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WILMINGTON ASSOCIATED PRESS
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P^Tri^NO- 230 ~ 3WS WILMINGTON, N. C., SATURDAY, MAY 25, 1940 + ^ ESTABLISHED 1867.
British Mass
Guns, Troops
Along Coast
King Warns Defeat And
Invasion By Germany |
Will Bring ‘Darkness’
HIGHWAYS BLOCKED
Former German Spy Falls
Into Scotland Yard’s
‘Fifth Column’ Bag
| BRITAIN
LONDON, May 24—UP)—England
rolled up the barricades of modern
war tonight from her ancient Chan
nel ports to the blue Irish Sea,
forewarned on this bleak Empire
Day by King George VI himself
that defeat and invasion by Nazi
Germany will bring “the descent
of darkness” upon the ruins of
Britain’s kind of world.
The narrow old roads from the
Channel’s high chalk cliffs inland,
which haven’t felt the stamp of
an invader’s boots for nearly ten
centuries, were guarded closely,
behind a secret massing of heavy
naval, air and land forces in stra
Roads Barricaded
Real road barricades stood rea
dy at vital spots, and motorists in
the pastoral green of rural Eng
land were stopped and made to
show identity cards.
Sharp German spy memories of
915 came flooding back as Cap
tain Franz von Rintelen, imprison
ed by the United States during the
last war for sabotaging munitions
ships, fell into Scotland ard’s
“fifth column” bag along with
more than a score other suspects.
Rintelen, who came to England
several years ago as a voluntary
exile from Nazi Germany, only
yesterday told newspapermen that
it was “impossible” for Germany
to invade Britain, despite British
“lethargy.”
The heart of governmental Lon
guns and armed guards. One gun
stood at the head of Downing
Street, where Prime Minister Win
ston Churchill lives. Another was
planted near the foreign office.
Army guards at public buildings
were increased.
COAimONCABINET
DISCUSSION SPIKED
G. 0. P. Continues To De
mand F. R. Renounce
Third Term Intention
WASHINGTON, May 24.—1^>)—
President Roosevelt spiked talk of
a coalition defense cabinet today
as Republicans continued to de
mand that he renounce any third
term intention.
The chief executive, whose re
nomination by the democrats—if
he will take it—became more cer
tain than ever during the day, told
his press conference that any idea
of a coalition cabinet was cock
eyed. He said that all speculation
about republicans going into his
(Continued on Page Three)
BITTER FIGHT
IS UNDER WA Y
WITHIN GHENT
FORTS SMASHED
Whole German Offensive
Seems To Be Operating
Fanwise Toward Coast
ACTIVE IN AIR
“GERMANY |
BERLIN, May 24.— (AP)
In a fast, savage offensive on
the final outposts that stand
between England and France,
the Germans declared to
night they were smashing to
ward the “gates of Calais”
and fighting the Allies hand
to-hand in the streets of
Ghent.
While Nazi divisions
smashed westward in Bel
gium toward the English*
channel, others pulled at the
western end of the great net
in which half a million to a
million Allied troops are en
meshed in northern France
and Belgium.
A moving line of steel
which started northward
from the Somme, pushed to
a depth of more than 30
miles to reach the outskirts
of Calais—gateway to Eng
land just 22 miles across the
channel from the chalk cliffs
of Dover.
The other German advance,
westward across Belgium,
smashed through the Scheld
river fortifications into Tor
nai and Ghent to draw tight
er the net about the entrap
ped British, French and Bel
gian troops.
It was not clear here
whether Boulogne itself was
in German hands, since it ap
peared that the German ad
vance had skirted the town
to the east. In any case, it
appeared cut off. (A French
(Continued on Page Three)
MANY CANDIDATES
PREDICT VICTORY
Mass Of People Are Go
ing To Elect Him
(By The Associated Press) .
