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VOLJS-NOJ^ _____ -WILMINGTON. N. C.. THURSDAY. APRIL 22, 1943 FTNaTWToN ESTARUSHeFF^:
MEA TS A VA1LABLE IN CITY
ONLY 41 PER CENT ENOUGH
TO SUPPLY PUBLIC DEMAN■
_____
OPA MAKES CHECK
Survey Reveals Serious
Shortage Of Food In
Area At Present
suggestions OFFERED
Official Proffers Idea To
Alleviate Critical Situa
tion Here
Consumers in Wilmington
are able to buy from then
retail meat markets only 41
per cent of the amount of
meat thev seek to purchase,
a survev made by the district
OPA office revealed here
Wednesday.
A cross-section of eight
groceries was used, accoiding
to the OPA official, and the
question asked them was:
“What percentage of ration
ed meats are you receiving in
relation to your customer de
nials?”
prompted by lomp-auiw
The survey was prompted by
the action of local cafeterias and
restaurants in declaring that lack
of sufficient rationing points and
lack of available meats and meat
substitutes would enforce more
frequent closings.
"If the rationing authorities
were to increase the points to res
taurants, it will simply mean that
many more householders will do
without meat unless there is an
increase in the available supply,
the OPA district office reported
to the State OPA in Raleigh by
letter.
“The restaurants are undertak
ing to serve meats on the same
basis as they did before meat was
rationed. At the present time, ev
ervbody is being served meat m
the restaurants, while the house
v-. here is unable to find any
meat in the market,” the report
continued.
According to the OPA spokes
man, the survey of local markets
“would seem to confirm the opin
ion that restaurants are receiving
a sreater proportion of meats
than the average family eats at
home.”
In answering the query put to
them by the OPA, dealers reported
their abilitv to purchase only from
25 per cent to 50 per cent of the
amount needed to fill customeis
orders. , , ,
On beef and lamb, they declared
(Continued on Page Two; Col. 4)
KISKA IS POUNDED
WASHINGTON, April SI.—WW
—American airmen pounding
Kiska on a now-or-never sched
ule have stepped ,up the fury of
their attacks to 15 raids in a
single day, the Navy announc
ed today.
The urgent need for telling re
sults in the aerial offensive
against the enemy outpost in
the Aleutians was believed by
informed persons here to re
sult from evidence that the
Japanese are about ready to
finish converting the rocky is
land into an airbase of their
own.
Not since tile Japanese first
moved into the western Aleu
tians last June have they been
able to put into the air any
thing other than clumsy float
type planes for combat purpos
es. Employment of Kiska as a
base for efficient land types,
both to attack American bases
ami to oppose American raids
on Kiska, would greatly compli
cate tiie problems facing the
American air command in the
North Pacific.
Health Officer Urges
Proper Trash Disposal
The sanitation side of the
Clean-Up campaign being con
ducted this week in Wilming
ton received the spotlight Wed
nesday from Dr. A. H. Eliot,
city-county health officer, when
he appealed to surburban and
city residents to cooperate in
the matter of garbage and
trash disposal.
Dr. Eliot said: “We especial
ly solicit your aid on the sub
jects of garbage and trash dis
posal and careful removal
from each individual yard and
premises anything that will
hold water and breed mosqui
tos. Putting all garbage in
metal containers with properly
fitted covers and the removal
of all water containers will do
endless good in keeping down
flies and mosquitoes, and also
rats and roaches. If we con
tinue to feed them, they will
be with us.
“I would like most sincerely
to encourage the planting of
Victory Gardens. This should
be an interesting and profit
able way of cleaning up yards
and vacant lots. Attractive
gardens will replace many eye
sores, provide physical exer
cise, and will produce much
wholesome food. (Most adults
sadly neglect routine exer
cise. The great majority of us
will feel much more physlcal
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 3
TAX COMPROMISE
PLAN COLLAPSES
Friendly Efforts Of Parties
On Move Falls Through
For New Fight
WASHINGTON, April 21.—Ml—
The friendly Democratic-Republi
can efforts to devise a compro
mise pay-as-you-go tax system col
lapsed completely tonight, with the
two parties agreeing to take the
issue on income tax abatement,
including the Ruml skip - a - year
plan, to the House floor for an
other finish fight.
