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___ ' - \ Served By Leased Wire Of The . _ ' -- associated press * I 4 ^ CT ^ REMEMBER ,tt55tf. tumngtmr. itnttwj ste Issr ^7inN°‘ — -TEN PAGES WILMINGTON, N. C., MONDAY, MAY 25, 1942 FINAL EDITION ESTABLISHED 1867. 18-Year-Old Boys May See famy Service Congress To Get Proposal To Cut Minimum To 19 And Possibly To 18 TO BE OFFFERED SOON Jt Is Estimated There Are Approximately 1,200, 000 In Each Group Bv EDWIN B. HAAKINSON 'WASHINGTON, May 24.— I/P)—A proposal to lower the minimum age for compulsory service in the armed forces to 19, and possibly 18 years, will be put before congress soon, a usually informed source re ported today. Although saying the War Depart ment was convinced the draft age should be lowered, this informant who asked not to be named said he did not know the form the re quest would take. It might be made in a message from President Pooseve't, a letter from Secretary of War Stimson to Congressional leaders or simply by War Depart ment witnesses raising the ques tions: Congressional hear ings on some pending legislation affecting the Army. President Roosevelt has ordered a selective service registration June 30 of youths 18 and 19. Under present law', however, they cannot be drafted into the armed services. 1.200,000 Involved It is estimated there are about 1.200.000 in each age group. When Congress revised the se lective service act in the first month after Pearl Harbor, the War Department recommended that 19 •ears olds be made subject to the draft. The Senate agreed, but the House boted to put the minimum ige at 21. A compromise was then forked out permitting 20 year olds lo be drafted. Chairman May (D.-Ky.) of the House Military Affairs committee said in an interview that he be lieved the House might be willing now to lower the age minimum, adding "I would not be surprised f that is in the offing.” On the other hand, Senator Hill (D. - Ala.), the Democratic whip, said he did not expect any draft of boys 18 and 19 in the immediate future. Senator Austin (R.-Vt.), as sistant Republican leader, said he had not made up his mind “be cause there is a human side to this." Senator Gurney (R.-S. D.) and some other members of the Senate Military Affairs committee, who preferred not to be quoted by name, said they believed 18 and 19 year olds should be drafted. "We should have done that from the start,” Gurney said, noting that both the Army and Navy were enlisting youths of these ages. Congressional leaders hope to dispose of the issue of higher pay in the armed services this week, and to advance legislation for al lowances to dependents 6f soldiers and sailors. House members are confronted '•'ith the question of reversing their overwhelming vote to raise the minimum pay in the fighting forces ,0 *50 monthly. A Senate-House conference committee decided to Jocept the Senate increase to $42 monthly, which is double the pres to minimum for buck privates >nd apprentice seamen. The conference report is to be tailed up in the House Tuesday. 8e?' Rankin (D. - Miss.) served notice he would ask the House to “and by its figure. . The legislation also carries pay mcreases for all men between pri Jale and second lieutenant, inclu ?lve. in the Army and correspond ®» grades in the Navy and Marine CorPs. It also provides for increas 4 rental and subsistence allow ®“8 for all officers. the Senate Military Affairs com T„ e exPects to complete action esdav on a measure granting ins'fances to i-he wives, children, o other dependents of emn in .^J^oed forces. 