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VOLJft-NOJM-- WILMINGTON, N. C., WEDNESDAY. APRIL 21, 1M3 FINAL E~5ii5S-ESTABLISHED 1867~
I American Rifleman in Tunisia
I _ ■■ f m 'I i riTii, lla m i i ■■ ...
Among Hie palms ami sand dunes of Tunisia, an American soldier
draws a bead on his target with his Garand rifle.
C. McD. Davis Re-Named
President Of ACL Firm
C. McD. Davis, since last October president of the At
lantic Coast Line railroad, was re-elected to the presidency
at a meeting of the company’s stockholders in Richmond,
Yu., Tuesday, it -was learned here Tuesday night.
Mr. Davis was named president of the railroad when
f, B B. Eliott was made chair-’
, of the firm's executive com
n'iuc-e.
<:. Christian was elected assist
s: treasurer and E. A. Anderson
;. -tant comptroller of the compa-;
Both will retain their headquar-:
t. -i in Wilmington.
Mr. Christian entered the service j
0f the railroad in the office of the,
A:,,ijtor of Freight Receipts on Sep
t,.;n;,er 3, 1920, and was transferred
t the Treasury department and ap
j in ted Cashier on December 16,
Mr. Anderson entered the service
r f.e company on November 16,
!:C. as auditor, having previously
been connected for many years with
the Interstate Commerce commis
t.r.n and other government agen
cies. He was born and reared in
T . s and prior to coming to Wil
fCimtinued on Page Three). Col. 4)
-V
COMMERCE GROUP
NAMES PRESIDENT
H. A. Marks To Succeed E.
A. Laney For Coining
Term In Chamber
H. A. Marks, distributor of farm
machinery supplies, was elected
to the presidency of the Greater
V.'lmmgton Chamber of Commerce
at a meeting of the new board
of directors of the organization
Tuesday afternoon.
Mr. Marks succeeds E. A. Laney
WHO has filled the position during
the past year.
The slate of officers includes D.
II. Penton, first vice-president;
L. A. Raney, second vice-presi
dent; and H.“ H. Rorison, re-elect
ed treasurer.
A committee was drawn up to.
draft resolutions on the problem
of rent control in the Wilmington
community, to be presented to
Rep. J. Bayard Clark of Fayette
ville, who has asked that repre
sentative groups in the city and
county express their view on the
handling of rent ceilings here. The
resolutions will be handed to a
Congressional committee now con
sidering the matter of adjustments.
Chairman of the resolutions com
mittee is W. A. Fonveille, with
N. L. Foy and J. G. Thornton
serving with him.
-V
WEATHER
FORECAST
North Carolina: Little change in tem
perature today.
'EASTERN STANDARD JIME)
'By I . S. Weather Bureau)
Meteorological data for the 24 hours
e-Ming 7:30 p. m., yesterday.
Temperature
1:30 a. m., 62 7:30 a. m., 58; 1:30
P- m., 70; 7:30 p. m., 64; maximum,
■— minimum, —: mean, 60; normal, 63.
Humidity
1:30 a. m., 92 7:;30 a. m„ 50; 1:30
P- m., 58; 7:30 p. m., 55.
Precipitation
Total for the 24 hours ending 7:30
P m., 0.00 inches. Total since the first
of the month, 1.94 inches.
Tides For Today
'From the Tide Tables published by
c. S. Coast and eGodetic Survey).
High Low
Wilmington _ 10:28a 5:28a
10:58p 5:32p
Masonboro Inlet _ 3:13a 2:21o
8:43p 2:27p
Moore’s Inlet _ 8:18a 2:26p
8:47p 2:32p
Kcw Topsail Inlet_ 8:23a 2:31a
'Elemore’st _ 8:52p 2:37p
Sunrise, 5:34a; sunset, 6:48p; moonrise,
*:14P; moonset, 6.36a.
Cape Fear river stage at Fayette
v* 11 e on Tuesdav, at 8 a. m., 28.75
feet.
(Continued on Page 12; Col. 3)
MAILS TO CARRY
RATION BOOK 3
New Coupon Folder To Be
Sent Through Postof
fice To Consumers
WASHINGTON. April 20. —UPl —
War Ration Book No. 3 will be
distributed to the public. by mail
in June and July as a replacement
for ration books 1 and 2 when
they run out of stamps.
