CTORY BUY UNITED STATES BONDS - STAMPS VOLUMN LXXffl BIG BATTLE RAG ING IN SOLOMONS Navy Indicates Battle of Major Pro portions Impending; Extent ofiFight ing and Scope of Losses Not Yet Clear; Americans Make New Gains On Guadalcanal ? ( Washington, Feb. 3.? Ameri can and Japanese air and naval forces are pounding away at each other in the Guadalcanal area, the Navy said today in a com munique which implied that a battle of major proportions is in the making. A Navy spokesman said he would not call the action a "pitch ed battle" ? the same phrase used by Navy Secretary Fi'ank Knox a few hours earlier in minimizing the magnitude of the fighting ?which a previous communique re ported as a ?"major effort" on the part of the Japs to regain control of the entire Solomons area. The spokesman said task forces of both sides are "skirmishing for position." "It's sort of like open football ? all spread out ? and the whole thing is a sparring for position," he explained. Today's carefully-worded com munique refrained from hinting at the extent of the fighting, but it noted crytically and perhaps significantly that "the military situation does not permit publica tion of more details at this time;" Some Confusion There seemed to be some con fusion here as to how big a fight actually is going on. While Knox described the con tinuing exchange of blows as a "reconnaissance in force" ? feeler skirmishes which may touch off another mighty battle for much contested Guadalcanal ? a spokes man said: n is periectiy sare to say that the Japs are trying their best to take Guadalcanal." The same spokesman also said: "Skirmishes are going on all over the area between ships and planes, but there is no concentra tion anywhere. It is nbt a pitched battle, but there are widespread attacks on both sides." One thing is certain! Both sides have suffered some losses ? Tuesday night's communique made no mention of losses, a Navy spokesman elaborated: "We have some information re garding losses we think is ac curate, but our policy is that until we can make -simultaneous release of losses by both sides, we'll have to hold off." He added there was no indica tion that Jap carriers are in volved and that the enemy planes probably were from land bases in the Solomons area ? presumably the central and northern Solo mons. Land Action rne communique was consider ably more explicit about the land action on Guadalcanal. It said that on Monday, ad vancing American forces ? mostly Afrmy troiops ? pushed westward across the Bonegi river to within a half mile of Tassafaronga, 10 miles west of Henderson field and formerly a landing point for Jap reinforcements. Stiff enemy resistance was en countered In this drive and 60 Japs were killed ? bringing to at least 8,994 .the number of enemy ' troops definitely slain in the six months of the Solomons cam paign ? A "Navy communique Tuesday night said the Japs had launched a"major effort to regain control of the entire Solomons area" and that both sides had suffered some losses. But Knox told a press confer ence that any assumption of the communique that a tremendous battle is 4n progress at. the mom ent is Incorrect. What is going on, he said, is "a process of feel ing out by both sides" With a lot of preliminary dispositions. (Dispatches from United States , Pacific fletft headquarters at Pearl Harbor said it was indicat ed that American and Jap naval forces are fighting a nfajor en gagement in the Solomons.) British cash purchases of es sential war items in the United States have exceeded $7 billions, almost equal to the cumulative value of all Lend-Lease aid ex tended by the United States from March 11, 1941, to November 30, 1942. ? o Observers from the Office of War Information traveled more than 12.000 miles, visiting and inspecting troop concentration areas, to find out about American soldiers' drinking \habits, and found they were good. ? - i Ration News 1 From Louisbni'K War I'ricc and Kation Board l'rice Oiling The Local Price and Rationing Board has received word from the Office of Price Administration that repairmen who