North Carolina Newspapers

WEATHER Partly cloudy and unsettled to morrow ; not much change in tem perature. VOL. 57—No. 312 Newspaper irt North Carolina ij Proportion to Population SINGLE COPIES, FIVE CENTS GOOD AFTERNOON A M*ttphU wown k*J fe*dtwo appfndicM within tfcrt# yNTI.' *•« W* *y op«r« tioaaV*' HENDERSONVILLE, N. C., SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1S8 'TV Hitler Reaffirms Friendship For Italy But Frowns On U.S. DUKE-S. C. END HEAVY CHORES FOR BOWL TILT Hiil in Starting Lineup But Bragg and G. McAfee Ailing By JACK GUENTHER United Press Staff Correspondent PASADENA, Cal., Dec. 31.— il'P)—Duke and Southern Cali fornia have completed their heavy training chores and the Rose Bowl football game has gone out of the hands of the coaches into the laps of the gods. Both squads will be drilled se crttlv a final time today but the practices will be limited to exer ciM's and other light maneuvers. There will be no work of any s<>-- Sunday and none on Monday until the teams limber up an hour l>efore the classic East-West came. While the squads worked be hind locked gates and thick he.lges the federal weathermr.n forecast a clear sky and a fast rield when the prides of Durham, X. C., and Los Angeles, Cal., square off before a capacity throng of 93,000 spectators. The scalpers appeared due for a trimming. All tickets supposed ly were sold almost three weeks ago but a sudden flow of the pasteboards appeared today and the leading af^rtcy in J.os Angeles retuseiLlo buy A spokes man foi- the agency safd the game was not attracting the fancy prices of previou* years and he was not certain that he could dis pose of the stock on hand. The wea'Ht i ronay was unst-a sonably warm. Both coaches, Wal lace Wade of Duke and Howard Jones of Southern California, are anxious for a dry field. The Trojans finished up at a rield near 1'asadena Junior col let. Jones merely sent the play ers through formations and the backs through kicking practice. The ball was passed around but no chances were taken on pulling muscles. Every member of the squad wa3 in sound condition. Jones handed out his starting line-up and there were three mi nor surprises. Bob Fisher, a revamped tackle, was named at right guard in place of Tuny Tonelli, who re covered from a leg injury last and was considered a cer tain starter. Jones also named his (Continued on page three) 21 FACING NAZI TREASON TRIAL Authorities Believe 17 or 18 Death Sentences Will Result . BERLIN*. Dec. 31. (UP).— More than 20 persons alleged to •ave plotted the assassination of "•i«rh Nazi leaders will go on trial *arly in the new year in the big ^t treason case since Chancellor •Violf Hitler installed his nazi ^srime in 1933, it was disclosed today. The plotters, said to have been •*1 by Franz Niraiseh, a former ^nter and ultra-rightist, allegcd V drew lots to determine the as citis of the Nazi leaders. . ^ was not disclosed whether «e purported plot called for the fc-assination of Hitler. Niraisch and 20 accomplices •'•'ho aro prisoners in Berlin's Moa bit prs >n will go on secret trial •<anuary 4 charged with plotting thiassassinations and other trials V: be held simultaneously for an estimated 100 other prisoners ';nked with the plot. Authorities are convinced that 01 I ,h death sentences will re !,;t from the trial of Niraisch and -V confederates whose position said to be so hopeles sthat attorneys already have re used to accept their defense. Tut Niraisch trial is expected ';,V eight days and the public *tl !be excluded from it. •W eh and his 20 companions held in Moabit prison where Jj,-it percent of all the in mates are awai'ting trial on of high treason, espion ,l attempted high treason. Berlin Nearer To Open Break With Washington, Is Belief THANKS PEOPLE IN NEW YEAR BLAST BERLIN', Dec. 3t.