forecast
Wilmington and vicinlty: Considerable
imidiness and occasional showers, fol
'““d bv clearing Monday night. Little
change in temperature. Tuesday fair and
, little wanner.
inf~79—-NO. 106~ ~~ --—■--r—•
___ ESTABLISHED 1867
f Campaign Leaders For New Hospital \
.. ..
pictured above, shortly after their announce
ment that Wilmington will get a modern, 100
bed, $100,000 Catholic hospital, are, left to right,
Charles E. Kelly, Colonel Cliff Titus, and
Henry L. Caravati, of Southern Associates,
--— - ----S
Richmond, Va.
The three men are launching a nine-week
drive here to raise $500,000 for the new St.
Francis hospital, to be located at the old Catho
lic cemetery.—Star Staff Photo.
JVar Still On
ACL And Pullman Find
Trouble Supplying Cars
Task Of Hauling Returning Servicemen
Still Taxes Capacity Of Railroad;
January, February Record Months
.— ■ ■ i
By PHIL WRIGHT
There’s' still thousands of wan
dering "cowboys” in Miami, home
sick for Brooklyn, and there’s still
millions of GI’s on the East coast,
homesick for the Old South.
So, you can readily understand
why "the war is not over,” for At
lantic Coast Line, and the Pull
man company.
This year, the Pullman com
pany, and the railroads cannot, un
less further instructed, reenact a
sbene of some ten. months ago
when special trains were dispatch
ed to Florida to carry home the
race track and sunshine enthusi
asts.. This spring, they’ll just have
to wait, if information from the
railroads paints a true picture of
the travel situation.
2,000 Cars
During December of last year
and January of this year, Atlantic
Coast Line alone assigned 2,000
coach cars to return troops from
the Pacific coast. This in addi
tion to the regularly scheduled
troop trains used for this purpose.
These trains are never used for
civilian transportation any more,
as they have been placed by spe
cial order of the government, for
the express purpose of bringing
troops home from the wars.
Dead Headed
The cars are "dead headed” on
their way to the West coast for
their loads of war veterans, or on
the return trip to their destination,
whichever the case may be.
Although reliable informants say
that "modest” progress has been
made by ACL, and other roads in
reconverting to peacetime traffic
conditions, the day is obviously
far, far away when you can just
walk down to the station, and or
der a Pullman to New York, or
Miami, and get it the same day.
Equipment Scarce ,
The Coast Line has on order
tremendous equipment lists, which
are in process of being filled, tut
so far, only a small portion of such
equipment has started to "trickle
in,,” and it is unknown just when
this dream may be realized.
Added to the company’s inability
to get new ordered equipment, is
the continuation of military de
mands on existing facilities, this
having not lessened since the peak
of the war. .
Last July, the OPA ordered the
railroads to furnish adequate
.. See WAR STILL On Page Two
00 UNIONISTS
OKAY AGREEMENT t
_ h
One Hundred Thousand v
Electrical Workers Re- n
turn To Jobs Today
NEW YORK, March 17—<AF) — *!
The CIO United Electrical Work- s
ers said Sunday night its locals *
had ratified an agreement settling e
the 62-day General Electric strike r
and the 100,000 workers would re- j)
turn to their jobs Monday. •
“In view of the action by the £
membership the strike is term!- 1
nated,” Joseph Dermody, interna
tional representative of the union
said in a telegram to the General a
Electric management. GE plants c
are in 16 states. c
Under the new agreement the t
1 „ t
See UNIONISTS on Page Two t
FIVE SUFFOCATED :
WHEN HOME BURNS i
Ten-Year-Old Boy Escapts t
Through Window; Dog, 1
Puppies Cremated Also '
MALDEN, Mass., March 17. —(AP) 1
-Five persons were suffocated and 1
* ten-year-old boy escaped when a 1
*e and one-half story home 100 !
jeet off the Boston-Newburyport
turnpike was destroyed by fire of 1
undetermined origin early Sunday, !
The dead were identified as Ar
b Uehoim 35, his wife, Marion
~™uSn venoim, 33, and their three
'hiidren, Barbara, 8, Patricia 5 and i
wil, five months.
