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N°. ---WILMINGTON, N. C., WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 23, 1944 FINAL EDITION ESTABLISHED 1867
Solons bay
Peace Meet
Bears Fruit
ratification due
Senators See Prospects
Of Early Agreement
By Delegates
WASHINGTON, Aug. 22.
^(/Pj__Three senators de
clared today they saw bright
prospects for the Dumbarton
Oaks conference, as British,
American and Russian dele
gates settled to the task of
framing a proposed interna
tional organization to keep
the peace.
Predicting Senate approval of
the conference’s work, Chairman
Connallv (D-Tex) of the Foreign
Belations committee said that the
prospects for success were “in
deed propitious.” The present con
ference, he told the Senate, will
be followed by another that brings
together higher offices of the Al
lied governments.
Senator Vandenberg (R-Mich) de
clared the conference convened
under ‘‘the happiest possible pros
pects of good effect” and added:
"If this world can not organize
to assure permanent peace, the
weapons of the next war will put
an end to civilization. Only those
blind to the realities of global sui
cide can fail to make a practical
effort to prevent such a develop
ment.”
Tv, Rhnfllo cnpppVi Rprifl
tor Downey (D-Calif) asserted that
'•great events” are in the making
at the conference—which he de
scribed as fulfilling the ‘‘prophetic
Vision’’ of Woodrow Wilson.
"It is the first formal move to
carry out the Moscow declaration
which obligated the United States,
Russia, Great Britain and China
to create a general international
organization . . Downey said,
j "The Senate by almost unanimous
vote already has endorsed the find
ings of the Moscow conference, and
I think we may safely assume will
likewise approve the treaty that
will develop out of it and through
the present and succeeding con
ferences . . .”
As the conference work pro
ceeded. .John Foster Dulles arriv
ed in the capital to submit Gover
nor Thomas E. Dewey’s idea on
a peace organization to Secretary
of State Hull at a conference to
morrow.
Dulles, foreign policy adviser to
the Republican presidential nomi
nee. told newsmen he did not know
Whether Dewey’s suggestions might
I result in a change of American
views because he had not seen
the formal United States proposals.
At the conference itself, there
Was an exchange of views behind
tlosed doors, with the chief Rus
sian delegate, Ambassador Andrei
A. Gromyko, leading off. Gromy
ko spent an hour and 10 minutes
discussing Soviet suggestions,
Michael McDermott, American
spokesman for the conferences, re
ported.
One of Gromyko's main tasks,
It was understood, was to clear
lip different impressions caused by
translation of the Russian views
Into English.
McDermott declined to go into
tnv details of the Russian plan, but
ke said Gromyko was interrupted
several times with requests for
clarification. The Russian did not
digress, however, and notes were
1 made of the queries so that they
I tan be taken up later.
I The American delegate, Under
secretary of State Edward B. Stet
I tinius, was chosen permanent
I chairman of the conference, with
I Ft Alexander Cadogan, head of
■ the British delegation, or Gromyko
I ‘n serve as alternates in Stettinius’
I Sbsence.
s --v
Imorganton flier
KILLED IN CRASH
LIBERAL, Kas., Aug. 22 —(API—
Names of five officers and two en
hsted men killed near Savanah,
P"‘" night in the crash of a
Liberator bomber from the Liberal
jjrmy air field were released to
by headquarters of the South
,.est Kansas bomber school of the
‘L/Mces training command.
ft hra{t WaS °n 3 com'3a'; bra'n"
Arnong those killed were:
•st. Lt. Frank S. Cash, 25, flying
1 ructor, son of Mr. and Mrs.
cI1k R. Cash, 201 South King st.,
fclgaTn' N- c- His wife- the
Alh Martha Jean Bunger of New
Okla" V’ Irid’’ n°W b*ves at Hooker,
STrv ..TRADK CUT OFF
Sv i°^KH0LM. Apg. 22.—(AP)-The
t,J. sb war insurance board an
itndenvr 1t°d?^ no lon§er w91
L„ ’ l,e ships traveling to Ger
L,Po,Us- This has the effect of
tom fl1 a11 Swedish vessels
r hading with Germany.