3 Salvaged Suit Salvaged suit — June Sitarr of Seaside Heights, N. J., wears a swim suit made of discarded mus lin shower curtain. The occasion was the opening of Ocean county bathing season. N. H. H. S. FINALS BEGIN ON SUNDAY Commencement Day Ser mon Is Delivered By The Rev. Mortimer Glover In speaking on "Choosing at the Cross Roads”, the Rev. Mortimer Glover, rector of St. James Epis copal church, advised the approx imately 290 prospective graduates Uf New^asover high school '‘to choose certain things by which to live” at the commencement ser mon delivered Sunday evening in the First Baptist church. “No one deliberately makes w rong choices,” the Rev. Mr. Glover declared, “but some choose the second best so consistently that they come out at the wrong end.” The speaker’s text, “Choose You This Day Whom You Will Serve”, is from Joshua’s farewell address to the Hebrew people. He related the history of the Hebrews and told of the necessity of the choice of a new country which faced them. The Rev. Mr. Glover advised the seniors to be loyal to their spiri tual heritage, religious life and in whatever circumstances they find themselves always choose the best. Prayer at the service was of fered by the Rev. Sankey L. Blan ton,. pastor of the First Baptist church.' Music was furnished by the hgih (Continued on Page Two; Col. 8) --V WEATHER FORECAST: NORTH CAROLINA AND SOUTH CAROLNA — Continued mild Mon day. (EASTERN STANDARD TIME) (By U. S. Weather Bureau) (Meteorological data for “the 24 hours ending 7:30 p. m. yesterday): Temperature: 1:30 a. m.'OO; 7:30 a. ra. 61; 1:30 p. m. 76: 7:30 p. m. .72; maximum 78; minimum 5t; mean 68; normal 73. Humidity: 1:30 a. m. 93; 7:30 d, m, 87; 1:30 p. m. 28; 7:30 p, m. 57. . V Precipitation: Total for the 24 hours ending 7:30 p m. 0.08 inches; total since the first of the month. 5.72 inches. TIDES FOR TODAT: (From Tide Tables.polished by U. S. Coast and Geodetic Sutvey): High Low Wilmington -— 5:56p. 12:35p. Masonboro Inlet-- 2:42f• 2:30p. 954p. Sunrise 5:04a; sunSet 9:13p; moonrise 2:16p; moonset 2:00a. Cape Fear river stage < at Fayette ville on Sunday at 8 a. m., 15 feet. (Continued an P-ageTwo; Col. 4) Allied Ship Fired When Jap Plane Falls On Deck — y ,AL LIED headquarters, i ralia, Monday May 25—(jH— JanAlied shiP under attack by ^Patiese planes several hundred »hfS Australi® caught fire iti;r'.an enemy craft, winged by (v'°Ucraft, crashed amidships, MacArthur’s headquarters *\°^ed today. sen A^ec* warship rescued 100 a V5rs, many of them injured, ^ci caiiy an men on the deck ,,;d‘ e attack ship were injured . P'any below suffered severe scalds and burns. Planes attacked the vessel ,aree sides simultaneously. Decks were machine-gunned and three bomb hits were, scored be Eofref fthe Japanese bomber struck the ship’s funnel. The ship began to list immedi ately and some of the crew were lowered lifeboats. Others stayed with the ship and had the flames subdued by the next day. An Allied flying boat signalled that help was enroute and later an Allied destroyer came along side, removed survivors then sank the disabled vessel. “They hit us 10 times with 250 (Cntinni Pare Twa; Cal. 1) Sailors Rescued By Small Argentine Steamer In South Atlantic NO DETAILS RELEASED Argentines Decline To Tell Size Of Warcraft; Ital ians Claim Battleship BUENOS AIRES, May 24. — (A5) —The state merchant fleet said today the small Argentine steamer Rio Iguazu had picked up 55 persons at sea and newspaper reports de clared the rescued were sail ors from a United States war ship of unstated size. Merchant fleet officials declined to say what sort of ship the sur vivors came from. They told of the survivors in re sponse to inquiries made after the Italians had renewed their claims of having sunk a U. S. battleship with a submarine in the Atlantic off Brazil. The German radio, quoting an official Italian announcement Sun day, said the Argentine ship had picked up 55 survivors from the battleship. The newspaper Noticias Grafi cas, quoting a merchant fleet cource, said the Rio Iguazu two or three days ago picked up two life boat loads of sailors from a North American warship but could not say whether it was a battleship, cruiser or destroyer. The state merchant fleet made public part of the text of a wireless report from the captain of the Rio Iguazu, saying: “I picked up 55 survivors on the high seas.” Nothing Specific Fleet headquarters emphasized that it would not make public any information on the date or loca tion of the rescue or other details, because of "war conditions.