A dog and her eight puppies were 1
ji found burned to death. . 1
,.Geor?e Brough, 10, a son of Mrs. ■
a°®s by a former marriage,
, !le escaped by breaking a
* mdow in his bedroom.
once said the blaze was dis
vered bv a watchman at a near
lie re,st5urailt who telephoned po
5 At the same tim°, police said,
"lre alarm was turned in by a
Pass»g motorist.
The Weather
FORECFA3T
(Eastern Standard Time)
; T, S. Weather Bureau)
KtUno-°Ji?glcal data for the 24 hours
6 1 aO p.m yesterday.
1:30 , „ .Temperature*
5:30 D„m' r,8U 7:30 a.m. 58; 1:30 p.m. GO;
Minimum 57; Mean 80;
1:30 , Humidity
*8; J-3MO;; 7:30 a.m. 100; 1:30 p.m.
P m. 92.
Total a Pr*®*PH*tion
8.(2 inch™r 24 hours ending 7:30 p.m.—
•■‘6 inchesCS ttle £irst o£ the month~
(from Tides For Today
5 Coast „n<\ Title Tables published by U.
11 and Geodetic Survey).
Wil*ington Hieh Low
8 on - 9.44 a.m. 4:17 a.m.
"ssonboro mi . 10:05 p-m- 4:43 pm
r° Inl“t — 7:37 a.m. 1:20 a.m.
Sunrise «.,0 „ 7:59 p.m. 1:42 pin.
(.It!.; ”'M; Sunset 6:22; Moonrise 7:20
““onset 7:04 a.m.
SPELLMAN CALLS
WORLD SICK SPOT
American Cardinal Says
Blood Stream Poisoned
By Militant Atheism
WASHINGTON, March 17 —VP)—
Francis Cardinal Spellman, arch
bishop of New York, Sunday called
this a world “sick unto death’’ with
its bloodstream “poisoned by the
plague of militant atheism.”
“The fever of hate runs high,
the pulse of mankind is irregular,
the heart of the world is sunder
ed,” he told a class of 81 graduates
of Georgetown University school
of medicine.
“To humanity struggling with
its passion and its destiny, the
chaos of wretchedness threatening
the life of the world today, is a
challenge and opportunity. For
heroic, glorious achievement espe
cially for the young priests and
young physicians who begin their
lives of service in this world sick
unto death.”
Cardinal Spellman received ap
honorary degree of doctors of laws
from the university, before an
audience which included cabinet
members, diplomats and high
ranking military officials.
Robert Martin Spellman, of |
Chestnut Hill, Mass., a nephew of
the Cardinal and a member of the
Georgetown graduating class, re
ceived his degree from the Cardi
nal.
STATE OFFICIALS
TO FIGHT AGENCY
Agricultural Commission
ers Of Nation Set For
Battle On OPA Ceilings
WASHINGTON, March 17. —te
state Agriculture commissioners
from all parts of the nation began
arriving in Washington Sunday for
a meeting tomorrow that is expect
ed to turn into a drive against OPA
ceiling on farm products.
R. A. Trovatten of Minnesota
heads the group, which is the edu
cation and research committee of
the National Association of Com
missioners of Agriculture.
One of the early arrivals was
Tom Linder of Georgia, long active
in the organization. Linder said
what the committee will do will
not be decided until it goes into
session Monday morning. Speaking
for himself, however, he told a re
porter:
| “My primary interest right now is
against ceilings on agricultural
products.
See OFFICIALS On Page Two
Today and Tomorrow
by WALTER LIPPMANN
It will be most unwise, so I
venture to think, for us to raise the
Iranian question in the Security
Council before our new -ambassador
to Bussia, General Bedell Smith,
has had time to reach Moscow and
enter into a full discussion on this
and related matters with Stalin.
Perhaps it is impossible to have
such a discussion. We should make
every effort to find out. We have
not made the effort. The astound
ing fact is that with the peace of
the world hanging in the balance we
now have no one in Moscow, and
have not had any one during this
whole most critical period, who can
* - ,
even see Stalin, much less talk
with him. The Russ. - have no
one in Washington to v .m we can
talk with any hope of ah important
exchange of views.
