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•Ptlmingtmt mornittg ^tar Barth Carolina's Oldest Dally Newspaper Published Daily Except Sunday By The Wilmington Star-News At The Murchison Building R. B. Pegs, Owner end Publisher Telephone AU Departments DIAL 3311 Entered as Second Class Matter et Wilming^ ton, N. G, Poatoflice Under Act of Congress et March A 1879._ SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY CARRIER Payable Weekly Or In Advance Combine Time Star News tion .$ .35 $ .30 $ .35 . 1.10 .90 1.50 . 2.25 2.60 4.55 6 Months . 6.50 5.20 5.10 1 Y«ar .13.00 10.40 18.20 News rates entitle subscriber to Sunday Issue of Star-News BY MAIL Payable Strictly in Advance Combine Star News tion 1 Month .........75 9 .50 « .90 2 Months 2.00 1.5C 2.75 9 Months 4.00 3.80 1.50 1 Year . 9.00 6.00 10.00 News rates entitle subscriber to Sunday issue of Star-News Card of Thanks charged for at the rata of 25 cents per line. Count 0ve words to line THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ' is entitled to the exclusive use of all news stories appearing in The Wilmington Star SATURDAY, MAY 23, 1942 With confidence In our armed forces—with the unbounding de termination of our people—we will gain the inevitable triumph — so help us God. —Roosevelt’* War Message t— -— -■*! Star-News Program To aid in avery way the prosecution o* the war to complete victory. Public Port Terminal*. Perfected Truck and Berry Preserving and Marketing Facilitie*. Seaside Highway from Wrightsville Beacn to Bald Head Island. Extension of City Limit*. 35-Foot Cape Fear Kiver channel, wider Turning Basin, with ship lanes into industrial sites along Eastern bank south of Wilmington. Paved River Road to Southport, via Orton Plantation. Development of Pulp Wood Production through sustained-yield methods through out Southeastern North Carolina. Unified Industrial and Resort Promo, tional Agency, supported by one county* wide tax. Shipyards and Drydocks. Negro Health Center for Southeastern North Carolina, developed around the Community Hospital. Adequate hospital facilities for white. Junior High School. Tobacco Warehouses for Export Buy* ers. Development of native grape growing throughout Southeastern North Carolina. Modern Tuberculosis Sanatorium. TOP O’ THE MORNING The day was long, the burden I had borne Seemed heaiver than I could longer bear, And then it lifted—hut I did not know Someone had knelt in prayer. Had taken me to God that very hour, And asked the easing of the load, and He, In infinite compassion, had stooped down And taken it from me. —SELECTED -V Shipping Prospects Wilmington has long hoped to share in lend lease shipping and has been grievously hurt that its advantageous location and facilities have been overlooked by authorities having jurisdiction over this business. Now comes an encouraging word from Capt. F. F. Nann, Maritime Commission manager of the Norfolk district, who has spent some time investigating Wilmington’s port facilities, and says that upon his return to headquar ters he will make recommendations favorable for their use. The possibility of participation in delivering goods of a hundred sorts to our allies abroad would be vastly improved if a drydock were available in which the ships built here could receive the finishing touches required before they can engage in commerce and for which they are sent to other ports. The drydock pro ject is being promoted by our congressional representation, and there is some prospect that it will be made a part of the Navy pro gram. It eoutd be speeded, without doubt, if the people of Wilmington took active part in its behalf. A multitude of telegrams and letters to the Maritime Commission, to Representa tive Clark and to Senators Bailey and Rey nolds would reveal the community’s interest hi the project and stimulate greater activity for its approval. -V In Fairness To All Because reports have been received indi eating some firms have been gobbling uj available supplies of certain essential com modities and storing them away for futuri ■ale, the War Production Board is planninf to supervise and regulate the buying of re tailers, allowing each to purchase only ii moderate amounts. The plan is to safeguarc %l eonsumer and prevent hoarding amonj merchants. Also, it is hinted, tne program may serve to stave off further rationing. If it results in equitable distribution of food supplias among all stores, regardless of pur chasing power, so that American households may be sure of keeping their pantries stock ed, the WPB will have achieved a splendid goal. If, at the same time, it puts the brakes oh rationing, the whole people will rise up and call it blessed. But it is sure to stir a flood of protest against what will be called gov ernment interference in restraint of trade. The answer to that is, in times of crisis extraordinary measures