** ' The Rio guazu left New York May 9 and Maritime sources figur ed it would now be between Bahia and Rio De Janeiro. It is due here June 1 or 2. However, reliable maritime sources said the Rio Iguazu had asked Brazilian authorities for per mission to land the survivors at Recife. The captain advised fleet headquarters that he was sending a full report by airmail. The rescue was the second for the freighter in recent months. She was reported here to have landed 16 survivors from an unidentified ship at New York last March 24. The Italians announced in a spe cial communique Friday that the submarine Barbarigo had sunk an American battleship of the "Mary land class” of 31,800 to 33,990 to (There has been no confirmation of this enemy claim from any oth er source.) HU Twice The Italian announcement said the battleship was hit by two tor (Continued on Paje Two; Col. 5) J. S. M’EACHERN 61, DIES SUNDAY Funeral Arrangements For Prominent Citizen To Be Announced Later John S. McEachern, 61, of 21 North Eighteenth street, died at 7 o’clock Sunday morning at the James Walker Memorial hospital after a brief illness. Mr. McEachern, owner of Wil mington Brokerage company, was known by all leading Masons in North Carolina as he had served in the capacity of secretary of the Masonic Temple corporation and was past Grand High Priest of Royal Arch of Masons and Past Grand Master of the Grand Coun cil of North Carolina. , Funeral plans had not been com pleted early today. Surviving are two sons, J. S. McEachern, Jr., Greensboro, and E. M McEachern, Charlotte- three sisters, Mrs. C. W. Lassiter, Mrs. F. H. Bagg, and Miss Daisey Mc Eachern, all of Wilmington; two grandsons, E. M, McEachern, Jr., and J. S. McEachern, III,and one granddaughter, Nancy MeEachem. Raid Alarm Sounds At Los Angeles LOS ANGELES, May 24.—(JF)— the Army Fourth Interceptor com mand gave an air raid warning at 8:49 p. m., Pacific war time to night and an all-clear signal was sounded at 9=42. Radios had been ordered off the air at 8:41. The blackout was re ported as complete durins the alert. I ‘Yankee Doodle Girl’ Evelyn Dinsmoor struts through her drum majorette act after she was chosen “Yankee Doodle Girl” at a home defense exposition at Long Beach, Calif. She led Rain bow Majorette Corps as part of patriotic ceremony. U. S. Planes Blast Japanese Shipping Three Enemy Fighters Destroyed During Attack On Ambonia Ifase By C. YATES McDANIEL ALLIED HEADQUARTERS, Australia, May 24.—(/P) —Great American bombers piloted by Australians made a 1,200 mile roundtrip bombing raid on the Japanese occupied Dutch island of Amboina and shot down three Zero fighters in flames after blasting enemy shipping in the harbor at dusk last night, a communique said today. It was the second raid in ten' days on the jungle-clothed island which lies about halfway between New Guinea and Celebes in the exotic South seas. Other raiders struck at the much bombed Japanese base at Lae in the northeast shore of New Gui nea demolishing airdrome build ings and severely damaging two grounded Japanese bombers. Eight fighters rose to challenge the Al lies and shot one attacking plane from the air. Another Allied plane was lost at Amboina, which was the site of the secondary Dutch naval base in the East Indies before Japanese seized the island. The huge Allied planes found the Japanese ready for the at tack on Amboina harbor and they dived through a heavy concentra tion of ground fire to drop their bombs. While the attack was be ing pressed home, the Zero fight ers were kept at bay. by wither ing fire from the bombers but the Japanese trailed the homing Allied ships and joined battle about fifty miles from the base. Equal numbers of Allied and enemy planes engaged in a bitter 25-minute air fight in which three of the Zeros plunged flaming into the sea. Pilots of the Allied craft prais ed their gunners for keeping the Zeros at respectable distance dur attack. The previous raid on Ambonia ing the fight and the bombing caught the Japanese flat footed May 13 and bombs exploded a medium-sized merchant ship an chored in the bay. Direct hits were scored on two other ships and the wharves were set afire. (Continued on Page Two; Co!. 3) SHIP TORPEDOED OFF TIP OF CUBA Submarine’s Crew Waves Nazi Flag And Gives Sur vivors German Salute KEYWEST, Fla., May 24.