EUROPEANS LONG
FOR PEACE AGAIN
(Continued from Page One)
<a* turkey, chicken or goose,
,C0{, could get only a piece ol
Lel or pork.
Though winter holiday travel is
“at a record level, travellers
Tcked to most London railroad
tations early today in order tc
s‘ j.p ,'nc most of a vacation last
r'’ unUl Wednesday. In England
o'e day following Christmas—box
ing day—also is a holiday.
' Qniy in neutral lands were there
„ ,,'cai outward Christmas signs.
The sixth war Christmas finds
Switzerland something like a mag
, island in a thrashing sea. Refu
sees of half a dozen battle-ridden
neighbors gaze into well-filled shop
window.-. Things long vanished in
ottlC; countries are displayed in
Switzerland, but their prices are
staggering
I„ Dublin citizens ot tire fare
ve!l enough for food, provided they
have money, and in Stockholm
the folk are even better off.
The grimmest of all will be the
German Christmas. From Bern,
Switzerland, comes an Associated
press dispatch quoting the German
newspaper Appenzeller Zeitung:
“In place of bells are raid si
rens. The Christmas cake, goose
"and carp are only memories, no
longer a part of the vocabulary
of the German Christmas.
“Last year Germans were ex
horted to make practical gifts. Not
even Christmas cards are permit
led this year.
In Nazi-occupied Italy bitterness
is increasing with the cold weather.
Communists and Socialists of in
dustrial Milan, Turin and Genoa
were reported to have adopted a
Christmas motto: “Christmas liber
ation or Christmas blood.” Skir
mishes of partisans with Fascist
and German troops continues. Ger
mans are moving cattle to the
fatherland by the thousands.
A vear ago Budapest, the Hun
garian capital, was still one of the
elegant continental cities, but to
day it belongs to the front line.
Peports reaching Bern said that
60 per cent of its stores were clos
ed. its hotels empty and thousands
of its population of two million
heading westward.
Once gay Vienna is apathetic,
said a dispatch to the National Zei
tung of Basel, Switzerland. Sub
urban plants still are making arma
ments for the Nazis with the help
of TOO.OuO foreign workers whom
the Germans fear, the paper said.
Yanks Slash Into Foe
Under Big Air Cover
(Continued from Page One)
ofSMatiaVei°t’ .?Ve miles southwest
of Malmedy, headquarters disclos
ed, and aiso confirmed the Ger
man announcement that St. Vith
12 miles southeast of Stavelot, had
be®n taken by the Germans.
rP^aStS!iS °f German armor were
back ,PUSbing thE Americans
VicU f ly- fr°m St‘ Vith toward
vielsalm, nine miles to the west
and seven miles south of Stavelot,
The A^eSCnbed tWs acti0n- wh«e
vent ^er C^nS Were tryinS to pre
column lmk'UP °f maj0r German
columns, as one of the epic stands
f the war. The Americans slug
ged it out toe to toe, and still are
fighting with great courage, but
are slowly being pressed back by
superior forces.
In the Malmedy sector, the Ger
mans still were trying to gather
enough strength to break through
and widen their penetration, head
quarters said.
In their western penetration one
German spearhead in a 1-mile
advance has reached Marche, 22
miles north of Libramont, and 23
miles southeast of Namur.
A front dispatch said that by Fri
day morning, the Germans also
had cut a highway northeast of
Hottot, five miles northeast of
Marche and 23 miles south of
Liege. Heavy fighting was report
/
ed between Hottot and Soy, three
miles to the northeast.
Headquarters said there was con
siderable enemy pressure south of
Marche on the hi,£4* way to Laroche
but there was no indication of a
continued retreat of American
troops.
The extent of the American coun
ter-attacks north of Arlon and
Mersch was not given, but it ap
peared to be in the nature of a
large-scale operation, and front
dispatches said that vapor trails
of supporting aircraft ranging the
frosty skies were as thick as plough
furrows.
At the southeastern end of the
enemy’s offensive bulge there was
no change in the situation. The
Americans still hold a stable line
in the Echternach sector although
the Germans have widened the
base of their salient to Diekirch,
five miles southwest of Echter
nach.
