*? 1 : p- ?; ? .
#
The Alamance Gleaner i
VToL LXXI ? GRAHAM, N. C., THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1945 No. 41
WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS
Crises in China and Indies
Threaten Peace in Far East;
Foresee Substantial Wage Gains
bjT WUttn NtWSpapCT UtllOH. -J
?EDITOR'S NOTE: WktB ?flaltu an tipnnii 1b thin aalaau, thiy an Um if
eaters Niwapapir UbIbb's news ^alyata aai net necessarily af this newspaper.)
Given noisy welcome by populace, marines arrive In Tientsin, China,
to occupy port after Jap surrender. As crowds cheer, this leatherneck
enjoys spin in bicycle rickshaw.
FOREIGN POLICY:
Regional Security
Though Japan has laid down her
arms, peace has not yet come to
the PaciHc, what with Chinese na
tionalists and communists at swords
points and Indonesians seeking their
independence from Dutch rule.
U. S. troops stood in the middle
as Chinese nationalists squared off
against the communists, with ma
rines guarding the vital coal mines
and rail route around the shipping
port of Chinwangtao in the trouble
some northern zone.
Heretofore, the communists have
considered this territory their espe
cial domain, and until Chiang Kai
shek's troops set foot upon it after
disembarking from U. S. vessels, no '
, nationalist forces had ever chal- '
lenged Red control there. While the
communists withdrew in the face of
nationalist landings at Chinwangtao,
they remained active to the west,
cutting rail routes over which
Chiang could deploy his armies.
With the U. S. supporting the na
tionalists and the Russians having
recently promised to keep hands off
of Chinese politics, Chiang has en
joyed every advantage in his effort
to extend his domination over the
country. While his representatives
have haggled with the Reds over
terms in Chungking, Chiang has
cleverly pressed his edge in the
north.
Meanwhile, natives of the East In
dies, led By President Soekarno of
their recently es
tablished republic,
looked to confer
ences with Allied
authorities to clear
their claims for in
dependence. Strong
ly organized early
this year when the
fortunes of their Jap
conquerors began
falling, the Indone
T"/ President
resent a formidable Soekarno
trouble -making
force hoping to browbeat the Dutch
into terms.
The Mr. Big of the independence
movement, Soekarno was kept busy
trying, to quell Indonesian hot-heads
whose outbreaks threatened his con
trol of the situation and promised to
weaken his hands in dealing with the
Dutch.
WAGE POLICY:
Labor Sees Gain
Though President Truman left the
way for reconversion wage settle
ments up to the collective bargain
ing of employers and unions, labor
looked to the administration pro
gram to pave the way for substan
tial pay Increases within the stabili
zation structure.
By appealing for maintenance of
high wartime "take-home" pay, and
declaring business well able to ab
sorb the added costs, or eligible for
moderate price increases, Mr. Tru
man was seen to apply pressure on
management at a time when atten
tion is being focused on the all-im
pOrtant wage negotiations in the au
tomobile, oil and steel industries.
In enunciating his reconversion
wage policy to a radio audience es
timated at 32,000,000, the President
did so only after administraton con
sultations with both big business
and labor leaders. As a result of
one of these conferences with Hen
ry Ford II, government officials* ex
pressed confidence a satisfactory
settlement could be arranged in the
company'i plants, setting an indus
try-wide pattern.
While the President said industry
generally was capable of extending
wage increases because of overtime
elimination, greater productivity
per worker, tax credits for lower
earnings and abolition of the excess
profits levy, he promised that price
boosts would be granted after a trial
period if the added costs resulted in
operating losses.
Meantime, price rises would be
considered in cases where indus
tries raised wages to a full 28 per
cent to cover added living costs
since January, 1941; boosted pay to
iron out differences in plants in the
same industries or localities, or paid
more to attract workers to essential
enterprises to speed up reconver
sion.
With the government's wage pol
icy established, representatives of
management and labor met in Wash
ington, D. C., to establish machinery
for settling differences.
AGRICULTURE:
1946 Prospects
Though the government intends no
leveling off of over-all production
next year and demand for food
should remain high, real farm in
come may drop as much as 15 per
cent during 1946 in reflecting in
creases in some prices of what
farmers buy, the department of ag
riculture predicted.
Despite a 15 per cent drop in real
Income?that is, what income will
actually buy in goods, etc.?it will
still remain double the prewar aver
age, the department reported. How
ever, any kind of a decrease would
be the first since 1935.
