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QlbflHhninrton #lar Published Daily Except Sunday By The Wilmington Star-New* At The Murchison Building R. B. Page, Owner and Publisher Telephone All Departments DIAL 3311 Entered as Second Class Matter at Wilming ton, N. C., Postofflce Under Act of Congress of March 3, 1879 _ SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY CARRIER Payable Weekly or in Advance Com Ulna Star News tion « Iveek ,,,,,,.$ -20 $ .15 $ .30 3 Month* 2.60 1.95 3.90 i ... 5.20 3.90 7,80 ! hmo 7.80 is.eo New* rate* entitle subscriber to Sunday issue of Star-New* ~ - BY MAIL Payable Strictly in Advance Combina Star News tion 1 Month .6-75 $ M $ M 3 Months . 2.00 1.50 2.75 6 Months . 4 00 300 a-&0 ! year . 8.00 6.00 10.00 News rates entitle subscriber to Sunday issue of Star-News (Daily Without Sunday! 1 Month .$ .50 6 Months .$3.00 3 Months . 1.50 12 Months . 6.00 (Sunday Only! 1 Month .$ .20 8 Months .$1 25 3 Months .65 1 Year ....... &0U Card of Thanks charged for at the rate of 25 cents per line. Count five words to line THE ASSOCIATED PRESS “ is entitled to the exclusive use oi all news Stories appearing in The Wilmington Star MONDAY, MARCH 3, 1941 Star-News Program Vonsulidaled City-County Government under Council-Manager Administration. Public, Port Terminals. Perfected Truck and berry Preserving and Marketing facilities. Arena tor Sports and Industrial Shows. Seaside Highway Horn Wrighlsvillt beach to bald Head Island. extension ol City Limits. 35 f»ot cape feat Hive’ channel, wid ter Tummy basin, with ship lanes into Hnditstr iat sites along faster n bank south of Wilmington. p Pared Itner Hoad to Southport, rio .Orton Plantation. ) Development ot Pulp Wood Production tli on oh sustained yield methods through •jiut Southeastern Horlh Carolina. ■ Crutied Industrial ana Hesort Promo Ztp.no, \gemy, supported by one county 'with tux. slupyuids and lit yd ticks. Segiu Health Center tor southeastern ho, tli caiotinu. developed around the Com ,n unity Hospital. Adei/uati hospital ficitities lor whiles ■Ittniot High School. Toti-ii i o Warehouse to* Hxport buyers. Development r.t nati-e grape growing thioihjlnrut Southeastern \orth Carolina Modern Tuberculosis Sanatorium. I TOP O' THE MORNING You spoke one dap, a cheering word,, And passed to r her duties; It warmed a heart, now promise stirred. And painted a life with beauties. And so tor the word and its silent prayer You'll reap a palm sometime-somewhere. —DANIEL GARNETT BICKERS. Two Facts To Be Faced Hardly a day passes without new and sweep ing German claims of losses inflicted on Brit ish shipping. On Friday Berlin declared that planes had sunk or damaged 28 ships totaling 146,000 tons. A week ago, in his latest speech Hitler announced that 215,000 tons had been sunk in the preceding two days. During last week there were similar reports of German successes. In a sense there is nothing new in this. From the beginning of the war the Nazis have credited their submarines and bombers ana mines with far greater destruction than the British admitted and, indeed, than neutral sources were able to check. If the German figures are anywhere near accurate then Brit ain is already close to defeat. And that is not the case. But it seems that recent communiques have been more on the exaggerated side than usual They have been coming closer together more* over, and they have certainly been louder. Is there a purpose here that goes beyond the necessity of keeping up German spirits? i There could be, for it happens that the sen ate is debating the lease-lend bill and the question of how to get American help to Britain, once the supplies have been pro duced, bears on the fate of the measure. The opposition has asserted that the powers grant ed the President will be used to transfer warships to Britain, or to convoy American rperchant ships to British ports. A great deal Kas been made of this possibility. ’ But if the Nazis intend to keep the convoy Issue before American eyes, which is more than likely, it is just as well. It ought to be recognized now, rather than later, that a policy of all-out aid to Britain may require delivery of the supplies once they have been produced. That is the fact, and it should be faced. Another fact, which must be faced, now or later, also, is that if we fail in all-out aid to Britain, by whatever means it may be necessary to get them delivered we will cer thinly have to take up the war against the dictators where Britain, because of that fail uresis forced to stop. Air Line Crashes In taking time out from the lease-Iend bid debate to discuss safety in the air, the senate showed a justified concern over the series of fatal mishaps on American commercial avia tion lines since last summer. The record should cause sober thought among all those who have any responsibility in the matter. There have been five accidents involving loss of life to air passengers