are necesasry for the protection of the people and that such meas ures are temporary, existing only as long as the emergency. Once normalcy is restored the restraints will be lifted and trade allowed to flow in its accustomed channels. Hoarding is no more to be condoned now in trade than in homes or safety deposit boxes. If any firms are proved to be ac cumulating excess stocks the WPB will be justified in stopping the practice. -V The Big Job Ahead If the United States were a warlike nation, and its people perpetually war-minded, many of the problems created by the present con flict would be easy to solve. The strong prob ability is that few war problems would exist at all. , To go further, it is safe to say that if we were a warlike nation and people, maintain ing in peace armed forces on a war basi^ forever alert against provoctire moves by other nations, the present war probably would not have been started. For example, when Hitler goose-stepped his soldiers into the Rhineland, contrary to the Versailles treaty, and France and England refused to take steps to turn them back, if we had shaken the big stick under Hitler’s nose, that first step toward this war would have turned into a retreat. If we had bared the sabre at Munich there would have been no Chamberlain declaration that with the selling of Czechoslovakia down the river there would be “peace in our time.” If we had been armed to the teeth, and militant of mood, Hitler would not have dared to build up his powerful military machine and threaten the security of civilization. But we were not prepared for war, not even when the Japanese struck a+ Pearl Har bor. We beleved that we could avoid a shoot ing war, and were content to think that by equipping Britain with war’s tools we could remain forever on the sidelines. That is why we have these problems and why we are still compelled to raise armies and press our in dustries into service for the production of more and more implements, munitions and supplies for our novice armed forces. That we will be victorious at last is not to be doubted. No combination of powers can compete with our raw materials, with our in dustrial production, with our fighting spirit and skill. But in the meantime we are pay ing a tremendous price for our unprepared ness and isolationism. Surely there is a lesson in this that will not be forgotten when peace is restored. When the sword is sheathed and the peace won, it is inconceivable that we will lapse into thoughts of such a Utopia as led us after the former World war to scuttle our navy and assume leadership in general disarmament. We will be the most powerful nation in the world. We will be unworthy of our position if we fail to utilize our power for a world peace guaranteed by armed force. Peace will not bring the millennium. Men will always fight, if they can. Nations will always go to war, if they can. It is our duty and privilege to see that they cannot. To fulfill our proper destiny we must be ready to throttle the first sign of belligerence in any quarter of the earth. -V Mussolini — A Joke The Italian people are making a joke of the war and particularly of Mussolini, their na tional buffoon. Most of the jokes are barbed. Some have to do with II Duce’s presence in heaven and Italian casualties in conversation with S,t. Peter. One has an American appli cation. It seems that when the United States am bassador, William Phillips was about to re turn to Washington and give an account of affairs at Rome, Mussolini was to receive him and ordered Chiano to arrive hurriedly dur ing the reception with a bit of tremendous news. “Duce, Duce,” cried Ciano, all out of breath, "28 shiploads of wheat have just ar rived at Naples and our granaries are burst ing. Where can we put all this wheat?” To which Mr. Phillips replied, “Why not put it in your bread?” When Italians can spread such things as this about their ruler they obviously are not misled by his pouter-pigeoning. But is Is the last item in an article appearing in the New York Times dealing with the people’s attitude towa -fi Mussolini that caps the climax. Says the au hor, Herbert L. Matthews: This collection can best end with the latest joke about Premier Mussolini, for it contains a profound truth wrapped in a jest. The Premier went to see a fortune teller, who looked sadly at his palm and prophsied, “You are going to die on the 1 eve of the greatest national holiday.” “But what can the greatest Italian holiday be?” the worried Premier asked. “The lines on your hand do not make that clear,” , said the fortune teller. Signor Mussolini went back to his house and called in his wife, Donna Rachele, to [ tell her the perturbing news. “What holi day do you think it could be?” he asked. “I know,” answered his wife; “it’s the day alter you dia ” : L. , How About It, Folks? _ / When the Office of Civilian Defense