In making that announcement
today Price Administrator Pren
tiss M. Brown at the same time
told the public to “step hard” on
any rumors that the book might
be used for any other purposes.
Application blanks for the new
books will be left in mail boxes
by regular carriers between May
20 and June 5. The applications
are to be mailed back by June
10, and ration boards are expected
to sen^ the books in most cases
by the end of July.
Principal use of the new books
will be for sugar, coffee, and shoe
rationing, for which ration book
No. 1 now is used. Few stamps
remain in this book.
The No. 3 book also has four
pages of “point” stamps that may
be used either for canned goods
or meat when the number two
book runs out.
Announcing that Postmaster
General Walker has agreed to use
of the mails for the book in order
to relieve the public of school
house registration, Brown said the
(Continued on Page Ten; Col. 6)
Spinal Meningitis
Cases Are Reported
In Wilmington Area
There have been some five
to six cases of signal menin
gitis, contagious inflamma
tory disease of the tissues sur
rounding the spinal cord, in
New Hanover county in the
past 60 days, Dr. A. H. El
liot, city-county health officer,
said Tuesday.
He said the number of cases
was not alarming and, as yet,
there were no indications of
an epidemic.
The individual cases, Doctor
Elliot said, are responding to
treatment with sulfanilimide,
recently developed drug.
MORE RAIDS SEEN
War Department Warns
Enemy That Other At
tacks Lie Ahead
CARRIER WAS AIR BASE
U. S. S. Hornet Was “Shan
gri-la” Of Gen. Doo
little’s Fliers
WASHINGTON, April 20—
UP) — The War Department,
in a 4,000-word report lifting
secrecy of the Amy’s thrill
ing raid on Japan last April,
warned the enemy tonight
that “attacks still lie ahead’’
and disclosed these details of
the action which first carried
the war to the Japanese
homeland:
Major General James H.
Doolittle bailed out of his
plane over China, 12 hours
after the first takeoff from
the aircraft carrier Hornet.
Complete Success
The 16 B-25 Mitchell bombers
“carried out with accuracy and
complete success” their objective
of attacking armament plants,
dock yards, railroad yards and oil
refineries at Tokyo, Yokohama,
Kobe and Osaka, the report said.
Most of the 80 fliers landed in
unoccupied China and made their
way to Chungking. But eight are
presumed prisoners of the Japa
nese, five are interned in Russia,
and two are missing and one—
Corp. Leland D. Faktor of Ply
mouth, la.,,—is known dead.
The takeoff from the aircraft
carrier—the first known instance
in which such heavy planes have
hopped off from a “flat top”—was
first planned for just before dark,
so that Japan could be bombed at
night and the planes could reach
safety at Chinese airfields in the
morning.
When the Hornet was. 800 miles
from Tokyo “it met complica
tions,”—a Japanese ship was sunk
and it was feared word would
reach Tokyo. So the planes took
off 10 hours ahead of schedule and
“the added distance to be flown
naturally added greatly to the
hazards of the mission.”
Japanese pursuit planes made
some attempt to halt the raid over
Tokyo and the Nagoya raiders
encountered inaccurate anti-air
craft fire, but “one by one, each
objective of each plane was check
ed off.”
The most hazardous section of
the venture came after the planes
left Japan. With gasoline low in
their tanks, the fibers ran into a
storm and most of them bailed
out.
Some of the details of the raid,
such as the use of a 20-cent sub
situte bombsight in place of the
Norden bombsight, already had
been made known. The Japanese
themselves had broadcast last
January that the aircraft carrier
Hornet was used for the bombres’
takeoff. This ship was sunk last
October and in the naval and air
battle off Santa Cruz Island, but
the loss was not announced by the
United States Navy until January.
Names of the participating fliers
were announced last May when
Major General Doolittle was deco
rated by President Roosevelt—who
said the fliers took off from my
thical Shangri-La. That was the
United States’ first acknowledge
ment even that American planes
had made the raid on Tokio, al
though the Japanese radio an
nounced soon after the attack that
the bombers were American.
