Utilities Commission
Denounced By Bellamy
(Continued From F»»e One)
cFC order directing the As
cent sr. and Eiectric com
s°cia to dispose of its holdings,
filling Tide Water.
“ prospective legislators
B°tn heir full assistance to the
Pledgef in acquiring control of the
c0Un(; company if an investiga
P'on should Prove the move feas'
believe that the time is ripe
.v ritv council to proceed to
for ge. ‘t;ie advisability and
asCel ohilitv of the city acquiring
practn nbmt) ^ ^ Ti(Je Water
?owePr company.” Mr- Kermon de‘
C'arE? .oh it is problematic
city can buy the com
c'.hethe Kermon snid, he sug
Pan>. rhat a committee from the
meet with representatives of
municipalities in tne Tide
Wafer area with a view toward
purchasing the company s prop
=aid that Tide Water prop
- listed at $4,370,000 but
-undoubtedly its holdings are far
„Cess and somebody is going
have to take a loss.”
Former City Commissioner Wade
,.u the council to investigate the
fition and then submit the facts
In the public and that he left that
., pU0lic would approve the pur
t ase if put to an election.
•Tie opportunity is here for the
r-uncil to" do a good turn to the
people os Wilmington,” he de
clared.
]n the discussion which followed
in:.Vor's report, Councilman
L Vow suggested that the
,”o todies cease their efforts to
f -id a further rate reduction and
concentrate on the outcome of the
SEC'S order,
■•Its rotten, it's unfair for 8,000
people to continue to pay those
atsurd rates for another 12 or 18
n-r he.” the mayor retorted while
County Commissioner Harry Gard
r ■ declared:
I'd rather walk out of here to
morrow and resign than to' sub
to that backscratching com
r 'sion up there.”
c joint session then agreed
i - ell members of both bodies
i uld request an appointment be
( :s the commission on September
; nd that representatives of oth
f govsrnmKtd bodies in the Tide
Water area would be requested to
r. -ad.
"ie full membership of the eoun
' and Chairman Addison Hew
and Commissioners Gardner
; :d .James M. Hall were present
i • the meeting.
1 urn limous vote of thanks to
Mayor Eellamy for his work dur
•- vear for a hate re
r ciki was adopted and the body
nsed to the appointment of two
members from the council and
' ”i county board to work
v the mayor.
‘The utilities commission has
r- '”t?ally disregarded our re
PARK&TILFORD
RESERVE
PARKlTlLFORD
v^SERVE,
WSISRiTY
A S3.® FID
$2^ qvjab^
i ?v&
1 70»* me.. NIWYORK. N.Y.
\ .,}
quests for action,” the mayor de
clared in his report.
“They have the facts (on the
contrast between Tide Water rates
and other North Carolina cities)
and they are afraid to give it to
you because it’s so startling it’s
embarrassing.”
“The apparent attitude and in
decision on the part of the North
Carolina utilities commission in
connection with the petition of’ the
city and county for fair, equitable
and competitive rates, would in
dicate, although it is the duty
and responsibility of the commis
ceive such rates, and that it has
sion . to see that the people re
shifted its obligation to the shoul
ders of the public,” the mayor de
clared.
“Based on figures presented by
the utilities commission, the rev
enue from commercial users in
New Hanover county alone for the
12 months ending June 30, 1941, was
$229,000. Taking the commission's
cwn figures and the same num
ber of consumers in the same clas
sification, we would like to ask the
commission what the commercial
users in other cities in North Caro
lina comparative to Wilmington,
would pay?
“Mr. Winborne stated that the
proposed rates, offered New Han
ever county are lower than the na
tional average. New Hanover
county is not interested in the na
tional average. It is interested in
what it has to pay in comparision
with other counties in North Caro
lina.
“He furthered stated that no
provision is made for any inter
est to the common stockholders.
Certainly, he is familiar with the
capital structure, accounting prac
tices and the financial history of
the Tide Water power company and
ted Gas and Electric corporation
but does the public know who the
stockholders are?”