A dispatch from this area said
that the American relief drive
from the south, if it makes any
major advance, will menace the
entire southern German flank. It
said that although the war was a
swift and fluid one, an early end
of the war is possible if Gen. Omar
Bradley's men can meet and
checkmate the daring German
thrusts.
YANK LIBERATORS
HIT CLARK FIELD
(Continued from Page One)
bolts. The dispersal and taxi
areas between two of the airstrips
were left enveloped in fire and
smoke. Liberator crews reported
one tremendous explosion from
which a smoke column rose 5,000
feet.
Yanks cleaning up Leyte’s Or
moc corridor and pocketed. Jap
anese to the east counted another
3,788 enemy dead in one day,
bringing the eighth-day total to
16,661.
The U. S. 77th Division, the
communique said, is continuing
to work its way westward from
the corridor to the port of Palom
pon, last base of the remnants of
enemy forces in that area.
Participation of the 11th Air
borne Division in the west Leyte
fighting was disclosed for the first
time. It is commanded by Maj.
Gen. Joseph M. Swing. It did
much of the heavy fighting in the
rugged mountainous terrain south
east of Ormoc and east of the bat
tlefront where the 77tah and the
Seventh Divisions closed a trap on
the enemy’s Yamashita Line and
turned the Leyte compaign toward
a victorious end.
A single C-47 transport dropped
all the 11th Division paratroopers
and equipment for the operation.
Special parachute racks were built
under the plane’s body to carry
the weight of mountain guns.
It took a neat bit of flying to do
the job. The transport had to poke
its way through cloud-shrouded
valleys and dip down to 600 feet
to drop its loads, then pull up
sharply to clear a hill ahead.
NEWS ‘BLACKOUT’
PROBE TO START
(Continued from Page One)
that the troops “crave” news from
the United States and failure to
provide it is “unfair” and injuri
ous to morale.
The Stars and Stripes does “a
fairly good job” in Italy, Brooks
said.
The British Union Jack, counter
part of the Stars and Stripes, was
commended by Brooks for printing
“considerable news from the unit
ed kingdom.”
Whether the blame for the “news
blackout” belongs in this country
or abroad. Brooks said he was un
able to say, but the Military Com
mittee intends to find out as soon
as the new Congress convenes next
month.
700,000 SLAIN
IN NAZI CAMPS
(Continued from Page One)
—Yanov, Sitadel and Lisenitz—the
Gestapo devised the “human ici
cle” treatment, which consisted of
putting bound prisoners into bar
rels of water and then placing the
barrels outside in below-zero tem
peratures, with guards standing
over them until they became fro
zen in ice.
Nazi Gestapo Chief Heinrich
Himmler was said to have partic
ipated directly in the crimes, visit
ing the camps several times for
personal inspection.
“As a result of this,” the report
said, “the Lwow atrocities of the
German monsters were distinguish
ed by particular ‘refinements.’
They bear the mark of the per
sonality of Himmler himself.”
The German government, said
the report, systematically sent to
the Lwow camps prisoners of war
and civilians or' foreign states
from concentration, camps in Ger
many. and then tortured and killed
them.
The victims were said to have in
cluded Ukrainians, Poles, Czecho
slovakg, Yugoslavs, Americans,
Britons, Netherlands, Italians and
citizens of other states, including
many Jews. The reports were con
firmed, the commission said, by
numerous statements of Soviet citi
zens and also by French prisoners
of war who had been confined in
the camps and were liberated by
the Red Army.
The commission reported that
“children were selected and given
to detachments of the Hitler youth
as targets for shooting practice.”
One French witness was quoted:
“In the camp where I arrived
September 3, 1942, Englishmen
were killed by slow degrees. There
was only one water tap in this
camp for 12,000 people. Prisoners
were pnly allowed to use it for four
or five hours a day.
“German guards terrorized us.
For the smallest fault we were
threatened with death. We were
not allowed to drink water. In the
morning we could hardly stand
on our legs. W| got 200 grams (7
ounces) of bread a day. The soup
was just water. We slept on the
ground. There were fleas and bugs
everywhere.”
In one camp for war prisoners,
the report said, nearly 3,000 pris
oners died of dysentery in the four
months fraci August through No
vember, 1941, and nearly 5,000 pris
oners died through a typhoid epi
demic.
