North Carolina Newspapers

Served By Leased Wire Of The __ ASSOCIATED PRESS dfmpmdpd WIDE WORLD HLPILPloLlt With Complete Coverage 01 PEARL HARBOR Slate and National News - ' AND BATAAH ESTABLISHED 1867. 600 British Planes Raid Nazi Targets Attack Carried Out From Continental Coast To Augsburg, Germany heaviest of war English Air Superiority Is Stressed By Fact Only Two Planes Lost Bv DREW MIDDLETON LONDON. April 17.—(TP)— Adeline weight and distance to its massive daylight offen sive. the RAF hurled 600 plane? against German tar gets today in day-long raids extending from the continen tal coast to Augsburg, in southern Germany. The assualts were by far the heaviest of the war by British airmen, topping yes terday's farflung, 400-plane attack, which had been the biggest to date. Emphasizing the enormity of the je:ial" offensive was a daylight at upon Augsburg, which involv t: a roundtrip of at least, 1,000 -ties right over the heart of in iustrial Germany. urg. a few miles northwest A Munich, is the site of a Messer scr.r-Jtt plane factory, but an in ::::r.ed source said this establish Cent was no: the target of today’s raiders. This center was the tar pi of l ight raids twice in August. 1340. but had not been mentioned British air communiques since leu. British air superiority over west 31 Europe was stressed by the jir Ministry announcement that inly two out of the hundreds of rimes used—one fighter and one timber — were lost. It described be enemy opposition as “relative r slight." The Air Ministry said at first feat two fighters ar.d a bomber tere lost but a later announce ment said one of the fighters had been found safe. Grans Claim 19 The German radio itself only aimed 19 craft were iowned. Heavy bombers were used igainst Augsburg today and an in armed source said this undoubt sdly meant four-motored bombers, sossibly American - made fortress ilar.es or giant British Stirlings. Augsburg is one ‘of the oldest cities of Vavaria and before the iw was the chief textile center p Germany. It also has important (Continued on Pare Six; Col. 5) __ IMY DESERTERS GET LIFE TERMS Evicted Of First Degree Murder In Slaying Of FBI Agent ABINGDON, Va., April 17.—(Al— pro 21-vear old Army deserters fere convicted of first degree mur pr by a Federal district court jury day in the slaying of FBI Agent inbert Treacy, Jr., here March 13. nd were sentenced to life imprison ment. Judge a. D. Barksdale pronounced entence upon the two, James Fd rara Testerman. Clinchburg, Va., M Charles .T. Lovett, of fhdidel Wa. Pa., immediately after the drdict was returned by the jury, rhich recommended against capital Mnis’nment. Treasy was slain in an Abingdon f'e as he and a fellow agent, tries p. Tignor, sought to arrest fm ns deserters from Fort Ogle ure c,a. Tignor was wounded. Defense counsel based its defense <he age of the two defendants 11,11 sought to show that neither ■f1 had any opportunities early in Several character witnesses tfre presented and testimony lro,I-ht out that Povett was reared f orphan, and that neither had "o beyond the sixth grade in raool. ^’either defendant too"k the stand 11 his own defense. Lovett and Testerman were re D"-1 to the Bristol jail, pending ■“rs from the attorney general ! 'hoir removal to a Federal peni ®tiary. /hi rye.witness, Mrs. Mary Sue Jn'on. testified that Lovett pulled and fired at both FBI /•'!* from a booth in a restaurant ore the two soldiers W’ere being . 'od coffee. Both Tignor and Mrs. i *s'm testified that shots were ij,i fa^ ^ho two agents after they j], a"an to the floor, Treacy mor ■ "ounded and Tignor hit in right arm. t o case went to the jury at 4:59 ancl the verdict was brought 11 Ml * m. / I Japanese Sav Tokvo Bombed SAN FRANCISCO, Ap tonight that "enemy bombers tion reported. The Tokyo broadcast said:— "Enemy bombers appeared over Tokyo for the first time in the current war, inflicting damage on schools and hospitals. The raid occurred shortly past noon on Saturday (Tokyo time). Invading planes failed to cause any damage on military estab lishments, although casualties in the schools and hospitals were as yet unknown. Oft-Bombed And Torpedoed A. P. Photo-Newsman Returns To U. S. Frank Noel Has Nerve-Wracking Experiences In War Of Pacific SAN FRANCISCO, April 17.