inS Hilmingtnn Hunting Star [s=l
VOL. 76.—NO. 215__. , ■ WILMINGTON, N. C., SATURDAY, MAY 29, 1943 ' FINAL EDITION ESTABLISHED 1867.
Tug Ammunition Cart Over Ridge
Two members of the Navy Shore Patrol aid in pulling a small am
sr. leqiuoo [enpe 3uunp punisi np(v uo aSpu v J3AO janD uoijiunuj
American troops were put ashore. (Navy Photo).
J. F. Byrnes Named Head
01 U.S. Economic Control
WASHINGTON, May 29.—(JP)—President Roosevelt
today centered under James F. Byrnes the government’s
vast'wartime controls over the nations’ economic life, and
made him the arbiter where civilian and military needs
come into conflict.
By executive order, Mr. Roosevelt created the post of
Director of War Mobilization and appointed to it the 64
vear-old former South Carolina senator and Supreme Court
justice wno leix xne nignesx couru
last October to become Director
of Economic Stabilization.
In this position, Byrnes, who
already had been dubbed “as
sistant" president ’’while Econom
ic Stabilization Director, will hold
greater powers than have ever
been wielded by any American
outside the office of the presi
dency itself.
Mr. Roosevelt’s order empow
ered him:
“To develop unmea programs
and to establish policies for the
maximum use of the nation’s nat
ural and industrial resources for
I military and civlian needs, for the
effective use of the national man
power not in the armed forces,
for the maintenance and stabili
zation of the civilian economy,
and for the adjustment of such
economy to war needs and condi
tions.”
He was authorized, too, to “uni
fy the activities” of federal agen
cies concerned with production
and distribution of military and
civilian supplies, and to issue di
rective orders to them.
Thus Byrnes may issue orders
to War Manpower Commissioner
Paul V. McNutt, Rubber Adminis
trator William M. Jeffers, Secre
tary Ickes in Ickes’ capacity as
peroleum administrator, and the
other government “czars” in lim
ited fields. He is empowered, too,
to issue directives to the War and
Navy departments insofar as
their acquisition of supplies is
concerned.
In the same order, Mr. Roose
velt established whati is in effect
* war cabinet composed of
Byrnes, Secretary of War Stim
s°n, Secretary of the Navy Knox,
Chairman Harry Hopkins of the
Munitions Assignment Board,
Chairman Donald M. Nelson of
the War Production Board, and
Judge Fred M. Vinson, former
Kentucky representative who is
saving the District of Columbia
court of appeals to succeed
'Continued on Page Five; Col. 4)
WEATHER
vrutvn a ct
CeXCAE0LINA= —A
'Eastern Standard Time)
Met By C- S. Weather Bureau)
(S0I,“!"*aI data for the 24 hours
g 7 30 P.m., yesterday.
i.oft Temperature
83 7 on’m > 69«‘ 7--30 a.m., 70; 1:30 p.m.,
i. P.m., 77
76* S?wm. 67minimum, 84; mean,
,0> normal, 74
Hn Humidity
82' 7.0A,m'’ 86J 7:3° a.m., 70; 1:30 p.m.,
’ P.m., 63
Total r Precipitation
K OMtoehes.25 h°UrS endl”g 7:30
*-55°tainchesCe the f*rst of the month»
(Frrvm * Tides For Today
U. s r Tide Tables published by
^oast and Geodetic Survey.)
_ Z.Z
Masonboro Inlet- s^a ioflla
Moore’s t„, . 4:3U> 10:47p
s Inlet - 4:04a 10:ltip
Ifpiir rr- 4l36p 30l52p
ffilmoreli53 lnlet - 4:09a 10:213
11 tlmes Eastern Standard)
fcoonrise’ I.S? 3'm': sullset’ 7:16 p’m’:
e» 2.36a; moonset, 3:llp,
tevnie* I" *iver 8ta*e 3t Fayet
jee, * Friday, at £ a.m., 13.34
(Continued on. Page Five; Col. 5)
1
POPPY DAY WILL
HONOR WAR DEAD
Legion Auxiliary Sponsors
Anual Event In City
Today
America’s dead of two wars will
be honored Saturday when thou
sands of Wilmingtonians don red
poppies as a symbol of remem
brance.