The mayor quoted the Securities
and Exchange commission as de
claring that “all of Tide Water’s
common stock is owned by the
General Gas and Electric com
pany, a holding company, and that
the common stock of the Gas and
Electric company was in turned
owned by Denis J. Driscoll and
Willard L. Thorp of New York, as
trustees of the Associated Gas
and Electric company. By virture
of this stock ownership, these
trustees control Tide Water Power
company.”
The estimated $25,000 a year
savings to New Hanover residen
tial consumers under the recent
rate reduction will cost Tide Water
only about $12 000 a year, the may
or declared, based on the proposed
combined Federal Normal and
Surtax rates of 45 per cent and
the state 6 per cent tax.
Mayor Bellamy quoted the re
port of the Securities and Exchange
commission on the im^stigation
on the Associated Gas and Elec
tric corporation as follows:
“The financial statements of As
sociated were marked by the “pau
city” of the information disclosed
and by failure to reveal significant
circumstances necessary so that
the information might be properly
evaluated. They also failed to dis
close the substantial amount of
write-ups in fixed capital, and to
disclose that the appraisals were
not made by an independent ap
praiser.
“We are left with the feeling that
the principal purpose of the com
pany was not to disclose frankly,
tut to mystify, baffle, mislead and
conceal and that the audits and
certificates of the accountants did
nothing to prevent the accomplish
ment of that purpose,”
Mayor Bellamy charged that
there was a discrepancy between
the Tide Water’s statements ot
valuations and earnings, as pre
sented at the April hearing in Ra
leigh before the utility commission,
rnd the excess earnings of the
company for 1939, 1940, and 1941, as
reported by the Federal Power
commission. . .
“Has the utilities commission
made any attempt to reconcile or
justify the Tide Water’s figures
with those furnished by ^the Fed
eral Power commission?” he ask
cd*
“The discrepancy is too great to
go uncorrected and it is of para
mount importance in the reflection
oi true valuations.”
“In conclusion, the rates paid by
residential and commercial users
of power in New Hanover county
in the past 25 years would have
exceeded those paid by like-users
-r other parts of our state by many
hundreds of thousands of dolla s
alone and this saving alone would
have covered the entire cost of the
construction of a muniopally-own
edplant, large enough to serve the
people of New Hanover county
for many years to come.
‘PAY-AS-YOU-GO’
TAX PLAN VETOED
(Continued from Page One)
have required larger taxpayers
to oav the remainder of their sur
taxes^ver a period of two or three
PtThe chairman emphasized that
the votes taken on these ProP0^
were tentative and Senator Taft
(R-Ohio) said he and Senator Cla£
m-Mo) would attempt to reopen
the subject tomorrow by P'Ohosmg
that the Ruml plan be hnked with
a 5 per cent withholding tax.
The treasury already had insist
ed in a report to the commit
the Ruml plan were adopted u
be linked with a withholding tax
at the source all of the n
and first bracket surtax levies that
would be assessed against low i
come persons under terms of the
nCTaftl said he thought that was
too great a burden, but expressed
GOVERNOR SLATED I
TO SEE SHIPYARD
(Continued From Pofe One)
will get under way at about 1:15
o’clock at the launching stand at
one of the nine shipways, are be
ing completed. Representatives of
the parent company, the Newport
Mews Shipbuilding and Drydock
company, will be present.
The program will reach its cli
max with the launching of the
Roger Williams, 26th ship to near
completion at the yards, at 2
o’clock. The vessel will be spon
sored by Mrs. William Chanler,
of Syoset, Long Island. It is named
for the founder of Rhode Island
and a pioneer of religious free
dom in America.
The “M” pennant is awarded to
any shipyard when it consecutive
ly delivers Liberty ships into serv
ice in 105 days or less from the
keel laying to delivery from all its
shipways. As this shipyard has
nine ways, it delivered that num
ber of ships with the time of con
struction of each of them ranging
from 105 days to 72, the latter
period a record for the North
Carolina company.
