FORECAST S*rved SyT,L,^ed Wires
-- ASSOCIATED PRESS
VORTH CAROLINA _ Partly cloudy _*5d
skies and moderate temperatures Tues- UNITED PRESS
dav and Wednesday, scattered thunder. With Comnlete Coverage Ot
showers on the coast Tuesday afternoon 8Ute and Nation^ nIw.
and evening. _ _
. „Q .... - ESTABLISHED 1867
Cfll. 78.—iNU. 414. __
trumancalls
ADMIRAL LAND
____X. -- ■ ■
VINSON NAMED TO
TREASURY OFFICE
President Sends Formal
Nomination; Snyder
As Successor
WASHINGTON, July 16 —(U.R) —
president Truman today formally
nominated Fred M. Vinson to be
Secretary of the Treasury and ap
pointed John W. Snyder of St. Louis
to succeed Vinson as War Mobili
zation Director.
The Senate had planned to con
tirm Vinson’s appointment today
but debate on the Bretton Woods
monetary agreements forced post
ponement of a vote until tomorrow.
Overwhelming approval is assured.
Nor is opposition expected to Sny
der’s nomination.
Snyder, former Vice President of
the First National Bank of St.
Louis, is now Federal Loan Admin
istrator. He succeeded Vinson in
that post, too. He has been a clo^e
persona! friend of the President for
more than 25 years. .
Vinson, 3 Kentuckian, w*ll sue
ceed Henry Morgenthau Jr., who
had held the Treasury post for
it]ore than 11 yesrs.
_ _*: onnnintmPnt
■will put Vinson next m line for
the Presidency behind Secretary of
State James F. Byrnes.
Emil Schram, president of the
New York Stock Exchange and
former chairman of the Recon
struction Finance Corporation, is
reported in line for Snyder’s job.
Snyder said his successor will not
be" selected until Mr. Truman re
turns from Europe.
Vinson’s appointment was Mr,
Truman’s sixth cabinet switch. H
leaves only four holdovers from the
cabinet he inherited from the lat<
President Roosevelt, and of these
Secretary of War Henry L. Stim
son is reported ready to step out
Of the original 1933 cabinet, 011I3
Secretary of the Interior Harold L
Ickes still holds his post.
Vinson will take office with thi
public debt at some $250,000,000,001
and expected to reach nearly $300,
his major jobs will be to work ou
a revised tax structure suited t
postwar needs. He was a tax expel
when he was a member of Con
gress.
Morgenthau, a New York neigh
bor of the late President who too,
office Jan. 1, 1934, meanwhil
sounded what is likely to be hi
swan song to Congress.
In a letter to Chairman Robei
F. Wagner D., N. Y., of the Senat
Banking Committee, he asked th
legislators to see to it that th
government accepts the responsi
bility of guaranteeing a sound am
prosperous economy. He endorsei
the so-called full employment bil
which authorizes government ecc
Domic planning.
Morgenthau had agreed to re
Drain at his post until Mr. Truma:
returned from Europe. After Vir
son's choice was announced las
week, he wrote the President sug
gosling that he step out at once
Vinson is a former House merr
her and one-time Judge of the U. £
Court of Appeals for the Distric
of Columbia.
-V
Jap Casualties Near
Half-Million Mark
MANILA, July 16. —(TP)— Ameri
can mopping-up operations in the
Philippines cost the Japanese 4,
EI9 dead and 603 captured in the
past week, Gen. Douglas MacAr
thur announced today.
This brought the enemy casual
ties in the entire Philippines cam
paign to 428,732, including 10,768
prisoners. Most of the Japanese
losses in the week were on Luzon,
where 4.222 of the dead were count
ed.
American casualties for the
week were 62 dead, one missing,
and 195 wounded, bringing the to
tal for the whole campaign to 54,
102.
WEATHER
'Eastern Standard Time)
_ U. S. Weather Bureau)
\ meteorological date for the 24 hours
ldlng 7;30 p.m.. yesterday.
Temperature
1:3° am, 78: 7:30 am, 80; 1:30 pm, 79;
7.30 pm< 72.
-Maximum, 84; minimum, 70; mean, 77;
«ormal, 79.