Predictions of a drop in real in
come for 1946 followed reports that
the government would soon outline
production goals for next year, ask
ing for maintenance of present live
stock and hog marketings and wheat
and corn acreage; increased plant
ings of cotton and sugar beets, and
Bharp cuts for eggs and chickens
and oil bearing crops. Milk and po
tatoes would be scheduled for small
er reductions.
FUEHRER'S END:
Died Wth Eva
Answering repeated rumors of Hit
ler's escape from Berlin, British in
telligence declared that an ex
haustive investigation had indicated
that the fuehrer had shot himself in
the bunker of the reichchancallery
jn April 30 and his consort, Eva
Braun, had followed him in death
Dy taking poison.
Though broken in health. Hitler re
named alert in mind to the end,
the British found, and even held
lopes for a successful defense of
Berlin after his decision to remain
in the capital on April 23 and aban
ion plans for a last-ditch stand in
he Bavarian mountain redoubt.
When the Russians continued to
lammer forward, however, hope
laded and Hitler and his mistress
ivere married on April 29, climaxing
i long, secret relationship.
Bidding his personal followers in
the reichchancellery goodbye the
lext day. Hitler then shot himself
through the mouth while his mate
look poison, the British said. Per
the fuehrer's last orders. Propa
ganda Minister Goebbels and Dep
ity Leader Bormann then saturated
the bodies with gasoline and burned
hem beyond recognition. It is also
nelieved that the remains may have
Men further broken up and then
buried.
Warn of Traffic Hazards
As chalrmin of the National
Safety council's committee on
winter driving hazards, made ap
of 30 experts la fields of traffic
and transportation. Prof. Ralph
A. Moyer of Iowa State college
warned that the coming snow and
lee season may cause one of the
worst "trsflle accident winters"
in history.
With a study of recent years
showing trafBc accident death
rates for 36 northern states 34
to 53 per cent higher in the win
ter than in the summer months,
Moyer said, the combination of
more and older can, more gas,
and more "restraint weary" driv
ers may result in the worst season
in history. Drivers In snow belt
states must consider dangerous
road conditions and should imme
diately check their brakes, tire
chains, windshield wipers, de
frosters, and headlights.
Concerning future auto and
truck models, Professor Moyer
said manufacturers are giving
more consideration to safety and
practical fender styling for easi
er installation of anti-skid chains
without impairing streamlining.
New windshield and window de
signs, defrosters and headlights
also improve winter visibility.
CF.RMANV ?
Foresee Trouble
Because of widespread unemploy
ment, food and fuel shortages and
murder and looting by displaced
persons, serious outbreaks may oc
cur in Germany over the winter, I
General Dwight D. Eisenhower re
ported.
Eisenhower's statement followed
disclosure of a survey that the Ger
mans generally had praise for the
occupation of the British, were irked
by seeming American indifference
to conditions and fostered a deep
hatred for the Russians. The state
ment also came on top of demands
in some circles that the Allies lay
down a clear-cut economic policy for
Germany so that normal activity
may be restored to relieve the wide
spread chaos.
German youths and returned sol
diers presently constitute the larg
est trouble-making element, Eisen
hower said, with much of their ire
directed against frauleins fraterniz
ing with Allied troops and displaced
persons. Such discontent could well
lead to organized resistance against
occupation forces, Eisenhower
warned.
On Road to Life
At a result of latest medical wonder,
7-month-old Sandra Evans of Los An
geles, Califs may toon be cured of
formerly fatal cystic pancreal disease,
doctors toy. Whereas tiny Sandra was
not expected to live beyond half-year,
physicians predicted complete recov
ery a^ler treatment under plexi-glats,
requiring inhalation of vaporised peni
cillin diluted in saline solution.
JAP NAVY:
Remnants Doomed
Once proud possessor of the im
perial fleet, Japan will be reduced
to zero as a sea power following Al
lied plans for the destruction of Nip
poo's remaining capital ships and
the division of the smaller craft and
auxiliaries.
Because differences in design pre
vent their efficient use by the U. S.,
Britain, Russia and China, one bat
tleship, four cruisers, four aircraft
carriers and 91 submarines will be
sent to the bottom, with the battle
ship expected to serve as a target
for an atomic bombing test. Indica
tive of the differences of bigger Jap
warships, space between decks is
8 inches shorter than in other na
vies, thus cramping their use by tall
er people.
Some 38 destroyers built accord
ing to usable specifications will be
divided among the Big Four along
with coastal and auxiliary vessels.
