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/ FORECAST * ( * 4 d(V[t + I REMEMBER thmwjtim ifltarttttuj mar •ssssr V0Lj^Na — __ WILMINGTON, N. C., SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 1944 FINAL EDITION ESTABLISHED 1867 I m tm I ... 1 1 1 ■ ■ ■■ .. -- i. — . — ~ — ^ Supreme Meet lo Study Draft Of Young Men M’NUTT heads body Deferments For Key Work ers To Be Rationed Under Plan WASHINGTON, March paUj v. McNutt tonight created a •upreme new committee to ration out occupational draft deferments for men under 26, and secured ^mv-Navy agreement that de ferments should be considered for j;ev men in railroading, logging, Coal mining and other war-sup porting industries. Previously, the Army had held cut for deferments only in a group of industries producing “must” munitions — chiefly those needed jor an invasion of Europe. McNutt, as war manpower chair man. named himself to head the committee, and gave it the power to decide which industries should jet special treatment. The group will decide also how many young jcey workers can be deferred in each activity. The action, announced at a press conference, was believed to pro vide a solution for the manpower crisis precipitated by the Army’s sweeping demand for virtually all able-bodied men under ?,6. McNutt allowed just three days for government agencies to say bow many youths in each indus try they want deferred as essen tial and irreplaceable. The government agency in charge of each industry will pre sent to the committee by March 21 a list of the “must” industries under its jurisdiction, and a pro posed budget of deferments for each. The War Production Board will thus act as sponsor for muni tions industries, the Office of De fense transportation for railroads and shipping, etc. With all these claims before it, the new committee will decide whether the industries named ac tually are “must” activities, will fix a total maximum number of deferment to be granted, and will whittle down the demands of each agency to match the maximum I thus fixed. ■UdLU UI Llic agciltics LUXICCillCU will have membership on the new tody. Thus WPB will participate in the decisiion on ODT’s defer ments, and vice versa. In addition to the agencies regularly entitled to membership on the full WMC panel, the new commitiee will include the office of the rubber director, who will act in behalf of the synthetic rub ber and tire producers, the Solid Fuels Administration, which will act for coal mining, and the ODT. McNutt indicated the committee would scrutinize closely each re quest for deferments. “We are asking what particular activities are so vital that they cannot let their men go into the Army,” he stated. "There will be very few of them.” The committee will transmit lists of the approved activities and individual plants to the national headquarters of selective service, which in turn will pass on the recommendations to state direc tors who are authorized to grant deferment in the case of men whose induction would mean a loss of essential war production. tr JOAN COMPLETES HER TESTIMONY LOS ANGELES, March 24.—W>—■ A court ruling this afternoon pre vented Charlie Chaplin’s lawyer Questioning Joan Berry about a ro mance with another man and At torney Jerry Giesler told report ers: "This closes the door on our hooks.” Immediately after a brief recess Giesler announced he was through v'*th the cross examination of the government’s chief witness in its effort to convict the actor on a Mann Act indictment. u- S. Atty. Charles H. Carr, with a few questions about Miss Ber n’s visit to Chaplin’s Beverly HHls home with a loaded pistol, brought her testimony on behalf °f the prosecution to a close. The ruling followed a 58-minute huddle at Judge J. F. T. O’Con nor’s bench in which Giesler said rater he had made various offers of proof in resisting the govern ment’s objection to his line of questioning. The question which preceded the lengthy conference and to which G-U s. Attorney Charles H. Carr made quick objection, was: "In November, 1942, before you left for Tulsa, did you have a con versation with Hans Reusch in which you said in effect that you were broke but that you knew where you could get some money m Oklahoma from a business man who had to give you some money because you had made a trip r°m Mexico and there is a law (Continued on Page Five; Col. 3) I Reds Drive On Rumania And Black Sea TTie upper arrow on the above map indicates where the First Ukrainian army pushes toward Lwow. Other arrows show a new of fensive in the Proskurov sector that took Kurilovtsky-Murovanny, which Berlin said was apparently aimed at trapping German