The Wilmington morning star. [volume], March 19, 1946, Image 1

About The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990

Image provided by: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library, Chapel Hill, NC

                
FORECAST * 4 + , ^
umutijfau Uuinutuj
gj^-NO. 107. . WILMINGTON, N. C., TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 1946 • ESTABLISHED 1861
VHF Sure Thing For Field
NEWEST AIR DEVELOPMENT
assured for bluethenvT
The ultra-modern VHF (very
hi*h frequency) radio range,
the very latest scientific de
velopment in aviation naviga
tion, is now a “sure thing” for
Wilmington’s Eluethenthal air
field.
The up-and-coming Wilming
ton-New Hanover Airport Au
thority disclosed this new, and
important, news in iheir meet
in* yesterday afternoon in the
Wooc.row Wilson hut.
Open Bids May 1
In a letter from H. Harvie
Perkins, regional superinten
dent of airports for the Civil
Aeronautics Administration, it
was revealed that bids for con
struction of the VHF range will
be opened on May 1. Actual
construction is expected to be
completed about July 1, and the
range will' be commissioned
and in operation about August
Explains VHF
Just what the VHF range
means for Bluethenthal field,
and, hence, the city of Wil
mington and New Hanover
county, was depressed by
Hamilton Hicks, Army engineer
who helped develop Bluethen
thal field and secretary of the
Authority.
“It spells the difference be
tween Bluethenthal as a ‘cow
pasture’ air §£ jethen
thal as one <$* standing
airports of the . ^ n.”
Briefly, this is tne story of
the VHF radio range:
Radio Range
The compass is divided into
360 degrees. The old four-way
radio range transmitted radio
signals to planes in only four
directions. In other words, a
pilot had to reel his way round
in stormy weather until he con
tacted one of the four beams
to guide him safely into the
field.
See LATEST On Page Two
threat to port
Wilmington To Fight
Tampa Plan Of Rates
Florida Port Seeks To Be Included In Freight
Rate Area With Wilmington, Which
Would Mean Higher Fares Here
A threat to Wilmington’s position as a prominent post
war port of world trade is in the offing, but the Wilmington
Port Traffic association is ready to meet it.
The Tampa Traffic association, Tampa, Fla., is slated
tn file a comnlaint with the Interstate Commerce Commis
jion very shortly, stating that the
import-export freight rates of the
South Atlantic ports (which in
cludes Wilmington) are unfair to
Tampa.
Parity With North Porta
Since 1934 these South Atlantic
ports—Wilmington, Charleston, S.
C, Savannah, Ga., Brunswick,
Ga., and Jacksonville, Fla.—have
operated with freight rates on a
parity with the rates of the North
Atlantic ports, such as New York,
Norfolk, Baltimore, and Phila
delphia.
This means that the southern
ports have, since 1934, been on ah
equal footing with the northern
ports in freight operations to and
from industrial cities like Chica
go, 111., Milwaukee, Wis., Louis
ville, Ky., Evansville, Ind., Madi
son, Wis.. and St. Paul, Minn,
l Tampa Isolated
Tampa, a gulf port, now wants to
be included in the South Atlantic
ports area. Tampa, however, is
relatively isolated as far as the
Atlantic ocean is concerned, and
its freight rates are in most cases
higher than those in tin regular
Atlantic ports.
The Wilmington Port Traffic as
soci-tion believes that if Tampa is
" her complaint to the
ICC, the ICC might, in turn, abol
.... .c present South Atlantic
See THREAT on Page Two
FRANCO CHARGES
ATTACK PLANNED
AGAINST SPAIN
MADRID, March 18.—(JP)—
The Spanish government Mon
day night charged that the
United States engaged in
espionage activities in Spanish
North Africa in 1943, and early
the following year submitted
a plan to other Allied nations
for an invasion of the Iberian
peninsula.
The charges were made in a
5,000-word “reply” to the recent
T. S. “White Book” which |s
serled that the Franco regime
had cooperated with the Axis
huriiig the war.
The document, issued by the
foreign ministry, flatly denied
that Spain “was compromised
w‘th the nations of the Axis”
and said that “the conduct, of
Spain toward the United States
during the war and post-war
Tears has been irreproach
able."
