North Carolina Newspapers

FORECAST"! : f . NORTH CAROLINA: Cloudy and cool with drizzle or Intermittent light rain Friday and east portion Friday night; partly cloudy to cloudy and considerab ly colder Saturday and in west portion Friday night. L —-— ■■ VOL. 76.—NO. 332 __ FRIDAY. FEBRUARY 11. 1944 FINAL EDITION ESTABLISHED 1867 ~TWO HIGHEST AWARDS FOR HERO Mrs. Gerry H. Kisters looks proud a$:She fastens the Congres sional Medal of Honor on her husband, Lt. Gerry H. Kisters of Bloomington, Ind., just after the 24-year-eld officer received the 1). S. C. from General George Marshall. Kisters. the first soldier in this war to receive both awards, won them for heroism in Tunisia and Sicily Looking on are President Roosevelt and General Marshal's during the ceremony in the White House. OP A Orders Apartments Here To Restore Services RALEIGH. Feb. 10.—Judge Isaac j! Meekins this morning signed a temporary restraining order here requiring the Cape Fear Apart ments, Inc, of Wilmington to . re store elevator services and to con tinue to furnish heat and water and other services as required by 1he OPA rent control regulations for the Wilmington defense rental area. The order was issued on OPA allegations that the corporation had discontinued elevator services be tween 2 p.m, and nine p.m. and when notified by the OPA rental control office to restore the serv ice or make a reduction in rents, all elevator service was discon tinued. OPA further claimed that tenants had been notified that the apartments would not be provided with heat after the present sup ply of coal was exhausted and that the Wilmington water depart ment had been notified by the cor poration that it could not incut further obligation for water sup plies. The Raleigh District OPA office here-was notified early this morn ing and acting quickly to avert rtardshlps from cold weather foi the tenants of the apartments im mediately presented a request foi an injunction to Judge Meekins. The- order was signed within two pours after notice was' received in Raleigh arid is returnable at Eliza beth City on February 21. OPA took this prompt action, Norman C. Shepard, enforcement attorney said, because tenants might be caught without heat in inclement weather and also without sanitary and water facilities. OPA’s rent control regulations require that all services furnished during the period at which the rent ceilings were set must be con tinued unless approved by OPA and an appropriate reduction in rents made. Gov. Bricker Unfolds Presidential Platform Wants GOP To Fight Roosevelt On Home Front Issues WASHINGTON, Feb. 10.— W) — Ohio’s Governor John W. Bricker took the wraps oft Ills Presidential Campaign strategy tonight and be fore an assembly of party chiei tains unfolded his plan to: 1. Fight the Roosevelt policies down the line on domestic issues - subsidies, taxes, financing, la bor, national service, and the serv ice vote. 2. Leave the conduct of the war Jo the admirals and generals whc he thinks should get most of the Credit and should not be "inter ered” with. The smartly-groomed, 50-year old Bricker revealed his domestic platform in a speech to a Lincoln Ray dinner, the first time he has ppeared in the capital as an avow <11 Presidential candidate. Ohio Re publicans turned it into a Bricker boom. I Earlier in the day, the governor gave & press conference preview ir jrhicji he conceded Presidenl Roosevelt some “credit’ for th< conduct of the war but took th« position that it is a job for the professional military men anc hey should be left alone to do it. Bricker criticized consume? (Continued on Page Three; Cel. 1 -i Movie Comedian Indicted By U. S. — LOS ANGELES, Feb. 10.—(Ah— Charles Chaplin, white-haired and 51. and a dominant figure in the motion picture industry for the last 31 years, was indicted today by a Federal Grand Jury on charges of violating the Mann act and de frauding 23-year-old Joan Berry, his former protege, of her civil rights. The jury also returned indict rnents- charging criminal conspir acy only, in connection with Miss Berry’s arrest last summer in Beverly Hills on a vagrancy war rant, against six others. They are: Capt. W. W. White oi the Bev *r y Hills police department. Police judge Charles Griffin of Beverly Hills. Robert Arden, radio commenta wr and friend of Chaplin. 