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Served By Leased Wire Oi The ASSOCIATED PRESS NEWS AND FEATURES With Complete Coverage Of State And National News REMEMBER PEARL HARROR AKD BATAAM VQL. 49.—NO. 121.__ WILMINGTON, N. C., FRIDAY, APRILXl943 FINAL EDITION ESTABLISHED 1867. “ HUGE NAVAL BUILT IN COUNTY FDR IssuesiDrastic Order For Control Of All Wages - M_ President Freezes Practi-1 rally All Prices At Pres ent Levels TO COMBAT INFLATION Move Is Latest Effort To Fight Rising Cost Of Living In Nation WASHINGTON, April 8.— (/P) _ President Roosevelt tonight virtually froze all prices and drastically tight ened barriers against wage increases in a sweeping “hold the-line order” against infla tion. To back up his wage con trols, he authorized Manpow er Commissioner Paul V. Mc Nutt to forbid anyone to take a new job at higher pay un less the change would aid the war program. And, as a fourth step, he asked that rate regulatory bodies refuse rate increases to utilities and carriers and reduce them where possible. Calls On Congress Yet these actions alone would not suffice to halt inflation, Mr. Roose velt said, and called on Congress to enact tax and savings legislation to hold in check excess purchasing power. "I am exerting every power I possess to preserve our stabiliza tion program,” he said in a state ment. ''I am sure that Congress will cooperate.” Mr. Roosevelt issued both an ex ecutive order and a statement in explanation of it. His order directed that the price administrator and the food admin istrator take steps immediately to place ceiling prices on all com modities affecting the cost of liv ing, meaning that fresh fish, all vegetables and fruits and any other items now exempt must be brought under price controls. In addition, Mr. Roosevelt di rected that they "immediately use all discretionary power vested in them by law to prevent further price increases direct or indirect, to prevent profiteering and to re (Continued on Page Seven: Col. 3) -V M’ARTHUR LAUDS MEN OF BATAAN Southwest Pacific Com mander Notes Anniver sary Of U. S. Defeat SOMEWHERE IN AUSTRALIA. Friday, April 9.—(B—In a state ment commemorating the first an-! niversary of the surrender of American and Filipino forces on Bataan peninsula, Gen. Douglas MacArthur said today: “A year ago today the dimming light of Bataan’s forlorn hope flut tered and died. Its prayers by that time, and it prayed as well »s fought, were reduced to a sim ple formula rendered by hungry men through cracked and parch ing lips: 'Give us this day our daily bread.’ The light failed. Ba taan starved into collapse. "Our flag lies crumpled, i t s proud pinions spat upon in the gutter: the wrecks of what were °nce our men and women groan and sweat in prison toil; our faith ful Filipino wards, 16,000,000 souls, gasp in the slavery of a conquer fContinuerd on Page Seven: Col. 2) American Airmen Down 37 Jap Planes Over Guadalcanal Island Washington, April 8.—ca>»— ahe Japanese, in their greatest Sei'ial assault against the Guadal canal area since last November, hurled almost 100 planes Wednes av against precious American ship Cm5 oft that battle-weary isle. Merican fighters, rising to inter CePt, shot down 37 enemy planes *nii lost seven, the Navy disclosed oday a ratio 0f one to five. ^ Whether any bombers got through atta°k the ships was not made known. Speculation immediately rose here I a whether ihe assault, signaled the . °f big new Japanese c c 1', i S some have expected for i I |^'s- Not since early February ( ■ 'he enemy shown up in force J11 f;'iadalcaijal. < ’ics what Happened to tlie force i * Japanese bombers and 48 ZeroJ i fighters escorting them, according to the Navy: 21 Zero fighters, 5 dive bombers and 10 planes, “of types unreported," destroyed; another Japanese plane crashed. United States planes lost were one Airacobra fighter and six, Wildcat fighters. One American pilot was rescued. The Navy communique was re leased coincidental with a press con ference at which Secretary of War Stimson said that Japanese air strength is growing in the Pacific. He added, however, that American strength has been increas ed aiso—“and further increases are in immediate prospect-’ in India. China and llie southeast Pacific. At the same time. Secretary Stim son asserted that American airmen in the north Pacific are malting the positions of Japanese garrisons on the Aleutian islands or Kiska and Attu “increasingly precarious.” He said U. S. attacks are being step ped up despite adverse weather. j In addition to the enemy aircraft] wrecked at Guadalcanal, another plane, a four-engine flying boat, was destroyed Wednesday when American Avengers and Dauntlesses dive-bombed Rekata bay, Santa Isa bel island. The destruction of 38 planes in that one day’s fighting raised to 