5111 tbmngtmt JHanrnu; Star VOL-76—NO. 334--WILMINGTON, N. C., MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1944 * FINAL EDITION ESTABLISHED 1867 Money Bills Are Eyed By Republicans CUTTING drive seen measures Supply Funds for State, Justice And Commerce Agencies WASHINGTON, Feb. 13- UP) - Two new appropriation bills carry ing funds for four agencies offer united House Republican bloc fresh opportunity this week to L-rv on a money-slashing drive which its leaders would like to develop mto a major political is SUproviding appropriations for the state Justice and Commerce De triments and for the civil func tions of the War Department in fiscal 1945. they are expected to reach the House floor Wednesday or Thursday. . Rep Taber (NY), ranking Re publican on the appropriations committee, indicated he would carry on the curtailment drive started last week when the House considered the Treasury-Postoffice supply bill. Taber and fellow-Re publicans chopped nearly $300,000 from the Treasury-Postoffice bill. Their attempts to slash an addi tional §1.025.000 were unsuccessful. What Taber referred to as his "economy drive" was stopped by only one vote. The balloting was nontV linPS Democratic legislators contended that the Republican efforts to cut the appropriations constituted “false economy. "j can see no better issue to lake before the people than the issue of trying to save taxpayers’ money through elimination of un necessary expenditures of public funds," the New Yorker said in an interview. ”1 think some of our Demo cratic colleagues are beginning to realize that and I wouldn’t be surprised to see some of them vot ing with us in the future on these appropriation cuts.” Taber said he did now know what specific items he would make the target of his drive on the forth coming bills but observed that ‘there are some items in there that can stand reduction.” The most likely target is the fund in the State Department bill for cooperation with other Amer ican republics. Some legislators have claimed that the United States has spent money recklessly in its good-neighbor program. COMPROMISE VOTE BILL UP AGAIN WASHINGTON, Feb. 13— (ffl — A thrice rejected measure to make state absentee ballots the first choice in voting by servicemen and women overseas bobbed up again today as a compromise measure to end a Congressional wrangle on the subject. The bill, sponsored by Senator Taft fR-Ohio), would allow use of a Federal ballot by members of the armed services only if they fail to get a state ticket. It is backed by most Republicans and Southern ‘States Rights” Demo crats in the senate. Apparently it is due for another scrutiny by Senate and House con ferees who meet this week to seek some common ground between the Senate's insistence on a uniform Federal ballot and the House de termination to let tne t>rares care of votes for the armed forces. The Taft proposal was knocked down three times by thr Senate in the administration’s f-ial drive to put through its Federal ballot bill. But Senate conferee* indicat ed tonight that the substance of the Taft proposal might make up the ultimate compromise. Senator Green (D-Rl co-author °f the administration’s Federal ballot bill and chairman of the Senate conferees, said the Taft ainendment couldn’t be consider ed in its original form but added: "The conference could settle °n something like it because the conferees have the entire scope (Continued on Page Two; Col. 4) 2 Trim DE’s, Honoring War Heroes, Launched At Tampa, Fla. Yafd _ TAMPA, Fla., Feb. 13.—-C'Pi— iwo trim destroyer escorts were -<unch»'i f0;- •),<> Nsvy today aj the Shipbuilding Co. yard, one r'** them completing again the ros 'er of Navy’s five “Fighting TU.ru," and the other dedicated f° lr> Alabama >samsn who died l-sroivniiy tj mor-ths ago on '-he cruu.r San Francisco. Tl'*y v«re rh* JSS Earl K. 01 Sltn and the USS Sinter, 30th and '’•t v..„,is built /or the Navy by T-e Tampa ynrd, and were Chris loupd by tne mothers ot the Navy xlerrtos -for whnm fhov are nanr.ofl Exploding Glass Bothers Drinkers LONDON, Feb. 13.