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^ 75—NO. 314 ~ ~ TWENTY PAPPs -----' AND BATAAN
it-—" ; -WILMINGTON, N. C., THURSDAY. ATTPTTST 97 1040------1 -
U. S. Attacks Lead To Great Pacific Sea-AirBattle ——!-—-final edition___established 1867.
inis map of the Australian Pacific ar ea shows some of the recent strategic at
tacks of tJ. S. forces culminating in the great sea-air attack announced by the Navy.
*1) U- S. Marines smashed into Makin, killing Japs, destroying defense installations,
ihen successfully withdrawing. This followed (2) a heavy battle in which Marines,
protected and aided by the Navy, moved into strategic Tulagi harbor and other of the
Solomon islands, inflicting defeat on the enemy. These two attacks aided considerably
in lending further protection to Australia and to the vital U. S.-Australian shipping
line, shown by ship symbols, and already protected by defense-offense establishments
at New Caledonia (3) and Port Moresby (4). Heavy black lines show how Allied forces
are blocking the enemy from Australia and the shipping lines and long curved arrow
(Jap flag attached) shows how the Japs came out of the northeast with their heavy
forces in an effort to retake the Solomon area. A fierce sea-air battle is now raging in
that area.
GOVERNOR SLATED
TO SEE SHIPYARD
Brougkon To Be Guest At
‘k’ P enna;it Ceremonies
Here On Sunday
_ prernor J. if, Broughton will
at end the ceremonies at which
the North Carolina Shipbuilding
company will receive the coveted
penna--' for exceptional
"C tevement in Liberty ship con
duction from the Maritime com
-tssion here early Sunday after
°on' phials of the company an
nounced yesterday.
be. 'he Nortn Carolina
.. executive's second visit to
c^- He particiPated in the
thp ;°n,les for the launching of
t if lhip. tae Zeb B. Vance,
» December 6, ]941. The vessel
“s sponsored by Mrs. Broughton.
hirai Emorytesd ™th Ad‘
of tho T\/r °r^ k* Land, chairman
Hill fnrr a1r,ltlme commission who
pSSy„PreSent the P«mant,
War-bom *ne., emPL>yes of the
their eXce,rildlng comPany for
tion. cellent record of produc
toiMedalout°ftbftie ucompany *lave
°“d of it. * that ‘be honor—sec
si!iPyards „ypf, to be awarded to
Was won bvV^ Atlantic coast—
have ,s lQyal workers and
Sunday'! d 311 of them to attend
toes win Pi°far«- The ceremo
nial public °Lbe open t0 the g«i
. Nations V, 3~Cause of space lim
ra’rii„ , wil1 hie broadcast
f % 010 Nation WPTF, of Ra
hils for tv,
r the program, which
(Contin
°" Paee Five; Col. 3)
And Uruguay
esin ‘Cooperation*
The°52aDE°’ Aug' 26 — <*> -
n°unced f„?yan government an
Brazil Wo„uay that Uruguay and
mon defen d C00Perate in a “com
Sression» be against possible ag
tonneetiot-0^ !'he, close geographic
Was sairi.^e tw° countries,
i0!la! defen' the Uruguayan na
®Uthorized f6 ™inistry had been
neilt With ° "adopt, in agree
“razil. J rauttary authorities of
fetter effi rneasures designed for
defense ide common
Sions," Eamst possible aggres
%
Utilities Commission
Denounced By Bellamy
- --
A scathing and bitter indictment
of the state utilities commission
for its procrastination, dilatoriness
and lack of decisive action in
furnishing relief to the citizens of
New Hanover county from unfair
and burdensome power and gas
rates was made by Mayor Har
grove Bellamy speaking before a
joint session of the city council
and the county board of commis
sioners yesterday morning.
Charging that the utilities com
mission was failing to fulfill its
duties of protecting the public for
which the commission was created
by the legislature, the mayor cited
Securities and Exchange commis
sion reports condemning the finan
cial structure of the Tide Water
Power company and its holding
company, the Associated Gas and
Electric company, as “rotten.”
He declared that the utilities
commission had “ignored the rot
tenness of the situation,” had ig
nored a four million dollar dis
crepancy between a report of Tide
Water's valuation and earnings as
submitted by the company before
the commission in April and a
computation of the company’s “ex
cess earnings” fdr 1939, 1940 and
1941 made by the Federal Power
commission, and had allowed the
company to sell a “well-known
corporation” in New Hanover
county power “at cost or below
cost at the expense of the resi
dential users of our city and coun
ty.”