943 the total of enemy air craft shot down or bombed to pieces on the ground in the Solomons campaign to date. The action around Guadalcanal came late on the second of two days which brought a marked intensifi cation of aerial activity by both sides in the Solomons sector. Amor (Continued on Page Eight: Col. $) Official Of Shipyard Resigns Position To Accept Florida Post 0. M. Richardson, assistant personnel director of the North Carolina Shipbuilding company here for the past two years, an nounced his resignation from the shipbuilding company Thurs day. Mr. Richardson said he had accepted a position as personnel director of the Saint John’s River Shipbuilding company at Jacksonville. Fla. He said he planned to leave the company here around April 15. In addition to his other duties, Mr. Richardson is a member of the price panel of the Nev Han over War Price and Rationing board and a member of the War Housing committee of the New Hanover defense council. He said he planned to submit his resignation to the two bodies within the next few days. DRIVER IS HELD ! IN ROAD DEATH Coroner’s Jury Finds Camp Davis Soldier’s Death Due To Operator O. H. Keese of 314 North Second street, a truck driver for Mac Millan and Cameron Oil company here, was bound over to the New Hanover grand jury after a coro ner’s jury, meeting Thursday aft ernoon, had implicated him in the death of Pvt. Lloyd W. Slover of Camp Davis. Slover died in the post hospital Tuesday afternoon of injuries re ceived when he was struck by an oil truck, allegedly driven by Keese, at the intersection of Fifth and Orange streets Sunday. The jury found that Slover “came to his death from injuries resulting from his being struck by an oil truck driven by O. H. Keese.” Keese is free under 32,000 bond at present and Coroner Asa W. Allen said after the inquest that he thought the bond was sufficient to hold the driver for the grand jury. Pvt. Thomas Saad of Camp Da vis, who was with Slover at the time of the accident, testified that he and Slover left the USO club on the northwest corner of Fith and Orange and walked across the intersection. At the time, he said, he noticed an automobile (later testified to have been driven by J. A. Varga) stop at the stop sign across Orange street. “My Buddy was about two feet up on the sidewalk when the truck hit him,” Saad, whose home is in Danbury, Conn., declared. He said he reached the sidewalk a few feet ahead of Slover. Other witnesses told how the truck, proceeding west on Orange street, swerved sharply to the right, to apparently avoid hitting the Varga automobile, and ran up on the northeast corner of the in tersection, striking Slover and run ning over him. Two wheels of the truck were (Continued on Page Two; Col. 3) DEADUMETODAY Friday, April 9, is the last day for filing in the forthcom ing city election. Chairman H. G. Carney, of the city elections board, warn ed that his office would close promptly at 6 p. m. and after that time no candidates would be accepted. __ Yovv * Sines To Run Again For City Post Mayor Will Not File For| Re-Election; Brand Al- | so Out Of Race REASONS DIVULGED Both Men Declare That Pressure Of Businesses Require Move i With the closing time for! filing for the municipal pri-j mary less than 24 hours away. both Mayor Edgar L. Yow, head of the city government for the past five months, and Councilman J. N. Brand, Jr., the city treasurer, announced last night that they would not be candidates for re-elec tion. Both gave the demands of their individual businesses as; the reason for not seeking; council seats for a second i term. The mayor is an attor-; ney while Mr. Brand is an au- j ditor of passenger receipts] for the Atlantic Coast Line; Railroad company. Little Interest Noted To date, the municipal election has attracted little interest and only seven candidates including the re maining three members of the present council, have filed for the primary, as against 36 candidates for the council in the first mu nicipal primary under the new gov ernment two years ago. “It has given me a great deal i of pleasure to serve the people of Wilmington as their councilman and as their mayor,’ Mr. Yow said last night. “I regret deeply that my busi ness interests will not permit me to again be a candidate for the council.” “My term of office on the council has been most enjoyable,” Mr. Brand declared. He said that the pressure of business would'not per mit him to devote enough time1 (Continued on Page Eight: Col. 4) CHILD INJURED BY AUTOMOBILE Three Year Old Son Of Maffitt Village Family Seriously Hurt Freddie Pate, three-year-old son of Mrs. Fannie Pate of 105 Davie drive, Maffitt village, was seriously injured wlfen struck by an auto mobile on the Caroline Beach high way near the war housing project at noon