—UP)— Bee-r drinkers in Britain are being bothered by exploding glasses. It seemed like a gag at first when the glasses, filled with beer, began falling apart in the hands of pub customers. But R. H. Foske, an expert on tumblers, explained they ap parently were defective. If new glasses are over toughened, he said, ‘‘a strain is set up and they could ex plode if put on a warm table.” RFCN( READY FOR TRANSITION Agency Willing To Guar antee Immediate Loans For Reconversion WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 —UP)— The RFC indicated tonight it is ready to make or guarantee im mediate loans to speed the indus trial transition from war to peace although it stressed that its pro gram will be in cooperation with private financing. Charles B. Henderson, Recon struction Finance Corporation board chairman, made public a letter addressed to managers of the 31 RFC loan agencies in which he said the RFC must “be pre pared to carry out our responsi bility to the national economy in the exercise of otr statutory lend ing powers for war demobiliza tion, contract termination and re conversion to peacetime opera tions.” ihe letter asked each of the managers throughout the country to “give careful and sympathetic consideration to all inquiries fot such financial assistance, whether in the forms of loans, immediate commitments for future loans or preliminary negotiations looking toward future commitments. “I ask further,” Henderson’s letter continued, “that you survey your territory, contacting business enterprises and individuals inter ested in these problems in order to ascertain what assistance may be expected of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and how it can be most helpful. “These activities should be car ried on wherever possible, in con junction with banks or other fi nancial institutions since now, as always, it is our desire that pri vate financing be used, with or without participation by RFC.” Henderson said that RFC loans and guarantees for defense and war purposes now total nearly $2, 000,000,000 and he added that of the 10,000 authorizations 9,000 in volved amounts of $100,00 or less, thus demonstrating “the vital part all business has played in our war effort.” A spokesman for Henderson em phasized that the program would not be confined to present war in dustries, although loans and appli cations for new business enter prises, he added, must demon strate that they are sound eco nomically, that they are needed and that they will be successful. -V TEXTILE WORKERS WILL END STRIKE FALL RIVER, Mass., Feb. 13— (#1—Eleven hundred members of three striking textile unions tonight voted unanimously to return to work tomorrow morning in seven mills that were seized by the Army last week as a result of a nine week walkout. me vote ro return 10 wuik, wmui will become effective tomorrow at 6 a.m., came only a few days aft er the striking workers refused to return to work when Col. Curtis G. Pratt, Army representative, took command of the mills upon a presidential order. Tonight’s vote was held by the members of the three independent craft unions of loom fixers, slash er tenders and knot tiers, who walked out on Dec. 13 in protest against a seniority clause in a CIO contract with the Fall River tex tile manufacturers’ association. The walkout, involved members of the three unions and affected 7500 other employes. -V PROMOTED HICKORY, Feb. 13—tfl'»—Phil L. Barringer, son of Mrs. Perry L. Barringer of Hickory, has been promoted to the rank of captain in the Medical Corps of the Ar my. He is stationed at Camp Hood, Texas. -V mother dies PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 13—UR— Mrs. Virginia Brown, 35, died to day 'it burns suffered while she tossed her five children from a second sicry window of her burn ing '’.oir.e into the arms of neigh bors. None of the ehiidren, who rBnge from 10 months to seven vppr old. was iniured. Offensive Blows In Bridgehead Area Are Being Struck By American Troops; Rids Clear East Coast Of Lake Peipus I LONDON, Feb. troops have completely cleared the Germans from the east coast of Lake Peipus which forms the front ier of Estonia, and have reached a point 4 3miles from Pskov, Axis pivot for all of northwestern Rus sia, Moscow announced tonight. More than 800 localities were captured by Gen. Leonid A. Govo rov’s troops in a five-day plunge down the 50-mile length of Lake Peipus, which begins 30 miles in Land from the Gulf of Finland, a oroadcast-communique recorded by ;he Soviet monitor disclosed. The announcement that Soviet troops were nearing Pskov, gate way to southern Estonia and La tavia, came a short time after Premier Marshal Stalin issued an jrder of the day announcing the capture of Luga, rail junction