On Rocky Road To St. Malo
mrnmrnmmmmmm w? i iiiwiiiii ..pm
Three American soldiers sit down to smoke and rest on the brok
en rock and. debris in a war-torn street of St. Malo, France, where
the "mad colonel” Von Auloek held out in an island citadel for sev
eral days after the town had been taken by the Allies.
Russians Launch
New Twin Drives
LONDON, Aug. 22.—(/P)—Tremendous new twin Rus
sian offensives on the long-dormant Romanian battleground
have gained 38 to 44 miles on a 156-mile front, toppling the
big industrial city of Iasi and costing the Germans 25,000
dead and more than 12,000 prisoners in three days, Mos
rnw nrmniinppfl trmicrht ★
Two orders of the day from Pre
mier Stalin and the regular Sov
iet midnight communique confirm
ed the savage new offensives which
the Germans had been pessimis
tically reporting since last week
end, and Rodion Y. Malinovsky
and Feodor Tolbukhin had swept
Lip more than 350 towns in the
initial stages of their attack.
Quiet since April, these two pow
erful armies apparently were aim
ing at the Ploesti oilfields, Ger
many’s chief source of vital petro
eum, now 160-odd miles southwest
af the battle lines. Already the
Russians were less than 65 miles
Erom the Danube river.
On other fronts of a line now
stretching 1,400 miles in a north
south zigzag, the Russians an
aounced steady successes in an
apparent campaign to slice War
saw and northwest Poland off from
East Prussia and extension of a
sharp-pointed wedge into the cen
:er of Estonia while combatting
:errific German counterattacks on
the Latvian gap position west of
Riga.
Between Warsaw and BialyStok
the Soviet communique announced
capture of the large highway junc
tion town of Zambrow, 14 miles
southeast of Lomza. This repre
sented an advance of 15 miles
Erom previously reported positions.
Nearer to Warsaw, the Russians
thrust suddenly northwestward and
cleared the Germans from the
south bank of the Bug river along
a 40-mile front from Olekhny to
Slopsk. Moscow dispatches said
this drive threatened to outflank
Warsaw by pushing to the conflu
ence of the Bug and Vistula rivers
23 miles northwest of the old Po
lish capital.
Already it was furthering the iso
lation of East Prussia, where an
unofficial Soviet account said the
border finally had been crossed
apparently in the Schirwindf sec
tor. ___
I Florence Reported
Somewhat Damaged
AteJlccupation
ROME, Aug. 22.—W-Allied
troops “by skill and patience’’
have completed occupation of
the world famous art center of
Florence without incurring ex
tensive damage to its cultural
treasures and have sent patrols
digging into Nazi positions be
yond the city, Gen. Sir Harold
Alexander’s headquarters an
nounced today.
“Unless the enemy decides
to engage the city with long
range artillery fire the city
will rapidly return to normal
and full assistance will be
brought to the inhabitants by
the Allied Military Govern
ment,” an official statement
said.
PAC ICFUERS
SH JAPANESE
By The Associated Press
American bombers, striking with
unprecedented fury along the
Southern edge of the road to the
Philippines, were reported today
by Gen. Douglas A. MacArthur to
have lashed Halmahera island with
the heaviest bomb load it has yet
felt.
MacArthur reported another
aerial sweep into the Philippines
a few hours after Adm. Chester
W. Nimitz announced air smashes
against widely separated Japa
nese island bases by bombers of
the Central Pacific command.
Meanwhile, the Tokyo radio told
of a meeting of the Koiso cabinet
to hear reports f the B-29 Super
foreress blastings of the Nippon
rnomeland last Sunday. _
louse Group
iJfiors Aids
^io Business
SWITCHES EMPHASIS
Expansion Of Enterprise
Meets With Approval
Of Committee
WASHINGTON, Aug. 22.
—(/P)—Deciding that empha
sis should be placed on ex
panding peace - time enter
prise, rather than anticipat
ing large unemployment, the
House Ways and Means com
mittee today scrapped Senate
approved plans for the gov
ernment to train discharged
war workers for new jobs.
It also struck from the Senate
legislation a provision for trans
porting civilian workers and their
families, at government expense
up to $200 a family, back to their
prewar homes or to locations of
new employment.