—(tf)— A submarine crewman waved the Nazi flag and gave the German salute to United States seamen swimming for their lives in the Caribbean sea after their merchant ship was torpedoed off the tip of Cuba May 18. Twenty <• eight survivors of the medium - sized ship told their stories here. Six others, including Captain Charles D. Bryant of Hous ton, Tex., are missing and pre sumed to be dead. The Navy an nounced the attack today. “They wanted to make darned sure that we knew their identity,” said Leonard Shearer, third assis tant engineer from Newcastle, Pa,, “for a member of the crew raised the Nazi flag on a flagstaff at the stem immediately alter she broke the surface. “He turned and gave the Ger man salute to some of us who were swimming nearby.” The vessel sank within two min utes after a single torpedo ripped into her starboard side early in the afternoon. As soon as she plunged beneath the sea, the sub marine surfaced. (Continued on Page Two; Cel. 1) Nation-Wide Gasoline Rationing Causes Howl WASHINGTTON, May 24— Administration talk of extending gasoline rationing to the whole country brought a protesting out cry from capitol hill today. Senator O’Mahoney (D-Wyo) told reporters that "perhaps the princi pal source of this trouble is that Congress has surrendered too much of its authority to executives who don’t understand conditions in the country’’ ' Senator Johnson (D-Colo) assert ed that" it will be hard to con wince people in the oil producing states that they can’t have gaso line.” The War -Production board has ordered the Office of Defense Transportation to prepare plans for nation-wide gasoline ration ing as a tire conservation mea sure. Johnson said that persons who advocate gasoline rationing as a means of conserving rubber - should remember that tires deteriorate about as fast when unused as when driven moderately. “A new tire will last about two years in service, or two years in storage,”; he said. O’Mahoney said that “I’ve been discussing this matter with the (Contwneh on JP»fe Three; Cel. «) RED ARMIES RETURN TO THE OFFENSIVE ON KHARKOV FRONT —’ ...— — w Jap Bombers Heavily Raid Chinese Bases Bitter Fighting Is Reported In Progress In Che kiang Province CHUNGKING, China, May 24.— (*—Japanese bombers based on Burma raided the heart of the im portant Burma road city of Pao shan and other points in western Yunnan province today while, far to the east, Chinese and Japanese soldiers fought savagely in Che kiang province. Chinese dispatches said eight bombers escorted by six fighters bombed Paoshan. The results of the raids there and in other Yunnan points were not stated in the re ports. Paoshan is the next objective of Japanese forces fighting on the Burma road in Yunnan province. The Japanese columns in Che kiang province are aiming at Kinh wa, provisional capital of the prov ince, and Lanchi, on the south side of Chientang river and only 12 miles northwest of Kinhwa. The bloody battles at three towns 25 to 35 miles northeast and east of Kinhwa, where the armies last were reported locked in combat, all have ended in Japanese vic tories, a Chinese communique in dicated. It said “Japanese troops, which with reinforcements now number almost 100,000, have launched a fe rocious drive in Kinhwa from Ty ungyang, Yiwu^,(Iwu> and- Puki ang,” all in the Outer defense belt of the provincial seat. Battle Desperately The Chinese wore battling des perately in front of Kinhwa, the most important military, economic and communications center in east ern China remaining in Chinese hands. Japanese planes, covering the Japanese advance, were bomb ing Kinhwa, already badly dam aged, and other towns almost con tinuously. 