In constructing their destroyers, it
was learned, the wily Nipponese so
licited plans from shipbuilders, cop
ied them and then returned them
as unsatisfactory, escaping pay
ment for their use.
m
Salt Water Taffy:
Flat-top erewa art very proud of
their ihipe. A mechanic'* mat* on a j
carrier.waa once aaked by a civil
ian how fast his ship could go. . . .
The m. m. intoned with a twinkle in
his orb: "To tell the truth, I don't
know. We've never really opened
her up. All my carrier is required
to do so far is to keep up with its
planes."
This has become a Navy classic:
An ensign and lieutenant on a sub
chaser were feuding because they
were both Romeo ing the same gal.
Each took a turn at making the
day's entries in the log book. One
day the ensign was surprised to dis
cover the lieutenant had written:
"August 14; ensign drunk." ... He
hesitated a moment and then wrote:
"August IS; lieutenant sober."
An admiral, watching a young
sailor labor eagerly but clumsily on
the quarterdeck, asked: "How long
have you been in the Navy, son?" ...
"Two months," the boy replied.
"How long have you beenin?" . . .
The admiral was taken allghtly
aback, but he good-naturedly an
swered: "Thirty years." . . . The
sailor shook his head sympathetical
ly and said: "It's hell, ain't it?"
There are many tales about
haughty ensigns getting their come
uppance. One of the best concerns
the new one who behaved as if he
were a combination of John Paul
Jones and Lord Nelson. His captain
decided to take him down a tew
pegs. . . . During a heavy storm
he ordered the ensign to go on deck
and figure out the ship's position by
dead reckoning, a task which is
practically impossible. Finally the
ensign returned and presented the
results of his computation. The cap
tain studied the report for a mo
ment and then bellowed: "Take off
your hat, air I I see by your findings
that we are in the middle of West
minster Abbey!"
Chalk op another defeat for cen
sors: A Navy wife was irked by blue
pencilers, who continually cut up let
ters from her sailor-hubby. But she
had her revenge. She sent her hus
band a letter in the form of a Jig
saw puzzle. The censor worked for
hours piecing it together. The mis
, sive read: "Don't work too hard!"
Have yea heard the one about the
famed absent-minded admiral? He
was piloting a seaplane when the
commander of the ship noticed he
was gliding toward an aerodrome.
"Excuse me,'"the commander said
diplomatically, "but it would be bet
ter to come down on the sea. This is
a seaplane." . . . The admiral
thanked him for the reminder,
I turned and landed safely on the wa
i ter. He then stated: "Commander, {
I thank you, I shall not forget the
tact with which you drew my at
tention to the blunder I was about
to make." . . . The admiral then
opened the door?and stepped into
the ocean.
A group of sailers were shooting
the breeze sbout their pet subject
gals. One was asked if he liked intel
lectual girls. He responded quickly:
"I like a girl with a good head on
my shoulder."
They would have you believe this
happened in the South Pacific during
one of the war's biggest battles. Guns
were firing in all directions and
bombs were falling when one gunner
suddenly got the hiccups. He turned
to a buddy and shouted: "Hey, I've
i got the hiccups. Do something to
frighten met"
Sea power, the Navy mag, recent
ly relayed this story: A homesick
gob from Utah kept his watch on
Mountain Standard Time. He ex
plained why: "When I joined the
Navy, Pa gave me this watch. He
said it would help me remember
home. When my watch says I a. m.,
I know Dad is rolling out to milk
the cows. And any night K says
7:80, I know the whole family's
around a well-spread table, and Dad
is thanking God for what's on it and
?sung Him to watcn over me. I can
almost amen the hot biscuits and
bacon. It'a thinking about those
; things that makes me want to fight
when the going gets tough. I can find
out what time it is where I am easy
enough. Wl)at 1 want to know is what
time it la in Utah."
Overheard eenversatioa between
a navy flier and a submariner:
"What did you sea up there?" asked
the sub-maa. . . . "Wo angels," re
plied the flier. "What did you see?"
"No mermaids."
l I Wi i
. ? . . J
Sea Tragedies Recalled as Autumn Storms Uncover * m
Rotting Wreckage of Ships on North Carolina Coast |
British and Spanish
Men of War, Clippers
Among Grim Relics.
By BILL SHARP
Once more Caribbean storms have
ifted the curtain on hundred* of
tragedies which were played out on
lie lonely beaches of the Outer
Banks of North Carolina in the past
ihree centuries?but as usual, it is
i fleeting show. Sand swept away
ly tides of the September hurricane
ilready is drifting back with mild
?outhwest winds, and before long
?nost of the exposed wrecks will be
lidden again.
