WEATHER Rain tonight and Friday prob ably mixed with mow. Colder Friday. GOOD AFTERNOON . » BnraM« ihidnb on, itrikt squat aroand (OT«rm«nt build ing! at Rangoon. "5quat-do*rn" strike eli? Largest Daily Circulation of Any Newspaper in North Carolina in Proportion to Population VOL. 57—No. 310 HENDERSONVILLE, N. C., THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1938 SINGLE COPIES, FIVE CENTS NEW DEALERS SEE NEW YEAR PROSPERITY — — — — — — — — « u u u O V U ' Y V V i •f* •¥ *!* T T T T T *i* *»" *•* t -• -r m Rebels Smashing Into Catalonia Front ^ J * iWARPLANES BOMB LOYAL ARMY'S BASE Rebel Artillery Concentra tion Declared Heaviest Of The War SAY LOYALIST 5TH ARMY IS WIPED OUT HEXDAYE, Franco - Spanish Frontier, Dec. 29. (UP)—Spanish rationalists, usin*c the heaviest concentration of artillery since the beginning of the civil war, .-cashed into loyalists in the Bal asruer sector of the Catalonian front to open the second phase vf the mass offensive. According to nationalists, hun dreds of loyalists surrendered, while loyalists asserted that their lines are holding. Generalissimo Francisco Fran co's bombing planes and siege jruns last night poured tons of explosives into two fortified towns where . loyalist resistance blocked the converging paths of a double-pronged insurgent drive on Barcelona. A fleet of 30 warplanes bomb ed and machine-gunned the loyal ist base of Artesa de Segre, 65 miles northwest of Barcelona, while Xavarrese-Galician columns locked in hand-to-hand struggle with loyalist defenders to the north and west. Twenty-nine miles to the south. Franco's guns and planes blasted Borjas Blancas along the main highly juvd Pt&gadL irom Len ds eastward to the Mediterranean coast.. 4 ' Loss of the two gateway towns, which Franco was attempting to seise in preparation for a junc ture of his northern and southern wings at Tarrega or Cervera with their spearhead pointed directly at Barcelona 48 miles away, might be a knockout blow to the whole Catalonian defense system of the loyalists. tsota Artesa ana tforjas tsianca are control points of rear-line communications for General Vi cente Rojo, loyalist commander in-chief. Franco's headquarters reported hard-won but steady progress up on the two highway towns, but it was evident that the loyalists with 20 divisions in action were putting up a grim defense on the sixth day of Franco's offensive. Loyalist field headquarters re ported that Italian Blackshirt Le gionnaires, part of four fascist divisions said to be serving Fran co, had been thrown back near Castrelldans, six miJes southwest of Borjas Blancas, by a violent government counter-attack. Borjas Blancas, the loyalists said, was under almost constant bombardment by artillery and planes. The insurgents reported that 13 loyalist fighting planes wereI shot down in a spectacular air battle above the village of Alfes, 13 miles west of Borjas Blancas, when 24 insurgent planes met 40 loyalist Curtise fighters, 15 Boe ir.e« and six Martin bombers. The 19 loyalist planes brought to a total of 55 the number of! oyalist planes reported to have i been shot down since the offen sive began at dawn last Friday. Franco's Burgos headquarters, listing- his Rains thus far, said I more than 8,000 prisoners had i been taken and about 370 square I miles of Catalonian territory cap tured. The insurgents, cutting a 20 mile-wide hole In the govern ment's lines south of Lerida and *est of Borjas Blanca, claimed to have occupied 54 villages. In the sector south of Lerida J aiojrn 4,000 prisoners were re- I P°rf»d and Burgos reported that the loyalist fifth army corps had "e*n wipep out by casualties and prisoners. Ko-o threw another full army corp, into the breach in his lines *outh of Lerida during the day to protect Borjas Blancas and the isrhway. The insurgents said that among prisoners taken there were numbers of the Campesino and '•ist^r brigades and Tramcar *orkfrs hurriedly mobilized in Barcelona. CIRCLE WILL MEET The regular business and social feting of Pine Grove No. 66, »W(Jman circle, will be held on Friday night at 7:30 o'clock. All Members are asked to attend. IS OPERATED ON John Perry, Sr., underwent an fcrnerjjency appendix operation at 'h* Patton Memorial hospital yes terday. — — - < Vanished Judge's "Widow" Sails Mrs. Stella Crater Kunz, whose former husband Justice Jos. F. Crater disappeared in 1930, pic tured mailing from New Yoik for Germany with Carl Kunz, whom she married last April. Kiwanis Club To Install Officers At Ladies' Party Kiwanis club officers for 1939, with George II. Flanatran succeed ing Dr. J. G. Bennett as presi- > dent, will take place tonight at the Skyland hotel. Dinner will be served at 7 o'clock, with wives of club mem bers as guests, and at the con clusion of the installation a pro gram of magic, will be presented