on the Leningrad-Pskov-Warsaw rail way 80 miles northeast of Pskov. In the Ukraine the Russians took Eour more localities, battering back the exhausted remnants of 100, D00 German troops trapped near Korsun, and pinning them down to an eight-mile-long corridor ex tending from just south of Korsun along a railway to Sotniki on the - Sotniki itself was captured, the communique said, and Soviet ar tillery was reported laying down a withering fire over the remain ing Axis positions. German counter-attacks north west of Zvenigorodka, 27 miles southeast of Korsun, again were declared beaten down with “heavy losses on the enemy in manpower and equipment” as the Nazis out side the ring- continued their at tempts to bring relief to their dy ing companions. The Berlin high command also announced that Gen. Nikolai F. Vatutin’s western Ukraine forces again were attacking heavily in aid Poland near Dubno, 83 miles aortheast of the German strong hold of Lwow. A break-through to Lwow would cut the main supply (Continued on Page Two; Col. 8) -V LAWMAKER OFFERS TAX SUGGESTION WASHINGTON, Feb. 13— UP) — Integration of the victory tax with the regular normal inftome tax and surtax and graduation of the withholding tax to collect the ex act amount on individual salaries aach payday was advocated by Rep. Disney (D-Okla) as a sim plification move. A members c' the House Ways and Means Committee which has announced it will consider ‘prompt ly” proposals for clearing away some of the confusion about indi vidual income tax returns, Disney also urged changes in the estimates af income now required. “One of the big sources of trou ole, which has been annoying and aarassing the taxpayers is the sys lom of octimatps of income re juired,” Disney said in a state ment. “Under the same set of facts my three experts, private or gov ermental, will disagree on the computation of the tax. “One section of the bill which is before the president for signa ture corrects some of this trou ble.” .. He described as “exasperating (Continued on Page Two; Col. 4) GERMANS LAUNCH YUGOSLAV DRIVE fensive against the partisans in Yugoslavia and have taken some small towns, but are suffering heavy losses in the continuing bat tle headquarters of Partisan Mar shal Josip Broz (Tito) reported to night'in a broadcast. • The Partisan communi<lue> de" tailing combats at numerous points and noting that Allied planes had bombed German ship ping in the Adriatic, reiterated charges that forces of Gen. Draja Mihailovic, war minister of King Peter's exiled government, were assisting the Germans in fighting the Partisans. It said that in one sector Mihai lovic’s forces “are completely dis integrated” and that “great num bers mobilized by force among the population joined our 16th Moslem brigade.” r i - J Nazis Are Using Famed Monastery As A F o rtress ALLIED HEADQUARTERS, Al giers, Feb. 13—MB—The Allied command charged today that the Germans had turned the famous Benedictine monastery on Mt. Cassino into a fortress, and there fore it might be necessary to as sault it. The monastery is strategically placed on the crest of Mt. Cas sino, which overlooks the town of Cassino and dominates tile road to Rome which the Germans are holding as a corridor into the town. American troops are within a few hundred yards of the abbey, but have not yet intentionally fir ed upon it, a headquarters officer said. This officer explained in a state ment: The Germans still are putting up fierce resistance on Abbey Hill. Vatican authorities have asked (Continued on Page Two; Col. 8) menu¥senate WILL BE VARIED Legislation Involving Shad, Fruit Fly, And Sheep Are On Slate WASHINGTON, Feb. 13— UP) — Some very special legislation in volving fresh shad, the Mediter ranean frriit fly and the accidental blitzing &C 499 Texas range sheep is on the Senate’s menu this week. With the soldier vote and food subsidy headaches packed off to conference committees, the law makers are ready for a little catch-as-catch-can legislating and everybody gets to name his own k.cket in a sort of interlude be tween more weighty matters. Senators Andrews (D-Fla) and McCarran (D-Nev) are backing a bill which would permit the sale of shad in the District of Colum bia during December. Seems that years ago Congress got an dies that spawning shad were being caught in the Potomac around Christmas time, hindering perpe tuation of the species. Now the fish and wildlife