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■rn] 77—NO. 137. ' :-------------—
. ___ ■ —______WILMINGTON, N. C„ FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1943_FINAL EDITION_ESTABLISHED 1867
i KNOX MEETS EISENHOWER IN ITALY
1 Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox is greeted by Gen. Dwight D.
Eisenhower at an airport in Italy. Telek, the general’s Scottish ter
iB, was also on hand for the meeting, «nox is on a tour of the
lulira war front. Signal Corps Radiophcfto. (International Sound
phoM',__
Administration Against
Federal Sales Tax Plan
WASHINGTON, Oct. 7. — (IP) — The Administration;
aligned itself solidly today against a federal retail sales tax,}
and congressional opposition developed to any compulsory
savings program as a part of the new revenue law.
Other developments on the swiftly changing tax front
included:
1. Economic Stabilization Director Fred M. Vinson ap
parently failed to muster Congressional interest in the Ad
ministration's $10,500,000,000 new tax program, members 1
oi me iuuj ami means cum-'
mittee leaning toward a much
lower figure.
2 Rep. Celler fD-N. Y.> de
li:.red in a statement that an In
crease in the liquor tax from $6 to
S10 a gallon, as recommended by
the Administration, would cause a
return to “bootlegging and hijack
l ing."
President Philip Murray of
I let CIO wrote Ways and Means
f Chairman Doughton (D-NC) oppos
■■'■■’■' downward revision of per
: exemptions in paving income
taxes.
4-. ReP- Fulmer (D-S.C.), who is
Ci !'man of lire House Agriculture
t_mmittee. mged adoption of the
treasury recommendation for re
' the 3 per cent levy on
■.-asportation of property.
inson tQld the Ways and Means
c a.mrtee a 10 per cent sales tax,
' armed to bring in $6,000,000,
anually, would break the gov
ernment ? “hold the line,” home
“ , i ■ ■ ey and open the way for
i ;; J: Nation. Treasury witnesses
m' arsly made the same argu
( :'r':'s °f a sales tax express
f ' :h»l i1 could pass, in view
Administration’s position,
developments of the day:
■■■' senate, gathered in an un
tiret session, heard five of
who have just toured
^ e’.orfp call for a firm foreign
especially to assure Amer
; ‘ ’ w of airfields now being
“ ground the world,
r ■•,,/. IV of AVar Stimson re
; • f mat the first four weeks of
:rno fighting cost 8,307
vV- V'”1'1 casualties, including 511
n , m at;ion
, c House Immigration commit
O ‘ 8 to 4 to repeal the old
• exclusion acts.
? allowances for depend
servicemen were voted bv
|5nminued on Page Three; Col 3)
n., -———
CAMP DAVIS HEAD
COMMENDS FARMER
Col. Potts Says Soldier
And Planter Must Work
For Peace
—
“Peace through victory will come
by work together between th far
: mer and the soldier — two groups
j which have worked side by side
I since the beginning of time,” stat
| ed Col. Adam E. Potts, who spoke
; to a joint meeting of the Farmers’
i and Kiwanis clubs at a dinner
meeting held Thursday night at
Wrightsboro clubhouse.
Col. Potts reviewed the role of
the farmer in world history, de
claring the farmer-warrior has
held high place in military history
ever since Cincinnatus left the
plow in 519 B. C. to raise the siege
of the Romans at Mt. Algidus.
Since that time the farmer has
played a close role with the sol
dier. citing Fitz Lee. George Wash
ington. and Ulysses Grant as ex
amples.
“The farmers of North Caroli
na,” continued Col. Potts, “rang
true to tradition when they left
their crops and herds to organize
the first armed resistance to the
Crown in protest of the extrava
j gance of the Royal Governor Tryon
in New Bern.
“The farmer is an individualist
with a conscience. He is as im
portant as the shipbuilder, miner.
■ or the craftsman. Food, produced
j by the farmer is a munition of
j war — as important as guns. Thus
! the farm is an arsenal of fighting
strength.
(Continued on Page Five; Col. 6)
Vila Seems
To Be Clear
Of Japanese
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC. Friday,
Oct. 8.—(tf)—Starving and short of
ammunition, the Japanese appar
ently have abandoned their prin
cipal air base of Vila and, at con
siderable cost in lives and ships,
have fled the entire southern half
of Kolombangara island in the
Solomons, General MacArthur an
nounced today. Evacuation of the
rest of the island is in progress.