by the Selwyns, widely known en tertainers. About 75 are expected to attend. JAMES MORRiS NOW ON DURHAM SUN STAFF James. Morris of Durham was up to spend the holidays with his mother, Mrs. Charm Keeter. Mr. Morris, who was for sev eral months, telegraph editor of the High Point Enterprise, chang ed positions during the holidays and now holds a similar position with the Durham Sun. ANNOUNCE WORKERS CONFERENCE MONDAY Rev. W. H. Davis, secretary of the Carolina Association Workers conference today announced the next session of that body to be held at the First Baptist church Monday, January 2, at 10 a. m. "Objectives for 1939," he said, will be the theme of the confer ence and added that a full attend ance is desired. SECOND COLD WAVE MOVES TOWARD COAST Freezing Weather Strikes In Texas, Alabama And Georgia FLORIDA ESCAPES FREEZING WEATHER (UNITED PRESS) The second cold wave with'n the week today rolled eastward across the nation, tightening winter's grip on the Central states with snow and zero temperatures as it ex tended toward the Atlantic coast. The temperature dropped to 32 below zero at Minott, N. L). U. S. Forecaster J. R. L'oyd said a second cold wave had rolled down from the Arctic and alreadv was thrusting: down the eastern slope of the Rocky mountains on its march to the Atlantic seaboard. He nredicted temperatures of 15 to 20 degrees below zero for the Dakota* and Minnesota. The new cold wave will extend to Kansas and Missouri by Thurs day night, Lloyd predicted, with temperatures ranging to 10 above. Snow flurries were expected to ac company the falling temperatures. Snow fell Wednesday in north ern New York, mountain sections of New Eneland. Michigan. Wis consin, North Dakota and Minne-1 sota. < Temperatures fell to a min:mum of 20 above a'ong the Maine coast 22-the Gurrewt cold wave spent itselC-on the eas tern seaboard. Thermometer read ings generally in the middlewest were rising. Lloyd said the new cold wave would be less extensive, affecting Missouri vallev and plains states but RDending itself before reach ing the east. A reading of two degrees above freezing was reported at Jackson ville, Fla., yesterday. Tampa re ported 40 hbove and Miami 66 above. A low of 2 degrees above zero was reported at Chicago where temperatures had been expected to fall below zero for the first time since February, 1936. A maxi mum of 28 was expected today before winter's next onslaught. Lowest temperatures of the day were reported at Wausau, Wis., and Bemiflji, Minn., where the reading was 20 below. Freezing temperatures extended as far south as San Antonia, Texas, and throughout Alabama. Florence, Ala., reported 14 above and At lanta. Ga., 20. Valley Hill Will Have Watch Night The Valley Hill Baptist church will hold its annual New Year's watch service on Saturday night, the meeting beginning at 9:30. Rev. E. A. Kilstrom, pastor, will be in charge of the service, which will consist of short talks, singing and testimonials. Members of churches not hav ing such services are invited to attend. Japs Call Off South China Drive; Secret Truce Talk Still Reported; Would Not Include Forces Of 'Reds' SHANGHAI, Dec. 29. (UP)— Reports of secret peace conversa tions between Chinese and Jap anese representatives were given additional color today when Chi nese dispatches said the Japanese had called off their southward offensive from Hankow and were digging in for the winter. Chinese expected that the Jap anese offensive against Gen. Chu Teh's Communist armies in north west China might be continued but thought that Japanese attack on Generalissimo Chiank Kai Shek's armies, in the southwest, would be halted as long as the reported secret truce parleys are under way. They believed the Japanese would not include the Chinese Communist party in any truce arrangement but would be willing to offer favorable terms to Gen eralissimo Chiang. on condition that he cease collaboration with the "Reds." Meantime the peace conversa ! tions, if any, were being conduct ed with the greatest secrecy and there still was no confirmation of reports that former Premier Wang Ching-Wei had left Hanoi, French Indi-China, for Hong Kong. Wang, long known for his pro Japanese views, has been in Hanoi for some days for "medical treat ment." He flew to French Indo China from Generalissimo Chiang's capital in Chungking and. later was joined by one of his chief followers, Chen Kung-Po, chief of the nationalist 'Kuomin tang' party in Szechuan province and also a trusted lieutenant of the generalissimo. One suggestion was that the peace parley's were taking place in Indo-China with the friendly knowledge of French officials. The French were represented as anxious to see an end of the Chinese-Japanese conflict before it spreads farther in south China and threatens their spheres of influence in Yunnan