Served By Leased Wire Of The Dedicaied To The Progress Of ASSOCIATES FBESS WILMINGTON With Complete Coverage of And Soulheaslern Norlh Slate and National News Carolina V0^74-NO. 202___WILMINGTON, N. C., FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 1941_FINAL EDITION ESTABLISHED 1867 Hull, Knox UrgeMore British Aid Navy Secretary Says We Cannot Allow Goods To Be Sunk in Atlantic termed 'OUR fight; Secretary of State Avers Safety of Hemisphere Calls for Resistance By J. C. STAKK WASHINGTON, April 24.— ®— rwo key figures in President Roosevelt's cabinet called tonight !or more active steps to aid Brit )in, one of them declaring that We can not allow our goods to be sunk in the Atlantic” and the other iemanding “resistance wherever ■esistance will be most effective.” Secretary of State Cordell Hull :aid in an address here that “ways must be found” to insure that aid •eaches its destination “in the shortest of time and in maximum juantity.” “Our-Fight” In an even stronger pronounce ment in New York, Secretary of Ihe Navy Frank Knox declared "this is our fight,” that “we must ;ee the job through” and that “we ;an no longer occupy the immoral ir.d craven position of asking oth ers to make all the sacrifice for ihis victory which we recognize as so essential to us.” •‘Our manhood and our self re spect demand that we shall assume our part of the burden,” Knox aid. Knox asserted that “Hitler can not allow our war supplies to reach Er.siand—he will be defeated if they do” and he added with em phasis: "We cannot allow our goods to be sunk in the Atlantic—we shall be beaten if they do.” Hull declared the safety of the hemisphere caller for “resistance wherever resistance will be most effective”. It makes a vast dif ference to us who wins the presnt struggle in Europe — “the differ ence whether we stand with our backs to the wall with the other four continents against us and the high seas lost, alone defending the last free territories on earth, or whether we keep our calpe in an orderly world.” The secretary of state spoke be fore the American Society of In ternational Law in Washington and his address was broadcast over the (Continued on Page Four; Col. 3) SINGAPORE BASE IS STRENGTHENED British Move More Men And Machines in to Meet Thrust by Land or Sea SINGAPORE, April 24.—— Formidable new reinforcements of Bien and machines landed at this British far eastern stronghold to <';>'• strengthening the defense of Singapore and the Malay Penin sula against a surprise thrust by knd or sea. They came in a big transport as reinforcements for the main why of the Australian Imperial force which arrived here Febuary "■ This time the public welcome !.as less colorful and not so noisy; Jr>e brass bands and singing were Blissing. But Australian-Manned bombing Planes roared out to meet the convoy 100 miles at sea and circl et! overhead as the big troop-carry lnS liner steamed through the na 'al base dock. The new contingents included ■ansport services and other auxi l^nes- With the troops already J^aid by some observers to Sflnnn *orerunners of an army of "They will take up positions on Page Five; Col. 1) Treasury Presents Tax Schedules To Lawmakers 3 RIC HARD L. TURNER ^SHINGTON, April 24.—Un ite easury Presented its new 3- tax schedules to the house srrt tv,and means committee today ed nrough John L. Sullivan argu jtit mPhatically against the sub tax f°n °f a Payroll lax °r a sales c„.,. or the proposed heavy im Ss“ °n incomes. terUOpVan faced the committee af ky cretary Morgenthau, flanked the assistants, had urged that t elective $3,500,000,000 in c0m e ,ln tax revenues be ac by a billion dollar re n in non-defense expendi tures. He thought such a cut not only highly desirable but clearly possible. As for the $3,500,000,000 in new taxes, Morgenthau said it was a “small price’ ’to pay for liberty. There is a posibility, he asserted, that "war may spread to this country.” The session opened the commit tee’s public hearings on the new tax bill... Spectators crowded the big committee room, and included the usual large proportion of rep resentatives of business organiza (Continued on Page Five; Col. 5). Lieut.-Col. Johnson Greets Newest Cadre Surrounded by staff officers, Lieut.-Col. Edwin H. Johonsou, commander of the Camp Davis station com plement, war photographed at the Holly Ridge ACL depot yesterday afternoon as he watched the arrival of the first troops to reach the camp via train transportation. Col. Johnson, center with riding crop, was told by ACL trainmen that the cadre of 234 men from Camp Stewart, Ga., was the most orderly group of sol diers the rail company had ever transported. With the colonel, left to right, were Lieut. John W. Thames, transportation officer who accompanied the cadre from Stewart; Lieut.