FORECAST:
Wilmington and vicinity: Fair ana
slightly cooler today and tonight; Thurs
day fair and continued cool.
VOL. 81.—NO. 107._ WILMINGTON,^. C., WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1947 ESTABLISHED 1817
Conservation May
Solve Oil Shortage
Industry Representatives Will Begin News
paper, Radio Camqaign Direct To
People; Charlotte In Market
RALEIGH, Dec. 23 —(&)—Rep
resentatives of the oil industry
ereed at a meeting with Gov
*nor Cherry and State Oil Co
ordinator W. Z. Betts here to
day that conservation offers the
j,e<t hope of solving the current
shortage of fuel oil.
Governor Cherry said that the
oil company officials told him
that they planned to begin a
campaign of advertising in
newspapers and over the radio
urging private and industrial
users of both fuel oil and gaso
line to practice conservation.
The governor pointed out that
[f persons who heat their home
with oil would cut their thermo
stats from 72 to 68 degrees dur
ing the day and to 60 degrees at
night, they would save 15 per
cent.
Betts announced that represen
tatives of the oil industry had
agreed to meet at Charlotte
some time after Christmas to
draw a plan to aid local com
munities of the state in or
ganizing to take care of hard
ship cases.
Industry Cooperates
“The oil industry is making
every effort to cooperate,”
Betts said after the meeting.
“They are trying to distribute
what oil there is available as
equitably as possible.”
Betts said that the rlans for
conserving oil were completely
See CONSERVATION on Page 2
Bethlehem, City Of Steel,
Set For Yuletide Rites
rotarians hear
GOOD OIL N E W S
W. s. (Buck) Morris Tells
Of Great Producing
Texas Fields
Despite reports of fuel oil
ihortages over the nation, es
pecially throughout North Caro
lina, there is one East Texas
oil field which can produce
enough crude oil to take care
of the needs of the entire coun
try for years to come, members
of the Wilmington Rotary club
were told yesterday.
Boasting more tnan .so.uuu
wells, this one east Texas field
could produce enough oil to sup
ply all the needs of the Allied
nations during the last war. W.
S. (Buck) Morris, nat've Wil
mingtonian and current presi
dent of the Kilgore, Texas, Ro
tarv club, said.
Morris, who is now vice-pres
ident and general manager of
the East Texas Salt Water Dis
posal corporation, reminded the
Rotarians that his last address
before the club was made after
he played on the Wilmington
high school state champion bas
ketball team in the 1920 season.
Se« ROTARIANS on Page Two
TRUMAfTPARDONS
DRAFT VIOLATORS
Over 1,520 Receive Christ
mas Present Of Restored
Civil Rights
WASHINGTON, Dec. 23. — <U.R)
—President Truman today gran
ted Christmas pardons for 1,523
violators of the wartime Selec
tive Service Act, including a
number of conscientious objec
tors.
Government officials could not
say how many persons would
be released from custody by the
President’s action. Most of the
1523, however, already have
been freed. Princpial effect of
the Presidential action was to
restore the political and civil
rights of those pardoned.
The President acted on the
basis of a report by his amnes
ty board headed by Owen J.
See TRUMAN on Page Two
The Weather
SUB FORECAST
ii* v?« H CAROLINA—Partly cloudy and
*gntiy cooler Wednesday and Wednes
y night. Thursday partly cloudy and
continued cool.
; ORTH CAROLINA—Fair and slight
,C00ler Wednesday and Wednesday
cool Thursday falr and continued
eteorological data for the 24 hours
er>d 7:30 p. m. Yesterday
. temperatures
50 7 a*m. 42, 7:30 a.m. 43, 1:30 p.m.
';30 p.m. 52
formal"1'46^ Min*mum -*> Mean 50,
. HUMIDITY
55 881 7:30 a.m. 91, 1:30 p.m.
’ i:30 p.m gg
T PRECIPITATION
to, n -for the 24 n°urs ending 7:30
T* °. lnches.