1 horn as Wells (Tim) Durant, ™V1® Producer, polo player and ssociate of the comedian. Lt, Claude Marple of the Bev tr'y Hills police. Jessie Billie Reno, Beverly Hills Pfhce matron_ Specifically, the Mar.n Act in , ■ me« against Chaplin accused r 1 of 'causing to be transported n Perry from Los Angeles to witv, tuy of New Y°rk by railway Ba, < l'ltent and purpose on his pno of_, having the said women in sex relations.” ? hate given was Oct. 5, 1942. ind^econ^ count of the Mann Act hment charged Chaplin with ^ , ng Miss Berrv t.n he trarifi or oiT bac^ Irom New York on or about Oct. 26, 1942. i.rd ,.ind:ctments were returned r the civil Rights Statutes, den 6 , 1 charged Chaplin, Ar infinar'd White with conspiring to cit,U®ce. a judge of Beverly Hills Missn” to impose sentence upon Dorti„„rry for the purpose of de forniaS hei £rom the state oi Cali' dpIhe„aecond accused Griffin, Ar iim ij- e and Chaplin of indue a gph IlSS Berry to Plead guilty tc Bard * e o£ vagrancy without re in f, 1° whether or not she was inpa„Ct guilty. This is a misde Th or,^.nder Federal statutes. pL, bird indictment charged And? m‘ White, Judge Griffin and Vlth conspiring to denj and + Berry due process of law trLr EUbiect Miss Berry to “de immi/0^ o£ rights, privileges and Unitp^c?®" secured to her by th« b d states Constitution. nus for the defendants wer< Continued on Page Two; Col. 6] I Subsidy Ban Near Passage In The Senate SEEK AMENDMENTS Pepper Wants Wage Controls Relaxed, Se» vice Benefits Upped WASHINGTON, Feb. 10.-W \7ith Congress apparently set to approve a ban on consumer food I ubsidies, Senator Pepper (D. I'la.) served notice today he will i ttempt to attach amendments re laxing wage controls and boosting benefits for dependents of service men. Senator Clark (D.-Mo.) an nounced he will propose broaden ing the subsidy ban to abolish also so-called “support prices’ which farm bloc leaders ip the anti-sub sidy fight desire continues through support prices, the gov ernment guarantees farmers a minimum price for certain prod ucts by agreeing to buy at that price irrespective of the market price. “I’m opposed to all subsidies,’ Clark told the Senate. “I think if we are going to abolish some ol them, we ought to abolish all oi them. Per^r said removal of consum er su * i dies, whereby the govern ment holds down retail food prices, would increase the cost of living hree percent. Consequently, he said, he proposed to introduce mendments: 1. Directing President Roosevelt nd the War Labor Board to re ]ix the Little Steel Wage Formula so as to make possible an 18 per cent increase in pay for workers ever the January, 1941, level in stead of the 15 percent to which tie formula now limits increases, j 2. Raise all Federal pensions and letirement benefits, wages of all government employes now receiv fig up to $2,900 a year, allow ances for officers in the armed forces, and benefits to dependents of service men. j The Peppei and Clark moves came at the end of a day which Caw both sides in the fight declin ing to consider any middle-ground. Administration leaders, refusing to compromise with critics of food subsidies, helped beat down in the Senate today a proposal for a (Continued on Page Nine; Col. ') -V Soldier Charged With Killing Pal CHARLOTTE, Feb. 10—UB—Pri vate Charles Lewis Reynolds, 19, recently on detached service at the Greensboro, N. C., air base, was charged today with the slav ing of Private Lee M. Riley, 2-, of the Bluethenthal Air Base, Wil mington, N. C., whose nude body was found in a hotel room here yesterday with a sweat shirt twist ed around the neck. Reynolds was arrested in Colum bus, O., his home town. Detective Chief Leo L. Phillips of Columbus was quoted in a newspaper dis patch as - aying the soldier had given him a formal statement say ing he killej Riley in a fight. “He kept coming after me and I hit him in the Adam’s apple and used some judo. He fell and didn’t get up,” the statement related, Phillips said. Police Chief Walter Anderson oi Charlotte said that Riley and Rey nolds were fellow members of an air service unit at Bluethenthal Field, with .the latter temporarily at Greensboro. Riely was accompanied