“They’ve let this situation exist
for 25 years, knowing the rotten
ness of it all,” the mayor declared
in referring to rates charged com
mercial and residential users by
the power company here.
Two definite results of the meet
ing were:
Members of both local govern
ment bodies voted to appear be
fore the utilities commission in
Raleigh on September 11 in an
effort to persuade the commission
to take some definite action to
relieve the rate situation here.
R. M. Kermon and J. E. L.
Wade, Democratic nominees for
representative ^nd state senator
respectively, appeared before the
council and requested that it be
gin an investigation into the possi
bilities of the city and county ac
quiring ownership of the Tide Wa
ter’s plant when and if it is put
up for sale as the result of a re
(Continued on P»*e Five; Col. 1)
MAYBANK BUILDS
UP BIG MAJORITY
Incumbent Senator, Friend
Of FDR, Leading In
South Carolina
COLUMBIA, S. C., Aug. 26.—(IP)
—Senator Burnet R. Maybank,
friend and supporter of President
Roosevelt, got an apparently safe
majority over Eugene S Blease to
day as late unofficial returns were
reported from yesterday’s demo
cratic primary to name a U. S.
senator.
Blease, 65-year-old half-brother of
the late Senator Cole L. Blease and
former chief justice of South Caro
lina who presented himself as a
campaigner for “white supremacy”
was trailing Maybang by nearly
6,000 votes with all but 85 of 1,536
precincts accounted for.
In 1,451 precincts, the vote stood:
Maybank 112,517, Blease 106,735.
Excluding Charleston county, Blease
(Continued on Pe^e Three; Col. 3)
WEATHER
FORECAST
NORTH CAROLINA — Continued
mild today.
(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. 65; 7:30 a. m. 63; 1:30 p. m.
77; 7:30 p. m. 72; maximum 79; minimum
60; mean 70; normal 77.
Humidity
1:30 a. m. 68; 7:30 a. m. 67; 1:30 p. m.
53, 7:30 p. m. 63.
Precipitation
Total for the 24 hours ending 7:30
p. m., 0.00 inches; total since the first
of the month, 9.35 inches.
Tides For Today
(From Tide Tables published by U. S.
Coast and Geodetic Survey).
High Low
Wilmington -10:35a. 5:17a
ll:01p. 5:38p.
Masonboro Inlet- 8:20a. 2:13a.
8:51p. ft:29p.
Sunrise 5:42a; sunset 6:45p; moonrise
7.56p; moonset 7:08a.
Cape Fear river stage at Fayette
ville on Wednesday at 8 a. m., 12.15
feet.
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 4)
MtRICAN AIR POWER REPULSES JAP
INVASION FLEET IN SOLOMONS AREA;
MANY NAZIS WIPED OUT BY RUSSIAN
COUNTER-ATTACKS NORTH OF MOSCOW
--—- •L’ -—---- i
45 THOUSAND KILLED
Push Started To Relieve
Pressure On Imper
illed Stalingrad
AXIS REACHES MOZDOK
City About 55 Miles West
Of Grozny Oil Area
Is Captured
MOSCOW, Thursday, Aug.
27.—(IP)—A Red army coun
terattack northwest of Mos
cow to relieve pressure on im
perilled Stalingrad was re
ported officially early today
to have killed 45,000 Germans
in a 15-day push that recap
tured 610 localities and re
gained from 25 to 30 miles of
territory.
Soviet troops under Gener
al Gregory Khukov, who turn
ed the Germans back from
Moscow last fall, were re
ported fighting at the gates
of Rzhev, 130 miles north
west of the Red capital, after
retaking the towns of Kar
manovo, Pogoreloye-Gorodish
che. and Zuztsov.
Five German divisions were
reported to have suffered
heavy losses and nine others
were routed by the Red army.
Effects Undetermined
It still was too early to deter
.mine the effects of this huge drive
on the still sorely critical Stalin
grad front, where a million-man
Nazi army was assaulting the ap
proaches to that vital Volga city
from two directions.
A midnight communique issued
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 3)
FDR TOADDRESS
NATION 3 TIMES
.
Broadcasts Are Scheduled
Within Next 2 Weeks
On Problems
WASHINGTON, Aug. 26— (ID —
President Roosevelt today arrang
ed a crowded speaking schedule,
keyed to war-time problems and
congressing three top flight addres
ses into eight days.
The speeches, all to be broadcast
nationally and internationally, will
conclude with an exposition of the
administration’s latest plan to at
tack inflation and mounting liv
ing costs.