in a little more than six months. The Eastern Airlines trans port that crashed near Atlanta on Thursday raised the death toll to 52. True though it is that more persons are traveling by plane than ever before, and over greater distances, the toll is high. It is more than a striking coincidence that the last four transports to crash with resultant fatalities have met disaster just short ol their | destinations. Landing an airplane has always been the most hazardous part of flying it,' of course, but the experience of the last six months indicates that the problem is still un solved. How it is to be solved must be left chielly to experts. But congress has a duty to see that the regulations imposed by governmental authorities include adequate precautions against flying in weather that makes landing precarious and require improved facilities for blind and semi-blind landings that cannot be avoided. Senator McCarran’s assertions that the trans fer of the Civil Aeronautics Authority to the Department of Commerce has resulted in "confusion and chaos" in the regulation ot air lines deserve to be weighed. The senate investigating committee ought to pay special attention to these charges in making a com prehensive and thorough study of the situation as a whole. On Watch It is good news that the house military af fairs committee has been investigating army contracts for some three weeks and has al ready, according to representative May, dis covered “several mistakes.’’ The committee is to be commended for its vigilance, and the naval affairs committee might well follow its example. However, this disclosure will not silence the demand for a special congressional committee to keep tab on the whole defense program. The house military affairs committee cannot do that, since its authority is limited, and that is true of the naval affairs committee and the corresponding committees in the senate. There is a need for a special body to keep watch on the whole program. This is true, I somewhat paradoxically, because there never has been a program in the true sense of the word. The whole affair has been improvised, and it has been subject to constant revision as it went along. Granted that no one can be blamed, because the situation changed almost from day to day the fact remains that con gress has been spending billions of dollars with only the foggiest notion of how the money is being used. It is the business of the executive depart ment to do the planning, of course, but that does not relieve congress of its duty to con sider all proposals and then act as its judg ment dictates. Congress is partly responsible for the orderly progress of the progam as well as for taking precautions against waste and loss. Probably the President should take the first step by creating an adequate planning agency to advise him. But the absence of any such machinery ought not to deter congress from establishing its own machinery to bring some order out of the present chaos. FBI Wants Men The alacrity with which the house committee has reported favorably on the plan for an emergency fund for the Federal Bureau of Investigation is at once a tribute to the ex cellence of the past work of the bureau and recognition of its value as an agency of na tional defense. In times like these, the FBI cannot discuss in detail what steps it is taking to guard against spying, sabotage and other tricks of the Fifth Columnists. It is enough tor it to say, as J. Edgar Hoover has said, that the situation is “well in hand.” This is ali the people heed to know. Mr. Hoover has asked for the addition ot several hundred men to his staff. This is not an extravagant request and every indication points to early acceptance of it by congress. As the defense program grows in size there is increased need for the kind of surveillance which only experienced investigators can give. Not to insure, to the greatest possible degree, against subversive activities is to lake more ol a gamble than the country can afford. Traffic Accidents That accidents are common on our roads is not to be wondered at, since disregard of the law is prevalent. North Carolina provides no exception in the record of the country as a whole. Accidents in traffic, many Involving the loss of human life, are happening with alarm ing frequency in Tarheelia as well as else where. They are due chiefly to what a traffic ex pert in another state calls "dangerous moving violations.” A reasonable construction of this designation is that drivers taken into custody were deliberately disobeying the law, and in ways that each must have known were fraught with danger. Some were speeding; some wera [ignoring stop signs; some drove their cars on curves past other cars proceeding in the same direction, and some were passing on the wrong side. It is unlikely that any of the offenders were ignorant of the law or the rules of the road. The assumption is that all who were