gin this morning and actual con
struction work will get under way
Monday, Bugg said.
Low Bidders
The successful bidders were
general contract, W. A. Simon;
plumbing contract, Ideal Plumb
ing company, and heating contract,
W. W. Way and Sons.
The names of the other bidders
for the general, plumbing, and
heating contracts and the amounts
of their bids were not immediately
available last night.
James B. Lynch, of Lynch and
Foard, is the architect for the
project.
The new south wing, to be seven
stories high and containing from
40 to 50 rooms, will be constructed
on the adjacent lot on the Front
street side.
Bugg said the addition will pro
vide additional hotel accommoda
tions in keeping with Wilmington’s
progress and will be the very latest
in hotel building and equipment.
The addition, to be 35 feet wide
and 100 feet deep, will be of struc
(Continued on Page Two; Col. 2)
I
Local weather bureau officials
last night predicted the lowest
temperatures of the winter sea
son today and tomorrow for
Wilmington and vicinity.
Weathermen forecast fair and
continued cold for today, with
the mercury expected to drop
to a lowT of about 23 degrees, as
compared with the previous low
of 24 degrees recorded during
the first week in January.
Fresh north and northwest
winds will predominate. Tomor
row w'ill be fair and not quite
so cold. A hard freeze over the
state to the coast was predicted
by weather officials.
SNOWSTORM HITS
EASTERN STATES
Traffic Disrupted, Schools
Forced to Close, Storm
, Warnings Raised
CHARLOTTE. Feb. 28.—(#)—A
driving snowstorm accompanied by
high winds and sub-freezing tem
peratures struck mid-Atlantic and
Eastern states, today with a vio
lence which disrupted traffic,
forced schools to close, and brought
out storm warnings for ocean go
ing craft
The storm, winter’s farewell par
ty for February, centered in mid
day over New Jersey and Dela
(Contiuued on Page Two; Col. 2)
French Silent
On Japs’ Call
To Cede Land
Sharp Ultimatum that Thai
land be Given Large Ter
ritory Expires
MAY DELAY ACTION
Vichy Announcement Says
France’s Position in In
do-China Decided
TOKYO. March 1.—(Saturday).
—L?)—A Japanese ultimatum that
France cede large areas of her
Oriental empire to Thailand or suf
fer “forceful rction” by Japanese
armed forces expired on the stroke
of last midnight (10 a.m., Friday,
E. S. T.) with nothing from the
French but their silence.
This silence appeared to make
the next move Japan’s, under the
reported terms of her ultimatum,
but there were immediate indica
tions that any “forceful action”
in Indo-China would be delayed.
Ships off Indo-China
(According to reports at Saigon
that could not be confirmed, Jap
anese naval patrols numbering 51
vessels of various classifications
were in the Gulf of Siam and
waters off southern Indo-China.
(Moreover. Japan is reported to
have in northern Indo-China, aside
from air bases, more than double
the 6,000 troops allowed under last
September’s accord with the
French—these ostensibly for pros
ecution of the war with China—
and the airfield at Saigon, south
ern Indo-China, is said to have
been converted by the Japanese
into a “nucleus’’ air base.
(In Vichy, after a French cab
inet meeting, it was announced
merely that the French position
on Indo-China had been decided.
During the meeting, however, an
official spokesman said France “is
obligated to conserve the integrity
of her empire by the terms of
the armistice”—with Germany).
Authoritative sources said the
Japanese foreign office planned an
extraordinary conference of key of
(Continued on Page Two; Col. 7)
—
TRAIN-CAR CRASH
TAKES FOUR LIVES
Millard and Adrian Teach
ey, Mrs. Newton and Baby
’ Killed Near Watha
BURRAW, Feb. 28. — Four per
sons were killed instantly early this
morning when the car in which
they were riding was struck by a
southbound Atlantic Coast Line rail
road freight train near Watha,
Sheriff Jack Brown, of Pender coun
ty, reported.
The dead are:
Millard Teachey and Adrian
Teaehey, brothers, of Watha.
Mrs. Paulie Newton, sister of the
Teacheys, and her 18-months old
baby.
