. - p
FORECAST I nnunuunn
REMEMBER
WILMINGTON AND VICINITY: Moat- mmgmmmm
ly cioudy today with scattered thunder- ___ ______
showers and showers occurring mainly DPRDf BiBHKlIII
during afternoon and evening Not much i bAllW UAI1DUX1
change in temperature.
HighP 80—Low ™-terday~ 1 AND BATAAN !
VOL. 77.—NO. lbo __ FINAL EDITION ESTABLISHED 1867
- _ l .. — ---- — — - - • ■ —
Absent Solons
Urged To Get
Back On Jobs
SENATORS ARE WIRED
Peace Time Legislation
For Reconversion
Demands Action
WASHINGTON, July 31—
(IP) — Members of the Sen
ate military committee were
ordered today to return to
Washington “at once” to work
out without delay legislation
bracing the home front
against any economic im
pacts of sudden German col
lapse.
Senate Majority Leader Barkley
(D-Ky) intervened in an effort to
get reconversion bills into shape
for Congress, which convenes to
morrow with little else of major
importance to do.
He joined with Chairman Rey
nolds, (D-N. C.) in telegraphing
the absent military committee
members:
“It is imperative that members
of the Senate military affairs com
mittee return to Washington at once
in order that proper consideration
may be given to vital and indis
pensable legislation dealing with
reconversion, demobilization and
surplus property disposal, bills
concerning which are now pend
ing in the military affairs commit
tee.”
They set a committee meeting for
Thursday morning and asserted the
postwar legislation, “the most im
portant problem now facing Con
gress.” must be “dealt with with
out delay.”
Barkley told a news conference
he hoped the military committee
“will not take long” since the se
nate might have to take three-day
recesses until it completes its
work.
He said that he thought postwar
tax bills were something that Con
gress “can’t very well tackle now,
although it is primarily a problem
for the House, where tax measures
originate.”
rersonany, i inmK we u nave 10
wait until the war is over before
we can have a complete picture,”
he said.
Earlier, Senator Vandenberg (R
Mich) speaking for Senate Republi
cans, told a news conference it is
“absolutely vital” that the com
mittee convene at once to set up
machinery for surplus property dis
posal as well as an unemployment
compensation program covering
displaced war workers.
Vandenberg, chairman of the Re
publican Senate conference, spoke
after a meeting with Senator Taft
(R-Ohio) and Acting Minority
Leader White (R-Maine).
He predicted their view that ac
tion should be taken at once would
be concurred in at a meeting of
the party's steering committee to
morrow.
“The battle news is at least suf
ficiently encouraging to require
that the home front should be rea
dy for the impact of a German
defeat." Candenberg declared.
The military committee has in its
possession various bills dealing
with surplus property disposition
and an overall reconversion pro
posal sponsored by Senators
George <D-Ga) and Murray fD
Mont.), and another by Senator
Kilgore <D-W. Va.)
ir_ ;
HAM FISH FACES
FOIL FIGHT TODAY
Albany, n. y„ July 3i.——
Rig fisted Rep. Hamilton Fish fR),
ODoosed by both Gov. Thomas E.
Dewey and Wendell L. Wlllkie and
Promising libel action against
Playwright Maxwell Anderson,
meets stiff opposition tomorrow in
‘'np feature race of New York’s
P1'inarv election.
The Fish battle, with the former
A'l-American Harvard football
5c'de swapping punches with op
ponents as balloting neared, over
shadowed 4] other Congressional,
t °?e Senate and Assembly con
Tonight be answered a vain
a.empt of former New York City
*‘a§istrate Joseph Goldstein to
! j rv«Mm with a summons charg
in'? •orderly conduct bv explain
he was ’’ready any time.”
p. 15 Goldstein summons, present
s’,,?' ^*.s New York City office
p‘‘Te r:,h was finishing his c.rn
idef a| the scene of his legal res
notat’6 in Newburgh, carried the
lv f?°n "used offensive, disorder
gtiage fat6ning and abusive Ian
'S** PROGRAM increased
A tl.pSHmcT0N. July 31. -(IP)—
yys mendous expansion Li the Na
;,T'jcU?Ci:et Projectile program was
'hst ^0<jay in announcement
I,?,. Ammunition procurement
pSr, doubled, with rockets ap
'Ply accounting for almost the
le mcrease.