service has found that shad don’t come up the river before April. The prohibi tion has been keeping Florida shad off the Capital market, and An drews didn't like that. The Mediterranean fruit fly be came a matter of Congressional concern when the little varmints started chewing up Florida grape fruit in 1929, which was a bad vear for all except fruit flies. The government's fruit fly eradicators worked so hard, in swatting the flies it is claimed that they caused about $10,000,000 damage to the orchards, which the Treas ury is now asked to pay. An Army plane took off from a ban Angelo, Tex., field Nov. 28,, 1942, for a little bombing practice. One of the bombs accidentally fell out over the Wade brothers ranch ;n Schleicher county, the owners .aid, sounding taps for the 499 sheep, two miles of fence and 3,200 acres of grass, which was (Continued on Page Two; Col. 4) CUT IN CANNED GOODS PREDICTED CHICAGO, Feb. 13.—OT)—Civil ians are in for a 43 per cent cut in canned fruits and a 19 per cent cut in canned vegetables this year, a War Food Administration offi cial told the food processors’ con vention today. C. W. Kitchen, deputy director of the office of distribution of the WFA, said that a new order signed last Friday allots civilians 17 mil lion cases of 12 canned fruit items for the 1944-45 season as against 30 million last year, and grants them 104 million cases of 14 veg etable items this year as com pared with 128 million cases last season. Kitchen said these figures com pared with a civilian use of 54 mil lion cases of fruits and 143 million cases of vegetables in the 1941-42 peak season. “The projected vegetable supply for civilian distribution .in the com ing season,” he said, “will be nearly 25 million cases less than the supply available during the current season. Views Of GOP Candidates Vary Widely On Different Problems AH Are Agreed That FR’s Administration Must Come To End By JACK BELL WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 — (£>— Three potential Republican presi dential candidates appeared in ac cord today on the partisan con tention that the Roosevelt admin istration must come to an end if American liberties are to be pre served, but the pattern of their thinking on many other issues varies widely. A survey of recent speeches «nd other utterances of the trio—Wen dell L. Willkie, Gov. Thomas E. Dewey of New York and Gov. John W. Bricker of Ohio—indi cates that if the Republicans choose any among them the party also will be committed to some form of international cooperation to preserve future peace. Beyond that point their positions often differ, with their views rang ing all the way from Willkie’s insistence that congress ought to raise 16 billions in additional taxes to Bricker’s contention that gov ernmwit economy is more impor tant now than higher taxation. The three agree, however, that the time has come for the Re publicans to return to power, and they all say the Republicans are better equipped to guide the post war transition to civilian pursuits with Dewey observing that “there are few thinking Americans who wish to risk the peacetime chaos of continued new deal govern ment.” Dewey, who has-said he is not a candidate for the presidential nomination but who is mentioned as a “draft” possibility, has not committed himself recently on some pressing issues. However, he is on record with the statement that the proposed Federal war ballot for service men would conflict with the New Willkie Confident Of Nomination Wendell Willkie, GOP nominee for president in 1940, at a con ference in Seattle with newsmen, expressed confidence he would receive the Republican nomination for president in 1944. Comment ing on the reign of the Democratic party, which he said is “rapidly falling apart,” Willkie added “I’m going to break this power if I can.” (AP Wirephoto). Y.\'k State Constitution, but prom ising State aid in getting ballots to the armed forces. Bricker said he favored state absentee ballots but Willkie ob served he - did not believe it is practical under State statutes for ;very member of the armed ser /ice to be given the opportunity o vote and was therefore in favor >f a Federal statute. Willkie and Bricker are on rec )rd as pledging no change in the Continued on Page Two; Col. 5) FINNISH ENVOYS IN STOCKHOLM Helsinki May Be Moving Toward Accord With The Russians STOCKHOLM, Feb. 13.