Most of North Carolina’s demo
cratic gubernatorial candidates is
sued predictions of victory last (Fr-i
day) night, on the eve of the state
primary elections.
Addressing his fellow townsmen
in Rocky Mount, Lee Gravely said:
“To my friends throughout the state,
I bring the positive prediction of vic
tory, and I pledge to you and to all
the people of this state that when
I am elected governor I shall give to
the duties of that office alle of my
thought, energy and effort. ...”
Tom Cooper, speaking in his home
twon of Wilmington, declared: "The
great mass of the people are going
to elect Tom Cooper, for the other
candidates have fallen into the er
ror of similarity of platforms.
A. J. Maxwell of Raleigh was con
fined by illness to his home in Ra
leigh, but his associate campaign
manager, Ronald Wilson, predicted
Maxwell would carry 60 counties,
including wake, Cleveland, Forsyth
and Buncombe. Wilson said J. M.
Broughton of Raleigh would carry
21 counties, W. P. Horton of Pitts*
(Continued on Page Three)
CRITICAL STRUGGLE
Allies Seek To Bar Germans
From Footholds For
Jump Across Channel
USE HEAVY GUNS
"trance
PARIS, May 24.—(AP) —
French troops, standing dog
gedly at the extreme west
ern rim of the republic in
a great and bloody show
down, were declared official
ly tonight to be holding the
English channel port of Bou
logne against the Nazi rush
to the sea.
Just to the northeast, in
the equally vital region of
Calais, other Allied forces
closed desperately with Ger
man light units.
The last Allied word on
Boulogne tonight was by a
French war ministry spokes
man, who announced French
troops still were holding the
o rvo Inef Horm Q n Qvm_
ored columns. The Germans
never had directly claimed
the capture of Boulogne, say
ing, rather, that German
armored columns had brush
ed past it on the way to Ca
lais. However, at one point
earlier in the day a London
announcement assumed the
city had fallen.
Capture of Boulogne is
not essential to the advance
of armored columns on Ca
lais.
The critical struggle to
night was to bar the Ger
man legions from footholds
necessary to spring across
the channel at England. For,
across only 20 miles of water
from Calais and 26 miles
from Boujogne lie the cliffs
and fields of England—upon
which no invader has tramp
ed in the long march of nine
centuries.
Use Heavy Guns
While fighting raged within sight
of the Strait of Dover, the main
Allied forces—separated by a cor
ridor 30 miles wide through which
the German mechanized forces
pushed toward the sea— brought
out their greatest weapon, heavy
artillery, in an effort to cut down
the long, thin German line by
crossfire .
On both sides of that corridor
(Continued on Page Three)
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TO SUBSCRIBERS
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K a « rs. « ^ « a
North Carolina Stages Vote Today
450,000 Ballots I
Expected To Be
Cast In Primary
SEVERAL RACES
Polls In 1,913 Precincts
Will Open At 7 A. M.,
Close At 7 P. M.
unusual campaign
Number Of Democratic
Candidates For Gover
nor Establishes Record
iBy the Associated Press)
North Carolinians will go to the
polls in 1.913 precincts today to
write the end to a precedent-set
tins primary campaign. Partly
doudy weather, without showers,
is predicted by Raleigh Weather
man H. E. Kichline.
The polls will be open from
1 a m. to 7 p.m. Governor Hoey
?r.d election officials have esti
mated that total vote will be about
450,000.
Predict Victory
Unualified predictions of victory
were issued last night by most of
the candidates.
Democratic nominations to be
decided are for governor, lieuten
ant governor, auditor, secretary of
state, insurance commissioner, ag
riculture commissioner, and con
gress from the third, fourth, sixth,
eighth and 11th districts, as well
as legislative, county and town
ship posts.
I The democratic nomination for
state and congressional posts is
euivalent to election.
Republican nominations at stake
are for governor, lieutenant gov
ernor and some few legislative,
county and township posts.