troops in the Vinnitsa area. Moscow announced that -'the Russians second Ukraine army had taken the town of Nadushita widening the Dnies ter River bridgehead and on the southeastern end of the line, Soviet troops took Alexandrovka in the drive on Nikolaev and the Black Sea. (AP wirephoto) 126,065 GIVEN IN DRIVE HERE Wilmingtonians Making Average Response, Of ficials State Wilmingtonians having donat ed $26,065.27 in the first six days of the Red Cross War Fund campaign, according to the Friday night audit, shows that citizens are making a satisfactory average response, officials stated. Officials pointed out that due to inclement weather many workers have been handicap ped in covering their assign ed territories, and it has been reported to Red Cross head quarters that many firms are awaiting pay days on Friday and Saturday before soliciting employes. When these reports are made, it is expected the campaign will be boosted con* siderably. Friday afternoon’s solicita tions were not added to the to tal to date, whereas, divisional captains submitted reports ear ly in the day. The^ Wilmington chapter of American Red Cross divisional standings will be found else where in this issue of the Star. -v PRICE CONTROL HELD NECESSARY WASHINGTON, March 24.—(Pi Two of the administration’s top men—War Production Chief Don ald M. Nelson and Federal Re serve Chairman Marriner S. Ec cles—urged Congress today to keep the country under stabiliza tion controls beyond the war’s end. Nelson declared, however, that the need has passed for a national service act, recommended some time ago by President Roosevelt to authorize the drafting of civili an labor for essential industries. He did say a limited service law might help break a manpower deadlock between industry and the armed forces. Eccles told the Senate Banking Committee Congress should keep the stabilization program alive two years after the end of the war “to maintain the public faith and the value of the dollar.” The com mittee is considering legislation to extend the price control act a year beyond June 30. A sudden release of pent-up spending as soon as hostilities end “might well be fatal” to the na tion’s economy, he said. “The inflationary pressure will continue untl a balanced budget is in prospect.” Without stabilization controls (Continued on Page Two; Col. 6) SENATE APPROVES Cl AID MEASl E Provides Almost Every* thing Except Bonus For Servicemen WASHINGTON March 24— UP) — The Senate passed unanimously late today a $3,500,000,000 "G-I bill of Rights’' measure providing vir tually every suggested aid to vet erans of this war except adjusted compensation (bonus) payments. The roll cal' vote was 9 to 0 for passage of the measure. The measure, which now goes to the House, carries an estimated $3,000,000,000 in benefits plus a flat $500,000,000 authorization for con struction oi new hospital facilities. It provides for government-paid education of from one to four years (based on length of service) for service men and women, plus: 1. Unemployment compensation of $15-a-week for a maximum of 52 weeks out of a 2-month peri od. 2. Loans up to $1,000 for the pur chase of farms, homes or busi nesses. 3. A veterans’ job placement service. 4. Designation of the Veterans Administration to administer all of its provisions under a status as a war agency. --—V r DWELL IS HELD UNDER BOND HERE Cpl. Robert C. Aldred, Batter,y C, 111 AAA, Gun Battery, Camp Davis, was fatally injured on U. S. Highway No. 421, South, eight miles from Wilmington, when he was struck by a car operated by Joe Powell, Negro, of Wilmington, at 12:15 a. m. Friday. Powell is being held under a bond of $3,000 following an inquest yesterday afternoon, Coroner Asa W. Allen stated last night, adding that he is being charged with mur der, Cpl. Aldred was attempting to direct traffic with a flashlight, while a small Army truck and trailer were negotiating a turn in the road, and had already stopped several cars when he was struck by Powell, highway patrolmen said. Coroner Allen said last night that 13 witnesses appeared for the in quest, but that it was only neces sary to question eight of these. “It will be necessary for the Grand Jury to determine what de gree of murder Powell will be tried for,” he said. Aldred died at 12:30 en route to James Walker Memorial hospital. Powell was arrested immediate ly following the accident, and is being held in the New Hanover county jail, pending the decision of a coroner’s jury scheduled to study the case at 3:30 this after noon in the Grand Jury room of the courthouse. Powell was proceeding north on the highway in a 1940 convertible Pontiac automobile, in which Mary Ann Coley of Freemont and Ruth Saunders of Pikeville were pr sengers, when Aldred was struck. Powell allegedly rode 276 feet after he ran over the soldier before stopping. First to arrive on the scene were men from the sheriff’s department. Powell and his passengers were carried to James Walker Memorial by policemen for a checkup, and an Army vehicle carried Aldred to thp hospital, where he was found dead on arrival. (Continued on Page Two; Col. 4) i Reich Battered In Great Strength By RAF; Berlin Is Main Target; Reds Slay 20,000 Nazis In Push -- x - X * - Rumania Admits NazisfOccupation LONDON, March 24.