* n* r«? i»iai*iwnirti>» i
(ME^iOERSOHi M &
Hcnitersoit Batly Htspafclf
ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED IN THIS SECTION OF NORTH CAROLINA AND VIRGINIA
' WKXTY-SEVENTH YEAR 1f,fg\»^fTgg'V%ai0P HENDERSON, N. C., SATURDAY AFTERNOON, DECEMBER 28, 1940 e0mjsIW^jB^„^Em'"0'' FIVE CENTS COPY
Aluminum
Kalicning
Proposed
v -plane Production
^eing Handicapped
Need for Alumi
num Products; Ra
t curing Considered
With Priorities Rule. I
Dec. 2o. —(AP)—Ra- '
. aiuminum products was j
deration in government
: >cU'y as a means of avoid- j
do lays in warplane pro- ;
• >cacdules.
we sources reported that j
wioe was being studied as .
more frequently men
:-.e >t production priorities. \
■. rationing system defense i
\ would determine what
of completed aluminum
:c:.» should be delivered to
ane manufacturers.
• v.-.i!ly. orders for aluminum
a manufacturer who had
■ on: supply might be di
: i another who had no such
alation.
were imposed these
•ermine the order in which
products should be pro
i:!l defense contracts as
commercial contracts for
vse.
ediate supply of alumi
dacts for the swiftly ex
?. .rt industry is schedul
ly study by the reorgani
se priorities board.
. num question came to
■ : .rough a recent announce
• e Xorthrop Aircraft Cor
-v:iich holds $10,000,000
defense contracts. Ccm
.s said their production
:rtailed because of lack
: :m products.
Defense To
Be Speeded
Office for Production
Management to Spur i
Lagging Industry,!
Public Apathy.
? v CHARLES P. STEWART
(-ntral Press Columnist
-■ Dec. 23.—Now will!
" action? Our new alphabet!-1
11 p. the OPM, created to put j
uni pep into us, hasn't had;
time to administer
mucn ginger yei.
bit it's a strenuous
looking quartet—
William S. Knud
sen. director; Sidney
Hillman. vice direc- \
tor and spokesman
for labor: War and i
Navy Secretaries1
Henry L. Stimson
and Frank Knox,
representing our
armed services.
OI'M! — mean
Mm. S. iuiudseo ing Office for'
Production Man-'
agement. Produc- j
. in turn, of course means pro
*>ti of war supplies, for cur own .
' • e. in case we'e picked on pres-!
and for Britain's immediate '
AVd better commit those ini
' ' memory, we're going to see
«ip!etity from now on.
It' being widely advertised that
war production Jags, oogs down.
•' question is, why so? The an- j
< i commonly given is that we're
'iietic, don t appreciate the vitai |
'ivity today's emergency—an
•stry doesn't, labor doesn't, and
• tner does our public generally. |
So the OPM's first business is to
iect into our system generally the
•'amilus of a national scare. That
•ught to make us develop a lot of
'tivity. Bill Knudsen's task will
ut to give it industrial direction. As
oeiate Hillman will attend to the la
bor detail. Secretaries Stimsnn and
Knox will tell Bill and Sidney what
• r army, navy and aviation services
particularly ner>d.
But the initial dose consists in
t'ro throwing into us of a first rate
care. Director Knudsen gave us a
snot the other day. with his warn
■ ri of our 'terrible danger." Secre
tary Knnv supoleMr"*,,>tp'J Ri1' with
l - declaration that "it (the danger)
is nearer tlian you know *" Stimson
(Continued on Page Two)
Nazi Communique Said It Was Sunk—Here It Is
Decks awash, but still afloat, the British destroyer Kelly, is towed to from Nazi torpedo boat in the North Sea. British say she was refitted,
port. German communique said the Kelly had been sunk by a torpedo and has again put to sea. Note crew members clustered on the port side.
Gayda In Warning To America
North Carolina's Highway
Safety Record Is Very Bad
Traffic Fatalities For
1940 Expected To Ex-j
ceed Those of 1939,;
State Safety Division j
Says; Good Record;
First Half-Year.
Daily bispatcb Bureau,
In lh«» Sir Hole!.
By HENRY AVER1LL.
Raleigh, Dec. 28.—Continued in
crease in highway fatalities in No
vember, coupled with an already
assured high figure for December
makes it sure that North Carolina
will have nothing to bi'ag about in
the highway safety line this year.