“Cutting of supply lines support
ing Vila, accomplished several
weeks ago by our surprise occu
pation of Vella Lavella to t he
north, thus outflanking all sea sup
ply routes, has forced the enemy
to attempt to evacuate his troops
from Kolombangara,” a communi
que said.
“Vila and the southern part of
the island apparently already have
been abandoned by troops moving
toward the northern shores.
“For several nights by barge
and small warship, the attempt at
evacuation has been progressing.
Many barges have been sunk with
great loss of enemy life and some
of his troops undoubtedly escaped
to safety. The enemy’s struggle
to evacuate continues.”
vna, vYiuv.11 ia aciuaa me xv.uid
gulf from American - won New
Georgia and has undergone artil
lery shelling from American forces
on nearby Arundel, once garrison
ed an estimated 10,000 men.
Over a wide area, Allied planes
struck at enemy shipping. Th e
communique reported at. least 27
srqall Japanese boats, ranging
from barges to cargo ships, sunk
and at least 12 enemy planes de
stroyed.
The enemy’s Vila garrison Ras
been in an untenable position since
the Americans drove the Japanese
from New Georgia and occupied
Vella Lavella, thus putting forces
north and south of Kolombangara.
Recently the Japanese have been
evacuating troops from Vila by
targe to Choiseul and Bougainville,
many of these self-propelled ves
sels falling prey to bombs of Allied
planes.
The Japanese have paid heavily
in lives lost in these bombings,
headquarters said today.
Off Choiseul. 18 such barges were
smashed in the latest air' attack
by Airacobras.
But some of the Japanese did
reach safety, headquarters added.
Such an evacuation means vir
tual clearance of the enemy from
the central Solomons except pos
sibly for small groups still con
testing the Americans on Vella La
vella.
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 1)
_
County Disease Rate
Very Low In View Of
Crowded Conditions
“Considering Ihe increase in
population of New Hanover
county during the past year
the total number of diseases
reported have not been alarm
ing _ with the exception of
meningitis,’’ stated Dr. A. H.
Elliot, county health officer.
Fifteen cases of meningitis
were reported for the year un
til September 1 with four more
added that monih. Other dis
eases and the number report
ed for the year until October
1 are: chickenpox, 293; meas
les, 424; scarlet fever, 37; ty
phoid, 4; whooping cough, 317;
diphtheria, 11.
Iberian Bases For Allies Could Save
Million American Lives, Says Senator
| Thr''\ilINGT0N’ °Ct- 7- — (IF) — I
I v. . " n“le' afforded a bomb bay
pr ' ‘ the fighting fronts in re
r: , ; • :um three globe-girdling
r . : heard an estimate from
lives pff ,at a rnilfion American
VpDe saved in conquering
b will open Siberian
,|o Allied bombers.
the Lodye (R-Mass', one of
■ P _ who reported behind
'■■e locked against
i :s; , „ nci thc press for the
t - esiiL^";6 June-.1942- gave
1 rgely .. ’ ,n a review dealing
f-hhir-mVhV°Ugiiness °f the
\Vili ! " the Pacific.
' y rnerM session was secret,
- , 1 s tal-u‘d fully about
, „0 ;‘ld ;,nd -some said they
1Eas0n f°r the secrecy.
I *
Before Lodge spoke, the Senate
had heard Senator Russell (D-Ga),
standing beside a huge global map
of the world criticize the British
because, he said, they are passing
lease-lend materials to other coun
tries without giving credit to the
United States.
He suggested that American re
lief and rehabilitation in occupied
countries be under military, instead
of civilian, direction, and said
there was lack of a clear foreign
policy to guide American military,
economic and diplomatic repre
sentatives in their competition
with the British.
Russell also took the British to
task for not launching an offensive
in Burma, although the Georgia
senator expressed confidence in i
,he ability of the new India-Burma
lommander, Lord Louis Mountbat
■en. He told his colleagues Maj.
3en. Claire L. Chennault's Amer
can Army Air Force is doing most
if present active fighting against
he Japanese in China, but Lodge
idded that the Chinese armies are
lolding off fifteen Jap divisions.
Senator Mead <D-NY> urged a
^apportionment of United Nations
petroleum supplies, with the British
meeting a larger shaie o nee s.