— HrP) — Persistent reports in Wilhelm strasse today said flans Thorn sen, German charge d'affaires at Washington, would be recalled. : Germany would leave only the form of diplomatic representa tion. it was said, hut would not | break off relations. BERCHTESGADEN, Dec. 31. ; (UP)—German support for Italy , was reaffirmed today by Adolf I Hitler in the Fuehrer's New Year j proclamation issued from his re treat here. "Germany's position on foreign policy is definite and fixed," the proclamation said. ''The obliga i tions which our friendship for Fas cist Italv imposes on us are clear and unchangeable." The proclamation stressed ac complishments of German foreign policy of the past year and ex pressed thanks to the German peo ple. whose support of h;m, Hitler said, "helped settle a pressing: Eu rooe^n problem without war." Hitlei thanked workers who "forged a wall of steel on the western frontier which no power in the world can break." He declared that the task of the future. as of the pas£, was the "education tff ocn—i*i na tional socialist solidarity, rein forcement of national defense, ex ecution of the four-year plan, and solution of the labor shortage problem." Hitler thanked Premier Benito Mussolini of Italy and "other statesmen who this year undertook an attempt with us to find a peace ful solution to burninsr questions." BY EDWARD W. BEATTIE, JR. Un'ted Press Staff Correspondent BERLIN*, Dec. 31. (UP)—The German government last nijrht moved nearer e.n outright diplo matic break with the United States with announcement that "hope of improvement in German-American relations has no foundation." Chancellor Adolf Hitler's news paper. The Voelkischer Beobach tpr, simultaneously asked whether the United States "insists upon (Continued on Daee three) How Cold Was It Last Night? Low last night—24 degrees. FRIDAY Maximum—52 degrees. Minimum—29 degrees. Mean—40.5 degrees. Day's range—23 degrees. Normal mean temperature for December—39.3 degrees. Rainfall to date—2.82 inches. Normal rainfall'—5.46 inches. GOTHAM SET FOR BIGGEST! EVE SINCE 1829 Everyone Out to Prove 'Dawn of a New Day' Is Right Theme BY THEON WRIGHT United Press Staff Correspondent NEW YORK, Dec. 31. (UP)— Five million whistle-tooting New Yorkers dug down through nine years of cobwebs today to haul out a bottle which they will crack over the head of an elderly gent with a scythe at midnight to'com memorate "the biggest New Year's Eve since 1929." From Wall Street to the Harlem river you could hear that chant— "the biggest since 1929." Nobody knew where it started, but sudden ly'it cropped up and everybody was saying it. It may have started in the "roaring forties," where theatres and showhouses reported the big gest box-office since the depres sion began. It may have come booming up from the Kattery, where the stock tickers were rap-i ping out the biggest burst of trad ing since October, 1937. Maybe it started up in Harlem, where you could get vour fortune read and a number for the policy games for no more than a quarter. Wherever it came from, every body with as much as a dollar in his pocket was all set to step out today ivad .prove that the -rumor was tsae. » That was the minimum cost at Third Avenue bars—one buck— and the star-spangled sky was the top. From the mid-town hotels to the swanky night spots off Park Avenue and along Fifty-second (Continued on page three) CRIPPLED SHIP IS REFLOATED Italian Legions Swept Back as Spanish Warfare Intensified GIBRALTAR, Dec. 31. (UP) — The crippled Spanish loyalist de stroyer Jose Luis Diez last night! was refloated by tugs and towed into Gibraltar under protection of a British destroyer after be- f ing driven aground in a plucky sea battle against nine insurgent warships whose shells blasted the British town of Catalan Bay. Four British subjects in the town, lying on the east side of the Isthmus of Gibraltar, were gravely wounded by the insurgent shelling and there was possibility that an international incident would develop. By HAKMaun United Pre«« Staff Correspondent HENDAYE, Franco - Spanish' Frontier, Saturday, Dec. 31. (UP) ' The Spanish government early to day announced that a surprise counter-offensive in Catalonia had swept back Italian legions on the southern insurgent flank but. admitted that another Italian col- j umn was making progress toward the