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Served By Leased Wire Of Thel orMPMSFR ASSOCIATED PRESS HEMEnBEll NEWS AND FEATURES PEARL HARBOR ! With Complete Coverage Of I Slate And National News AND BATAAN j VOL3—NO- 287--- WILMINGTON, N. C., SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1943__FINAL EDITION_ESTABLISHED 1867 tanks Un New Britain Consolidate Positions; Fires Gnaw At Bejdin AUSSIES ADVANCE japs Strike Back At Beach Head At Arawe, On Southwest End 14 NIP PLANES DOWNED Liberator Bombers Con tinue Pounding Of Stra tegic Marshalls jjv THE ASSOCIATED PRESS) American invasion forces on New Britain island have consolidated .'„ejr positions at Arawe, won at ht cost Wednesday, while Aus tralian forces to the west on the Kuoii peninsula of New Guinea, have captured Lakona, a coastal supply base. These successes were announced t day by Gen. Douglas MacArthur r tris New Guinea headquarters. The Japanese air force struck back the Arawe peninsula, on the southwestern end of New Britain, tut lost 14 planes in its futile ef £urt to dislodge the American Sixth Army units. Gloucester Poundeo To the norbiwest of Arawe American Liberator bombers gave Cape Gloucester another pounding, popping 232 tons of explosives on that oft-bombed enemy position. That brought the total weight of tombs cascaded there since late November to 1,100 tons. * In mid-Pacific, Liberator bomb os of the American Seventh Army | ? • fc-rce continuing their pnunrt u-g of strategic airbase atolls in th» Marshall islands raided Wotje a'oU at dusk Wednesday, the sec ond attack of the day The air V=e received numerous direct hits Here was no enemy interception sti anti-aircraft fire was light. i PinrViiinrr r fierce fighting continued in Gina, centering on the outskirts nt Ansien and Manhsien. two im portat towns north of Tungting lake in the rice bowl area. A Jap anese counter attack, from their base at Lihsien, was frustrated. ‘The battle for Changteh, strate gic rice bowl city whicn the Chi nese retook recently in bloody fighting, was a pivotal success for tot whole strategy of the United Nations in the Pacific region, Gen. Hsueh Yueh, commander of the Charrteh war area, told corre spondents. Changteh is the mili tary gateway west of Tungting lake and key to Changsha, a provincial capital. Echoes of the costly invasion of Tarawa in (he Gilbert islands in November were heard in Wash ington. There the Senate naval committee received assurances from Lieut. Gen A. A. Vandegrift, commandant of the Marine corps, that the Tarawa operation was ' v ell planned ard skillfully exe cuted.” He wrote to Chairman H'alsh (D.-Mass ) of the commit tee who had inquired about the heavy Marine losses on Tarawa’s beaches. Heavy Losses Expected Vandegrift warned that heavy lesses could be expected in future attacks where Crmly held islands yere assaulted by troops wading i- from landing boats. “There are !-i foxholes off shore" and “no royal road to Tokyo,” he said. GEN. MACARTHUR’S HEAD S' QUARTERS IN NEW GUINEA, ; Saturday, Dec. 18.-The Japa i.c-se air force has struck back at e hie Sixth Army’s beachhead on the southwest coast cl New Britain but <°st 14 planes while the invaders I strengthened their newly-won po sition at Arawe ; A short distance norlhwest of ,‘"e beachhead, two waves of Amef kan Liberators smashed Japan’s ape Gloucester air base with 232 0I'S cf explosives. That brought J1 more than 1.100 tons the bomb "eight to smash that small target p''ke late November. These latest developments in the 'rt t .for New Britain, which open . v'’ith the invasion of Arawe pen ■nsula on Wednesday, were an nounced today by Gen. Douglas lac Arthur’s headquarters, westward from the ground scene Continued on Page Five; Col. 3) fffSHOPPING ^ U DAYS LEFT V/s/jnxSesk Churchill Reported Directing The War From His Sick Bed LONDON, Saturday, Dec. 18. —W—With the old tenacity that lifted Britain from the brink of defeat to an assur ance of victory, Prime Minis ter Churchill has insisted on directing the country’s war ef fort from his sick bed in the Middle East where he is fight ing lobar pneumonia, it was reported today. The Prime Minister has been in communication with the war cabinet since he became ill, the Daily Mail said, and is keep