The yard started on its path
toward the “M” pennant and Mari
time Labor Merit Insignia for all
employes with the laying of the
keel of the J. Van Rensselaer on
March 10, 1942. One hundbed and
five days later this ship was de
livered into service. The construc
tion periods for 4he remaining
eight freighters were as follows:
Artemas Ward, 98 days; Edward
Rutledge, 100 days; Abel Parker
Upshur, 92 days; William Haw
kins, 84 days; Hugh Williamson,
74 days; William R. Davie, 72
days for the yard record; William
Gaston, 74 days, and William A.
Graham, 75 daj'S.
In winning the “M” pennant
and the Maritime Labor Merit in
signia, the yard also receives the
right to fly the Victory Fleet flag
-V
SOLON DISCUSSES
DRAFT CONFUSION
(Continued from Page One)
Industry must replace so-called
vital men otherwise eligible for
the draft with women and older
men. From here on, when the
army needs the man, there will be
no waiting ntil he is replaced.”
This followed by only two months
a directive issued by manpower
chief Paul V. McNutt to Hershey
asking that action be taken to as
sure that "to the extent required
for the maintenance of essential
activities, individuals who are en
gaged in essential occupations in
essential activites are temporari
ly deferred (from the draft).”
Moreover, McNutt asked that
men with essential skills employ
ed at essential work be given a
chance to find jobs in vital war
industries, before being called for
induction in the army.
A Selective Service spokesman
emphasized today that McNutt’s
directive said such workers should
be deferred “temporarily,” and it
never was intended that such de
ferments be “indefinte or perma
nent.” Occupational deferments
have been made for six months
periods.
A Manpower Commission official,
who declined to be quoted by name,
said that so far there had been
no “inconsistencies” between Se
lective Service and the Manpower
Commission, and that Hershey had
been “very cooperative” with Mc
Nutt.
Reynolds said he had no criti
cism of either Hershey or McNutt,
that both needed men, one for the
fighting forces and the other for
the Wa- Production lines. He em
phasized that he was calling only
for them to get together and work
out a plan whereby men now in
war industries may know whether
they will remain at the work bench
es or will be called in the draft.
DESERTCONVOYS
SMASHED BY RAF
(Continued from Page One)
30 miles west of the main Egyptian
battleline marked the first time in
this theater of the war that mem
bers of the four forces had flown
together on such an operation.
RAF medium bombers straff
ed the battle area elsewhere,
scoring hits and starting fires
among enemy tanks and vehicles.
In another attack the leader of
a South African air force squad
ron, Lieut. Col. Brookenhagen. de
liberately flew into telephone
wires beside an enemy landing
field near Sidi Barrani, 200 miles
west of the main battleline at
Alamein, thereby breaking .up vi
tal communications at this import
ant stronghold.
Lieut.-Col. Brockhagen not only
flew his plane home safely after
this daring exploit, but he also
led his entire force unscathed. The
South Africans scored direct hits
on a Junkers 52 transport plane
on an airfield and machine-gun
ned others.
-V
LOW TEMPERATURE
CHARLOTTE, Aug. 26.- (JP) —A
new low temperature record for
Charlotte was established today.
The minimum was 55 degrees, the
lowest for Aug. 26 since 1927, and
the lowest this year since May 26.
the opinion that 5 per cent would
be a “reasonable” withholding
levy.
The committee rejected the Ruml
plan, George said, largely because
of treasury protests that it would
be discriminatory in some of its
aspects
“Plane" Talk By
Mr. Roosevelt
“One extra plane completed
tomorrow may in a few
months turn the tide on seme
distant battle field. It may
make the difference between
life and death for some of our
fighting men.”
PVIV DEFENSE STAMPS
DU I U. S. RONDS
MONTICELLO
DINNER WARE
32-Fc. Set
Reg.
$6.98
Inspired by Thomas Jefferson’s
"Monticello” Home and Flotver
sprigged as the Crinolines that
grace its halls. A colorful design
of appealing simplicity — Ameri
ca at its traditional best.
CORN BROOM
Reg. 39c
29c
All corn broom
sewn 4 times.
Strong, long
wearing.
WASTE BASKET
Assortment
Keg. 35c
29c
Ea.
Bright sampler
figure on White.
Chinese red in
side. Choice of
colors.
