Hmtiirrsun UaUu Htspafrlj ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED IN THIS SECTION OF NORTH CAROLINA AND VIRGINIA r\\-r\•' Y-SEVENTH YEAR T®fv!EADssSfAET|gIV,g^op HENDERSON, N. C., TUESDAY AFTERNOON, DECEMBER 17, 1940 evBUSU£&£Vsm&?E*,100t' FIVE CENTS COPY British Push Deeper Into Libya v v v w « V vsxxxxxxxfl I Sec. Hull Sees British Crisis In Spring No. 2 Man in France Back From Defense Cruise v" • a cruise in the Caribbean, during which he inspected newly I*. S. defense bases. President Roosevelt is piped ashore from t Tuscaloosa at Charleston. S. C. lie returned from the voyage '.aMicd and healthy. Note catapult plane in background. (Central Press) British Attempting To Encircle Bardia | Last Remnants of Ital ian Army Driven from Egyptian Soil; British Capture Salum and Fort Capuzzo in Libya K\ FDWARD KENNEDY. ' • B;• i11h Fo'-ces at Salum, !(>—(delayed)—(AP)— .v-.vri units were sweep • desert vest of Brrdia .•ro:r.pt to encircle that i" .n or. e in Libya, fol , ' e capture of Salum and " ;>';•/20. ■ •. in'-; the Ttalian in?en driven from Egyot -ir.- heavy Brit'.-»h fire, the I inr-d Salum. seized " < cv •. e into Egypt. and frontier into Libya. • - the west. ' "P- promntJy occupied ' Egyr;ti: n port. Then • * • carry the light to »\ ng across tlie bor ■ Fort Capuzzo. e ret?- rt^d to have ' Hardin, '-n the coast '• border. including have ;rtreated from .■■■ rently are -trivng t' v.ed -t.tnd there. . [' Bri'lsh officers, v •• •• hold " it v/ill de i-n whether Italian • 'd bo rallied after the M :"«lit. • ha*. I fen bombed t:sea and air. Brit : ; t.r,i■. v.e-t of the town • < v f-jijcl destroyed Ital . tractors and tanks but uncertain yet whethei ly cut off communica 1 ■ Bardia and Tonbruk. ; t. ored units \v°rc rubieet ly. bing attacks by Ital Mergers thau Analyses British Needs ■i'orx. Dec. 17.—(AP)—Sec •I 'gen than was reported to • 'i Li House appropriations today that Sir Frederick tidersecretary of the Bri • >. 'tuci informed him that —d could mak? no more com ' it; tor purchase of war ma in the United States unless 'iid was extended. '<•( members who disclos -!uen this testimony, given >-ed doors, added that the secretary had repeated his that he believed that the ' S?;ite> could not extend loans "!-ts unless Congress modified ■ led the Johnson act forbid ;-':i (•:: - Sr. ci:.) Anniversary Of First Airplane Flight Observed I n Mantco. Dec. IT—(AP)—Fifty air- j planes from Greensboro. Raleigh,! Fort Bragg. Langley Field and the Elizabeth City Coast Guard airbase, were expected t;> circle Kill Devil Hii! today in observance of the first successful flight of the Wright brothers, made from the hill Decem ber 17. 1903. Mrs. Truman Miller, manager of the Raleigh airport, and Mayor Je rome Flora, of Elizabeth City, were i a«ked to place wreaths on a nrnu- j ment atop the hill. Lieutenant Com n mder R. L. Burkr> of Elizabeth j City was programmed for a talk. | Negro Found Shot To Death! In White Home Lumberem, I)'«■. 17.— ( AI')—f»*a | I*, ra'dfT. 18-year-old N^gro farm I hand, was found dead today at the | homo of Walton Allen. whit- arm- I "»• <>! Howellsville township, hrs ! head mangled by a shotgun blast. | Sheriff Clyde Wade quoted AI- I lf n • w:te. Mrs. Alene Pridgen Allen, I 2;>, as saying Bowd' n attempted to t.ick hrr, out thul she br !'c ;i\Viiy ' anci ran from 111o 'i use and heard a gunshot a moment later. Wade said A Hon was working at I Fort Bragg and that Mix .Allnn said j . lie was in her home when Bowden I 'Continued on Pail" Five* Miss Ethel Pc Mrs. Stevens' State Agricult Daily Dispatch Bureau, i In the Sir Walter Hotel. By HENRY AVERILL. Raleigh, Dee. 17.—As if next-Gov i ernor J. M. Broughton didn't face , trouble enough in finding jobs for all i the male politicians who will swear they carried their counties for him ' in the primary last spring, there is in prospect at least one scrap im position in which the aspiring con-j tenders will be ladies. Miss Ethel Parker of Gatesville— oi at lea^t friends in her behoof and behalf—has already launched a cam paign to replace Mrs. Vivian (L. L.) ^ Stevens on the State Board of Agri culture. of which that lady from Cur- I rituck is now the only feminine mem-j bcr. I 1 I British Ask Financial Assistance Details of Appeal Not Made Public; Secre tary Hull Urges All Speed Possible in Pro ducing Arms, Planesj and Supplies. Washington. Dec. 17.