Sheriff Brown said that he had
not completed his investigation last
night. An inquest into the deaths
will probably be held next week,
he said.
Highway patrolmen who investi
gated the deaths said that the car
was struck by the train when it
drove on the tracks just as the
(Continued on Page Two; Col. 6)
Long Debate ... Long Bill
The much debated lend-lease bill, seven feet long with all accepted
amendments attached, is examined by Senators Bennett Champ Clark,
lett, Missouri democrat, and Gerald P. Nye, North Dakota republican.
Both oppose bill.
Banks Cash $114,000 In
Camp Davis Pay Checks
' - *___
ALL FOUR REMAIN OPEN
Total Number of Checks
Handled by Institutions
Estimated at 3,800
Approximately $114,000 worth of
Camp Davis payroll checks were
cashed by Wilmington’s four banks
last night as the financial institu
tions remained open for the third
successive Friday night as a service
to the workers and local merchants
This amount was by far the large 't
yet cashed on a night following pay
day at the camp construction project.
On Friday, February 14, the banks
cashed $54,992.46 in checks, which
totaled 1,848. The following Friday.
Feb. 21, the banks cashed 3,470
checks for approximately $98,000.
The- total number of checks han
dled by the banked here last right
was estimated at 3.S00.
Each bank reported more business
than on previous nights. The'check
casliing. service was established a few
weeks ago especially for the workers
on the large anti-aircraft firing cen
ter project at Holly Ridge.
Although there were no definite
figures available for the downtown
business enjoyed by the merchants
who remained open until 9 o'clock,
it was essimated that approximately
$15,000 ir checks were cashed at
inese stores.
The weekly payroll of the camp is
approximately $500,000. Most cf the
hanks say that at least as many
checks as were'cashed at night will
be cashed by workers the week fol
lowing the payday.
PET AIN TO SPEAK
VlCHV. Prance. Feb. 28.—t.-P)—
Chief of State Petain will travel to
morrow to the manufacturing rlty of
Saint-Etienne to deliver a speech
which is expected to be an apj>eal to
French labor.
Italy Admits Britain
Marking Up New Gains
HOME, Eeb. 28.—(/P)—Italians
were told by their high command
today that the British are scor
ing new successes in Somaliland
and commentators warned them
they may expect new Italian re
treats.
Xlie fascist communique ac
knowledged the fall of Magadis
cio, capital of Italian Somali- ■
land, (reported two days before
by the British), but said desper
ate resistance at Cheren and at
the desert oases of Giarabub and
Cufra continued to hold the Brit
ish in check in Eritrea and
Libya.
“Strenuous'’ fighting north of
Mogadiscio was reported in So
maliland.
SUBURBAN SEWAGE
CHANGE !S REMOTE
-1-—
Request of Forest Hills
Residents for New Hook
up Declined by City
So far as the city of Wilmington
is concerned, residents of Forest
Hills—one of the most exclusive
suburban developments in eastern
North Carolina—will have to con
tinue suffering the "objectionable
odors” of the Oleander sewage dis
posal plant overflow.
That, in effe’-t, was the city’s de
cision yesterday in answer to a re
(Cohlinued on Page Two; Col. 6)
Army Orders
Department released the following or
ders yesterday, dated Feb. 25:
MAJOR GENERAL
Lynch, G. A., Chief of Inf., retired on
own application. April oO.
BRIGADIER GENERAL
‘Sheep, W. L., Fort McPherson, Ga.. and
from additional duty at Station Hos
pital, Atlanta, Ga., about April 1, to
command Lawson General Hospital,
Atlanta, Ga.
COLONELS
Lippineott, A.. Cav., three months leave.
Dougherty, C. A., retired, to active duty
high schools, Dallas, Texas.
Kimball, A. R., Q.M.C., to Constructing
Quartermaster, West Point, N. Y., in
addition to other duties, upon relief
of Lieut. Col. J. A. Gilman.
I Allen, . H., Med. Corps, Santa Barba
ra, Calif., to Hoff General Hospital,
same station.
Chappell, H. L., Med. Corps, Vancouver
Barracks, Wash., to Barnes General
Hospital, same station.