—<£>>—'The Rumanian legation at Ankara, Turkey, announced today that it had confirmed the German occu pation of Rumania, and diplomatic quarters in London agreed that Hitler’s Balkan grab had fore stalled any effective peace move by the Nazis’ nervous satellite na tions. The possibility that the Allies have been quick to stir up as much trouble for Hitler as possible in the dissenssion-torn Balkans was seen in Berlin radio reports that para chutists in British uniforms had been dropped into Rumania and a Rumanian Jewish ring dealing with them had been caught. There were numerous indications that the Nazi maneuver has not ended with the occupation of Hun gary and Rumania. Turkish ad vices reported that German rein forcements had been rushed to all points on the Rumanian and Bul garian coasts of the Black Sea in an apparent German move to pre pare a stand against the onrushing Russian army. The Moscow radio broadcast a Tass dispatch dated Istanbul which quoted “trustworthy sources” in the Turkish city as reporting that “German billeting officials recent (Continued on Page Two; Col. 6) WHISKEY COUPON BOOST IS DENIED State ABC Board Rejects Proposal By M’Miltan To Increase Value The state Alcoholic Beverae Control board yesterday rejected a proposal presented by W. D. MacMillan, chairman of the New Hanover County ABC board, that it liberalize the current stringent liquor ration during the remainder of March because of the large sur plus here which will be subject to an additional federal tax of $3 a gallon on April J. This tax must be paid by the consumer and will increase the prices of liquor now on the shelves of the stores “50 cents and up” a bottle. The action of the state board was taken at a meeting in Dur ham, according to a telegram re ceived by MacMillan from Carl L. Williamson, chairman. In his message, Williamson said “the extra merchandise you have^ on hand and referred to in your* telegram is actually April and May allotments and should you dis pose of these goods'in March, you would not be able to take care of any appreciable number of your outstanding coupons during April and May and subsequent months. “We will not want to take the responsibility of further reducing the present value of the coupons,” the telegram continued. “We be lieve it to be to the public interest and the public good that the mer chandise allotted by the shippers for the months of April and May should be sold during these two months and we are not impressed with your suggestion that the rules should be changed on the 25th of March in order to evade the pay ment of the new tax levied by Con gress which becomes effective April 1st. We have had no request (Continued on Page Five; Col. 5) 62 MILE ADVANCE Russians Threaten To Trap [Thousands Of Enemy Troops In East LONDON, March 24.—Rus sia’s First Ukraine Army in a 62 mile flanking smash has killed 20, 000 Germans and broken through to the Dniester River at the gate way to the Balkans five miles from the former Rumanian prov ince of Bucovina, Moscow an nounced tonight, threatening to trap thousands of battered Ger man forces to the east. A. four-day avalanche of Red army power unleashed by Mar shal Gregory K. Zhukov south of by-passed Tarnopol engulfed 400 towns and villages and reached the river at aleshchiki, in the southeastern tip of old« Poland just 26 miles north of Czernowitz, big Rumanian rail hub controlling lines into Poland. Czecho-Slovakia, Hungary and Southern Rumania. The killing of 20,000 Germans, along with the capture of 3,500 more, was announced in the Soviet daily communique. Premier-M arihal Stalin an nounced the break-through to the Dniester at Zaleshchiki, and also the capture en route of the “op erationally important’’ rail junc tion of Chortkov, 22 miles to the north, and Gusyatin rail station 17 miles east of Chortkov. An order of the day, recorded by the Soviet monitor, recorded the gains. The daily communique later an nounced that Soviet troops strik ing northwest of besieged Tarnopol