Silent tribute to the craftsmanship
of the old-time shipwrights and
lie sturdiness of their materials is
the preservation of the timbers and
planking of these orphans of the
itorm against generations of grind
ing sand and pounding wave. When
iron men went down to the sea in
ships with hearts of oak, it was not
lie ships that failed in the face bf
the elements.
Some of the derelicts now on view
ill the way from Nag's Head to
T-1.4 a HI ?
-?vi Bwnc uuci bic iwuuuir, aiiu re
:all many an anecdote. But some
ire beyond the ken of the oldest
:oastguardsmen or their records.
The Carroll Deering.
One of the most interesting is the
{host ship, Carroll Deering, out of
Bath, Maine. She was found on Dia
mond Shoals in 1921, undamaged,
with sails set, with uneaten food on
the table and on the stove, but with
inly a cat to greet the coast guard
:rew which boarded her.
The Deering passed Diamond
lightship the day before, but that
was the last seen of any of her crew,
and the cat kept her own counsel.
Later she drifted onto Ocracoke Is
land, sanded up and was lost to sight
and almost to memory until the hur
ricane scoured out her hull.
The George W Wells, first six
masted schooner ever built, and
then the largest wood vessel afloat,
is also exposed. She came ashore
In a 1913 gale at Ocracoke.
Up at Nag's Head were uncovered
again the tired ribs of the quaint
warship believed by many to be a
Crumpster of Elizabethan days. She
was first revealed by a storm in 1939
and her primitive construction and
fittings aroused much speculation.
There is some Justification for the
romantic identification, for ship
wrecks antedated colonization of
these shores. The chroniclers of Sir
Walter Raleigh's Roanoke Island
colony (1387) found the aborigines
using crude iron tools which were
believed fashioned from spikes tak
en from a shipwreck. There Is rec
ord of a Spanish shipwreck at -Hat
teras in 15SS and some of its crew
were rescued by the Indians.
Also on exhibition again is the
remnant of the Ariosto, British
tramp, a victim of an 1899 storm.
A mystery i?m tki wreck* on the North CirolM coo it i* this por
tion of some wooden tmhL Oldest records t*U to ubo her, ead It la
possible the IwMinl many (enerattoas ore.
The first clue to her plight came one
cold, foggy December night when
coastguardsman Mathew Guthrie
on beach patrol stumbled over the
body of a dying sailor, who gasped
out the news that a vessel eras
breaking up a few hundred yards
offshore. A Lyle gun shot could not
reach her, and surfboats could not
be launched. Twenty-one men lost
their lives and lie buried atop a lone
ly Ocracoke dune. Six more swam
and floated ashore alive.
Ironic was the sequel to the death
of the four-masted schooner Anna R.
Heindritter of New York, loaded
with dyewood, which came aabsre
March 2, 1942, and Is visible off
shore. She ran into a gale and put
out anchors, but dragged onto the
shoals. Capt. Bennett D. Coleman
of Springfield, Mass., and his crew
of eight survived, saved by the Lyle
run and breeches buoy, and after
Cie captain had arranged for the
"vendue" (auction sale of salvage)
he started for home. While chang
ing trains in New York he was run
down by a taxicab and killed.
Worst Navy Wreck.
Off the beach at Nag's Head is vis
ible in. a calm sea the bell, tank,
and boiler of the USS Huron, a war
ship wrecked November 24, 1877,
with a loss of 108 lives?the worst
disaster in U. S. naval history up to
that time. The crew members were
buried on the beach and relatives
came, for many years after to
search in 'the shifting sands for
them. Cap'n JeS Hayman of Ro
anoke Island is believed to be the
only person still alive who saw the
ghastly aSair?and ghastly it was,
for subsequent investigation dis
closed that some of those aboard
were drunk that fateful night when
sobriety might have saved both ship
and crew. Cap'n Jeff today has the
silver sugar bowl from the Huron
captain's table.
Such maritime violence has pro
duced a lot of maritime heroism.
From Oregon Inlet to Ocracoke In
let are some 27 holders of Congres
sional Medals of Honor, possibly the
largest group of heroes per capita
in these United States. Six of them
came as a sequel to the events of
August 16, 1918, when the SS Mirlo,
a British tanker, was torpedoed, and
Capt. John Allen Mldgett and Ave
members of the Chicamicomoco
coast guard station braved a sea of
blazing oil to rescue 42 members of
the crew. Strangely enough, the SS
City of Atlanta in 1942 was destroyed
in the same way and about the same
spot, but the Chicamicomoco boys
were unable to get through the Are.