render main tenance or repair on farm equip mentf furniture, home appliances, oilfjurner or other commodities are subject to price ceiling regu lations and they must not now charge more for their services than they did in March of 1942. Persons or Arms rendering a ser vice in connection with commod ities are required to file a list of their . prices with the Local War Price and Rationihg Board. WtirniiiR If you are not reported earlier, !you WILL BE ASKED, when you apply for a renewal of your pres ent ration, "How much gas have] you used for unnecessary and for1 bidden driving ?.sifice Jan. 7-, [ '1943?" If it appears from your answer that you have so used any gas, that amount wilt be deducted | from your renewal ration or your entire ration may be withdrawn. If you misrepresent the facts fin your answer to this question, jyou will be liable to a very heavy fine or imprisonment or both. ? - It is not desired by your Ration 1 Board nor your government to work any hardship or disrupt the' economic life of our country, but [the consumption of gas must be [cut. Your patriotism prompts, your govehiment demands, and your Ration Board will endeavor to see, that forbidden use of gas is STOPPED. 1,1 1 /Ml I r url VII You will not be required, at the present time, to exchange !your oil stove for a coal stove but there is little hope for any extra I fuel oil and if you want to be ; comfortable you are urged to j change to other fuel while you can procure coal,a^id wood heat ers. A ruling is being sought to j clarify the eligibility of a child I for Coffee allottment, who was 'under 15 years or age when reg istering in July, but has attained the age of 15 since. The pres ent ruling denies this privilege to one who was under 15 years of jage when registering in July, 11942. I n Red Cross War Drive j There has been no Red Cross Drive since December 1941. The annual Membership Drive has been merged into the War Drive ifor 1943. The amount to be 'raised in the United States (or the Red Cross work is $175,000, 000. 00; Our Louisburg Chap ter's part of this is $3,900.00. The great work that the Red Cross has done and is doing as sures the success of this under taking, Let everyone think it QTer. ? ? J o Recorder's Court Franklin Recorder's Court held a short session Tuesday morning and disposed of cases as follows: Eddie Hicks, reckless driving, continued under former order. Robert Haywopd Strickland, through counsel waives presence, and requests for jury and pleads guilty to operating an automobile intoxicated, discharged upon pay ment of $50 fine and costs and not to operate "a car for twelve months. E. H. Journegan plead guilty as to public drunkenness, found guilty of allowing a person to op erate car without license, dischar ged upon payment of costs. o The first Distinguished Flying Cross awarded to an officer of the Indian Air Force was won by Acting Wing Commander K. K. Majumdar for courage and ex ample in the Burma campaign. < o J Of the /Imported foreign labor ers In Germany, 25 per cent are women, and they are forced to work from 13 to 16 hours a day, many In nnhealthfnl occupations. CLERK'S BOND RAISED, KEMP RESIGNS AS COT TON WEIGHER County Commissioners Hold Regular Meeting; Dispose Of Many Matters of Mi nor Importance; Receive Reports The Board of County Commis sioners met Monday in the Com missioners room with J. Z. Ter rell, Chairman, H. T. Bartholo mew, Howard Pearce, T. S. Dean and Percy ioyner, present. The minutes of the January meeting were read and apprpved. The resignation of T. E. Kemp as cotton weigher in Louisburg was accepted by the Board and on motion of Com. Bartholomew, seconded by Cpm. Joyner, Roy Holmes was appointed to All the unexpired term, t? Upon recommendation of Com. Joyner, J. Henry "Cash was unan imously appointed Constable in Youngsville Township f?