ing in closest touch with the war situation and “transacting urgent state business.” Mrs. Churchill reached her husband’s bedside after a has ty flight from England. Official reports of the prime minister’s improvement cheer ed everyone, but it is felt here that it will be a few days be fore he passes the crisis. Churchill was allowed to read important war dispatches, the Daily Mail said, and “is said to have insisted that nothing— least of all the operation of (Continued on Page Five; Col. 5) T 7 PRESIDENT TELLS OF HIS JOURNEY Says Nazis Had Plot To Kidnap The ‘Big Three’ Leaders At Teheran WASHINGTON, Dec, 17— Uf\ — President Roosevelt said today that the Russians got wind of a Nazi plot to kill him, Prime Minis ter Churchill and Marshal Stalin while they were in Teheran for their momentous war conferences. That was why, he explained to a news conference, he took up lodgings in the Russian embassy compound where Stalin also was staying. He noted that the British embassy wTas next door and the move meant none of the three principals would have to go through the streets to get together for their talks. Tanned and looking fit, the Pres ident leaned back at his desk and related with evident relish the bare outline of the story during nearly an hour’s exchange of ques tions and answers with reporters which developed these other chief points: 1. The talks at Teheran and the Anglo-American-Chinese discus sions at Cairo were a success in every way and he hopes they laid Ihe foundation for a post-war era cf peace which will last at least through the lives of the present generation. That hope, he added, is shared by Churchill, Stalin, and President Chiang Kai-shed of Chi na. 2. Important military decisions were reached but he would not, he said in response to a question, make any predictions that they will bring the European war to a close next year. All of us, he said, are working as hard as we can to defeat Hitler as early as pos s;ble. 3. He intends to pack into a Christmas Eve address, to be bioadcast at 3 p.m., Eastern War Time, over all networks, as full a report as possible on the con ferences. He will speak from his home at Hyde Park, N. Y., and intends to spend Christmas day there. Whatever may be left over in the way of news on the con ferences will go into a report to be made later to Congress. There may or may not be (Continued on Page Five; Col. 4) es 30 BOMBERS MISSING Governmental District Also Reported To Have Been Blasted LONDON, Dec. 17 — W — Fires which spread black choking smoke through many qua* tors of Berlin gnawed at Germany’s crumbling capital tonight in the wake of the latest RAF assault which stunned Berliners with 1,500 long tons of explosives' including about 20 two ton bombs. The strong force of Lancasters that hit the city last night in the sixth major attack since the ”Bat tle of Berlin” began less than a month ago swept over the cloud covered capital at the earliest hour they have yei attacked the city—shortly before 7 p.m. •■0 Bomber? Lost Thirty bombers — about average for a mission of its size—failed to return, at least five Nazi fight ers were shot from the flame-red dened skies The German communique ac knowledged that considerable dam age had been done the city scar red and blacked by 40 previous i raids this yeai. The Spandau district, named in reports to neutral capitals as one area particularly well plastered, is the site of the immense Branden burg aero-engine works as well as other important war industries. EJarlier reports to Stockholm said fires were still raging many hours after the attack, and that tele phone connection with the Ger man capital was irregular. Government Area Hit The city’s governmental district —Germany’s nerve center—was also reported to have been hit hard. One report reaching Stock holm said a train loaded with war prisoners was hit. resulting in 60 killed. The latest cargo of high explo sives and incendiaries boosted to 16,000 tons the weight of bombs dumped cn the world’s most bat tered city this year. For last night’s attack the bomb er command must have sent its four-engintd aircraft into the skies shortly befcre nightfall, as most of them had returned by midnight. LMiuici turn; ivaiu . , Stockholm reports said the din nertime