The Weather
„ FORECAST:
l".™ Carolina: Scattered light showers
k temper1?011 Xu€sday with little change
liw“*-h Carolina: Fair Tuesday and
' change in temperature.
pastern Standard Time)
j,?.a s. Weather Bureau)
s «2° w8*31 data for the 24 hours
■8 7.30 p. m> yesterday.
i.„ Temperatures
jy '??,?■ n 64; 7:30 a. m. 61; 1:30 p. m,
Vavilp' m- 60
sotmal K; Minimum 6C; Mean 64;
I v. , Humidity
fc:'5.,„a *• 7;30 a. m. K; 1:30 p. m
"i0 P- m. 100. „
Total t . Precipitation
'-Irches W 24 hours ending 7:30 p. m.—
^"^Inche”06 the firs4 °7 month—
(From ,I1I>ES FOB TODAY
’J. $ A the T.de Tables published b;
oast and Geodetic Survey)
^‘‘ttine*,\„ Hlgh Low
■nglon -11:05 a.m. 5:49 a. m
Mjsonbom T , 11:28 p.m. 6:09 p.m
Inlet _ 8:49 a.m. 2:39 a. m
Sunri, 9:09 p. m. 2:53 p. m
V Ibonrise 7 *• tn.; Sunset 6:23 p. in.
Sive-V: 17 P- m.; Moonset 7:32 a. m
P. m »ir'e at Fayetteville. N. C. at
Ionaay, 9.6 feet: Sunday, 9.6 fee!
Ste tBE WEATHER on Page Two
SISTERS' GROUP
TO BE HONORED
IN NEW HOSPITAL
The name of Wilmington’s
future 100-bed, $700,000 Catho
lic hospital has been changed
from St. Francis to Holy Fami
ly, the campaign-funds com
mittee disclosed yesterday.
Bishop Vincent S. Waters,
Raleigh, has given the institu
tion the new name in honor of
the Sisters of the Holy Family
of Nazareth, the organization
which will operate the hospital.
The organization was founded
in Italy in 1875, began opera
See SISTERS on Page Two
RED CROSS REPORT
COMES IN SLOWLY
Only $15,000 Of $41,000
Quota Reported Through
Last Night \
The New Hanover county annual
Red Cross campaign is moving
slowly toward it’s goal of $41,000,
chairmen announced yesterday
when leaders of the solicitation
groups were urged to make their
collection reports as soon as they
are completed.
Co-chairmen Harry Solomon and
F. P. O’Crowley, making the call
to volunteer workers to make theiij
reports to the county headquarters,
said that many of them have been
waiting to make their returns after
their solicitation has been co-mplet
ed.
$15,000 Reported
A break-down of returns from
those groups which have finished
their collections, was expected
yesterday, but to date the only
report given, was the approximate
$15,000 as announced at the end oi
last week.
A combined quota of $8,500 has
been accepted by the North Caro
lina Shipbuilding company, and
Atlantic Coast Line employees.
There was no final report from
either of the two industrial units,
however information pointed to ar
“over the top” campaign, unless
there is a last hour let down amons
the employees.
Oversubscriptions
In the majority of returns mad<
See RED CROSS On Page Two
TOBACCO FARMERS
REACH NEW HIGHS
Weed Brings In $346,668,
313 During Past Sea
son In State
RALEIGH, March 18. —UPI—North
Carolina farmers last season sold
787,617,355 pounds of flue-cured
and hurley tobacco for $346,663,313,
an average of 44.01 cents a pound,
the State Department of Agriculture
reported Monday.
Both the poundage and total in
come were new records, and the
average price was the best since
1919, when it was 49.20 cents s
pound for a 320,688,000-pound crop,
724,000 Acres
W. P. Hendrick, tobacco market
ing specialist in the department
reported that there were 724,00(
acres of flue-cured tobacco undei
cultivation last year but he expect
ed farmers this season would mee
the expanded acreage of 785,000 al
lowed by the AAA.
He explained that while domestic
stocks were adequate, additional
tobacco was needed to meet a de
mand created by war-imposec
shortages in tobacco abroad.
Total Poundages
Total poundages, receipts and
averages were by belts:
Border belt—127,003,348 pounds
for $55,834,943, average 43.96.
New Bright belt — 374,471,792
pounds for $165,473,377, average 44.
19.
Middle belt—142,155,204 pounds
for $62,572,801, average 44.02.
Old belt—129,976,371 pounds for
$57,394,540, average 44.16.
Buriey belt—14,010,639 pounds foi
$5,392,652, average 38.49.