Although campaigns have been
"aged actively for the last four
months, little state-wide interest
(Continued on Page Three)
I SPAWNING SHRIMP
I SUPPLY REDUCED
I Unless Layoff Effected,
■ Fishermen May Find
■ Themselves Out Of Luck
■ NEW ORLEANS. May 24—UP)—
H L'niess shrimp fishermen of the
^B Atlantic coast take a two-month
layoff, they may find themselves
^B out of luck where the catch is
H concerned.
& Such is the opinion of two ac
H Wtic biologists of the United
II “’a'es Bureaus of fisheries, Milton
■ Lindner end William W. Ander
^B son.
^B ln a report on the present status
of the Atlantic shrimp fishery,
^B ®ade public here today, the two
B (Continued on Page Three)
B y, forecast
^B ilsv , | Jr"li,lll: Partly cloudy Satur
M I'xtrcm ..T.v, scattered showers in
H (,ast portion Saturday, rising
^B S;itii]',ji|r* Sunday and in Mountains
^B enlnU.V'^'"logical data for the 24 hours
H. o • oh p. nt. yesterday).
B ■ ■,, Temperature
■ ti, "f,'1; 7:30 a. m. 75; 1:30 p.
■ ninitm.m >'• 72: maximum 84:
IB ‘ hi. mean normal 73.
B ! :;"a t
■ in. 5S i a. in. 86: 1:30 p.
^B 1 -jO p. in. 7o.
Bh Total f „ Precipitation
I f'.Oii ij,.Ior .-A hours ending 7:30 p. m.
■ month 0 73s sillce first of the
IB (From .i"T,’<*es , l>r Today
*^l S- Coast- At „fahles published by U
■ °ast “"4 Geodetic Survey).
H "hfflitlgton HiKh Low
■ , Bl0n - (1:23a 7:40a
■ ^®sonboro Inlet 12:44p 7:55
V ll,lct -10:38a 4:34a
^B .Sunrise s (., 11:0<>p 4:39p
|| ,h* 1,1 -r^'moonA'VTAiT;1^1^ m°°n
1 lt'Jnt“IUed on Page Xwo, Col. 7)
NEW HANOVER READY
Partly Cloudy And Some
what Colder Weather Is
Forecast For Today
THREE RACES HERE
Registration Amounts To
9,958, Vote Is Expected
To Total 7,500
New Hanover’s democrats and
republicans will vote today on their
party nominees for office, local and
state, and a primary vote of 7,500
fias been predicted by political ob
servers.
The polls open at 7 a.m. and
close at 7 p.m.
Partly cloudy and somewhat
cooler weather has been forecast
cy weather bureau officials.
Due to the lack of opposition en
countered by most county officials,
:he governor’s race and other state
cffices are drawing most of the at
tention.
Three Candidates
Four persons are candidates for
Psew Hanover’s two seats in the
state house of representatives,
rhere are five candidates for the
three posts on the board of county
commissioners and two candidates
[or the office of constable in Wil
mington township.
Many state officials have pre
dicted that a vote of 450,000 will be
cast in the state today. While four
cf the state offices are narrowed
down to only two candidates, the
fnr thp cnihernatorial nomin
ation broke all precedents in North
Carolina. There are four candi
dates for the democratic nomin
ation for lieutenant-governor.
The complete slate of state of
fices is as follows:
For Governor—Thomas E. Coop
er. L. Lee Graveley, Paul Grady,
Wilkins Perryman Horton, A. J.
Maxwell, Broughton and Arthur
Simmons.
For Lieutenant Governor—R. L.
Harris, W. Erskine Smith, Dan
Tompkins, and L. A. Martin.
For Secretary of State Thad
Eure (incumbent) and Walter Mur
phy.
For AuditorGeorge Ross Pou
(incumbent) and Charles W. Mill
er.
For Commissioner of Agriculture
C. Wayland Spruill and W. Kerr
Scott (incumbent).
