Newspapers / Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, … / Aug. 25, 1941, edition 1 / Page 1
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Served By Leased Wire Of The Toial Net Paid ASSOCIATED PRESS STAR-NEWS CIRCULATION With Complete Coverage Of Yesterday .......... .18,511 o. _J »t„4- i Same Day Last Year 14,346 Slate and National News Increase . 4,165 VOL. 74—NO. 276___~~ WILMINGTON, N. C., MONDAY, AUGUST 25, 1941 FINAL EDITION ESTABLISHED 1867 PATTERN OF DEATH—Like a flock of phosphorescent prehistoric creatures of the air are the spectacular explosions, above of British star shells, bursting in formation in British naval action against' Vic#y French during the Syrian campaign. Destroyer is silhouetted m flashes of her owi(h guns. Photo just arrived in San Francisco by clipper from Syria. MANAGER CALLS SUNDAY SESSION City Officials Mum on Sub ject Discussed at Star Chamber Meeting Two members of City council, t'f3 fire and police chiefs and City Manager James G. Wallace me' in a secrecy-veiled star-chamber ses sion in the city manager’s office yesterday afternoon at which all outsiders, including a Wilmington Star reporter, were barred. Presence at the conference of Chief of Police Charles Casteen and Fire Chief Ludie Croom led to the belief that some decisions relative to the city’s safety may have been discussed. Others taking part in the mys terious session were Councilmen Edgar Yow and Robert S. LeGwin, both of whom expressed “surprise” at seeing the other present. City Manager Wallace said that it wasn’t a “meeting but merely a group discussion of certain mat ters.” He refused to reveal what “matters” had been discussed. After the closed session, Council man Yow would go no further than to say that the conference of more than an hour “was just a little talk.” 1 PRIORITYSTATUS PROBE PROPOSED Searching Inquiry Into Ef fect of OPM Powers Due for Senate Hearing WASHINGTON, Aug. 24.—(ffl—A f®ng tide of complaints that small industries are being cut off from essential materials generated Bi Partisan support today for a pro pped congressional investigation of the government’s system of de fense priorities. A resolution by Senator Maloney ®-Conn) for a congressional In vestigation of the priorities setup ls scheduled to be considered by fee Senate Commerce committe Wednesday, along with a compan ion proposal for an inquiry into the Eastern Seaboard gasoline and fuel oil shortage. Saying he would support Ma feney’s proposal, Senator McNary w Oregan, the Republican leader, declared that there had been in justices and discrimination against smaller manufacturing plants which were forcing many of them 0 close and “throwing thousands men out of work.” Whatever virtue these priorities (Continued on Page Three, Col. 2) WEATHER V FORECAST (!«,r- Carolina, South Carolina and "r,?la: . Continued warm and partly jnJ J5' with scattered thunder showers and earry evening Monday ... 'Bv F. S. Weather Bureau) er,iin‘le-r?1 ical data for the 24 hours "S ■ 7)0 p. iii. yesterday). , ... Temperature Se - hi. 7(5: 7:30 a. m. 74: 1:30 p. m. ' 1 p. m. so. t ,, Humidity r - ? "»• 93: 7:30 a. m. 95; 1:30 p. m. ' * P. m. ST. Precipitation I. m riior tlle 24 hours ending 7:30 of the „ lr"-'llGS- Total since the first tlle month 4.34 inches. /p Tides For Today Coasf0^ 'Cables published by U. S. ast 8n<i Geodetic Survey). lViimi„„. High Low miagton- n ;42a 6:36a •^asonboro Inlet-~9:26a 3:16a Siihh . , 9:39p 3:41p '* n:40a; Rimset 6:47p; tnoonrise J, Woonset 8:45p. 'Continued on Page Three, Col. 4) C British Air Losses Heavy, Claim Nazis BERLIN, Aug. 24.—UP)—1The high command asserted today that the British airforce had lose 1,044 planes and the Ger mans only 127 in two months of air battling from, the Medi terranean to the North Sea. The communique covered the period of June 22 to Aug. 23 and included battles over Brit ain, the sea about the British isles, North Africa and British attacks on Germany and Ger man-occupied territory. BLITZ ATTACK WRECKS CONVOY 25 Ships, Including Naval Vessels, Sunk by Subma rines and Bombers NEW YORK, Aug. 24.