and Kwan gsi provinces. She Can Make Glass 'Invisible' Ljr. Katr.anne v. Bioagett, 01 , the Schenectady, N. Y., General ; Electric laboratories, has made ' an oily film, fcour-mil ionths of | an inch thick, wfcich make3 glass "invisible." With it g'ass ad- | mits more than 99 per cent-Tight j against the 92 per "cent now i I>Q3siblet and abolishes refl tion. YOUTHS BREAK INTO 'FRISCO! INT, SEIZED; "Just Wanted To See If It Could Be Done;" Are Soon Discovered SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 29.! (UP)—Two 15-year-old boys who just wanted to see if it could be done last night, broke into the United States mint here, a struc ture considered to be the most impregnable government building in the country. Avoiding tear gas equipment, impenetrable attack proof steel heavy bars, intricate burglar alarms and a small army of guards the boys easily got into the building. They told government men j who found them after they tossed a largo sheet of copper from the window of the room where pen nies are made it had been simple. They said they climbed up a pipe to the second story, found a window open and walked in. A guard on his rounds found Paul Francis and William Gallagher, sounded an alarm and in a mo ment the boys were surrounded ! by machine guns, guards and mint officials. "We just wanted to see if it| could be done. It was easy, we | didn't mean any harm. It was all in fun," they told police, They were turned over to po-1 lice and sent to a juvenile deten-, tion home. "Leave it to a kid to J do what a mob of gangsters j could not," exploded P. J. Hag-, gerty, mint superintendent. The coppor plate they tossed out the window was valued at $2 j and they wanted it as a memento. | The millions of dollars in gold ' and silver are stored in vaults and the penny room was the only one they could have entered. Christmas Seal Returns Asked Mrs. Geo. Wing, Jr., as chair man of the ^Christmas seal sales ' campaign here today issued a call for all returns on the seal sales. All members of the Woman's club who have not reported are, asked to leave their seals and' money from sales in a sealed en velope. bearing their name, with Mrs. Walter Fuller at her off'ce on Fourth avenue, next to the PostOffice building. It is asked . that these returns be made as soon I as possible. . I FRANCE HEARS DUCETOMAKE FOUR DEMANDS African Program Would Not Affect Mediterran ean Status MUNICH CONFEREES MAY CONFER AGAIN ROME, Doc. 21>. (UP)—French diplomats last night reported that Premier Penito Mussolini intends to ask Prime Minister Chamber lain of Groat Britain to use h's "pood offices" to obtain four prin cipal concessions from France as a means of averting an Italo French conflict. The four demands, which II Puce is expected to lay before Chamberlain when the latter ar rives in Rome on Jan. 11, were described by persons close to the French embassy as follows: 1—France's surrender of the Port of Djibouti in French Soma liland and sale of the Djibouti Addis Ababa railroad to Italy. 2—Large-scale autonomy for thousands of Italians living in Tunisia. 3—Permission for Italians to freely settje in- Tunisia and buy and exploit land Which now is un cultivated. 4—Italian participation in con trol of tfie French-dominated Suez Canal»>1 ; . If 'these concessions are made by France, Mussolini was said to contend, Italy's "natural aspira tion*" .in. tta Mediterranean *nd North Africa will be satisfied nnd the possibility of an Italo-French conflict will be averted. * BIG FOUR" MAY MEET AGAIN IN JANUARY BERLIN, Dec. 29. (UP)—Nazi political quarters last night dis cussed a possibility that the "big four" of Munich might meet again in January to seek a peaceful set tlement of their outstanding prob lems including the acute tension between Italy and France. There was no conlirmation of these rumors, but it was reported simultaneously that German For eign Minister Joachim von Ribben trop soon might confer with Italy's (Continued on v&ge three) Tenants' Union Will Seek Share Of WPA's Relief COTTON PLANT, Ark., Dec. 29. (UP)—Plans to organize 350, 000 southern tenants and share croppers to get a square deal from the New Deal were an nounced today by Secretary H. D. Mitchell at the annual convention of the Southern Tenant Farmers union. Plans for organizing the drive were revealed simultaneously with criticism of the WPA for alleged failure to give off-season em ployment to needy farm workers. John R. Mathis Passes At Union Jno. R. Mathis, 78, Union, S. C., business man and one time editor of The Union Times, died in a hospital at his home last night. Mr. Mathis was favorably known here, and had owned a summer home in the county over a consid erable period. He was foui^d unconscious yes terday morning in his garage af ter he had lain there all night. Physicians attributed