-YAI')—Sec retary |-lii'i was reported today to have (olri (is'lVn>•(» commissioners and other govo!"e'ont oificials that Great Britain probably would face a serious r-.-isis nevt •■faring unless present de livery schedules of American sup-1 plirs v.n-o {•■ rsiderably increased. j Disclosure <•!' the cabinet member's j view followed an outright British re r u(><••! for ri'V)nciai assistance from the United States. Details of the ap p( *■ 1 were not nuido public. Hull was ;tonr| to have urged' all speed possible in producing arms. 1 planes and other supplies. Similarly j it was learn'd that ^he shipping sit- | u.vtion is he:ng examined to deter mine whether additional merchant j shins might he made available for i rushing supplies io Britain. Hull's statements were believed to j be part'allv responsible for the com- J mcnts ol William S. Knudsen and ; other defense officials that greater speed is neees.si.ry in the defense pro- i gram. Knudsen yesterday described the production situation as one of "ter rible urgency". That declaration and the British request for financial help put two formidable problems on President Roosevelt's desk. As Mr. Roosevelt returned to the executive offices for the first full day after his two weeks cruise in the Caribbean, the belief grew in seme quarters that some important action might be forthcoming. "Something usually does happen when he comes back here," Secretary ot Commerce Jones pointed nut in explaining recently that decision on financial help to Britain could not be reached because "the administration is away." Since armament aid to Britain de pends on the speed of domestic de fense production, the expectation was that this field of assistance would receive executive attention be- ■ fore the matter uf financial assist- j a nee. Hoover Hints At Hearings Miami Beach, Deo. 17.—(AP)—J. Edgar Hoover, director of the Fed crad Bureau of Investigation, says Attorney General Robert Jackson probably will call public bearings on m FRf .r^oor* which Hoover declar ed "confirms" that Harry Bridges, west coast labor leader, "is a com munist". In an interview yesterday Hoover said the reocrt. Ii!ed by the FBI " it.h the ;>t.1 rtH-y general recently, "confirms that Bridges is ;i commu nist and that Ihe communist party advocates over i'v>\v of the United St^'es Government." At San Francisco last night, Bridges referred to ;i hearing a year j (Continued on P;igc Seven.) irkev Seeks Place On ure Board Mrs. Stevens" term will expire next May and in the final analysis it will be Mr. Broughton. and Mr. Broughton alone, who will have to decide whether t,, retain her, or ap point someone else. There isn t any requirement that the board have a feminine member, and so the governor has a wide dis cretion. Miss Parker, it is assumed, was a Broughton supporter in the primary, else she certainly would not now be seeking to oust Mrs. Stevens; but ac cording to your reporter's best in formation, there's where it is going to be even tougher for the governor; because it seems that Mrs. Stevens, (Continued on Page Seven) i Beaverhrook Says Invasion Attempt Planned By Nazis Succeeds Pittman Berkeley Bunker Berkeley Bunker, 34, Las Vegas, Nev., merchant and Mormon bishop, takes oath of office to fill unexpired term of the late Senator Key Pitt man. Bunker is first senator to take oath of office in the old Supreme Court chambers, temporary senate chambers, in the last 80 years. Many Dead In Explosion Cause of Blast in Cin c i n n a t i Apartment House Not Deter mined; Twelve Hurt. Cincinnati, Dcc. 17—(AP)—Mem bers of four families were olasted cut of their beds by a predawn ex plosion that wrecked a three-story downtown building Killed eight to eleven persons 1' da \ Twelve persons were injured and two were missing in the pile of lii-ark. kindling an'! dn;! that un til 3.30 a. m. had hren n structure housing business establishments on the first flocr and apartments on the upper floors. Twelve children wore among the victims, including a baby which f!t>ron«r Frank Coprv-k said wav born to Mrs. Lillian Schnetzer, 42. before she, too, was taken lifeless from the wreckage. While the cause w;>s p.,t. deter mined immediately. ^ Hughs, 57 who lived across the tree), said the e:%plosion "was like p-ilf from ignating gas." Some of the bodies wry o i^dly torn they could not be identified im mediately. Screams of adH's and- children trapped in the debris |inrr«,d emer gency squads cf poppo ;>nd firemen as th«\v dug into the >-oj»r;. a fire man said that those who dion't die of injuries were snffoentcd by smoke ana dust. RAID CAS' M.TI' S London, Doc. J 7.