by Rey ; nolds when he went home to Web ster City. Iowa, on a 16-day fur lough, although, the younger sol (Continued on Page Nine; Col. 6) County Detention Home Is In Spotlight Again The county’s juvenile detention home was uder fire again Thurs day morning, as the Welfare divi sion of the Council of Social Agen cies, composed of representatives from the city’s social welfare or ganizations, met and urged im provement “without further delay” of the present' home. “pending the construction of a new building.” A delegation composed of Mrs. Herbert Bluethenthal, chairman, Miss Virginia Ward, Mrs. Katha leen Glass, John Sheehan, and Her bert Senna, visited the county home Thursday afternoon, inspect ing the building for boys and both races, two unoccupied buildings erected about two years ago with WPA assistance; and the main kitchen serving the juveniles as well as inmates of the county home. Addison Hewlett, chairman of the Board of County Commissioners, v - .*•:« stated last night that the board is willing and eager to listen to any proposal which may be offered. Two weeks ' ago a committee from the board carried out an ex tensive inspection of. the juvenile detention home and county farm, following an investigation by the Junior Chamber of Commerce. Commissioners, in lookin_ over the farm, discussed the proposal o: building a new home. Hewlett dis closed last night that the commis sioners looked over the site of the present farm with the idea of con structing the new buildings, al some future date, nearer U. S. Highway 421, The committee reported yester day that the kitchen of the presenl institution is in a deplorable state of filth, and that there is no run ning hot water. A poorly balanced (Continued on Page Two; Col. 3) Stiffened American Resistance Slows Nazi Drive On Beachhead; ' 1 Enemy Planes Downed In Raid SMASH BRUNSWICK 29 Heavy Bombers Fail : ■ •' _ • % To Return From Ma jor Aerial Assault LONDON, Feb. 10.— tff) —U. S. Flying Fortresses, Liberators and long-range fighters smashed 84 German aircraft from the skies to day during coordinated raids on the Nazi manufacturing city of Brunswick and the Gilze-Rijen air base in Holland, from which 29 of thte heavy bombers and eight of the fighters failed to return. Mustangs, Thunderbolts and Lightnings of the fighter escort were credited by a U. S. Army communique with destroying 55 of the German interceptors which rose to challenge the raiders—a new record for a single day—and bomber gunners accounted for at least 29 more. Fortresses escorted by fighters of all three types struck the new blow at Brunswick, an important German aircraft parts manufactur ing city. The value the Germans put upon its defense was reflected in the communique announcement |hat the fighter opposition was heavy. A later official statement said the Flying Fortresses ran Into !"one of the fiercest defenses the enemy has yet sent against them,’ and crewmen estimated the Nazis had sent aloft between 200 and 300 fighters. Thunderbolts screened the Liber ators for the Gilze-Rijen raid, de signed to lay out the extensive run ways, hangars and repair shops of .that major German base and keep is swarms of pursuit craft ground ed. | Medium bombers nit once more at the Nazis’ anti-invasion installa I tions on the French coast. The first of the returning crews Baid the Fortresses and their long range escort battled it out for two and a half hours in a vicious run ning conflict even fiercer than that ion Jan. 11 when an attack on {runswick, Oscherslebe and Hal fcerstadt cost 60 heavy bombers (Continued on Page Nine; Col. 6) 1 -V President Seeks U.S. Owned Shops WASHINGTON, Feb. 10.