In an explanation of the secrecy,
| (Continued on Page Three; Col. 1)
More Food Ration Points
AvailableForCafesHere
Answering the word from cafe
teria and restaurant owners and
operators to the effect that they
would have to close their doors
for more days per week unless
substantial increase is made in
their point rationing quotas, a di
vision of the New Hanover War
Price and Ration board advised
Tuesday afternoon that supplemen
tary point allotments are current
ly available, if accurate state
ments concerning the number of
meals served since the introduc
tion of point rationing on March 1
are presented by the eating es
tablishments to the board.
“To date only a few applica
tions for supplementary point ra
tioning have been received. How
ever, we will, if the applications
are honestly and accurately filled
out, do our best to award food
ration supplements where they are
deserved,” department officials
said.
It was pointed out that addi
tional quotas could not be allowed
firms who do not keep a close
check on the number of meals
served. Also, an increase in the
amount of food for each person
served cannot be allotted.
Ration officials revealed that
OPA regulations on the issuance
of more food rationing points by
institutional users are “strict” and
1 (Continued on Page Three; Col. 5)
v
w--■
Meet Pvt. Smith
Paul C. Smith, newspaperman
who resigned his OWI post and a
Navy commission to join the Ma
! rines, is pictured in his combat liel
ipet on maneuvers at Parris Island,
S. C. Private Smith was named out
standing young mau of 1943.
Japanese Cargo Ship
Sunk By Big Bombers
Of Gen. MacArthur
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS
IN AUSTRALIA, Wednesday,
April 21.—IfP)—A small but
heavy hitting force of Flying
Fortresses bombed Wewak, New
Guinea, yesterday, destroying a
6,000-ton cargo ship and damag
ing a smaller boat.
Despite this latest in an ac
cumulation of aerial blows dealt
Japanese shipping, a spokesman
at the headquarters of General
Douglas MacArthur warned the
enemy has been reinforcing
ground and air components rap
idly in recent weeks.
- (These served to point up
other similar warnings sounded
by Gen. Sir Thomas A. Blarney,
commander in chief of Allied
ground forces and Lieut. Gen.
George C. Kenney, commander
of Allied air forces in the south
west Pacific that 200,000 first
line Japanese troops are being
moved into position on the ap
proaches to Australia and ene
my airfields expanded.)
The Price Of Ham
“No ham that can be bought
Is worth 92 cents a pound,”
OPA officials said Tuesday
night in commenting on the
price of ham reportedly being
paid at an establishment in
Wilmington.
According to the price offi
cials, the “exhorbitant” prices
said to have been placed on
haip and fat-back will receive
wide-spread investigation.
One citizen of the commu
nity reported Monday after
noon that she had paid 88 cents
for two pounds of fat-back.
“Ceiling regulations will not
permit that,” the authorities
commented.
r - *
Leaders Of 2 Countries
Meet After Long Period
MONTEREY, Mexico, April
20. — UP) — President Roose
velt and President Avila Ca
macho proclaimed the solidari
ty of their two adjoining coun
tries in war against their mu
tual foes, in the doctrine of the
good neighbor, and in promul
gating a peace in which no
group in one country may ex
ploit the resources and people
of another.
They spoke at a banquet here
a few short hours after the
first meeting of American and
Mexican chief executives in
thirty-four years.
Each mentioned the broth
erhood of arms achieved by
the two neighbor nations in a
conflict to crush the Axis pow
ers — a conflict which Mr.
Roosevelt once again promis
ed would end only in "uncon
ditional surrender.”
Each gave unstinting praise
to the good neighbor policy,
apparently projecting it into
the future as a possible foun
dation on which permanent
world concord might be built.
There was no definite hint
in the addresses, which were
broadcast, as to what specific
matters of state the two chief
(Continued on Page Nine; Col. 6)
LONDON BOMBED
BY NAZI PLANES
Few German Raiders Dump
Explosives On Two
Districts In City
LONDON, April 20.—UP)—A few
German raiders dumped bombs on
two London districts late tonight
during a brief alert that sent the
capital’s devastating anti-aircraft
barrage into action.