* * *
Surely it would be better to re
establish direct diplomatic contact
with Moscow before we have a
showdown by public debate. A
showdown may be necessary and it
may be inevitable. But the right
time to have a showdown is after
diplomatic negotiation has been
See LIPPMAN on Page Two
/
NAMToCarry
p<g?Qn OPA
iietore House
Manufacturers Exp e c t e d
♦To Hit Back At Bowles
. In Committee Meeting
ADS STATE STORY
Adminis t r a t i o n Forces
Seeking To Woo Back
Southern Democrats
WASHINGTON, March 17—(TP)—
The National Association of Manu
facturers will take to capitol hill
Monday its demands for an end of
government price controls on all
manufactured goods.
The NAM, attacked by Chester
Bowles, economic stabilizer, as a
sponsor of an “irresponsible, reck
less and greedy” lobby, is expected
to hit back with an accusation that
OPA is strangling peacetime pro
duction and encouraging black
markets.
Robert R. Wason, president of
the organization, will present
NAM’s case to the House Banking
and Currency committee, which is
considering legislation to continue
OPA for a year.
Makes Stand Known
The organization has made its
position known in nationwide ad
vertisements that said OP A price
ceilings stand in the way of sup
plying peacetime goods.
Bowles has told the committee
that without the controls at this
time the inflation boiler would
burst.
Significantly, over the week-end
—with OPA under relentless at
tack and the House already hav
ing taken out what President Tru
man called the “very heart” of
the administration housing bill, the
Democratic party scheduled a
series of Congressional “unity”
dinners.
To Woo Strayer*
The first purpose of the dinners
was described by party leade'rs as
wooing back straying Democrats,
particularly from the South, who
have joined Republicans frequent
Bee NAM on Page Two
BEACH RESIDENTS
INJURED IN FIRE
Mr. and Mrs. Ben Gray Of
Wrightsville Suffer Hurts
When Home Burns
Mrs. Ben Gray, 823 South Lumi
na avenue, Wrightsville Beach, was
admitted to James Walker Me
morial hospital yesterday suffering
from injuries received when she
and her husband and son dropped
from the second story of their burn
ing home.
At a:lb a. m. bunaay me urays
were aroused by smoke and found
the lower story of the house ablaze.
All first floor exits barred with
flame, they were forced to leap
from the upstairs window.
_ Children Escape
Two of the Gray sons, sleeping
on the ground floor of the house,
made their way out before fire
had blocked the doors.
Ben Gray was X-rayed Sunday
morning, hut extent of his injuries
is not yet known. Mrs. Gray is
under treatment for a fractured
vertebrae and is reported to be
resting comfortably. Jimmy, who
made the two story drop with his
parents, was unhurt.
House Destroyed
The fire, having made great
headway before its discovery,
was beyond the control of the fire
department. Of the Gray residence,
only the chimney and the stair-way
are standing.
EVENTS IN IRAN APPROACH
BOILING POINT 45 SO VIETS
ISSUE WARNING TO PREMIER
U.S. Vice Consul Detained
For Half Hour By Sentry
State Department Says No
Significance In
Incident
WASHINGTON. March 17.—(/TV
American Vice Consul Robert Ros
sow was stopped by a Russian sen
try in the Iranian city of Tabriz
last Friday and held for half an
hour at a Red Army command post
before his identity was established
and he was released, the State de
partment reported Sunday night.
The local Soviet Consul General
expressed his regrets over the in
cident and officials here said that
the State department attache* “no
significance” to it.
Key Position
Rossow is in a key position since
Tabriz is the vital communications
center through which virtually all
Russian military movements south
ward in Iran must pass.
Meanwhile, the general Iranian
situation appeared quiet on the
surface but officials here believe
that events were boiling up to
ward a climax sometime next week
with Russians putting increasing
pressure of the Tehran government
to give way to their demands.