DUST NOP
Naid of Honor
78c
Fluffy, lint
free mop in
most popular
shape. Detach
able hardwood
handle — large
head.
Refrigerator Pan
98c Value
78c
Modernize your
refrigerator with
these heavy por
c e 1 a i n pans.
Snug-fit cover.
White 13 1-2 x
9 1-2x4 In
ches.
CUSTARD CUPS
Reg. 6 for 25c
3c
Each
Genuine glass
bake ware in
popular 4 oz.
sizes.
Last Three Days
Buy Now and Save!
LIVING ROOM STYLE
BEDROOM COMFORT!
2-Piece
Daveno Suite
$5998
Sold On Easy Paymenis
Usual Carrying Charge
Pretty Is As Pretty Does . . . And this suite will do plenty to beautfy your
home and add comfort, too! Handsomely carved wood facings contrast smart
ly with tapestry coverings. Large, full sized sofa by day . . , full size, com-"
fortable bed by night . . . and easily, too! Jack-knife opening construction_
Honor-Bilt . . . August Priced!
9 x 12 All Wool Faced
AXMINSTER RUG
♦ Assorted
Colors
$3498
Also Sold On Easy Payments
Usual Carrying Charge
Long wearing construction
plus expert design and color
ing to flatter any room in
terior for years to come! You
must actually see and feel
this rug to appreciate its real
beauty and worth. Shop early
while selections are com
plete.
Payment Plan
DOUBLE DOOR
DISH CABINET
$16-88
Sold On Easy Payments
Looks enough like steel to fool
even an expert! Eeautifully
streamlined — like smartest
metal cabinets! A big', spa
cious beauty ... 24 inches
wide, 13 3-4 inches deep, and
63 1-2 inches high—with five
roomy shelf spaces. White
enameled; red trim; b!ack re
cessed base.
Single Door_•_$12.88
Bar Harbor Rug
22 x 34"
^ Reversible,
\ washable and
> radical close
y woven with
reinforced
edge. Attrac
tive fringe
HI-CHAIR
Sturdy
$
!
Sturdy hard
wood, finished
in non-poiso
nous maple,
wax birch, or
ivory. Safety
strap. Hard-to
tip legs.
END TABLE
$1.28
Practical . .
serves as occa
sional or end
table! Staunch
ly fashioned of ,
select hard
wood and fin
ished in wal
nut.
BIG WHITE
CABINET
$3488
Sold On Easy Payment
With features found in other
cabinets of the highest price
bracket ... A real bargain!
Slide-out top is heat and stain
resistant. Selected hardwoods
throughout . . . sturdy con
struction! Spacious interior
for utility storage!
307 North Front St.
Wilmington. N. C.
Dial 6626
OCCASIONAL
ARM CHAIR
$7®»
• On Sale!
Comfortable, well made, and
smart! Note the heavy turned
front posts and fluted arms.
Sturdy hardwood frame. Soft,
padded seat and back. Upholster
ed in rich rayon-and-cotton vel
our. Assorted colors.
Rocker To Naich __$8.88
VICTORY
GARDEN HOSE
25-Fl.
Reg.
$1.89
*1 IS
Good quality rubber covered
hose. Standard couplings, 25
feet.
50-Ft----$2.88 |
LIGHT BULBS
Reg. 10c
* FOR
15c
High quality . .
American made
‘‘1000”-hr. bulbs
15, 25, 40, 50, 60.
and 75 - watt
sizes!
Master Mixed
HOUSE PAINT
Gal.
In 5-Gal. Lots
Top qua 111 y
h o u s e paint
Added beauty
and lasting
protecting.
Specially
priced.
ROLL ROOFING
35-lb. Roll
$1.15
Heavy, 1 o n %
wearing genuine
mica - surfaced,
asphalt - coated
felt. No cheap
mineral fillers
used! Roll cov
ers 100 sq. ft
Black. Fire re
sistant.
SHINGLES
Non-Fading
Sta-So Slate
Reg. $4.49
$3.88
Extra value!
Smart hexagon
al design! Finest
felt thoroughly
asphalt saturat
ed and surfaced
with non-fading
"Sta-So” slate.