President Roosevelt told a press
conference last Tuesday that steps
toward this end are being taken.
He said the British had wanted to
furnish a larger share °ffe *sible
along, but that it was not feasible
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 2)
*>
|
NAZIS HURL ARMORED DIVISIONS A T ALLIED
ARMY OmDRIATIC COAST; RUSSIANS OPEN
HUGE f/ZW DRIVE AND CROSS DNIEPER RIVER
___
ADVANCE IS SLOW
Reds Claim Bridgeheads
Being Widened At Heavy
Cost To Foe
ENEMY IS THREATENED
2,000 Mile Front Ahlaze
From Leningrad To
Southern Area
LONDON, Oct. 7■—(^P)—
The Red army in a smashing
renewal of its 1943 offensive
has cracked the vaunted Ger
man middle Dnieper river de
fense line, establishing three
west bank bridgeheads and
extending them “step by
step” despite furious German
counterattacks which are be
ing “repulsed with heavy
losses,” Moscow announced
tonight.
The Russians also have
captured a springboard to
Latvia and have virtually
liquidated German resistance
in the Caucasus opposite the
Crimea in the resumed offen
sive, this time rolling ahead
on nearly a 2.000-mile front
from Leningrad southward.
May Force New Retreat
The smashes across the Dnieper
threatened to trap hundreds of
thousands of Germans in the river
loop and force another German
withdrawal—this time clear back
into Rumania and Poland.
Tonight’s communique, recorded
by the Soviet monitor, was read
twice over the Moscow radio and
was followed by patriotic songs—
a procedure reserved for great
events. It listed these sweeping
Russian gains:
Soviet forces planted themselves
firmly across the middle Dnieper
on the west bank north of Kiev,
south of Pereyaslav. 50 miles
southeast of the kraine capital,
and southeast of Kremenchug be
tween that city and Dnepropetrovsk
on the river bend.
The Russian movement suggest
ed another great series of anni
hilation pincers similar to those
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 4)
-V
NAPLES IS TORN
BY GERMAN MINE
Scores Of Italians Killed
When Time Bomb Rips
Postoffice
By NOEL MONKS
Representing the Combined
British Press
NAPLES. Oct. 7.—W>)—One of the
war’s greatest atrocities was per
petrated against the Neapolitans
by the Germans today when a de
layed action mine containing sev
eral hundred tons of high explo
sive. planted in the basement of
the postoffice building, went off.
Scores of Italian civilians, includ
ing many women and children,
were blown to pieces as the whole
pavement in the Via Armondo Diaz
was flung into the air.
Practically every person on the
ground floor of the postoffice was
killed as urell as many civilians
walking in the street a block away.
People also were killed in adjoin
ing buildings.
The explosion occurred at one
of the busiest times of the day
when hundreds of Neapolitans
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 6)
Permits Are Issued
For $52,365 In New
Building Work Here
Permits were issued for an
estimated $52,365 in new con
struction and alterations here
during September, City Build
ing Inspector Gilbert C. Mor
ton said Thursday.
The permits brought the city
$254 in fees.
The major permits went for
three alteration contracts, to
be completed by the govern
ment under the Homes Con
version program, a $8,210 job
at 114 Market street, a $7,897
job at 311 North Third street,
and a $11,420 job at 110 Orange
street. The conversions are be
ing made to furnish apart
ments for war workers.
VICTORIOUS AMERICANS ENTER NAPLES i
t..:.: - . .m . is
Residents of Naples wave on a truckload of Am erican soldiers as they roll into the city shortly aft
er the Nazis had been driven out. Note the arrow on the wall, painted by the Italians remaining in
| the city, indicating the direction that should be taken by the Yank troops. Signal Corps Radiophoto.
(International).
Navy Assault On Wake Island
Is New Challenge To Jap Navy
WASHINGTON, Oct. 7. — (#) — The Navy assault on
Wake island challenges anew Japan's control of the West
Central Pacific.
If the Japanese fleet won’t come out and fight now,
the whole, huge mandated island area on which Tokyo has
relied heavily for defense of the empire must be considered
vulnerable to early American conquest.
The betting among military and naval authorities is
that the fleet won’t come out, that key points in the Mar-j
shall, Gilbert and Caroline islands will be taken against
strictly localized resistance and that before the war is many
i more mnntVis nlnncr AllierJ*
Pacific strategy will have
succeeded in cutting the en
emy’s economic jugular vein
through the China sea.