Mrs. W. J. Riley, Poppy chair
man of the American Legion Aux
iliary, reported Friday night that
a corps of volunteers, among whom
are Girl Scouts, will be stationed
in all parts of the city to sell
the little flowers. The group hopes
to dispose of 15,000 paper blooms,
7,000 more than last year.
Signifying Poppy Day, miniature
crosses have been planted in the
grass in front of the postoffice to
depict Flanders Field, France,
where so many of the dead of the
first World War rest, and where
poppies grow in profusion.
The flowers to be sold on Wil
mington streets Saturday were
made by disabled war veterans at
Fayetteville, who have been at the
task in their beds and in work
rooms during the winter and
spring.
Distribution of the memorial
flowers will enable Auxiliary
women to receive contributions for
the Legion and Auxiliary rehabili
tation and welfare funds. All of the
money received will go into these
channels, as the workers serve
without pay. Poppy contributions
form an important part of the
funds which support the vast hu
manitarian efforts of Legion and
Auxiliary for the disabled veter
ans, and for children of the dead
and disabled of both wars.
Honor the war dead and aid
living war victims by wearing the
red flower of remembrance Satur
day! _
LAST JA7//0SIT10N ON ATTU PENETRA TED;
ESSEr PLUGGED BY BIG BRITISH BOMBERS;
RUSSIANS BEA TING A T MAIN ENEMY LINES
- K_* -- « _
NEW ATTACK MADE |
RAF Employs Recently De
vised ’Wave-Bombing’
Plan Of Raids
10 SEPARATE SWEEPS
Huge Planes Roar Over
Targets For Period
Of 50 Minutes
LONDON, May 28.—<7P)—
In great strength, big RAF
bombers slugged Sssen, that
“most bombed city in the
world,” last night on a newly
devised “wave-bombing” pat
tern of attack, carrying out
the third massive bombard
ment of Germany in five
nights.
The Air Ministry disclosed
today that the wave-bombing
plane sent the four-engined
heavyweights roaring over
their targets in ten separate
sweeps ranged over a period
of 50 minutes.
. Strategy Kept Secret
How this aerial strategy differs
in effect from the widely used
saturation type attack was not dis
closed.
Each wave was of about equal
strength, but the bomb loads varied
so that each would cause the
greatest devastation at successive
stages of the attack.
Well over 1,000 tons of bombs
were dumped on the dense indus
trial area centering around the
Krupp munitions works, which the
Air Ministry said has been vir
tually at a standstill for at least a
month during and after three ter
rific assaults of March and April.
Twenty-three bombers failed to
return and the crews which came
back safely agreed that the Essen
ground defenses sent up the most
violent anti-aircraft barrage ever
encountered there.
This major blow, which continued
the heaviest sustained aerial
bludgeoning of the war, came
while other planes mined enemy
waters and within a few hours
after Mosquito bombers roared 500
miles to Jena in the central Ger
man province of Thuringia to blast
(Continued on Page Five; Col. 2)
Tentative Accord
Reached On FPHA
Payments To City
A tentative agreement on
payments in lieu of 1942 taxes
on property now occupied by
Federal housing projects here
was reached Friday afternoon
between city officials and re
presentatives of the Federal
Public Housing authority after
a day-long series of conferenc
es.
City Manager A. C. Nichols
said the conferences, the sec
ond to be held here in recent
months on Federal payments
in lieu of taxes on housing
property, appeared to have
concluded successfully although
the exact sum to be paid the
city and the county by the gov
ernment had not been deter
mined.
Representatives of the county
government and of the Housing
authority of • the City of Wil
mington also took part in the
discussions.
The two conferences here
i have ranged around the basis
to be used in determining the
amount owed by the govern
ment to the city and county.
Annual Awards Presented
To High School Students
High school awards, annually
presented to students who have dis
tinguished themselves in scholar
ship, sports, leadership and mili
tary conduct, were announced Fri
day by Principal T. T. Hamilton,
Jr.