-Col. Clifford E. Jones, commander of the 96th CAC regiment, to be built around the cadre received yesterday; Capt. E. J. Barnette, Camp Davis press relations officer; Major D. B. Riggs, Davis motor transport officer, and Lieut, J. C. Crabb, assistant transportation officer of the camp. Force Of 234 Regulars Arrives At Camp Davis PASS [THROUGH CITY Veteran Private Says To day’s Soldiers Smarter Than Those of 1917 BY KEN NOBLE Take it from Pvt. William A. Craw ley, your Uncle Sam’s new army is going to be a fighting force without peer in a world of armies. And Pvt. Crawley ought to know, for he has ceen wearing, with but exception of three years in the early 20’s, the uniform of the United States Army since 1914. Pvt. Crawley (he has been a top sergeant, but you know how those things go—“up today, down tomor row!”) was one of the 234 regulars who arrived at Camp Davis yester day from Camp Stewart, Ga., and en route to Davis from Wilmington a'boai'd a troop train, he told a few tilings about Army life that might surprise even a few colonels. Smarter For instance: “The average man coming into the Army today, both enlisted men and selectees, ai-e a lot smarter than the old-time soldiex'. They catch on pretty quick. “They learn to handle a gun in al most no time, and most of ’em can tear down a truck and put it back together again blind-folded. Yep, they’re pretty smart young fellers, these new soldiers.” Pvt. Crawley, who is neai'ing his 58th birthday, has seen more Army service than most of his travelling companions of yesterday have seen birthdays. Regulars—not selectees—were the men who arrived at Camp Davis yesterday; and Iregulars especially trained for the job ahead of them there: to train the thousands of selectees soon to begin arriving at the anti-aircraft firing center. Sinde February, the cadre which moved in to Davis yesterday has been receiv ing instructions in the none-too-sim ple business of making soldiers out of civilians. Besides being good sol diers themselves, the men who will form the 96th regiment here must be good teachers, too. A few of them, according to their orders, will be transferred into the 17th training group. The trip from Camp Stewart was uneventful, but “pretty hot,” thelmen agreed. They left there yesterday morr*sng at 7 o’clock, and ai'rived at Davis at 5 p. m., immediately being whisked off to their spick-and-span and readied barracks on K street. When the train was boarded in Wilmington by a party of news papermen, the first question the sol diers asked was “Does this place (Davis) have buildings or tents?” Told that all quarters at Camp (Continued on Page Three; Col. 4) Southport ‘Eligible’ For Small Boat Base WASHINGTON, April 24 —(fl>) —Rep. Clark (D-NC) announced tonight that Southport, N. C., had been listed by the Navy as “eligible” for a section base for small craft. He explained that the actual establishment of S|Uch a base would depend upon the amount appropriated and its importance to the Navy in relation to avail able funds. He said the $50,000 aufhoriza-' tion for the building of small craft bases was before congress and he hoped that when the money is appropriated. South port would receive an allotment. BOND VOTE TALKED AT JACKSONVILLE Plans Started to Issue $50, 000 in Securities For Water Improvements JACKSONVILLE, April 24.—The town board of aldermen tonight discussed the issuance of $50,000 in bonds for water and sewerage improvements and authorized John D. Warlick, town attorney, to take up the proposal with the Local Government commission in Ra leigh. Mr. Warlick is scheduled to re port at the regular meeting on May 6 and if his report is favor able, the board will probably set a date for the vote on the issue at that time. R. F. Hill, superintendent of wa ter and sewerage of the North Car olina department of Health, ap peared before the board and dis cussed the great need of water and sewrage extension in Jack sonvill in view of the increase in population because of the defense program The board named a committee composed of Clyde Sabiston and Hedrick Aman to investigate the proposal to establish a fire zone and set up water and sewerage tapping fees. It was instructed to report at the meeting on May 6. 