“In one execution ground in a
forest more than 200,000 people
were killed,” true' report said
The commission reported tb«t
136,000 Jews were confined to one
ghetto camp, and that 130,000 were
killed in this camp from Septem
ber 7, 1941 *o June 6. 1943.
--V
NAZIS SAY U. S.
FORCED TO PULL
MEN FROM FRONT
LONDON, Dec. 23.—(fl)—German
broadcasts trumpeted claims to
day that Gen. Eisenhower had
been forced to drain manpower
from his entire Western Front in
an effort to halt Field Marshal
von Oundstedt’s offensive in the
north.
While asserting that weakened
American forces were retreating
to the south, the tone of the Ber
lin broadcasts indicated Nazi
propagandists might be getting
ready to disclose the offensive had
been slowed or even halted.
One commentator after another
spoke of “fierce battles” and of
“throwing back repeated counter
attacks.” The High Command’s
communique was headed by a
paragraph saying “our troops
warded off strong enemy relief at
tacks up to 14 times” in the
tavelot area.
“The American Third Army
continued to evacuate its Saar
bridgeheads because General Pat
ton had to move his forces to
threatened areas on the northern
sector of the vast front.” said
Transocean. “German troops are'
hotly pursuing the retreating
Americans.”
A later Transocean broadcast
claimed that Lt. Gen. Alexander
M. Patch’s Seventh Army “started
to evacuate a number of pillboxes
on the Alsace-Palatinate border”
yesterday morning.
Berlin claimed tndt “the Ameri
cans have withdrawn large num
bers of troops from the Aachen sec
tor.”
•-V—
TWP Refinance Plan
Approved By Board
(Continued from Page One)
are largely in the hands of local
investors. The remaining 3,461
shares were to be held in escrow,
according to Mr. Bell, pending
SEC approval of their possible ex
change for existing common stock.
(An Associated Press report last
night from Philadelphia reported
that they had already been ap
proved for transfer to the General
Gas and Electric Corporation,
holder of the old stock.)
In his statement subsequent to
the Tide Water board of direc
tors’ meeting which had followed
the stockholders’ vote, Mr. Bell
said that the consummation of
:he reorganization plan would free
ride Water from holding company
control and render it completely
ndependent. The plan had been
lubmitted originally to the SEC
■arly in November.
-V
HOME FOB HOLIDAY
Floyd H. Watson, A. M. M.
first class, U. S. Navy, has ar
rived from Pensacola, Fla., to
spend Christmas with his par- j
ents, Mr. and Mrs. T. W. Wat
son, of Wrightsville Beach.
*01NT-FREE MEATS
AND CANNED GOODS
SET FOR RATIONING
(Continued from Page One)
:ion Director Fred M. Vinson, ask
ing that he act as arbitrator.
His decision, it was said, sup
ports the OPA virtually 100 per
cent.
WFA’s arguments were that
while some commodities are in
short supply, there are substi
tutes in each case. In view of
this, the agency said, there should
be as little rationing as possible
in order to avert large food sur
pluses at the end of the war in
Europe.
OPA’s position was that, to pro
vide for equitable distribution,
products should go back on the
ration list as soon as they become
unavailable in parts of the coun
try. It argued that supvlies of
most point-free meat, particular
ly pork, have been extremely short
since mid-summer.
OPA acknowledged that canned
vegetables were in good supply,
but said that stocks were moving
too rapidly, indicating a shortage
before the start of the new pack
year next summer.
One consideration which appar
ently tipped the scale in OPA’s
favor is the prospect that the war
in Europe may be drawn out as
a result of the German counter
offensive. This would make it
necessary to ship more food to
the armed forces than first cal
culated, and at the same time
reduce the likelihood of an early
homefront surplus feared by
WFA..
-V
Sugar and pineapples account
for nine-tenths of the normal ex
ports from the Hawaiian islands.
Salvage Crews Locate
Wreckage Of Airplane
NORFOLK, Va„ Dec. 23. —(/?)—
Salvage crews from the Marine
Corps Air Station, Cherry Point,
N. C-, have located the wreckage
of a Navy plane in swamp land a
few miles west of the air station,
but the searcn continues for its
pilot, Lt. Robin C. Pennington, US
MCR, the Fifth Naval District here
was advised today.