raid appeared to have caught ihe city’s defenses by sur prise for Berliners had only a few short minutes in which to race for shelters before the first explosives shook the city Unable longer tc soothe the shat tered nerves of millions of bomb dazed Germans with talk of an impending and fearful revenge on England, Propaganda Minister Paul Joseph’ Goehbels again ad mitted at a meeting of his prop aganda chieftains that the relent less bombing of Germany was causing more anxiety than the Russian campaign cr threats of invasion. Virtually admitting the Nazi in ability to stem the growing attacks through Hitler's roofless European fortress, Gcebbels declared in a speech later broadcast by the Ber lin radio: “In principle, the problems pre sented by the Russian campaign and the invasion were solved in advance. The bombings cause much greater anxiety.” Emphasizing this implied admis sion of Germany’s aerial defense weakness was the success of the night attack._ Aviation’s 40th Birthday Celebrated Near Manteo MANTEO, N. C., Dec. 17.—(A*'— Aviation’s 40th birthday was cele brated here today near the spot where the Wrignt brothers made their first flight but the elaborate exercises planned for the occasion j went by the board because of the worst snowstorm in this area in 26 years. Instead of the thousands oi plain folk and dignitaries who had been expected to attend, a small audi ence of naval men gathered at the Navy’s auxiliary air station and heard Major General T. .1. Hanley, Jr., commanding the AAF eastern flying command, pay trib ute to Orville Wright, the surviv ing brother, and to Wilbur Wright. It had been arranged to hold the exercises at Kitty Hawk where on December 17, 1903, the two young men from Dayton first prov ed that man could fly in a heavier than-air machine Governor J. M. Broughton, members of Congress, end other notables were to have been on hand, had the wintry weather not intervened, halting al most air traffic and nearly all com munications. A planned great air show also was cancelled. Gen. Hanley and his party flew from Elizabeth City to Manteo. The plan to continue the trip to Kitty Hawk was called off, and the general made his brief ad dress. He declared rhe dreams of the Wrights could be realized. The future of the world and the neace of its citizens, he added, *..ni be guaranteed in great meas ure bv the instrument they de „-Sed and developed. “In 49 years,” he said, “Orville (Continued on Page Two; Col. 4) * 4s Senate Okehs Mustering Out Pay Measure Acts With ‘Break - Neck’ Speed To Provide ‘Christmas Gift’ IS SENT 10 HOUSE Approval Comes After A Little More Than Hour’s Debate WASHINGTON. Dec. 17— W — With breakneck speed, the Senate approved overwnelmingly and sent to the House today a ‘‘Christmas gift” measure to provide muster ing out pay ranging from $200 to $500 for men and women in the armed forces. The Senate acted aftet only a little more than an hour’s debate and without the formality of a roll call vote after Democratic Lead er Barkley Ky.) had urged a Christmas present” to the fight ing forces. $500 Is Provided Under the measure, $500 would be paid to each man and woman up to and inducing the rank of colonel who had served 18 months or more overseas or in Alaska. One third of the sum would be paid on termination oi service and the remainder in two monthly installments. The mustering out pay would be $400 for 12 to 13 months overseas sei vice and $300 for less. Persons v.ho served more than 12 months in this country would get $300 and those serving less than that $200. All payments except that of $200 would be in tnree equal install ments, the latter being paid in two monthly checks Estimates Vary Estimates of the over-all cost of this reward for service, recom mended in a message to congress by President Roosevelt, ranged trom $3,000,000,000 fixed by Bark ley to $4,000,000 000 estimated by Senator Johnson (D.-Colo.), who headed a subcommittee which, whipped the boll into shape. Since the payments will be made to all persons below the rank of brigadier general who have been honorably discharged from the armed forces since Dec. 7, 1941, Johnson estimaled acrrued obliga tions at $350,000,000. The muster ing out pay, however, would not be available to persons who ob tained discharges through their own initiative or who are entitled to retirement pay. Senator Austin (R.