—CP)—Frank Noel, the Associated Press photographer who chance made a front line war correspondent, returned to his homeland today with a hint of malaria, a touch of coral poisoning and first hand stories of enemy aircraft over Asia and enemy submarines raiding in two oceans. As an ordinary seaman, Noel debarked from an American freighter and set foot on ground for the first time in 15.000 miles. To save his health and secure transportation, he signed as a deck hand at Calcutta, India, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, crossed the south Atlantic and skirted the coast of South America to arrive virtually non-stop via the Panama Canal. Deeply tanned and wearing the clothes i which he left Singapore more than two months ago, Noel looked the part of a man who had escaped with only his life and was glad to have saved that. Noel was about to leave Singa pore for Bangkok when the Jap anese planes came over the big British naval base in the dark of early morning, December 8. “Even the street cars didn’t stop running, so complete was the sur prise and so unprepared the city to meet an air raid situation,” he said. Noel’s traveling orders were can celled. He was dispatched to the Penang region in northern Malaya to report on the Japanese drive down the peninsula. Noel and C. Yates McDaniel were the only AP staff members in the straits settlements. Because McDaniel had to keep in touch with military headquarters at Sing apore and cover the broad outline, it fell to the photographer to be come newsman overnight and de tail the on-the-spot war situation. With the retreating British and imperial forces, he backpedaled from Penang to Ipoh and on down the peninsula to Kuala Lumpur, only 20 miles north of Singapore. Front All The Way “It was front line all the way down, and sometimes we would find the enemy actually had passed us by. “Every man had to fight almost such thing as a reserve. Reserve positions were enveloped before they could be established. “Once, in the Kuala Lumpur region, the British withdrew across a brtad river, destroyed the bridge and expected, by virtue of this natural defense line, to get at least two days rest for their exhausted troops. “In six hours, the Japs had crossed the river in forre, ey boats and pontoon bridges, and were driving ahead again. “The defenders put up a good show from start to finish—the work of their sappers, in particular, was magnificient—but they never had a chance.” Covering the Malayan campaign (Continued on Page Six; Col. 6) SEVERAL COUNTY RACES ARE OPEN Candidates Yet To File For Court Clerks Auditor, Coroner, Constable ^ With approximately eight hours remaining in which persons can qualify as candidates for offices in the May 30 democratic primary, none has yet filed for the offices of clerk of superior court, county auditor, coroner and constable of Wilmington township. Filing for office Friday were Sheriff C. David Jones for sheriff, County Commissioner Harry R. Gardner for the commission, Glenn J McClelland for county solicitor and Sergeant Thomas B. Hughes of the police department for jus tice of the peace in Wilmington township. Deadline for filing as a candi date for office in the May 30 pri mary is 6 ’oclock this afternoon (Eastern war Time), Chairman H. G. Carney of the county board of elections said. He warned that none would be permitted to file after 6 ’oclock—the definite dead line. Candidates who filed for offices previously are J. C'. Hobbs for state senate, R. M. Kermon for state house of representatives, C. B Gore, Carl Rehder and George W. Trask for county commission, Harry E. Fales for sheriff, W. Jack F Canady, W. K. Rhodes, Jr. and H. Winfield Smith for recorder, J. A. McNorton for county solicitor, W H Wendt for meter adjuster, Chief C. H. Casteen, Captain J. F. Jordan, Lieut. Coy Etheridge and C. H. Jarrell of the city police de partment for justices of the peace in Wilmington township, W. A. Cannon for justice of the peace in Masonboro township and Bruce W. Page for constable in Masonboro township. _ Move To Block Action On Labor Bill Fails WASHINGTON, April 17— (ZP)—An attempt to block action by the House Naval committee on war profits and labor legislation for at least a month was defeated by a nine-to-nme vote today, demonstrating with new force the sharp cleavage of congressional opinion on the issues. The delav was proposed by Rep. Flaherty (D-Mass) and opposed by Chairman vfnson (D-Ga) who told the members, "these issues are so Sominan? that they are going to be prevailing in every