first issued instructions for the guidance of busi ness firms and households one of the require ments was the taping of windows—particular ly display windows of stores. How many Wil mington store windows are taped? Some, of course, but a very small percentage of the total. ■ Householders were told to get rid of all rubbish in attics, cellars and garages. How many attics, cellars and garages are clear of easily ignited materials? Your guess is as good as ours. Householders were advised to clear their own yards and adjoining vacant lots of trash. How many have done so? We don’t know, but we see many yards and much unoccupied property littered with inflammable materials. Householders were told to provide them selves with hose for all spigots, and sand and shovels and at least one axe; and urged that some sort of pressure device for throwing water be installed. We know that some have these things, but are sure their number is small. These suggestions were in the interest of safety in event of an enemy attack. If car ried out by all Wilmington firms and fami lies, damage would be materially reduced and the possibility of fatalities among the people greatly decreased. If any large number of residents neglect the precautions the loss of life is liable to be heavy and certainly the damage to property will be widespread, 'should an attack come. -V Washington Daybook By JACK STINNETT WASHINGTON, May 22. — In one of the temporary buildings on the upper reaches of the Mall, a new army corps is in the making. It’s the army civilian specialists corps. It’s chief is Dwight F. Davis, formerly secretary of war and governor general of the Philippine Islands under Presidents Coolidge and Hoover. Although the “brain corps” is an infant organization and has had no more publicity than the announcement of the President’s ex ecutive order establishing it, already applica tions are pouring across Davis’ desk at the rate of one-thousand a day and the corps already has a long list of requirements from the ramy for men needed. * «* There has never been anything like it in the army before and its only precedents in the present war are the Nazi civilian tank and airplane specialists and Great Britain’s civil ian technical corps. The officers and enlisted men of the corps will have uniforms similar to those of the army; will get paid at army or civil service levels. They will enlist for the duration or in some cases for specific jobs which might take only a few months. The corps generally will take men over draft limits or men with physical deficiencies or other reasons for not being acceptable in the army or navy, but who have special train ing and abilities that the army needs. The corps is determined that it shall not become a way out for draft evaders but there seems to be little chance of that. Draft evaders and men of the accomplishments that the corps seeks don’t belong in the same class. * * * Davis, in explaining the Corps, said; “A one legged or one-eyed man, if he has the special talents required, will be enlisted or commis sioned just as quickly as any one else. Brains, not physiques will be our test. “Steinmetz couldn’t have passed army phy sical requirements. We would commission such an expert almost immediately.” Some of the corps will serve overseas in the fighting lines—probably mostly technicians or inventors and war manufacturers who wish to observe first hand their product under ac tual battle conditions. Aside from Davis and his staff, no appoint ments have been made yet, but it will happen any day now. The first appointments may be experienced business men in each corps : area to expedite the work of the corps area commanders in filling their “brain corps” re quirements. -V Editorial Comment MILITANT BRITAIN New York Times The sustained Russian offensive in the Uk raine, combined with the landing of new con tingents of American troops in Great Britain, has precipitated fresh demands in the House of Commons for an invasion of Europe. It is a healthy sign that the periodic waves of criticism that break out in England invariably rise from popular impatience for more auda cious military action. Mr. Churchill made skillful use of the public clamor in his latest speech, and while he absented himself from the current debate on the conduct of t h e war and left the floor to his critics and his defenders, no doubt he will again turn the attacks on his policy into a triumphant decla ration that the chief complaint against his Government is that hostilities are not carried at once into occupied territory. Sir Stafford Cripps assured the Commons yesterday that an attack on the Continent is intended. He declared that it will be a “care fully planned” attack, and added that bomb ing Germany is meantime the best way of assisting Russia. This statement is probably a pretty clear hint of what we may expect for