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REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR AND BATAAH WILMINGTON, N. C., WEDNESDAY. DECEMBER 13, 1944 _FINAL EDITION_ Senate Approves $1,571,000 Fund For J-.ocal Harbor PORT CAN HANDLE IARGERVESSELS 0 Must Be Passed In House This Week Before Recess Bv ALLEN J. GREEN (Star-News Washington Bureau) WASHINGTON, Dec. 12.— T'iie 'Senate today unanimous ly approved and sent to the Lse for joint conference, the $500,000,000 Rivers and Harbors bill — with $1,571, 000 allotted for improving harbor facilities in and around Wilmington—as spon sors of the measure predicted final action by Congress with in the week. The chief benefit to this area contained in the omnibus bill, is t; 155.000 for widening, deepening and improving the ship channel irom Southport to Wilmington, and tie turning oasin so that the Port o' Wilmington will become acces cible to larger merchant vessels. The Senate today stripped away , legislative stumbling block in lie form of the highly controver sial. Si. Lawrence seaway project tv a 56-25 vote after a number of senators. including Sen. Josiati if Bailey (D.. N. C.) had spoken in'opposition to the seaway. Approxima ely one week re mains before senators and ' re presentatives will go home for Christmas. Unless the rivers ari<V harbors bill can secure approval before then, it automatically dies wifi the 78th Congress. On the Wilmington projects, the Senate Commerce Committee re run dec ares that "the modifica Hirs recommended are justified in he interests of safety in handl .., fuilv loaded vessels and to make facilities at this locality m,.re nearly comparable with those similar ports on the South At lantic coast. •Lie annual benefits are clear ly in excess of the annual carry ing charges on the improvement,” :• concludes. "Increase in channel to 32 feet) will result in rr:ngs in transportation costs on cargo carried in larger vessels 1 idea to economic capacity, avoid (.slays now experienced by larger vessels awai ing favorable tides, eliminate losses due to groundings and reduce maintenance costs.” Other allotments included for the V.i.mir.gton area are $73,000 for ’roving the Northeast river, $9, COO fir an 8-foot deep, 00-foot wide c.iannel from he Inland Water fay at Wrightsboro to Masonboro inlet; and S24.000 for six mooring basins along the Inland Waterway. TIDE WATER POWER FINANCE HEARING CONCLUDED BY SEC h a telephone conversation with 'hri-en \V. Bell, president of the • Water Pn.ver Co., from Phila t’elnhia yesterday, it was learned fat the Securities and Exchange pwm'ssion had conc’uded hear !" on the recapitaliza'ion plan e- die company. Mr. Bell announc r ! t he expected the SEC to mnounce its orders within a few da; s. ’ ■ > ■, plan a ill be submitted to stockholders a' a special meeting on December 23, he said. Wl \DKLPHIA. Dec. .12. — (fP) -Tith Water Power Co’s proposal 0 urn Sl.roo.ooo of |3 pre tr|,ed st..c!•: in its recapitalization J'tTani was explained today by t’af-en \v. Bell. Wilmington. N. Pre ident of the company, dur r’s hearing before ’he Securi 5 nd Exchange Commission. Fpl said Tide Water also would Modify certain accounting adjust "enis in its *jan. Property ac fants wou'd be restated at the ?u'er of estima'ed original cost 5u"es and present unamortizer discount and expense and al *-atoned railway properties written off, Bell said. St. Lawrence Seaway Plea By Roosevelt Rejected In Senate WASHINGTON, Dec. 12— <JP> — A $500,000,000 program of postwar improvements to rivers and har bors received Senate approval to-1 day after an amendment to au thorize the controversial St. Law rence Seaway was rejected, 56 to 25. A last-minute boost for the sea way from President Roosevelt fail-! ed to turn back the opposition. It j came in the form of a telegram to Senator Aiken (R-Vt) who read it to the Senate just before the vote. The message, answering an. in quiry from the Vermont senator, said: "Of course I want ac'.ion as soon • as possible on the St. Lawrence! Seaway. It is logical and inevit-! able. The quicker the better.” j Today»s vote disposed of the St. | Lawrence Seaway issue for this | session, but it is expected to cume up again in the new Congress con-; vening in January. 