4 fin f ,since the First of the month
w inches.
,Fp TIDES for today
°>m tbe "r'i<^e Tables published by U.
Coast and Geodetic Survey) g
Wilmirirt HIGH LOW
unnngton -6:41 a.m. 1:i6 am..
Masonk 6:55 p.m. 1:59 p m.
bor° inlet_4:15 a.m. 10:51 a.m.
Sunri • n _ 4:32 P-m- 11*00 p.m.
2:27 n J*e v' :15, Sunset 5:09, Moonrise
A£?°n*5t 3:38 a. m.
e LEATHER on Page Two
GwMuffT)
Thousands Join Pilgrimage
To 206-Year-Old Mo
ravian Services
BETHLEHEM, Pa., Dec. 23.
—(#1— This city of steel and
song and star blazed with its
radiant message of Christmas
tonight, welcoming the greatest
pilgrimage of visitors ever at
tracted to its yule splendor.
During a single day cars from
more than 30 states were coun
ted as some 50,000 visitors pour
ed across “hill-to-hill” bridge
that spans the placid Lehigh riv
er cutting through the center of
the city.
Bethlehem’s three hotels—
like the historic Judean inn—
have no rooms left for strangers.
All space usually allotted to
transients long has been filled
by sightseers.
Above the city behind the cam
pus of Lehigh University shines
the Bethlehem Star fashioned of
more than 3,000 light bulbs and
standing high as an eight-story
building.
Along the streets in multi-col
ored brilliance are thousands of
Christmas lights and in the center
of the city is a huge
Christmas tree, made from 50
spruce trees and hung with red
and green bulbs.
206th Anniversary
It Was on the North side of
the city by the banks of the
Lehigh river that a small group
of Moravians gathered 206 years
ago on Christmas Eve to give
a name to a new hamlet in Penn
sylvania.
Led by Count Nicholas Von
Zinzendorf, they met in a can
dle-lit stable and gave this place
the name of the little town in
Judea where Joseph and Mary
could find only a manger for the
Christ Child.
Count Zinzendorf held a
lighted candle during the cere
See BETHLEHEM On Page Two
1947 TRUCK CROP
WORTH 16 MILLION
Lettuce, Cabbage Return
Highest Prices To State
Growers
RALEIGH, Dec. 23. —UP)—
North Carolina farmers pro
duced truck crops valued at
$16,009,000 this year, a drop of
$3,633,000 from last year, the
Federal-State crop Reporting
Service announced today.
A total of 80,530 acres of com
mercial truck crops was grown
in the state this year, the report
said, a drop of 14,050 from last
year, and the value per acre of
the truck crops dropDed $9 to
$199.
Prices for truck crops gener
ally averaged less than in 1946,,
but there were exceptions—eai’y
irish potatoes, green peas, let
tuce, caggage and beets. The
most marked price increases
were on cabbage, which sold for
$52.34 per ton compared with
$33.39 last year, and lettuce,
which brought $4.50 ner crate
compared with $1.50 last year.
The 1947 growing season was
unfavorable for truck crops, the
report said. A late, wet spring
retarded the planting seasons,
and this was followed by dry
weather in late spring and early
summer. _
Riflemen “Rake”
Funeral Cortege
Bullets Whistle Through
Ancient Cemetery On
Mount Olive
JERUSALEM, Dec. 23—W —
Arab bullets whistled through an
ancient cemetery on the Mount
of Olives toe - forcing members
of a Jewish funeral procession to
dive for cover and then to make
their way to safety behind pro
tective fire from police.
Arab sharpshooters, in this and
other attacks, virtually paraly
zed highway traffic in food
short Palestine, and twice raid
ed freight trains. A Swedish
journalist and eight Jews were
wounded when a r ad convoy
was raked with fire near Bad El
Wad on th? road from Jaffa air
field to Jerusalem.
Associated Press Correspond
ent James E. Long was a passen
ger in this convoy which twice
tried to get to Jerusalem and had
to turn back. Long, who narrow
ly escaped b^ing hit during the
fighting, still was isolated at
Jaffa tonight.