This is the schedule:
August—dedication of a new Na
val Medical center in nearby Be
thesda, Maryland.
September 3 — address to the
youth of the world through an as
sembly here of the International
Student Service.
September 7—Labor day speech
—the one on inflation.
Presidential secretary Stephen
Early said he thought they will all
be extremely interesting.”
The Labor day date still is ten
tative, depending on whether con
gress will be in session. As a mat
ter of courtesy, Mr. Roosevelt plans
to send a message to the legisla
tors giving them an outline of the
anti-inflation campaign before he
explains it to the people in fire
side chat.
He made it evident at a press
conference yesterday that the plan
(Continued on Page Hhree; Co!. 5)
Wilmington Fire Loss
Only $100,000 In 1941
While the total value of buildings
and contents where fires in the city
occurred during the last fiscal year
amounted to* $2,930,866, ios? by fire
totalled $100,163.66 and only $9,
743.40 of that amount was unin
sured, according to the annual re
ported presented to City Manager
A. C. Nichols and members of City
Council Wednesday by Fire Chief
J. Laddie Croom.
Total val,ue of building? where
fires occurred was $2,477 091 and
the buildings were insured for $2,
124,707. Value of the contents
amounted $433,775, covered by
$333,690 in insurance. Of the total
loss of $100,163.66, the damage to
contents was $23,659.97.
Largest loss for a single month
was during last December when
the damage to building amounted
t~ $24,980.69 and to Gontems $7,900.
Value of buildings endangered by
fire in December was $1,313,650 and
of contents, $183,000. The buildings
were insured for a total of $1,250,
807 while the contents were com
pletely covered by insurance.
The department answered 652
alarms during the year with 340 to
frame buildings, 52 to brick build
iContinued on Page Three; Col. 5)
Chuhsien Under Heavy Attack
By Fast Moving Chinese Force
CHUNGKING, Aug. 26—UP)—
Chuhsien, site of the biggest
air field in China and a poten
tial shangri-la from which to
bomb Japan, is under concert
ed attack by Chinese forces
rapidly prosecuting their coun
ter-drives against the Japa
nese invaders in Chekiang and
Kiangsi provinces, it was re
ported tonight.
The Chinese have taken a
point four and one-half miles
south of the strategic city in
western Chekiang and also are
attacking Japanese forces di
rectly to the westward, the
Chinese high command said.
Some quarters in Chungking
expressed commence that tue
Chinese soon would recapture
both Chuhsien, with its vast
air base built by 200,000 cat
ies, and Lishui, seconcl-'
site from which to launch air
attacks against Japan’s borne
islands.
The Chinese, who already
have reported they have Lishui
under siege, added tonight
that Japanese troops who tried
to push south from Sungyang
in Chekiang province had been
defeated and were fleeing back
toward Lishui, 25 miles to the
east.
Still other Japanese forces
were declared by the Chinese
command to have been crush
ed 15 miles northwest of Sung
yang five days ago.
(suggesting Japanese nerv
ousness, the German raidio
said Japanese-held Shanghai,
wnich nas Deen out of tne
range of Allied planes, had its
first blackout from 9:30 to
11:30 p. m. Tuesday, while
Japanese planes surveyed the
(Continued on Pare Three; Col. 4)
ALLIES PRODUCING
‘SECRET WEAPONS’
New Armament Has Sur
prising Potentialities,
Says Authority
LONDON, Aug. 26. — UP) — The
chief of the United States Army’s
arms design division declared crp
tically today that the Anglo-Ameri
can Allies were producing secret
weapons with surprising potentiali
ties and that new British weapons
in production were "really eye
openers.”
The statement by Brig.-Gen. G.
M. Barnes and a .meeting between
Lieut.-Gen. -Dwight B.- Eisenhower
and Prime Minister Winston Church
ill on his return from Moscow via
the Middle East again stirred specu
lation on the opening o£ a second
front and selection of a generalis
simo to, command it.
Barnes asserted that the Allied
production of munitions would sup
port "a full-sized army in any en
terprise,” but declined to comment
on the transport situation wffich
official circles considered still ser
ious.
The 56-year-old general, here as
head of a technical mission work
ing with British munitions pro
ducers, is an expert in developing
advanced types of armament, par
ticularly heavy ordnance and anti
aircraft weapons.
He declared the Allies need not
concede any superiority to the Ger
mans in qualitative weapons, and
added:
“It is no longer a question of
ordnance production as far as sup
plying a vast army is concerned.’’