engaged in “dangerous moving violations” were de liberately taking chances, knowing the risk they were running. Failure to respect the law and heed its in junctions is liable to bring trouble. Autoists ought to realize that the responsibility for safety for themselves and for all others lies with them. ♦ Editorial Comment PEERS AND PAY Raleigh News and Observer Three British peers, including Viscount Hali fax, Ambassador to Washington, are serving in the British diplomatic corps without any sal aries, according to a white paper issued by the government in London. In Washngton some rich men also are serving as “dollar-a-year ’ men. Such services may be generously given but the special honor paid to rich men who serve without money, which they do not need, does not do honor to the services to der ;ocracy of just as able men who depend upon t-.eir sal aries for their living even while they are doing just as patriotic service. In any democracy the dollar-a-year system is wrong as it sets apart as a sort of peerage men who happen to be rich enough not to need pay. That has nothing to do with the value of their services. Indeed, foregoing a governmen tal salary at a time when governments are spending billions for arms is so trifling a mat ter that it deserves no consideration at all. Nobody should be given office space who is not worth pay and anybody who is worth pay in the Federal service should receive it. After receiving it, any person wishes to give it to charity or the government or any other cause; that is his right. But there should be no line drawn between men who need their salaries and men who do not. The only line should be drawn in accordance with the quality of serv ice rendered. Most dollar-a-year men make the most trifling sacrifices in comparison with those of a good many young men who are on the Fed eral pay roll at around $30 a month and in the Government’s clothes. They are giving years cut of their youth and receiving no special prominence for it. 4 * Washinaton Daybook By JACK STINNETT WASHINGTON, March 2—This is the tale of Falla, the most famous dog in America today. Falla is a jet black scottie. Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt calls him the “wigglingest bundle of fur you ever tried to lay hands on.” Presi dent Roosevelt calls him "Falla.” His formal name is “Falla of Murray Hill.” It was appropriated from one of the Presi dent’s old Scottish ancestors. Falla of Murray Hill, so the story goes, was an outlaw in the days when being successful as a Scottish out law was as much of an achievement as being elected President of the U. S. for a third term. Falla came to live at the White House something less than a year ago. He was a gift from one of President Roosevelt’s Dutch ess county relatives. The President doesn’t say from whom and he doesn’t say anything about Falla’s par ents, ancestry or kennels either. The reason is obvious. Many persons would pay fabulous sums and burst with pride if they could say: “My purp is a sister (brother, cousin, nephew, niece) of the dog wflo lives at the White House.” The only thing I could dig out was that Falla was born in Indianapolis, of pretty royal scottie blood. * * * OTHERS COME AND GO Aside from the squirrels that scamper around the White House lawn and the pigeons that bum a luxurious living along the White House paths, Falla has in a bid for the only permanent animal resident in the Roosevelt administration. Jack and Jill, two beautiful brown cocker spaniels that belong to Mrs. John Boettiger, daughter of the House of Roosevelt, have been popular guests, but their tenure never was long. There was another scottie, but he was a snappish sort and had to be packed off to the country before he had got to first base in Presidential affections. With Falla it’s different. There hasn’t been a day that he hasn’t wagged his way a little deeper into the President’s heart, and if there is any one on the White House staff who has ever thought, "Darn that dog!,” it never has been uttered in a whisper any one could hear. One of the ceremdhies of the President’s day is giving Falla his evening meal. No one else dares cut in. Mrs. Roosevelt com mented recently that Falla is rapidly becom ing a one-man dog. There’s no doubt about it. Who else would have had the effrontery to try to crash the President’s third inaugural by hopping without invitation into the limou sine and perching proudly on the back seat at the President’s side? HAS TRAVELED FAR Another thing about Falla is his rapidly increasing travel mileage. He has been to Hyde Park so many times he knows the trees there as well as he knows those on the White House lawn. And when the Presi dent made his last Caribbean cruise, Falla sailed with the Skipper, as first matey. He got seasick, too, and like all the others he made a dash for the rail. Fortunately, he was caught before he slipped over for a dogpaddle in the briny. If any further