- Humidity
?: 7.in am- 31: 7;30 am, 72; 1:30 pm, 74;
7 Pm, 95.
I m . Precipitation
l ~n • , or 2-i hours ending 7:30 pm,
1-'0 inches.
! n,T°tal since the f>rst of the month
“•Hi inches.
_ Tides for Today
rom the Tide Tables published bj
Coast and Geodetic Suivey.)
V;, High Lo\*
Wilmington - 3:19a 10:44:
. 4:02p
raasonboro Inlet _ 1:05a 7 :23i
<- . 7:53p 7:59,
«i«.!inrise* 5:13; sunset, 7:23; moonrise
I moonset -.
'Continued on Page Three; Col. 3:
Urgent Summons Cabled
From Potsdam, Sees
Berlin Ruins
By MERRIMAN SMITH
United Press Staff Correspondent
POTSDAM, July 16. —CU.R)—Pres
ident Truman today urgently sum
moned Vice Adm. Emory Z. Lai d,
chairman of the War Shipping Ad
ministration, and a staff of experts
to Potsdam from Washington as
he awaited the opening of the Big
Three conference, Relayed when
Premier Josef Stalin failed to ap
pear on schedule.
The President and Prime Minis
ter Winston Churchill spent the
day conferring with each other, dis
cussing the conference program
with their military and political
advisers and touring wrecked Ber
lin.
Investigation of Stalin’s where
abouts was forbidden but it was
reported that he arrived late today
and that formal talks would start
tomorrow.
Belief hardened that the possi
bility of Russia’s entry to the Pa
cific war would play a big part in
discussions in addition to the ad
ministration of conquered Germany
and political and economic pro
blems affecting ex-enemy and lib
erated countnes all over Europe
and the Middle East.
The President, it was learned, Is
aiming at two objectives—speedy
victory over Japan and agreement
on world peace pending an overall
peace conference after Japan’s sui
i render.
T+ iiTnc loornarl alcn that ftailv
talks by the combined chiefs of
staff had started, with Secretary
of War Henry L. Stimson and Gen
Henry Arnold, chief of the Air For
ces, taking part.
(The dispatch did not specify
that Russian generals were taK
ing part. Russia is not at war with
Japan. Adm. William D. Leahy,
presidential chief of staff, and Gen
George C. Marshall and Adm. Er
nest J. King, chiefs of staff of the
Army and Navy, are in Potsdam,
They are matched by an impres
sive British military delegation.)
The President spent 40 minutes
conferring with Churchill, who call
ed on him this morning at his
“Little White House” here. Then
he spent t\yo hours this afternoon
. touring Central Berlin to see ' 1
l awful handiwork of Allied troops
. and air forces.
t It was no flashy ceremony, the
, tour, but a serious first hand study
t of destruction by a man who as
. Senator, Vice President and Pres
'Continued on Page Three; Col. 4)
! ADMIRAL'BARBEY
; HINTS INVASION
; WASHINGTON, July 16.—(A1—
[ Vice Adm. Daniel Barbey hintec
j tonight that American forces may
j not wait until the end of the ty
I phoon season to invade China oi
Discussing invasion prospects
Japan.
in an NBC radio interview, the
j Seventh Amphibious Force com
mander said that while the weath
t er is important "it will take more
than a big wind to stop us.”
Barbey said that landings in Ja
’ pan and China are “equal possi
bilities” and that an invasior
j force could be readied withing 3(
to 90 days, depending upon the
size of the force.
A\CJ.LC1 a LXllg 11X0
Japan can be forced to surrendei
within a year if there is no slacken
ing of the war effort at home
Barbey declared that Japan i;
“now at the crossroads.”
‘‘Her leaders must make a de
cision,” he said. “She can follov
the German example and see he
cities destroyed or she can b
realistic and save somethig for th
fighting, then what happened t
German cities and factories wi:
seem like peaceful prosperity an
perfect order by comparison.”