—(IP) — Three of Finland’s leaders headed by Juhu Paasikivi, “the ambassa dor of peace,” were in Stockholm tonight and the world watched for a concrete sign whether Helsinki was moving to an understanding with Moscow. “There is impenetrable secrecy around government conferences which are being held constantly,” said Helsinki dispatches to the Swedish press. “The few who know what is developing are say ing nothing.” One rumor, which could not be confirmed,. said contact between Helsinki and Moscow had been es tablished at least three days ago and that Paasikivi was waiting to take up from that point because of the skill he has in dealing with the Russians and the respect the Russians hold for him. It was he who negotiated the peace with the Russians at the end of their winter war in 1940. Leo Ehrenrooth, Finnish minis ter of the interior, arrived in Stockholm by plane today, to join Paasikivi and Eljas Erkko, former foreign minister. French Mystery Targets Pounded By U. S., RAF LONDON, Feb. 13.—(TP)—Flying Fortresses and Lib erators in strong formations teamed with American Ma rauders and RAF Typhoons today in an unprecedented of fensive against the invasion coast of northern France, dealing out probably the 'heaviest blow of recent weeks on world’s most battered strips of land. Operating together for the first time since Feb. 5, the big four engined types plastered mystery targets in an intensification of the assault previously handled chiefly by lighter RAF craft. The American heavy bombers were escorted by American Thun derbolts and Mustangs. American Marauders, escorted and support ed by RAF domipion and Allied fighters, and other Allied fighters and British Typhoons also attack ed military objectives in northern France during the afternoon, a joint British-American communi que said. Seven German aircraft were brought down during the day, six by escorting American fighter planes, while four of the heavy bombers and two fighters from (Continued on Page Three; Col. 4! -V BOMBERS HAMMER SMOKING RABAUL ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC, Monday, Feb. 14.—UP)—Smoking and bomb-packed Rabaul, Japan's badly dented shield to Allied drives toward Tokyo and way points, was hit for the 12th time in fourteen days of the stepped-up A1 lied aerial offensive when 134 tons of bombs were dropped on its three airdromes. Three enemy aircraft were shot down out of a weak intercepting force. The Friday attack was announc ed today by Gen. Douglas MacAr thur. Our bombers also hit a 3,000-ton cargo ship at Wewak during a tho rough bombing and strafing of that northeastern New ^Huinea area, and struck also at Kendari in the Dutch Celebes, points on Portu guese Timor and Buka passage be (Continucd on Pace Two; Col. 4) STILWEL PLEDGES AGGRESSIVE DRIVE CHUNGKING, Feb. 13—UP)—An aggressive China-based land and air offensive in support of an Am erican thrust across the Pacific to land ground and air forces on the Chinese mainland was pledged today by Lt. Gen. Joseph W. Stil well, commander-in-chief of Unit ed States forces in India, China and Burma. Stilwell, now in the Ledo sector of northern Burma with Chinese and American forces, said every facility and accomodation is be ing prepared for the largest new cargo carriers available. These will fly far greater tonnages than do the present historic air trans ports which have made records in this theater. Stilwell’s statement took note of the recent declaration of Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, commander-in chief of the Pacific fleet, that the Navy intends a drive to break the Japanese blockade and land American forces on the mainland of China. Strikes, Laxness At Home Assailed By Local Soldier A vitriolic letter written from 'somewhere in the South Pacific” scoring strikes and general lax ness on the home front has been received by L. H. Hobbs of 214 N. 22nd Street from his son, Corpora] Walter L. Hobbs. The soldier writes that his senti ments are his “honest opinion, and, I feel free to say, also that of 99 per cent of the boys over here. “There is a large group of loyal citizens at home who have not yet realized that there is a war on,” he writes. “Without the support of the home front, the armed forces are absolutely helpless. This business of strikes is one example of the failure of the home front. | “The main issue is this: ‘We,‘ he strikers, because of the rising tost of living, are forced to lower iur