Thursday. Attendants at the hospital Thurs day night described his condition as satisfactory. Officers from the sheriff’s de partment who investigated the ac cident said the boy left Reed’s Grocery store and ran out on the highway, apparently right in front of an automobile driven by Joe Powell, Negro. Powell, they said, swerved his automobile off the highway to avoid hitting the child. His automo bile was travelling at a moderate speed at the time, witnesses said. “Sonnie Boy,” Pate’s brother, was with him at the time but was not injured in the accident. BRITISH EIGHTH ARMY DRIVING AFTER ENEMY An Axis View Of Tunisia The Axis high command, looking toward Tunisia from the north, beholds a shrinking sector of once-h,uge holdings, with: The British Eighth Army and the Americans scoring fresli gains in south Tunisia after a long awaited junction with U. S. forces from the west- and the British First Army threatening the strongholds of Tunis and Bizerte. Americans And British S wap T unisian T rophies WITH U. S. FORCES IN SOUTHERN TUNISIA, April 7-—(Delayed)—(/P)—“Hello, you Limey!” That was the affectionate hail given by Sergt. Joseph A. Randall of State Center, Iowa, to Sergt. A. W. Acland of Maida Vale, London, as reconnaissance patrols of the Brit ish Eighth Army and armored forces of the Second U. S. Army corps met in a historic juncture on the hard-surfaced road amid desert wastes 42 miles from Gabes today. “Very glad to see you,” answered Acland, with typical British restraint. 1 ' These two enlisted men — the helmeted, grinning American and the freckled, red-haired Briton with blue beret, stepped forward and shook hands for the first formal contact uniting British forces which had pursued Field Marshal Erwin Rommel 1,500 miles and the Americans who slapped the Ger mans back '40 miles from Kasser ine pass in six weeks. This is Acland’s own story of the meeting, to which soldiers of both organizations had been awaiting eagerly for weeks: “At first we thought you were Jerries because of your helmets. We had been having trouble with Jerry all the night before and all this morning we had been picking up Italian prisoners. i we were seriously considering | opening fire on you, especially I when we saw a big gun sticking out of your armored lorries. Then we got the idea it was you. We remembered everybody yesterday was saying we would meet the Yanks today and when you fellows started running out of your ve hicles we recognized you. “Then everything happened at once. We were in a big stretch of wasteland in the middle of nothing. There were five armored cars on your side — your half tracks with 75-millimeter guns — and we had three armored dingos or scout cars, each holding two persons.” “There was a lot of handshaking. A small community took form on the spot. Some of the Yanks start ed offering us American cigarettes (Continued on Page Seven: Col. 1) WEATHER FORECAST: North Carolina: Continued warm 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., 58; 7:30 a. m., 63; 1:30 p. m., 76; 7:30 p. m., 66. Maximum 77; Minimum 51; Mean 64; Normal 60. Humidity 1:30 a. m., 81; 7:30 a. m., 76; 1:30 p. m., 53; 7:30 p. m, 71. Precipitation Total for the 24 hours ending 7:30 p. m., 0.00 inches. Total since the first of the month, 5.89 inches. Tides For Today High Low Wilmington - 12:52a 8:13a l:15p 8:21p Masonboro Inlet - 10:59a 4:52a 11:14p 5 :00p Moore's Inlet - >11:06a 4:57p 11:19p 5:05p New Topsail Inlet- 11:11a 5:02a (Elmore's) - ll:24p 5:10p (All Times Eastern Standard) Sunrise, 5:48 a. m.: Sunset, 6:39 p. m.; Moonrise, 9:31a.; Moonset, 11:23p. (Continued on Page Seven: Col. 1) WILMINGTON CASH BALANCE REDUCED Expenditures By City Gov ernment Exceed Rev enues In March The city’s financial outlay dur ing the month of March exceeded revenues for the month by approx imately $50,000, reducing the cash balance built up in the city treas ury over the nine months since the fiscal year began to $364,278.44, City Manager A. C. Nichols said Tuesday. Revenues totalled $68,554.53 dur ing the month while expenses were $117,564.20. Pointing out that on nearly ev ery source of revenue the income has far exceeded budgetary esti mates, City Manager Nichols said the decrease in the cash balance was anticipated. He said the major item in the $117,564 outlay for the month was (Continued on Page Two; Col. 4) » ■ — Blaze Extinguished In Record Room Of Local Customshouse A slight fine which broke out in the court records room of the U. S. customshouse ear ly Thursday afternoon was quickly extinguished by fire men. Damage to the store of rec ords in the room was slight, as the flames appeared to have scorched only a few papers. Officially, no reason for the fire was ascribed. However, some observers believed spon taneous combustion promoted the flames; others believed the fire sprang from a lighted cig arette accidentally dropped in the room. —i NOTICE! If your carrier fails to leave your copy of the Wil mington Morning Star, Phone 2-3311 before 9:00 a. m. and one will be sent to you by special messenger. r -. General Anderson In North Drives To Within 27 Miles Of Tunis ALLIES HOLD SOUTH Montgomery’s Forces Now Nearing New Junction With Americans ALLIED HEADQUAR TERS IN NORTH AFRICA, April 8.