Himmler Looks Over His Men
Nazi Gestapo chief Heinrich Himmler is shown in this photo
which has just been received from abroad as he inspected an S. S.
infantry division somewhere in Germany. Himmler was appointed
commander of all forces within the Reich a short time ago.
Nazis Fight Hard
To Hold Florence
ROME, July 31.—(JP)—Desperately resisting German
troops have held tired Eighth army veterans to “small but
important gains’’ outside Florence in the past 24 hours, an
Allied communique reported today amid growing indication
that the Nazi commanders were making a last-ditch stand
before the great art center in hopes of convincing Hitler of
their loyalty.
A field disoatch from Lvnn Hein-*--——_
zerling of the Associated Press
said New Zealand troops late to
day were fighting their way grim
ly up a 1,000-foot ri^ge six miles
southwest of Florence and were
within a few hundred yards of get
ting their first sight of the city.
The Germans defending Flor
ence showed a surprising resur
gence of strength over the week
end, throwing concentrations of
armor and infantry into fierce
counterattacks against the British,
Indian, New Zealand and South
African forces slugging forward
within five to seven miles of the
city.
Allied advices officially describ
ed the fighting as “very heavy.”
Severe losses were being inflicted
upon the enemy’s depleted forces,
particularly by massed fire of Al
lied artillery. Hundreds of Allied
fighters and fighter-bombers rip
ped almost ceaselessly at enemy
positions.
The situation was almost iden
tical with that encountered by
the Allies before Rome nearly two
months ago, when the Nazis put
up savage resistance until the
main body of their troops could
be withdrawn beyond the capital.
Florence, like Rome before it, has
been declared an open city by the
Germans and appears likely to es
cape serious damage.
-V
GUr head bees uewey
Carrying 25, States
NEW YORK. July 31.—(3*)—Her
bert Brownell, Jr.. Republican Na
tional chairman, predicted today
that pov. Thomas E. Dewey, Re
publican Presidential nominee,
wouli carry at least 25 states with
311 electoral votes to win the No
vember election.
Brownell made the prediction at
a press conference in analyzing
public opinion polls taken in six
states — Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,
Michigan, New York and Ohio —
since Dewey’s nomination. ^
Brownell said, those states, with
142 electoral votes, showed an av
erage gain by the Republicans of
more than 5.5 per cent over 1940.
“This trend toward the Dewey
Bricker ticket will, I am certain,
continue and strengthen as other
states are polled.” Brownell said.
"A study of the 1940 figures shows
that a nation-wide shift of 4 per
cent to t{ie Republican column will
bring victory in 25 states, with 311
electoral votes.
Yow Takes Seat
On City Council
At Session Today
Edgar L. Yow, past mayor
and prominent local attorney,
will be sworn in as city coun
cilman at a special meeting
of tbe council this morning.
Yow was selected to fill the
vacancy left by the death of
Mayor Bruce B. Cameron. He
was one of the original council
men elected to serve in the '
first term under the new city
manager form of government
in 1941. In 1942, he was appoint
ed mayor to succeed Hargrove
Bellamy, but did' not seek
re-election to the council.
GERMANS USING
ROCKET PLANES
LONDON, July 31—(flt—Rocket
propelled fighter planes are being
used by the Germans, the U. S.
Air Force disclosed tonight, in
desperate efforts to halt the
mighty Allied aerial blows such
as today’s when more than 3.400
heavy bombers a n d escorting
planes hammered targets in Ger
many, France and Romania.
The U. S. Air Force announce
ment. first official word the Nazis
had begun use of rocket-propelled
planes, said heavy bombers and
escorting fighters encountered
five such planes Friday on their
way over Germany and one on
the return trip.
Huge air armadas from British
and Italian bases today hit tlie
Munich and Ludwigshafen areas
in central Germany, airfields in
France and Romanian oil facili
ties at Bucharest and Ploesti in
a smashing climax to a month of
heavy blows.
More than 1 200 Fortresses and
Liberators, escorted by 1.000 fight
ers. roared across the channel to
strike at the heart of Germany in
the day’s main assault.
-V
BAN ON SMOKING
PHILADELPPHIA. July 31.— UP)
—Federal Attorney Gerald A. Glee
son announced in court today he
would ask the War Shipping Ad
ministration to ban smoking on am
munition ships by Navy gun crew
members and merchant crewmen.