The Swede, identified as Har
ald Hagg, had arrived in Pales
tine last night. He was removed
to a military hospital at Bir
Yaakov where attendants said h:s
condition was “dangerous.” (A
Stockholm dispatch identified
him as .n artist assigned to
Palestine by news agency a
week ago.)
Four Attacks
In all, the Arabs made four at
tacks on convoys speeding along
the Jerusalem-Jaffa road. British
troops swung into action to break
the Arab seige of the highway.;
The Arabs were said to be led by j
a man wearing a green sweater
and a green stocking cap.
Communal fighting flared
again in the old walled city of
Jerusalem, usually the scene this
time of the year of Christmas
celebration preparations.
The funerals disturbed by
typical Wilmington residence of
See RIFLEMEN on Page Two
RAILROADS GIVEN
MAIL PAY RAISE
ICC Grants 216 Carriers
Temporary Boost Of
25 Per Cent
WASHINGTON, Dec. 23—(U.R)—
The Interstate Commerce Com
mission today granted 216 rail
roads a temporary 25 per :ent
increase, retroactive to Feb. 19,
1947, in the amount they are
paid for carrying U.S. mails.
The increase, giving the car
riers an additional $34,500,000 in
annual revenues, will remain in
effect pending action on the
roads request for an overall 45
per cent increase. The carriers
had asked for a 35 per cent in
terim increase.
In appealing for the higher
rates last February, the car
riers pointed out that the last
adjustment of mail pay was
made in July, 1928. They assert
ed that their service to the Post
Office Department had increas
ed greatly since that time and
that their operation costs also
had jumped.
60 Millions Yearly
It is estimated that the full
45 per cent increase would give
them added revenues of $60,000,
000 a year.
The increase has been op
posed by the Post Office Depart
ment, the National Pub
lishers Association, the Nation
al Council of Business Mails
and other groups on grounds
that it eventually would mean a
raise in postage rates.
In addition, the Post Office
Department has asked the com
mission to deiay action on
the request pending their sur
vey of railway mail service.
The department wanted to find
out whether an increase should
be granted, and if so, how much.
It asked Congress for $1,
000,000 for the survey and was
granted $250,000._
Saved By Split Second,
Pair Get Sound Advice
OMAHA, Dec. 23. —UP)—A rail
road engineer ' whose train
nearly crashed into a car at
Fremont, Neb., last Sunday to
day told the young couple in the
car “you were one second lrom
eternity—please, for God’s sake,
don’t try it again.”
Neither the couple nor the en
gineer was identified. The engi
neer’s letter was published in
the Omaha World-Herald. It
said, in part:
“When you drove your ear
across directly in front of a
speeding passenger train—it was
so close that I’in the cab, could
see the young girl Cyour sweet
heart, I presume) throw her
hands up in front of her face
and cringe up against you in
stark horror.
“If I were that young girl I’d
pull away from you, fast. You
probably say you love her; I
Sec SAVED On Page Two
Unitejj^tates To Abandon All Defense
Installations Guarding Panama Canal;
Arabs Paralyze Traffic To Palestine
SANTA CLAUS VISITS COMMUNITY CENTER to distribute gifts to over 325 underprivileged children at the Wilmington Junior
Chamber of Commerce’s Christmas party for the kiddies. Prior to the party the children were treated to a theatre party and a
Christmas dinner prepared and served by the New Hanover Restaurant Operators association. Shown above talking to St.
Nick is little Miss Louise Harker, six year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ed. Harker, 910 So. Second street and Master Lloyd
Vernon Moore, six year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. R. W. Moore of Maffitt Village. (Staff Photo by Roy Cook)
CHILDREN ENJOY
REAL YULE PARTY
Cafe Owner* Join With
Jaycees In Entertain
ing Youngsters
Santa Claus came to town yes
terday.