5 WEATHER FORECAST: North Carolina—Mostly cloudy, pre ceded by scattered showers in east por tion, cooler in southeast portion Fri day: Saturday partly cloudy, slight.y warmer. (Meteorological data for the 24 "hours ending 7:30 p. m. yesterday): (By U. S. Weather Bureau) Temperature: 1:30 a. m. 65; 7:30 a. m. _ 68; 1:30 p. m. 77; 7:30 p. m. 71; maximum 79; minimum 62; mean 70; normal 60. Humidity: 1:30 a. m. 95; 7:30 a. m. 8o; 1:30 p. m. 56; 7:30 p. m. 87. Precipitation: Total for the 24 hours ending 7:30 p. m. 0.00 inches; total since the first of the month 2.15 inches. Tides For Today (From Tide Tables published by U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey). High Low Wilmington - 9:05a. 3:59a. 9:28p. 4:12p. Masonboro Inlet- 7:01a Sunrise 5:29a.; sunset 6:51 p.; moon rise 5:07a.; moonset 6:12p. Cape Fear river stage at Fayette ville on April 24, at 8 a. m., 10.95 feet. (Continued on Page Five; C^Nl)v, BUILDERS’ LOBBY SPENDING BARED Loftis* Secretary Testifies In His Damage Suit Against A. G. C. CHARLOTTE, April 24.—(#)—’Tes timony that thousands of dollars were paid out by the Carolinas branch of the Associated General Contractors for lobbying purposes and for various types of “campaign expenses” was introduced today in the $200,000 damage suit of V. P. Loftis, Charlotte contractor, against the contractors’ organiza tion and its officers. The testimony was presented by Mrs. Ethel Brown, secretary of Loftis at the time Loftis was ex ecutive secretary of the Carolinas branch of the Associated General Contractors. On cross examination by John M. Robinson, one of the attorneys for the defendants, Mrs. Brown said that Norman Shepherd got as much as $5,000 for lobbying and that considerable sums also went to Harry Buchanan for similar purposes. She said that expendi tures from certain funds of the Associated General Contractors’ accounts were heaviest during the time the legislature was in session. She said upon further cross-ex amination that Jack Blythe re ceived a check for $1,000 and that Joe Blythe got one for $500. The witness said that this money was for “political campaign expenses.” Sometimes, she said, the money was paid out in cash and some times checks were made out to “cash.” E. P. Mitchem,' vice president of the Loftis Contracting company, testified that he tried to settle the controversy between Loftis and prominent contractors who were officers of the A. G. C. and that Edwin Jones told him that it was no use for Loftis to try to buck the whole industry. R. Lewis Patton, vice president of James J. Harris Insurance com pany, told of his company discon tinuing writing performance bonds for Loftis. He said he talked with Fred N. Thompson and Earl Whit ton, Charlotte contractors, about certain “rumors” which were al leged to have been heard about Loftis. Loftis resigned as executive sec retary of the A. G. C. to become a general contractor. After his resignation, he was expelled from membership in the contractors’ as sociation. In his suit, brought in superior court here, he contends that the action of the contractors’ association and individual officers of the association injured his busi ness. He charges that the contractors (Continued on Page Ten; Col. 2) ! W omen V olunteers Plan Housing Survey In City With more than 300 women volun teers scheduled to participate, an ex haustive house-to-house canvass of Wilmington and New Hanover coun ty, to determine the exact number of houses, apartments and rooms available for rental purposes, will be made Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. Planned as the most complete sur vey of its kind ever undertaken in this area, the house-to-house count will be under the supervision of the Homes Registration bureau of the Housing Committee of the Wilming ton Defense Council. Primarily, it will be to compile authentic data on rentals for use of the Army and the BigMarine' Base Work Is Started Lieut.-Commander Madison Nichols Named Officer In Charge of Project 100 MEN BEGIN WORK Start Erecting Temporary Quarters (or Contractors Near Jacksonville JACKSONVILLE, April 24, — As scheduled, work began today on the U. S. Marine Corp’s new $14,575,000 ba- five miles south of here on the New river, and simultaneously the Navy department announced the ap pointment of Lieut .