—n e^rlv months of next year, Lord Beaverbrook said, and there are I "sur^ rind certain signs" of a feverish development of production. "These vast preparations," he ad ded, "are directed at one objective— the invasion of Britain." "So we are warned. We know that same measure of preparation was carried out in Germany last winter. Tanks and dive bombers to destroy 1he French: the same thoroughness will be employed against us when the tune comes." Lord Beaverbrook told Britons they were "much too confident" and : c.dded "there is no justification for overconfidence now." "It must be acknowledged that Hit ler is still military master of Eu rope but not quite ^o much the mas ter he was." American planes are arriving in England "in an increasing flow—very very many of them," Lord Eeaver (Continued on Page Seven) Coal Mine Blast Traps Dozen Men Charleston. YV. Va., Dec. 17.— (AP)—The Stair Mines Depart ment announced today it had received an unofficial report that approximately a dozen men had been trapped in the number I foui mine of the Raleigh Coal and Coke Corporation near Bccklcy by a dust explosion or a mine fire. Perk ley, W. Va., Dec. 17.—(A P.) —Five injured men were brought <>u | of the number four mine of the Ra | Ingh Coal and Coke Corporation to J ri>y, less than an hour after an ex ! plosion which trapped an undcter j mined number of victims. The extent of the injuries suffered ] by the miners, who were rushed b> ! ambulance to a Berkley hospital, wa.' j not immediately learned. | Company officials a n n ounced ! shortly ".fter the five injured were j broufc'.l out that Ihry believed H ! more men were inside. They did not j know whether the miners still in the j mine were alive or dead. Mrs. C. M. Meadows, wife of a dis 1 trict mine inspector, said she under ! i tood there had been at least one j latality. Ti-ir. .nine, a ".siopc" operation ex j tending many miles back into a hill j side on the outskirts of Beck Icy, nor ; mally employs about 100 men, and ! officials said there were 47 men ein I ployed on the day shift. Two rescue crews were ordered j out immediately. Pierre-Etiennc Flandin Named to succced Pierre Laval, who was purged from his positions as vice premier and foreign minister of France, was Pierre-Etienne Flandin, former finance minister. Flandin took over the foreign min istry, but the vice premier post was left empty. Laval was a prime mover in the attempt to bring France into closer accord with the Rome-Berlin Axis. (Central Press) Laval Meets : | Nazi Envoy ! Ousted French Offi cial Reappears Sud denly for Talks With Abetz and.Petain. , Born. Dec. 17.—(AP)—At the be-' !.o luncheon table talk with Abetz and ! Chief of State Philippe Petain. It was the first time the ousted I \ ice premier and foreign minister; had been seen in Vichy since he was expelled from the French cabinet Friday night. His reappearance increased the anxiety of many veteran French of ficials whose usual tranquility in the face of government upheavals hasi been upset by Abctz's dramatic ar rival yesterday with a picked nazi guard and a German delegation. Total German occupation of France, some observers said, may be foreshadowed in the Abetz visit—the first to Vichy of any ranking nazi ! official since the armistice. Rumors spread that the Germans want Laval, once the old marshal's' own choice as his successor, back in I his job. But reports reaching dip lomatic quarters here said it v/as! (Continued on Page Five) TRAITOR London, Dec. 17.— (AP)—Mrs. | Dorothy l'amcla O'Grady, 42, a housewife, was sentenced to death for treason today. She was convicted under the official sec rets act and defense regulation, it was announced. FIVE DIK IN FIRE. Johnstown. I'a.. Dec. 17.— (AI*)—Five persons perished to day in flames which destroyed a two-family home at nearby .Mineral Point. The victim.-; were trapped on the second floor of ! the seven-room frame structure. No Foreign War Committee Organization Announced j l New York, Dec. 17.