had crossed the Sereth River and cut the railway to Lwow at a point only 60 miles from that big Axis communications city in southern Poland. That stroke snapped the princi pal German feeder route into Tar nopol, made the capture of Tarno pol an early possibility, and fur ther opened the way for three-way drive on Lwow. The Russians also broke into the outskirts of Proskurov, 62 miles east of Tarnopol on the trunk rail way to Odessa. Voznesensk, German Bug River stronghold 80 miles north of Odes (Continued on Page Two; Col. 1) TT MELLETT QUITS AS AIDE TO FDR WASHINTON, March 24— W — Lowell Mellett, gray-haired vet eran behind the new deal scenes, quit his $10,000-year job as ad ministrative assistant to Presi dent Roosevelt today to become a newspaper columnist for the Wash ington Star. , The resignation was announced at a news, conference by the Pres ident who told reporters he was sorry to see Mellett leave the ad ministration family. The President used the occasion to praise pub lishers who print views contrary to their own. Mellett, a newspaperman with years of Washington background, went to work for the government in 1937 and headed a trio of war born alphabet agencies—the Na tional Emergency Council (NEC), Office of Government Reports (OGR), the motion picture bureau of the Office of War Information (OWI). His expressed views and his ac tions frequently brought congres sional wrath down on him. The out cry from Capitol Hill reached its (Continued on Page Five; Col- 2) Farm Machinery Probe Situation Asked By Solon WASHINGTON. March 24.—W— Farm machineiy exported under lend-lease has been less than 2 percent of the American supply, President Roosevelt said today, and emphasized that those exports are helping feed the American ar my overseas, soon to rise to 5,000, 000 men. Mr. Roosevelt replied indirectly at his press-radio conference to complaints, in Congress and else where, that farm machinery is be ing shipped abroad when Ameri can farmers are unable to get all they want. At the Capital, meantime, an in vestigation of the farm machinery situation was asked by Senator Clark (D.-Mo.). He introduced a resolution proposing that the ag riculture committee review pres ent and prospective production of farm machinery, and “secure tacts” as to what amount supply of farm machinery has been sent tc areas outside the United States and what plans have been adopted for future foreign distribution. The President read a letter from Foreign Economic Administrator Leo T. Crowley citing the 2 per cent figure. Crowley, Mr. Roose velt announced, has resigned as alien property custodian in order to give all his time to his other two big government jobs, foreign economic administrator, and chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The President disclosed several, weeks ago that Crowley wanted to quit as alien property custodian, but that he had asked him to stay on a while. James E. Markham, of Lowell, Mass., who has been deputy custodian for two years, (Continued on Page Two; Col, S) Foreign Developments Hold Capital Spotlight By The Associated Press .. Washington was the scene yes terday of these rapid-fire develop ments in the field of foreign af fairs: 1. President Roosevelt appealed to Germans and other peoples of Europe and Asia to shield and grant asylum to refugees from Axis executioners. 2. Secretary of State Hull con ferred with Republican Congress men seeking specific data on U. S. foreign policy. Rep. Clare Boothe Luce (Conn.) said after ward “silence is still the State De partment’s settled policy,” while others described the conference as helpful. 3. Hull urged Hungary, first Axis satellite to feel the “Nazi whip,” to fight the fprces of occupation. 4. President Roosevelt renewed the U. S. pledge to free the Phil ippines. By WILLIAM T. PEACOCK WASHINGTON, March 24.—— President Roosevelt, saying hun dreds of thousands of Jews face death as a result of Hitler’s grasp of the Balkans, called on the peo ples of Europe and Asia tempo pies of those countries and the Germans themselves today to hide intended victims from the Nazi ex ecutioners. The chief executive also asked in a statement that “the free peo rarily open their frontiers to all victims of oppression.” “We shall find havens of refuge for them, and we shall find the means for their maintenance and support until the tyrant is dri\Aen from their homelands and they may return,” he said. Mr. Roosevelt, in a voice heavy with the cold which kept him to his living quarters earlier this week, read the statement to his press-radio conference. He said the American inter - departmental committee on refugees has