In fact it is already certain that
the state's record will be definitely
mad. Carl Barefoot, Safety Division
statistician, gloomily predicts: "We
will be among the worst states in
the country."
The cold figures confirm his fears
and his dark outlook:
November claimed 108 victims on
North Carolina roads, as compared
with 103 in the same month of 1939;
and the eleven months total for this
year rose to 851 against 834 for
1939. minus December.
There have already been received
enough death statistics to make it
appear positive that this month wili
go above the 109 fatalities of 1939.
Last year's final total reached 943
There is every reason to believe that
1940s total will climb well above
960, or even higher.
— *-■»— di-inblv COn
Oc! ity — —
cerned because the state's safety
record was wrecked during the sec
ond half of the year, after the
January to June six-months period j
had shown a reduction of more than
ten percent over the first half of j
1939.
In the analysis of the first half |
Ronald Hocutt, safety director,
wrote: "The first six months of 1940 I
accounted for 353 traffic fatalities
in North Carolina compared with j
396 for the first six months of 1939. j
This indicates a reduction of 10.8 i <
percent." :
In his annual report he'll not be (
able to write any such cheerful and
cheering news. The only question .
now is just how much higher this 1'
year's deaths will go.
Nor can the safety division of- i,
ficials offer any reason for the ter
rible toll of lives snuffed out since ,
July 1. So astonishing has been the
jump that both September and Oc- j
tober showed more than twice as ,
manv deaths as in March, the low ',
month of 1940, when but 55 fatali- ;
ties were reported. September's <
deaths reached 111 and in October '
the figure went up two from that ]
high level, to 113. 1
In three counties there was at I
least one traffic fatality every month
so far this year: Buncombe, Guil- i
ford and Mecklenburg. 1
Three other counties missed only
one month out of the eleven. Forsyth
escaped a fatality in April; Gaston
had none in November, and Robe
son's May record was perfect.
Cumberland, one of the heavy
■death counties, showed a perfect
record for three months in a row—
(Continued on Page Three) l
Hiking to Help the Hungry
A group of "Food-for-Europe Pilgrims" are pictured on a hike from
Lancaster, Pa., to New York City to dramatize their plea that food be
sent to the war areas. The group expected others to join them en route.
Left to right, Lee Stern, of Aurora, 0.; Preston Luitweiler, same;
Phillip Mayer, Stubenville, 0.; and Angelo Mongiore, New York.
Storm Leaves
Twenty Dead
j I
(By the Associated Press) i
A tropical windstorm that rav
iged parts oi' Cuba and Mexico and
preaa fanlikc up the Florida and
Jalifornia coasts reaped a death toll
>f 20 dead, left hundreds injured
md caused heavy property damage
resterday.
The west Cuban town of Mecujal,
vhere ten person^ were killed and
.50 injured by freakish gale winds,
vas most seriously hit.
Vera Cruz slate, Mexico, reported
line dead ana niaiiy injured by 50
nile winds- that disrupted communi
cations and rail service.
Torrential rains accompanied the
torm into Florida, where one man
vas electrocuted by a fallen power
ine. The rains ceased today, when
he heaviest fog the weather bureau
las ever recorded in the state set in.
The eastern seaboard was spared
serious damage, although parts of it
lad heavy fog. rain and light winds.
ABC APPOINTEE
Raleigh, Dec. 28—(AP)—Gever
lor Hoey announcsd today the res
gnation of F. Webb Williams of Eliz
abeth City from the State Board of
Alcoholic Control and- the appoint
ment of A. Roy Moore of Wilson to
ill his unexpired term.
Continuance
Of Farm Aid
Demanded
Washington, Dcc. 28.—(AP)—De
mands i'or continuance oi' the ex
isting farm program came from
senators in both parties today and
Senator Bankhead, Democrat, Ala.,
said he wanted present benefits in
creased.
Bankhead, who has drafted much
farm legislation in recent years, told
reporters that further curtailment
of crops probably would be neces
sary to avoid increasing surpluses.
He said it therefore would be es
sential to raise present farm bene
fits.
On the Republican side, Senator
Capper, of Kansas, declared that ex
isting parity and soil conservation
programs should be continued. He
said that while some refinements
might be necessary the fundamentals
of the plan should be extended un
til a better system could be worked
out.
DIES IN CRASH
Elizabethtown, N. C., Dec. 28.—
(AP)—J. Walter Williamson, 60. of
Wilmington, was burned to death last
night when his automobile went over
a steep embankment near here and
caught lire.