That is the long-range signifi
cance of the Wake attack, regard
less of whether it was a raid for
destruction of Japanese installa
tions or the beginning of a whirl
wind campaign to reconquer the!
island.
The pattern of the Wake action:
was established in an American'
task force raid on Marcus island:
a month ago. Marcus is only about:
1,000 miles from Japan, and al
though warships shelled it and
planes bombed it for hours on end
not a sea-borne enemy gun show
ed up to defend it.
The explanation seems to lie in
the fact that the Japanese have
been decisively beaten in naval
and air fighting from the Bering
sea to the Indian ocean and are
unwilling to risk their remaining
warships for any except the great-,
est stakes—in other words, to try
to prevent a direct threat to Japan
itself.
This ties in directly with indi
cated American strategy in the;
Pacific:
One of the Navy’s jobs presum
ably is to reopen a line of island,
bases across the Central Pacific, i
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 4) I
YUGOSLAVS THROW
TANKS INTO PUSH
Guerrillas Using Modern
Weapons Against Ger
man Forces
LONDON, Oct. 7. — OF) — A
Yugoslav Partisan broadcast re
ported in London tonight said Yu
goslav guerrilla fighters had
thrown tanks into the battle for
the Istrian peninsula and destroy-:
ed 10 German tanks and one Ger
man plane.
News of the victory, said to have;
occurred near Jedreska, was not
included in the regular communi- i
que of the people’s liberation army,
but Yugoslavs here with Partisan1
connections reported hearing the
broadcast detailing the tank fight. |
Sixty-five German soldiers were
said to have been killed while the
Yugoslav forces lost four tanks.
Yugoslav sources in London were
unable to say what type of tanks
the Partisans were using or where
they were obtained.
(Daniel de Luce, Associated
(Continued on Page Three; Col 3) j
NAZIS SCHEDULE
PURGE IN ITALY
Hitler Reported Planning
To Wipe Jews From
All Europe
STOCKHOLM, Oct. 7.—UP)—Adolf
Hitler was reported today to have
ordered all Jews cleared out of
Europe before the end of the war,
with a purge in Italy scheduled to
follow immediately after the cur
rent persecution in Denmark.
The capitulation of the Badoglio
government in Italy already is be
ing blamed in Rome on the Jews,
according to reports received here,
and German papers in Rome de
clare that “Fascism demands that
Jews should be rendered harmless
and must disappear from the na
tional life of Italy.”
This phrase is similar to that;
fused in official German announce
ments launching the pogrom in
Denmark.
The Stockholm newspaper Social
Demokraten said it had learned
from informed German circles that
a Hitlerian decree already had
been issued ordering all Jews
cleared from Europe.
The order was declared being
carried out under storm troop lead
er E'ichmann, known as the “Jew
dictator” of Europe. Eichmann
was born in Palestine after his
parents went there as German
colonists.
Another Swedish source was told
by a high German elite guard of
ficer who visited here recently that
“whether we win the war or not,
one thing is sure: not a single Jew
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 5)
\T _
WEATHER
FORECAST:
NORTH CAROLINA: Continued cool.
(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., -; 7:30 a. m., 54; 1:30
p. m., 74; 7:30 p. m.. 63. Maximum 82;
Minimum 66; Mean 74; Normal 68.
Humidity
1-30 a. m.. -; 7:30 a. m., 79; 1 ;30
p. m., 29; 7:30 p. m., 69.
Precipitation
Total for the 24 hours ending 7:30
p. m.. 0.00 inches.
Total since the first of the month,
0.00 inches.
Tides For Today
High Low
Wilmington _ 4:35a. 11:59a.
5:21p. p.
Masonboro Inlet _ 2:27a. 8:47a.
3 :12p. 9 :37p.
Moore’s Inlet_ 2:32a. 8:52p.
3:17p. 9:42p.
New Topsail Inlet_ 2:37a. 8:57a.
•Elmore’s) _ 3:22p. 9:47p.
(All times Eastern Standard)
Sunrise, 6:12 a. m.: Sunset, 5:47 p. m.;
Mronrise. 2:47 p.: Moonset, 12:32 a.