Their truce broken, the two par
ties again aligned themselves at
opposite poles on the amount of
taxes that should be abated to
achieve a current tax basis for
the 44,000,000 income taxpayers.
Immediately after the break
down of the bipartisan conference,
Speaker Rayburn (D.-Tex.), Dem
ocratic Leader McCormack, and
the majority party members of
the tax-framing Ways and Means
committee conferred and announ
ced the Democratic members
would support a bill to tax 1942
income at 1941 rates and exemp
tions and including a withholding
levy against the taxable portions
of wages and salaries, to be ef
fective July 1.
The Republican Ways and Means
members also conferred and is
sued a statement announcing that
a bill will be brought forward
(Continued on Page Ten; Col. 6)
-V
8 WOMEN HURT
IN WRECK HERE
Passenger Car And Bus
Collision Causes Injuries
To Group
Eight women were injured late
Wednesday afternoon in the col
lision of a Tide Water Power com
pany passenger bus and an auto
mobile at the intersection of Second
and Castle streets, police headquar
ters revealed Wednesday night.
All of the eight women, as far as
investigating officers could deter
mine, were released from local hos
pitals after treatment for bruises
and shock.
The bus, driven by Roy Roberts,
of 209 Walnut street, was travel
ling west on Castle street when it
collided with the automobile, driven
by William G. C. King of 2308 Mar
ket street.
Police said the left front of the
bus was damaged slightly while the
right side of the car was damaged
extensively.
Five passengers in the King car,
(Continued on Page Ten; Col. 5)
MOTHER IN CITY
HIGHLY HONORED
Mrs. Walter Sprunt Chosen
Mother Of The Year’
By State Group
Mrs. Walter Sprunt, of this city,
wife of a prominent cotton ex
porter, was named Wednesday as
North Carolina’s “Mother of the
Year” by the North Carolina State
Mothers’ committee, sponsored by
the Charlotte Observer, it w a s
learned here Wednesday night.
Mrs. Sprunt’s name will be
placed before the Golden Rule
American Mothers’ committee in
New York as North Carolina’s
nomination for the American
Mother of 1943.
The North Carolina State Moth
ers’ committee met in Charlotte
Wednesday and at a four-hour ses
sion considered the numerous nom
inations.
F. E. Crawford of the Charlotte
Observer wired the local woman:
“Congratulations. We are pleased
to tell you that the State Com
mittee on American Mother of 1943
has selected you for the North
Carolina mother.”
Mrs. Sprunt is the mother of
four sons and two daughters. Lieut.
Walter Sprunt is the commander
of a mine sweeper in the Atlantic;
Lieut. Charles Worth Sprunt is a
flight surgeon with a naval squad
ron in the Pacific; Hugh Sprunt
is undergoing midshipman train
ing at Columbia University for the
Navy; David Sprunt is a minis
terial student at Union Theological
Seminary at Richmond, Va., and
(Continued on Page Ten; Col. 5)
Former Resident
Wounded During
Fight In Africa
Lieut. John A. Cary, 2216
Princess street road, of the
United States Army Air Corps,
has been reported by the adju
tant general of the War De
partment as “wounded in ac
tion in North Africa," accord
ing to word received here by
Mrs. Cary, Wednesday;
Lieut. Cary was said to have
received his wound, the seri
ousness of which has not yet
been disclosed, on April 6.
The Air Corps Lieutenant, a
West Point graduate, has been
in foreign service since June.