-Vt.) brought out that discharges from the arm ed forces for disabilities, age and (Continued on Page Two; Col. 1) _v_ FRENCH FIGHTING NAZIS IN ITALY Battle Along - Side Allies For First Time Since November, 1918 ALLIED HEADQUARTERS, Al giers, Dec. 17.—(AP)—For the first time since Nov. 11. 1918. troops of the four great Allies of the first world war — America, Britain, France and Italy — are fighting side by side against the Germans, in the rugged mountains of Italy. Splendidly equipped with the most modern American weapons, crack French units trained in North Africa have been in the bat tle line for some time and have scored outstanding successes, cap turing several important Nazi hill positions and seizing prisoners, the Allied command announced. This first appearance of French troops in European mainland fight ing since the fall of their home land in 1940 created a sensation among the Italian people. The quick, incisive successes scored by the highly mobile French striking force contrasted sharply with the debacle suffered recent ly by Italian militia in its first of fensive gesture in the Mignano area. The French, however, are much more highly equipped and trained than their new Italian al lies. Since they fought alongside the Americans and British m lumsia, Gen. Henri Giraud’s men have learned to use the best American light and heavy machine-guns, tanks and tank destroyers and mo bile field artillery. Their officers declare they will prove invaluable as the drive toward Rome contin ues. Their uniforms differ but slightly from those of the Ameri cans. “Just give us a chance on equal terms,” a French soldier told an Associated Press correspondent. “If you thought we were good in Tunisia just watch us now.” Announcement of the presence of the reborn French army on the (Continued on Page Five; Col. 4) WRECK DEATH TOLL IS SET AT 70 BY THE RED CROSS; CARS CLEARED FROM LINE Traiii Wreck Kills Scores | Lumberton, N. C. — More than 75 persons were killed and over 100 injured in the wreck of two crowded streamliner trains along an icebound stret ch of the Atlantic Coast Line near here early Thurs day. This is a section of one of the northbound train piled up on the bank after it had crashed into three derailed coaches of a southbound train. All except one of the dead were passengers on the north bound train. (NEA Service.) _ MINERS, LEWIS SIGN WAGE PACT Two Year, No Strike Agreement Is Submit ted To WLB WASHINGTON, Df_c. 17.— (J) President John L. Lewis of the United Mine Workers signed a two year, no-strike agreement today with more than two-thirds of the soft coal industry and submitted it to the War Labor Board. Lewis signed the document at his home, where he is ill with a cold, after a joint conference of the union and operators had ap proved it. It provides that no strike shall be called or maintain ed during the period of the agree ment. The base date is last April 1, which means that the agree ment may be opened on March 31 next, the end of the first year, if either party wishes to negotiate general wage terms. It also may be reopened if 'a significant change” occurs in the government wage policy The terms lor the miners are substantially the same as those now in force under the agreement between Interior Secretary Ickes as federal custodian oi the mines and John L. Lewis, UMW presi dent, plus a $40 individual retro active payment for underground travel time. It will become a binding con tract between private operators, and the mine union (with the gov ernment relinquishing control) when, and if, the WLB approves it and the Office o; Price Admin istration grants price increases sat isfying the operators. (Continued on Page Two; Col. 1) Citizens Required To Remove The Snow From Their Walks In response to numerous requi ries received by the Star regard ing the responsibility of clearing sidewalks of snow, the following is a copy of the Section 288, Chap ter XX of the Revised Ordinances of the City of Wilmington: “The tenant or occupant, or if there be no tenant, the owner, agent or custodian of any build ing or lot of land bordering on any street in the City of Wilming