congressional district by election time.” x Flaherty urged delay on rne. grounds that President Roosevelt might work out some program dis posing of the issues. “We’re all aware, he said, ot the gossibility of executive action on all phases of this legislation. Negotiations to that end are now going on and rejection of t.. J might have a bad effect on those deliberations.” . “And what effect would it have if we reported it up?” countered Vinson, drawing no reply. By agreement, however, the com mittee decided to defer a vote for ten days on Vinson’s measure call ing for a percentage limitation on war profits, suspension of the 40 hour week law, and preservation of the status-quo of unions in plants handling Army and Navy contracts. Meanwhile, the House Judiciary i committee, on a new tack, began consideration of a measure to make unions subject to prosecution under the anti-trust laws, and heard a succession of spokesmen for farm groups contend that control of the nation’s food supplies soon may pass into the hands of labor leaders. The bill introduced by Rep. Mon roney (D.-Okla.), would make it il legal for unions to join with any employer or any non-labor group in a conspiracy to fix prices, allocate customers, restrict production, elimi nate competing employes, attempt to monopolize any part of trade or commerce, or to restrain competi tion. It also woudl forbid unions to force employers to hire “unneces sary” labor; bar secret payments by (Continued on Page Six; Col. 7) (BRITISH BURNING BURMA OIL WELLS King’s Own Troops Fight ing Superb Delaying Ac tion As Terminals Blaze By The Associated Press NEW DELHI, India April 17.— British sappers burned and blasted 6,000 west Burma oil wells today while a gallant battalion of the King’s own Yorkshire Light Infan try fought yet another superb delay ing action against the Japanese un til the wells were ablaze. Then the vastly outnumbered Yorkshiremen withdrew and rejoin ed the main British Imperial forces after inflicting severe casualties. A communique placed the posi tions “north of Magwe” indicating the fighting men were even now amid the ruined wells. Magwe is the southern gateway to the Fiele cen tering around Yenangyaung, 20 miles north. The British communique said the Yorkshire force “distinguished it self in this gallant action with great determination and bravery and suf fered very little loss.” It was the sort of action that has won this handful of men two previ ous citations for gallantry against great odds in two months of deadly Jungle fighting. Destruction of the Yenangyaung wells cuts off an important sous \ :■ of oil for China. Burma’s oil production in 1941 was 7.700.000 barrels, compared with United States production of 1,400, 000,000 barrels and world production of 2,216,235,000 but its proximity to the battlefields made it important. The British acknowledged that the situation was grave, with their forces depleted by two months of hard fighting, and the Japanese newly reinforced to a total of about 75.000 men. British forces in the Taungdwingyi area further east still were protect ing the right flank of the Chinese expeditionary force. The Chinese high command com munique, covering developments up to Wednesday, said the Chinese, un der U. S. Lieut. Gen. Joseph W. Stilweil, had inflicted more than 1, 000 casualties on the Japanese in in creasingly heavy fighting on the Sit tang front, roughly 30 miles north of Toungoo. t r Ten More Honor Grade Prison Camps Planned RALEIGH, April 17. — W — The North Carolina Prison department intends to establish from eight to 10 additional honor grade camps, Oscar Pitts, state penal director, announced today at a meeting of prison camp superintendents. Pitts said the honor grade pro gram was no longer an experi ment and that prisoners had proved they could be trusted when given an incentive. At present there are 15 honor grade camps in the state with a population of 927 prisoners. At these camps, there are no armed guards, and the inmates are treat ed as highway department em ployes rather than convicts, Pitts said. -V General DeGaalle * Will Speak Today NEW YORK, April 17.—(.SP)—Gen. Charles DteGaulle, leader of the Free French forces, has been scheduled for a Saturday afternoon broadcast to this country via the combined NBC and Blue Networks. The time is 3:25 EWT. He will speak in French, followed by an English translate * U. S. Silences Guns Of Three Jap Batteries One Enemy Plane Reported Shot Down By Manila Bay Forts PANAY BATTLE RAGES Stimson Says 65,000 Sol diers, Civilians Captured On Bataan WASHINGTON, April 17.