The awards, given at special
Honor Day chapel exercises are
as follows:
American Legion citizenship
awards: Dewey Hobbs and Doro
thy Cameron; art awards, A1 Ed
kridge, Julia Botesky, Hazel Bar
rington and Jane McEwen; Fun
derburk cup for proficiency in li
brary science, Hupert Benson and
Virtie Stroup; U. N. C. Spanish
award, Mary Emma Humphrey:
Helen Bridgers cup, given to the
senior girl most nearly exemplify
ing the life of Helen Bridgers, Em
ma Mitchell; Joseph Shrader cup,
given to the senior boy most near
ly exemplifying the life of Joseph
Schrader, Heatwole Thomas; DAR
medal, given to the senior girl vot
ed the most outstanding in leader
ship and character, Agnes Morton;
Sorosis award for an outstanding
project on malaria control, Eu
gene Mauney; City Optical award
for the best physics student, Pat
Preston; Bible award, given for
Christian leadership, T. T. Hamil
ton, Jr.; Martha A. Halligan
award, posthumously given Mar
tha Ann Halligan by the sopho
more class, in her memory.
ROTC awards; Mr. Hamilton’s
award, Lt. Col. Joseph Dewey
Hobbs; Sons of American Revolu
(Continued on Page Five; Col. 1)
Finished Sub
Lieut. Gerard Bradford, Jr., of
Mobile, Ala., teamed up with an
other Southerner, Ensign Thur
mond Edgar Robertson of Spartan
burg, S. C., to sink an Axis sub in
the Atlantic several weeks ago.
COUNTY UNDER
POTATO ORDER
WFA Extends Control
Over Shipments In
North Carolina
WASHINGTON, May 28.—(At —
The War Food Administration ex
tended today control over potato
shipments from 90 additional coun
ties in Florida, Georgia, South
Carolina, North Carolina and Vir
ginia, for the announced purpose
of enabling the armed forces to ob
tain essential supplies, and of pro
viding equitable distribution of
military purchases among the
areas, individual growers and ship
pers.
North Carolina counties included
in the order are:
Northampton, Halifax, Martin,
Pitt, Greene, Wayne, Johnston,
Harnett, Cumberland, Robeson,
Hertford. Gates, Bertie, Washing
ton, Beaufort, Craven, Lenoir, Du
plin, Sampson, Bladen, Columbus,
Brunswick, Camden, Currituck,
Pasquotank, Perquimans, Chowan,
Tyrell, Dare, Hyde, Pamlico, Car
teret. Jones, Onslow, Pender, and
New Hanover.
The WFA described the areas as
the most important Southeastern
producing districts. The control
plan already has been in operation
in Maine, and in five counties in
Florida and Alabama. It provides
(Continued on Page Five; Col. 5)
Moscow Silent On Trend
Of Struggle In Caucasus
LQNDON, Saturday, May 29
— (IP) —Thousands of Russian
troops, often fighting hand-to
hand, beat indecisively against
the main German Kuban lines
in the swampy Caucasus yes
terday, Berlin announced early
today, while Moscow kept sil
ent on the outcome of the strug
gle to oust the invaders from
the narrow bridgehead oppo
site the Crimea.
A Transocean agency broad
cast recorded by the Associat
ed Press said the Russians,
estimated to number 150,000,
were backed by scores of
tanks and planes in the Sway
ing struggle, but thus far had
failed to make “any import
ant breaches” in Axis lines.
A midnight Russian com
munique for the second day
announced merely that “fight
ing continues,” although Mos
cow had reported earlier that
64 German planes were down
ed in one day over the area
at a cost of 13 Soviet aircraft.
The noon bulletin yesterday
also said the Black Sea fleet
air arm had sunk two enemy
motor barges, presumably be
(Continued on Page Five; Col. 1)
CITY ENCIRCLED
BY WILD RIVER
Cairo, 111., Not In Danger
Despite Latest Flood
Activity
By The Associated Press
The Mississippi and Arkansas
rivers both reached all-time record
heights yesterday (Friday) in their
destructive rampages with the
Mississippi circling Cairo, HI., to
form a second junction with the
Ohio river.