Barbey expressed belief that
landing could be achieved withor
heavy casualties because Arnei
ican forces will be able to pic
the spot for invasion and mas
overwhelming gun and air powe
< on it. _
“Vinegar Joe”
This excellent study of General Joseph Stilwell, commanding
general of the U. S. Tenth Army, was made on July 6 during a press
conference at his Okinawa headquarters. The General told correspond
ents that Japan would be hit from every possible channel. (AP Wire
photo). __
30,000 WORKERS
RETURN TO JOBS
Deliverymen Continue To
Tie Up 14 Papers In
New York
By The Associated Press
The nation's labor disputes baU
ance sheet yesterday showed the
most optimistic figures in many
weeks.
Ten walkouts ended, returning
more than 30,000 workers to their
jobs, and, although 25 other strikes
idled about 36000 persons, pros
pects brightened for early settle
ment of some of them.
Printing trades disputes contin
ued with distribution of 14 metro
politan daily newspapers and three
racing sheets curtailed in New Yrk
by a continuing three-week walk
out of 1,700 members of the News
paper and Mail Deliverers’ Union
(Ind).
Despite a publishers’ warning
the wokers faced dismissal if they
did not return to work yesterday
morning, Joseph Simons, union
president, said the members de
cided to st'ay off their jobs over
a demand that the publishers es
tablish a welfare fund for mem
bers of the union.
Work stoppages also continued
_fftl. 11
(vumiuuuu '»»» -
HUGHES TAKES WRAP
OF “HERCULES” FOR
FIRST “LOOK-SEE”
CULVER CITY, Calif., July 16
_(jp)_The Howard Hughes Air
plane Manufacturing plant today
took the wraps off its ‘Hughes
Hercules,” which is to be the
world's largest seaplane, and dis
■ Hosed that the massive cargo car
- Her will weigh 425.000 pounds. Its
cost will exceed $20,000,000.
; The plane has a wingspread of
320 feel, or large enough to ac
- commodate a Superfortress on
r each wing. It will have eight en
- gines to generate 24,000 horsepow
; cr for its maiden flight some time
; next year. Delivery of the engines
3 is expected next January.
1 The Hercules will be able to
1 carry a 60-ton tank, complete witl
armor and crew, or three light
i tanks. Used as a hospital ship, i1
t would accommodate 350 patients on
- stretchers with doctors ar.d nurses
t to care for the wounded. As a
s transport, it could carry 750 in
r fantrymen from Honolulu to Tokyo
nonstop. _
Davis Closing Order
Leaves Future In Doubt
Announcement yesterday by the
War Department that Camp Davis
is to be discontinued as a conva
lescent and redistribution center
for the Army Air Force personnel
left in doubt the future of the mam
moth installation in eastern North
Carolina, where thousands of sol
diers were trained for the war
against Germany and Japan.
All construction work, totaling
$1,600,000 in unfinished contracts,
was ordered halted Immediately.
The work was ordered rushed to
completion by Army engineers last
week.
Camp Dflvis, in the general vi
l cinity of Holly Ridge in lower Ons
low county, was completed in 1941
at an original cost of about $17,
, 000,000. It first was used as a train
ing center for coast artillery, ant:
aircraft and balloon barrage^ units
In the four years of its existenc
it has been expanded considers
bly. The Army Air Forces took
over a few months ago.
The future of the camp will b
decided after it has been offere
to other War Department agencie:
According to a statement by th
AAF, through the Camp Davis pul
lie relations office, casuals now ;
the center, patients in the conv;
lescent hospital and permanei
personel will be moved to oth(
AAF facilities as soon as possibl
An AAF spokesman said tt
abandonment was ordered to o
tain a greater economy of oper
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 1
l
LITTLE HOPE HELD
FOR CROPS IN FIELD
Little Hope was seen last
night for New Hanover county
farmers whose crops had suf
fered severe damage from
6.16 inches of rain since the
first of the month, approxima
tely 2.60 inches above normal.
Normal percipation for the re
mainder of the month is about
3.95 inches, according to local
weather bureau officials.
For the period of June 15.
to July 15, 10.09 inches of rain
was recorded,- 9.23 inches above
normal. The greatest amount
ever recorded for the first half
of July was in 1886 when 18.65
inches fell, 7.33 inches falling
on the 15th of the month.
DRINKING PARTY
ENDS IN SLAYING
MIAMI, Fla., July 16.— (IP) -
The nude body of a woman identi
fied by police as Mrs. Ella Mai
Flynn Eames, 42, of Boston, Mass,
former Red Cross ambulance driv
er, was found today in a blim
alley back of a downtown hote
here.