ton, where there is a sidewalk abutting, snail keep such sidewalk in front of and adjoining such property clean; and after any fall of snow, such tenant, occupant, owner, agent or custodian, as aforesaid, shall, within twenty-four hours after the snow shall have ceased to fall, remove or cause such snow to be removed from the sidewalk or sidewalks of their respective premises. Any person, firm or corporation failing to com ply with any provision of this sec tion shall be subject to a penalty of $10.00 for each and every such offense.” Snow Fall Here Heaviest Since Bureau Established - V . ■ ■ ■ —i ' ■■■■"■ ■ The 6.2 inch snow which fell here Dec. 15 proved to be I the earliest, heaviest snow since the weather bureau was es tablished here in 1871, Paul Hess, weather bureau official said Friday, The heaviest snow recorded was 12.1 inches on Feb. 17-18. 1896. There have been snows earlier than Dec. -4r1R but thpv havp never been as 88 Women Marines Are Disappointed With N.C. Weather "I came South expecting to see beautiful homes and cotton fields, and my first sight in North Carolina was a snow storm,” said one of the 88 women marines, who were marooned in Wilmington Wed nesday evening and Thursday. Eighty-five women marines, who had been recruited only recently and were on their way to boot training at Camp Lejeune, arrived in this city Wednesday under the direction of Lt. Dorothea Daly of New Orleans, two enlisted marine women and a marine military police at 8 p. m. The buses which were to. have taken them to their new camp slip ped off the road and the girls had to be taken care of for the night. Three USO clubs came to the rescue and short ly after 12 p. m. all the girls were comparatively comfort able — two to a single bed. The Third and Grace club took 14, the Fifth and Orange took 44, and the rest were housed in the two lounges of the Second and Orange club. The girls rep ! resented Texas, Missouri, Kan | sas, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennes see, Arkansas, Florida and South Carolina. Those of the Middle West had assembled in (Continued on Page Two; Col. 3) much as 6.2 inches as the snow which fell here Wednesday. The snow this week ranked the eighth heaviest of all months and all years since 1871, Mr. Hess con tinued. Following are all the snows of this area above 3.7 inches recorded since Jan. 1, 1871 during all months: 12.1, Feb. 17-18, 1896: 9.8, Feb. 10-11, 1912; 9.0, Feb. 23, 1901; 8.6, Jan. 13-14, 1912; 8.0, Feb. 24-25, 1942; 7.5, Dec. 20-21, 1915; 6.5, Jan. 30, 1936; 6.2, Dec. 15. 1943: 4.5, Jan. 4-5. 1904; 4.5, March 2, 1927: 4.2. Dec. 29-30, 1917; 3.7, Feb. 21-22. 1936. With the temperature reaching 18 degrees Thursday night this proved to be the lowest recorded since 1934 when the mercury drop ped to 10 degrees. The low last night- was 22 degrees which gives signs of a slight rising in the tem perature for Wilmington. The low est temperature recorded since 1871 was 5.2 degrees on Feb. 14, 1899. The other two low record ings were 5.9 degrees on Dec. 31, 1917 and 9.0 degrees on Jan. 6, 1884. The slight rise in temperature Friday did considerable melting [which made the streets slushy. The rain and sleet which perceded this snow caused unusual icy 'streets, Mr. Hess said. The city had a large numbce of men out Friday clearing the streets and sidewalks, but pedes trians as well as drivers still were cautious. Tide Water officials re ported that the buses were going more frequently and more regu larly Friday night and they ex (Continued on Page Five; Col. 5) Walter Lippmann Says: U. S. Becoming Interested In New Parts Of World By WALTER LIPPMANN Two distant and unsettled re gions of the world have come with in the range of our diplomacy, and in respect to each of them the formation of an American policy is necessary. One region is that broad belt of territory which stretches from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean and lies be tween Russia and Germany. The second comprises the lands, pre dominantly Moslem in religion and culture, which extend across northern Africa and the Middle East to the borders of India. The more clearly we can define i the American interest in each re _ _ I j gion, the more sure-tooted and ac ceptable will be oui