-Commander Madison Nichols as officer in charge of the base. Approximately 100 workmen, most ly carpenters, this morning began the work of erecting temporary quarters for the contractors in the proposed tented area at Jarman’s station two miles south of Jackson ville just off the highway leading to Wilmington. Lieut. Commander Nichols is ex pected to arrive here the first of next week. Meanwhile, his represen tative will be Lieutenant Smith, ex pected to reach here sometime to day. Other Developments Other developments today includ ed the announcement of Jack Blythe, president of Blythe Brothers of Charlotte, as project manager, and Paul N. Howard, general superin tendent of the same firm, as gener al superintendent of the project. T. L. Harrison, president of the Harrison-Wright company, in charge of the electrical work on the base, arrived here this morning and pushed plans for the setting up of temporary quarters for the project contractors at the tent camp at Jar man’s station. The tented area is being prepared for the temporary accommodation of from 5,000 to 6,000 Marines sched uled to arrive here about the first of July. General project contract, the award for which was announced earlier in the week, it was said here today, will be known as contractor’s contract No. 4750, Marine barracks, New river. Howard, general superintendent of the project, said this morning quantities of equipment were en route to the base and that work of clearing the site of the tented area would begin tomorrow. A number of engineers, and employment officers, representing the North Carolina State Employment service and the (Continued on Page Five; Col. 3) DEFENSEPROJECT STRIKE IS ENDED 1H f Union Accepts Compromise Wage Proposal on Na val Housing Job SAN DIEGO, Calif., April 24.— —A strike of 1,800 AFL construc tion workers which halted work on a $4,000,000 Navy defense project ended today with acceptance by the unions of a compromise wage proposal drafted by the Navy de partment. The strike lasted only eight hours and affected only the two 600-unit naval housing projects near the destroyer base and the naval train ing station. The 11th naval district, which announced the settlement, said the workers in four crafts — electri cians, roofers, painters and floor layers — would receive a wage boost of approximately 10 per cent, beginning tomorrow. The Navy rejected, however, a demand of the San Diego building trades council that the pay in crease be made retroactive to Jan uary when the prevailing age scale as established for other crafts on defense projects. The settlement proposal origin ally called for establishment of (Continued on Page Four; Col. 5) North Carolina Shipbuilding com pany in locating their personnel. Plans for the survey were revealed yesterday as representatives of 12 Wilmington women’s organizations met with Mrs. Thomas J. Gause and Mrs. Gladys Proctor, representing the Housing committee. Organiza tions represented yesterday, and whose members will cooperate in the survey next week, were the Parent-Teachers’ Association, the Catholic Daughters of America, the United Daughters of the Confeder acy, the Daughters of the Revolu tion, the American Legion auxiliary, (Continued on Page Five; Col. 4) Germans Are Hurled Back At Thermopylae, Use Big Artillery Against Allies _ w -- NAZIS MAKE CLAIMS Declare British Lines of Re treat to Egypt From Greece Crippled MANY VESSELS SUNK Radio Says Not One Eng lish Soldier Has Re-Em barked from Greece BERLIN, April 25.—(Friday)—Iff) —British lines of retreat to Egypt from Greece have been consider ably crippled by the luftwaff, Ger man commentators said early to day after the German high com mand claimed destruction of ap proximately 89,600 registered tons of shipping space in Greek waters in the last three days. All these ships, it was said, were held in readiness to carry the Eng lish expeditionary corps and val uable equipment out of Greece. (A British radio commntator in a broadcast heard in New York said “not one British soldier has re-embarked from Greece.”) Athens Not Taken Although Athens has not yet been taken by the Germans, ac cording to the latest military in formation available in Berlin, re sponsible quarters voiced the opin ion that the Greek incident nev ertheless must be regarded as practically closed. It was pointed out that German troops still are an appreciable dis tance from the Greek capital and approaching it in the most method ical manner. To the question as to when Ath ens would be occupied, a spokes man said the military leadership would not be mislead into making mistakes by any “significant ques tion of prestige.” The German army was described in the Berlin press last night as pushing on methodically towards Athens "by way of Thebes,” about 35 miles northwest of the capital, with orders to occupy it without harming its ancient and splendid monuments. These reports, not bearing the cachet of