The flood waters poured through
an old creek bed and swept to the
new confluence, seven miles above
the geographical meeting of the
rivers.
Cairo itself was in no danger.
Highway bridges and railroad tres
tles over the flood basin kept traf
fic moving without interruption.
Two villages in the inundated area
already had been evacuated. The
torrents spread over several thou
j sand acres of farmland across the
Ohio in Kentucky.
The Mississippi ai cape uiiai
i deau, Mo., soared to 42.4 feet, high
est there in history.
The Arkansas, on its second dev
astating flood in three weeks, climb
ed to 33.7 feet at Pine Bluff, as
compared with a previous high of
33 feet in 1935. An additional rise
of two-tenths of a foot was ex
pected.
At Little Rock, where the river
swept through 5 city blocks yes
terday, the tide was falling, al
though water still was in much of
the flooded area.
Sturdy levees guard the Missis
sippi below Cairo and the Arkansas
below Pine Bluff, and Army en
gineers expect them to hold. How
ever, the Red Cross began making
precautionary plans in event of
trouble downstream.
The Illinois river was falling at
the beleaguered cities of Peoria
and Beardstown, but the danger
had not passed and w’atch on the
levees was being maintained.
Walter Lippmaitn Says:
OP A Me th o d Based
On Popular Fallacy
By WALTER LIPPMANN
Now that the OPA has broken
down, the radical reorganization
which is inevitable cannot oe suc
cessful unless we recognize that no
one could possibly have made a
success of O.P.A. It is easy to put
the blame on Mr. Henderson and
his lawyers, on Prentiss Brown and
his politicians and public relations
men. But in fact O.P.A. has failed
because it was founded on a popu
lar fallacy—on the fallacy that if
you freeze all prices, including
wages, by legal decrees you can
keep them frozen at a time when
war requires a radical readjust
ment of production and consump
tion.
There is ho use blaming the Ad
minisistration because the fallacy
is now proved to be unworkable.
The truth is that the fallacious doc
trine was imposed on Mr. Hender
son by public pressure against his
better judgment, and the trouble
with the Administration is that it
lacked the conviction and resource
to resist the pressure and to lay
down a sound doctrine and a
workable plan. Thus for two years
it has administered badly a policy
which no one could have admin
istered well.
In no other country in the world
have men imagined that all prices
could be kept frozen by decree.
Hitler did freeze all prices, wages
and profits three years before the
war. But Hitler backed up the de
crees by the complete regimenta
/
tion of industry and agriculture,
by the conscription of labor, by
his ruthless police and by the con
centration camp. Even at that,
with all the power behind the de
crees, he has had to use also the
devices of subsidies, equalization
funds and requisitioning. How any
one could have supposed that we
could make the freeze work by un
armed decrees from the O.P.A. is
mysterious only if we remember
how many Americans have believ
ed that liquor drinking could be
abolished by prohibition and war
outlawed by signing a treaty to
outlaw it.
! As a matter of fact, the Amer
| ican experiment in universal price
| freezing has been from the start
an economic absurdity, and in
practice a most curious deception.
In 1942’43 the total net produc
tion has been, let us say, $110,000,
000,000 of goods, of which say $50,
1000,000,000 were military. These
goods at the various stages of pro
duction represent several billion
prices and wage rates. Of all these
; prices, at least half, those paid
by the war agencies, have been
outside the freeze. The Army,
! quite rightly, has paid what it had
to pay in order to procure its
weapons. These military prices
have priority over civilian. Why
has any one who ever took an ele
mentary course in economics sup
posed that Mr. Henderson, Mr.
(Continued on Page Five; Col. 3)
ITALIAN ISLANDS
BLASTED BY U. S.
Destruction Of II Duce’s
Defense Ring Continues
Unabated
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN
NORTH AFRICA, May 28.—(A>)—
Gen. Carl A. Spaatz’s North Af
rican command ripped important
airdromes at Villacidro and Deci
momannu in southern Sardinia.