A three-weeks’ tour of British fac
tories convinced him that British
women workers, doing such exact
ing- tasks as boring guns, are show
ing American women what they will
have to do to replace skilled male
mechanics.
“We employ women, but we are
going to have to employ many
more,” he _faid.
The comparatively rare meeting
of Churchill with the chief of Amer
ican forces in the European theatre
was authoritatively described as a
“visit by General Eisenhower to
pay his respects,” but it wras con'
sidered certain that the prime min
ister gave the general a full pic
ture of the critical Russian military
position and the second front pos
sibilities.
5 CZECHS CONDEMNED
BERN, Switzerland, Aug. 26—MP)
—Five Czechs were condemned to
death by the Nazi court at Bruenn
today for possession of arms and
ammunition, a Prague dispatch to
the newspaper Der Neue Tag re
P'- 1
Cause Of Kent Accident
May Be Told By Single
Surviving RAF Officer
LONDON, Aug. 26—OP)—What
happened to the Sunderland
flying boat that carried the
Duke of Kent to his death yes
terday against a mountainside
in the Scottish highlands may
be told by a flight lieutenant
who turned up today as the
sole survivor of the air crash
in which it had been believed
all the crew perished.
More than 24 hours after the
plane crashed while taking the
Duke on a war mission to Ice
land, Lieut. Andrew Jack, a
24 - year - old Scotsman, was
found dazedly stumbling
through the heather.
From the tail-gunner’s post
he was thrown clear and had
wandered about three miles
from the scene, suffering
burns on face, arms and legs
but not seriously injured.
In all 13 were killed.
The Duke Will be buried with
full military honors but in
privacy for the safety of ,e
Royal Family, in the Royal
tomb house under St. George’s
chapel in Windsor castle wbr'e
others of the reigning family
lie.
tay-Mow
TAX PLAN VETOED
Senate Finance Committee
Rejects RumI Propo
sition On Payments
WASHINGTON, Aug. 26_ (iP) _
Bowing to treasury objections, the
Senate Finance Committee voted 13
to 3 today against incorporating in
the new revenue bill the Ruml
pay as you go” plan of collect
ing individual income taxes but
acted to retain a house-approved
5 per cent witholding levy on
wages, interest and dividends.
The latter levy, to become ef
fective next January 1, would pro
vide a measure of advance collec
tion since the amount paid in dur
ing the year would be credited
against the total income tax due
from each individual on March
5. 1944. The levy would be in
creased to 10 per cent on January
1, 1944,
-Chairman George (D-Ga) said
the committee had agreed to sim
plify the collection of this tax
as much as possible by permitting
employers to make deductions in
$0 wage bands instead of figur
ing each individual’s liability to
the penny.
He said also the committee had
agreed to limit the withholding col
lections on interest and dividends
bv exempting bond and coupon in
terest, as well as small dividends
paid by building and loan associa
tions, credit unions and other simi
lar organizations. (Such interest
and dividends would still be sub
ject, however, to the regula" in
come due March'15 of each year.)
The Rumy plan, proposed by
Beardsley Ruml, chairman of the
New York Reserve bank, would
have wiped out ’941 individual in
come tax liabilities and considered
payments made this year as apply
ing on 1942 taxes. At the end of this
and subsequent years, individuals
would figure their actual income
and make adjustments, paying ad
ditional tax or receiving refunds.
George announced that the com
mittee had rejected, 11 to 6, a
treasury modification of this plan
which would have excused the nor
mal taxes and first bracket sur
taxes assessed against individuals
on their 194! incomes, but would
(Continued on Page Five; Col. 2)
AXIS MOVEMENT
NOTED IN EGYPT
Observation Planes Report
Considerable Activity
At El Alamein
- .WITH THE ALLIED FORCES
IN THE WESTERN DESERT,
Egypt, Aug. 26.—(iP)—Considerable
movement of Axis amiored forces
was reported tonight by Allied re
connaissance planes returning from
observation of Marshal Erwin Rom
mel’s desert armies behind the front
west of El Alamein.
We are waiting in the desert quiet
for whatever tonight’s full moon or
tomorrow’s initial wane may bring.
Despite losses suffered at the
hands of Allied airmen, the Axis
has brought large reinforcements in
men and material into Africa and
nobcdy expects the present El Ala
mein positions to remain static in
definitely.