Police Capt. James O. Barke
said 19-year-old William Well
Parker, seaman first class, c
Toledo, Ohio, had voluntarily ac
knowledged to his commanding ol
ficer, Lt. Comdr. Richard Giffer
that he struck the woman with
beer bottle during a drinking part;
in his hotel room.
He quoted the sailor as sayin
he then dumped the body frori
a hotel fire escape into the allej
15 feet below.
Barker said personal effects c
the woman showed that she wa
the wife of the Rev. Owen Eame
of Brookline, Mass., and the motl
er of three children. Letters, h
said, indicated her husband ha
been a Chaplain in the Army.
The police captain said Mr;
F.amp= had filed suit for divorc
'here in December, charging he
husband with desertion.
Seventh Naval District headqua
ters, through its public relatioi
office, said they wer'e holding tl
sailor for investigation, but r
charges had been placed again
him and he would be turned ovi
to civil authorities. The Na\
statement said a report on the cai
had been forwarded to Washingti
and if no civilian action wer
taken, then the Navy would hand
the case.
Dr. E. C. Thomas, county ph
sician, told police that pendii
X-ray examination, he could n
- immediately say if Mrs. Earn
• was dead when she was throv
s from the hotel. He said he t
- lieved, however, that she had di
t i in the hotel room.
Parker’s story, according
e Capt. Barker,.was that he stru
■j up an acquaintance with the v
•. man in a bar and after sevei
e drinks they went to a hotel roc
he had rented. A quarrel flare
lt Barker quoted the sailor as sayii
and Mrs. James struck hirr w
,t a bottle. In retaliation, his accoi
,r continued,. Parker hit the worn
; with another bottle.
„ A Miami funeral home said
} had contacted Mrs. Eames’ hi
j. band at Boston, and he had
rected that the body be cremal
) and sent to Boston for burial.
Australians
Nearing New
Oil Center
CAPTURE IMMINENT
Chinese Continue To Press |
Japanese Forces
Backward
MANILA, Tuesday, July 17.—(#)
Capture of another of Borneo’s
great oil fields was expected mo
mentarily as hard-hitting Austra
lian troops today bored into the
swamplands near the island’s East
coast North of Balikpapan.
The Japanese resisted fiercely
when the Aussies first started their
northward drive along the coast
but the soldiers from down under
advanced five miles in two days
without opposition. The Aussies
were last reported only five miles
from the Sambodja oil fields in
the heart of the swamps. Other
objectives are the oil fields and
port of Samarinda, 36 miles north
airoct r»-f SamhnHia
Light Allied naval forces moved .
in to blast coastal positions east
of Sambodja. I
It was thought that the retreat
ing Japanese have already sabo
taged the oil wells and the coastal
pipe line leading to Balikpapan.
Heavy artillery was employed by
the Aussies and Dutch Colonials to
drive the Japanese from a 200
foot high position a half dozen
miles northeast of war-wrecked
Balikpapan. The Nipponese contin
ued to resist north of the captured
ridge. •
Ground troops were closely sup
ported by Allied airmen.
CHINESE BESIEGE
CITY OF PAOKING
CHUNGKING, July 16.— (U.R) —
Chinese armies, battering Japan’s
East-West corridor which cuts
China in two, have besieged Pao
king, advanced toward Kweilin and
virtually cleared Kanhsien, all for
mer U. S. air base cities, it was
reported today.
Powerful columns moved toward
the three strategic cities, top ob
jectives in the campaign to throttle
Japanese holdings in Southeast
Asia and open the wa for an Allied
invasion of China’s vulnerable
C Allied bombers, utilizing recent
ly seized bases in that area, col
lapsed the enemy’s vital supply
route between Formosa and Amoy,
great tea port 140 miles to the
1 west, a Central News Agency dis
patch said.
U. S. 14th Air Force F-51’s aided
ground troops west of Paoking,
important air base city destroyed
' in the Allied retreat from Southern
• Hunan Province. The six-week
■ ground drive toward that city
[ stumbled to a halt last week, but
■ Chinese troops have stepped up
1 activities to the west, it was re
ported. American planes pounded
’ slit trenches and strongpoints.
j Kweilin, last of four former U.