56 PERSONS DIE IN SNOW STORMS East Lashed By Gale As Cold Wave Leaves Midwest (By the Associated Press) A lashing gale yesterday cover ed the East with snow ranging up to 23 inches. Meanwhile the Mid west started to dig itself from un der 18 inches of snow from the same storm. Forty-three persons died in the; United Stales and 13 in Canada from the storm. War plants throughout the East and Midwest reported hampered activities and a high rate of absen teeism due to the clogged roads. The cold winds gathering mois ture as they met warmer air from the South, moved in a roughly semi circular path across the Middle West from central Canada. Extend ing South, the cold imperiled both the Florda and Texas citrus crops. Macon, Ga., reported snow; Jack sonville, Fla., the U. S. Weather Bureau said! had 31 degree above zero and Mobile, Ala., 27. The whole Jt-ast i_-oasr ien uie sting of a gale with winds touching 73 miles per hour in places. Rain and snow swept the area from the Carolinas northward to Maine. Washington. D. C.. had a light s'ush with a temperature of 25 forecast Virginia h^d 10 inches of snow; and Mt, Mitchell, N. C., reported IS inches. Western Pennsylvania had 23 inches of snow; Dunkirk. N. Y., reported 20 inches, and Buffalo 11. All Washington-New York flights except- one, were cancelled as the snow piled up in New York City. Jn New England an easterly gale earned freezing rain and snow as the tip of the storm curled out on the Atlantic. ' _ YANKS ADVANCE IN NAZI WOODS The scene below vividly portrays the type of terrain through which the Yanks on the Western Front must move. These doughboys ad vance cautiously through the battered woods as German shells scream overhead. h Breaches Old Maginot he As Third Crosses Blies; Yanks Sink Seven Jap Vessels u - Liberal Foreign Policy Outlined By Stettinius . WASHINGTON, Dec. 12.—(/P)—The much-advertised fireworks-failed to go off today as Secretary of State Stet tinius led six chosen aides before inquiring senators and -_r_ *—-—---f WILMINGTON MAN, SUB COMMANDER, WINS NAVY HONOR The submarine Rahser, comand ed ljy Lieutenant - Commander Benjamin E. Adams, Jr., <J0, of Wil mington, has been awarded th * Presidential Unit Citation for sink ing or damaging ‘'thousands of tons” of shipping in Japanese con trolled waters, according to word received here yesterday from the Navy Department. Comdr. Adams formerly was ex ecutive officer of another subma rine before given full command of the Rahser. His previous command was presented a unit citation last year while lashed to the side of a Navy transport vessel “somewhere in the Pacific,” .it was said. After graduating from New Han over High school in 1930. he im mediately entered the Naval acad emy at Annapolis, and graduated at the age of 21. He played foot ball and other'sports, with the local Wildcats, and was active in sports at the Academy, as well as a mem ber of the coveted ‘‘color com pany.” . , . Comdr. Adams was assigned to a submarine at Manila at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and helped with the evacu ation of Ba'aan. He has been in the submarine service since 1940. Mrs. Adams and their two chil dren. Ben. II. and Sally, now are in San Francisco, it was re ported. Shipyard Leads Fight Against Tuberculosis By MARION FRINK v The Nation's medical forces to day, are marshaling new strength for their greatest battle against an old enemy—tuberculosis. The fight against the disease is being waged on many fronts. One of these battle-lines is in Wilm.ng t0Taking the lead among North Carolina industries, the North Carolina Shipbuilding Co. is con ducting an active fight against tuberculosis as an important par of its medical examination and health program for its thousands 0fI* wenTinto action with installa tion of modern chest X-ray equip ment in its clinical laboratory in July 1943 Designed about four vears ago, this apparatus takes 4 by % inch picture'of the cnest in four-fifths of a second. The pro cedure requires a total time of about one minute per person and nc many as 400 pictures have been ™Te "n one day. The daily aver age is about 71. To date 24,000 chest examina tions have’been made without any cost to the