The Germans struck back after
swift Ventura bombers during the
day raided Nazi transport and in
dustrial targets in France and Bel
gium. Possibility that the Allies
might be raiding Europe by night
was seen in the shutting down oi
thg Berlin and Calais radios short
ly 3before midnight.
jhne enemy bomber was chased
over ode are's of London by a
stream of tracer shells until
fiame-tinged bursts compeled the
raider to twist and dodge.
Anti-aircraft crews shot out two
flares a few second after they had
been dropped.
Enemy raiders also were report
ed over southeast coast towns after
breaking through heavy defenses.
On the offensive side, the RAF
carried out its raids on railway
targets at Boulogne, docks at Cher
bourg, and an industrial plant at
Zeebrugge without the loss of a
plane.
Fighters accompanied the Ven
turas. but the Germans put up no
opposition, authoritative reports
said.
Two enemy fighters were report
ed destroyed in other operations.
An Allied fighter brought down
one enemy plane over the outer
Thames Estuary this morning, the
Ministries of Air and Home Se
curity said.
During the night, light RAF
bombers hit at German rail lines
and roads in Brittany, Holland,
and northwestern Germany and
shipping in the channel was at
tacked by Whirlwind bombers. All
(Continutd on Page Three; Col. 6)
S.S.Virginia Dare’s Guns
Destroy 7 Nazi Airplanes
WASHINGTON, April 20UP)—
The Navy disclosed today how a
freshman gun crew on the new
Liberty ship “Virginia Dare’s”
Maiden voyage into the war zone
shot down seven attacking Ger
man planes during their “baptism
of fire” and repelled “a series of
air and submarine attacks dur
ing a blazing eight-day battle.”
The entire crew of 25 Navy men
was cited for “outstanding brav
ery, cooperation and devotion to
duty” after the merchantman had
delivered its cargo of vital war
goods safely to a United Nations
port. The Silver Star medal was
awarded to Lieutenant fjg) John
L. Laird, Minneapolis, Minn.
Another officer commended for
the same action was Lieutenant
John H. Harshaw of San Francis
j co., Calif., who, though not a reg
| ular member of the armed guard
crew, volunteered and served as
gunner and battery officer during
the strenuous days of the enemy
attacks.
The Navy account of the action
said that in one instance a Junkers
88, already afire, turned to crash
dive into the bow of the Virginia
Dare.
“The men on the forward gun
waited.” the account continued,
“the gunner’s mate who was serv
ing as pointer calmly held his fi_e
until the plane was at point blank
range of 60 yards. The gun bark
ed_a split second passed—the
German bomber was blown to
pieces. It was one of the seven
enemy bombers catapulted into
watery graves by this crew com
posed largely of men who had
been in the Navy only a few
months.”
The Virginia Dare was built by
the North Carolina Shipbuilding
company at Wilmington, N. C.
Among those of the armed
guard unit who have received let
ters of commendation are the fol
lowing:
William Melvin Frazier, Lynch
burg, Va.
Thomas James Fournier, Buffa
lo, N. Y.
Gerard Ed#'in Ward, Astoria, N.
Y.
Arthur Lee, Chicago, 111.
Felix Edward Rey, New Or
leans, La., and Winford Norwood
Richardson, of Route 2, Conway,
S. C.
LAUNCHED FEBRUARY 3, 1942
The “Virginia Dare” was christ
ened at the North Carolina Ship
building company February 3,
1942, by Mrs. E. N. Inge of Roa
noke island. The launching mark
ed the first anniversary of the
founding of the local shipyard.
The vessel, named in memory
of the first white child born in
America, was the third freighter
to be launched by the Wilmington
firm. It was completed in con
siderably less time than that re
quired by the preceding two ves
sels, the Zebulon Vance and the
Nathaniel Greene.
. Another liberty freighter, the
William Moultrie, has been cred
ited with running the gauntlet, of
German attacks and doing great
damage to enemy planes and sub
marines.
COMPROMISE NEAR
ON TAX MEASURES
Republicans and Demo
crats About To Reach
Accord On Ruml Plan
WASHINGTON, April 20.— (A>) —
Republicans and Democrats
meeting behind closed doors,
reached a virtually co m p 1 e t e
agreement tonight on a pay-as
you-go compromise, and indica
tions were that the plan would
provide for abatement of approx
imately 50 percent of one year’s
income tax obligations.