Both fields are in protective
range of the vital Axis supply port
of Cagliari, and the American air
men had to fight off a storm of
German and Italian fighters to get
at their objectives.
Thirteen enemy fighters were
destroyed in combat at the cost
of a single American Warhawk
fighter, whose pilot was rescued
from the Mediterranean.
Marauder medium bombers bat
tered the Degimonvannu Airport
with more than 4.000 fragmenta
tion bombs, which crewmen said
wiped off many grounded planes
—the main objective of such a
bold operation. Marauder ma
chinegunners shot down seven in
tercepting enemy fighters and their
Warhawk escorts blasted six oth
ers in an 18-minute running battle
over the sea.
The other all-American team of
Billy Mitchell medium bombers
and Lightning fighters did the hon
ors at Villacidfo field, where they
destroyed many parked planes and
left columns of smoke threading
the sky behind them. Their oppo
sition was much less intense than
that met over Decimomannu.
Staff Sergt. Bernard Chouinarb
of Fall River, Mass., a Marauder
gunner, gave a graphic descrip
tion of his victory over a Messer
schmitt 109 in the battle at Deci
momannu. He said the German
pilot came in with “his cannon
firing so fast that the plane was
bucking like a broncho.”
“I was trading him snot ior
shot,” Chouinarb related, ‘‘and my
tracers were cutting right into him
and cutting right into his engine.
When he got almost under us he
rolled over and started down. The ;
flames started coming out of the
Messerschmitt and it exploded
when it hit the ground.”
Pantelleria, whose airport long
since was pounded into useless
ness by Allied planes and war
ships, was given its daily bath of
fire by bomb-carrying Lightning
and Warhawks. Harbor defenses
and artillery installations were
shaken up by the swift fighters
and a big explosion was reported
at the edge of Pantelleria harbor.
Lightnings also shot up a 150-foot
freighter in the Gulf of Palmas on
Sardinia.
An Italian broadcast reported
some damage was done to build
ings in the attacks on Sardinia
and Pantelleria and claimed nine
Allied planes were shot down dur
ing the day against a loss of two
Italian aircraft. It said Bizerte
(Continued on Page Five; Col. 4)
‘Materials Chaser’ [
. No more footlights for the dura
tion, says Mickey McCormack as
she goes about her war job of “ma
terials chaser” in the U. S. Steel
Federal shipyard at Port Newark,
N. J. (International)
ENSHIN BOMBED
BY JAP AIRMEN
Chinese Troops Fight To
Smash Invader Near
Capital
CHUNGKING, May 28.— W) —
While Chinese troops fought grim
ly to smash Japanese advances to
ward this capital, 13 enemy planes
today swooped over Enshin, some
200 air miles northeast of here,
and dumped loads of delayed-ac
tion bombs, Chinese dispatches re
ported.
What damage, if any. occurred
Hupeh province in western China
where the Japanese have concen
trated the two-week-old offensive,
was not reported immediately.
The Chinese Central news agen
cy announced that Chinese bomi -
ers roared over Ichang with fight
ers running interference and caus
ed considerable damage to military
installations in the strategic port
on the winding Yangtze river.
All the raiders returned safely
from Ichang, which the Japanese
took several days ago and have
been using as a springboard in
the drive. Ichang lies about 125
air miles northeast of Enshin.
A Chinese high command com
munique reported that Chinese land
troops were locked in battle with
two-Japanese divisions west of
Ichang, where 1,000 enemy sol
diers were reported killed Tuesday
and Wednesday.
In addition, it was said, the Chi
nese have won back several points
west of Limsien, 75 miles south
east of Ichang.
An official statement said to
night that Gen. Chen Cheng, war
(Continued on Page Five; Col. J)
Eden Declares! Bombing
Of Italy Will Continue
PORTSMOUTH, England, May
28.—l/P!—Foreign Secretary Antho
ny Eden expressed encouragement
today over the turn in the Atlantic
battle against U-boats and declar
ed that Italy particularly, now ly
ing “wide open to air attack, ’
would be bombed ceaselessly until
the Italian people call quits.
Eden said the anti - submarine
campaign “continues to be encour
aging,” and added:
“Our own new construction of
merchant ships still is mounting.