had considerable success in actually getting people out of Nazi-domi nated areas. (Continued on Page Two; Col. 3) JAPANESE MASS FUR CHINA PUSH Navy Search Plane Bombs Ant Islands, In The Caroline Group By LEONARD MILLIMAN Associated Press War Editor Japan, whose three - pronged thrust into India is running into trouble, appears to be massing troops in China for a new offen sive. In the Pacific all news yester day was bad for Tokyo. The Navy announced American submarines had sunk 11 more Japanese ships —two tankers, three transports, five freighters, and a converted minelayer. A Navy search plane bombed the Ant island?, the sixth target in the Caroline islands to be at tacked. The Ant islands atoll is near much-bombed Ponape, east ern outpost of Truk. Fires were started on one of four enemy is lands raided in the Marshalls. President Roosevelt promised “America will fulfill its pledge” of independence to the Philippines and noted that “the return of free dom . . . draws closer with each island victory." Tokyo radio asserted “fierce at tacks are being continued” by Jap anese troops on Bougainville in the northern Solomons But Associated Press War Correspondent Spencer (Continued on Page Two; Col. 7) -V AIR ASSAULT DID LITTLE IN ITALY ALLIE® HEADQUARTERS, Na ples, March 24.—(#)—The Germans have thrown powerful new artil lery and aerial support into their defense of Cassino, their ground troops are resisting as desperate ly as ever in the ruins of the mountain-locked stronghold, and it becomes plain that last week’s ter rific air assault did little to help Allied forces break through into the Roman valleys. Enemy artillery fire from north of the town has mounted steadily in recent days, and between 40 and 50 Nazi planes swept low yes terday to shoot up Allied traffic on Highway Six behind the lines. New Zealand troops wormed for ward in the ruins at the southern edge of Cassino and an Allied spokesman reported they made “some little progress.” German parachute troops clung to wreck age of the Continental and Des Roses Hotels and other buildings. Allied c h a*n c e s of breaking through into the Liri Valley ap peared as remote as at any time since the start of the struggle over two months ago. The Allies, though, have learned many lessons at Cassino which may prove of value in the forthcoming invasion of wfestem Europe. One is that air attacks, though effective against cities and indus trial establishments in the rear, are of little value against fortifi cations manned by determined sol diers. Above all, it has shown that the walls of Hitler’s Europe still are strong and intact and that the German army still is capable of a most desperate defense, , ft CHURCHILL VIEWS U. S. ’CHUTISTS ’Chutists Told Day Coming ‘Soon’ When They Will Do Big Jump LONDON, March 24.— W—Prime Minister Churchill on his first in spection of an all-American force in Britain watched hundreds of parachutists in a mass leap at a U. S. air-borne base yesterday, clambered about a glider, discov ered a jeep inside and pronounced the air-borne troops “the most modern expression of war.” “Soon,” he told the parachute troops who gathered around him on his surprise visit, unannounced until today for security reasons, “you will have the opportunity of testifying to your belief in all those great phrases embodied in the American constitution.” Mentioning the comradeship in arms of American and British troops, Churchill said “our troops, British and American, at this mo ment are shedding their blood side by side in Italy, at Cassino or in the Anzio bridgehead, fighting hard and losing heavily in the struggle.” The Americans in Britain, he said, “are preparing themselves to strike a blow for a cause which is a greater cause than either of our two countries have ever fought for in by-gone days.” “It is a world cause,” he con tinued, “because though no one can tell how the future of the world will shape itself, we are de termined that the dark tyrannies which have overcrowded our lives and drawn our people from their homes shall be broken and bat tered down, and that an example shall be made of the guilty which will prevent such tyrannies being erected again upon the masses of the people.” Churchill spoke from a jeep, bare-headed, with Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower close by, along with Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley, senior commander of American ground forces in the United Kingdom, and Maj. Gen. Lewis H. Brereton, commander of the U. S. Ninth Air Force. From a grandstand the Prime Minister and the generals watched splendidly executed parachute leaps. Many scores of aircraft swept down and as they reached the saluting base a number of par achutists tumbled out. German Troops Land On Aaland Islands, In The Baltic Sea NEW YORK, March 24.