Says War
May Spread
Italian Editor Warns
i Against Convoys;
France Becomes Ac
tive; Other War News
'By the Associated Press)
Virginio Gayda, irte highly placed
Italian editor, today warned Amer
ican "interventionists" that if they
sent supply convoys to Britain by
way of neutral Ireland, they would
start "a spread of the conflict i'rom
Europe and the North Atlantic to
the western hemisphere, the south
ern Atlantic ana liie Pacific."
Gayda wrote that Japan, under
her three-power pact with Italy and
Germany, "is watchful and would
not allow without immediate reac
tion extension of the European and
Asiatic conflict."
Travelers arriving ui j-iisuou, x-ui
tugal, frcm unoccupied France re
ported that they had been reliably
informed that Chief of State Petain
has authorized a number of French
naval officers to spend "vacations"
in North Africa and that several
French warships already had sailed
to north Africa.
The travelers connected these
moves with Petain's ' unabated deci
sion to rule France himself free
Irom foreign impositions."
British general headquarters in
Cairo announced that 38,114 prison
ers taken in the offensive against
Italian Libya had been countde.
The British said that "the concen
tration of our forces investing Bar
dia is proceeding smoothly while our
artillery continues to harass the
Italian garrison." Captured Italian |
soldiers said that Premier Mussolini
himself ordered the garrison of Bar
die to be "ready to die rather than
give up."
Greeks besieging Tepeleni on the
middle Albania battlefront were re
ported to have wrested domination
of the town from the Italians with
bayonet charges and shell fire.
"Crumbling" Italian resistance
had brought the battle to the "deci
sive stage," Greek dispatches said.
Alter one of the heaviest night
bombing attacks of the war on Lon
don. British bombing planes were re
ported to be jabbing at Adolf Hit
ler's invasion ports along 1,000 miles
of nazi-occupied coast from the Bay
of Biscay to Norway.
I Wave after wave of German bomb-1
I ers attacked London last night in a |
J raid which, while it lasted, equalled
in intensity any of the past. A terse
government statement acknowledged
that "a number" of people were kill
ed, that "many dwellings were de
stroyed or damaged" and that nu
merous fires were started.
(jJmik&h
FOR NORTH CAROLINA.
Showers this afternoon and to
night, probably ending Sunday
morning; cooler Sunday and in
west and east portions tonight.
EXTENDED FORECAST.
For South Atlantic states, for
period ending January 1.
Moderate to heavy rain first of
period and unsettled again near
close. Cooler Saturday night and
Sunday; average temperature
near to or somewhat above nor
mal.
Troops In Hungary
To Guard Against
British Invasion
Roosevelt
Labors
On Address
Washington, Dcc. 28.—(AP) —
FiiSiueiu itousevcit arranged to
work iiirincr today oji tuc radio
speech lie will deliver tomorrow
in;,'lit—an address he considered
so important that he callcd in
members of his cabinet iu work
011 the rough draft.
He indicated he would have a
lot to say and some important
pronouncements. His principal
task, he said, was building into a
hall-hour talk what he would
iike to say in about two hours.
The address will be broadcast
from 9:30 to 10 p. m. (EST).
Stephen Early, Presidential
press secretary, has predicted
the speech would be very clear
and specific on aid to Britain.
The cabinet was reported to
have gone into an exhaustice re
view of the defense equipment
production program and to have
discussed appeals to the Chief
Executive that he speak otvi
boldly on the chances of an Eng
lish defeat and what this would
mean to the United States.
Governor Herbert H. Lehman
of New York, a White House
caller yesterday, told reporters
that "there are a great many
people in this country who as
yet have no realization of the ur
gency of the situation."
He urged that all possible
speed be applied to defense pro
duction for this country and for
Britain.
It was learned officially last
night that the President would
deliver his annual legislative
message to Congress in person
before a joint session on Mon
day, January 6.
Larkins-Gay
Race Close
Neither Claims Elec
tion "In a Walk" in,
Race for Senate Presi
dent Pro Tem.
Daily Dispatch Tlureau.
In the Sir V/siror Hotel
By HENRY AVF.RILL.
Raleigh, Dec. 23.—Outstanding od
dity about the Larkins-Gay fight for
president pro tem of the Senate is
that they are scrapping tooth and i
nail for a job which yields no poli- [
tical returns commensurate with the!
effort required to win it in the face
of any sort of opposition.