£ S. air bases in Kwangsi Province
still in enemy hands, was threat
' ened by four columns. Driving
■ from the Southwest, one column
, Friday seized Liukianghsien. 35
, miles from the recently captured
air base at Liuchow. This force
f then advanced another 10 miles
toward Hsiujenhsien on a secon
i dary road leading to Kweilin.
: SYRACUSE DELAYS
: RINGLING CIRCUS
s -
SYRACUSE, N. Y., July 16.——
e More than 5,000 persons were de
d layed more than two hours at the
opening of a two-day stand by the
. Ringing Brothers and Barnum &
g Bailey Circus today while city and
r circus officials wrangled over proof
of financial responsibility.
The circus officials were refused
s permission to admit anyone to their
e show under provisions of a city ord
o nance requiring that “at any place
of assembly, persons responsible
,r for the assembly show proof of pub
y lie liability insurance to the amount
ie of $10,000 for each individual at
,n tending the gathering and $100,000
a for any one accident.”
fe Finally a hurried telephone call
to a New York City casualty com
y. pany brought assurance that a spe
Lg cial policy covering the circus’ two
ot day stand in Syracuse was being
;s prepared and that a certificate tc
m that* effect should reach the city
e- officials by tomorrow morning
;d Meanwhile, James J. Tormey, city
corporation counsel, accepted i
to $10,000 cash bond pending arriva:
ck of the certificate,
o- Mayor Thomas E. Kennedy com
al mented that the circus officials hac
m more than a week in which to mee
d, the requirements of the ordinance
ig, and that there was no excuse fo
th the delay.
int Herbert Duval, circus busines
an agent, explained that Syracuse wa
the first city visited that had d«
it manded proof of the existence c
is- such insurance. Other cities, h
di- said, had accepted the statemer
ed of circus officials that such a lia
bility policy was in force.
1,500 PLANES STAGE
DEVASTATING ATTACK
ON JAPANESE CAPITAL
+ -
PIPELINE BREAK GIVES GAS-STARVED
MOTORISTS OF FRANCE BIG FIELD DAY
LILLE, France, July 16.—
(JP)—A break developed near
here over the weekend in the
Allies' pipeline across the
English Channel, and gasoline
starved motorists had a field
day scooping up fuel that
drained out.
The black-market price on
gasoline dropped from $3.50 to
$1 a gallon.
The underwater line, built
from England to France about
the time of the Saint Lo break
through to service American
and British air forces operat
ing on the continent, sprung a
leak late Friday and gasoline
flowed out onto the ground for
more than 24 hours.
Frenchmen came from miles
around, bearing buckets, dish
pans and even sponges, and
gathered up every drop pos
sible.
When the black-market price
dropped, Allied military offi
cials investigated on the
ground that government prop
perty was being sold, and the
sales ceased.
Hitler, Wife Reported
On Patagonia Estate
_w
9PA SAVES WHEAT
CROP IN KANSAS
TOPEKA, Kas., July 16— [IP) —
dusky harvest hands went to bed
lungry a night or two but now
Western Kansas restaurants have
sufficient points to serve up the
:ustomary heaping plattei s of steak
ind potatoes.
Thus a threat that much of the
»rain in that area might go uncut
was averted.
State Rep. Clair Curry protested
to Gov. Andrew Schoeppel today
that for want of ration paints the
restaurants could serve no more
food and that for want of food
the combine crews were passing
out of the area.
Action was prompt. In fact, the
OPA already had moved to in
crease food allotments in the West
ern wheat belt.
Mrs. Helen Mays, chief ration
ing clerk for Greeley County, Cur
ruy’s home county, said tonight
“no one is going to go hungry
now.”
Curry told the Governor he had
talked with 15 men who went tc
bed last night without supper bu1
said tonight some of his own har
vest hands reported they had eater
big dinners in Tribune.
“One of tnem said he had tc
wait two hours to get served bul
he had his choice of roast beef 01
chicken, vegetable, bread and some
plums. Plenty such as it was,’
Tribune’s cafes* had closed earlj
Sunday after ruiining out of food
Restaurants in Horace, anothei
town in the county, closed Friday
Unable to find food to supply sev
eral hundred transients.