—(/P) —The British radio said to night that according to reli able reports reaching London German troops have landed on the Aaland islands in the Bal tic Sea midway between Fin land and Sweden. “Hitherto Finland has per mitted no foreign troops on the islands,” said the broadcast which was recorded by CBS. The London radio said the is lands are of “great strategic importance since they control the Gulf of Bothnia and the sea approaches to Stockholm.” U. S. HITS FRANKFURT French Airfields At Nancy And St. Dizier Also Raided By Allies LONDON, Saturday, March 25. —(#)—“Aircraft of the RAF bomb er command were over Germany in strength during the night, with Berlin as the main objective,” an authoritative British source an nounced today hard on the heels of the American daylight attacks which pounded Friday Frankfrut and Schweinfurt and the French airfields of Nancy and St. Dizier as the air war against German Europe raged without pause. The German radio declared the night raid on Berlin was on a large scale. High explosives and fire bombs blanketed all Berlin, the Germans said. The Germans, who had offered little opposition to the daylight at tacks, made it a “battle of the capitals” Friday night with the longest, most determined raid of the week on London. It was their fourth consecutive night raid, and several waves of bombers caused casualties and damage with high explosive and incendiary bombs. A well-known building, a famous old church, and a publishing house were among London structures hit, along with many residences. The Germans al so struck in Southeast England and East Anglia. auuuL duu ziiubiiv.au wuuiuvio and approximately the same num ber of fighters, including RAF Mustangs, took part in each of the two daylight missions—a total of 1,000 planes—significantly dem onstrating the Allies’ growing com mand of the air, the raids were made at a cost of three bombers and five fighters although two of the targets, Frankfurt and Schwe infurt, are vital industrial centers heavily defended in the past. The escort destroyed two Nazi aircraft on the ground and shot down a third as it was taking off. The Americans could not shoot any great numbers out of the air because, as a headquarters com munique observed, “few German interceptors challenged either the fighters or the bombers.” The mission was the 19th in March for the Eighth Air Force, topping the record of 18 opera tions for a month, established 'in February. Flying Fortresses struck 400 miles to Frankfurt and 475 to Schweinfurt, marking the 14th time in March that American heavies had bombed German soil and providing a striking contrast to the days when the Eighth Air Force had to pay heavily to pen etrate that deeply. Frankfurt is a big manufactur ing and distribution center with large railway yards and aircraft and other war industries. Schwe infurt is the home of ball bearing factories which once produced more than half of Germany’s sup ply of this war essential. Both of these cities have been defended desperately in the past, the Americans losing 60 bombers in an attack on Schweinfurt last Oct. 14. _v_ FDR IS SLAPPED BY THE SENATE WASHINGTON. March 24. — [P) —The Senate, approving the $8, 557,000, independent offices appro priation bill, voted today to with hold funds from any government agency in existence 12 months without direct Congressional ap propriations. This bah, sponsored by Senator Russell (D-Ga), struck particular ly at the President’s Fair Employ ment Practices Committee and other agencies Mr. Roosevelt has financed from funds given him for discretionary use. The Senate also wrote into the bill an amendment requiring that the Senate confirm all Federal employes appointed to jobs paying $4,500 a year or more. The vote was 31 to 23. The employment committee, set up to prevent discrimination in war jobs, first was excluded from the money ban when Republicans teamed with northern and west ern Democrats in support of a plea by Senator Buck (R-Del) who said “the colored folks reel deeply interested.’’ But after Senator George (D Ga) had charged that by this ex ception, Republicans had forfeit ed all rights to complain against bureaucracy, the Senators about faved and killed Buck’s amend ment on a 33 to 26 vote. They had approved it previously, 37 to ^1.
Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.)
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March 25, 1944, edition 1
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