Warning Issued
One report in official inform*,
tion from the Iranian capital is
that a Russian diplomat, charge
d’affairs of the Soviet diplomatic
mission there, delivered a warn
ing to Premier Ahmed Qavam Sul
taneh to refrain from pressing any
charges involving Iran against Rus
sia in the United Nations Security
Council, meeting in New York a
week from Monday.
The warning—if it turns out to
be as reported anA Washington
officials now are generally inclined
to accept it that way—puts Qavam
on the spot because if he takes
some action which Russia consid
ers “unfriendly” it has an army
with which to express it sdispleas.
ure.
Other Points
Moreover authorities here say
that unquestionably there are oth
er points on which Russian pres
sure is being brought to such an ex
tent as to make the Iranian
Premier’s position extremely dif
ficult.
These diplomats explain that
Russia’s immediate objective pre
sumably its to get an Iranian gov
ernment completely on its side and
one which would officially wel
come the presence of Red Army
troops in Iran. This, in fact, is the
critical question.
The Iranian problem could be
solved almost in a matter of min
utes, if the Russians would, per
haps by some face saving formula,
begin to pull their troops out of
the country. The major immediate
complaint against them in both
Washington and London is that they
failed to withdraw their forces by
last March 2 in accord with a
treaty and everything which has
happened since is at the moment
considered subordinate to that fact.
Remains Mystery
Why the troops are still there
remains a mystery and Russia so
far has offered no reply to a di
rect inquiry on that point submit
ted by the American government.
On the Rossow case, a State de
partment official, press officer
Michael J. McDermott, gave this
account:
The United tSates Vice Consul at
Tabriz was held by a Soviet sen
try on the outksirts of the city on
March 15. He was detained ap
proximately a half hour at a near
See IRAN on Page Two
And So To Bed..
We can’t, vouch for this, but
we imagine it’s true. Because
once the movies get hold of
you, you can’t be sure of who
you are. Take, for example,
Alexander Graham Bell Amo
che.
Or this:
Last Friday when Marlon
Targrove was in town two
yongsters are said to have seen
him on the street.
“Hey,” said one, “there goes
Private Hargrove.”
“Naw,” said the other. "I
saw Private Hargrove in the
movies, and that ain’t him.”
To settle the dispute, they
stopped Hargrove and asked
him point-blank who he was.
“I”, said Hargrove, “am
Robert Walker the famous
movie actor. My next picture
is entitled ‘So There, Samuel
Goldwyn,’ in which I will play
the part of a chorus girl and
two Masines.,,
Belt Tightening Due
CANADIANS TO FEEL
PINCH THIS SUMMER
OTTAWA, March 17. — (fr) —
Prime Minister MacKenzie King
Sunday night announced an unprece
dented nine-point program aimed
at restricting the amount of food
for Canadians, maintaining war
increased farm production and pro
viding more food for a starving
world.
Underlining the world food short
age with the statement that the
general picture is “urgent and des
perate,’' the Prime Minister an
nounced this program:
Nine Points
1. Wheat available for domestic
milling is being reduced by 10 per
cent on the basis of 1945 purchases.
2. Wheat for distilling purposes
is being reduced by 50 per cent
on the basis of amount used in
1945.
3. A campaign is being under
taken to encourage saving by con
sumers in the use of wheat and
wheat products and to encourage
home gardens.
Wheat For Export
4. Increased quantities of oats and
No. 4 wheat are to be made avail
able for export if possible.
5. Farmers are being urged to
plan their production to obtain the
maximum yield of foodstuffs ever
the next four years.
6. Special arrangements are be
ing made to encourage immediate
marketing of wheat stored on
farms.
7. Reduction of inventories of
wheat and wheat products is to be
encouraged.
8. Priorities for rail transport of
See BELT TIGHTENING On Page 2
Returns To Action
Historic Jap Volcano
Sprays Dust On Homes
Two Thousand Families Prepare To Flee
As “Violent Eruptions” Follow Two
Explosions; Marines On Alert
TOKYO, March 17.—(#)—Minami
Dake, historic Japanese volcano
which created the Isle of Sakura
Jima and then joined it to South
ern Kyushu, has returned to action
and is spraying the surrounding
countryside with dust and ashes.