The crash occurred Wednesday,
Lt. Pennington's wife, residing at
Havelock, N. C., r.ear Cherry Point,
has been notified and notification
was dispatched this morning to his
parents, Mr. and Mrs. R. M. Pen
nington, Townsend, Montana.
-V—-’
BUY WAR BONDS AND STAMPS
ODD ASSIGNMENT
Motor Policeman Shoot's
AWOL Turkey
GREENSBORO, Dec. 23. -(/Pi
Policemen get the oddest assign
ments.
For instance, motorcycle Officer
R. L. (Dick) Paschal of the Greens
boro police department, was au
moned yesterday to help a ci'izen
whose Christmas turkey had
“flown the coop” and taken up resi
dence in the top of a tall tree
near Memorial Stadium.
Officer Paschal whipped out his
trusty service pistol and, with one
shot, landed the bird—earning for
himself the sobrio.uet “Bead-Eye
Dick”, the inspiration of his fellow
officers.
CHRISTMAS MENU
Army Says Plan May Vary
Slightly In Front Line
WASHINGTON, Dec. 23.— (/Pi —
The Army’s Christmas menu:
Roast turkey and dressing,
giblet gravey, cranberry sauce,
snow flake and sweet potatoes,
green beans, asparagus, fresh fruit
salad, mayonnaise, celery, pickles,
olives, hot rolls, butter, hot mince
meat pie, candy, assorted fruit,
r.uts. and coffee.
The Army expressed hope today
that everyone will get hi* *hare
but acknowledged that the menu
"may vary” in combat areas.
-V
A human adult has half an ounc#
of sugar in his blood.
Could Henry VIII Have
Had Stomach Ulcer Pains?
History tells how Henry VIII would gorge
himself with food and suffer afterward.
Don’t ignore your sufferings. Try Udga
for relief of ulcer and stomach pains,
indigestion, gas pains, for heartburn,
burning sensation, bloat ar^ other con
ditions caused by excess acid. Get a 25c
box of Udga Tablets from your druggist.
First dose must convince or return box to
us and get DOUBLE YOUR MONEY
BACK.
Saunders Drug Store and drug stores
everywhere.
$ ilent nighrtfs<hofy"highf'?ir: wherT'fie BaSe
of Beth!ehenSfvvbs^bom.fMany’were the,
Lg* ' ‘ *jf qtjfi ^ j
’gifts broughMo^Him: but so'greaMvas the
^gift He gave to mankind, that now we glee-*
ifully^observ^the^ anniversarykof^His birth.
^Through"the centuries Christmas celebration
(has taken many forms-—as in different lands
iTrros^been enioyed in a variety or ways.
HoweveryoiT spend this Christmas Day may
jffe y*-. v- ^ ^
itibe one'of jubilation around the clock!;
I ODORLESS DRY CLEANERS A
| 2413 Market St. J
On land, on sea, and in the air,
men from this community are
offered our sincerest senti
ments on this day. We look to
the hour when we may welcome
them all home — and again
think of sharing Christmas and
New Year gaiety together.
I. SHRIER & SON I
Established 1870 34 N. Front St. |
Our Wish To You for Christmas
and the New Year
1 s
That Peace Shall Come to America
and the World Before Another
Christmas Season
We Are Deeply Grateful To Our Many Customers and
Friends for Their Fine Cooperation and Patronage
During 1944.
WHITE I(E (REAM & MILK (0.
WANTED
Competent stenographer
—permanent, old estab
lished firm. Answer P.
0. Box 30, Wilmington,
N. C.
Every business, regardless of size or type;
every individual, is dependent upon someone
else for support and existence. Our business
is dependent upon our many loyal friends
who have favored us in scores of ways during
the past year.
It may have been through your patron
age ... it may have been a kind word of
cheer... or it may have been an expression in
our behalf to some friend of yours... but, in
whatever way you may have favored us, we
are thankful.
It is our hope that each of you may receive
the blessings of a joyous Yuletide Season.
MCRRY CHRISTMAS
HAPPY NCW YCAR
BUY WAR
BONDS and
STAMPS HERE