The near-compromise was un
derstood to embrace a 20 percent
withholding levy against the tax
able portions of pay envelopes and
salary checks effective July 1.
Members of the bi-partisan con
ference group delayed announce
ment of their action until they
report formally tomorrow to
Speaker Rayburn (D.-Tex.) Re
publican Leader Martin of Massa
chusetts and Democratic Leader
McCormack of Massachusetts.
The compromise efforts appar
ently had brought the Republicans
far away from the Ruml plan to
skip an entire tax year, which
was beaten by the Democrats, 215
to 18, in the House three weeks
ago today. Likewise it apparently
veered Democratic leaders equal
ly distant from their previous
stand against any tax abatement
whatever.
It was understood the compro
mise would include a special tax!
exemption for men and women in
the armed services, probably pro
viding that they shall pay no taxes
on the first $3,500 of their service
base pay.
Rep. Knutson (R.-Minn.), lead
er of the Republican tax forces,
said ‘‘I think there is no doubt
but what there’ll be a tax plan.
We are very, very, very near to
agreement, and I think we’ll be
ready to announce a pay-as-you
go plan to the world at noon to
morrow.”
Chairman Doughton (D.-N. C.)
of the Ways and Means commit
tee, the Democratic tax leader,
also expressed confidence, and in
dicated the House would vote on
the compromise next week.
There was some evidence that
the compromise might be a modi
fication of a proposal by Doughton
to apply the much softer 1941
rates and exemptions to 1942 in
come, which would mean the com
plete erasure of last year’s lia
bilities for approximately 7,000,
000 taxpayers and substantial re
ductions for others. It previously
had been suggested to the six
man bi - partisan compromise
group that the reduced liability
be amortized over a period of
years, while taxpayers remitted
at the same time on taxes against
current year income under pay
as-you-go. In this connection also,
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 4)
Still They Come
WM»" I Wg I
First submarine launched by the
Cramp Shipbuilding Company, Phil
adelphia, since 1912, the U. S. S.
Dragonet, slides into the water. A
few minutes later, she was follow
ed by the U. S. S. Escolar as part
of the double launching. (Interna
tional.)
ARMY FIGHTERS
BOMBARD K1SKA
Fast Warplanes Tuck Bomb
Load Under Wings In
Latest Assault *
WASHINGTON, April 20.— —
Swift Army fighter planes with
bombs tucked under each wing
raided Japanese positions on Kis
ka island in the Aleutians nine
times Sunday; the Navy reported
today, scoring many hits in stra
tegic areas.
Fires were started in japan s
battered submarine base, a com
munique said, and other bombs
fell on sections of the enemy-held
island officially described as “the
North Head, Salmon Lagoon and
main camp areas.”
A Navy spokesman said that
North Head is at the northern
entrance to Kiska harbor and that
Salmon Lagoon lies just beyond,
but he did not explain what enemy
installations are set up at those
places. They may or may not be
developments in connection with
Japanese efforts to convert the
rocky hills of Kiska into an air
base. On previous raids Ameri
can bombers and fighters have
concentrated on the runway, rev
etments and hangars.
The nine attacks, carried out
by Curtiss Warhawks and Lock
heed Lightnings, raised to 124 the
number of times Kiska has been
raided by American aircraft since
the spring offensive against the
island started March 1. In April
alone 90 attacks have been made.
There was no explanation from
officials here as to why bombers
did not participate in Sunday’s
missions. Possibly the fighters op
erated from one base which was
free of bad weather while the
bombers available for action
might have been weatherbound at
another base.
Another possible explanation is
that the Aleutians command might
have believed the Japanese had
finally succeeded in getting land
based fighters on Kiska and might
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 4)
Russians Capture Nazi
Height Despite Attacks
LONDON, WEDNESDAY, April
21.—OP)—Sweeping into the offen
sive on the Kalinin front north
west of Moscow, Russian forces
on Tuesday attacked a strong Ger
man position and captured and
held an important height against
repeated enemy counterattacks,
Moscow announced today.
