FORECAST
Wilmington and vicinity: Wednesday
partly cloudy and mild.
VOL. 79—NO. 85. _ WILMINGTON, N. C., WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1946 _ ESTABLISHElTl867~~‘
■ ■ ■— -—r—- ----—-_
Oh-Oh! You’ve Parked There Too Long!
m mmwmm
There! We’ve been telling you Chief Casteen’s
boys would get you if you didn’t watch out.
The luckless owner of the above pictured car
either parked too long for one penny or too long
for a niekle. So-o-o-o, Police Officer Jack Hall’s
putting one of those little red tickets ’neath the
windshield wiper._
For a penny you can park only 12 minutes, and
an hour for a nickle, beside most meters.
Incidentally, Policeman Hall, whose beat, is
roughly, from Grace to Chestnut streets in the
business district, says he tags from five to 15
cars per day and each ticket cost the ticketee $1.
Who says Time is free?
—STAR STAFF PHOTO BY PETE KNIGHT.
“GREEN LIGHT” FOR PROJECT
'Truman Lifts Bans
On Cape Fear Work
Work projects totaling $1,538,000 on the Cape Fear
river and its approaches, were given the “green light” by
President Truman when he signed legislation striking out
Sthe clause which prohibited appropriations for such work
until six months after the end of the war and which has not
vet hppn nffiriallv desisnated. I—■— -
In addition, the appropriations,
which were a part of the ■ Rivers
and Harbors act passed the Con
gress in March 1945, include $9,000
to be expended for work on the
Inland waterway and $35,000 on the
Intracoastal waterway, both items
covering costs of work in the Wil
mington area.
In This Area
Projects in this area authorized
by the March 1945 Rivers and Har
bors act include work on the Cape
Fear river, at and below Wilming
ton, with Federal cost3 placed at
$675,000.
Increasing the width of the au
thorized 30-foot channel between
the inner end of the ocean bar
channel and Wilmington from 300
to 400 feet; increasing the 1 Iming
ton Turning Basin width from 600
to 800 feet is also a part of the
above projects.
To Widen Approach
Appropriation of $790,000 was
provided by the act to increase the
southerly approcah to the anchor
age basin from 1,500 to 4,500 feet
and for a 32-foot depth in channel
between the outer end of the ocean
bar channel and Wilmington.
An item of $73,000 in the appro
priation for this area was listed as
first cost on a northeast Cape Fear
river project and which would
provide a channel 25 feet deep and
200 feet wide from Hilton bridge, to
and including the turning basin of
the same depth and 600 feet wide,
at a point one and one-quarter
miles above.
Other Projects
Nine thousand dollars was au
thorized as first cost also for a
channel eight feet deep and 90
feet wide on the Inland waterway
from the waterway via Motte and
Banks channels to a point within
Masonboro inlet at Wrightsville
See TRUMAN LIFTS on Page Two
It's An 111 Wind....
If the wind blows your copy
®f The Morning Star away, I
>m sorry, But, If you will
Phone 2-3311, The Star-News
Circulation Department will
send you a copy by special
Messenger. Please call before
Bine o’clock.
Thanks,
Tour Morning Star Carrier.
68,000 BY 1950
FORECAST HERE
BY SECRETARY
A population of 68,000 people
in 1950 was predicted for Wil
mington by John H. Farrell,
secretary of the Chamber of
Commerce and newly appoint
ed city industrial agent, last
night.
Farrell bases his prediction
on:
(1) An anticipated substan
tial increase In the establish
ment of factories, warehouses,
and wholesale, retail, and serv
ice firms in the city.
(2) Improvements in the ex
pansion of port and airport
facilities.
(3) Most important, a home
building program which will
attract many outsiders to move
here, especially old and retired
folks.
TIDE WATER PLAN
NEARS APPROVAL
Company Accepts SEC Pro
viso Calling For Amend
ment In 30 Days
Final approval of the recapital
ization plan of the Tide Water
company, by the Security and Ex
change Commission may be only a
matter of days now, following fil
ing of an answer by the Tide Water
company, accepting a proviso by
SEp that the plan be amended
within 30 days, providing for stock
distributions originally agreed up
on between the company and Gen
eral Gas and Electric company in
addition to the new common stock
of Tide Water.