1 Hot fighting also was in progress around Kienteh, 35 miles to the north jot Kinhwa. On the Burma front, between the Mekong and Salween rivers, the Japanese also were admitted to have scored a success after many days of hard fighting in which cas ualties mounted on both sides. The communique said the Japanese made no mention of the Bruma had made “some progress,” but made no mention of the Burma road sector 250 miles to the north. The Tokyo radio said the Jap anese were pressing on two impor tant enemy bases in the Tungyang river valley, east of Kinhwa and Lanchi, after occupying Tungyang, (Continued on Pole Two; Col. 4) DR. WE CROWE INSTALLED HERE Minister At Presbyterian Church Delivers Sermon On ‘The Way Of Peace’ "The Way of Peace” was the subject of the sermon delivered by the Revv Wiliam Crowe, D. D., of Tatlattaga, Ala.,' Sunday mor- ' at jhMtallation services for son, ’ fee Rev. William Cro. i'r., D. . Z>., as pastor of the hirst Presbyterian church. “There can be no lasting peace by human effort.” Dr. Crowe de clared, "as permanent peace comes only by tire spirit of God and the righteousness he can establish in human hearts.” Charge to the congn nation was delivered by Dr. John. M. Wells, of Sumter, S. C., former minister to the local congregation and later president of the Columbia Theo logical seminary and moderator of the General Assembly. The Rev. J. I. Knight, a former seminary classmate of the local minister, delivered the charge to the minister. The choir, under the direction of Albert Brown, sang an an them, "Send Out Thy Spirit1 by Schuetky. The commission, appointed by the Presbytery to install Dr. Crowe, consisted of the Rev. C. H Storey, D. D. chairman; the Rev. M. C. MasQueen, Clinton; the Rev. J. I. Knight, Mt. Olive; Ruling Elders W. D. McCaig and W. H. Hen derson, and the Rev. A. D. P. (Centime# n Feie Twe; Cel. S) Wrest Initiative From Germans, Again Ad vancing; Fierce Defensive Action Fought On The Izyum-Barvenkova Sector NO IMPORTANT ACTION ELSEWHERE Soviet Air Force Reported To Be Mercilessly Battering Enemy; Black Sea Fleet Bars German Crossing Of Kerch Strait By HENRY C. CASSIDY MOSCOW, Monday, May 24.— (/P) —Marshal Timos henko’s armies of the Ukraine have wrested the initiative from the Germans on the Kharkov front and again are ad vancing, while in the Izyum-Barvenkova sector to the south fierce defensive battles are being waged against Nazi tank and infantry attacks, the Russians announced officially at midnight. Resumption of the advance upon the great industrial city of Kharkov was announced in the Soviet midnight com munique following a temporary halt in which the Germans threw huge forces of men and machines into a mighty counter-attack. J In the Izyum-Barvenkova sector the Russians said their forces were inflicting enormous losses upon German infantry and tank units trying desperately to flank the Russians’ Kharkov wedge. Front line dispatches said the Ukrainian hills in that area were strewn with mounds of Nazi dead. The Soviet communique gave this brief picture of the fighting on the southern front: “During May 24 our troops in the Kharkov direction waged of fensive battles and advanced. Fierce Defense “In the Izyum-Barvenkova di rection our troops conducted fierce defensive battles against enemy tanks and infantry. In the course of these battles German Fascist troops suffered heavy losses.” - The- Russians reported destruc tion or damaging of 75 German tanks, 40 of them in two days of fighting on- the Izyum-Barvenkova front and 35 by Soviet planes in various sectors on Saturday. The communique listed 24 German planes destroyed Saturday to 11 Russian losses. On one sector of the Kharkov front the communique said a So viet force on the same day smash ed a.German attack and occupied an important populated place. In this one engagement more than 400 German dead were reported left on the battlefield. Elsewhere.on the long front the Russians said there had been no important action. The Soviet drive on Kharkov is now in its 14th day. A Pravda war correspondent re ported in an eyewitness account that in a three-day battle before the city the Russians knocked out 110 of 150 tanks thrown into a massive charge by the Germans. “This fierce combat ended in a brilliant victory for Soviet artil lery,” he wrote. ‘They burned down and disabled about 100 tanks. In addition 10 more tanks were put out of