Battering vainly against the stra
tegic hill, dominating the entire
area, the Germans left about 3,000
officers and men dead on the field,
the Soviet midnight communique:
said.
In the western Caucasus, vio-(
lent attacks by German infantry |
supported by tanks and large,
forces of aircraft were repulsed
with heavy losses to the enemy, j
Russian anti-aircraft fire bringing ]
down 12 German planes during the
day and Russian aircraft knocking
out nine others.
The war bulletin, recorded here
by the Soviet monitor, also an
nounced minor activity on the
western front, where Russian units
killed about 100 enemy troops and
silenced an artillery and two ma
chinegun batteries, while south of
Balakleya in the Donets basin a
Soviet mortar unit wiped out a
company of Nazi infantry.
The German attacks in the Cau
casus were mounted with new
troops rushed to the Kuban area
in an attempt to widen the narrow
bridgehead extending 46 miles
from the heights of Novorossisk
(Continued on Page Nine; Col. 8)
A
RESUMES CAMPAIGN
Montgomery’s Veterans
Strike At Axis Positions
In Mighty Drive
MAY BE FINAL BATTLE
Latest Attack May Presage
Last Attempt Of Nazis
To Hold Tunisia
ALLIED HEADQUAR
TERS IN NORTH AFRICA,
April 20.—(tP)—Springing a
powerful, sudden infantry
charge by moonlight, the
British Eighth Army has re
sumed the offensive at Enfi
daville and seized mountain
heights dominating the coast
al road to Tunis 40 miles to
the north, Allied headquar
ers announced tonight.
Gen. Sir Bernard L. Mont
gomery loosed the assault late
last night, and took his initial
objectives in what appeared
to be the start of the final of
fensive to drive the Axis
from Tunisia.
In the skies, that offensive
was already underway, with
112 Axis planes, destroyed in
two days by the mighty Al
lied air arm.
Make 3 Mile oain
Montgomery's tough infantry
troops, again supported by artil
lery, smashed ahead in a three
mile advance to capture the Dje
bel Garci, a 1,200-foot height com
manding the area 12 miles inland
from the sea, battlefront spatch
es said.
Heavy fighting still continues,
said an Allied spokesman, who
announced briefly that the assault
had “penetrated the Enfidaville
position.” The attack into the
hilly, heavily-defended Axis posi
tions followed a lull of a week of
preparation by the methodical
Montgomery.
(The Paris radio reported that
“Two Anglo-American attacks in
the region of Medjez-el-Bab and
Bou Arada, to the northwest of
Enfidaville have been repulsed.”
The broadcast was heard in Lon
don by the Ministry of Informa
tion.)
Authoritative sources said there
was not expected to be any sud
den break-through such as was
typical of the desert actions, for
the infantry must fight for each
foot of ground, and advance hill
by-hill, storming each strong de
fense post separately.
While the Eighth Army was the
only force mentioned in the initial
drive, military circles said it was
certain that other pressure would
be brought to bear not only on
the land but in the air and on the
sea in a grand concert of action
against the 2000,000 Axis troops
i squeezed into the “coffin corner”
| of Tunisia.
i in attacKing oy inuomiBin, unr
' eral Montgomery was following a
favorite tactic for the openinp
phases of a major offensive. His
assaults at the Mareth line las1
i month, and in some of his battles
across Africa were launched un
: der the light of a full moon.
Last night that same full Afri
can moon witnessed the first dash
of British infantry across 1.2011
yards of flat, barren wasteland
to the foothills where the enemy
was dug in.
The charge came at 11 p.m.,
and in less than three hours these
battle-tried troops had won their
first objectives a height north
west of Enfidaville where Axis
guns had threatened the Eighth
Army’s road of approach along
the coast.
But in attacking the Enfidaville
line, Montgomery’s forces were
engaged in a new type of fighting
strange to these desert-wise fight
ers.
The country is mountainous and
extremely rugged in contrast to
the rolling hills and deserts of
Libya. The mounts! 1 vit th: t
Montgomery is assaulting now i*
thickest along the coast.
(Continued on Page Three; Col. !)
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.