— UR - Government construction of shops, stores and restaurants in war-con gested areas is contemplated, it was disclosed today v-hen Presi dent Roosevelt asked Congress for $150,000,000 additional for the Fed eral Works Administration (FWA). Accompanying the Presidential request was iter from Budget Director Harold D. Smith saying the imoney is needed to alleviate conditions which are conductive to absenteeism in war plants. “The rapid increase in popula tion in some areas,” Smith said, “has proved too much of a burden for existing facilities and services such as stores, shops, and restau rants.” To accomodate shoppers in crowded areas, Smith said the gov ernment may have to construct ad ditional stores in over-crowded areas “where the local community and private enterprise have * -ind that they cannot solve the prob lems themselves.” “Needless to say,” he added, “such facilities would be operat ed by private enterprise and not by the government. Each situation must be considered separately and private resources should be used to the utmost.” (Continued on Page Two; Col. 4) Willkie Confident Of GOP Nomination BAKER, Ore., Feb. 10—OP)— Wendell Willkie predicted in a brief speech from a railroad car here last night that he would be nominated for the presidency by the Republican party. The 1940 GOP candidate, on a tour of Western United States, spoke during a 12-minute halt en route to the Pacific north west. x “I’m going to be nominated for the President of the United States on the Republican tic ket,’’ he said without elabor ation. Willkie, accompanied by Mrs. Willkie, spent most of the time during the brief stop at tempting to complete a tele phone call to New York City. The call completed, he greet ed a group of well-wishers. ARTILLERY BLASTS Foe's Inroads Hammer ed By Heaviest Ar tillery Barrage By REYNOLDS PACKARD Representing the Combined American Press (Distributed by The Associated Press) THE A N Z I O BEACHHEAD FRONT, Feb. 10.—The German drive which started against one sector of this beachhead last Mon day night appeared today to have been slowed down as American resistance tightened and held. Inroads which the Germans made into this s- all beachhead have been hammered by the heav iest artillery blasts ever turned against the Germans since the landings. I have seen during the past 24 hours “time crashes” in which hundreds of shells landed on a single enemy target within a peri od of two minutes. These artillery blasts were re peated at frequent intervals so that where the enemy had en trenched himself in new positions he suffered heavy casualties. A number of these “time crash es” also were carried out in con junction with air bombing and na val shelling. Capt. Andrew Lowndes, a Brit ish artillery officer, who has been helping concentrate the guns on given targets said that during the past two days we had been direct ing terrific artillery blasts on short notice, despite the many hundreds of guns involved and without any elaborate planning for each blast. Yesterday the Germans broke into the British-American radio frequencies and tried to get the Allied artillery to cease firing. “Some Germans who spoke per fect English gave out orders in what was supposed to be our code, telling us to cease fire,” he said. “Needless to say they didn’t suc ceed.” As the result of a tour of the front made partly by jeep and partly by foot I am convinced to day that our defensive position is improved considerably, resulting (Continued on Page Two; Col. 2) Views Flickermen Will Visit Camp CAMP DAVIS, Feb. 10—Interest of the newsreel world will center on the Antiaircraft Artillery Train ing Center Friday as all major news “flicker” cameramen train their lenses on a demonstration of antiaircraft guns firing at high speed targets. National interest was recently focused on this training center with revelation that antiarcraft artillerymen for a number of months had been sharpening their aim against high-velocity targets. Newsreel companies to be repre sented here, according to the public relations officer, are Metro Goldwyn-Mayer, Fox Movietone, Pathe, Universal, and Paramount. Several times before movie newsreel cameramen have record ed the various- phases of training at this camp, and the releases have been shown in the nearby towns of Wilmington, Kinston, Wil son, and New Bern. The recording* will shortly again be shown to the movie fans of communities near this Army post. Holly Shelter, celebrated hunt ing ground of North Carolina sportsmen in other years, will be the scene of the unique target practice demonstration to be stag ed for the benefit of the visiting newsreel men. _v_ Greek Factions Declare Truce CAIRO, Feb. 10—UP)—Cessation of fighting between two leading bands of Greek guerrillas—in ef fect putting a lid on the main part of the German-fostered civil war that has been raging in that coun try—was announced officially to day. The announcement here said a truce had been declared between bands under Col. Napoleon Zervas and the Elas. Zervas, a former infantry offi cer and revolutionist with real military ability, recently formed a new guerrilla org-nization after breaking from the old ’‘Eddes” underground, and his bands were the only ones known to be actually warring against the Germans in Greece. ^ywar / .