An answer, agreeing to the
amendment has already been filed
with SEC, George D. Conant, act
ing purchasing agent and merchan
dise manager for Tide Water said
last night.
On the basis of the proposed
amendment has already been filed
See TIDE WATER on Page Two .
[ Today and Tomorrow
by WALTER LIPPMANN
Uur relations with the Soviet
uion cannot long remain what
Pey are now. Unless they become
much better, they will surely be
cO'.Tie much worse. In fact, it is
unavoidable, but there is about to
e a series of issues which will
est specifically how good are the
Prospects of collaboration as
gainst the prospect of a world
i1., competition in power and in
influence.
.,0ne test will come in Iran on
-aieh 2, the date fixed by the
agreement of the Big Three for
ne evacuation of Iran. Another
est will be posed in the negotia
10ns °f Ihe Italian treaty — and
Particularly by what is done about
fneste, bout the Dodecanese
.slands and the Italian colonies
’n Africa. There will be another
Pst m Greece—in the final analysis
as to whether the internal weak
ness of Greece is to become the
occasion for a movement by
Marshall Tito against the city and
port of Salonika. There will be
another in Turkey where a read
justment of the status and control
of the Dardanelles is indicated
and is necessary; the ques+ion will
be whether or not the readjust
ment is brought about by negotia
tions and international agreement
There may be a test also in Man
churia if it should transpire that
the intent of the Yalta bargair
is to be put in question.
* • •
Though no one of these ques
tions, except the Manchurian, is
an immediate, direct, and primary
responsibility of the United States
See LIPPMAN on Pace 12
PIUS TO DELIVER
WORLD MESSAGE
Pope To Broadcast From
Papal Throne This Morn
ing At 11:30
VATICAN CITY, Feb. 19—(JP)—
Vatican attaches said Tuesday
night they understood Pope Pius
XII would broadcast to the world
tomorrow a major pronouncement
on the position of the Roman
Catholic church in the uneasy glo
bal situation.
The Pontiff, they said, was ex
pected to speak at 11:30 A. M.,
from the papal throne in the his
toric hall of benedictions where
the newly created cardinals, in
cluding four from the United
States, will gather to receive their
first insignia of office.
Congratulations Pour In
Congratulations poured in today
from all parts of the world to the
32 new princes of the church who
were made cardinals at a prece
dent-setting consistory Monday.
The new cardinals, including
those from the United States, spent
the morning receiving felicitations
from beribboned members of the
See POPE PIUS on Page Two
IHUH/MLU WAKN5
OF SPY THREATS
North Carolinian Says Net
work Probable From Na
tions Fearing U. S.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 19.— (JP) —
The Senate Atomic Energy com
mittee was told Tuepdav ihat ‘•it is
inevitable that a network' of spief
will infest our country from a na
tion that fears us.”
Dr. Ralph McDonald, North
Carolina member of the National
Education assocation made that
forecast amid these other occur
ences:
1. The White House declined to
comment on a published report that
the FBI has given President Tru
man a document naming more
than 100 persons as cooperating
with a foreign spy ring seeking
atomic secrets here and in Canada.
Decline Probe
2. The House committee on Un
American activities discussed the
spy operations reported from Can
ada but decided against makiqg an
investigat on at present. Rep. Ran
kin (D.- Miss.) of the committee
demanded an inquiry.
3. President Truman was offi
cially disclosed to be selecting a
board of, five or six civilians to
appraise the results 9f the forth
coming atomic bomb test on war
ships in the Pacific. This panel ap
See MCDONALD WARNS on Page 2
And So To Bed..
Our police are not only pub
lic servants but also public
angels.
Yesterday afternoon an elder
ly lady, about to cross Front
street in the wind and rain,
felt her umbrella jerk from
her hand and vanish into the
storm.