Meanwhile, the House after
seven days of debate, passed with
out a record vote legislation cre
ating machinery for disposal of
an estimated $100,000,000,000 of
surplus war property. Simultan
eously, a Senate committee ap
proved a broadly different bill for
disposing surpluses. The House
measure calls fo- one-man direc
tion of surplus property disposal
while the Senate bill would put it
under a board of eight.
After knocking out tne civilian
retraining and reemployment sec
tion of the Senate’s demobilization
and reconversion bill, the Ways
and Means committee received a
motion by Rep. Mills (D-Ark.) to
eliminate provision for paying un
employment compensation to 3,
500,000 federal workers. A vote
was postponed until tomorrow.
Rep. Knutson (R-Minn), ranking
committee Republican, said “it
is time we began planning to ex
pand private enterprise, to ppo
vide--j°hfl, instead of spending &ni
our time thinking about unem
pioymem. we can aeai wun me
unemployment problem when we
get to it.”
He stressed that Congress now
aas a staff of experts studying
ways of adjusting postwar taxes
to encourage expansion of busi
ness and industry.
Rep. Jenkins (R-Ohio) told news,
papermen the cost of administer
ing the retraining and reemploy
ment program, as adopted by the
Senate, probably would “run into
billions of dollars,” and “by its
uery nature the system set-up by
the eliminated section would be
upen to all manner of abuses.”
The committee action, by a
15 to 5 vote, does not disturb prior
.egislation for retraining and re
;mployment of war veterans, nor
the wartime retraining and reem
ployment program established by
jjrecutive order and operated by
Brig. Gen. Frank T. Hines.
There appeared to be a sharp
iivision in the Ways and Means
group on the proposal that govern
ment employes not be eligible for
unemployment benefits.
A compromise was understood to
oe favored by some members to
provide that only those govern
ment employes earning less than
53,000 a year should be eligible
for unemployment benefits.
The Senate bill, sponsored by
Senator George (D-Ga), leaves to
the states the determination of the
amounts and duration of such
benefits. The administration has
recommended a uniform minimum
of 26 weeks of payments running
up to $20 weeklv.
-V
STEALS TRAY OF RINGS
HICKORY, Aug. 22—UP)—Robert
MacKie. Charlotte Negro, was ar
rested and charged with the lar
ceny of a tray of 12 rings valued
at $1,200 here last night.
Wilmington Woman To SponsorShip
To Be Named For Heroic Navy Seaman
ORANGE, Tex., Aug. 22—UP)
_A Navy seaman who refused
to abandon his gun in the face
of an unrus’ning Japanese tor
pedo plane will be honored
here August 29 when a destroy
er escort vessel named for the
late John Leon Williamson,
seaman first class, USN., a
native of Ashe county, North
Carolina is launched at the
Consolidated Steel Corpora
tion’s shipbuilding division.
Sponsor of the vessel will be
his sister, Mrs. Sherman
Register. 6 Lake Forest Park
way, Wilmington, N. C.
He enlisted in the U. S. Navy,
as apprentice seaman, at Ra
leigh. N. C., July 11, 1940.
Williamson joined the USS
San Francisco in September,
1940. and served continuously
on her until he was killed in
action with the enemy at
Pearl Harbor on December 7,
I 1941; In the Battle of Bougain
ville on February 20, 1942; and
in the battle of Salamaua on
March 10, 1942. He participated
in the capture and defense of
Guadalcanal island, including
night surface action against
superior forces through No
vember 10, 1942, and was com
mended for excellent conduct
throughout this period. He was
also engaged in action with
enemy aircraft in the Battle
of Savo Island and was com
mended for oustanding con
duct and performance of duty.
For his heroism in the action
of November 12, 1942, in the
Splomon Island area, in which
he was killed, he was award
ed the Navy, Cross, post
humouslv. with the follow
ing citation;
“For extraordinary heroism
as a gunner aboard the USS
San Francisco during action
against enemy Japanese forces
in the Solomon inlands area on
November 12 and 13, 1942.