>r the bal ance of the term. After investigation the Board directed the County Accountant to refuild $2.00 to Percy Cooke, 'Franklinton Township for poll tax listed in error, said Cooke be ing 53 years of age. The following reports were re ceived__and ordered filed: Dr. S. P. Burt, Health Officer; Supt. E. R. Richardson, County Home; Mrs. J. K. Mitchiner, Welfare Of ficer; W. C. ^.Boyce, Farm Agent; Miss Lillie Mae Braxton, Home Agent; H. H. Price, Negro Farm Agent. upon mouon maae by Coni.i Tbarce duly seconded and carried , ' the County Attorney was instruc-j ted to make deed to Emily Joy ner Person far the Western half-r jf th^ Hotel lot being No. 3 ol thei 1 1. H. Kearney lut on Water j Street conveyed to Franklin j County "by the Franklinton Realty i Company, upon the- cash payment of $125.00 and to make deed' to] Jas. A. Daniel. Jr. for the East ern half of the same lot upon the] cash payment of $125.00. Robert Etheridge was before j the board asking, some help for his sister who is unable to take care of herself-and stated that lie was not financially able to look) after her. He was informed that] this mateei' would be taken up with the Welfare Department. "j The commissioners were infor-] med that there would be no Feb-; ruary term of Criminal Court. An offer for the Cheatham lot in Franklinton was made to the Board and Com. Pearce was ap-, pointed to investigate it. Upon motion by Com. Dean, seconded by Com. Pearce and duly carried the County Account ant was instructed to pay to the1 Atlantic Coast Line thrf sum ofj $240.02 and to pay tlt^ Courtl costs in the case which Vas set- j tied out of Court at the last term] rbf Superior Court. The County Attorney was in- 1 structed to employ the firm of Masselich & Mitchell, Bond At torneys, i New York, in the mat ter of Louisbutg and Franklin ton road bonds. Upon motion of Com, Pearce,; seconded by Com. Dean, and du ly carried, the report of the Au-| ditor on the Clerk of the Court's] office was accepted by the Com-[ missioners. | Due to the amount of money] jcarried by the office and the] number of responsibilities of said office, it was on motion of Com. Pearce, seconded by Com. Dean and duly carried that the bond of the Clerk of the Court be rais ed to $15,000.00. " The County Attorney was in structed to write a letter to the State Highway and Public Works Commission regarding repairs to a certain road. Wiley Green was before the Board in reference to the lot on which he lives and the amount due the county on same. He was given two weeks to see what he could do about the mattei;, and !was instructed that he wouldl have to pay weekly rent for said [ lot in case he could not make ]arrangement to purchase same. John F. Matthews, County At torney, went over the various tax suits, foreclosures and other jmatters which has been attended 'to during the past month and jwhich is being looked after now. After allowing a'number of ac counts the Board adjourned. I o I COFFEE RATION IS CUT TO POUND FOR SIX WEEKS Washington, Feb. 3. ? rThe Of fice of Price Administration to day reduced the next coffee ra tioft from one pound every five weeks to one pound every six wefeks. OPA said reduced coffee inven tories in the "hands of wholesal ers and retailers made npcessary the reduction in the' next ration. I . Rick Gets First Poster NEW YORK.? First of 1,250,000 War Bond posters being dis tributed throughout the country this month by Boy Scouts and othei volunteers is received by Captain Eddie Rickenbacker from Life 1 Scout Domenic L. Mile to of Manhattan. Scout Mileto told Ameri ca's hero of two wars that he has filled and turned in his Stamr books as urged by Secretary Morgenthau in connection with the Treasury Department's current drive to fill the country's 1C0, 090,000 outstanding albums for immediate conversion into" Bonds, ivick paid tribute to the patriotic war work of the Bay Scouts. L". 