On the same day and within an
hour, helpless watchers on the
Banks saw a German submarine
?ink two other vmhIi and dimage
?till another The Atlanta's bones
now rest by those of the llirlo.
One at the most dramatic events
of sub warfare was on August 8,
1918, when Diamond Lightship,
guarding the easternmost tip of Dia
mond Shoals, eras sunk by subma
rine gunfire. Capt. W. L. Barnett and
his crew roared over the boiling
shoals 11 miles to the beach. Bar
nett, now retired, lives at Buxton.
The lightship added her skeleton to
that fabulous Graveyard of the At
lantic, Diamond Shoals, where lie so
many metal hulks that compasses of
passing ships are pulled off north by
as much as 8 degrees.
Madera "flying Dutchman.'
The peculiar configuration of the
North Carolina coast, with the sandy
capes jutting out, causes mariners'
anxious preoccupation with this
area. Most dangerous are Diamond I
u extension of Capo J
teres, 11 miles Into the Atlantic, an |
area of constantly shifting quick
sands. It Is a maxim of sailors that
once ot^ the Diamond Shoals, no Tea
sel ever comes off.
The Maurice R. Thurlow ptoved
an exception, however, when As ran
aground in a 1927 storm. Ttaa coast
guard removed her crew, but when
a cutter came down to try to pull
her off, no trace of the vessel could
be found. Thirteen days later the
schooner was sighted by the Dutch
tanker, Seidrect, in the North At
lantic. A general order was released
to run down the modern Flying
Dutchman, but though she was re
ported from time to time, the tea
wanderer was never overtaken and
no one knows what became of her.
In the shoals lies another famous
ship?the pioneering Federal iron
clad, Monitor. Following her en
gagement with the Confederate Mer
rimac in Hampton Roads, March >,
1862, the damaged Monitor eras sent
south in tow of the sidewheeier
Rhode Island. A gale sprang up,
and the little "cbeeaebox" sank on
the shoals with a loss of 16; ? oth- %
ers were rescued by the Rhode Is
land.
Hatteras is a control point in set
ting courses for coastwise and West
Indian shipping, because the short
est route lies near the Cape. North
bound shipping finds a favorable
current by staying in the Gulf
Stream, which brushes the tip of the
Shoals, while southbound traffic
goes between the Stream and the
coast, where there is a southerly
current sweeping down from the
arctic. Thus, ships pass as close to
the Cape as they can, and sudden
storms there are a hazard
Alexander Hamilton recommend
ed a lighthouse at Hatteras in 17M.
nnH it wa, ?mnl^l i- 1WI knt
tu too low to provide an adequate
ugnal. In 1170 a new light, 190 feet
ugh, waa built (highest brick light
n the world) and served until ISM
trhen the encroaching sea led the
[overr.ment to erect still another
ight further inland at Buxton.
Diamond I.lghtshlp also was an
:hored at the tip of the Shoals, and
i navy radio direction station eras
let up at the Cape Inasmuch as
he new steelgirder lighthouse is not
risible to ocean ships by day, the
rape now has four navigation aids
'or the mariner?the old spiral
itriped brick tower as a day warn
Ing; Diamond Lightship, tits new
Buxton Light; and the modern radio
biding station.
Ne 'Shipwreekers. *
While it is probably true that for
many years shipwrecks sat the
"principal importation' of the
Banks, there appears no siHaxs to
support the charge that long ago the
Bankers practiced shipwrecking and
looting. However, eocne homes are
partly fashioned from the timber at
old ships, and many a house con
tains articles salvaged from doomed
ships or bought at tile 'vendue."
In this connection la recalled tee
most popular lagend of the village at
Straits, in Carteret county concern
ing e preacher for whom Stan
Methodist church there is named.
During the severe winter of lllf
so the story goes the citizens at
Straits were starving after a crop
killing drouth tha previous summer.
Frozen aounda prevented **h*ng,
and the Napoleonic wan and a
British blockade made commerce
impossible. Parson Starr thus re
sorted to prayer: Of it is predes
tined there be a wrack an the Ai
ivinti- coast," he pleaded, "please
Hie burned out hull el an eld schooner, the Eahler *t *-***?i?.
steads bleakly on a sand bar near Hatteras, N. C. It was nnenseand It
the fury oI a hurricane. Drifting sands are piBag erer It aph, and B will
soea disappear from sight.