the present, and the Prime Minister once more manifests his political skill in making Sir Stafford Cripps the spokesman of his poli cy. Sir Stafford has been the most urgent advocate in Britain of maximum aid to Rus sia. In this as in earlier debates Mr. Churchill is under fire, not as Prime Minister, but as Minister of Defense. Mr. Hore-Belisha charged yesterday that the combination of political and military leadership had resulted in an almost unbroken series of disasters. But Mr. Churchill had his stanch defenders, and Mr. A. P. Herbert reminded the Com mons that “the man responsible for Hong Kong and Singapore is also responsible for Tobruk, Malta and for sinking half of the Italian fleet, the Bismarck and the Graf Spee . . .and for the fact that during the last twelve months the people of England have been able to sleep in their beds and the wheels of industry have been able to revolve uninterrupted.” History will say greater things than this of Winston Churchill. But perhaps the best current tribute is that without leadership of the kind that he has given, there would be no debate today in the House of Commons, certainly no clamor from the militant Eng’ land impatient to invade Europe. 4 “THE LEADING LADY”__ .** The Editor’s Letter Box The editor does not necessarily endorse any article appearing in this department. They represent the views of the individual readers. Correspondents and warned that all communications must contain the correct name and address for our records, though the latter may be signed as the writer sees fit. The Star-News reserves the right to alter any text that for any rea son is objectionable. Letters on controversial subjects will not be published. POPPY DAY To The Editor: This being Poppy day, I wel :ome the opportunity as Com nander of the American Legion n Wilmington, to urge you to buy i poppy. Also, I ask your indulg ;nce if what I say may impress r'ou as dwelling on the tragic. Please bear in mind that as com pander of the legion, I see the ragic. I have opportunities of mowing about the wrecks of man lood who linger in suffering and topelessness. Men who once narched with a swing through the loppy fields of France to meet four enemy and mine. I too, saw :he fluttering, dancing poppies dong the road and in the wheat Eields decking the countryside with their crimson beauty. A set ting fit for the Prince of Peace but lsurped by the god of war. Many, many years ago the hum ile lilies of the field won immortal •ecognition as their beauty gripped :he imagination of the Master. In ill humility, may we today allow he beauty of the humble poppies if the field to grip our imagina ion. May we go back through the fears to those days when the sol ders of freedom—your sons and irothers—fought through the fields if France and mingled their life ilood with the blood-red poppies if the fields. “In Flanders fields ;he poppies blow between the irosses, row on row.” The red of the poppy will ever .-emind us of the red-blooded sol ders who lived so vitally and died 50 gloriously that all which is vorth living for should not perish Erom the land. Then too, my friends, from the poppy comes an opiate which will lull the edge of a soldier’s paip. surely these little red poppies which you will see today on the streets do not have such proper ties unless you bestow that quality apon them. These poppies of the street can give surcease to pain as truly' as the poppies of the Orient, if you but make it so. For in buying the poppy you are providing funds for suffering soldiers. Not soldiers of today, but soldiers of yesterday— of 20 years ago. These soldiers have hospitals, it’s true, but can’t you, with your much, give just a little, so that these men may have some of the small things—things like you would want, were you on their crutches, to while away the cruel hours? So when you see the poppies to day, think not that this is just an other tug at your purse strings. Rather, welcome it as an oppor tunity to accept a small part in the care of those thousands who gave their lives that you might live decently and free; gave their lives, though death passed them by, and so they do not sleep in Flanders fields beneath the pop pies. They sleep, but fitfully; they rest, but painfully; they are dis abled permanently. Will you through your generosity allow the little red poppy, which fluttered and danced so gaily, when they were gay, to bring sur cease to the suffering of these men? These men who had “a ren Raymond Clapper Says: Outcome Of The War Is Far More Hopeful By RAYMOND CLAPPER WASHINGTON, May 22.