A quick-eyed policeman, spy
ing the incident, ran down the
street and unhitched the um
brella from the bumper of the
car that snatched it.
"Where, oh, where, is my
umbrella?” wailed the lady.
“Here it is, ma’am,” said
the policeman. Whereupon he
adjusted it, placed it in her
hand, and sauntered off, a
small halo shining above his
I cap. I
MEDIA TION LAST HOPE OF STOPPING
, STRIKE OF 250,000 PHONE WORKERS;
AUTO PEACE MOVE BOGS DOWN AGAIN
Conferees
Block Plan
To End Row
Refuse To Lengthen Dis
cussions To Thrash Out
Remaining Details
MEET AGAIN TODAY
Labor Secretary Says
Strike Could “Be Settled
In Next Few Days
DETROIT, Feb. 19.—(IP)—
A four-hour General Motors
and CIO United Auto Work
srs conference adjourned late
Tuesday with no agreement
in the 91-day-old strike and a
Federal mediator blocked in
an effort to lengthen the sessions.
Special Federal Mediator James
F. Dewey said both the company
and the union declined his sug
gestion that they schedule extend
ed negotiating sessions, saying it
was “more expeditious’’ to confer
between meetings in separate
rfrrtimc
Longer Sessions Needed
Dewey’s effort to get GM and the
UAW to spend more time at the
conference table coincided with
See GM-UAW on Page Two
FORGERY CHARGE
PINNED TO WOMAN
Wife Of Veteran, Wounded
In Service, Faces Several
Counts Here
“I did it for my three-year-old
daughter,” Mrs. Nancy Ammons,
Lauringburg told officers who ar
rested her yesterday on charges
of forgery.
Mrs. Ammons was arrested by
Deputy Sheriff Charlie Snow, as
she attempted to obtain money
by methods officers described as
‘‘forgery,” from the Wilmington
Savings and Trust company.
‘‘My husband who is a veteran
of World War II, is unable to
work,” Mrs. Ammons told officers.
‘‘During his service with the U. S.
armed forces he was physically
See FORGERY CHARGE Page 2
RAILROADERS ROLL
UP HEAVY MAJORITY
FOR NATION STRIKE
CLEVELAND, O., Feb. 19—
(U.P.)—First returns of strike
ballots from 300,000 members
of the country’s two most pow
erful railroad brotherhoods,
the Locomotive Engineers and
the Railroad Trainmen, almost
unanimously approve a nation
wide rail walkout, it was an
nounced Tuesday night.
President A. F. Whitney of
the Trainmen said that ballots
received from 60 of 3C0 rail
roads involved were 99 per
cent in favor of a strike. Simi
lar approval was contained in
the first returns of ballots
from engineers of “several”
railroads, Locomotive Engi
rt e e r s President Alvanley
Johnston said. _
24-HOUR STAMP SERVICE
P.O. TO OPERATE
SLOT MACHINES
By JACK C. LUNAN
Wilmingtonians, in the not too
distant future, will be able to
purchase stamps at the post
office any hour of the day or
night.
While the stamp windows will
continue to serve the public
only during the usual sche
duled hours, closing up shop
on the dot of 6 o’clock each
night, opportunity to purchase
stamps will go on uninterrupt
ed 24 hours per day, 365 days
per year.
Exected Move
This bit of news, trickling out
of official Washington, did not
catch Postmaster Wilbur Dosh
er fully unawares. For he has
been expecting such a move it
seems, for sometime.
In a nut-shell, the postoffice
department intends to establish
coin-operated stamp machines
in all first-class postoffices of
the nation, including Wilming
ton, early in the new fiscal year
which gets underway July 1.
Postoffice department wit
nesses, appearing before a ses
sion of the House Appropria
tions committee recently, let it
be known that the department
proposes to spend $1,500,000
during the fiscal years 1946
and 1947 on coin - operated
stamp machines.