Cape Fear River stage at Fayetteville j
on Thursday, at 8 a. m., 9.13 feet. I
RETREAT IS ENDED
Germans Battling Eighth
Army Along 125 Mile
Italian Front
SEEMS WELL PREPARED
Foe Appears Set To Make
Invaders Pay Dear
Price For Rome
allied headquar
ters, Algiers, Oct. 7.—(/PI
_The Germans have rushed
an armored division to the
Adriatic coast and have open
ed a bitter battle against the
British Eighth Army, ending
their 300-mile retreat and
finally taking a stand against
the advancing Allies along a
125-mile front across Italy.
After a slow withdrawal
since the Allies first invaded
the Italian mainland with the
landing of Gen. Sir Bernard
L. Montgomery’s Eighth
Army at Reggio Calabria
September 3, the German
army apparently has en
trenched itself for a strong
stand and is determined to
make the United Nations pay
a dear price for their next
major objective, Rome.
The Germans were disclcs
ed at Allied headquarters to
day to be rushing the fortifi
cation of the Volturno river
line north of Naples against
Lt. Gen. Mark W. Clark’s
American Fifth Army, which
reported continued dogved
progress despite extensive
Nazi demolitions and a heavv
rain which left the battlefield
soggy.
Germans in Strong Foree
A military spokesman at head
quarters said that the Germans
were believed to be holding the
Volturno line “in some strength.”
On the Adriatic coast the Ger
mans attacked the advancing Brit
ish and Canadians of the Eighth
Army with tanks and infantry in
the Termoli area, and the first
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 2)
British Admit Loss
Of Landing Grounds
On The Isle Of Coo
CAIRO, Oct. 7.—(A1)—The Brit
ish declared today that fierce re
sistance against German forces
landing on the Dodecanese island
of Cos was continuing, but admit
ted the Germans had captured a
number of landing grounds and
now control the town of Cos.
A British communique said the
small force of Allied defenders on
the island, in the Aegean sea, was
exacting a heavy toll from the
Germans.
RAF bombers rained explosives
on the nearby islands of Rhodes
and Crete Tuesday night, pound
ing German airfields.
RAF fighters, who attacked Ger
man landing parties at Cos Sun
day when the Nazis launched their
attack to attempt to wrest the is
land from the Allies, said they
swooped low with cannons blazing,
and planted bombs among the
Nazi vessels, and that they saw
wrecked and smoking landing
equipment scattered along the
oeach.
New Crisis Develops F or Nazi Army
As Russians Begin Another Campaign
By KIRKE L. SIMPSON
A new and grave crisis has de
veloped for the Nazis in Russia,
threatening their whole northern
flank to the Baltic.
A major Russian offensive is un
der way in the Velikie Luki-Novo
sokolniki-Nevel triangle, north of
the Dnieper line. Nevel already
has been captured.
That is the most critical sector
of the long eastern front for the
Germans. Linked with Russian
thrusts converging on the Vitebsk
gateway just to the south above
the Orsha bend of the Dnieper, the
fail of Nevel could crack the Ger
man front apart. It could send
the whole north flank to Leningrad
back in precipitate retreat to avoid
being cut off from the rear.
The Velikie Luki trap was set]
by the Russians long ago. They
took that corner of the vital rail
triangle last winter, only to allow:
that front to lie dormant until now. j
At Nevel, Red armies are in close
striking distance of Polotsk in rear
of the Vitebsk gateway bastion.
They have ruptured direct rail and
road connections between Nazi
forces west of the Dnieper and
those in northwestern Russia. A
quick Nazi retreat in the north,
even Nazi evacuation of Esthonia
and much of Latvia, could result.
The push to Nevel likely is the
actual beginning of another Rus
sian winter offensive. It will at
least merge into real winter fight
ing, always advantageous in the
past to the Russians, if it is sus
♦
tamed only for two or three weeks.
West of Nevel to the Latvian
border the country is studded with
big and little lakes through which
the railroad to Polotsk winds its
way. The main rail route from
Leningrad to Odessa down the
west bank of the Dnieper passes
through Nevel with Vitebsk and
Orsha the next major towns south
ward.
Capture of Nevel by the Rus
sians opens the way for a direct
drive southward at Vitebsk as well
as an encirclement sweep south
westward toward Polotsk. A Rus
sian surge northward toward the
Pskov junction gateway up the
Leningrad-Odessa railroad may be
(Continued on Page Eight; Col.