the high command, said the highways and railways to the north of Thebes were in full con trol of the grey-uniformed Wehr macht. The high command’s daily bul letin, however, said merely that at Thermopylae, the historic pass some 100 miles north of Athens, “we succeeded in breaking into positions which were situated in especially favorable terrain.” Thus th high command did not confirm the report by other German sources of yesterday, and implied in the Thebes report of today, that the Nazi army had broken through Thermopylae and opened the gate to Athens. i Tanks Taken The command bulletin did say that thirty British tanks were tak en between Lamia and Larisa, north of the pass, and DNB, the German news agency, declared that ae one large British camp hundreds of tanks and munition trucks and many 3-inch guns had been captured, as wel las several thousand British soldiers. There was no official announce ment as to how the high command proposed to capture Athens with out damaging the classic relics of antiquity, although on newspaper, The Deutsch Allegemeine Zeitung, remarked: “The Acropolis stands in the midst of war, spared by the German air force.” No such scruples protected the Athenian port of Piraeus, and ev ery military dispatch indicated that Stuks were droning over it like angry hornets. “Make the British retreat as costly as possible,” remained the order to the air force, and it con (Continued on Page Four; Col. 2) Dear Is Named President Of Newspaper Publishers NEW YORK, April 24.—UR—The American Newspaper Publishers association completed its 55th an nual convention today after nam ing Walter M. Dear, pumlisher of the Jersey City Journal as presi dent, succeeding John S. McCar rens, Cleveland Plain Dealer. Linwood I. Noyes, Ironwood (Mich.) Globe, was elected vice president; Norman Chandler, Los Angeles Times, secretary, and William G. Chandler, Scripps-How ard newspapers, secretary. The membership ratified and af firmed a declaration on national defense approved last February 24 by representative of the Anpa, the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the National Editorial as sociation and a number of regional publisher groups. Grim British Forces Fight Nazi Machine At Close Quarters j LONDON, April 34.—WP>—Bat tered but grim British imperial forces fought the German war machine at close quarters to night — apparently around the historic pass of Thermopylae— to bar the way to Athens against an onslaught expected to grow greater at any moment. The British public, warned with progressive insistence for several days to expect reverses in Greece, hoped anxiously that its embattled troops, pressed be tween the Germ, .ns and the sea, could be saved to fight again. Details of the fighting were meager, but an authoritative British source said the British were holding their positions at Thermopylae, where Leonidas and his Spartans died in battle with the Persians 2431 years ago. This source said there was no basis for reports that the Brit ish flank had been turned and it was “very doubtful’’ if the Germans had taken the island . of Lemnos. RAF ATTACKS TWO NAZI BATTLESHIPS Steady Blows Are Believed Jo Have Put Scharn horst Out of Action LONDON, April 24.—(#>—British bombers attacked the 26,000-ton German battleships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst at Brest last night for the 12th time, and the Bitish press association said tonight these steady blows were believed to have put the Scharhnhorst out of action “for some months.” "The Gneisenau is understood to have been hit amidship in an easier raid,” the news agency said. In reporting these attacks on the two sea raiders the air minis try did not claim direct hits. Full observation of the bomb explosions was impossible, it said. Fires were started in the dock areas of Brest and at Le Harve, however, and direct hits were re ported registered on an important power station at Ibbenburen, in northwest Germany, in a daylight raid. The Dutch island of Terschelling was attacked, Nazi troops were machine-gunned, and three Ger man ships off the coast were hit and probably destroyed, the min istry’s communique related. One bomber was lost in the day light operations. Northward across the channel from Brest, Nazi bombs heaped more damage and death on the port city of Plymouth, England, which has attacked for the third straight night. At least twelve persons were killed. Colombian Army Plane, With 14 Aboard, Missing BOGOTA, Colombia, April 24.