William B. Oliver and Dan C. Bon
ey (incumbent).
(Continued on Page Three)
caswellaviation
CAMP IS SOUGHT
Efforts To Get Air Training
Base Pushed By South
port, Wilmington
Eforts to secure the establish
ment of one of the ten or mpre
army aviation training camps
recently proposed by President
Roosevelt at Fort Caswell were
pushed yesterday by officials at
Southport and the chamber of com
merce here.
Letters were written by Louis
T. Moore, of the chamber of com
merce, to Senator Robert R. Rey
nolds, H. H. Thomas, manager and
S. O. Chase, owner of the Caswell
Beach corporation.
In the letter to Senator Reynolds,
it was pointed out that the present
properties and buildings at Fort
(Continued on Page Six, Col. 6)
-M
[louse Okehs
Enlargement
Of Air Corps
Approves Unlimited Ex
pansion Of Army Branch
By Vote Of 361 To 1
BILL GOES TO SENATE
Roosevelt Announces Ex
tensive Program For
Training Pilots
WASHINGTON, May 24—(£>—By
a vote of 391 to 1, the house today
approved an unlimited expansion
af the army air corps a few hours
after President Roosevelt had an
lounced a broad plan for training
50,000 pilots to man the cockpits
af the nation’s future fighting
planes.
Meanwhile, however, the senate
aaval committee imposed a top of
L0.000 planes upon the navy’s air
strength, in recommending pass
age of a measure authorizing the
expenditure of an estimated $2,
!00,000,000 for the naval air corps
ind its bases ashore. The maxi
num was fixed, it was said, so
;hat the navy would have to ask
songress for approval when the
ime comes to exceed that number
af fighting ships.
Bill uoes 10 oenaie
The army air corps bill, which
row goes to the senate, would sus
pend the army air corps’ present
egal maximum of 6,000 planes un
;il June 30, 1941. It also would
eermit the army to train an aver
age of 8,500 pilots annually, as
compared with 2,500 at present,
and allow 6,000 air corps reserve
officers to be on active duty simul
:aneously. In addition the legisla
;ion would permit the army to dis
charge “fifth column” suspects
arpong its civilian employes re
gardless of civil service restric
tion.s
The senate naval committee act
ed on the naval bill after Rear Ad
miral John H. Towers, chief of the
naval air corps, had said the Uni
ted States has “far and away the
oest naval air force in the world.’
However, Senator Byrd (D-Va had
interpreted filgures presented ear
lier by Towers as indicating the
navy had no more than 500 up-to
;he-minute planes.
Chairman Walsh (D-Mass sug
gested that t)he earlier testimony
ne suppressed because it presented
“a very bad picture” for national
lefense, but the committee reject
ed the suggestion.
The bill authorizes the navy to
ncrease its roster of pilots to 16,
100, besides boosting its air
strength to 10,000 planes. Walsh
old reporters it was estimated
hat an outlay of $1,200,000,000
would be needed to attain this two
fold goal, which the navy hopes to
reach in four years.
Governors Will Aid
In addition to revealing his pro
gram for training pilots, Mr. Roos
evelt disclosed an expectation that
the governors of the 48 states,
meeting at Duluth early in June,
would get actively behind the de
fense program. He had discussed
(Continued on Page Three)
---^
M-Day Is Mother’s Day
“Women should take part in defending the home,” declared Mrs.
Edna L. Johnston, of Freehold. N. J., pictured at New York meeting
where she announced plans of the National Legion of Mo hers of
America for teaching its 2,000,000- members to shoot, as defense against
parachute troops invading the United States.
Severe Earthquakes Kill
249, Injure Many In Peru
-- ■ — x _
THOUSANDS HOMELESS
Many Victims Buried Under
Of Scores Of Wrecked
Buildings
LIMA, Peru, May 24— (S’) —A
series of violent earthquakes rocked
Peru today causing a heavy death
toll and leaving thousands homeless.