—(AP)—For mation of the No Foreign War Com mittee was announced today by Verne Marshall, editor of the Cedar F.apids. Ia., Gazette, who is chair man of the new organization. The purpose of the committee, a statement said, is to "give articulation to that overwhelming majority of American citizens which is definite ly on record as opposed to our direct physical involvement in the present war." In a statement issued after a two day organization meeting here, Mar shall said: "For months out in Iowa I have watched the development of a psychological trend toward actual and physical American participation in this war. "The William Allen White Com mittee to Defend America by Aid ing the Allies has done an effective •' job of originating and developing ex actly the same public psychology as ' that which was carefully created during the wai period preceding our declaration of hostilities in April. 1917. "In a large measure the success of the White committee is due to the i lack of opposition to its efforts. The masses of people who are extremely l'earlul of their country's catastrophic involvent in the current phase of Europe's incessent warfare have had r.o voice with a national audience. "It is the purpose of the No For eign War Committee to prov ide that voice, to give articulation to the hopes and prayers to those innumer able millions of Americans who know that if they are dragged once again rnto the economic and political con flicts of the Old World only com plete chaos- can result." , RAF Raids Nazi Center OfMannheim Greeks Report Smash ing Seven Violent Counter Attacks by Fascists in Albania; Abetz Confers With Petain in Vichy. (Bv The Associated Press.) Britain's counter-invasion troops nnshed deeper into Italian I.ibva in the nine-day old battle of North Africa today: royal air force war planes pounded the German chemical manufacturing city of Mannheim in « seven-hour assault, and the Greeks reported smashing seven violent counter attacks by fascist legions in Albania. Near I'ardia. London military quarters said General Sir Archibald P. Wavell's desert forces had thrust a salient to the vicinity of Bardia. key Italian stronghold 15 miles inside Libya on the Mediterranean seacoast. Pressure on Bardia is "steadily in creasing" and new British forces are arriving in the area, a general head quarters communique reported today. The communique also said that two additional Italian forts at the fron tier south of Bardia had been cap tured. British armored units were report ed sweeping over the desert beyond Bardia in an attempt to encircle the town—which would provide an im portant base for the British offen sive aimed at knocking Italy out of the war. Salum Captured. The drive gained momentum from the capture of Salum, last Italian pocket of resistance in western Egypt, and Fort Capuzzo, strategic highway terminum twelve miles due >outh of Bardia. Premier Mussolini's high command said the battle on the Libyan front was raging "with ferocity no less than that on previous days" and de clared that the Italian air force "strongly wore down the enemy." Fascist torpedo planes, the Rome communique said, scored two hits on (Continued on Paee Five Windsors End Visit In U. S. Miami, Dec. 17.—(Al')—The Dtilce and Dutchess of Windsor terminate today their first visit to the U. S. since Kin# Edward's abdication of the British throne. Happy over the cordial reception they received here, the Windsors planned to sail at 5 p. m. (e. s. t.) aboard the yacht Southern Cross on the return trip to Nassau. The duchess appeared virtually re covered from the effects of a dental operation that brought the Wind sors to Miami just a week ago. BKIIISH KtPOKI SHIPPING LOSSES London. Dee. 17.— (\P)—The admiralty rpeorted today 101, 10ft tons of British, allied and neutral merchant shipping were sunk during the week ending December 8. Nineteen British vessels, to taling 86,710 tons, three allied ships of 12.937 tons, and one ncu tral vessel of 1.513 tons, were lost during the period, it said. Armour May Become Ambassador Washington, Dec. 17—(AP)—Nor man Armour, ace career diplomat and now United States ambassador to Argentina was mentioned in in formed circles today for the vacant post of ambassador to Great Britain. With no British ambassador in this country following the death of the Marquess om Lothian. President Roosevelt was expected to name a successor soon to Joseph P. Kennedy, who resigned the London post on November 6. S.me sources hinted that the Pres ident already had decided on Ar mour for the key assignment in the British capital. Armour, who wa« born in England of American narents. has h°ld diplo matic nosts in nearly every n»rt of the world, including Jaoan. Russia, and various European countries..