Gross sales—including totals tc
farmers and for resales—were 869,
403,973 pounds for $379,738,952, ar
average of 43.68 cents a pound.
SENATE COMMITTEE
APPROVES MEASURE
FOR CAPE FEAR JOB
WASHINGTON, March 18.—
(/P)—An appropriation of $1,
465,000 for inproving the Cape
Fear river channel at Wilming
ton, was approved Monday by
the Senate Appropriations com
mittee.
Funds for the project were
added to the 1947 War Depart
ment’s Civil Functions bill.
The appropriation has yet to be
approved by the Senate and the
House.
In testimony at recent com
mittee hearings, made public
Monday, Senator Bailey (D.-N.
C.) said “the proposition is to
make the channel 400 feet
w'de and 32 feet deep.” He
pointed out that the Cape Fear
is the only river in North
Carolina developed as a water
wav reaching the ocean.
The Senator told the commit
tee that oil companies now are
building larger tankers which
need more than a 30-foot chan
nel.
J. T. Hiers. of the Wilmington
Port commission, testified that
larger tankers cannot now navi
gate the channel safely without
waiting for flood tides to in
crease the channel depth.
LOSE DEATH RACE
Coast Guard’s Gamble
Fails To Save Tiny Baby
NEW YORK, March 18—(U.RJ—
The body of tiny Leigh Travis
Smith, ■vyho died at sea at the
age of nine hours, arrived
aboard the liner Queen Mary,
Monday, after the U. S. Coast
Guard has gambled the lives
of 12 men "n effort to assure
his delivery alive to an Ameri
can father.
Born Prematurely
The baby was born prema
turely Sunday to the British
war bride of former Sgt. Bus
i sell D. Smith, of Coventry, Vt.,
while the liner was 200 miles
from New York.
He weighed only 3 pounds.
Shipboard doctors struggled to
preserve the small spark of
life but the baby failed' steadily
under the strain of three
months’ premature birth.
Pneumonia set in and Col.
William R.' Barrett, Newburgh,
N. Y., troop commander, radio
ed for help.
C. G. Into Action
He begged for six tanks of
oxygen for a special type to fit
into an oxygen tent.
See DEATH RAQE on Page Two
i
U.S.-BRITAIN TO tORlb UNO KbVIbW
OF DISPUTES BETWEEN IRAN, RUSSIA;
KING BARES RED “ESPIONAGE PLOTS”
Soviet Move
Is Disclosed
By Canadian
Prime Minister Tells 01
Conferences With Tru
man And Attlee
SERIOUS SITUATION
Cypher Messages Related
To “Munition Plans,
Troop Movements”
/ . _
OTTAWA, March 18—(UP)
—Prime Minister MacKenzie
King disclosed Monday nighl
that he made urgent trips tc
Washington and London tc
confer with President Tru
man and Prime Minister Att
lee when he learned that Russie
was seeking information of “grea
and grave concern” through it!
embassy in Ottawa.
Making the first “top-level’
pronouncement on Russian esyi
onage activities in Canada, Kin;
told the House of Commons tha
Soviet attempts to 'extract vita
military information constitutec
“the most serious situation tha
has arisen at any time in Canada.’
He said those activities amounted
to the creation of a “Fifth Column’
in Canada.
Proved by Documents
Soviet-inspired espionage was
proven through documents taker
from the vaults of the Russiar
embassy by Igor Gouzenko, cypher
clerk in the office of Russian mili
tary attache, Col. N. Zabotin, King
said.
With that information, the Prime
Minister said he went first tc
Washington where he informed
See SOVIET on Page Two
GROUP TO STUDY
‘CASTE SYSTEM’
Source Of GI Gripes To Be
Investigated By Board
Under Doolittle
WASHINGTON, March 18—(U.R)—
Secretary of War Robert P. Patter,
son Monday named a six-man
board under Lieut. Gen. James H.
Doolittle to investigate the Army’s
so-called “caste system," source
of gripes by thousands of GI’s who
claimed they were treated like
lackeys by officers who lived ofi
the fat of the land.
Patterson said the board, made
up of former GI’s and offic.ers,
would look into relations between
officers and men both on and of)
duty, invesligate provisions foi
their housingj clothing and recrea
tion facilities, living conditions and
the promotion system. It is em
powered to recommend anj
changes it considers desirable.