applicant or employe. Within an hour after the picture tc made it is ready for examina tion bv Dr. C. B. Davis, Jr., medi cal examiner. Taking advantage r>f their three-dimentional effect, he studies each carefully If there is the faintest hint of tuberculosis, the film is sent to Dr. P. P. McCain at tbe State San atorium for opinion and advice.! No Attempt is, made at final diag nosis at the shipward as the main function of this phase of the clinie>s work is to discover the disease. It is part of the general program described by Dr. Davis as,‘‘seeing that the applicants are inj gppil health when they begin work,;tj> find any defects that they may bgye. to advise them of these defects, and to place applicant in the . job for -which they are best physically suited.” In , addition, thousands' of em ployes nave received extra exam inations since they have been with the yard. Thus, the shipyard’s clinic main tains: a front-line watch. '‘Our experience has been very much in line with findings of the United 'States Public Health Ser vice ifr that we find about 1 to 2 per cent of adults have active tu berculosis.” Dr. Davis said. ‘‘We "find a much higher per centage of inactive cases and. in such cases. Dr. McCain has ad ised the employe to continue working but to have repeated chest examinations at three to six month intervals: In this way we are abl* to allow some people to work (Continued on Page Three; Col. 1) LICCiaiCU 1UO txxxxx — -- eign policy” Fierce questioning had been fore cast ever since the Senate sent the nominations of four of the men back to committee for study. Sen ators had complained that some of •the nominees were too close to “Wall street” and. conversely, there were murmurs that Archi bald Masleish was perhaps a bit too leftish and unequipped for the job of assstant secretary. But today, as the Foreign Rela tions committee heard statements from Stettinius and the nominees, questions were few and far be tween. And when the questioning led into areas that Chairman Con nally (D-Tex.) considered improp er, he flagged the questioners down. For example, Senator Murray (D.-Mont.) demanded to know whether British Prime Minister Churchill was forcing the United States to “play second fiddle” to Britain in Greece. Connally re marked that it was of “very doubt ful propriety” for senators to seek a State Department official’s inter pretation of Churchill's “back stairs views” on such a subject. Con ally later predicted prompt Senate confirmation of the six—Jo seph C. Grew, named to be under secretarv; and Will L. Clayton. Nel son Rockefeller. James C Dunn. Brig. Julius C. Holmes and Mac leish. prospective assistant secre taries. Stettinius. who became Secretary ■f State a fortnight ««o. "avo his f rst detailed enunciation of the poli cies which will guide him. The,y were devoid of gaudy innovations. “We need a S'ate Department.” be said. • ‘"’hich can ep-u-v out in the interests of the United States a liberal and forward - looking for nil Pfl OP TWO! (ill. 1) COUNTY REJECTS FT. FISHER UNIT AS TB HOSPITAL The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners visited Fort Fisher yesterday for an inspection of the Army hospital at the former military post, in an effort to deter mine if the installation could be conver ed by the county to a tuber culosis hospital. After the tour, it .was pointed out by Addison Hewlett, chairman of the board, that the vast hospital was constructed primarily for mili tary purposes, and was too large to be of any practical use as a xountv institution. * Recent reports indicated that the former Army post would probably be declared surplus by the War Department. The Board of Com missioners vi<"'ted thn hospital noon learning of this, and were conduct ed throu.eb the 'v'pfi-ns with the hope that some agree ment between the Federal and county governments might be reached. "The hospital is entirely too large to lend itself economically for a public institution of the type needed by this county." said Mr. Hewlett. It was understood that the bos pit-'l wa~ ronc'iruct?d for 300 beds. Previous plans for a county Tuber culcsis hospital called for the con struction of a hospital to house 75 bed patients. RUSSIANS ENTER BUDAPEST GATES Moscow Reports Troops Pouring Into Eastern Suburb LONDON, Dec. 12.