proof were needed that Falla is the nation’s First Pet, it could be found in the amount of fan mail he gets. I’ll bet you there isn’t a glamour boy in Hollywood who wouldn’t be proud to do so well. In addition, Falla has such a surplus of luxuries that he couldn’t use them all if he outlived the oldest living scottie. There isn’t a manufacturer of flea powder, dog biscuits, curry combs or collars that wouldn’t be happy to have Falla head his testimony list and most of these pass out generous samples, just in hope. 1 If the democratic world had been success ful in preventing the growth of the proletariat, in building our defense: we the people must there never would have been such a thing as the rise of the totalitarian state. —Senator Joseph C. O’Mahoney. Wyoming. U * * It would indeed be inconsistent to make the great efforts now underway and contemplated in the U. S. today ... if they were not paral leled by assistance to our • vltalcommunica tions. v-P.. H. Cross, British minister ot shipping j TRYING HARD NOT TO STEP ON ANYBODY * Man About Manhattan BY GEORGE TUCKER By GEORGE TUCKER NEW YORK, March 2.—There used be a little Frenchman named Herbert (pronounced A-bare) who had a pet shop on Park Avenue and who was a sort of veterinariah on the side, though he admittedly didn’t know much about it and finally gave up his practice and devoted his time exclusively to selling dogs. His ancestors must have been circus ballyhoo artists, for he nad a wonderful spiel, and after he lost his shop he used to stand around in front of night clubs and hotels with puppies in his coat pockets and in his arms, giving eloquent oral appreciations of man’s-most-faithful. friend and enumerating their qualities. If it happened that he was sell ing Scotties he would have a per fectly marvelous song and dance about the superior qualities of these animals as against setters, spaniels and Boston bulls. But 11 he happened to be selling bull dogs or bird dogs he had an equal ly glib sales talk in their favor. He used always to wind up com paring dogs against cats, which were “insolent, cold, vicious, un grateful, and altogether selfish.” * * * Well, Herbert finally dropped out of sight and I didn’t see him again until one night about two years ago. To my surprise he had a bas ket of kittens on his arm, which he swore were fullblooded Angoras and which he was retailing for $e per. "one of the discouraging things about life as we live it today,’ 'he told me, “is that people cannot, or will not. realize what incomparable companions cats are. They are the kings of the earth. They personify grace. They are not subservient as dogs are. They do not grovel and lick your hands after you beat them, as dogs do. Cats have a pride and a loftiness of character that many of us would do well to copy. They are affection ate and clean. They are the world’s finest pets.” “This is quite a change in you,” I told him. “I thought you dis liked cats.’ ' “That was because I was ignor ant and didn’t know any better,” he said. “But now I have come to realize what incomparable fellows these animals are. Dogs are all right, but they run to a line. They are all the same. But now you take cate—their personalities are as complex as people’s. They have a sense of nobility that dogs do not possess. To me there is no com parison between the two.” * * * That was two years ago. Walk ing through Sixth avenue the other afternoon, near 46th street, I heard a familiar voice and saw a great crowd of men jamming the doors of one of those innumerable “cir cus” halls that line that section of this somewhat bizarre neighbor hood. When I shoved my noggin through the door and caught a glimpse of a little fellow before a glass cage of insects I easily recognized our old friend of the puppies and the kittens. He was serving as the master of a flea cir cus and giving an eloquent ac count of himself. "Yes, sir,” he said, “smartest things alive, fleas. Agile, quick, on their toes. Not at all like cats, which rip the rugs to shreds, or dogs which do noth ing but lie around waiting for somebody to scratch their ears No, sir, not at all like dogs or cats.” He’d take fleas every time. The crowd, I am bound to ad mit, was much impressed. 5 AFL Wants Nation To Chart Course For Post-War Period WASHINGTON. March 2.