Mediterranean. The crack Lister and El Modes to brigades wers said to have i driven around the insurgent flank 17 miles south of Lerida on1 the lower Segre front and to be pushing upon Generalissimo Fran-1 cisco Franco's rearguard town of Sarocca. , Nine miles southeast of Saroc ca, however, it was admitted that Fascist Blackshirt Legionnaires had struck on from the captured town of Granadella and were storming the town of Tors. The insurgents, already within sight of Tarragona and the Med iterranean from the Granadella Heights, reported a swift five mile advance that carried them to Pobla de la Granadella only 30 miles from the Mediterranean. At Pobla de la Granadella the ! insurgent guns were said to be i trained on a web of highways vi tal to loyalist communications in the whole southern sector of the • 90-mile Catalonian front. Both sides claimed victories in air battles in which it appeared that between 25 and 40 planes had been shot down during»the day. U. S. REMINDS JAPAN OF FAR EASTTREATIES Grew Delivers Note Re jecting "New Order" Program for Orient BREAK FEARED IN CHINESE COMMAND j j WASHINGTON, Dee. 31.— \ The United States flatly reject- \ ert Japan's proposed "new nr- 'j der" in China but tacitly iryit- f ed Japan and other powers con- . cerned to enter negotiations ij regarding possible revision of , foreign rights and interest*; in * the far east. Details of the note i made public here, disclosed this ^ government had charged Japan j with unfair discrimination # against American trade and • commerce with China and *"ith;^j assuming the powers of a sov-'" ereignty in China by use" of^ armed force in violation of ex isting treaties. Such treaties, it was said, guaranteeing territory i ial integrity of China and equal * rights for all powers are not r subject to unilateral nulliflca-fj tion. However, it admitted the : possible desirability of change^ and left the door open to in-' ternational conversations on the subject. CHUNGKING, Dec. 31. (W) — Japanese airplanes raiding Kwei lin today, dropped incendiary bombs on an American hospital and American church mission, Chi nese sources alleged. It wa3 re*-*] ported that 200 houses at Kweiinj were destroyed and 200 civilians were killed in a raid on Changtph. TOKYO, Dec. 31. (UP)—Uv S. Ambassador Joseph C. Grew to* | day visited the Japanese fort&pjh office, conveying, it was under stood, the United States' i^jcc- J tion of Japan's "new prd^''-"Or gram for the orient. flr " '1 The American note re.'t fSRIS i the traditional American mipport for sanctity of treaties ar.d re minds Japan of various covenants regarding the far east. It was said to assert that the United States is not sympathetic to unilateral settlement of Chi nese problems but is, however, cognizant of changed conditions. The United States was declar ed ready to join in international conference to the end of settling such situations through the cus tomary consultation method among states involved. The American reply is to Ja pan's declaration of its "new or der" program made in answer to the United States request for clarification of her intentions, and reminding of the "open door" rights in China. The Japanese note had denied American allegations of discrim ination against United States cit izens in China also. The Japanese declaration said in part: "Japan at present is devoting her energy to the establishment of a new order based on genuine international justice throughout east Asia, the attainment of which end is not only an indis pensable condition for the very existence of Japan but also con stitutes the very foundation of enduring peace and stability in ctiat Adia. "It is the firm conviction of the Japanese government that in the face of the new situation fast developing in east Asia any at tempt to apply to conditions of today and tomorrow inapplicable ideas of the past would neither contribute toward the establish ment of real peace in east Asia nor solve immediate issues." By ROBERT BELLAIRE United Press Staff Correspondent SHANGHAI, Saturday, Dec. 31. (UP)—A major break in Gen