He is said to have been “in
the thick of the fighting,” hav
ing been stationed in Gibraltar
for some time. Lieut. Cary was
a flight companion of Captain
Hugh Williamson of this city,
before Williamson’s recent cap
ture by Germans in Tunisia.
Formerly stationed at the
air base here, he married Miss
Mary Saunders, a Wilmington
girl.
Roosevelt And Camacho Finish
Talks At Big Texas Air Station
CORPUS CHRISTI, Tex., April
21.-The presidents of the Unit
ed States and Mexico said fare
wells today to their precedent
breaking conferences after Pres
ident Avila Camacho had been wel
comed at the vast Naval training
center here and President Roose
velt had called the occasion “one
of the great American historical
meetings.”
The president of Mexico and Mr.
Roosevelt inspected the multitudi
nous activities at the busy train
ing station, and saw a brilliant
aerial display by a formation of
Catalina patrol boats and a squad
ron of dive bombers. Finally they
lode back to the railroad siding
and said their farewells in Mr
Roosevelt’s private car.
President Avila Camacho was
repaying promptly a visit to Mon
terrey, Mexico, yesterday by the
American chief executive, which
Mr. Roosevelt described as “one
of the highlights in my life.”
They ate with 250 cadet offi
cers. and Mr. Roosevelt spoke
briefly and informally after the
meal, through a public address
system that carried to all parts
of the station.
“I am glad that the cadets are
hearing what I have to say,” he
asserted, “because I want to tell
you I regard this as one of the
greatest American historical meet
ings.
"1 think you will remember it
just as long as you live, for we
are receiving on American soil
the president of one of our sister
republics.”
He said he was happy to greet
Avila Camacho at the training
center because a large number of
Mexican cadets are receiving fly
ing instruction there, along with
others from other American na
tions.
“From the point of view of con
tinental defense and unity of pur
pose,” the President asserted,
“this kind of military training
means a wide and long step for
ward in the relations of this hemi
fContinued on Page Three; Col. 4)
- -al Firm Ranks With
Kaiser’s Oregon Plant In
National Honor
LOWEST IN SHIP COSTS
Nine Vessels Delivered In
January At Expense Of
$607,827 Each
The Senate’s Truman Inves
tigation committee, in an ex
tensive report on the ship
ping and shipbuilding situa
tion, has named the North
Carolina Shipbuilding compa
ny here as one of the two
most efficient producers of
Liberty ships in the nation,
according to an Associated
Press dispatch from Wash
ington Wednesday night.
The other yard named was
Henry J. Kaiser’s Oregon
Shipbuilding company.
Second in Man-Hours
Citing the yard here as the low
est in the country in dollar cost
and second in man-hours per ship,
the Truman report said the yard
here delivered nine Liberty ships
in January at an average cost of
$607,827 a ship, exclusive of ma
terials furnished by the Maritime
Commission (which amounted to
$700,000 a ship) and also exclusive
of the contractor’s fee. The aver
age man-hours per ship were 450,
807.
Officials of the shipbuilding com
pany here, which delivered 10 Lib
erties from its nine ways with an
average construction time of 37.3
days per ship in March, said the
Truman report "spoke for itself.”
They predicted that the yard
here would equal or surpass the
March record this month.
The North Carolina yard, a sub
sidiary of the Newport News Ship
building and Drydock corporation,
now flies the Maritime Commis
sion "M”, the commission’s equiv
alent to the Army-Navy "E”, and
six stars.
Each star is equivalent to the
award of an additional "M”.
The Liberty ship, the Truman
report also revealed, is being re
designed into a “Victory” ship,
with more powerful engines, 50
per cent higher speed and greater
cargo carrying capacity.
The change, scheduled to be
completed early next year, will
not affect the yard here, officials
pointed out, since the yard will be
completely converted to C-2 ship
production by that time.
The shipbuilding company has
received contracts totalling 126
Liberties in the two years since
it was estaDtisnea nere.