—(A*)— The American Federation of Labor urged today that the nation chart its economic course now for the post-war period lest defense in dustry centers turn into ghost towns filled with despairing unem ployed The AFL, in its current issue of the ‘American Federationist,” called upon representatives o/ in dustry, technology and government to join with labor ‘‘in an intensive and constructive effort to insure America against a post-emergency crisis.” It said: ‘‘Unless our programs of taxa tion, public works, housing, factory allocation, employment and train ing are tested in the terms of our post-emergency requirements and unless every single defense action is tested in those terms,- we shall face peace in utter helplessness, unable to shift our entire economy to a sound peacetime basis, unable to meet the peacetime needs for full production, trade and employ ment.” Plans also should be made now for foreign trade, the APL said, adding that if this was done the United Staves would be able lo provide commodities to other na tions suffering “from a lasting handicap of wholesale destruction of their industrial equipment and depletion of their resources.” Meantime, two other organiza tions expressed concern over cur rent situations in the defense pro gram. Both the national economy league and the American Federa tion of investors, non-governmen tal organizations, urged paring down of non-defense items in the national budget. 5 Term of Civil Court Will Be Opened Today Judge R. Hunt Parker of Roa noke Rapids, will preside over the two-week March civil term of New Hanover superior court which opens at 9:30 o’clock this morning, T. A. Henderson, clerk of court, has announced. The docket comprises 30 civil actions, including 15 the first week and 24 the second week. The re gular motion docket will be called Friday, March 7. Pre-School Clinics Will Be Started Here Dr. A. H. Elliot, health officer, has announced that a series of pre school clinics in the city and county schools will get underway at 2 o’clock this afternoon at the Corn elius Harnett school. Two clinics will be held weekly through Friday, April, 17, with the second one this week to be held at 2 o’clock Friday afternoon March 7, at the Hemen^ay school. ♦War Interpretive BY EDWARD E. BOMAR The British bombing attack on th, e Rumanian oil fields—it reports of the raid are substantiated—could be the spark to ignite a general Balkan conflagration which Adolf Hitler logically should be eager to avoid just now. Such an attack would attest a British' decision to strike at ene my supplies and communications before the Nazi war machine roll ed unopposed into position to bring crushing force to bear on the Greeks, to cow the Turks, and ulti mately threaten Suez. Many Factors Limiting factors are so numer ous. however, that military leaders likely will not attach as great im portance to the move as will the British public. Unless this or sub sequent raids should touch off the Balkan powder keg, Britain is in a difficult position to inflict by air alone really telling damage to her foe in southeastern Europe, im portant and vulnerable as the oil fields are. Of deeper significance to the course of events in the Balkans will be the first definite indication whether a British army is to be landed in Greece and what Turkey has decided to do about fighting. The Rumanian source of much of the German war machine’s fuel is within easy bombing range of the Royal Air Force. From their bases in Greece, British planes need fly less than 300 miles to reach Poles ti, center of Europe’s richest oil producing area. Indications are, however, that the R.A.F., does not have the planes available in sufficient num bers to take full advantage of the situation. Probably 200 of all types at the most have been sent to Greece, with fighters rather than bombers most numerous, neutral reports estimate. On the other hand, military men credit the Luftwaffe with at least an air di vision of more than 1,200 planes in the Balkans. Germans Prepare j For weeks, since the oil fields were put under full Nazi military control, the Germans have been preparing for raids by establish ing air bases and setting up anti aircraft guns. A further consideration is that the Rumanian oil fields have de veloped into far less importance than they were credited with in the earlier stages of the European conflict. Actually, only about a third of the production has gone thus far to Germany, it is believed, largely because of transportation limitations. More needed by Germany than Rumania’s gasoline is lubricating oil from South Russia, which is shipped through Poland over a route beyond the range of mass bombing. Altogether there is no likely rea son to believe the Nazi juggernaut is in peril of being brought to a complete halt for the time being because of raids on its Balkan fuel tanks. There is plenty in the way of general harrassment for British bombers to carry out, neverthe less. as long as they are based in Greece, or in Turkey, should the Turks enter the war. The battle of Britain has demon strated forcefully that night bomb ing can not be stopped and a single Fair Enouqh BY WESTBROOK PEGLER The Star wishes its reader, to know that views and opin ions expressed in this artici,' are those of the author and may not always harmoniz. with its position.