Postwar Tax Cut Held Certain
WASHINGTON, July 31.—OP)
— Assurance was voiced by
Chairman Doughton (D-N- C.)
of the House Ways and Means
committee today that congres
sional tax leaders will be rea
dy, when the war ends, to stim
ulate economic expansion by
making broad adjustments In
federal tax burdens.
“When the war ends,* Dough
ton said, “we want to curtail
the burdens, on individuals and
corporations. But at the same
time we should pay something
on the national debt, if it can
be done without crippling in
dustry.”
Returning from his North
Carolina farm, Doughton ex
pressed satisfaction at the
progress in postwar taxation
studies made during the con
gressional recess by experts of
a congressional joint commit
tee and the tax staffs of the
Treasury and the Bureau of
Internal Revenue, working in
unison. /
However, he said he doubted
that a precise tax law for the
peacetime economy can be en
acted until after the war ends.
He stressed that “before we
write a detailed law we’ve
first got to have some idea of
what the postwar federal bud
get will amount to, an esti
')
mate of the peacetime national
income, and an idea of the
amount that would be raised by
present rates.”
Doughton said he expects im
mediate repeal, or modification
at the end of the war, of the
95 per cent excess profits tax
against corporations and the
$5 use tax on automobiles,
along with summary reduc
tions in the excise taxes. Then
Congress can take a look at
the economic situation and
write a law speedily to adjust
individual and corporation le
vies to encourage private en
deavor and expand employ
ment, he said
SBICANS SWEEP BEYOND A VRANCHES
j DRIVE AGAINST NAZIS;
t) ARMY BEGINS SEIGE OF WARSAW
_ _ * w -A- __ -El
WINS RE IRTED
ON I , FRONTS
East Prussia Campaign,
Northern Offensive
Show Gains
LONDON, Tuesday, Aug.
1.—(IP)—Red armies in ano
ther series of sensational vic
tories yesterday began the
battle of Warsaw in Poland
from a broad siege arc eight
to 13 miles east of the city,
swept to within 15 miles of
German East Prussia proper,
and probably trapped scores
of thousands of Axis troops
in the north by seizing the
key rail junction of Jelgava
in Latvia.
Berlin said Praga, east bank
suburb of Warsaw was under So
viet attack, and the Nazi high com
mand also announced the loss of
Kaunas, prewar Lithuanian capital
to the storming Russians whose
tank-tipped spearheads were near
ing the border of East Prussia,
cradle of German militarism, af
ter smashing into its annexed Su
walki triangle area Sunday.
Warsaw, half-way house on the
road to Berlin, is the first United
Nations capital to hear the sound
of a liberating Allied army, and a
late dispatch from Eddy Gilmore,
Associated Press Moscow corres
pondent, said thousands of beaten
Germans were choking the Vistula
river bridges in their flight into
Warsaw.
Moscow announced the capture
of more than 500 cities, towns and
villages east of Warsaw, including
Wolomin eight miles northeast of
the Warsaw suburb of Praga. Ot
wock, 13 miles southeast of War
saw’s outskirts, also was captured,
as well as Radzymin, 11 miles north
east of Praga*
The powerful First White Rus
sian army was directed by Mar
shal Konstantin K. Rokossovsky,
son of a Warsaw cobbler and a
Stalingrad hero. Participating un
der him were 16 generals, cited
yesterday by Premier-Marshal Jo
seph Stalin for the seizure of three
Axis -strongholds: Minsk-Mazowi
ecki, 21 miles east oCWarsaw, Sied
lce, 29 miles farther east, and Lu
kow, 20 miles south of Siedlce.
Stalin issued three orders of the
day. One of these disclosed that the
Third White Russian army under
Ben. Ivan Cherniakhovsky, the
young Jewish tank expert assigned
the historic role of smashing into
German East Prussia, now was
rolling forward on a 143-mile front.
It has penetrated 31 miles through
shattered German lines in two
days, sweeping up 1,500 towns and
villages, and might cross into Ger
man East Prussia by today or to
morrow.
Moscow did not confirm the Ger
ma nannouncement of Kaunas’ fall,
but said Russian troops had brok
en into the city and were engaged
In street fighting. Axis captives
were quoted in Moscow dispatches
as saying the broken German Nie
men river defense was called Ger
many’s “Catastrophe Line.”