The first Liberty, the Zebulon
B. Vance, was launched on De
cember 6, 1941, and the 88th Lib
erty, the Waigstill Avery, will be
launched at noon today.
The Victory ship, intended to
eventually replace the Liberty, will
have a speed of 15 to 17 knots,
depending on the type of fuel used,
as compared to the Liberty’s 11,
the committee report said.
It said its increased speed would
then make it more difficult for
U-boats to attack successfully and
quicker voyages would result in
greater cargo-carrying efficiency.
WEATHER
FORECAST:
North Carolina: Little change in tem.
perature.
(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„ 57; 7:30 a. m., 52; 1:30 p.
m., 60; 7:30 p. m., 54.
Maximum 64; Minimum 49; Mean 58;
Normal 64
Humidity
1:30 a. m., 68; 7:30 a. m., 56; 1:30 p.
m., 62; 7:30 p. m., 76
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
High Low
Wilmington _ 11:12a 6:15a
11:44p 6:13p
Masonboro Inlet - 8:57a 3:01a
9:29p 3: lip
Moore’s Inlet - 9:02a 3:06p
9:34p 3:16p
New Topsail Inlet- 9:07a 3:11a
(Elmore's) _ 9:39p 3:21p
(All times Eastern Standard)
Sunrise, 5:32 a. m.; Sunset, 6:48 p. m.;
Moonrise, 9:19p.; Moonset, 7:19a.
Cape Fear River stage at Fayetteville
on Wednesday, at 8 a. m., 35.30 feet.
(Continued on Page Two; Col. 6)
—- —1
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.
27 MORE C-2 FREIGHTERS
TO BE CONSTRUCTED HERE
Tokyo Raiders Take 0 ff From “Shangri-La”
f— • --
One of the Army Air Forces planes, which nartici pated in Maj. Gen. James Doolittle’s raid on Tokyo
April 18, 1942, takes off from “Shangri-La,” reveal ed the night of April 20, 1943. as the deck of the U.
8. aircraft carrier Hornet. Members of the Hornet’s crew watch as the plane rises from the deck and
heads for Tokyo. (Associated Press Photo from U. S. Navy.)
Enfidaville Is Captured
As British Smash Ahead
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN NORTH AFRICA,
April 21.—(/P)—The British Eighth Army has captured the
Axis coastal pivot of Enfidaville, has swung five miles
northwest to storm the mountain citadel of Takrouna, and
also has gairidd two miles in the Djebel Garci area farther
inland amid "very severe fighting,” it was reported to
night.
Striking along a 10-mile front after a tremendous ar
tillery barrage, Eighth Army infantrymen armed with
knives for close-quarter fighting, scaled the enemy’s moun
tain positions at some points only 45 miles south of Tunis,
while the British l'irst Army guinea
slightly in the Medjez-el-Bab sector
35 miles west of the Tunisian capi
tal.
(The Morocco radio — sometimes
premature in its announcements —
said tonight, in a broadcast record
ed by the Associated Press, that the
Djebel Garci, 10 miles inland from
the coast, had been captured after
a final 90-minute assault).
Allied headquarters announced the
capture of Enfidaville, 50 miles be
low Tunis, and said “all initial ob
jectives” were captured yesterday
after fierce fighting which began
with Gen. Sir Bernard L. Montgom
ery’s tremendous artillery barrage
Monday night.
“Four enemy counterattacks have
been repulsed,” said the communi
que. “Fighting continues.”
Field dispatches said Enfidaville
fell without opposition after a
British column raced around the
city on its coastal side.
(Official Axis communiques had
not conceded the loss of Enfidaville,
but Capt. Ludwig Sertorius, Berlin
radio commentator, appeared to be
preparing the public for such an
announcement. In a broadcast re
corded by the Associated Press he
said General Montgomery had con
centrated huge numbers of reserves
for an assault on the Axis anchor
point, and that the battle for the
city Wednesday afternoon still was
going on although “with changing
fortune.”