Non-Profitable
The new machines, which dif
fer from those now in general
use and owned by private in
terests, will make no profit and
_ will return full value in stamps
‘for the coins inserted. They will
be installed in the lobbies of
thousands of postoffices so that
the public can buy stamps 24
See 24-HOUR STAMP on Page Two
Tar Heel Named
! O. Max Gardner, former Gov
ernor of North Carolina, has
been appointed Undersecretary
of the Treasury by President
Truman, the White House an
nounced Tuesday.
PASSPORTS TABOO
FOR GERMAN TRIP
Wives Of Servicemen Can’t
Visit Husbands In Ja
pan, Either
J. D. Taylor, U. S. Clerk of
Court in the Customshouse here,
wishes he could do something about
it, ladies, but he can’t.
Ever since the government, an
nounced that the wives of serv
icemen overseas would be permit
ted to join them and live with
them on foreign soil, Taylor has
been besieged by local ladies
whose husbands are stationed out
side the U. S. A.
Accepts Applications
Taylor accepts the ladies’ appli
cations for passports and* sends
them on to Washington for approv
al. The ladies whose husbands are
lucky enough to be in England
or China or the Philippines have
received their passports without a
hitch.
It’s the ladies whose husbands
See PASSPORTS on Page Two
Along The Gape Fear
OYSTER-CHEW-Well, it looks
as though we’ve almost bit off
more than we can chew. And con
sidering that what we’re chewing
an is oystershells from the old
Shell road, we might wind up in the
dentist’s office buying a set of new
teeth. , . .
In case you don’t know wnat
we’re talking about—and we kind
af wonder whether we ourselves
know—let’s refresh your, and our,
collective memories.
Yesterday we printed some stuff
about the old Shell road. We asked
a lot of questions about it and
hoped to get some answers.
We got ’em.
* * *
RESPONSE, but YES-Mon
day night, Ben McDonald, Star
News Round-the-Town reporter,
read our little piece over the radio
—sort of a pre-view, you know.
Well, no sooner had Ben signed
off than the telephone started to
ring. A lot of people, it seems, know
all about the old Shell road, and
they all wanted to tell Ben about
it.
Poor Ben, who was merely the
instrument for conveying the story,
found himself faced with the im
possible task of trying to answer
four phones at once.
When he fainted, we took over.
* * *
TO THE RESCUE.-Out of the
general confusion and phone-ring
ing, and after we got Ben put on
a stretcher, the calm figure—voice,
rather—of Mrs. J. D. Edwards
came to our rescue.
Born here in 1880, Mrs. Edwards
has lived at 1812 Market street for
years and years. She took her first
jaunt on the old Shell road when she
was ten.
See AUONG CAPE FEAR on Page 2
i. . .
FOOD SHOPPERS
GET TINY HOPE
Proposed Increase In
Fruits, And Vegetables
Nipped In Bud
Mr. and Mrs. Wilmington who
have been beleaguered and harried
since 1941 by rising food prices,
can now throw off his cap and
shout hurrah.
They have nipped a proposed
price-rise in fruit and vegetables hi
the bud—like Jack Frost, you might
say, because the story revolves
on the a::is of plain old ice.
Present Custom
It goes like this: The farmer and
shippers who send fruit all ever the
country use the railroads’ ice-cars.
And it’s the farmers and shippers
who pay for the ice that gets pack
ed with the food and for the labor
that does the packing.
At present the total cost per ton
of ice is $4.30, and when the Wil
mmgtonians go to market and buys
a head of lettuce he is also paying
the farmer and shipper for the ice
which accompanied that nead of
lettuce on its journey from the field
to the store.
BOOST PROPOSED
Now, according to what Major ,
H. E. Boyd, Traffic Manager of '
Wilmington’s Port Traffic associa- ;
tion, said yesterday, the National
Perishable Freight committee, Chi
cago, which acts as an agent for
the railroads, proposed some time
ago to boost the total cost per ton
of freight-ice in North Carolina
from $4.30 to $5.30.
lrn/Mir nrV\0+ O + llTAIll/1 VlOlTO
meant,” Major Boyd said. “The
farmer and shipper would have
had to pay the railroad the extra
dollar, the merchant would hr j
had to pay the farmer and the
shipper the extra dollar, and finally
the public, the poor old consumer,
would -ave had to pay the mer
chant the e: tra dollar.”