his. death to apoplexy. Surviving are two daughters, Mrs. W. H. Bi-own, of Charleston, S. C., and Mrs. Wattland Hender son of Blairs. S. C.; two sons, Francis Mathis of Whitmire, S. C., and John Edgar Mathis of Wilson. Stock Exchange Man Is Expelled NEW York, Dec. 29. (UP) — The new York stock exchange to day expelled J. A. Sisto, head of the exchange firm of J. A. Sisto and company, for allegedly im proper dealings in the stock of the Sisto Financial corporation of which he also was president. DIXIE'S DEMOS RENEW FIGHT ON NEW DEAL Would Give Important Committee Posts To Op position Leaders WOULD OFFSET F.R.'S POLITICAL PURGE By GERRY R03ICHAUD United Preit Staff Corre»pondent WASHINGTON, Dec. 2'J. (UP) A bloc of conservative southern Democrats, led by Representatives Martin Dies of Texas and E. Eu gene Cox of Georgia, are seeking supporters in a drive to deliver important house committee posts to anti-New Deal congressmen, it was learned last night. Determined to play an increas ingly important role in the 7f>th congress, Dies and Cox, who ac tively opposed the wage-hour bill last session, consider sweeping Republican gains in the fall elec , tion as a protest against Presi dent Roosevelt's policies, and feel that the Democratic party must ■ steer a more conservative course ! if it is to retain majority support ! throughout the nation. The two have been active in : contacting 4 fellow southerners, l who hold 115 of the 262 house Democratic seats, in an effort to ; gain their united support in the I drive for committee control. At the same time they have been playing up to the conservative ; element in northern Democratic j ranks' in order to obtain the -ad ditional 24 Democratic votes nec 1 essary to give their bloc a ma-: jority vote in party strategy. The struggle will come into the open next Monday in a pre session Democratic caucus in which majority members of the powerful 25-man ways and means | committee will be selected, as; well as the speaker and majority leader. Membership in this key committee will indicate the future ! set-up of other groups, since ways; and means members draft the slates of the. remaining commit tee. These subsequently are rati- j fied at another caucus. Re-election of Speaker William | B. Bankhead, D., Ala., and Ma-1 j.ority Leader Sam Rayburn, D., Tex., is a foregone conclusion. The struggle for control will cen-1 ter around the make-up of the1 ways and means group, which this ! year will consist of 15 Democrats and 10 Republicans. Last session there were 18 Democrats and sev en Republicans, but the latter party's off-year gains will in-1 crease its membership in the group. Under the circumstances, Dies and Cox are said to feel that con ! servative Democrats need but a small membership to obtain their objective, since they can work in concert with Republicans to as i sure anti-administration action. Outcome of the drive, however, will depend almost entirely on i support from their northern col leagues and unitv of the southern delegation. Many veteran poli ticians consider it improbable that Dies and Cox can achieve their objective, since there is some New Deal strength within (Continued on Dage three) i Highway Carnage Is Reduced For i 13th Continuous Month; See Deaths For Year Lowered At Least 7,000 CHICAGO, Dec. 29. (UP)— i The nation has applied the brakes | to the, annual carnage on streets and highways and will round out 1938 with a saving of at least 7,400 lives, the national safety council said last night. The council said November was I the 13th straight month to show a comparative decline in traffic | deaths and said that unless "America is on a holiday spree of carelessness" in the closing days of 1938, the year cannot fail to show a substantial saving. The report estimated the 1938 highway death toll at approxima tely 32,000, lowest since 1938 and the greatest reduction for any single year in the nation's his tory. The firsj; 11 months of 1938 showed a decline of 21 per cent in the number of lives lost as compared to the same 11 months of 1937. December, a month fraught with additional danger from blinding snow storms and slippery high wayg, was expected to trim the average slightly. "If the rate of reduction for the first 11 months of the year could be maintained up to Jan. 1, the 1938 saving in lives would be in the neighborhood of 8,000 and the year's toll would approximate 31,500," the council said. Definite figures for the year will not be known until late Jan uary when all figures are com piled. The November highway death toll was 3,110, the council report ed, 640 less than November a year ago, or a saving of 17 per cent. Total deaths for the 11 months was 28,370 as compared to 35,770 in the same period a year ago. A total of 8,190 lives have been saved in the last 13 months. The council said it