(Sertorius again stressed the “Gi
gantic masses” of Allied war mater
ial and said that Allied air superi
ority also made it “a rather une
qual struggle.”)
Slept and snow storms closed over
a large part of the Axis mountain
strongholds in northeastern Tunisia
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 1)^
RUSSIANS BLOCK
GERMAN ATTACKS
Savage Nazi Assaults Are
Broken In Kuban Area
Of Caucasus
MOSCOW, April 21.—UP)—Savage
and persistent German attacks
against newly-won Russian posi
tions in the Kuban area of the
Caucasus about the Nazi bridge
head of Novorossisk collapsed to
day against heavy Soviet artillery
fire, the Red command announced,
but the enemy still was throwing
in fresh troops and his bombers
were active over the Black Sea
and the Sea of Azov.
Ten successive charges were
made against a single sector of
the Russian line and when all had
failed the German command sent
forward two more fresh infantry
regiments and 40 additional tanks.
These assaults, too, were beaten
down, with the Germans losing
1,400 dead and a dozen-odd tanks.
(The Germans, who not long ago
had spoken of the Kuban fighting
as a major encounter involving
“several divisions” of Russian
troops, appeared to be having
some difficulty now in describing
the action. The German command
reported heavy fighting about No
vorossisk and made the extraor
dinary claim that 91 Russian
planes had been shot down there
(Continued on Page Two; Col. 7)
BRITISH BOMBERS
FIRE NAZI PORTS
Perfect Flying Weather
Finds Big Planes Smash
ing At Germany
LONDON. April 21.—Iff)—Sweep
ing out in force in perfect flying
weather, British bombers last night
blasted manufacturing and other
war installations in the Baltic
ports of Stettin and Rostock, left
Berlin alight with fires, and rang
ed widely over other sections of
occupied Europe today in one of
the war’s biggest air assaults on
German communications.
Simultaneously, a mass raid by
Russian bombers on the east
Prussian railway center of Tilsit
last night started fires visible
nearly 100 miles away, Moscow
1 announced.
The broadcast said the fires
merged into “one huge conflagra
tion ' at Tilsit, und that big ex
plosions “were particularly numer
ous” near munitions dumps,
among railroad installations and
around the harbor and airfield.
All Soviet planes were said to
have returned safely from the
raid, the fifth big attack by the
Russian forces on the northeast
German area since long range
bombing from the east was re
sumed April 10.
Thus in a single night, Allied
bombers left widespread destruc
tion in three essential points along
the German supply line to the
Russian front, both Rostock and
Stettin being important links in
that chain, in Rostock, the Brit
ish also blasted factories produc
ing Heinkel bombers.
Enemy bombers struck back at
Britain tonight, loosing high ex
plosive and incendiary bombs on
a northeast Scotland town. One
bomb hit a tenant building and
caused a number of deaths. A
heavy barrage met the raiders as
they flew in with machineguns
blazing.
The Air Ministry announced to
night that railway yards at Abbe
ville were bombed in one of the
day sweers that also hit objec
tives in other sections of France,
I (Continued on Page Two; Col. 6)
'TOTAL NOW AT 87
Larger Cargo Vessels To
Be Built As Soon As
Present Work Ended
CONVERSION STARTED
Changing Of Yard Facili
ties To Accommodate
Ships Is Underway
The North Carolina Ship
building company here has
received contracts for 27
more C-2 cargo ships, the
Maritime commission reveal
ed last night in announcing
the award of contracts for
469 merchant ships to yards
over the nation.
Negotiation o f contracts
for 60 C-2 vessels, larger and
faster than the Liberty ships
which the yard here has built
since its establishment, was
revealed by the commission
last month and the new
award brings to 87 the num
ber of C-2’s for which the
North Carolina company now
holds contracts.