Harvest hands have always eat
en well in Kansas. Flapjacks, egg
and bacon and potatoes for break
fast; steak, potatoes and gravy
mounds of sweet corn, bread am
butter, puddings, cakes and pie
for dinner and a repeat for sup
per.
A sandwich or no supper at a!
was not a fair substitute, Curr;
said. He told the Governor tha
only .6 of a point had been avail
able for a harvest hand per da;
and “that amount will not feei
a harvest hand.”
Complicating Western Kansas
harvest -food situation was the fac
it is having one of its finest whea
crops in history and there ha
been an abnormal influx of hai
vest help.
-V
CHAPLIN MUST PAY
HOLLYWOOD, July 16 — (U.R) -
j Comedian Charlie Chaplin, who i
growing a mustache of his own fc
the first time for his forthcomin
role as “Bluebeard,” today wa
ordered to dip into his $3,000,0(
fortune and resume payment <
$75 a week to support red-haire
Joan Barry’s daughter until a fii
al decision on whether he is tt
baby’s father.
CHICAGO, July 16. —(U.R)— Chi
cago Times correspondent Vincent
De Pascal reported from Montevi
deo today that he is “virtually
certain” Adolf Hitler and Eva
Braun are on a German-owned es
tate in Patagonia.
His dispatch was carried in to
day’s edition of the Times.
“From information just received
from Buenos Aires,’’ De Pascal
wrote, “I am virtually certain that
Adolf Hitler and his ‘wife,’ Eva
Braun, the latter dressed in mas- ]
culine clothes, landed in Argentina
and are on an immense German
owned estate in Patagonia.”
De Pascal said they reportedly
landed on a lonely Patagonian
shore from a German submarine
which “supposedly” returned to
surrender to the Allies.
He said that according to his
information, ‘‘received from reli
able channels,” Hitler and Eva are
living on one of a number of es
tates in Patagonia purhased by
Germans to provide sanctuary for
Nazi overlords.
“In this connection,” De Pascal
wrote, “the utmost significance is
now attached to the words of Gen.
Basilo Pertime at a banquet on
June 4: ‘I am glad to announce that
our friends are safe at last.
ARGENTINA PAPERS
DEMANDING PROBE
BUENOS AIRES, July 16.—(U.R)—
A special investigation commission
of the Argentina government pro
posed tonight that the German sub
marine which surrendered recent
ly to Argentina be turned over to
the United States and Great Bri
' tain, together with her crew and
all records of the Argentine inves
tigation.
The report was made to the For
| eign Office which transmitted il
’ at once to President Gen. Edel
. (Continued on Page Three; Col. 6)
3 SH1PW0RKERPLUNGES
, 60-FEET TO DEATH
r AT SHIPYARD HERl
t -
Daniel Weyland Bland, of Bur
' gaw, was instantly killed yester
* day afternoon when he plunged ap
proximately 60 feet from the to;
deck of a ship under constructioi
) at the yards of the North Cardin;
‘ Shipbuilding company into thi
5 engine room hatch.
Surviving are his widow, Mrs
Helen Hayes Bland; two son, Dan
iel Weyland Bland, Jr., and Wil
liam Bland, of Burgaw; two daugh
- ters, Helen Bland and Adelaidi
s Bland, of Burgaw; two brothers
r D. H. Bland, Sr., of Goldsboro anc
S W. B. Bland of Washington, D. C.:
s and four sisters, Mrs. C. C. Wagon
0 er, of Lexington, Mrs. J. E
f Crutchfield, of Greensboro, Mrs
d J. H. Williams, of Burgaw, anc
i- Mrs. J. L. Sox, of Cary,
e Funeral arrangements will be
announced later.
Nation Must Wait Until
1946 For Food Easement
WASHINGTON, July 16.——
Secretary of Agriculture Anderson
declared tonight that, on the basis
of present indications, civilians
will have to wait until 1946 for
any material improvement in the
domestic food situation.