Two days ahea- of schedule
St. Nick arrived at the Communi
ty Center yesterday afternoon to
dis ibute toys, gifts and fruits
to over 325 underprivileged chil
dren of this community.
The visit of St. Nick brought to
a close a full day of activity for
the kiddies. The Wilmington
Junior Chamber of Commerce,
tne Manor theatre and the JNew
Hanover County Restaurant Op
erators Association combined to
give the youngsters “the time of
their lives” in the all-day pro
gram.
The program got underway
with a t' eatre party at which
cartoons and comedies were
shown the youngsters. After the
movies the kiddies were loaded
into three lar 'e buses of the
Queen City Trailways and taken
to Greenfield park where they
romped and played in the brilli
ant sun for over an hour.
Cafes Provide Meals
At 1:30 the children were
taken to 28 restaurants, located
throughout the county, where
they were served a Christmas
banquet consisting of roast tur
key and all the trimmings.
The well-fed youngsters were
then taken to the Community
Center to await the visit of San
ta Claus. While waiting foi* the
genial gentleman to make bis
appearance the boys and girls
joined in singing Christmas car
ols.
When Santa finally arrived the
kiddie were presented gifts of
See CHILDREN on Page Two
‘Old Salty’ Arrives In Port
With Breezy Letter To Santa
t ___—
U. S. DELAYS CASE
AGAINST NEWSMEN
Protest bTuN~ Official
. Holds Up Deportation
Proceedings
NEW YORK, Dec. 23—UP)—1The
government postponed deporta
tion proceedings today against
two foreign newspapermen ac
credited to the United Nations)
afte- Secretary-General Trygve
Lie protested that such action
might be in violation of an
agreement with the U.N.
Deportation proceedings were
brought against Nicholas Kyria
zidis, of Greece, and Syed Has
an, of India, on the grounds
they are Communists.
The government initiated the
action under a 1918 law permit
ting deportation of aliens who
are members of an organization
advocating the forcible over
throw of the government.
Kyriazidis was released on
his own recognizance for a fur
ther hearing on order of Watson
B. Miller, commissioner of the
immigration and naturalization
service.
Earlier, acting on his at
torney’s advice, Kyriazidis re
fused to answer questions at a
deportation hearing after produc
ing documents to show he was
accredited as a U.N. correspon
dent for the newspaper Demo
kratis, of Nicosia, Cyprus.
No Jurisdiction
The attorney contended the
See DELAYS on Page Two
Retail Store Employes
Get Two-Day Vacation
Business activity is scheduled
to cease in Wilmington at 6 o’
clock this evening as local stores
close for a two-day Christmas
holiday, President George Hunt
of the Merchants association said
last night.
Employes of Federal offices in
the Customs building will have
the afternoon off as the offices
close at noon today until Friday
morning.
Employes of both the city and
county government offices, with
the exception of the police de
partment and sheriff’s office,
will be dismissed at 1 p. m., to
day until Saturday morning,
when “business as usual” will
be resumed, it was announced
yesterday from the offices of the
city and county managers.
Longest holiday among the
government workers will be ob
served by employes of the State
Unemployment Compensation
commission, who will be off
from noon today until Monday
morning, according to Manager
William H. Powell.
Postmaster W. D. Dosher, Sr.,
announced last night that only
See RETAIL On Page Two
Along The Cape Fear
TRAVELOGUE — It has been
said, and rightly so it would
seem, that “There’s nothing new
under the sun.”
Several weeks ago, the ma
gazine Holiday flashed an elabo
cately illustrated article on
North Carolina with approxima
tely 10,000 words of supporting
text. The feature was hailed as
one of the biggest pieces of ad
vertising promition the state
ever got.
There’s no denying that the ar
ticle and pictures were the last
word in promotion for North
Carolina.
| But, back in January 1895
'“Harper’s New Monthly Maga
zine” had forged anead of Holi
day’s time and done a bang-up
piece, with a number of illustra
tions, not only of North Carolina
4*
but also its sister state of South
Carolina.
This story covered practically
the same path and story as did
the Holiday story.