Cherniakhovsky's men were
storming westward on a front ex
panded to more than double its
size compared to the 68-mile line
which opened the offensive Sunday.
-V-—
Navy Urders Submarine
Production Decreased
i
WASHINGTON, July 31—The
good fortune and fighting qualities
of American submarines in the
Pacific, coupled with the urgent
need for other weapons, resulted
today in a Navy decision to trim
its undersea production program.
As Yank Tanks Advanced On'Periers ]
i4 < *or cover, American infantrymen a re shown advancing on Periers, France, just before
it fell to the Yanks. The German stronghold Was ta ken quickly as Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley’s tanks,
rolling forward on a swinging advance of nearly te n miles in one day, exploited to the full the most
brilliant operation of the Normandy campaign. In the same drive the Americans also captured Les
say. (International)._
Dutch Guinea Invaded
- — —+ __ i ■
PLANE CRASHES
FATAL TO TWO
Two Army aviators were killed
near Wilmington yesterday morn
ing about the same time, one at
Camp Davis and the other near
Supply.
Second Lt. Philip M. Lillie, 21,
was instantly killed at 8:30 a.m.,
when his Thunderbolt fighter plane
crashed three and one half miles
northeast of Supply. The young avi
ator was executing a combat ma
neuver when the fatality occurred.
Lieutenant Lillie, who was com
missioned at Aloe Field, Texas, on
March 12 of this year, had been
training at Bluethenthal Field for
a month. He attended Dartmouth
college for a year and a half be
fore being inducted into the Army
on February 1, 1943.
Lieutenant Lillie is survived by
his wife, Mrs- Audrey Cheney, Lil
lie, with whom he resided in Wil
mington, and by his parents, Dr.
and Mrs. Walter I. Lillie of Over
brook, Pa.
First Lt. Lincoln H. Beard, 26,
of the 141st Air Base unit station
ed at Camp Davis, was instantly
killed at 8 a.m. when the small
training plane he was operating
crashed at the camp.
According to the post’s Public
Relations office, the plane exper
ienced engine trouble and plunged
to the ground about 200 yards from
the Davis landing strip. Lieuten
ant Beard was on a routine training
flight at the time of the accident.
The plane was demolished.
I> atenant Beard was a native of
Clarence, N. Y. He and his wife
resided at Holly Ridge.
An investigation of the accident
is scheduled to be made by an
Armv board.
I IT
CHINESE ADVANCE
IN NORTH BURMA
SOUTHEAST ASIA COMMAND
HEADQUARTERS, Kandy, Cey
lon, July 31.—UP)—Chinese troops
have made new. sharp gains in the
fighting at Myitkyina, both in the
western and southern sectors of
the besiEaed city, last remaining
base of'phe Japanese in North
Burma. 'communique said to
night. A
Stabbitp from the south, one
group advanced 500 yards and
took an objective: from the south-;
east other units south of the Myit
kyina railway took another 250
yards, and in the west, the Chi
nese-Amercian lines were straight
ened out by small gains.
American Mustang fighters raid
ed Bhamo, about 75 miles to the
south of Myitkyina, scoring direct
hits on their targets, and damaged
a bridge 15 miles away. The
planes also' lashed at dumps,
camps, motor transport and oth
er Japanese positions along the
railway from Mogaung to Taun
gni in the area west of the Myit
kyina fighting.
-V
Four Hurt In Wreck
Neor Rr/iJley Creek
Mr. and Mrs, Hugh Cummings
and Cummings’ mother, all of Wil
mington, were injured yesterday
afternoon when the car in which
they were tiding collided with an
army vehicle on the Wrightsville
road near Bradley Creek school.
The older Mrs. Cummings was
the most seriously injured of the
three, suffering from a fractured
rib, bad lacerations about the face
and head bruises. Mrs. Hugh Cum
mings’ ankle probably was frac
tured, while her husband suffer
ed minor lacerations.
An unidentified soldier also was
slightly hurt.
\
Amphibian Juggernaut
Rolls Onto Beaches
At West End
BY RAY CRONIN
Associated Press War Editor
American forces of the south
west Pacific command, staging
surprise landings on western
Dutch New Guinea, have leap
frogged to within slightly more
than 600 miles of the southern Phil
ippines.