WITHDRAW PLANS
Boyd said that the Chicago com
mittee submitted its proposal to
the Interstate Commerce Commis
sion But so thing happened, and
the committee suddenly withdrew
it.
“I can’t say exactly what made
the committee change its mind,”
Major Boyd said, “hut I have a
pretty good dea. Tohn Q. Public
got wind of it, looked in his pocket
book, and decided that he just
couldn’t afford it.”
The Weather
FORECAST
North Carolina: Wednesday partly
cloudy and mild.
South Carolina: Partly cloudy and cool
er Wednesday.
(Eastern Standard Time)
(By U S. Weather JBureau)
Meteorological data for the 24 hours *
ending 7:30 p.m. yesterday.
Temperatures
1:30 a.m. 48; 7:30 a.m. 54; 1 ;30 pvm. 58;
7 :3P p.m. 61.
Maximum 62; Minimum 43; Mean 53;
Normal 48.
Humidity
1:30 a.m. 79; 7:30 a.m. 80; 1:30 p.m. 87;
7:30 p.m. 90.
Precipitation
Total for 24 hours ending 7:30 p.m.—
3.51 inches.
Total since the first of the month—
L.72 inches.
Tides For Today
(From the Tide Tables published by U.
S. Coast and Geodetic Survey)
High Low
Wilmington - 12:41 a.m. 7:46 a.m.
1:00 p.m. 8:12 p.m.1
Masoonboro Inlet 10:34 a.m. 4:24 a.m.;
11:00 p.m. 4:42 p.m.:
Sunrise 6:51 a.m.; Sunset 6:00 p.m.;
Moonrise 10:27 pm.* Moonset 9 :31 a.m. !
River Stage at Fayetteville. N. C., at 8
a.m. Tuesday, S.8 feet; and Monday, 11.0
Eeet.
(Continued on Page Two)
Union Sets Up Machinery
For Walkout Over Nation
Federation Head Says “We Will Continut
Bargaining, All Efforts Will Be Made To
Settle Dispute”; Seek $10 A Week Raise
MEMPHIS, Feb. 19.—(/P)—The nation’s 250,000 or
ganized telephone workers set up the machinery for 3
coast-to-coast strike Tuesday to be set in motion when all
avenues of peaceful negotiation are closed.”
Joseph A. Beirne, 35-year-old president of the inde
pendent National Federation of Telephone workers, an
nounced: “We will continue bargaining with the company
' --— 1 ond offortc Kirill Kn m«idn -aI.
BOWLES BLASTS
CRITICS OF OPA
Says Henry Ford II Asked
For 55 Per Cent Increase
In Car Prices
WASHINGTON, Feb. 19. —(U.R)—
DPA Chief Chester Bowles charg
;d Tuesday night that “irrespon
sible leaders” of the National As
sociati of Manufacturers, have
;hreatened a “sit-down strike
igainst the American people” anc
Iemanded their repudiation bj
NAM members.
Denouncing full-page NAM ad
vertisements as a “propaganda
;ffort” to abolish price control,
;he newly-selected stabilizatior
iirector said its leaders, in effect,
lemand:
Prices Or Else
“Pay us the prices we ask, oi
ve won’t produce the goods yoi
iced. .
He carried his hold-the-price
ine battle to the American people
n a radio r 4dress after protesting
;o the House Banking committee
hat Henry Ford II, youthful presi
lent of the Ford Motor co., had
Iemanded an ‘outrageous increase'
)f 55 per cent in automobile prices.
His testimony prompted the com
nittee to summon Ford as a wit
less.
Urges Support
Bowles urged his radio audience
,o support President Truman’s
lew wage-price program — “the
lew, all-out attack against the
'orces of inflation.”