eralissimo Chiang Kai-shek's "All China Anti-Japanese Front" was seen today in the declaration of former Premier Wang Ching Wei urging the generalissimo to negotiate peace with Japan. Wang's declaration was made public in Hong Kong last night by his followers there and was said to have been communicated direct to the generalissimo in the nationalist capital at Chungking. It embraces these points: 1. Japan's statement of Decem ber 22 makes possible the reten tion of Chinese national author continued on page three) HOME OF F.D.R., JR., DAMAGED BY FIRE CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Dec. 31. (UP)—Firemen last night brought under control a blaze that destroyed the east wing of the home of Mr. and Mrs. Frank lin D. Roosevelt, Jr., here. Damage to the white cOlonial type cottage was estimated at ap ! proximately $3,000. ^ 1 j 1 ' Psychologist Blanes Bertha—Not Bed—for Bouncing J i- 5, — ■ Pictured investigating: the great )ed bouncing mystery of the Virginia mountains is Dr. G. M. Kasle rud, University of Tennessee psy<hologist. His findings were that Bertha Sybert, 9, did not bounce when her attention was distracted. Hence Bertha—and not the "bewitched" bed—did the bounciMf*. Bertha is standing at the edge o* the fireplace. The other children are members of the Sybert family. STRICT LAW OBSERVANCE URGED AS CITY PREPARES TO GREET 1939 AT MIDNIGHT Hendersonville will bid farowell to 1988 and welcome 1939 tonight at midnight. Crowds of local peonle are ex pected to attend private and pub lic parties in celebration of the occasion \ .,1 . f fi churches have planned special Watch Nigffit*parties, and a-com plete schedule of church services is given on the church page of to day's paper. • The largest gathering in the city is expected at the annual New Year's dance, given by the Junior Welfare club, at the Skyland ho tel. This is an annual event wjth the net proceeds going for4 the soup kitchens operated bv the or ganization. Numbers of private parties have al'V) been .planned.' As the New 1 ear- falls on Sun day, many business places, the J&xn&X*. r- riiv, »>j<1 cayn* * offices, will obsei^e the'holiday on Monday. City and c-ount^ officers todtv urged strict observance of the law in the celebration. No prudent celebrators will be molested, po lice officers said, but officers will make arrests if laws are violated, Chief Otis Powers said. BUILDING FIRM GIVES BONUSES Rigby - Morrow Employes Dinner Guests at Foster Bennett Home The employes of the Rigby Morrow company broke bread, re ceived bonuses and discussed plans for 1939 activities at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Foster Ben nett last night. The event marked the closing of a good year's business and served as an occasion for em ployers and employes to exchange greetings of appreciation. After a bountiful spread, Fos ter Bennett, who has not been able to be at the plant for nine months due to physical disability, expressed his appreciation for the work and loyalty of the employes. Roy C. Bennett discussed business plans, expressed gratitude for the helpfulness of the employes, espe cially during the illness of his father, and announced a $50 bo nus to ef*ch of the employes who had been, with the firm for a year or more. Two had been in the employ of the firm for 18 or more years. The end-of-the-year bonus and the Christmas gifts only a few days preyiously are understood to have totaled an aggregate value of $7oO. Employes expressed their ap preciation for consideration shown them and were hopeful that Mr. I Bennett would soon be able to return to the plant for duty. Mr. i Bennett was able, with help, to j walk to the dining room and he I has steadily shown improvement. , He can walk alone with a cane. The employes are: Mrs. Grace D. Corpening, Earl T. Brown, Frank Bly, Roy C. Bennett, Jr., R. L. Brown, Tom Mason, John B. Dill, J. Henry Lanning, Wal I ter Dill, Deward E. Hawkins, W. ' B. Reed, Richard Pace and Rob I ert Blackwell. I REV. WALL ABLE TO FILL PULPIT SUNDAY I i ] Rev. B. E. Wall, pastor of the i First Baptist