Doolittle Flies In
Doolittle, now on terminal leave,
flew here immediately from Flori
da to confer with Patterson. The
board will meet late this montl
and hear testimony from officer:
See CASTE on Page Two
| Tabor City Boys Join Up En Masse_
The boys from Tabor City are doing an "all-out’'
answer to their country’s call for men in the
Army. In the picture, above, you see seven men
signing up with Sgt. Robert W. Mitchell, seated,
at the Wilmington Army Recruiting station. And
' six of the seven are from Tabor City. The seventh
is from Whiteville.
Left to right, standing, the men are Martin
Byrd, Jr., Robert H. Watts, Dale Watts, David
C. Soles, John H. Stanley and Carl Byrd, all of
Tabor City. The Whiteville man, next, is A. D.
Currie.
TESTS SHOW CARS
IN BAD CONDITION
Barwick Finds 387 De
• k*cts In 436 Autos In
spected Here
Just how badly the American
people need new automobiles is
graphically illustrated by the find
ings of Ray Barwick, State High
way License examiner here.
Last month Barwick, in line with
a new state highway law, inaugu
rated a “car inspection” program
for all new driver’s license appli
cants. Under the law, the applicant
cannot take the road test and be
issued a license until his car pass
es the inspection;
Results Appalling
The results of the first month of
inspections are somewhat appall
ing.
Barwick inspected 436 cars—and
387 of them were defective in some
Way. Following is the breakdown
of the “breakdowns:”
108 Faulty Lights
One hundred and eight cars had
faulty lights; 48 had inoperative
windshield wipers; 96 had bad
brakes; 78 had non-working speed
ometers; 27 had non-blowing horns;
and 30 had no rearview mirrors.
The people hereabouts are mak
ing the best of an unfavorable situ
ation, however, Barwick said yes
terday that all 387 defective cars
were taken to the garage by their
owners and put into first class
shape, and Barwick passed them
with full approval.
Safer Highways
^Our highways are getting safer
and safer,” Barwick said, “even
though most of the cars traveling
them are old ones. For every re
pair that the license applicant
makes on his car, one more acci
dent hazard has been overcome.
Multiply that by every car inspec
See TESTS On Page Two
Along The Cape Fear
POLITICAL HARNESS — We no
tice in the paper—yes, ■ we read it
. too sometimes—that many of our
county officials are throwing their
hats into the coming primary elec
tions ring.
Now, we don’t want anybody
thinking that ALONG THE CAPE
FEAR is a politically-minded insti
tution. We have no axes to grind.
Like old man Cape Fear river, we
just keep rolling along, and m the
■ course of our journey, commenting
casually on the things we see m
and around Wilmington. t
All we want to say it that we re
glad to see most of the old stand
bys still carrying on in political
harness. Wilmington and New
Hanover county may well be proud
of them regardless of which of
them win and which of them lose
in the coming ^primaries.
REFUTE DISREPUTE It's par
ticularly satisfying to know that
££ m«n,
public officials hereabouts are
treated by most of us with the
respect due bona fide politicians.
The word “politician” has, in
general throughout the nation, fall
en into disrepute. True, a lot of
bad politicians are the cause. But
it’s not fair to the good politicians,
and that’s why it pleases all of us
to know that we do have good
politicians and that we appreciate
them as such.
* • * *
NOTHING NEW—This unsavory
business of blackening politicians
is nothing new. We can take the
word of our Chinese friends along
the Whangpoo for that.
Over 800 years ago a Chinese
poet with the euphonious name of
Su Tung-p’o probably started the
unfair campaign against politicians
with a little vitriolic poem which
we present to you now. It’s en
titled “On the Birth of His Son,”
and here it is: :
“Families, when a child is born,
Want it to be intelligent.
I, through intelligence,
Having wrecked my whole life,
Only hope the baby will prove
See CAFE FEAR on Face Two
THREE TO FIVE YEARS
Mrs. Collins Calm
At Sentence Here
Local Woman, Convicted Of Knife-Slaying
Here, Indifferent As She Draws
Term In State Prison
Mrs. Coreen Graham Collins, convicted slayer of Mrs.
Edward F. Bordeaux, was yesterday sentenced to serve
from three to five years in the state prison.
Her reception of the sentence was of a pattern with the
indifference she had displayed throughout the trial , and
which had been labelled by tn<
state as “callous.”