—— The Red Army today captured Godollo, last major rail fortress 10 1-2 miles northeast of Budapest, the Russian i communique announced tonight, ,,s ether Moscow advices said So vTetstornitroop s ' had burst into the eastern- suburbs of the bomb ed and shell-torn Hungarian capi tal A Moscow broadcast said the Red Armv was pouring through a breach carved in the northeast de fenses of the capital. Col. Ernst von Hammer, military authority for the German news agency DNB. admitted it was "a great breach in our lines,” but contend ed it had been sealed off la‘er. The Russian communique, as is frequently the case when a major operation still is in progress, did not confirm the penetration into Budapest. Besides the announced advance in that direction .however, it also listed the capture of Sajoszentpet er, important road junction 10 (Continued on Page Two; Col. 4) IT __ English Troops Drive Toward Shwegyin With East African Support SOUTHEAST ASIA COMMAND HEADQUARTERS, Kandy. Cey lon. Dec. 12. —l/i ; 3. my troops driving south along the Kalewa-Yeu road in western Bur ma have advanced toward Shwe gyin with East African units bat rering their way within 500 yards of that Japanese stronghold. A communique from Admiral Lord Louis Moun batten's head quarters also announced that a se ries of heavy air assaults had forced the enemy from hill posi tions five mites east of Kalewa. Eastern Air Command planes blasted a Japanese camp and stores in northern Burma, posi tions in 'he Chindwin area and a supply dump on the Mandalay Rangoon railway. Other Allied planes strafed arfields at Meikti ala and Thedaw. __ SUPPLY EFFORT AGAIN THWARTED Three Destroyers And Four Transports In Latest Bag GENERAL M’ARTHUR’S 1 HEADQUARTERS, PHILIP-' PINES, Wednesday, Dec. 13. —(IP) — Three Japanese de stroyers and four transports of an 11-ship convoy attempt ing to run reinforcements to beleaguered Nipponese troops on Leyte island, were sunk by American planes and PT boats Monday and Tuesday, Gen. Douglas MacArthur said today. One other enemy destroyer and two freighter-transports were so severely damaged in the 36-hour running fight they may have sunk. They were left dead in the water and burning, the communique said. Fifty Japanese planes were destroyed in the battle. The Ameri cans lost eight. Only one Nipponese vessel, a de stroyer. escaped unscathed ffom the fury of the Army Lightning fighters, Marine Corsairs and the speedy, hard-hitting Navy PT boats. The battle occurred off the northwest coast of Leyte. The convoy will be sadly missed by the Japanese ground troops who are being pushed into the north west corner of Leyte island by the Americans. Some 30 Japanese pianes audit ed - an American convoy returning from- a supply run to Ormo at dawn Sunday, but were met by Marine fighter planes which down ed 11 of the enemy. The American supply ships suffered some dam age, the communique said. Late reports from western and northern Leyte showed little change in the ground war situa tion. The Seventh and 77th U. S. Di visions were mopping up and con solidating their positions around Ormoc, the west coast port town captured by the Yanks Sunday. The 32nd Division, at the north ern approaches to Ormoc valley j was maintaining a steady, heavy! pressure against tough artillery backed Japanese opposition. The Japanese convoy was first attacked at dawn Monday, as it was moving toward Leyte through the Visayan sea. ONE DELUDED JAP Soldier On P a c i*f i c Island Though! It Was Florida WITH THE U. S. 41st INFANTRY DIVISION, Southwest Pacfc (De layedl—Iff) A security patrol of the 41st Infantry Division, combing a Pacific island for Japanese rem- - nants, recently captured a sold:er of Nippon who thought he was in Florida. During his interrogation the Jap anese was quite emphatic he was in Florida because his command ing officer had told him so: he didn't like the place a bit and fig ured it was not worth much. H's total ignorance of geography and what was going on in the out side world amazed his Yank ques tioners. __ Tokyo Is Showered With Incendiaries, Jap Radio Declares By The Associated Press Another incendiary bomb attack in Tokyo Tuesday night (Japanese ime) by American Superfortresses vas' reported by the Nippon radio. The Tokyo broadcast, picked up >y the Federal Communications Commission and lacking American :onfirmation, said “one or two” B !9s from the Marianas islands (Sa jan) roared over the city at 7:00 j m. (5 a.m., Tuesday, EWT) un oaded incendiaries ”in two or ;hree places” and then “fled to ward the southeastern sea.»’ Prior to the actual bombing, the Japanese said other B-29's were ov :r Japan three times between mid light Monday and 5 a.m., "Tuesday (Japanese time). Tokyo claimed all :hese planes “fled southward ap parently without dropping any pombs.” These flights, it added, vere over the Tokaido district and Shizuoka prefecture. The latter re gion was hit by earthquake and ;idal wave last week. _ JAPS REPORTED FLEEING TOKYO Berlin Says Evacuation Of Capital Follows Raids LONDON, Dec. 12.— W —The Japanese have started a mass evac uation of non - essental civilians from bombed and blacked - out rokyo, the Berlin radio reported in one day. ' Thef'e was no confirmation direct ly from Tokyo, but a broadcast from the Japanese capital declared American Superfortresses dropped Incendiary bombs tonight (Japa nese time) in the fourth appear ance of the' sky giants over Tokyo i one day. A German Transocean dispatch from Janan said 20.000 persons had been ordered to leave the capital :oday. The dispatch added that meas ures were “progressing according :o plan” for evacuation of Tokyo. Which is being rocked by Saipan jased superfortresses. First to go were the aged and no infirm, children, and expectant pothers, Berlin said. There was ndication whether Emperor Hiro lito and his household would flee o safer quarters, or whether changes were contemplated in plans for a meeting of the Japa nese diet in Tokyo December 24. CHINESE^ wmF RAITWAV rr\'TW pnnM jap 4PWV CHUNGKING. Dec 12.— W— Chinese ‘rooos. advancing a dozen -ni]pc into Kwan°si nrovince down he Kweichow - Kwangs railway, 'sutured the railwav town of Nan an and the nearbv town of Mang 'hang today, the Chinese high com n-fii announced. The Japanese, r.ow ousted from iweichow after an ambitious in vasion of that province, are re reating toward Hocliih, 25 miles ‘ar*her down *he railway, the Chi nese said, after having suffered leavy losses. An American communique said dose air support was being given j :o -he advancing Chinese, with the snemy being bombed out of strong joints and then strafed in the open. America Reported Favoring Plan To Abolish Nazi War Industry LONDON, Dec. 12.— (£l —Ameri can proposals fbr “complete and ruthless” abolition of German war industries and strict control of the country’s future economy were re bably reported tonight to be under discussion by the European Advis ory Commission as a p a r t of a tough Allied plan to suppress Ger many's aggressive powers forever. U. S. Ambassador John'G. Win ant was understood to have pre sented to the commission two or more memoranda containing the American proposals for controlling future German industry, foreign and domestic trade. Great Britain also was said to have presented her plans in the same field, but neither Russia nor France has submitted correspond j ing proposals. Moscow7, however, j w7as understood to have given much 'study to the subject. It was bel'eved that F arce was waiting until Gen. de Gaulle had finished digesting his ,alks with Marshal Stalin before submitting plans so that they could harmonize with those of the Soviet Union. Submissions of the American pro posals, which Winant was believ ed to have discussed with Presi dent Roosevelt and the State De partment during his recent visit to Washington, marked the first time that any of the big powers formal ly had put forward any plans for future German economy. The inter - Allied committee, composed of all the smaller United Nations, however, submitted pro posals early this year for control ling and liquidat;ng German econo my. ' In connection with the American proposals, U. S. Secretary of State Stettinius, appearing before a Sen S ate caucus in Washington today, asserted that one of America’s maj or objectives was to take effective steps to prevent Germany and Ja pan from again acquiring power to wage war. Meanwhile, there was a. growing belief in diplomatic quarters that Russia’s proposals when presented to the European Advisory Commis sion would suggest that several million Germans be sent to the So viet to help in the reconstruction of the country. Understandably, the informant said, American proposals called for: 1. “Complete and ruthless" aboli tion of German war industries. 