Dale, H. L., Med. Corps, Fort Benj. Har.
rison, Ind., to Billings General Hos
pital, same station.
(Continued on Page Five; Col. 5)
?
HITLER’S FOREIGN MINISTER AND JAP
ENVOY TO GERMANY ARRIVE IN VIENNA
I
---—-—
BERLIN Feb. 28.— OR—'The ar
rival in Vienna of Adolf Hitler’s
foreign minister and the Japanese
envoy was announced here tonight
amid a deepening feeling among
authorized military and other ob
servers that important Axis mil
tary and political events were im
minent.
Vienna was alive with rumors
that Bulgarian leaders would turn
up there tomorrow to put their
country into the German-Italian
Japanese alliance.
(Balkan diplomats in Budapest
also heard that Bogdan Philoff,
Bulgaria’s prime minister, and
Ivan Popoff, the foreign minister,
were flying to Vienna to sign up.
They said Bulgaria’s adhesion to
the pact would mean the country
automatically would admit the ar
mies of its German ally.)
The communique disclosing that
Joachim Von Ribbentrop, the Nazi
foreign minister, and Lieut.-Gen.
Hroshi Oshima, the Japanese am
bassador to Germany, had reached
Vienna gave no details.
Germans closed the books on
February with a compilation of
29 British ships, totaling 146,000
tons sunk or damaged in the last
two days, and attributed part of
this expectancy to Adolf Hitler’s
declaration that submarine war
fare will “begin” in March or
April. Many believed he would
give the word before March was
many days old.
Artillery General Paul Hasse, in
an article in the Boersen Zeitung,
described a German army of mil
lions drillng with fanatical zeal
in a pause between blitzkriegs to
master the handling of intricate
war gear.
“The course of the war so far
has taught that the first essential
is to be quicker than the foe,” he
wrote. “Quicker in grasping deci
sions and carrying out orders,
quicker in movement by foot,
horse, \VJieel and armored car,
quicker in surprise attack and most
of all quicker in taking full advan
tage of any break.”
(Reports emanating in Vichy to
the effect that the Germans have
begun a methodical evacuation of
all civilians from a 22-mile-wide
stretch of the French Channel
coast, possibly as part of final
preparations for attack on Eng
land, were met in Berlin by a
shrug of official shoulders.
(Continued on Page Two; Col. 8)
TO BUILD 375
$3,500 HOUSES
IN THIS AREA
Wilmington is Listed
As One of Best Cities
In U. S. for Business
Wilmington is listed in Forbes
Magazine in the March 1 issue
as one of the best places in the
United States for concentrating
sales activities, for collections
and other promotion operations
of business.
Wilmington is the center of
the second best high-spot terri
tory in the United States today.
Twenty other nearby cities make
up the territory.
This district, with the four
other high-spot territories, is
chosen for special mention by
Forbes because in it business is
farther alie:V of last year than
in any other territory contain
ing 1,000,1)00 or more population.
For the territory which includes
Wilmington the median gain
over last year lias recently been
33 per cent.
EX-KING ALFONSO
PASSES IN ROME
Family Present As He Dies
After Lengthy Attack
Of Angina Pectoris
ROME, Feb. 28.—ffl—Former
King Alfonso XIII of Spain died
today after 15 days of the agony
of angina pectoris, and tonight his
body lay in the hotel bedroom
which for a decade had been his
place of exile.
His weakened heart stopped at
11:50 a.m. (4:50 a.m. EST. Fif
teen minutes before the end all
that remains of his family had
gathered about him—all save the
Infanta Christina, who was at
Turin awaiting the birth of another
grandchild of the dying monarch.
Alfonso was lucid but spent and
could only look at them
—at the estranged former Queen
Victoria; at his son and designated
heir to the throne of Spain, Don
Juan; at his son Jaime and his
daughter Beatrice.
It seemed to those about him
that he was clearly resigned, and
he died calmly and appearing un
afraid, true to his proud, ancient
Bourbon blood.
The final expression of his life,
made with the last of his strength,
was to thank with grave courtesy
the three physicians who had
worked over him so long.