standard of living. We must lave higher wages to live as we used to. Then there are some who strike for no .good reason at all. Can’t they realize that the ten million men in the Army had to lower their standard of living? That the families of men whose earnings were cut from $50 a week to $50 a month almost over night, are having to lower their standards of living? “Any normal person will tell you that the life of one American boy cannot be valued in dollars and cents. But that is what they (Continued on Page Two; Col. 5) INITIATIVE REGAINED Allies Are Reinforced Witt Fresh Troops; Situation Satisfactory ALLIED HEADQUARTERS. Al giers, Feb. 13—(/Pi—Allied troops ir. the invasion bridgehead below Rome have regained the initiative in part at least from powerful German forces pressing in upon them, and are striking offensive blows in a fierce see-saw strug gle. Reinforced with fresh troops, the Allies hammered at the Germans near Carroceto (Aprilia), and then ■ hrew back a German tank-sup ported. counterattack, headquarters announced, and the over-all situa tion on the bridgehead is “gener ally satisfactory.” This renewed surge of Allied initiative coincided with confident expressions by Allied command ers that the battle for Rome would succeed, and an order of the day by Lt.-Gen. Mark W. Clark, Fifth Army commander, that the chance had come to hand the Nazis a great defeat. Assault In Sun The Allied command announced that it might be necessary to as sault the Benedictine abbey atop Mt. Cassino because the Germans had turned it into a fortress, but there was no evidence that Ameri can or British troops had yet at tacked the massive structure domi nating the Cassino battlefield. (The Nazi-controlled Rome radio asserted in a broadcast recorded by CBS that “Allied artillery has begun an intensive bombardment ot the monastery.”) A dispatch written at the Cas sino battlefront at 6:45 p. m., Sun day by Lynn Heinzerling, Asso ciated Press war correspondent, featured the declaration of three battle-weary infantrymen that “they ought to wipe that monas tery off the hill” to eliminate the German observers and gunners shielded by its walls. Fortresses Strike Allied planes, including Flying Fortresses and Liberators ordinar ily reserved for long range strate gic work except at times when the ground forces are in need of all available support, struck new and heavy blows again yesterday just behind Nazi lines around the bridgehead. The main clash on the Carroceto sector opened Saturday with an Allied attack making local gains in the so-called factory area of Carroceto. The Germans counter attacked with armor including flame-thrower tanks, but were turned back with two tanks lost. The food-processing factory there changed hands three times, head quarters said, and thus was pre sumably in Allied hands. New Strongpoints American troops in the Cassino area to the east wrested new strongpoints from the Germans Aside the town, and two miles to The west of Cassino seized a 1,500 l'cot hill, kncking back a Nazi counter-thrust. The Germans still are resisting fiercely on Mt. Cassino, dominat ing the town from the northwest and the corridor leading to it, and headquarters announced the Nazis had converted the famous monas tery crowning the hill into a fort ress, firing on U. S. forces a few hundred^ yards away. TT_4V»o4 an far the Allies had tried to observe a Vatican request to spare the historic abbey, but that if the Ger mans continued to use it as a slrongpoint, means would have to be taken to knock them out of it. Prisoners Taken More prisoners taken in the Cas ino area included men of th* German first parachute division, last reported facing the British army on the Adriatic sector. Ap parently part of this division ha: been shifted to the Fifth Armj :ront to strengthen the German: (Continued on Page Three; Col. 1) German Intelligence Agents In Istanbul Surrender To British ITANBUL, Turkey, Feb. 13.— (/P)—Two more Nazi intelli gence agents operating in Is tanbul have gone over to the British, it was learned today. They are Karl Alois Von Kleckowski, second in charge of counter-espionage for the Germans here, and Capt. Wil helm Hamberger, a Gestapo agent. Both are Austrians. Last week a German clerk to the military attache, identi * fied by an Allied spokesman as Erich Vermchren gave him self up to the British. X

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