— I/P)—The Army announced tonight that a tri-motored Army plane with 4 persons aboard is missing on a flight from Caucaya to Tara paca, in extreme southeastern Co lombia. The plane left Caucaya, also known as Puerto Leguisamo. in South Central Colombia, at 9:15 a.m. Tuesday, and has not yet reached its destination, the com munique said, expressing a belief it was forced down in the jungle. Colombian warplanes and river boats on streams which are the headwaters of the Amazon are seeking the lest transport, which carried Captain Jorge Bernal, pi lot; Customs Police Chief Sixto Lopez Lleras and his wife and a number of Army officers. 5 W ork On Defense Housing Projects To Begin Soon With a low bid of $897,900 tenta tively accepted pending approval of the United States Housing Au thority, construction on the two housing projects here for families of non-commissioned Army offi cers is expected to start early next week. The T. A. Loving company of Goldsboro was low of 12 bidders on the twin-project—a 90 unit project for colored families in the vicinity of 13th and Dawson streets, and a 284 unit project on the north shores of Greenfield Lake for white families. The bids were opened at noon yesterday in the offices of the t ? ENGLISH ARE RESISTING British Losses ‘Extremely Light’ But Nazis Lose Many Infantrymen PIRAEUS IS ATTACKED Many Women and Children Killed When Refugee Vessel Is Bombed ATHENS. April 24.—CP)—Hurled back when they attempted to storm the historic pass of Thermopylae with infantry, the Germans today brought up the heaviest artillery yet used in the Balkan campaign and shelled the British-Greek positions. The stoutness of the British resist ance was indicated by the fact that the Germans brought up 6-inch guns, which require elaborate emplace ments, instead of using the mobile artillery previously employed in t,ie campaign. Ambulance drivers returning from the front said the British losses around Thermopylae had been “ex tremely light” but they understood that a German attempt to force the pass with infantry cost the invaders heavily. Piraeus Attacked Meanwhile, German dive bombers, darting down in the rays of the set ting sun tonight heavily attacked Piraeus, the Port of Athens, bomb ing a ship which was taking on re fugees. The ship immediately burst into flames and the government, identify ing it as the 2,295-ton Hellas, a con verted yacht, said many of the wo men and children boarding it for sanctuary from the war in Greek is lands were killed or wounded. Another steamer, said a home se curity ministry communioue, was damaged heavily off the Greek island of Kea and two hospital ships, both with conspicuous Bed Cross mark ings, were sunk. There were no casualties aboard the hospital vessel Polikos, sunk at Methone, the communique said, but a few of the crew of the hospital ship Andros sunk at Loutra were reported killed or wounded. Strike Other Cities Centering its raids on Greece’s southern coast and the clusters of islands off it, the ministry said, the German raiders also struck at Corinth, Aigina, Elevsis and Megara. It said anti-aircraft frie brought down three Nazi bombers. Air-raid sirens had been silent for most of the day and civil administration was f u n c tioning (Continued on Page Four; Col. 5) BRITISH OUTLOOK IN AFRICA BRIGHT Say Axis Descriptions Of Tobruk as Beleaguered City ‘Misleading’ CAIRO, April 24.—<£>)—British sources, claiming the initiative in increasing ground sorties on the Libyan-Egyptian frontier, tonight said Axis descriptions of Tobruk as a beleaguered city were “mis leading.” It is two weeks now since the Axis drive toward the Suez tailed off at Salum, just inside the Egyp tian frontier, and with a steady growing strength the desert vet erans at General Sir Archibald P. Wavell’s headquarters here viewed the situation with confi dence and some optimism. This outlook was strengthened today by reports from Ethiopia which told of British South Afri can forces routing Italian defen ders from mountain barricades before Dessie, 140 miles northeast of Addis Ababa, in the fiercest (Continued on Page Five; Col. 1) Housing Authority of the City of Wilmington, and immediately tak en to Washington, D. C., by Henry Emory, HACOW director, for USHA approval. Unlike the Nesbitt and Brooklyn housing projects, the two to be built for Camp Davis non-coms' families are two and four-family dwellings of modern, simplified de sign. The white project has been officially named Lake Forest, while the colored project will be known as Hillcrest. Before leaving for Washington and a conference with Housing Au (Continued on Paj,e Ten; Col, jj / J