—UP>—The German high command in a special communique broadcast over the Berlin radio tonight claimed the sinking of 25 ships totaling 148,200 tons in a British convoy en route to Gibraltar. The communique, broadcast while British Prime Minister Churchill was on the air, announced that Ger man submarines and warships sank the vessels after fierce fighting. It said submarines alone destroy ed 21 merchant ships of 122,000 tons and a British destroyer of the Afridi class, a corvette and another escort vessel were sunk. “Only eight ships of this strongly protected convoy succeeded in reach ing Portuguese territorial waters," the communique said. Where the 25th ship was sunk was not announced. (Continued on Page Three, Col. 8) Good Prices Anticipated On New Bright Leaf Belt RALEIGH, Aug. 24.— UP)—Auction sales will open Tuesday on the 14 markets of the new Bright (East ern Carolina) Tobacco Belt with the growers more cheerful over the outlook than at any time in recent years. Chief reason for the growers’ op timism is the high prices that .o bacco has been bringing on the earlier - opening Georgia - Florida and border belts. The prices on the Border Belt, last to open, have been rising daily. A. U. S. Agriculture department report for last week’s sales on nine South Carolina and. seven North Carolina markets in the Bor der Belt showed 31,251,234 pounds sold at an average price of 28.12 cents a pound. The report showed that all grades 01 tobacco sold on the Bor der Belt .advanced from 1 to 5.50 cents a pound over prices the week before and that the general aver age for sales jumped 2.5 cents. Reports from the markets of the New Bright Belt indicated opening sales would be heavy. The mar kets are Wilson, Greenville, Kin ston, Goldsboro, Rocky Mount, Washington, Williamston, Farm ville, Robersonville, Smithfield, Ahoskie, Tarboro, Wallace and Wendell. W. P. Hedrick, tobacco market ing specialist of {he North Caro lina state Department of Agricul ture, said the New Bright Belt crop was reported by buyers to be “an excellent cigarette type leaf.” Extreme weather condi tions, he said, caused the crop to ripen at a rapid rate, and the cured tobacco is thinner th&n av erage. The 14 New Bright Belt markets sold 244,800,772 pounds last year at :.n average price of 17.86 cents. Last year’s production was 274, 400,000 pounds. This year’s crop has been estimated at 12 per cent less, or 241,325,000 pounds. The acreage is the same as last year. Reports from the individual mar kets tonight included: Wilson — About 1,250,000 pounds on warehouse floors. Quality fair to good with abundance of tips. Growers anticipating highest open ing day average in years. Ahoskie — Warehouse floors fill lize shipping along the Southern Atlantic seaboard to the extent that many .products which are now shipped to New York and points further east, would be loaded on the ships at the Dixie harbors. (Continued on Page Three, Col. 7) President Entertains Young Brother of King HYDE PARK, N. Y., Aug. 24. .—WP)—President Roosevelt and his royal house guest from England, the Duke of Kent, en joyed a quiet Sabbath today by inspecting an art exhibit and two automobile rides through the rolling country side. Members of the presidential party were in almost complete agreement that the visit of the youngest brother of England’s king at the Roosevelt home was nothing more than what Mr. Roosevelt had said it would be—an informal social event.' % ARMY TO REVIEW HAB1NY K CASE War Department Said Like ly to Reduce Drastically [Terms of Imprisonment WASHINGTON, Aug. 24.—W— Authoritative sources indicated to day that the War department would reduce drastically the 10 year court-martial sentence im posed on John Habinyak, 26-year old Pennsylvania selectee, for re peated disobedience of orders. The adjutant general of the army, who has the case under study, is expected to recommend clemency to Secretary of W a r Stimson. There was no advance indication as to what modification of punishment would be proposed. Stimson, army officials said, will act on the adjutant general’s rec ommendation Tuesday, and the case will then go to President Roosevelt for final review. ' Convicted at Bragg The only thing which might pre vent drastic modification of the sentence given Habinyak by the court-martial at Fort Bragg, N. C.. last week, it was believed, would be some such development as dis covery that his conduct was prompted by outside persons with the design of disrupting morale. Habinyak, inducted