Courageously refusing to aban
don his gun in the face of an
unrushing Japanese torpedo
plane, Williamson, with cool
determination and utter disre
gard for his own safety, kept
blazing away until the hostile
craft plunged out of the sky
in a flaming dive and crashed
on his station. His grim per
serverance and relentless de
votion to duty in the face of
certain death were in keep
ing with the highest tradi
tions of the United States
naval service. He gallantly
gave up his life in the defense
of his country.”
In addition to the Navy
Cross, the Purple Heart medal,
and the Presidential Unit Ci
tation to the USS San Fran*
cisco, Williamson had the
American Defense Service
medal, and the Asiatic-Pacific
Area Campaign medal.
AMERICANS DRIVE 65 MILES
IN SMASH ACROSS FRANCE;
TOULON ENCIRCLED, DOOMED
ALLIED FORCES
NEAR MARSEILLE
Other American Columns
Head Inland To Reach
Wide Rhone Valley
ROME, Aug. 22. — (ff) —
American and French troops,
plunging westward beyond
the encircled and doomed- na
val base of Toulon on the
Mediterranean, were fighting
forward tonight within three
miles of Marseille, France’s
second largest city, brushing
aside Nazi forces declared by
Maj. Gen. Alexander M. Patch
to be “perplexed and stun
ned.”
An American armored and infan
try column, spearing toward the
wide Rhone valley — pathway to
northern France — was roaring
along at a point eight miles west
of captured Aix-en-Provence,
which is 15 miles north of Mar
seille.
Another Yank column approach
ed St. Cannat, 10 miles northwest
of Aix. Still other American units,
advancing along both banks of the
Durance river toward the Rhone
valley, were four miles beyond Les
Puy.
Yank reconnaissance elements
striking toward the northwest were
reported in the outskirts of Apt,
a highway junction 40 miles north
of Marseille and only 30 miles east
of Avignon.
The Nazis are in ‘full retreat”
everywhere in southern France ex
cept for coastal defense forces
Bf.'SMHt-'hW' -fn and-wear TtsnRm
and on the immediate approaches
to Marseille, the commander of the
invading Seventh army proclaimed
in an order of the day.
General Patch exhorted his
troops to forget their fatigue and
the difficulties of maintaining sup
ply lines and to devote the last
ounce of effort to the pursuit of
the fleeing enemy.
“The opportunity for decisive re
sults is in front of us and we must
and will move with the utmost
speed and effectiveness,” he told
his forces.
The furious pace of the Allied
push in from the Mediterranean in
recent days had expanded the
Seventh Army’s grip on southern
France to more than 2,000 square
miles, more than double the hold
ing of late last week.
Nazi troops trapped in Toulon
by the cutting of their last escape
road along the coast to Marseille
had pulled back into the center
and lower parts of the city, where
they were putting up fierce resis
tance from fixed fortifications.
They had depressed anti - aircraft
guns to help shell French troops
in the northern and western parts
of the city.
(A German news broadcast ac
knowledged that Allied troops were
fighting inside the “fortress” of
Toulon.)
The French, fired by the pros
pect of liberating the first major
city encountered by them in theirj
invasion of their homeland, fought
steadily and brilliantly from house
to house, wiping out German resis
tance as they advanced.
Another hard - driving Allied
column was knocking at the gates
of Marseille, France’s second larg
est metropolis, after sweeping past
Aubagne, eight miles to the east,
where German infantry, tanks and
self - propelled artillery attempted
to stem the rush.
Just as the garrison of Toulon
already was trapped between
vengeful French ground forces and
the blazing guns of Allied warships
pounding them from the sea, so
were whatever Nazis who remain
ed in or near Marseille faced with
the choice of fleeing or remaining
to be encircled and destroyed.
The sealing - off of the big port
promised to be a matter of hours,
dispatches said.
--V
Cherry Stresses Need
For Education, Health
RALEIGH, Aug. 22.— UP) —R.
Gregg Cherry, Democratic nominee
or governor, said here tonight that
two of the state’s greatest needs
are “increased vocational educa
tion training for school children
and an expanded health program
for our youth.”
Cherry was the principal speaker
at a banquet session climaxing the
first day of the state convention
of the Junior Order, United Ameri
can Mechanics, which continues
through tomorrow.