Either of the contestants could pro
bably land a good committee chair
manship were he to put his mind to
it with Ihe same enthusiasm and
drive he is displaying in the current
campaign. Neither is persona non
grata to Lieutenant Governor Reg
Harris, which would make such an
appointment the more likely.
The Senate's president pro tem
hasn't any appointive power, no pat
ronage to dispense and, in general, is
little more than an honorary figure •
head.
On the other hand it does not call j
for any hard work and gets nobody j
into a political jam or on a political,
spot, while an important chairman-!
ship often does both. Maybe that's j
why John D. Jr., from Jones, ana.
Archie from Northampton are so,
anxious to get the place.
Second unusual feature is that
neither is claiming his election "in a
walk." Larkins' top estimate of his
pledged support is 28 votes, Gay's is
27. The Jones county senator con-!
cedes 18 to his opponent and says he I
has been definitely informed by j
eleven that they will be against him. !
He believes that at least 16 of his
supporters have written Q»y that
they are committed to Larkins.
In view of the fact that there is'
a top of 46 votes (two Republicans '
and the candidates themselves count
ed out of the fifty senators) in the
caucus, it is noticeable that either1
the 28 or the 27 claim leaves room
for a rather close contest which could
be changed by the switch of a very
few; or by a misunderstanding of the
(Continued on Page Three)
Hitler Said To Have
Agreed to Invasion of ?
Greece Only to Divert
Italian Attention from
France After Armis
tice.
Budapest, Hungary, Dec. 28.—(AP)
—With the advance guard of a new
nazi expedition of 300,000 troops al
ready rolling eastward across Hun
gary, authoritative sources reported
today that Germany plans to move
against Greece by way of Bulgaria
only if Britain tries to use Greece as
the starting point for an invasion of
central Europe.
Germany, ihese sources said, will
not make any move to aid the Ital
ian forces now fighting the Greeks
in Albania if the British regrain from
landing troops in Greece.
Germany was understood by these
sources to have let it be known in
the Balkans that in the event of Ital
ian collapse as the result of a Greek
victory the nazis would hasten to
make a definite peace with Francc.
It was stated authoritatively that
Adolf Hitler had agreed to let Pre
mier Mussolini attack Greece last
October only because he wished to
divert Italy's attention from beaten
France.
Germany was said to have been
considerably embarrassed by Italian
clamor for slices of French territory
when Hitler reportedly wished to
give Marshal Petain, French chief of
state, easy terms so as to win th'j
Vichy government's full friendship.
The debacle in Albania, far from
disquieting Germany, has made Italy
keep quet about demands in Francc,
these sources said.
They asserted that Hitler was pre
pared to make a full peace settle
ment with France with only the pro
vinces of Alsace and Lorraine chang
ing hands.
Petain was understood to have told
the nazis that in case the Germa.i
terms were "unreasonable" he would
cut north Africa loose, with General
V/eygaiui taking a large colonic!
army into the ranks of General dc
Gaulle's "free French" forces • mov
ing against Italian Libya from
Tunisia in coordination with the cur
rent British action from Egypt.
British Cash
Running Low
Preliminary Audit of
Resources in U. S. Re
veals End of Cash
Payments Is Near.
Washington, Dec 28.—(AP;—A
preliminary audit of British re
sources in the United States has re
vealed, authoritative sources dis
closed today, that Great Britain will
run out ox cas!i to pay lor purchases
of arms and munitions here "in the
early autumn" of next year.
The preliminary examination of
Britain's financial condition, made
by United States treasury experts,
established that the end of British
cash payments was approaching, it
was said. A more detailed exami
nation of the British financial situ
ation is to be made.
That detailed analysis, informed
sources said, was being made to de
termine as precisely as possible Brit
ish capacity to pay for purchases
here and the probable calendar date
on which British cash would be ex
nausted.
The Treasury's study also will pro
vide answers to the questions Pres
ident Roosevelt and Secretary Mor
genthau expect to be asked when
Congress considers the problem of
aid to Britain.
The British government now is
paying for war supplies with gold
shipped from London, payments for
British goods, ana receipts from the
sale here of British-owned dollar se
curities.
Well informed sources said that
the British treasury's balance sheet
made available to the U. S. Treas
ury experts showed that Britain
would be able to pay cash for all
ships, planes and other war imnle
ments and supplies now on order,
but could not pay cash for the larg
er orders expected tc be placed in
this country.