1 rcasury L cpiirlHU'iit WAR BONDS Epsom Evening Class Far mers Buy for Uncle Sam While Learning How To Produce More Food For His Boys ? "V Farmers of the Epsom Evening Class Group, a group of about forty local farmers attending a series of nine educational meet ings on Food Production, have a special feature in the program for 1943 which is creating a great deal of interest. It is known as the Prize Giving- War Bond Buy ing Campaign, and it works for the benefit of all concerned. The Donor gains the goodwill of hjs neighbors, the Buyer ? purchases financial security for himself at a bargain price and at the same time is being given the object whiclr-is auctioned as an induce ment for helping himself, and Uncle Sam gains by having morn ready cash on hand for financing his" war. The following took place in the auction sale last Monday night which was the second meeting night in the series, the first nam ed being the article, second, the donor, third, the buyer, and fourth the price it brought in bonds: 1. Horse Collar, J. P. Timber lake, Tollie Smith, $500.00. 2. Horse Bride, Dave McKinne, George 'Robertson, $500.00. 3. Shirt '& Tie, LSfegett's Dept. Store, George Eaves, ' $275. 00. 4. Bag Growing Mash, George Robertson, Tollie Smith, $50.00. 5. Baby C.hicks, 25, Roger Mitchell, George Eaves. $200.00, Total Bonds sold, $1,525.00. ' All of the above prizes were donated by Louisburg merchants except the growing mash. J. T. Griffin, agriculture teacher, ser ved as auctioneer. Mr. Walter Bowen and Mr. Frank Ayscue have agreed to bring prizes next Monday night at which time the group will study METHODS OF INCREASING MILK PRODUC TION. The subject used last time was INCREASING POUL TRY PRODUCTION, and Mr. George Robertson, a local poul try farmer had charge of pro gram. o LOUISBURG METHODIST CHURCH Sunday morning at 11 o'clock Holy Communion will beg celebra ted. In connection with this ser vice there will be a special in stallation program for the offi cers of the Woman's Society 1 of Christian Service. ? Evening service at 7:30. Church School will convene at 9:45 a. m. Young People's services at 6:45 p. m. You are welcomed! o Breaks Leg Mr. William Eden fell from a scaffold while working on the home of Mr. J. H. Best near Mapleville and suffered a broken leg. The accident occurred about 5 o'clock Tuesday afternoon. He was brought to Dr. J. B. Whe less' office where he received first attention and was taken from there to Park View hospi tal at Rocky Mount. Last information stated he was resting easy. -j ? O ? ?? i ?Oi P?y Day, Buy Bonds ? Rationing Calendar Kl:KL OIL February 19. ? Value of Peiod Three, indefinite value coupons, has been decreased 1 0 - per cent for aH non-commercial users and are now worth nine gallons per unit expiring February 19. March 20 ? Period Four Cou pons. scheduled to become valid on January 6,.^ were made valid January ;'o to explYe on March 20, COKKKK February 7 ? Coupon f?'o. 28 will he good for one pound of coffee and valid through Feb ruary 7. ' Hl many years Mr. Liles wai prominently connected with the lumber interest^ in Louisburg and \ later served on the police force I until his health forced him to re linquish this work. WAR NEWS I - s ELECTED PRESIDENT P. R. Inscoe, of Castalia, was elected president of the North Carolina Society of Surveyors Thursday at -the society's annual meeting held at State College, Ratolgh. i j A. I... McNeil, of Rockingham, was elected vice president, and Prof. C. L.Mann. head of the college's department of civil en Igineering, was ne-eleeted secre |tary-treasurer. Inscoe succeeds ] Weidon Mills, of Marion. | Prihcipal speaker was R. Getty iHrowning. chief locating engineer of the State Highway pnd Public Works Commission, who discuss ed "What Constitutes a Land Survey." The Income Tax Dates The FRANKLIN TI.MKS is re 'questerf to announce that Mr. George D. Davis, representative of the Internal Revenue Collec tor's office, will visit Franklin County during February and March as announced below for the purpose of assisting persons in making up and filing their in come tax returns, lie requests all persons coming to see him, farmers especially, to bring with them an itemized list of their in come and expenses. This he says will save a. lot of time for both parties. The dates of the visits will be as follows: T s At Louishurg. in the Register of Deeds office' in the Court House on February 19th and 20th, and on Marcij 4th, 5th and ; 6th. | .At Franklinton, at the ' Bank, on February 23rd, and March 12th. At L. II. Dickens Stbre on February 22nd. I -$?take a record of these dates and meet him. - - I-.