Japanese newspaper accounts
from the scene, three miles across
Kagoshima bay from the city of
Kagoshima, describe the new
activity as ‘‘a violent eruption”
and report that some 2,000 families
are preparing to flee the vicinity.
Strong Explosions
The Tokyo paper Mainichi said
there were two strong explosions
Friday night and that lava was
pouring from the crater amid
bursts of flame.
Lt. John Sadonian, of Philadel
phia, duty officer of the First Bat
talion, Eighth U. S. Marine Regi
ment, stationed at Kagoshima, re
ported by telephone Sunday that
he did not yet regard the present
activity as an "eruption,” and that
the marines had received no calls
for assistance. He said the vol
cano had been blowing smoke and
rumbling since mid-February to
the accompaniment of small ex
plosions.
Ashes Dissolved
Frequently rains dissolve the
ashes, which fall as mud in Kago
shima, he said.
The start of the activity coin
cides with the first observation,
Feb. 14 of a new volcanic islet
which has been rising from the sea
some 200 miles South of Honshu.
Sakura Jima has a long history,
with 26 recorded eruptions since
1468. Jima (island) has been a
misnomer since 1914 when a violent
eruption linked it with the main
land, forming a peninsula.
Beauty Spot
The 3,752-foot double cone, ris
ing from the bay is a natural
beauty spot, famed before the war
as a health resort. More than 10.
000 persons live in hamlets which
dot the gentle slopes. Oranges
and tobacco thrive in the volcanic
soil.
Kagoshima, due west across the
bay, is a bomb-ruined naval base
and port now occupied by a small
detachment of the marines.
LEON BLUM TO SEE
TRUMAN, BYRNES ON
SUBJECT OF LOANS
WASHINGTON, March 17. —MB—
State department officials said
Sunday that appointments are be
ing arranged for French Embassa
dor extraordinary Leon Blum to
confer with President Truman and
Secretary of State Byrnes.
It is understood that Blum desires
to meet the U. S. Chief Executive
and Secretary of State before the
start of the economic negotiations,
for which' he came here.
These discussions, centering on a
loan to France, probably will start
toward the end of the week, short
ly after the expected arrival from
Paris of Jean Monnet, economic
advisor to Blum.
9,(mOOOTONS
SUPPLIES TO GO
Lehman Announces Ar
rangements For Shipment
To Needy Nations Soon
ATLANTIC CITY, N. J., March
17. —(/p)— Approximately 9,000,000
tons of desperately needed sup
plies are scheduled to be delivered
to 16 countries by UNRRA between
March 1 and June 30, Director
General Herbert H. Lehman said
Sunday.
In making public the relief
organization’s program, Lehman
warned that acute food shortages
made shipments uncertain and
cautioned that the program was
subject to “substantial modifica
tions.”
“It is necessary that all contrib
uting countries make available
See 9,000,000 On Page Two
UNION OFFICIALS
ASK SOVIET HELP
CIO Group Reports On Rec
ent Trip To Moscow, Len
ingrad; Were Impressed
WASHINGTON. March 17.—(fl1)—
Eleven union officials who visited
Russia appealed in a report made
public by the CIO Sunday for “clos
er understandings and cooperation”
between the American and Russian
peoples.
The delegation spent eight days
in Moscow and Leningrad last Oc
tober. It was headed by James B.
Carey, CIO secretary - treasurer.
The Americans were guests of the
Soviet trade unions, which previ
ously had sent a delegation to this
country as guests of the CIO.
The CIO groups’ report said they
were “impressed” by the Soviet
trade unions and their “excellent
activities” in the interest of the
workers.
Living Standards
They said living standards in the
USSR are “low compared with
American standards.” But they re
ported “substantial progress in re
construction.”
They also saw much evidence that
the Russian people are determin
ed to raise their living standards
by developing peacetime industries
to produce more consumer goods.
Worker Exchange
The delegation said the United
States can help by supplying ma
chines, industrial techniques and
goods of all sorts. They also ex
pressed hope that arrangements
for exchanging workers between
the two countries can be worked
out.