Even in the long agony of his
last days it was clear that he had
thought much of the throne which
he had relinquished ten years ago,
before the sharply emerging re
publican spirit of Spain, lest blood
be shed among his people.
For, it was disclosed, only a
few days ago he had asked his
intimates whether Juan, the son
he had chosen to succeed him if
the monarchy ever returns to
Spain, was suffering much for his
father’s condition.
“I hope he is bearing it well,”
Alfonso had said. “For a king
must be strong.”
The funeral mass will be cele
brated Monday in the church of
St. Mary of the Angels, the ex
king’s church in life. The body
will be taken afterward to the
Spanish national church here, St.
Mary Monserrato, for ‘provisional
interment. Permission will be
sought eventually to lay Alfonso
(Continued on Page Two; Col. 5)
SHORTAGE REPORTED
Nation’s Chief Allocates
Funds to FWA to Proceed
With Construction
WILL SELECT AGENCY
Selection of Site and Tyne
Of Building to be De
cided by Builder
Finding that a housing shortage
exists or impends in Wilmington
which private capital is unable or
unwilling to meet in the rent
ranges needed. President Roose
velt yesterday approved plans call
ing for the erection of 375 units
of defense housing “in Wilming
ton including Holly Rdige” to care
for a portion of the increase ill
the population caused here by the
erection of Camp Davis.
The President approved alloca
tion of funds of the Federal Works
Administration with which to pro
ceed with construction.
The units, which will be'single
units and duplex apartments, with
the former probably predominat
ing, will cost approximately $3500
apiece for construction alone, and
when the cost of land, architect
fees and other costs are added,
the project will cost in the vicinity
Of $1,500,000.
The next step in the procedure
which must follow before any of
the houses can be erected here is
for John M. Carmody, adminis
trator of the Federal Works Ad
ministration, to delegate to an
agency of his choice the actual
construction work.
Agencies now being used by Car
mody for such work include the
Public Buildings Administration,
local housng authorities and the
United States Housing Authority,
the Farm Security Administration,
and some of the defense housing
units are handled directly through
his office with local housing auth
orities while still others are han
dled directly through Carmody’s
office with private contractors.
Permanent Structures
Selection of a site, the type of
building and other such items will
be left up to the agency which is
selected to build the units. The
units, however, will be permanent
structures and will not be frame
dwellings.
The units will be used solely to
house the families of non-comrnis
sioned officers from Camp Davis
(Continued on Page Two; Col. 8)
BETHLEHEMSTEEL
STRIKE IS ENDED
Company and Lackawanna
Employes Approve Gov
ernment-Drafted Pact
BUFFALO. N. Y., Feb. 28—
Cheering, flag-waiving CIO work
ers terminated a two-day strike at
Bethlehem Steel’s Lackawanna
mill today after the company and
employes approved a government
drafted agreement.
After the strikers unanimously
ratified the three-point program
submitted by President Roosevelt’s
office of production management.
Lackawanna plant Manager Ed
(Continued on Page Two; Col. 4)
TEACHER TENURE
PLAN IS DOWNED
RALEIGH, Feb. 28.— UP)—Senate
redistricting was approved and
teacher tenure, or job security,
was disapproved by committees
today as the general assembly con
tinued to grind out legislation.
The big joint appropriations com
mittee, meanwhle, added $176,
400 to the spendng bill by in
creasing funds for several agen
cies—despite the fact that it faces
an apparent deficit of $2,000,000
for next biennium.
As things now stand, the measure
calls for spending that amount in
excess of anticipated tax receipts,
not counting the proposed transfer
of moneys from the highway to the
general fund.
Hence, the committee must pare
the tentative budget, which now
includes huge increases for schools
and some other agencies.
The appropriations bill is the one
big obstacle to adjournment—now
thought possible by March 12—and
it was indicated it might be re
ported to the legislative floors
Thursday. At any rate, the spend
ing committee set its next meeting
for Monday morning, a time not
ordinarily used by legislative
bodies.
Both houses today received bills
which would allow municipalities
with over 10,000 population to ex
(Continued on Page Two; Col.^ 1)