■ ■ - ■ — ....—-p
War Flares Throughout France
The open arrows on this map show Allied drives to the Calais
coast and to the east of Paris, an Allied advance northward through
the Rhone valley, a reported penetration to AngOuleme, and the
French coast attack by Allied war ships in the Bayonne an|. TJ#j
broken arrows denote the Germans’ retreat to the Seine, and the re
ported abandonment of their positions in the Spanish border area.
French troops have fought their way into Toulon, and the city of
Toulouse was reported in control of French patriots. Belfort is re
ported to have replaced Vichy as the seat of the Laval government.
ord Allied Landing
In France Reported
HENDAYE, France, Aug. 22.—(A5)—French military
authorities said a third Allied landing in France started to
night in the area of Bordeaux, which was reported under
a coordinated attack by American and French columns.
(There was no immediate con- ★-—
BIG AIR FLEETS
BACK IN SKIES
LONDON, Aug. 22.— W —As
clouds which had blanketed the
western front for 48 hours rolled
away, Allied airmen renewed late
today their annihilation of Field
Marshal Guenther Von Kluge’s re
treating German armies and Ital
ian-based American heavy bomb
ers struck again at German oil
supplies.
Allied aerial might which had
been hobbled by the worst weather
since D-Day took to the air as
the skies began to clear. Norman
dy-based fighter - bombers swept
over an area from Lisieux to the
Seine and from Dreux to the sea
blasting German troops now be
ing squeezed into a tight box on
the ground.
While the clouds had given re
spite to the retreating enemy in
France, Italian - based Flying
Fortresses and Liberators smashed
into Germany and Austria earlier
in the day, hammering a synthetic
oil refinery at Odertal, 80 miles
southwest of Breslau, and other oil
installations in the Vienna area.
‘Tonight the Allied expeditionary
air force continued the aerial as
sault on the Nazis.
Bulgarian Minister Says
Entering War ‘Mistake ’
LONDON, Aug. 22—(fP)—Bul
garian Foreign Minister Par
van Draganov told parliament
in Sofia today that Bulgaria’s
declaration of war on the Unit
ed States and Britain had been
a mistake and that the gov
ernment of Premier Ivan Bag
rianov now was looking for
“ways and means’* to make
peace.
His short speech was broad
cast by the Bulgarian radio and
recorded by Allied monitors.
Following the line taken by
Premier Bagrianov in a speech
to parliament last Thursday,
Draganov blamed the regime
of former Premier Bogdan Fi
Iov for involving Bulgaria in
the war on the side of Ger
many.
“Bulgaria is too small to
take part In this world war,”
V- 1
Draganov asserted. “Though
she is nominally in a state of
war with Britain and the Unit
ed States, this is not due to the
wish of the Bulgarian people to
intervene in the world con
flict.”
Draganov told the parliament
that his government was pursu
ing a policy of friendship with
Russia, with which Bulgaria is
not at war, and that die hoped
her present attitude would be
understood by Britain and the
United States.
There had been speculation
that Draganov might announce
a Bulgarian decision to get out
of the war. The fact that he
did not was put to propaganda
use by DNB, German official
news agency, which said in a
broadcast that Draganov in his
speech had stressed Bulgaria’s
relations with Germany.'
NAZIS OFFERING
WEAK OPPOSITION
Allied Troops Reported
Half Way To Germany
In Armored Push
SUPREME HEADQUAR
TERS ALLIED EXPEDI
TIONARY FORCE, Aug. 22.
—</P)—An American armor
ed column has driven mor®
than half way sn oss France
on the road to Germany,
plunging past the ancient
town of Sens, 58 miles south
east of Paris, in a 65-mile
smash against only meager
opposition, a dramatic dis
patch disclosed tonight.
Sens is a full 180 airline milef
from the original Normandy inva
sion beachhead — much farther
over the road of battle—and only
165 miles from the German border
to the northeast near the Saar
town of Neunkirchen. Germany
also lies due east, 200 miles away
at the Rhine.
West of Paris Lt. Gen. Omar N.