—(IP)—The British Eighth Army, gaining 15 miles in the coastal pursuit of Marshal Rommel’s forces, was reported tonight only 25 miles from a junction with another American column, which was driving toward the sea in the Maknassy-Mezzou na sector of Central Tunisia. In the north Gen. K. A. N. Anderson’s British First Ar my, striking out northeast ward in the Medjez-el-Bab region, reached a point with in 27 airline miles of the Axis stronghold of Tunis. Field dispatches said all southern Tunisia now is in Al lied hands after the British shattered the wadi Akarit lines and made their first junction with the Americans on the Gafsa. New Juncture Expected The next juncture of the British with an American column vas ex pected in the area betwe^ ’ Mez zouna and Graiba, more than 50 miles up the coast from Gabes. There were indications that ad vance Eighth army troops already had swept beyond Cekhira (la Skhirra), a coastal settlement within 50 miles of Sfax. Twenty-five miles to the north west U. S. troops under T.ieut.-Gen. George S. Patton, Jr., were bat tling German armored columns near Mezzouna in an effort to break through to the sea and cut off Rommel’s retreat. The swift Eighth army pursuit also indicated ’hat Rommel would be unable to make another defen sive stand in Cekhira sector be tween the sea and the Sebkret salt marsh. The Americans fighting near (Continued on Page Eight: Col. 3) _\T_ DIRECTORS NAMED FOR TRADE GROUP Balloting Completed For Chamber Of Commerce Yearly Election Balloting for the Chamber of Commerce board of directors was completed Thursday afternoon, and the 15 men to serve the organiza tion for the 1943-44 session were announced by F. O. Fockler, sec retary of the Greater Wilmington Chamber of Commerce. Named to the board of mem bers. voting by mailed ballot, were W. E. Curtis, W. A. Fonveille, N. L. Foy, E'. L. White, E. A. Laney, W. D. McCraig, H. A. Marks, F. P. O’Crowley, D. H. Penton, L. A. Raney, H. C. Rorison, J. G. Thornton, E. R. Toms, J. K. Ban nerman, and E. B. Bugg. According to election rules tor the Chamber of Commerce, "not (Continued on Page Seven: Col. 1) Russians Defeat German Forces In Bitter Fighting Near Izyum LONDON, Friday, April 9.—— Russian troops fighting bitter but apparently localized tank and in fantry battles in the Izyum sector of the Donets basin scored success es both in offense and defense against the Germans Thursday, the Soviet midnight communique said today. On one unnamed sector of this front the Russians attacked the en emy and "occupied a favorable de fense line,’ said the communique recorded here by the Soviet mon itor. "In fighting for this line,’’ the bulletin continued, “about a company ot infantry was wiped out.” • South of Balakleya. which is 27 miles northwest of Iyum on the railroad from Kharkov, the Ger mans attacked with an infantrj battalion supported Uy a dozen tanks, but were beaten back, the Russians said. “The Hitlerites ■were met with artillery and mortar fire,’’ said the communique. “When the German formation was disorganized our men launched a counterattack and hurl ed back the enemy to his initial po sition. Three hundred and fifty German officers and men were wiped out. Four German tanks were burned or destroyed.” These successes were reported after Moscow dispatches, quoting the official Soviet army newspaper Red Star, told of the Russians routing the enemy from several ad vantageous positions in the Izyum sector after taking a heavy toll of Nazi casualties in the past week or ten days. Elsewhere the front remained quiet, the communique^noting that no significant changes" occurred anywhere. On the western front where the Russians have driven to approxi mately 30 miles from '.ho- big Naal base of Smolensk, the Soviet troop* "fortified their positions and con. ducted fighting reconnaissance,” the midnight bulletin said adding that "our artillery and infantry arms wiped out more than 150 Gejw man officers and men, and sileno. ed two artillery batteries.” A flare-up of action to the south on the front west of Rostov, wa* reported in which occasional blast* from artillery pieces were ex changed. One Soviet unit reported destroying six Nazi blockhouse* (Continued on Page Two n ----- Expected To BeSet Up In Northeastern Area $2,000,000 Already Appropriated For Con struction; Final Cost May Run Above $10,000,000 