It opened with an introduction
of the city of Charleston and
moved on across the Palmetto
state into North Carolina, where
it played up the Capital city,
went west to Asheville and back
to coastal section, and Wilming
ton.
The story is ornamented with
a picture of the New Hanover
County courthouse, and the city
hall in the background ;t shows
a scene “preparing tuberose
bulbs for the northern market,”
another picture is of the phos
phate mines near Wilmington, a
Set CAFE FEAR On Page Two
Appeals For Gifts To Wil
mington Friends In An
nual Message
Back in the home port for
Christmas, Old Salty was in a
jovial mood yesterday when The
Star paid him a visit in the
Skipper’s cabin.
Casting a wary eye to north
and south, “The Beak” allowed
that everything is as it should
be Along The Cape Fear at this
glad season of the year and
then called upon the Skipper for
the tenth time in about as many
minutes to “Buy a drink, buy a
drink.”
That the Skipper had taken
him at his word was obvious
from the illumination that was
fast accumulating on his nasal
organ and bullile neck and rich
ness of his pre-Yule language.
Both he and Old Salty had
reached a stage of mellowness
only possible by frequent
sorties on the pinch-bottle which
reposed on the cabin’s one table
and within easy reach of both.
Slicing another cut from a
stub of ‘eating” tobacco, the
Skipper waxed loquacious on the
subject of Christmas, pointing
out between spasms of alcoholic
hiccoughs, that it was the one
time of year when a man should
have a multitude of friends and
not an enemy in irons.
He had, he said, with consider
See SALTY on Page Two
MEXICO CITY HUB
OF SPY ACTIVITY
Nazi Saboteurs Operated
In United States From
There, German Says
NUERNBERG, Germany,
Dec. 23 —(U.R)—The German Em
bassy in Mexico city was a cen
ter from which master spies
and saboteurs directed opera
tions throughout the United
States before America entered
World War II, American War
Crimes Prosecutor M. W.
Kempner said today.
Kempner hopes to be able to
produce one or more of the op
eratives at the approaching
trial of high ranking German
diplomats before an American
court here.
He quoted Rued Von Collen
berg, former minister in the
German Embassy in Mexico
City, as authority for the state
See MEXICO on Page Two
CHRITMAS WILL
BE CLOUDY, COOL
No Rain In Sight, Weather
man Says In Special
Forecast
While some parts of the east
were promised a blanket of
white for its Christmas Day, the
weatherman has come through
with better, or worse news,
whichever way you may look at
for Wilmington and southeastern
North Carolina.
The weatherman says there
will be no snow for this area
during the holidays. However,
he says increasing cloudiness
may be expected Christmas day.
Cool northerly winds may also
be expected to follow the increa
sing cloudiness, but there is no
mention of rain in the special
Christmas Day forecast.
ACCIDENTS KILL
101,000 PEOPLE
Metropolitan Life Es
mates Increase Of 2,000
Over 1946
NEW YORK* Dec. 23 — (U.R) —
Accidents killed 101,000 Ameri
cans in 1947, the third straight
year in which accidental deaths
increased, statistics showed to
day.
Statisticians of the Metropoli
tan Life Insurance company
said to date about 2,000 more
persons were killed in 1947 than
in 1946.
Deaths from public, home
and occupational accidents
increased, they said, while
deaths from motor accidents de
creased. They estimated traffic
accidents caused 32,500 deaths
this year, compared to 33,700 in
1946.
“This decrease in the death
toll occurred despite an in
creased volume of motor ve
hicle traffic, and suggests that
the highway safety program has
produced concrete results,”
their statement said.
The occupational death toll
was affected by increased em
ployment while the number of
fatal home accidents resulted in
part from the larger number of
children in the population, the
statement said.
Religious Hate Clouds
Moon Over Moab Hills
By ROBERT MILLER
United Press »Staff Correspondent
JERUSALEM, Dec. 23—(U.R)
—There is a bright and glitter
ing moon over the Moab hills
tonight. It glints on the bayonets
of British sentries guarding the
security zones where Christians
are beginning their celebration
of the birth of the Prince
of Peace.