—From London an authoritative spokes man says the Allied air commands are aiming to send 1000 bombers a night over Germany. He says facilities now exist for sending as many as 800 planes out on a single night. Secretary Hull says that rapidly increasing strength of the United Nations gives reason to believe the war can be won earlier than had been expected some months ago. President Roosevelt, noting the arrival of more American forces in Ireland, indicates still more are to follow. Undeniably there is a rising spirit of confidence on the Allied side. It shows in private conversa tion of officials and crops out in fragments which indicate beyond question that they view the war with far more hopeful feelings than they did last winter. * * * Undoubtedly this is the result of very real achievements in produc tion and in the mobilizing and training of men. From informed quarters who know the details we hear a far different line of talk than we were hearing a few months ago. There is a sense here of finally beginning to move, and a sense of a change of phase in the war with developments to come. No one dares to think the United Nations are out of the woods, and we may suffer some defeats this summer. But at the same time it is felt that we are so far along now that defeats will not change the outcome of the war, provided only that Russia continues to re _ I sist and prevents Hitler from breaking through to Caucasus oil. Until that issue is decided there will continue to be anxiety. Also there is anxiety over China but confidence that the Generalis simo will be able to continue guer rila warfare until the time comes when Japan can be fully dealt with. The third cause of anxiety is the submarine campaign. It is tak ing a heavy toll and unless this is checked soon, there may be some demand for an accounting of re sponsibility, because the whole United Nations effort is suffering from these losses. * * * But the worries we had a few months ago are largely over. We are producing planes, tanks and ships even beyond expectations. Production capacity is no longer a problem. That has been licked except for some odds and ends. Even the steel difficulty seems to have been worked out so that the insiders say we will get the things ! done now that have to be done. Synthetic-rubber development was a tough one but it now looks def initely as though we can meet military requirements although without promising any relief to the civilian side. In spite of consder able public criticism. Admiral Land and his organization are meeting Administration expecta tions in shipbuilding and some shipbuilders are setting astonish ing records. There has been anx iety over the supply of aluminum but that appears to be passing now. \ The War Production Board is (Continued on Page Eight) The Literary Guidepost By JOHN SELBY Books for which the war is re sponsible— Whatever the war may bring in sacrifice, one thing is assured. We shall have a collection of books about far places, and once-foreign military techniques, that laid end to end —ould make a bridge be tween Dover and Calais. Frank Gervasi, when he was in this country, was one of the most dynamic speakers in favor of American participation in the war. He is dynamic wherever he is, as his “War Has Seven Faces” proves. It is a book about the peo ples and the politicians he has met, and it has some extraordi narily strong passages. Try what he has to say about Turkey, where the army and the peasantry want to fight for the Allied Nations, and the politicians want to balance tin horns on their noses, seal fashion. (Doubleday, Doran; $2.50) “How Japan Plans to Win” is another shiver hook. It is a trans lation by Kilsoo K. Haan of Ki noaki Matsuo’s “The Three-pow er Alliance and a U. S.-Japanese War, and it also is a timetable of dezvous with Death at some dis puted barricade.” Though Death failed that rendezvous, he took a deathly toll. Will you help these men? Will you buy a poppy? 2 ROBERT STRAJJGE. Wilmington, N. C. Japanese aggression published in October, 1940, in Tokio. The book is a cool performance, and the events since December 7 give it the power to chill any reader in this country. iLittle, Brown; $2.50) There is nothing very grim about Nicol Smith’s “Black Mar tinique—Red Guiana,” which is one of those good natured, well would-you-believe-it?, travel books. But it happens to concern Mar tinique and French Guiana, and those are places we shall be hear ing more and more about, so a little acquaintance with them is a good prescription. (Bobbs-Mer rill; $3.50) Barbara Padowicz’s “Flight to Freedom” is the latest escape from-terror book, and one of the most quietly written. Mme. Pado wicz and her six-year-old boy were caught between the Germans and the Russians when Poland was in vaded, and their cavalry led them through Poland, the Russian army, the Carpathian mountains, Hun gary, thg Balkans and across southern Europe—always a step ahead of disaster. (Duell, Sloan & Pearce; $2.75) And Hallett Abend’s “Ramparts of the Pacific” is a shrewd esti mate of the Pacific situation for the most part, containing the first serious criticism of General Mac Arthur that has appeared in any book so far. The general was over confident and under - informed, Abend believes. (Doubleday, Dor an; $3.50). 