church, who has been ill for the past week has recovered and will deliver the regular Sun day sermons at the church tomor row. JUSTICE RITES AT 3 SUNDAY Rev. B. E. Wall To Be in Charge at Funeral Home Funeral services for Robert M. j Justice, 70, who died suddenly at his home on the Shaws Creek road on Thursday afternoon, will j be held on Sunday afternoon at' 3 o'clock at Thomas Shepherd Funeral home. Services will be conducted by the Rev. B. E. Wall, pastor of the j First Baptist church, aud burial will follow in Oakdale cemetery. Active pallbearers will be Ce cil Hollingsworth, Hubert Justice, Butler Bradley, Herman Justice, Phil Thibodeau, Jr., and Hilbert Justice. Honorary pallbearers will be Morris Orr, Bobo Hollingsworth, Perry McCrary, Will Garren, Hil liard Staton, Otis Powers, Hicks McCrary, Herman Hawkins, Brownlow Jackson, Amos Ben nett, Howard Bennett, J. E. Ship man, Wiltshire Griffith, John Garren, John Morris, A. V. Ed wards and H. E. Drake. He is survived by his second wife, Mrs. Fannie Justice, and one son, Monroe, by this union. Seven children by a previous mar l riage survive as follows: Herbert Justice, Mrs. J. W. McCrary, and Mrs. John Leatherwood, all of Hendersonville, Mrs. Cannie Led bctter, of Gary, and Mrs. Mike Jankovich, John F. Justice, and Miss Lula Justice, all of Toole, I Utah. He is also survived by one sis ter, Mrs. M. M. Hollingsworth, and one brother, J. B. Justice, both of Hendersonville. PHONES WIFE FOR OVERCOAT, BUT IS WARM ENOUGH NOW . NEW YORK, Dec. 31. (UP) — Isadore Bielen, a salesman, tele graphed his wife here from Cin cinnati: "Please send as soon as possible my two overcoats." Mrs. Bielen, who had not heard from her husband since last August, called up the abandonment bu i reau, instead. Today Bielen was under arrest. BARS VISITORS TO HIS CABIN Father of Girl Bounced by Witch Thinks They're Nuisance ST. CHARLES, Va.;, Dec. 31. (UP) —- Robert Sybert,; whose "rSJ^-^afr-ot^ tl aright**;* fe ertfei£ supposedly gets bovm,ced by a evwy time _siw goes to ted, placed a heavy log craTTtm^tti^ front door of the small mountain cabin today and announced that hereafter Bertha would bounce in peace and quiet. Since November 16, when Ber tha began complaining a devil ment made her bed shake violent ly at dawn arid at dusk, thous ands of curious had crowded in to the small house until Pappy Sybert declared "that witchery is bad enough but them visitors is the worse." ^ The visitors and the continu ous bouncing proved too much for Grandma Jane Sybert, 71, who "bore up" as well as she could while Bertha and the bed bounced night after night. Yes terday she moved out of the cab in where she had lived for 50 years. "I had enough witchery to last me for some time to come," she said as she packed her clothes in to a carpet bag and moved to the home of a neighbor. "Bertha's all tuckered out and Robert's red eyed from not getting any sleep, but I'm plumb wore to a fraz zle." Sheriff R. F. Giles of Lee county announced he had complet ed an investigation of the ghost of Wallins Creek, and said he would present his findings to the board of supervisors of William and Mary college Monday and to other officials who will decide what should be done about Ber tha's mysterious "affliction." "We may summon before us every person who has seen the ghost and the actual happenings," Giles said. "This summons will include the two University ol Tennessee professors who saw the bed bouncc, at a distance, and many other notables." Sybert took Bertha down to Jonesville yesterday afternoon, She walked up the street eating an ice cream cone in spite of the blustering, icy wind, but the crowds began surrounding her and Sybert was forced to rusk her home. Sybert, worn from worry and loss of sleep, had come down oul of the mountains to seek help from an attorney. He had beer frightened by reports that Ber tha might be psycho-analyzed and sugestions that she be taken tc . a hospital for an examination. I Upon Giles' investigation wil 1 depend whether authorities wil make any move to relieve Ber I tha's bouncing