"Because of the time it takes
[ to produce food, not much relief
t from actual shortages can be ex
. pected during 1945,” he said'. Fix
• ed by what was done a year or
more ago, just as what we do now
s will determine the food supply that
5 will be on hand next year.”
For the months ahead, he said,
£ meats, food fats and vegetable oils,
» sugar, condensed and evaporated
t milk and canned fruits and vege
- tables will continue in short sup
ply. In addition rice and dried
beans will get shorter. The only
bright spots, he said, are milk,
wheat, potatoes and fresh vege
tables.
"The total demand for meat will
continue far above our supply,” he
said.
Anderson gave this picture of
the prospective food supply—a pic
ture which he described as “not
an optimistic one on the whole”—
in a talk over the American Broad
casting Company network and at
a news conference held earlier.
The report on the food outlook—
the first broad one given by him
since he became Secretary of
Agriculture July 1—said the gov
ernment was taking “positive
(Continued on Page Three; Col. 2)
U.S-British
Fleets Join
For Assault
ONSLAUGHT STILL ON
New Blow Follows Incen
diary Raids On Four
Cities
___
By LEIF ERICKSON
Associated Press
War Correspondent
GLAM, Tuesday, July 17—m—
The United States and British
onmhinpj in form the
greatest carrier striking force
;ver assembled anywhere, hurled
some 1,500 planes at the Tokyo
area today. The tremendous on
slaught still is in progress.
The great blow, starting at dawn,
followed bv possibly less than an
hour a 2,500-ton incendiary bomb
assault on four Japanese cities by
nearly 500 American Superfort
resses.
It was the latest in a rain of
bombs and shells from sea and
air that in four days has spread
ruin along the entire length of
the enemy’s home islands.
The American fleet—the Third
shelled the enemy home islands of
Honshu and Hokkaido on Saturday
and Sunday and with its thousand
odd carrier planes burned out
three Japanese industrial cities
and destroyed or damaged 128 en
emy vessels.
Yesterday it clamped on a radio
blackout, and its whereabouts
were unknown until this morning,
when Adm. Chester W. Nimitz an
nounced that it had joined the
British Pacafic fleet in a gigantic
and continuing blow against the
Tokyo area. The American carrier
planes had smashed the same
area’s airfields in a great strike
one week ago today.
It is the first combined Ameri
can-British operation of the war
against the enemy homeland, and
is commanded by U. S. Adm. Wil
liam F. Halsey, Jr.
Nimftz identified one British
jearrier, one battleship, two cruis
ers and five destroyers, and it was
clear that other unidentified units
were participating.
He named the battleship King
George V, completed since the war
began; the fleet carrier Formid
able, the six-inch-gun cruiser New
nn Pate Three: Col. 2)
NR OFFICERS NOW
ON EQUAL BASIS
1 WASHINGTON, July 16— OJ.R) —
Secretary of the Navy James V.
Forrestal tonight announced plans
’ to give Naval reserve officers an
' equal chance for advancement with
Annapolis graduates.
1 He said 189 reserve officers will
1 begin a 10-month post-graduate
course in Navy tactics at the U
S Naval Academy Aug. 7, the fust
time in history that reservists have
been afforded such an opportunity.
He predicted that those wnu
complete the course will make up
die nucleus of a sizeable group of
officers transferring from reserve
status to the regular Navy after
the war.
“The Academy experiment, he
said, “is considered the first step
toward assuring reserve officers
who transfer equal opportunity
with each other and with regular
Navy officers.
“Although the size and compo
sition of the postward Navy hat
not been fixed by Congress, it is
assumed that a considerable ex
pansion of the Navy establishment
will be necessary.”
The course will cover navigation,
ordnance, seamanship, communi
ration and Naval administration—
;he same subjects included in th*
post-graduate curriculum of regu
lar officers.
The men selected were picked
from nearly 800 applicants on tho
basis of previous education and Na
vy experience. They enrolled witn
the understanding that they must
serve in the reserve for 10 year*
after the war.
Those eligible are Lieutenant
Commanders under 36 with at least
four years sea duly, Lieutenant*
under 31 with a minimum of two
and one-half years sea -ty, and
Lieutenants, junior g with
two years. Ensigns a’
Of those who enr
Lieutenants, junior r
tenants and 31 \ .
manders. f>
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