Gen. Douglas A. MacArthur’s
Tuesday communique said the
Yanks swept 200 miles closer to
the Philippines as they bypassed
Manokwari, isolated 15,000 Japa
nese troops in that area, and land
ed 60 miles northeast of the Nip
pon Sorong stronghold on the west
ern tip of Dutch New Guinea.
They invaded the Sansapor area
and took nearby Amsterdam and
Middelburg islands.
The amphibious operation Sun
day was supported from both sea
and air. Australian warships and
planes helped cover the landings.
General MacArthur said “the
enemy is now unable to operate
beyond his Philippine-Halmahera
line.”
Meanwhile other American forc
es far to the north were pressing
their conquests of Guam and Tin
ian islands. On Tinian they back
ed the Japanese into a hopeless
trap where they must fight to the
death or surrender.
Other troops have seized the en
tire southern half of Guam in a
surprise sweep, and battle lines
show their control has been ex
tended through ihe principal town
of Agana.
STORM tppeatfw
C A patina COAST
MIAMI. Fla.. Julv 31— UP)—1The
storm warning service tonight,
nlaced the North Carolina and
South Carolina coasts on an alert
for further advices as a tropical
storm of small diameter and of
less than hurricane intensity
swirled north-northwestward in
the Atlantic.
The center at 10:30 o. m. tEWTt
was approximately 260 miles east
of Melbourne. Fla., and was mov
ing a* about 15 miles an hour,
said Grady W. Norton, chief fore
caster of the storm warning ser
vice.
He pointed out that the storm,
carrying winds of about 50 miles
an hour, did not at the time of
the advisory threaten any coastal
area, but that an alert was
thought advisable for the Caro
lina coasts.
Caution was advised over the
Atlantic in the path of the storm.
INCH GF RAIN
FALLS IN CITY
Wilmington and vicinity was de
luged with a heavy rainfall yes
terday, almost one-quarter of the
month’s rainfall in the city com
ing down in tile 24-hour period
ending at 7:30 p. m.
Total precipitation for the city
was 1.05 inches, bringing the July
total up to 4.56 inches.
Carolina Beach. Wrightsville
Beach and other nearby sections
in the county likewise experienced
heavy rainfalls during thunder
showers and showers occurring
mainly during the afternoon and
evening. Little change in tempera
ture is forecast. Yesterday, the
thermometer ranged from a high
of 80 degrees to a low of 70.
-V
DEWEY UniMISTK;
ABOUT CAMPAIGN
EN ROUTE WEST WITH DEW
EY, July 31.—(fP)—Thomas E. Dew
ey brought out the new fall style
of Republican Presidential election
eering in 13 hours of rapidly-paced
conferences in Pittsburgh today,
then put his campaign on the road
for a repeat performance tomor
row in Springfield, 111
It was a day devoid of speeches.
Instead of turning on the oratory,
the Republican nominee spent his
time talking, shaking hands, or
eating wj,th thousands of people
They jjkduded top-flight Penn
sylvania politicians, from Gov. Ed
ward Martin down through the
strata of county committees. They
included representatives of labor,
veterans, agriculture and business.
Among them, t«>o, was West Vir
ginia’s National committeeman,
Walter Hailanan.
As he called it quits for the
night and started off for similar
parleys with Illinois leaders to
morrow, Dewey declared:
‘‘I am pleased by the optimism
and confidence shown at the meet
ing today.”
-V--—
Lejeune Cancels Plans
For Grid Team In Fall
CAQIP LEJEUNE. July 31——
Camp Lejeune, the Marine base,
won’t have a football team this
year and its schedule has been
cancelled.
An announcement from the pub
lic relations office said the press
of military training and transient
personnel precluded the post’s
putting a team in the field.
A program of intramural foot
ball is planned, tfcwever,_
Georgia Tobacco Prices
$2 To $3 Less Than 1943
VALDOSTA, Ga., July SI
OP)—Opening day prices on
Georgia’s tobacco Auction
floors today were $2.00 to $3.00
per hundred less than 1943
opening prices, the War Food
Administration announced.
The WFA said the decrease
largely was attributable to the
reduction in ceiling prices from
41 cents in 1943 to 39 cents
this year, and that demand for
all grades appeared good.