that she sayi I leaves her with a headache anc a Bore back nearly every morn ing. Giles collected testimony oj the mountain neighbors of the Sy belts who saw the bed bounc< and said they had seen the ghost Raymond Minor, called in onc< in hope that hymns played on hi guitar would drive out the ghost told the sheriff that "I saw i chair walk backwards for fou feet," and that the top sheets oi Bertha's bed "swayed and drev 1 (Continued, on page three). SOLONS LOOK FOR FLAYING OF DICTATORS WPA Political Activity Re« . port Scheduled for Tuesday ANNUAL MESSAGE DUE WEDNESDAY WASHINGTON, Dec. 31. - (UP)—Senate Democratz in a harmony rally today re-elected .Senator Alben W. flarkley, Ky., as majority leader for the 76th Congress. Barkley*s re-eleetioji came after another party solid arity action, the decision of Senator J. Hamilton Lewis of Illinois to retain his party whip pott. WASHINGTON, Dec. 31. (UP) —Pre-view reports of President Roosevelt's annual message to con gress today foretold a pulse-stir ring call for national defense ard a blistering repudiation of dicta torships His associates believe it will be the' most vigorous speech of his career. It wijl be delivered short ly after noon Wednesday before a joint house'and senate session. The new 76th Congress meets at noon Tuesday for what would be a perfunctory feathering except for the decision of the senate cam paign expenditures committee to release, tnen a report concerning WPA.political activity in the fall election campaigns. WASHINGTON, Dec. 31. (UF) Attorney General Homer S. Cum mnigs revived memories of Presi dent Roosevelt's unsuccessful ju diciary reorganisation bill today by - suggesting a constitutional amendment requiring retirement of all federal judges at the age of 70. proposal was made in the. annual .report of-the justice f eawaiig'we-* official Report to the president a* His- resignation becomes affective itjnw, Monday, Jam I. In addition to compulsory rts tirement of judges, Cummins urged congress to establish 13 ne ^ circuit and district court judf:v ships to create a new administi i tive office for all federal courts. The White House announced that President Roosevelt expected to name a new attorney sreneral before or shortly after congress convenes on Tuesday. , BY ARTHUR F. DECREVE United Press Staff Correspondent WASHINGTON, Dec. 31. (UP) Liberal leaders are bringing more pressure on President Roosevelt not to surrender to congress on vital New Deal policies as Vice President John Nance Garner, spokesman for Democratic con servatives, took personal command over the explosive legislative situ ation. In a series of rapid-fire confer ences held yesterday in his senate office, the ruddy, white-haired Texan discussed the critical farm situation with Secretary of Agri culture Henry A. Wallace and re viewed the relief problem with Harry L. Hopkins, secretary of commerce and former WPA ad ministrator: Later, he held an hour's confer ence with Mayor Plorello H Lv Guardia, of New York, and Houfe Majority Leader Sam Raybum. While none of the participants at this meeting would reveal the ra (Continued on page three) - BELL CASTS A WYE VOTE Others on State Election Board Condemn Ab sentee Ballot RALEIGH, Dec. 31.—Absolut* repeal of the state's absentee bal lot law was recommended to Gov. ernor Hoey yesterday by the sta:e board of elections. The board al o recommended subdivision of vot ing precincts in which more than 1 500 persons voted, in the 1986 election and a new state-wide reg ■ istration. • ' The board, by a majority rote, ■ with only J. 0, Bell, of Henderson 1 county, dissenting, condemned the ' present absentee ballot law as ; instrumentality of fraud, and rec ommended that the .1939 assembly ■ enact a new law which "would ■ make fraud "well nigh impossible" > and certain of "detection." ! Chairman W. A. Lucas, of the s board, explained that the board , also believed all primary and elee i tion laws should be uniform. Re r peal of the absentee ballot law i and abolition of markers at polls r would remove the differences, he i«aid *