Our merchant shipping losses still
are decreasing and sinkings of U
boat still are increasing.
“The battle of the U-boats still
rages. It is not yet decided but
at least we feel better about it
than we have done.”
Speaking to a “Wings for Vic
n
tory” luncheon, he emphasized the
vulnerable position of Italy, but
also promised bombs for Germany
a:~ well “until the utter defeat of
the Nazi and Fascist regimes and
all they stand for.”
The newest British ultimatum
carried the hard-hitting support of
the African - based United States
Air Force, which underscored the
foreign secretary’s words with a
grimly methodical battering of It
aly’s Mediterranean outposts, and
of the RAF’s devastating raid last
night on Essen.
Recalling vaunted ruin strewn
by the German air force on War
saw and Rotterdam and Mussoli
ni’s request for a share in the
blitzing of London, Eden scorned
(Continued on Page Two; Col, 8)
V.
BATTLE IN CLOUDS
Much Of Fighting Now In
Mountains Of Aleu
tians Island
ARMY GOES FORWARD
%
Advance Patrols Continue
Jo Probe Defense Of
Invader
« __
WASHINGTON, May 28.-*
(.fP)—Attacking after prepara
tion by deadly artillery and
mortar fire, U. S. Army
troops have penetrated deep
ly into the center of the area
held by Japanese remnants on
Attu island, the Navy an
nounced tonight.
Advances were reported in
the sector between Lake Co
ries and Lake Canirca on a
line roughly marking the base
of a peninsula a£ the north
eastern tip of the embattled
island. Much of the battling
in this wild, mountainous ter
ritory was reported to be
above the c’ouds.
Troops Attack Ridge
In the same general area, a
communique said, troops attacked
a ridge extending to the east of
I Fish-Hook ridge, “after artillery
■and mortar preparation.” The'ef
fect of this advance apparently
was to outflank and thereby neu
tralize a Jap strongpoint on Fish
Hook ridge itself.
Meanwhile, said the communi
que which covered operations of
Thursday, Army patrols continued
to probe Jap positions on what
was described as "the lower ridge
extending eastward from the Chi
chagof valley floor.’
Moreover, it was announced that
Army bombers and fighters sup
ported ground operations for the
second consecutive day, an ad
vantage which authorities believed
would hasten the end of the mop
ping up operations which have
been underway for approximately
a week.
The communique also announced
a new raid on Kiska island on
Thursday. Kiska is the main Jap
anese base in the Aleutians area.
Due to-poor visic-iii-y, the official
report said, results were not ob
served.
Generally, it appeared that the
enemy remnants on Attu are be
ing slowly annihilated. Organized
Jap resistance is gradually break
ing down into isolated oockets of
opposition, each of which must be
cleaned out with bayonets and
grenades.
Many of these miniature strong
points had been dug into the peak!
in the Fish Hook -dee sector at
the base of Attu’s northeastern
peninsula. To attack them, it wail
learned, American troops have had
to fight their way out of the fog
filled valleys, along t h e snowy
slopes and upwad into the sun
light above the cloudline.
This fighting — now under the
clouds, now above them—with its
concurrent changes in termpera
ture terrain and light intensity,
added the final touch of fantasy
to a battle that has developed
from its start 16 days ago against
a wierd background of mountain
ous, treeless landscale, _ violent
winds, biting cold, and rain sleet
and snow falling interchangeably.
A Navy communique gave the
latest combat reports from Attu
and disclosed also that Army me
dium bombers and Warhawk fight
ers had made three attacks on Kis
ka island, main Japanese base 172
nutical miles to the southeast.
The attacks were carried out on
Wednesday, the Navy said and
numerous hits were observed on
the main camp and runway. _
Meanwhile, other American
bomber* Army Liberators, Mi'cb
. ells and Lightning fighters, “ef
fectively supoorted the ground op
erations,” on Attu.
The air attacks on Kiska were
considered here to have potential
significance. It may be the be
ginning of a campaign to soften up
that big base for the final drive
j (Continued on Page Five; Col. t)
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.