He emphasized that, despite
^JAM’s “huge publicity campaign,”
15 per cent of the nation’s business
nen “are reasonable, patriotic
leople who would not condone . .
lee BOWLES BLASTS on Page Two
TOBACCO QUOTAS
GIVEN BOOST FOR
COMING SEASON
WASHINGTON, Feb. 19—(A1)
—The Agriculture department
announced Tuesday that 1946
planting allotments for fire
cured and dark-air-cured types
of tobacco will be increased 20
and 10 per cent, respectively,
over basic allotments made in
1943.
These increases will allow
total planting of 82,000 acres for
the fire-cured type and 40,000
for the dark air-cured type.
Last yea. 63,100 acres of fire
cured and 42,700 of dark air
cured were harvested.
The department said it allow
ed the 20 per cent increase in
the fire-cured type because
foreign demand is expected to
increase substantially.
tie the dispute.”
Beirne made his statement t®
newsmen shortly after the federa
tion's 40 autonomous unions granU
ed the executive board authority
to call a national strike whenever it
‘‘considers proper."
Picket Lines Planned
The resolution, adopted by a vot®
of 121,997 to 30,761, also directed
that when a strike is called "all
other affiliates respect all picket
lines.” Seven unions, representing
26,913 members, failed to vote.
Beirne said the telephone work
ers in further negotiations "might
consider a re-discussion of their
minimum wage demands in the
light of the settlements in the steel
and automobile industries.”
Union demands, directed chiefly
to the far-flung system of the
American Telephone and Telegraph
company, are for a $10 weekly in
crease, a 65-cent hourly minimum
rate and a return to the 40-hour
week.
Offer Falls Short
The A. T. and T. has reported
offers to increase wages of all
operators $5 a week and grant oth
er employes hikes ranging from
$3 to $6.
Labor department statistics for
November reported that telephone
workers in all branches of the in
dustry average a little more than
$1 an hour.
A union spokesman said the cur
rent wage scale for operators is:
in smaller towns, $18 to $20 weekly
as a starting wage and $26 to $28
maximum; in larger towns, $24 to
$26 as a starting wage and $38
maximum.
Willing To Bargain
The resolution, empowering the
executive board to call a general
See MEDIATION on Page Two
WILM1NGT0N1ANS
TO ATTEND MEET
Page And Hiers In Char
lotte To Aid In Promo
tion Of Shipping
Two Wilm ngton businessmen, li,
B. Page, publisher and Chairman
of the State Ports Authority and
J. T. Hiers, executive general agent
of the Wilmington Port Commis
sion, are ir; Charlotte today for a
scheduled joint meeting of thl
North Carolina State Ports Author
ity, North Carolina Traffic League
and the Charlotte Shippers and
Manufacturers association.
Promote Shipping
Discussion on promotion of coast
al and foreign shipping through
this state’s ports will be the prin
cipal item of business to come be
fore the joint meeting.
At noon the delegates will bf
guests at an informal luncheon t*
■See WILMINGTON IANS on Page t
LIGHT A LOT OF CANDLES!
Wilmington’s Oldest Lady
Is 102 Years Old Today
By LARRY HIRSCH
If anybody in town happens to
have a cake big enough to hold
102 candles and doesn’t know
what to do with it, he might
bring it over to 400 Mercer ave
nue today.
Because today Wilmington’s
oldest lady is 102 years old.
Mrs. Martha Jane Turner is
the lady, and she has lived 85
of those 102 years in Wilming
ton.
Response To Query
The news came out in re
sponse to yesterday’s Along
the Cape Fear feature in the
Star. Among the many ques
tions broached in the feature
was ,'his one: “Who, by the
way, is the oldest inhabitant
hereabouts?”
Mrs. Turner apparently win*
the race by many, many
lengths.
Born In Bladen county In
1844, Mrs. Turner moved to
Wilmington when she was 17,
and she liked the town so well
she’s hasn’t budged since.
Eyes Sparkling
And according to the Bey. J,
O. Walton, pastor of the South
Side Baptist church here, her
eyes are just as sparkling and
her mind is just as clear a*
they were when she became a char,
ter member of the church back in
1924.
See OLDEST LADY on Page Two