—(ffK The guns of the Manila bay forts silenced three Japanese artillery batteries in the past 24 hours, the War Department reported to day, adding that an enemy bomber was hit and was believed to have crashed. A late-day communique said that on the Island of Panay, about 150 miles south of the Philippine forts, fierce fighting was believed to be in progress between defending troops and an enemy invasion force which effected landings at the cities of Iloilo and Capiz. Corregidor and nearby Caballo island, the site of Fort Hughes, were raided five times by enemy bombers, flying in formations of from two to eight planes each, the department said. The Communique The text of the communique, number 190, based on reports re ceived here up to 5 p.m. Eastern War time: ‘T. Philippine theater: "Three enemy batteries, firing on our ftros from Cavite and Ba taan, were silenced by our artil lery fire during the past twenty four hours. "Corregidor and Caballo islands were raided five times by enemy bombers, flying in formations of from two to eight planes. One Japanese bomber was hit by our anti-aircraft fire and damaged to such an extent that it is believed to have crashed, though its destruc tion was not confirmed. "Fierce fighting is reported from (Continued on Face Six; Col. 8) RAAF FIGHTERS BLAST JAPANESE At Least Four Out Of Ten Raiders Destroyed Or Damaged In Battle MELBOURN, Australia, April 17. i — (#1— Royal Australian air force j fighter lanes met a squadron of ten Japanese raiders in the air over Port Moresby today and landed unscathed with reports of destruc tion or damage to at least four of the enemy. The raiders — five bombers cov ered by five fighters — dropped some 45 bombs from 22,000 feet, causing no damage of consequence to the Allied outpost on New Guinea island, above the Australian main i land. i Before the Japanese could get away, the RAAF was on them. An official communique gave these de tails of the ensuing dogfights: “One of our fighters attacked a ‘zero machine on the tail of an RAAF fighter, driving it off. The RAAF machine fired a long burst from dead astern. Shortly after wards black smoke emerged from the opponent's machine. “The zero machine stalled and went into a steep dive. “Another pilot fired two bursts at one of the raiders'. “A third pilot fired one long burst into an enemy, afterwards seeing a parachute descend. “Yet another pilot, after seeing his bullets entering the cowling (Continued on Page Two; Col. 5) -V WEATHER FORECAST: NORTH CAROLINA — Slightly cooler in the interior Saturday. SOUTH CAROLINA — Continued mild Saturday. (EASTERN STANDARD TIME) (Meteorological data for the 24 hours ending 7:30 p. m. yesterday): (By U. S. Weather Bureau) Temperature: 1:30 a. m. 60; 7:30 a. m. 58; 1:30 p. m. 74; 7:30 p. m. 67; maximum 76; min imum 55; mean 66; normal 62. Humidity: 1:30 a. m. 94; 7:30 a. m. 96; 1:30 p. m. 49; 7:30 p. m. 61. Precipitation: Total for the 24 hours ending 7:30 p. m., 0.00 inches; total since the first of the month, 0.87 inches. Tides For Today: (From Tide Tables published by U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey): High Low Wilmington _11:49a. 6:44a. _p. 6:49p. Masonboro Inlet_ 9:28a. 3:24a. 9:40p. 3:30p. Sunrise 5:37a; sunset 6:45p; moonrise 9:43a; moonset 9:38p. Cape Fear river stage at Fayette ville at S a. m., April 17, 11.65 feet. i (Continued on Page Two: Col. 3) AMBASSADOR LEAHY RECALLED TO U. S. FOR CONSULTATION Laval Will Announce Names Of Cabinet i Members During Day VICHY, April 17.— UP) —Ad miral William D. Leahy, U. S. Ambassador to Unoccupied France since Nov. 23, 1940, was called home for consultation tonight as pro-German Pierre Laval rounded out a new cab inet to replace the government which resigned en masse to Marshal Petain. Late tonight, however, Laval postponed until tomorrow an nouncement of a final cabinet list. Official France had, in the interim, two leaders—the aged Marshal as chief of the state who was forced to bow before German demands for increas ed collaboration and Admiral Jean Darlan, designated as,Pe tain’s successor and comman der in chief of all the armed forces. The remainder of the gov ernment was being planned by Laval, who is expected to as sume the position of “civil leader”, of the French nation on a basis of out-and-out col laboration with the Axis. iFrom Bern, the course of France’s new leaders was fore cast thus: (Laval: He will, as head of the government, seek to achieve internal calm while carrying on negotiations with Germany which may bring a break with the United States. (Darlan: In control of the armed forces, it will be he who (Continued on Page Six; Col. 7) Reds Roll On Despite Stiffened Resistance One Great Fort After Another Falls To Advancing Russians LONDON, April 17.