—The Editor. WASHINGTON, March 2. - though some of the soldiers of new Army and some of the you Navy flat-hats are setting new stfu!f ards in bearing and dress which foi low the Influence of the Sloppy , Army of France, the high-ranking officers of the staff are in no PJ tion to pull any snoots at anv them. George Marshall, the chief Cf staff, a general who could go around with four stars on each shoulder is so bashful that he doesn’t wear his soldier suit regularly, and any officer who should dress up in tl)' quaint costume of his trade in Wash* Ington, except for a fancy-pants par ty at the White House or a high class scuffle at the home of Som» refined millionaire, would be accuse] of insufferable swank and might be sent back to the soldiers for making himself conspicuous in public. ! In a way these officers, of whom it seems that there are some hug, number in the capital and in York, recall the stories of Adolf Hi;, ler’s tourist invasions of Norway and Rumania, in which swarms of Nazis masqueraded as salesmen, buyer, and fugitive intellectuals, and suo. denly emerged from their hotel rooms attired for the fray. Cappy Wells Cappy Wells, the press officer who made football publicity for West Point in the days when it was de cided to let the public know that those young men in gray were cadets and not letter carriers, has been brought on from Louisville, where for several years he exercised his rank of major over two enlisted men and a lady civilian clerk. Boosted to lieutenant colonel now, the Cap still goes around in multi, and, now that I think of It, I i)e. lieve the only time I ever saw him with his stuff on in all these years was one day at General Smith's ;ar den party in June week, when the general noticed a spot of powdered sugar on the tip of his nose am inquired genially, “been in the flour barrel, Capt. Wells?” How do you suppose that Infantry soldier got powder on his nose? Well, June week is a festive time at West Point, and did you ever dip your bill into a tall frosted glass o( refreshment containing mint leaves dusted with powdered sugar? That was how, as I can safely tell you, now that the statute of limitations surely must have run against a si emn violation of a warrior's oath truly and faithfully to preserve ami defend the United States constitu tion, including the foul amendment. Philip B. Fleming Philip B. Fleming, graduate man ager of sports at the academy then, is a brigadier now, but serving in wages and hours, so perhaps he ma; be excused for not putting on hit gear and clanking as he walks. But the Colonel Robert C. Richardson who was commandant of cadets is now a major general and director ol the Army's bureau of public rela tions, and he wears a black suit ani looks as if he were fixing to cleat his throat and say. "brethren, let us bow our heads in two minutes of pious meditation.” General Tooey Spotts of the ait corps, recently back from London, goes around wearing some tweedy thing that he picked up over yonder, and the town is full of rank and in portance, and anyone less than a ma jor is practically an Okie. But they all go around pretending to be gr» cers, morticians and veteran clerk! at the department of commerce, and the odd part of it is that, although they look prettty imposing in thru soldier clothes, Army officers in muf ti, as a rule, look as if they had jus crossed the continent by day coacn In a slow train and hadn't undrese for a week. They say the main reason for this is that they don’t want to give con gress the jumps strutting their rank around the government building and the second reason given i« ■ they like to be able to drop m a dram at the hotels without create an impression that the whole Lni States Army lias no occupation o than just that. There is a little more truth tot * second excuse than to the first. - the real reason, as this keen. ^ observer has discerned, is t a mufti they can go baggy or shaved and don’t have to sue and pull in their ears as an ex of fine military bearing to the and the enlisted personnel. But that is life for you. *i“t ’ They fret and grind through s and eat their hearts out 01 gradual gains in rank, and . . get up there they go armin' _ as suburban taxpayers anti of the P.-T. A. __ flaming lank or well is 1 ^ to light up targets for show incendiary missiles. r South of Ploesti and ever, c -rf tc Greece is the Danube Po" ,( Giurgiu. where oil norm . ^ loaded into barges for transpo l the Danube. There is the Iron Gorge of the Danube ping could be damaged o alized from the air. u Oil from Germany like - transported by rail lines a are vulnerable at many pn nntooB Aside from these, the P bridges across the Danube ef railways and mountain Pas- , int0 which Nazi troopers P011 taf. Bulgaria are natural mm ■ • gets. . . po"' What the R.A.F.. needs U; ., for really telling blows m |,. of the world are hundred.- 0 ^ ers and the fighters to Pr0,t> to —which Britain does 110 pie be able to spare from front until next year.
Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.)
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March 3, 1941, edition 1
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