action by anti- tank rifles and reduced to infernos with incendiary bottles.” Another frontline dispatch said the Soviet air force was “mer cilessly battering enemy land con centrations as well as his air dromes.” , Heavily Reinforced Now that the Russians have withdrawn from the Kerch penin sula, London reports said the Rus sians were heavily re-inforcing de fense on the Caucasus shore, just across the narrow strait from the peninsula which forms the Eastern tip of the Crimea. The Soviet Black Sea fleet was pictured as the biggest obstacle to any attempt by Hitler to jump the Kerch strait to get at the oil treasure of the Caucasus. Dispatches yesterday from the Izyum-Barvenkova front said that the Germans’ week-long diversion offensive there had been fought (Continued on P»fe Two; Col. 6) I .. ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ — ■ British Pound Axis Airports And Shipping Motor Transport And Oth er Targets Hit In The Cirenaican Area CAIRO, Egypt, May 24—(iP)—Axis airports, motor transport .and ship ping in the Cirenaican area were heavily attacked by British bombers and fighters yesterday in a bur^t of widespread raiding, the RAF re ported tonight. This increased scale of air activ ity in North Africa was said by observers in this Egyptian capital to coincide with efforts of both tha British and the Germans to build up their strength for the next desert campaign. The British reported shooting down six German and Italian fight ers over Libya and Malta at a cost of four missing RAP planes. (The Italian high command an nounced that the RAP had suffered heavy losses in Cirenaica, putting the British losses on Friday and Saturday at 33 planes in Libya alone. The British, however, have reported only eight missing planes for those two days, four on Friday and four Saturday.) RAP bombers struck last night at the airdrome at Martuba, midway between Tmiml and the Port of Derna. It was the third consecutive attack on that objective, RAP planes having hit it Thursday night and Friday morning. The RAP said the enemy landing ground at Derna. 95 miles west of British-held Tobruk and 175 miles west of the Egyptian border, was ef fectively bombed while RAP fighters shot down a German Messerschmltt fighter in the Tmimi region, 40 miles southeast of Derna. “Elsewhere enemy motor trans port vehicles were attacked,” the RAF communique continued. “In the Gulf of Sirte (off Bengasi) an enemy merchant vessel was hit by cannon and machine gun fire and brought to a standstill.” The RAP said a German Junkers divebomber was shot down off north Africa by anti-aircraft fire. During Friday night and Satur day's action over Malta, the RAP declared, four enemy planes were shot down. When the next desert action will begin is problematical. ■ - The Germans, after pounding Malta severely, have been rushing reinforcements across the Mediter ranean — and the British in Africa have been building up reserves and (Continued on Pace Two; Col. 8) ‘Duration Dormitories’ Planned In War Areas By FRANCIS M. LEMAY WASHINGTON, May 24— W) — Blocks of “duration dormitories,” highly temporary in structure but affording essential accomodations, soon will begin ti rise in crowded war work areas as an answer to critical building material shortages the Federal Public Housing Author ity disclosed today. Meanwhile, John B. Blandford, National Houseing administrator, said he knew “of no plan to aban don any housing project already under construction.” One Washington quarter pre viously had expressed the v i ew f • that housing of any permanent na ture “is out,” and that in addition to the construction of dormitories the government might have to turn to billeting of workers in private homes near defense plants. Director Howard Strong of the Homes Registration Division said, however, that enforced billeting would be done “only as a last resort.” Strong’s division now op erates offices in 305 congested war work areas for the voluntary reg istration of spare rooms that can be used by workmen. (Continued on Page Three; Col. I)
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