—(A’)—The Red army was driving ahead against fierce German resistance tonight and capturing “one great fortress after another” in the area of Demidov, 40 miles northwest of Smolensk, the Moscow radio reported. Stockholm, dispatches said advanced Russian units had reached the approaches of Smolensk itself and that the Germans were fortifying every house of that already strongly-buttressed city, There was no information to in dicate whether the Russians were threatening Smolensk with sufficient force to attempt an assault directly upon that key point, but Stockholm dispatches said raiding columns in White Russia, west of the city, were handicapping German efforts to rush up reinforcements. This agreed with the Russian re port of assaults around Demidov, strengthening an impression that the Russians might be starting an en circlement maneuver. Heavy fighting also was reported between Lakes Ilmen, Ladoga and Onega, thus the Russians sought to erase the menace to Leningrad be fore the thaws convert roads into bogs and streams into torrents. Russian and other accounts in dicated the fighting north of Lake Ilmen was possibly the heaviest in recent weeks. Belief that large Soviet forces were employed in the assaults was based partly on a German announcement earlier this week that the German air force was attacking Russian troop and tank concentrations along ice crossings which remained usable. Still farther north, between lakes Ladoga and Onega, the Finns ac knowleded that the Russians were hammering at their lines in a major offensive now six days old. The Finns claimed they were holding firm, however, and that Russian attempts to storm their positions were costly failures. The Moscow communique tonight said the Russians pressed forward on several sectors of the front today "and improved their positions.” On the Kalinin front it listed 500 Germans killed and quantities of booty captured. Fifteen German planes were reported downed yes terday to five Soviet losses. NO. 1 BANK ROBBER CAPTURED BY F.B.I. Ralph Greco Submits Re signedly To Agents At Newark Barroom NEWARK, N. J„ April 17.-40 Ralph Greco, described by direc tor J. Edgar Hoover of the Feder al Bureau of Investigation as “the number I bank robery fugitive in the United States,” submitted meekly to FBI agents last night in the barroom of a summer hotel at Long Branch. E. E. Conroy, special agent in charge of the Newark FBI field office, said the agents surprised Greco drinking at the Wilson hotel bar with his wife, Marie, and an other woman and ordered him to surrender. Greco was unarmed. The hotel at number one South Broadway was closed except for the bar, Conroy said. Only other persons in the building were the bartender and his wife. Greco’s arrest was announced earlier today by Hoover in Wash ington. He said Greco was wanted in connection with the $76,000 rob bery of messengers of the first Stroudsburg (Pa.) National Bank last August 5 and the robbery of the First National Bank of Suf field, Conn., on July 21, 1938, when three bandits got away with $1 , 500. Gravest Responsibility On Editors, Says Nelson NEW YORK, April 17.—UP)—Donald M. Nelson, chairman of the War Production Board, told the nation’s editors tonight they had the “gravest responsibility” ever placed upon them with the American peo ple depending that they would “put the survival of Ahis country and its heritage of freedom, above every other consideration on earth for the duration of the war.” In an address prepared for the annual banquet of the American Society of Newspaper Editors at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, Nelson said: The people of America are de pending on you to be fair—to put the good of the whole country ahead of any personal or parti san interest. They are depending on you to give them the facts— all cf the facts, within the limits imposed by military