Bradley’s American armored and
infantry forces mounted a new
drive northwestward along the
Seine toward the sea in an effort
to encircle more thousands of bat
tered Germans caught on the south
of the wide, almost bridgeless riv
er.
On the Allied extreme left flank
along the Channel coast, British,
Canadian, Belgian and Dutch
troops spurted forward with swift
drives on many sectors running
up to almost a score of miles, clos
ing in on tne tnreatenea lierman
forces from the west.
Among the many towns from the
coast to south of Paris which fell
during the day were Cabourg and
Houlgate on the Channel; Dozule,
five miles inland; Gace, 35 miles
to the south; Etampes, 27 miles
south of Paris; and Pithiviers, 18
miles below Etampes.
In addition Allied troops fought
into the outskirts of the world
famed resort of Deauville on the
coast, battled in the streets of
Lisieux, 16 miles southeast of Dea
ville, reached the fringes of Orbec,
11 miles farther southeastward, and
beat their way around Nazi resis
tance at Rambouillet, 22 miles
southwest of Paris.
Nowhere along the entire front
from the Channel to Sens did the
Germans appear able to check the
Allies, whose pauses—notably be
fore Paris—were rather from Al
lied choice than because of enemy
opposition.
Between the new wheeling drive
toward the sea west of Paris and
the spectacular plunge into the
heart of France at Sens, the metro
politan area of the old French
capital lay ready to fall at the
will of the Allied armies, wh:ch
for the moment were racing to
chew up still more German troops
rather than to conquer territory.
The American tank smash be
yond Sens carried across two riv
ers, the Loing and the Yonne, and
represented the latest ar.u per
haps most spectacular of a series
of lightning armored thrusts which
headquarters has permitted to be
disclosed after a day or two of
silence on the theory that they were
so swift the Germans did not know
exactly where they were.
The Americans were racing be
yond Sens in the direction of
Troyes. 37 miles to the east, a
large communication center on the
upper Seine. Sens itself is a minor
communications nuD, lying cn me
Yonne near its confluence with X^
Vanne.
The movements of these force*
had been hidden for some hours.
The depth of their penetration, pin/
the information that it was against
only meager opposition, disclosed
that the Americans under Lt. Gen.
Omar N. Bradley still were i*anv
pant on a grand scale without the
slightest evidence of being check
ed.
Northwest of Paris the Amer
icans sought to shape a trap ap
proximately 40 miles square
around the Germans, still reeling
in a tailspin of confusion, who
managed to escape from the Ar
gentan-Falais pocket in Normandy.
The final liquidation of this first
pocket was announced at headquar
ters tonight, with 30,000 prisoners
counted and a total toll in killed
and captured expected to reach or
pass the 100,000-mark.
The drive along the Seine was
launched from the Mantes-Gasgi
court area 25 miles west of Paris,
where the doughboys had establish
ed a bridgehead across the Seine.
Paris itself, with patriots fight
ing Germans : i its streets and
with American forces across the
Seine both to the west and south
east, was left apparently ready to
fall at any time the Allied mili
tary leaders give the signal. -P ,
Iirmation in other Amea or Axis
quarters of a Bordeaux landing.
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Su
preme Headquarters has been si
lent upon the progress of a spear
head from the U. S. Third army
since it broke 10 miles south of the
Loire river from the Nantes area
earlier this month.)
American and French ground
forces met on the outskirts of Bor
deaux about noon and immediate
ly launched an attack on the city,
the last pocket of organized Ger
man resistance in southeastern
said.
France, French frontier guards
Explosions of an intense aerial
and naval bombardment could be
(Continued on Page Six; Col. 3)
--V
Hearing Postponed
In Doris Duke Case
RENO, Nev. Aug. 22—</B—'Wil
liam Woodburn, attorney for the
heiress, Doris Duke, said today
that hearing of a motion to amend
her Nevada divorce proceedings
against James R. Cromwell had
been delayed until Sept. 20. Miss
Duke is in New Orleans.
Hearing of the motion had been
set for today before Judge Wil
liam McKnight who granted Miss
Duke a divorce from' Cromwell,
former minister to Canada, on last
Dec. 21.
The delay was caused. Wood
burn said, because of difficulty in
obtaining a needed deposition.