- o LOUISBURG BAPTIST CHURCH The subject of the Sunday mor jning February 7th sermon, will' be "Lighting a Candle vs Cursing Uhe Dark."" At the evening hour :the pastor will preach on the subject: "Fighting against God." Oliver Wendell Holmes once said: "There is a little plant call ed Reverence in the corner of my garden, that I love to have wat ered about once a week." How is It with you? Has the plant altogether dried up in YOUR gar den? ? 9:45 a. m. Bible School. 11:00 a. m. Morning Worship. 7:30 p. m. Evening Worship. A hearty welcome to all! o Boxes Arrived The First-Citizen Bank & Trust Co. announces that it has just re ceived a . large shipment of safe i deposit boxes, and are now at the I services of the people of this sec tion. These boxes were ordered in September and just arrived the past week. PROGRAM AT THE LOUISBURG THEATRE The following is the program a(^ the Louisburg Theatre, begin nin& Saturday, Feb. 6th: Saturday ? Johnny Mack Brown and Tex Ritter .in 'Cheyenne Roundup' and Warren William in 'One Dangerous Night' alsc 'King of The Mounties^V "Sunday-Monday? Monty Wool ley and Ida Lupino in '.Life Be ^ins at Eight-Thirty.' Tuesday? George Sanders and Tom Conway in 'The Falcon's ?Brother,' also Bill Elliot inJVal ' ley of Vanishing Men.' - Wednesday- ? James Ellison and Jane Wyatt in 'Army Surgeon.' Thursday-Friday ? Brian Don levy, McDonald Carey and Robert .Preston In 'Wake Island.* London, J'eb. 3. ? The RAF d? Ivastated new areas of Cologne in I their 112th raid of the war upon the German arsenal city last night and followed throjugh today With attacks on railway objec tives and an airfield in North France. Other British bombers may be 'swarming over. Germany tonight, lit waii indicated when the DNB station at Berlin we&t oft' the air j' for technical reasons." _ American and other Allied Spitfire squadrons escorted Brit ish Ventura medium bombers in daylight attacks upon railway in stallations at Abbeville and an airfield at St. Omer, the Air Min istry announced. i Two bombers and eight fight ers were lost, but one of the tighter pilots \fas- saved. Three enemy fighters were alio! down during the attacks. ? ' The British (light raiders,; | mostly four-engined bombers, dumped 100 two-ton hlock-bust ers and literally torrents of the latest and heaviest type of fire bombs on Cologne is a thunder bolt saturation raid. Moscow, Thursday, Feb. 4. ? ? Soviet troops have cut the Mos cow-Kharkov railway above Wursk in a lightnight, 60-mile advance that slashed into terri tory held by the Germans since 1941 and Caucasian forces have pushed to within 30 miles of Ros tov, the Ked army announced to day. The triumphant" special com munique reporting the rupture of the Moscow-Kharkov artery also told of the capture of Kupyansk, key railway junction 63 miles southeast of Kharkov, and Kush chevka. 43 miles below Rostov on the main Caucasian railroad from Baku, in smashing victories on a 4' lO-ii: i 1 + ? southern front. A more potent threat to Ros tov was revealed in the Wednes day midnight communique, which reported that other Caucasian troops had driven another 10 miles up the branch railway from Salsk and captured Kagalnitska ya. 30 mil^s southeast of llostov. Striking westward on the Voro nezh front, Soviet troops swarm ed over two towns on the Mos cow-Kharkov trunk line between Kursk and Orel. The Germans had swept eastward across - the road in the first months of the war, never had been dislodged from it, and from that area laun ched their 1942 campaign. The last .reported westernmost position of the Russians in that region wajs at Kshen, on the Kursk-Voronezh railway. 65 mil es .past of Kursk, which was cap tured Monday. London. Feb. 3. ? German ra dios which have blared so many Nazi paeans of triumph today broadcast to the 'accompaniment of funeral marches the news that the figjit for Stalingrad was over, and proclaimed three days of national mourning for its vic tims. -f.. A special communique announ cing end of the sacrificial strug-' gle