According to Estimates By HOWARD SUTTLE wr*0TTTw^'News Washington Bureau April 8-—The Navy department ha« oonCnoodJ2’0?0^00 for the “initial development” of a $1(U 200,000 Naval air field near Wilmington, N. C., Repress* tative J Bayard Clark of North Carolina, revealed tonight. Although the department has yet to make an official announcement concerning the location of the ten million dol* lar installation, it is understood that an area in northeast, ern New Hanover county, just south of Scotts Hill, haa been selected for the base. Architectural and engineering supervision for the mott* ster project will be handled by George Watts Carr of Dmv ham, whose firm has played a prominent part in the con. 4 Policeman Succumbs .... .. SERGEANT W. I). THOMPSON __ \T LOCAL DETECTIVE SERGEANT PASSES W. D. Thompson, Promin ent City Police Officer, Dies Here Thursday Detective-Sergeant W. D. Thomp son, head of the detective squad of the Wilmington police department, died in James Walker Memorial hos pital at 6:35 p. m. Thursday, follow ing a sudden heart attack. He was 44 years old. The detective-sergeant, who has played a leading role in the solution of the major crimes committed here in the past few years, had just re turned home Thursday from a trip when he was stricken by the heart attack. He was taken to the hospi tal where he died within a few hours. Funeral arrangements have not been completed. "Sergeant Thompson was one of our finest officers,” Chief of Police Charles H. Casteen said Thursday night. "He was both capable and effi cient in the performance of his du ties. The entire department regrets his loss.” Harry E. Fales, superintendent of the New Hanover bureau of inves tigation, who worked closely with Sergeant Thompson in criminal in vestigations here, also praised the departed officer and expressed deep regret over his death. Sgt. Thompson received a major share of the credit for the solution of the $5,000 Coca-Cola Bottling company plant robberies here last fall and the apprehension and con viction of the men responsible; the apprehension and conviction of five (Continued on Page Two; Col. 2) struction of Army and Navy can tonments and bases along: the At* lantic seaboard. Senator Robert R, Reynolds said tonight, that. Navy Secretary Prank Knox had advised him. Construction of the air field Is expected to further the boom in New Hanover county, whose pop* ulation has already been boosted to near the 100,000 mark. Compar* atively, the initial appropriation for the establishment of Camp Davis, large anti-aircraft training center near Wilmington, was only $9,000,000 although additions to the camp since its construction in 1941 has increased its value consider* ably. Representative Clark said that he was told that the $2,000,000 ap. propriation. already approved, would finance “acquisition of land, clearing, grading, drainage and construction of runways.” The Fayetteville congressman was of the opinion that, because ol' the immediate need for bases such as is planned by the Navy for Wilmington, it is anticipated that work on the location will be moved forward speedily, with its occupation by a detachment of the Navy's air force expected within only a short while. The Scott's Hill site was selected by the Navy after surveys had been made of locations in New Hanover, Columbus and Bruns wick. Details of the base, it was point ed out, will be kept secret because of war-time security restrictions. Funds for the base will come from the $1,256,607,000 Naval Shore Establishments appropriation bill, enacted by the House. A breakdown of the billion dol lar appropriation, according to Rep. Clark, authorizes the Navy to order construction of the Wil mington port at a cost not to ex ceed $10,000,000. Construction of the project will give New Hanover county two of the finest airports in the state. Work is now nearing completion on the Wilmington Army Air base, formerly Bluethenthal field before its lease to the War Department by the county. Eden Invites Hull To Visit England For Farther Talks LONDON, \pril 8.—W—Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden told th# House ot Commons today that h# had invited Secretary ot State Can dell Hull to visit Britai’' this suj®» mer to continue onversations <JO B: itish-American relations which he said should be based on thai# “true foundation—a common ifr terest in maintenance of worl4 peace.” His announcement, made during a report on his recent trip to th# United States and Canada, wai greeted with cheers. (I" Washing ton Hull said he apr>-- ated th# invitation, but had not yet mad# any plans).
Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.)
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April 9, 1943, edition 1
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