necessity, and not just selected facts arranged to prove a case. They are depend ing on you to understand what is happening and to present and un distorted picture.” This did not mean abstention from criticism of presentation of intelligence facts, Nelson said, but the use of “the clearest intelli gence, the keenest devotion to the public’ good, the most careful weigh ing of the effect of the printed word.” Earlier the editors were advised by Archibald MacLeish, director of the Office of Facts and Figures, *■ to police the American press against the warborn danger of “treason in its own ranks and among its own members.” The War Production board chief suggested that one function of an editor in wartime might be to “hunt up public misconceptions and take pains to set them straight.” Pointing to the recent argument over the 40-hour work week in war production, Nelson said ‘the public anger that was generated created a difficult situation and most assuredly did our war effort no good whatever. I think the press could have prevented that situation from becoming serious by the sim ple process of making certain that everyone understand precisely what the 40-hour low really is.” (Continued on Page Two; Col. 6) f- ' ' Indications Are America’s Normal Vichy Relations Will Be Discontinued LAVAL IS REJECTED Washington Considers His Regime As A Nazi Pup pet Government By WADE WERNER WASHINGTON, April 17. — (/P) —President Roosevelt today recalled Ambassador William D. Leahy from Vichy “for consultation” under cir cumstances indicating that his country has no intention of attempting to maintain normal relations with a colla borationist regime dominated by Pierre Laval. By way of emphasizing this American rejection of Laval, Acting Secretary of State Sumner Welles let it be known that this government views the new Vichy regime as a puppet government capable of sending puppet communica tions previously submitted to and approved by German au thorities. Ambassador Leahy will take his departure as soon as Mrs. Leahy, who recently underwent an opera tion, is able to travel. While he is coming home ostensibly for con sultation, the State Department made no effort to disguise the fact that it was Laval’s sudden return to power that prompted President Pmosevelt to recall him. Whether Vichy’s ambassador in Washington, Gaston Henry-H aye, likewise would be recalled by his government was not immediately apparent. A French embassy spokesman said that no instruc tions to that effect had been re ceived, and pointed out that when Ambassador William Bullitt was called home from Vichy in 1940 the French ambassador here re mainea nere ai ms pusu Nothing Official There was no official indication as to whether the recall of Leahy might be followed soon by a com plete rupture of diplomatic rela tions. It was thought possible in well-informed quarters that the United States might leave it to Laval to complete the break. He was indidectly invited to do this when acting Secretary Welles informed his press conference that the new government in Vichy ap parently could not even commun icate with a foreign government without first submitting the com munication to German authorities and getting their approval. Wiles began his conference by announcing that in view of recent events in France and in view of information received that the new Vichy government is composed of elements dominated by Pierre La val, and all which that implies. President Roosevelt had requested Ambassador Leahy to return im mediately to the United States for consultation. In answer to questions, he then went on to disclose what he had told Henry-Haye when the Vichy ambassador called last night to transmit a communication from the French government which had been published textually in Vichy three days ago. (This was the Vichy govern ment’s angry rejection of an Afner ican note restating United States policy toward France and lashing out at collaborationists of the Laval stamp.) Welles said he told the ambas sador he felt sure that in the more than 150 years of unbroken friendship between the French and American peoples this com munication of the French govern ment, alleging that the language (Continued on Page Two; Col. 4) NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS IF YOU FAIL TO RECEIVE YOUR SUNDAY PAPER DIAL 3311 BEFORE 10 A. M. (After that time delivery service is closed) STAR-NEWS Circulation Dept.