2. Wiping out the German avia tion industry. 3. Control of German industries so that they could not dominate European economy. f HODGES’ TROOPS f CLOSE ON DUREN Air Force Strongly Sup ports Ground Army In Action SUPREME HEADQUAR TERS ALLIED EXPEDI TIONARY FORCE, PARIS, Dec. 12. — (/P) — Fighting through the old Maginot de fenses, the U. S. Seventh Army stormed more than eight miles northward from liberated Haguenau today while the first American Ar my drove within half a mile of Duren and virtually elimi nated the Germans’ Roer riv er'salient blocking the route to Cologne. At the same time the Third Army crossed the Blies river northeast of Sarreguemines, forcing a new edge across the German border, and the French First Army rolled up new • • ji. _ tt_£_.i gdiuo jui uic v 00500 *v*v» »»***.»» ** >- •*• southern end of the long Western Front. The steady advances of she ground forces were strongly sup ported by Allied planes, which ham mered Nazi targets in and behind the battle zone relentlessly through out the day. More than 30 towns and villages —at least seven of them inside Ger many—fell during the day as Gen. Eisenhower’s armies pounded at the last barriers guarding the Reich's three main industrial areas. At some vital points enemy re sistance appeared to be slackening. Although, this might be explained as German withdrawals to previ ously prepared positions. Battlefront dispatches said Lt. Gen. Patch’s Seventh Army was forging ahead at the rate of a mile an hour. These American troops surged through Langensolutzbach and struck farther northward to ward Mattstall, 11 miles north of Hagenau. They also thrust within eight miles of the important fron tier highway junction of Wissem bourg by capturing Merkwiller. Yanks of both the Seventh and Third Armies spread out to the west and continued to close up to the German border in a great wheeling movement pivoting on Sarregue mines. At one point, Patch’s troops (Continued on Page Two; Col. 1) RAF JOINS YANKS 1 IN AIR BLOWS AT ' NAZI RAIL LINES LONDON. Wednesday, Dec. 13 — (JPl—The Allied air assault on Ger many continued round - the - clock yesterday and last night, with the RAF joining American bombers from both Britain and Italy in a series of powerful blows at com munications and industrial tar gets. More than 3,000 tons of explosives were dumped by the U. S. Eighth Air Force alone on battleline rail facilities in the Frankfurt area dur ing the day in a massive operation from which nine bombers and nine fighters were reported missing. Most of the fighters were believed to have landed in friendly territory, and the day's loss was described as the smallest of the war for an attack in such strength—more than 2.100 bombers and fighters. Last night, a strong force of RAF Lancasters and Halifaxes blasted the great armament center of Es en and squadrons of Mosquitos bombed Osnabruck, another steel center of the Ruhr. Italy - based bombers and fight ers of the U. S. 15th Air Force flew through bad weather and attacked the huge synthetic oil refinery at Blechhammer in southern Silesia. PARACHUTING PADRE Minister Jumps Behind En emy With Hymnals LONDON, Dec. 12.—Ufl—.A knap sack full of hymn books slung over hi" shoulder, the Rev. J. Fraser McLuskey parachuted into France deep behind the enemy lines soon after D-Day, it was revealed here today. The 6-foot. 2-inch British pastor went among groups of special air service troops who also were op erating behind the enemy lines and conducted services wdo men singing loudly in safe a-e?" and in whispers elsewhere. The favor i‘e was “Stand Up For J"""-.” Except to say that the par.' — 'd ing padre was specially tr-’and for his mission, the Roval A i r Force released no sot*"" details
Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.)
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