into the army June 23 from Central City, Pa., where he worked as a coal miner was charged before the military court with a variety of disciplinary breaches including spitting on the mess room floor and disobeying an order to clean up the saliva, refusing to clean up the floor around his bed, refusing to clean his mess kit, and refusing to pick up concrete blocks littering the road. A report of the court martial (Continued on Page Three, Col. 6) City Port Prospects Brighten GREATER USE SOUGHT Traffic Manager of Harbor Reveals Statistical Report Sent From Here Prospects of the Port of Wil mington handling an even greater amount of business, possibly tax ing the harbor to capacity, loomed last night when it was learned that plans are underway in Wash ington to increase the use of South Atlantic ports in an effort to ease the strain on the larger eastern shipping centers. Henry E. Boyd, traffic manager of the port, said that he was in receipt of an “extremely encour aging” letter from H. A. Manning of Columbus, S. C., stating that the prospects for the South Atlan tic ports receiving a greater share of the transatlantic shipping brought on by the European war. Mr. Maning, chairman of the newly-organized South Atlantic Ports Emergency committee seek ing to divert this business to south ern harbors, has been in Washing ton for several weeks working out details of the plan which is ex pected to materialize during the fall and winter months. While Mr. Boyd pointed out that it was yet too early to determine exactly what this port would get from the deal, he said that it would more than offset the slackening of tanker tonnage brought on by the diversion of nearly 100 Ameri can ships to the British govern ment. It was explained that at the pres ent time there are numerous ships entering the harbors of the east ern states which are forced to lie idle for several days before berths can be cleared for their dockage. This, he said, causes unnecessary delays in the discharge of cargoes, and all around hampers shipping. Bigger Capacity It is this business that the South Atlantic ports, including Charles-, ton, S. C., Savannah, Ga., and Jacksonville, Fla., are trying to divert to these ports. It was point ed out that these ports, while main taining their normal volume, are nevertheless able to handle much more business. In addition to relieving the east ern ports, the move would revita (Continued on Page Three, Col. 5) GREENSBORO PIPE LINE AUTHORIZED President Roosevelt Gives Go-Ahead Order on Long Gasoline Conduit HYDE PARK, N. Y., Aug. 24.— UP)—President Roosevelt has au thorized the Plantation Pipe Line company to construct a line from Baton Rouge, La., to Greensboro, N. C., for “national defense pur poses.” The temporary White House an nounced that the chief executive, using for the first time authority granted him by a pipe line act lqss than a month old, had issued a proclamation allowing the private corporation to exercise the right of eminent domain to acquire rights of way for the line. Federal Petroleum Coordinator Harold L. Ickes had recommended this step as a means of alleviating an oil and gasoline shortage in the East. The line would run northeast from Louisiana through portions of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, (Continued on Page Three, Col, 3) ANTI-NAZI TERRORISTS STRIKE AGAIN IN PARIS Automobile Filled With German Officers Wrecked In Defiance To Berlin-Vichy Threat To Hostages By the Associated Press VICHY, Unoccupied France, Aug. 24.—Anti-Nazi terrorists were reported today to have wrecked an automobile full of Germans near Paris in the first challenge to the German army to carry out its threat of shooting hostages for such acts. The car was smashed when it sped into a cable stretched across a street at night in Puteaux, one of the “Red ring” of working class suburbs about Paris, reports from the former capital said. The Ger man occupants were said to have been injured. The terrorists es caped. This was the first reported act against German troops since Lieut.