attributed the saving to no one factor. "We have had better enforce ment of traffic laws, better traf fic engineering, safer automobiles (Continued on page three).' Star to Visit Convent Home Off on a New Year visit to the Maison de Charite, Paris or phanage convent , where she lived as a child, film star Made leine Carroll is shown leaving New York. deathclaTms JOE H. YOUNG Chimney Rock Road Resi dent Succumbs To Pneumonia J. H. Young, 68, died at his home on the Chimney Rock road yesterday after an illness of a week with pneumonia. Mr. Young is survived by his wife; one married daughter, Mrs. Ed Kuykendall, and Miss Inez Young, another daughter. Funeral services will be held to morrow, F/iday, December 20, at H a. m., at Moore's Grove Meth odist church. Officiating will be the Reverends Vamer, Huntley, and Dr. Camak. GAMBLER SLAIN HOLLYWOOD, Dec. 29. (UP) A man who was shot to death and left in his car on a Holly wood street was identified by po lice last night as Weldon L. (Big Bill) Irvin, a gambler and book maker. F. R. UNWILLING TO SURRENDER RELIEF REINS "Policing" Groups Would Be Advisory Bodies Without Pay REPUBLICANS" TO PUSH OWN PLAN WASHINGTON, Dec. 29. (UP) (UP)—The government's chief economists today forecast a pros perous New Year for the nation. In a year-end survey of busi ness, the Bureau of Agriculture Economics, which charts the trend in industrial as well as agricul tural production and consump tion, said that prospects are good for continued recovery. The fall pickup in industrial production and consumer demand recovered more than half of the ground lost in the 1937-3S reces sion. the survey said. The bureau reported a marked pick-up, in building activity and substantial increases In steel, au tomobile and textile production. Factory payrolls increased and I unemployment decreased, accord ing to the WPA and. American Federation of Labor'record*. CIVIL SERYICE FOR RELIEF PROJECTED WASHINGTON,Dec. 29. (UP) —The Roosevelt administration may propose that the vast relief system be placed under civil ser vice to placate congressional op ponents of thf WPA.. An. authorqtive source revealed that -tne• civil service proposal was ioupled wjth the president'*. sug gestion for the citation of non partisan . .county boards to keep ptfittca and refiejf separate would be designedtO- tftke the edge off the demand*" for a congressional investigation of the WPA. MESSAGE TxTdEAL MUCH WITH RELIEF . ' WASHINGTON, D«c. 28. (UD —President Roosevelt last night was represented by legislative callers as befog willing to com promise with- coalition demands for decentralization of relief to the extent of permitting "polic ing" of Works Progress Adminis tration activities by army or non partisan county boards. Legislators who say that the chief executive has outlined such a plan to them within the past fortnight, insist that he is unwill ing, however, to surrender com pletely to the agitation for out right return of relief administra ! tions to the states. He is determined, they say, that the federal government shall keep a tight rein over relief spending and administration as long as it provides most of the money. The plan under white House consideration would place the "policing" groups in the same status as the draft boards which operated during the World War. Members would operate without pay and serve in an advisory cap acity to the federal relief admin istration,. Whether . such a compromise would placate relief critics among conservative Democrats in con gress is a matter of conjecture. They were appeased to some et tent when President Roosevelt promoted WPA Administrator Harry L. Hopkins to be secretary of commerce and eased out Hop kins' deputy, Aubrey Williams, whose blunj appeals .to relief workers to "keep your friends in' office" made him a political lia bility. • Appointment of Col. F. C.-Har rinfton, brilliant - West Point graduate and WPA chief engineer to succeed Hopkins, also was well received and Harrington's ' first words that he would strive to keep the agency out of politic) were cheered. The situation probaoiy win pu clarified in a few days whan ti e senate compaign axpenditure « committee makes its report on In quiries conducted into this years primary and elections cam palms. Members say that no punches will be pulled and from ottvar sources it ia understood that WPA political activities in. Kentucky, Tennessee and Pennsylvania wiU be sharply criticized. It was reported that the1 re eort would fall just short of « uking Hopkins, who iniatod I throughout that the WPA. was .not ; engaging in political activities and submitted general orders warning agency officials against coercing relief workers mto supporting either Republican or Democratic candidates. Likewise, there was the general feeling that Hapkins (Continued on page three)"