^) GOAL . >4,859,000 —$4,000,000 1—$3,000,0^0 —$2,000,000 —$1,000,000 New Life Is Put Into Bond Drive Evidence that residents of New Hanover county are putting new life into the local bond drive in the Fourth War Loan campaign was revealed by local officials [Thursday, who stated that the county has reached 70 per cent of its total War bond quota and more than 50 per cent of its series E quota! Although these figures are ap proximately on a par with prog ress of the campaign throughout the state, bond officials are anx ious to see the red line in the bond thermometer in front of the Post Office continue to shoot up, if the goal of $4,859,000 is to be attained by the closing date of the campaign, next Tuesday, February 15. The state has reported attain ment of 64 per cent of its total goal and 57 per cent of the Series E quota. Exact figures attained in the campaign in New Hanover county to date indicate that local citizens have invested $3,421,375 of the to tal sum requested. $1,155,975 has been invested in Series E bonds. Although on Monday of this week alone, citizens invested $173,775 in Series E bonds, officials are anx ious that all county residents keep the total goal in mind. $50 is asked of every man, woman and child living in the county. $200,000 in bonds were sold at a Camp Davis production held in Kinston Tuesday evening, Camp Davis officials revealed Thursday after a final tabulation of figures had been made. Treasury Department officials released an appeal from a soggy battlefield in Italy sent to the folks on the home front by Earl Kali, formerly of Philadelphia. “Buy more War Bonds—and do it cheerfully!’’ said Kail. “Uncle Sam does his best to keep us well - fed and warmly clothed,’ the soldier writes. “If the folks at home could see the wonderful work done here under (Continued on Pag' Nine; Col. 4) -V Pone's Summer Home Is Raided LONDON, Feb. 10.—OP)—The Vat ican Radio said tonigh* that Cas+el Gandolio, site of the Pope’s sum mer residence near the Allies’ An zio bridgehead in Italy, had been bombed- for the third time, causing “many casualties.’ Indicating that the Papal Villa itself escape damage, the broad cast, recorded here by the Associ ated Press, said “three bombs fell on the college adjacent to the vil la.” Dispatches from Switzerland several days ago said Pope Pius XII had established a home for refugees at Castel Gandolfo. “The Holy Father has ordered all Papal offices to give all help possible to the affected and in jured,’ the broadcast announced. • The Vatican did not identify the raiders, but indicated a Papal pro test, asserting that “we are inform ed that as the area enjoyed ex traterritorial rights (freedom from local or state jurisdiction) the Ho ly See did not fail to express con cern over such an attack.’ ness session, expessing his own 15,000 refugees are at the Papal (Continued on Page Nine; Col. 4) --- Where Major Battle Brews In Italy In an all-out attempt to smash the Fifth Army’s 100-square-mile beachhead below Rome, German forces are intensifying their pres sure on the semicircular line with artillery fire from superior positions in the hills. Arrows show where strong ground attacks have been turned back as the invasion action 'develops into full | scale battle.