On this side, too, the strength
has increased since the withdrawal
to El Alamein, 75 miles west of
Alexandria, two months ago. The
old desert campaigners are rested
and the new armies are eager for
action.
Whatever despondency and weari
ness there may have been after the
defeats in Libya and the long
withdrawal to El Alamein is gone.
This is a fresh army with a new
command.
Airmen, also rested in the lull in
their activity, are already back in
actions which seem to foreshadow
bigger events.
In the past few days night straf
ers have poured incendiary bullets
on enemy camps and vehicle con
centrations. South African pilots
have gone back into the fray with
their Boston bombers. Fighter
bombers have attacked by day.
And spitfires in the hands of crack
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 4)
- -V
SOLON DISCUSSES
DRAFT CONFUSION
Senator Reynolds Calls For
Elimination Of Present
Complexities
WASHINGTON, Aug. 26~W_The
^elective Service system's move to
draft workers from vital war in
dustries, at a time when the War
Manpower Commission is trying
Wkee£ skllJ®d men on Production
m ^rZS t fr°m Sen' Revnolds
det^- f3V ® CaH for a definite
dete mination on who must work
and who must fight.
* lhe barman of the Senate Mili
“We’veT/?6 v,d newsr,anerm en
p°t,to eliminate the confu
sion Nobody knows what to ex
nect whether thev are -mine to be
drafted or not.” added
} nt^'ng ^e Selective Service
and Manpower Commission ought
to^ether t0 Ree if they have
sufficient nowers to work out a
definite nlan to apportion men
between the armed se-vices and
war industries, and if thev haven’t
the powers they need, then thev
should come to congress with rec
ommendations for new authority.
This should be done immediately,
to remove the public confusion.
“We’ve got to have some rule as
to who is going into the army and
navy, and who is going to do the
war work.”
Maj. Gen. Louis B. He-shey,
Selective Service chief, speaking
at Evanston. 111., last Fridav. said
"The number of able-bodied men
in industry must be drastically
reduced in the very near future.
(Continued on Fife Five: Col. S)
BLAST ENEMY PLANES
Results Of Terrific New
Struggle Are ‘Encour
aging’ Says Navy
BATTLE STILL RAGES
At Least 13 Of Invaders’
Ships Damaged In Wide
Spread Operations
WASHINGTON, Aug. 26.
W—American air power has
repulsed one Japanese inva
sion fleet seeking to recap
ture vital areas in the Solo
mon islands and has wreaked
havoc among attacking Japa
nese planes, the Navy dis
closed today.
All in all, the results of
the terrific new struggle for
strategic islands are “encour
aging,” a communique said,
but it made plain that a large
scale sea battle still was rag
ing north of the Solomons,
and that the outcome could
not yet be estimated.
However, as an indication
of the blows dealt the enemy
since he started his current
effort to regain control of
the southeast Solomons, the
Navy disclosed that at least
13 Japanese ships have been
damaged.
Six Left Burning
Six of these, including two des
troyers, were left burning fierce
ly after American bombers plung
ed upon enemy transports, cruisers
and destroyers approaching the
Major Island of Guadilcanal from
the northward on Aug. 24. Other
vessels in this fleet withdrew. The
enemy had thrown into the strug
gle. The other has been operating
(Continued on Page Three; Col. X)
-v
DESERT CONVOYS
SMASHED BY RAF
Hundreds Of Axis Troops
Killed West Of German
Advance Lines
CAIRO, Aug. 26—(#)—Hundreds
of Axis troops were killed o- dis
abled in long-range RAF fight
er raids on enemy transport col
umns west of El Alamein in the
western desert yesterday, it was
reported tonight amid indications
that a new big battle is develop
ing in Egypt.
Twenty vehicles were destroyed,
many of them loaded with troops
apparently bound for the Alamein
front some 80 miles west of Alex
andria. t
The column was attacked whMe
moving along the coastal road be
tween Matruh and Sidi Barrani.
Dispersed enemy aircraft on
three landing fields near El Daba v
also were attacked last night by
U. S. Army Air Force medium
bombers flying alongside South
African light bombers, RAF me
dium bombers hnd naval aircraft.
The attack on this coastal point
(Continued on Pare Five; Col. 8)
CD Needs
OFFICE STAFF: 2
(Women)
Volunteer typists, ability to
take dictation not essential, to
serve two half days per week
in the Volunteer Office, 416
Tide Water Building.
Enlisted yesterday
Air Raid Warden . 4
Clerical . 3
Filter Center .j 1
Messenger .j
Red Cross . 1
Total . 10