-Gen. von Schaumburg, com mander of occupation forces, an nounced Saturday that all French held by or for German authorities in France would be hostages fori the safety of German soldiers. I The order provided that in case of a “criminal act” against the troops “a number of hostages cor responding to the gravity of the act committed will be’ shot.” Reports from occupied France said guards had been drafted among the civilian population to protect the railroads against sabo tage attempts. The guards will be held personally responsible for such attempts, it was stated. News of the new anti-German incident was received in Vi hy as French Interior Minister Pierre Pucheu r e 1 e a sed a statement charging that Communist disorders were planned to paralyze the gov ernment by provoking German re prisals. “Orders of Kremlin’' He charged that Communist leaders were acting under orders of the Kremlin to create a state (Continued on Pace Three. Col. 9) j PERSIANS AWAIT ULTIMATUM; BRITISH READY TO STRIKE; CHURCHILL WARNS JAPANESE SAYS U. S. WILL JOIN British Prime Minister De clares Two Million Ger mans Die in Russia By the Associated Press LONDON, Aug. 24.—Prime Min ister Churchill, describing Adolf Hitler as "surprised, startled and staggered” at the bloody cost of the German invasion of Russia, declared in a broadcast tonight that Britain would join the United States in action against Japan, the Asiatic Axis partner, if the Jap anese persisted in aggression. In the speech, his first public utterance since the historic con ference with President Roosevelt in the Atlantic two weeks ago, it was implied that Germany was too involved upon the great plains of Russia to turn now to another sphere of war. Churchill estimated that "per haps a million and a half, perhaps two million” Germans had fallen in the 9-week campaign and said that the invaders were retaliating with literally "scores of thousands of executions” of Russian patriots. “Harrying Chinese” “But Europe is not the only con tinent to be tormented and dev astated by aggressions,” he said. “For five long years Japanese military factions seeking to emu late the style of Hitler and Musso lini, taking all their posturing as if it were a new European revela tion, have been invading and harrying 500,000,000 inhabitants of China. “Japanese armies have been wandering about that vast land in futile excursions, carrying with them carnage, ruin and corruption and calling it ‘the China incident.’ “Now they stretch grasping hands into the southern seas of China, they snatch Indo - China from the wretched Vichy French, they menace by their movements Siam, menace Singapore, the Brit ish link with Australia, and men ace the Philippine islands, under (Continued on Page Three, Col. 6) CIO CALLSOFF KEARNY STRIKE Accepts ‘Terms’ With Navy Department; Work to Resume Immediately KEARNY, N. J., Aug. 24.—W— Decks were cleared today for re sumption of work on $493,000,000 worth of naval and merchant ship ping contracts held by the Feder al Shipbuilding and Drydock com pany as a naval official announc ed that first steps were about to be taken to reopen the idle yards and a union president stated that the 17-day-old strike was ‘‘defi nitely over.” After a two-and-a-half-hour con ference with company officials and union representatives, Rear Ad miral Harold G. Bowen, who will direct the resumption of produc tion, announced that the plant su perintendents, foremen and depart ment heads would meet tomorrow to complete plans for operation. He expressed belief t hat work would be in full swing Tuesday. Daniel Dean, president of Local 16, industrial union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers (CIO), which (Continued on Page Three, Col. 7) THE BATTLE OF LENINGRAD—With a citizens army erecting barricades in Leningrad's streets, Soviet troops are reported making a to-the-death stand in the north city as German and Finnish troops storm the approaches. (1) Finns claimed drive down Karelian Isthmus to Kiviniemi Mammoth Tank Battle Rages Near Leningrad (By The Associated Press) MOSCOW, Monday, Aug. 25— Mammoth tank battles raged today along the approaches to Leningrad and on the central front before Moseow where stiffening Red army defenders reported destroying 135 tanks and routing a Nazi infantry division over a battle held literally carpeted with German dead. On the Leningrad front slow, heavy Soviet steel behemoths wepe ramming, burning and shooting aside the Germans in a mighty defensive effort while on the cen tral front