• Huon Peninsula Finally Occupied By The Associated Press Five months of hard, persistent lighting bore fruit in the Southwest Pacific as Australian and Ameri can invasion forces joined near iiaidor to complete occupation of Huon peninsula in New Guinea. The bulk of a Japanese force of 14,000 men, including six infantry, artillery and engineering regi nents, was destroyed. The Yanks and Aussies joined at Old Yagoni, on the northeast New Guinea coast, yesterday morning (Thurs day). For four successive days Ameri can warships and aircraft have bombed or shelled atolls still held n the Marshalls by the Japanese. Pacific fleet headquarters at Pearl Harbor announced yesterday that I 14 tons of bombs plastered un identified atolls in the Marshalls h raids on Monday, Tuesday, and iWednesday. In the same period warships shelled two enemy-held t tolls. (Sunday, unidentified Marshall sland atolls were bombed by American forces.) The Navy announced another bombing raid on Wake island, forth of the Marshalls, from which ill American planes (Coronado Flying boats) returned safely. They scored hits on the air field end barracks area. The raid Tues day night was the 12th by Ameri can planes since the Japanese cap I f ared Wake. [ Tokyo radio yesterday claimed 'that eight American heavy bomb ers attempting a raid on Wake were turned back by anti-aircraft t re. Continued air strikes were car ied out against Japans two prin (Continued on Page Nine; Col. S) -V Badocrlio Given Old Authority NAPLES, Feb. 10.—(fli-The Al lies tonight restored to Marshal Pietro Badogliu’r government the administrative authority over southern Italy, inr’-’din Sicily and Sardinia, but on condition that all officials be of * Hied sympathies and that the Ai es have no com mitments to the Badoglio-King Vit torio Emanuele regime after the capture of Rome. Thus the Allies are not bound to support the present Italian admin istration and have taken note of Badoglio’s pledge to surrender his powers to another government ii Italians so desire a'ter Rome is freed. Transfer of the administration below a line -dri i from Salerno to Potenza to Bari was announc ed by Lt. Gen. Frank N. Mason MacFarlane, deputy president at the Allied control commission. Earlier he had announced that by Italian royal decree all anti semitic and other racial restric tions imposed by the Mussolini re (Contfnr.ed on Pare Two; CoL 5) Climax Is Near In Dnieper Bend LONDON, Friday, Feb. 11.—(i<P)— Russian troops have cut oft sev eral German groups from the main remnants of ten crack Axis divisions trapped around Korsun in the Dnieper river bend and are “wiping them out,” Moscow an nounced today in a bulletin fore shadowing the climax of the big gest single Nazi disaster since Stalingrad. Associated Press Moscow dis patches said the exhausted Ger mans, once estimated at more than 100,000 men, were being cap tured at an increasingly high rate, but also were dying in the same numbers undei the merciless ham mering of massed Russian artil lery laying down a cross-fire on the Germans within the constrict ed ring. Korsun itself, pivot of the sur vivors lines, was reported under Soviet artillery fire as the Rus sians yesterday drove to within seven miles of that stronghold at two points; the Germans’ airstrips were gone; food supplies were ebb ing to the vanishing point. A Tass broadcast from Moscow early today said the German com mander, Lt. Gen. Schermmerinan, had sent all available men, includ ing stretcher-bearers and bakers of the Nazi eighth army, into the (Continued on Page Two; Col. 7) _v_ British Battle With Yugoslavs LONDON, Feb. 10. — (/P)— British forces were declared tonight to be fighting side by side with the Yu goslav Partisans against the Ger mans on the island of Hvar off the Dalmatian coast. How they entered the struggle was, as yet, a mystery. A com munique from Partisan headquar ters of Marshal Josip Broz (Tito) described them only as “British units.” The implication was that they were Commandos or other amphibious forces. Tito said they were operating successfully at Veliko Braglye on Hvar, which is one of the biggest islands off the Yugoslav coast. With Brae, just above it, the island commands the southern approaches to the major German held harbdr of Split. No qualified military source n London could confirm officially the presence of British combat forces ir the Yugoslav arena, although British liaison officers have been active there. The present forces appeared ei ther to have gone ashore in some as yet undisclosed landing opera tion or may be former prisoners of the Italians who escaped through the Balkan underground to join Tito. Tito’s communique said British units sank four German sailing vessels off the Dalmation coast and captured 85 Germans in the operation.