The’ report includes quotations
from speeches by two of the CIO
men at a union meeting in Lenin
grad
Addresses Union
Albert Fitzgerald, president of
the CIO Electrical Workers Union,
told the Soviet workers:
‘You have gained friends who
are going to insist that our govern
ment do everything in its power
to aid you. We’ve seen the price
you have paid to establish free
dom for all peoples of the world.
We in America are determined
that no force within or without is
ever going to turn us against your
people again.”
Pays Tribute
The delegation’s report says that
Reid Robinson, president of the
CIO Mine, Mill and Smelter Work
ers. ‘‘paid high tribute to the
democratic ideal” in his speech. It
quotes Robinson as saying:
‘‘We must break down the prop
aganda that you have no demo
cracy as we have.”
Besides Carey, Fitzgerald and
Robinson, the. CIO visitors were
Allan S. Haywood, Joseph Curran,
John Green, Emil Rieve, Lee
Pressman, John Abt, Len De Caux,
and Vincent Sweeney.
Warmly Received
They said they were warmly
received throughout their trip, and
given ovations when attending
ballet performances. They remark
ed on ‘‘the universal prestige ac
corded labor leaders in the Soviet
Union.”
Visiting the Stalin automobile
plant in Moscow, the Americans
were told that despite a reduction
in working hours, tne “take-hoime
pay” of the workers remained
about the same as during the war.
The Russians explained that the
workers are paid by the piece, ra
ther than by the hour, and they are
See HELP on Page Two
Along The Cape Fear
GARDEN - MINDED — Having
spent the week-end in March show
ers which, we hope, will bring
April flowers, we suddenly find
ourselves garden-minded.
Understand, we are not garden
experts. Our closest association
with horticulture and floriculture
consists of 'll a high school course
in botany, (2) passing glances into
florist shops, and i3) a hostile
acquaintance with goldenrod.
On the other hand, we do like
flowers, even though we can t tell
a dahlia from a zinnia, and we love
to see them growing in a pretty
garden.
« * •
PREJUDICED — Just to prove
that we do know something about
gardens, allow us to point out that
we are familiar with some of the
famous ones, such as, the Garden
of Eden, the Garden of Allah, the
Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and
Madison Square Garden
Since we live along the Cape
Fear, however, we naturally are
prejudiced in favor of one parti
cular garden.
And we hope you have the same
prejudice, too.
* » *
GREENFIELD RAINBOW —
There’s an old song which goes
something like this: “When the
white azaleas are blooming, I’ll
be coming back to you.”
“You,” we believe, can mean
only one thing to a Wilmingtonian
as far as this song is concerned.
Greenfield Garden.
The azaleas are blooming in
Greenfield Garden again, folks,
and they’re not just white, either.
They have everything a rainbow
has except a pot of gold—and, by
the way, we don’t think that pot
of-gold story holds much water
anyway, let alone gold.
♦ * *
NO SWAP, ALLAH—As far as
we’re concerned, we think Green
field Garden is THE garden. We
won’t stop to describe to you, be
cause you know all about it al
ready.
All we want to say is that we are
See CAPE FEAR On Page Two
Big Business
County School Cafeterias
Do $235,000 Yearly Trade
By JACK C. LUNAN
Providing hot and cold lunches at
noon each day for approximately
6,700 students of New Hanover
county who patronize the school
cafeterias is a big task—and big
business, too.
When Mrs. Brown, or Mrs. Jones
start Nellie or Billie off to school
each morning during the school
year with change for their lunch at
noon, they likely do not realize that
they are contributing just that
many more nickels, dimes'or quar
ters to the gross take of the largest
non-profit business enterprise in
the county.
For the school cafeteria enter-1
prises of the county are just that
—a smooth-running non-profit ac
cruing business that gross up
wards of $235,000 during the nine
month school year, which is quite
a *um that comes out of the pock
et* of New Hanover dads and
mamas in order that their children
may get a hot, well balanced
lunch, or an equally nourishing
cold plate at noon on five days
each week.
$7,100 Weekly
School officials, in setting an
average figure of 6,700 as the num
ber of children in the county pa
See CAFETERIAS On Page Two
r