88th Ship Ready Now
The eighty-eighth Liberty ship
will be launched by workers at the
yards at noon today. The com
pany, which launched its first Lib
erty on December 6, 1941, has con
tracts for 38 more of that type.
Complete conversion of the yard
to C-2 construction is now under
way and, officials of the company
said, should be completed by late
in the summer.
The yard's nine ways are being
lengthened to facilitate construc
tion of the 459 foot long C-2's, the
yard’s machine shop is being re
novated and additional facilities
are scheduled for installation in
order to effect the changeover.
Propelled by steam turbines in
stead of reciprocal engines, the
C-2 has speed of more than 14
knots in comparison to the Liber
ty’s 11 knots. It has an overall
length of 459 feet, three inches, a
length of 435 feet between perpen
diculars and a beam of 63 feet.
In making the announcement, the
(Continued on Page Ten; Col. 5)
gas attack seen
LONDON, Thursday, April 22.—
_(/P)_The British government
ill an extraordinary announce
ment said today that it had re
ceived reports that “Hitler is
making preparations for using
poison gas against t lie Russian
front,” and warned that such a
development would find the Brit
ish retaliating with the same
weapon “upon German muni
tions centers, seaports and oth
er military objectives through
out the whole expanse of Ger
many.”
There was a sharp note of ur
gency both in the timing and
method of the warning to Ger
many. Newspapermen were sum
moned to the Ministry of Infor
mation after midnight where a
statement issued from Prime
Minister Churchill’s residence
at 10 Downing street was read
to them.
The statement recalled Prime
Minister Churchill’s previous
warning to Germany against
any use of poison gas against
Britain’s ally, Russia and point
ed out that “British resource
and scale of delivery have great
ly increased since last year” in
case the Germans decide to em
ploy gas.
Air Force Chief Pledges Full Destruction
Of Jap War Lords In Revenge For Killings
WASHINGTON, April 21.— (A>) —
General Henry H. Arnold pledged
the Army Air Forces tonight to
the utter destruction of Japan’s
“inhuman war lords’’ in ven
geance for the execution of Amer
ican fliers captured after last
year’s raid on Tokyo.
“We must not rest—we must re
double our efforts,” the air forces
commander said in a message to
all his personnel a few hours after
President Roosevelt disclosed the
Japanese had acknowledged put
ting to death some of the eight
Americans—they did not say how
many—and were treating other
fliers as criminals, denying them
all rights as prisoners of war.
Arnold made clear that the Jap
anese inhumanity will not deter
this country from further raids on
Tokyo, underlining in his message
the .Word "first” in referring to
last year’s bombing.
Saying the victims of the Japa
nese died as heroes. Arnold told
the American airmen:
“Remember those comrades
when you get a Zero in your sight
—have their sacrifice before you
when you line up your bombsight
on a Japanese base.
“Let your answer to their treat
ment of your comrades be the de
struction of the Japanese air force,
their lines of communication, and
the production centers which of
fer them opportunity to continue
such atrocities.”
President Roosevelt announced
the American government has sol
emnly warned Tokyo that for this
and any future “acts of criminal
barbarity” just punishment will
be administered to the responsible
Japanese officials.
“This recourse by our enemies
to frightfulness is barbarous,” Mr.
Roosevelt said in a statement to
the American people. “The effort
of the Japanese war lords to in
timidate us will utterly fail. It
will make the American people
more determined than ever to blot
out the shameless militarism of
Japan.”
The President’s statement, is
sued at the White House, was sup
plemented by the State Depart
ment. Together, the statements
disclosed that:
The American government initi
ated inquiries through the Swiss
government immediately after
Tokyo’s radio broadcast, last Oc
tober 19. that military trials were
planned for the eight Americans.
It was not until February 17,
however, that the Japanese gov
ernment replied, acknowledging
that the Americans had been tried,
sentenced to death, and that, as
the State Department phrased it,
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 3)
5