forces of Soviet General Konev were declared continuing a counter-thrust through the debris of shattered German tanks and armored vehicles. The early Monday morning com munique said Soviet troops were heavily engaged alpng the entire front and were putting up par ticularly stubborn resistance in the Kakisalmi area on the shores of Lake Ladoga north of Leningrad; in the Smolensk and Gomel direc tions before Moscow; and in the direction of Dnieperopetrovsk. The mention of Dnieperopetrovsk was first official admission that fighting had reached the vicinity of that great hydro-electric power and industrial center on the Dnieper river. Fleet In Action The Baltic Red fleet was report ed to have sunk two enemy trans ports and in air fights Friday and Saturday the communique said 52 German and 39 Russian planes were destroyed. Timoshenko’s Red Army Said Caught In Pincer By The Associated Press BERLIN, Aug. 24. — A great en circlement battle was declared by DNB to be developing today on the 150-mile sector between Kiev and Gomel and German dispatches told of increased civilian reinforcement of th Soviet Russian army. Strong soviet forces under Mar shal Semeon Timoshenko, the news agency said, are being hemmed in between the left wing of Field Mar shal General Karl von Runstedt’s southern army^ group and the right wing o£ Field Marshal General Fedor von Bock’s central army. Machine-gunning of 24 trains, de struction of 500 cars and dispersal of 12 large Russian marching col British Get Permission to Man U. S. Merchantmen HYDE PARK, N. Y„ Aug. 24.— (ff) —An executive order, which White House officials said today would have the ef fect of allowing British mas ters and crews to sail ships operating under jurisdiction of the Federal Maritime commis sion, has been issued by Presi dent Roosevelt. The order provides for the waiving of compliance with provisions of existing law re lating to masters, officers, crew members and crew ac commodations. It was issued under an act of last June which authorized, primarily, the seiz ure of foreign vessels tied up in American ports, ( umns were reported by German fliers along the central front. The developing Kiev-Gomel battle apparently was one phase of two widely-separated thrusts eastward reported by the German high com mand in the zones of menaced Len ingrad and Kiev, which coincided with renewed pressure upon two bitterly contested centers of isolated resistance, Tallinn and Odessa. “Northwest of Kiev,” the high command said, "pursuit of the de feated enemy continued across the Dnieper. "Soviet forces defeated south of Ilmen lake (about 100 miles south of Leningrad) were thrown across the River Lovat. 'More than 10,000 prisoners and much booty fell into our hands.” Finns Continue Attack Finnish attacks against the Rus sians on both sides of Lake La doga, north of Leningrad, also were declared to be continuing "to make good progress.” The German threat to Kiev, capi tal of the Ukraine, was emphasized by a high command announcement of the Nazi capture of “the bridge head at Cherkasi (on the Dnieper 100 miles southeast of Kiev), which had been stoutly defended by the enemy.” (DNB said Saturday that Cherkasi was captured and that Soviet re sistance wa3 broken on an island in the river.) In the Ukraine, said DNB, Ger man fliers pressed attacks upon the withdrawing troops and motorized columns of the southern Soviet army of Marshal Semeon Budyenny. The high command said that Ger (Continued on Page Three, Col. 6) A frontline dispatch to the army newspaper Red Star said that after ro ting the German infantry divis ion General Konev’s troops smash ed German tank and motorized reinforcements thrown into the battle. More than 100 German cars and armored vehicles, countless guns and huge ammunition supplies were reported destroyed by the Russians. The Red Star correspondent said the Germans, unable to check the Soviet charge, were rolled back leaving blazing tanks that resem bled “fantastic torches” in the half-light of Sunday’s pre-dawn. Red airmen supporting the ground forces were credited alone with wrecking 35 of the German tanks, 43 cars, six armored ve hicles and 15 guns. Equally heavy fighting raged on the Southeastern front where a So viet cavalry regiment was report ed to have thrown German units out of a town identified as “B” and captured a German division headquarters. This fighting al though not specifically located, pre sumabl; was in the Dnieper bend. On the Leningrad front, a dis patch to the government news paper Izvestia said, crews fought like “real knights” of modern ma chines in the tank battles. Retreat Acknowledged The morning communique ack nowledged a new retreat by Red army forces defending Odessa but (Continued on Page Three, Col. 4) TROOPS WITHDRAWN London Expected to Order Force Into Country If Nazis Granted Stay TEHERAN, Iran, Aug. 23.