policy. * * * Our greatest concern must be to see to it that the complicated difficulties in thes. lands do not confuse our minds and then divert us from our paramount object, which is that this war shail be the last great war—the last global war in which we are involved — for many generations to come. There is some danger of our be ing confused and diverted. For the main linrs of our policy have nev er yet been well defined, and we are highlj susceptible, therefore, to sentimental and ideological propaganda from abroad, and to (Continued on Page Two; Col. 2) t / FIGURK REVISED rraffic Is Resumed Over The North And South Bound Double Lines TO BE INVESTIGATED Sibley Issues Statement Ex plaining How Tragic Accident Occured LUMBERTON, Dec. 17.— W — While wrecking crews continued to cut into the mass ot twisted steel for more bodies, the Red Cross to night revised its figures downward and placed the death toll in the Atlantic Coast Line wreck neai here yesterday at 70—47 service men and 23 civilians. The tracks were cleared late to day of the telescoped cars of the two streamliners and traffic wai resumed over the A.C.L.’s north south double trunk lines. Whethei there were additional bodies in the wreckage moved off the tracks wai not known. Six More Bodies Before the tracks were cleared six more bodies were found—three sailors, two soldiers and one WAVE. The first train to move over the rails was a noith-bound passengei train, and as it passed the dooi of a baggage car swung open and long rows of caskets were barec to the view cf wrecking crewi and onlooxers. The Wai Department announcec tonight in Washington the name! of 28 soldier dead but was unable to say whether the list was com plete. The task of identifying the civilian dead proceeded slowly. investigation set Meantime, C G. Sibley, general manager, announced from the rail road’s general offices in Wilming ton that “a formal investigation will be held to develop the facts with respect to the action of the crews of both trains." Sibley had previously explained that a broken rail caused the de railment of three coaches of the Florida-bound Tamiami West Coast Champion at 12:50 a.m. About 35 minutes later, he added, the north bound Tamiami Fast Coast Cham pion smashed into tnese coaches which had fallen over upon the northbound douole track. Statement Issued In a statement today he said the road’s information was that the fireman of the southbound train went ahead after the first wreck to flag the ncrthbourd streamliner, carrying with him a fuse and a red lantern. While making his way through the icy night, the state ment said, the fireman fell and broke his fusee, but continued his effort to stop the other train by using his lantern. “The engineer on No. 8 (the northbound train) evidently did not see the fireman’s signal," said Sib ley’s statement. “We understand that the sleet and snowstorm was still in progress at that time." Railroad sources said they be lieved only one passenger on the southbound train met death. First Lieut. Roy A. Gritfm, who had just been graduated from Harvard (Continued on Page Two; Col. 5) -v_ WEATHER FORECAST NORTH CAROLINA: Fair and sligntly warmer Saturday Not quite so cold Sat urday night, with temperature 24 t« 28 in west, 28 to 32 in east portion. Suu day fair to partly cloudy and warmer, (Eastern Standard Time) (By U. S. Weather Burcan) Meteorological data for the 24 hourt ending 7:30 pm, yesterday. Temperature 1:30 am, 20, 7:30 am, 19, 1:30 pm, 3^ 7:30 pm, 30. Maximum 35, Minimum 18, Mean, 26 formal 49. Humidity 1:30 am, 34, 7:30 am, 80, 1:30 pm. U 7:30 pm, 46. Precipitation Total for the 24 hours ending 7:30 pm 0.00 inches. Total since the first of tne month 1.94 inches Tides for Today (From the Tide Tables published bj U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey) High Low Wilmington _ 2;13a 9:26a 2:32p 10:0*5 Masonboro Inlet -11:58a 5 :Zf'e 6:3tp Sunrise, 7:12 am. Sunset, 5:06 pm, lyioonrise, 11:31 pm, Moonset, 11:55 am Cape Fear River stage at Fayette, ville, 10.10 feet. (Continued on Page Five; Col. a).
Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.)
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Dec. 18, 1943, edition 1
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