2 Interpreting The War Red Break Through South Of Lake Ilmen Reported In London By KIRKE L. SIMPSON Wide World War Analyst London reports, credited to Nazi broadcast, of a Russia* break-through south of Lake iwn lack confirmation, but that region covers so sensitive a junction point for German left flank com munications that a Soviet thrust there might be expected. Russian forces both north and south of the Lake have been with in 120 miles or less of the Psi0(’ gateway for many weeks. It v.. through that gateway, just south of the Peipus lake system on the old Russian - Esthonian frontier that the German legions crashed last year to lay siege to Lenin grad and overrun northwestern Russia. Through Pskov, or close by, pass half a score of railroads and roads from the west and south to fan out north and east. It is the hub of the communica tion netweok upon which the whole German left flank depends, except for the Leningrad - Revel system which passes north of the Peipus lake barrier, close to the seacoast Should Red foraes succeed in taking and holding Pskov, Nazi forces north of the Faldai plateau would be in a precarious position. They might be forced into hasty retreat into Esthonia via the Nar. va isthmus bottleneck. With the exception of Nazi units still west of Leningrad, it would mean a cross-country flight lacking direct roads to serve it and fraught with great danger. J.1 UOOIUII Cl iiuoivo ill one uaivc II* men region are officially admitted by the Nazis, with the statement that they have been beaten off. Even the reported eight-mile-wide breakthrough south of the lake is said to have been contained. The indications are, however, that the Russians have undertaken a new offensive in the fltaraya Russa re gion where they once had a con siderable German force trapped, and have made some appreciable progress. Some weeks ago there were un confirmed reports that a Russian detachment, bypassing Staraya Russa, had penetrated westward 60 miles to Dno junction. The rail and road systems on both sides of Lake Ilmen converge at Dno which is only 60 miles from Pskov. Lack of any subsequent mention of this operation indicated, how ever, that it was no more at best than a scouting raid. The Russian pressure in the Lake Ilmen region tends to sup port Stalin’s recent assertion that Red armies were being massed for offensive operations all along the huge front as the summer ad vanced. With the attempt to retake Pskov from the invaders even be fore the battles of Kerch and Kharkov have been fought to a definite conclusion, only the center west of Moscow, remains relative ly dormant. For immediate Russian purposes there are three important strat egic objectives. Marshal Timo shenko has stabbed deeply toward one of the three, and possibly the most important, in his drive to Krasnograd to reach the Dnieper crossings southwest of Kharkov. The indicated heavy action south of Lake Ilmen looms as a matched effort in the north to seize the second objective. Pskov Junction. The third is the Smolensk-Vitebsk communication span above the northern bend of the Dnieper. That is the main feeder for the whole German center, supporting the advance bases still threatening Moscow. This would seem to indicate t..e center as the scene of the nex major battle to develop, whether by Russian or German initiative. r---- "I | Is That So! SKI JUMPING, thinks ZadtA Dumbkopf, is the strangest o sports because the pinnacle success is not the mountain t i above, but a successful landn r in the valley below. * * # And then there's the corporation head who says he began business life as a telephone operator. Cbm ■ ed the ladder of success, as were, ring by ring. * * . * The Japs must believe in gh°sts. Else why are they so scared 0 the Navy they claimed long a£J they had sunk * * * An illiterate Missouri tramp nocently tried to hop a {re‘^ car plainly labelled: "High tv plosives.” A little learningg°e; a long way—and, being without - the tramp almost went a mUCl' longer way. * * * Pierre {.aval says he doesnt think we like him. Gosh, that low is positively clairvoyant. * * * If Goebbels and Hitler keep ■■ up, Berlin is bound, sooner • later, to t a ke away Chicagv s title of the “Windy City.” * * * Grandpappy Jenkins s 11s " knows the meanest man — * " low who spends hours in a ,.c phone booth munching i *r ‘ sandwiches and smoking two- - a-nickel cigars. * * * A Michigan dog is reported ® have pulled hard at his mast - j leg when the dog sighted a in the water, as his master ' fishing through the ice last ter.
Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.)
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May 23, 1942, edition 1
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