—(De layed)—Ml—An ultimatum to the Iran government is expected from London today, the British legation said, as tension over the continued presence of German specialists in this country grew near to the snap ping point. Slightly easing the gravity of the situation with respect to Soviet Russia, however, the Iran army was reported by Soviet sources to have withdrawn 12 miles from the frontier in the Caucasus as a token of good faith in the desire to avoid complicating border incidents. No similar withdrawal was re ported, however, from the Iraq and Baluchistan borders, whence Brit ish troops might be expected should the dispute break into open warfare. The Iran government was mak ing every effort to assure the de. fense of its independence, officials said, but they manifestly were making anxious efforts to avoid provocation of foreign powers. However, Iran’s latest reply to the British-Russian demands for the expulsion of Germans was re liably reported to have been a stand pat statement that Iran as a sovereign nation would decide what foreigners to expel. The country long since has adopted a policy of eliminating for eign residents who are objection able, regardless of their national ity, the note was reported to have contended. Found Unsatisfactory (British sources in London yes terday said Iran’s reply was being studied. There were indications it had been found unsatisfactory. The British said there was not likely to be any announcement con cerning Iran’s reply over the week, end, a possible indication that they are awaiting Iran’s reaction to fur (Continued on Page Three, Col. 8) OIL SHIPMENT PRICES PEGGED Maritime Commission Acts to Stabilize Ocean-Going Fuel Carrier Trade. WASHINGTON, Aug. 24.—CD— The Maritime commission today placed a price ceiling on rates charged for ocean shipments of pe troleum. The effect of the order ap plies to foreign flag tankers as well as to American vessels. The commission said that the new maximum rates for time charter of tankers, effecive September 1, were intended to stabilize charges and help prevent undesirable variations in re tail costs of petroleum and its pro ducts. Maximum time charter rates in the commission’s scale range from $4.50 per deadweight ton per month on tankers of 10,000 .deadweight tons or more, up to $6.05 per deadweight ton on vessels from 2, 600 to 2,999 dead weight ton. The basic speed of the ships included in the rate schedule is 10 knots per hour. An additional charge of 10 cents per deadweight ton per month is permitted for each one-half knot in excess of 10 knots. A rate seiling was established on July 30 for dry cargo vessels The application of the price ceil^ig to foreign flag ships is made possible (Continued on Page Three, Col. 6> Blood Volunteered As Negro Loses Legs In Railway Accident William Cherry, colored, whose address was said to be 1106 North Second street, was in a critical condition in James Walker Me morial hospital last night follow ing the amputation of both legs after he fell or jumped from a Seaboard Airline railway train late yesterday afternoon. After an emergency appeal for volunteers to give blood for a transfusion in an effort to save the victim’s life, nearly a dozen per sons offered their blood. William Grissin, whose address could not be learned, was accepted and the tranfusion given. Hospital attendants said it was too early to determine whether ad ditional blood donors would be needed, but said they had taken the list of those who volunteered and placed themselves on call at any time. A.
Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.)
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Aug. 25, 1941, edition 1
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