T loses once stood upon the
hills over which the moon hangs,
■f.
ana looked down upon Palestine.
Before many more months have
passed, the Arab armies may
mass behind the hills and begin
a holy war against the Jews.
The moon mirrors itself in the
river Jordan where Christ was
christened and on the tin roofs
of the settlement of Bet Haara
va, where a young «ffew is stand
ing guard.
Another Jew was standing
See RELIGIOUS On Page Two
State Department
Accepts Decision
Republic's Assembly Turns
Down Offer Of Long
Term Leases
WASHINGTON, Dec. 23. — <U.»
— The United States accepted the
Republic of Panama’s no-mili
tary-bases edict today and order
ed the immediate abandonment
of its canal defenses outside the
10-mile-wide canal zone.
Making no effort to conceal
their surprise at the sudden turn
of events, State Department of
ficials said bluntly that recent
anti-American student demonstra
tions in Panama had outside in
spiration.
They said Communist played
their part” in the demonstrations
which helped persuade the Pan
ama Assembly to reject a new
agreement extending the Unit
ed States’ wartime leases on 14
defensive installations guarding
the Panama Canal.
Congressional and military
circles here were angered and
dismayed over the situation, and
the state Department warned
that the American withdrawal
will weaken the security of th«
strategic canal zone.
Nevertheless, the department
said, “the necessary steps will b®
taken immediately with a view
to evacuation of all sites in th®
Republic of Panama where Unit
ed States armed forces are now
stationed . .
“This withdrawal will be com
pleted as quickly as possible con
sistent with the number of per
sonnel and the amount of ma
terial involved,” it added.
“The next move is up to Pan
ama,” a department official said.
The cold tone of the depart
ment announcement and its of
ficial comment contrasted strong
ly with the relatively optimisti®
view aired only a few hours
earlier *by Brig. Gen. Frank T.
Hines, U. S. ambassador to Pan
ama.
Hines told reporters after a
conference with President Tru
man that he was “sure” the two
governments would “get togeth
er” and work out a satisfactory
agreement.
In its announcement, the de
partment emphasized that failure
to reach agreement on the bases
“will not, of course, affect tho
normal friendly relations between
the two countries.”
But its spokesmen made it
See DEPARTMENT On Page Two
FRENCHMEN MUST
PURCHASE BONDS
National Assembly Passes
Compulsory Measure
By 43 Majority
PARIS, Dec. 23.—Wl— The
National Assembly, approving
an important section of the new
French “austerity program,” to
night enacted a bill requiring
Frenchmen to purchase 130,000,
000,000 francs ($1,092,000,000)
worth of government bonds or
pay the same amount in taxes.
The bill is designed to drain
off surplus purchasing power.
By a 323 to 280 vote, deputies
approved a bill to raise the sum
which will be used entirely for
reconstruction. The sliding-scale
levy will be made against tax
payers with annual incomes
o er 450,000 francs ($3,780).
Originally the loan was set at
160,000,000,000 francs ($1,340,
000,000). Over government ob
jections amendments were ap
proved exempting farmers,
large families, small business
men and persons whose property
was damaged in the war.
Under the plans of finance
Minister Rene Mayer the rest
of the 230.000,000.000 franc ($1,
930 000 000) extraordinary bud
get will be covered by aid from
the United States.
The assembly also appeared
an amendment eliminating the
positions of 150,000 public job
holders. The Communists voted
See FRENCHMEN on Page Two
And So To Bed
The proverbial fisherman’s
luck was visited upon a citi
zen of Wilmington recently
when he went to Wrights
ville Beach intent upon snag
ging a shark “just for the fun
of a good fight.”
The fisherman snagged his
shark without too much dif
ficulty. And just as the shark
yanked on his line, the fisher
man popped his mouth open
in the excitement, and out
popped his false teeth into
the briny deep.