Crippling communications ob
scured the full extent of the dis
aster but reports trickling in tonight
placed the dead at 249 and the in
jured at more than 3,000.
Seventhy dead were counted in
Lima alone and it was feared addi
tional victims were buried under
debris of scores of wrecked buildings.
Callao Hard Hit
Callao, Lima’s seaport six miles
away, was the hardest hit. The death
toll there was put. at 150, with 1,100.
Almost every building in Callao
was reported collapsed or cracked
and the whole population was camp
ing in streets and plazas.
The shocks started with a one
minute tremor in the early afternoon.
The population rushed panic-stricken
(Continued on Page Three)
ITALIAN VESSELS
j DELAY SAILINGS
Reports Circulate In Rome
That Allied Concessions
Are Too Late’
ROME, May 24—<ff>—Sailings of
three Italian liners—possibly need
ed for troop transport—were post
poned tonight as reports circulated
in Italy that allied concessions in
tended to keep Italy out of the war
. had come “too late.”
Today was the 25th anniversary
of Italy’s entry into the world war
on the side of the Allies. Now she
is linked to Germany by a “pact
of steel,” and all signs point to
her entry into the war soon against
the Allies.
The official announcements of
the postponement said it was pure
ly a routine matter. New dates
were booked but reports were
widespread that these meant little.
Two of the liners were the ,Rex
and the Augustus, scheduled
(Continued on Page Three)
" 1
WAR INTERPRETIVE
BY KIRKE L. SIMPSON
Associated Press Writer
The stark outlines of what could
become a tremendous Allied dis
aster grow clearer hour by hour.
Unless the Allies can break the
trap closing upon perhaps a mil
lion soldiers in Flanders that vast
body of men mhy have to be sur
rendered to Germany to save it
from useless slaughter.
Yet the key to the confused situ
ation still is the narrow Cambrai
Peronne gap through which passed
the German thrust to the English
channel. At that breach Paris re
ports desperate counter attacks
hammering from north and south;
but there is an ominous lack of de
tail in the French accounts.
Closing the breach would turn
the tables on the German forces
north of the Somme and west of
the Cambrai - Peronne bottleneck.
(Continued on Page 6; Col. 4)
SEfZUREOF BELGIAN ARCHIVES BY NAZI
PARACHUTE CORPS OFFICERJS REVEALED
By LOUIS P. LOCHNER
wiTH THE GERMAN ARMY,
May 24.—(AP)—The story of
how a daring parachute corps
officer rushed straight to the
Belgian foreign office when
Brussels fell and seized ar
chives which “will make the
world prick up its ears, was
told to me today by an au
thentic German military source.
Among the parachute jump
ers who landed in the vicinity
of Brussels, I was told, was a
dashing officer who m peace
time served in Adolf Hitler’s
chancellery as a liaison man
to the foreign office. He also
was an assistant chief of prot
ocal.
As soon as the Belgian cap
ital surrendered he rushed
into the city with the first
troops and headed for the Bel
gian foreign office.
Thus, 20 minutes after Brus
sels capitulated, the secret
archives of the Belgian gov
ernment were in German
hands.
I was not surprised. The
Polish and Norwegian cam
paigns showed that the Ger
mans consider diplomatic booty
quite as important as booty of
materials.
(Today in Berlin a spokes
man declared it was “not im
possible” that revelations of
Belgian and Dutch connivance
in Allied war plans would be
published in a manner simi
lar to those allegations made
following the German invasions
of Poland and Norway.)
Hard Hay
Today the German armies
put in one of the hardest days
of its offensive, drawing nar
rower and narrower the pocket
into which they have maneuv
ered the combined British
Belgian-French northern army.
The bulk of the German
force is only 20 miles from the
Belgian coast.
The German drive is relent
less. Whoever we encountered
(Continued on Page Three)
Be Sure And Cast Your Vote In The Primary Today |