Although prices were lower,
the WFA reported, there were
few rejections noted, with the
general average of selected
markets ranging from 39 to 40
cents a pound. Bulk of the
offerings brought 37 to 42
cents a pound, with a few
baskets bringing as high as 44
cents a pound.
WFA said most markets re
ported blocked sales and near
ly all warehouses filled to ca
pacity. Gross sales on open
ing day in 1943 totalled 5,836,
609, at an average of $42.60
per hundred Rounds.
Quality of the leaf offered^
this year, WFA said, was low
er as a whole than that of 1943,
as more fair and low quality
grades were offered, with less
of the choice and fine quality
lugs.
LIGHTNING WAR
ROUTS GERMANS
Enemy’s Lines Outflanked
By Great Offensive
Down Coast
SUPREME HEADQUAR
TERS ALLIED EXPEDI
TIONARY FORCE, Tuesday,
Aug. 1. — (/P) — U. S. tank
and infantry burst out of
Normandy yesterday with a
mighty drive that swept ov
er the prize city of Avran
ches and beyond, engulfing
remnants of a battered Gher
man army still unable to ral- »
ly for a stand against the
American tide rolling down
the coast of France.
Gaining well over 18 miles in
one day, with a speed that gave
the Germans a sample of the Am
erican brand of lightning war,
the doughboys stormed across the
formidable See river at Avran
ches and turned the western flank
nf the enpmv’s line.
The Americans now were free to
strike across Brittany’s Brest pe
ninsula or east toward Paris, 160
miles away.
Paced by swarms of fighters
and dive bombers which turned
the highways into death-traps for
the disorganized enemy, the Am
erican columns roared on today
with no sign of slowing, although
the Germans to the northeast
fought back fiercely below St. Lo
and Caumont.
The armored spurt of 16 to 18
miles merely to Avranches, car
ried the Americans more than 40
miles south of their jump-off point
of Lessay and by-passed unknown
numbers of enemy troops, some
of whom were overhauled at Av
ranches.
J.I1C AiUCU luiuiugnu w
que said islands of resistance
were being mopped up in * %'i
angle formed by the newly ^Jp
tured Atlantic port of Granville,
Brehal, six miles to the northeast,
and Avranches, 16 miles south
east of Granville.
One large pocket of the enemy
was cleaned out in the area of St,
Denis-La Gast, nine miles south
east of Coutances, and the Ameri
can bag of prisoners since the of
fensive began Tuesday was well
beyond 10,500.
With Supreme Headquarters con
firming that Avranches was firm
ly in American hands, it was dis
closed that neither Percy nor Tes
sy-Sur-Vire were now held by the
Americans but heavy fighting was
raging near both towns in that
sector.
The Americans previously had
driven through botli towns.
South of Gavray, another point
where the Germans have dug in
! and are making their first deter
! mined stand since the invasion
! broke, the war bulletin said the
enemy had been driven from their
positions.
The synchronized British drive
farther east, around Caumont,
made steady progress,, overrun
ning a number of places including
j St. Germain-D’Ectot, 4 1-2 mile*
northoast of Cuamont, Cahagnee,
2 miles southeast, and St. Martin
des-Besages, 5 1-2 miles south
west.
The Germans attempted a coun
ter-attack to retake dominant H1B
309 east of St. Martin Sunday
night, but were driven back, th*
communique said.
tit. Gen. Omar N. Bradley wm
exploiting the breakthrough down
the coast to the hilt, a|id "sending
his infantry forward at top speed.
5,000 STRIKERS
RETURN TO JOBS
(By The Associated Press)
Almost 5.000 strikers returned to
work yesterday as disputes in two
war plants were settled, but tha
number of workers idle throughout
the nation still topped the 17,000
mark.
At Buffalo, N. Y., 2.500 employiu
of the Houdaille-Hershey corpora
tion engineering division plant,
producers of airplane parts, votad
to return to work immediately.
The walkout began Ratn-dav.
800 night shift workers went out
'An additional 1.700 ioined n
today in protest against allege
wage deducations.
A strike of 2,400 members of
United Steelworkers union (CIO)
at the Ashland, Ky„ Shell plant of
the Clayton Manufacturing compa
ny, which had shut down opera
tions at the plant since Saturday,
also ended yesterday. The work‘
stoppage — termed unauthorized
by union president Nick Conley —
reportedly started after a work
man was discharged