Found guilty of manslaughtei
late in Friday’s session Mrs. Col
lins’ sentence was arrested by th<
weekend recess of superior court
Wide Speculation
There had been wide speculatior
during that time as to which as
pect of the trial would carry mosi
weight with Judge R. Hunt Parkei
when he passed sentence.
Many felt that Mrs. Collins
truculence under questioning wculc
work”to her disadvantage.
The case of Ronald Freeman
14-year-old Negro, charged witl
the killing of his father Oseol;
Freeman on Jan. 13, was hear;
See CALM On Page Two
MIRACLE DRUG
SOUGHT TO AID *
BABY ILL HERl
Marian Rouse, two and a half
year old daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. T. R. Rouse, Rose Hill,
1 is in the James Walker Mem
orial hospital suffering from
‘ congested lungs and various
complications.
p Her physician, Dr. A. M.
Crouch, has enl’sted the aid of
Congressman J. Bayard Clark
, in a search for the revolution
»ry drug, streptomicin. Dr.
' Crouch hopes to secure for the
Rouse child the rapid relief ef
fected by streptomicin in recent
cases.
5 BODIES RAISED
AT COOPER BRIDGE
Family Drowned When
Structure Was Rammed
By Ship Feb. 24
CHARLESTON, S. C., Mar. 10.
(JP)—An automobile containing fivt
bodies was raised from the Coop
er river here Monday afternoon
climaxing three weeks’ investiga
tion of a report that an automo
bile plunged into the water wher
a gap was knocked in the bij
Grace Memorial bridge.
Coroner John P. Deveaux identi
fied the bodies as those of Elme:
R. Lawson of North Charleston
his wife, Mrs. Evelyn Lawson; hi:
mother, Mrs. Rose Lawson; ant
his two children, Robert, 7, ant
Diane, 2.
Plunged Through
The car plunged through a brea]
in the bridge the afternoon o
February 24, when a 10,000-toi
freighter dragged anchor ant
rammed the two-mile bridge. J
240-foot gap was knocked out o
the structure.
Bodies of the Lawson famil;
members were recovered durinj
routine dredging operations t<
clear the Cooper river bottom o:
steel and concrete debris left bi
See BODIES on Page Two
SICK OF SEA!
Woman Recovers After
Two Weeks On Island
LOS ANGELES, March 18.—
(U.PJ—Mrs. Bernice Brown, 43,
recovering from a terrifying
two weeks marooned on a bleak
/ desert island, Monday night
said she never again wants to
see the ocean, which claimed
the lives of her husband and
brother-in-law and almost took
hers.
Mrs. Brown, who with her
husband, Roy, 42, and brother
in-law, 38, made a living for
years at commercial fishing,
was rescued by a coast guard
boat Sunday after spending 14
days on rocky, uninhabited Ana
capa island, 25 miles west of
Santa Monica, Cal.
Presumed Dead
Brown and Barta were still
missing, presumed dead.
But for a kind fate, Mrs.
Brown might be with them.
After the 40-foot fishing vessel,
Nancy B., went down in a
storm March 3, she floundered
all day through towering
waves, clinging to a gasoline
drum, until the surf tossed her,
exhausted, on a rock just off
Anacapa.
See MAROON on Fa£e Two
See Threat
To Appeals
From Coup
Move By Leftists Suspected
In Maneuvers By Rus
sians In Iran
SEEK OIL RIGHTS
America, England Againsf
Negotiations While
Troops Are Present
* LONDON, March 18—(UP)"
—The Iranian government is
still determined to put its dis
pute with Russia before the
United Nations Security coun
cil and if the Russians by
means of threats prevent it
from doing so the British and
American governments will fore*
consideration, authoritative source*
said Monday night.
At the same time the foreign
office made it known that it was
still pressing for a reply to its
note asking Russia to explain its
failure to withdraw its troops from
Iran and in the House of Commons.
Foreign Undersecretary Hector
McNeil said that Britain sent a
note to Russia March 9 objectinf
to the removal of Japanese ma<
chinery and equipment from Man
churia, j
Might Use Threat*
Suspicion that Russia might us*
threats to keep Iran from appeal
ing to the UNO appeared strong U
official quarters.
Mention in a Tehran dispatcj
that the militant left wing Tudel
party demanded that Premier Ah
mad Gh'avam es-Sultaneh adopt “t
See COUP On Page Two
SURPLUS SHIPS
TO ANCHOR HER!
Vessels From James Rivek
To Be Brought Here In
Ninety Days
Surplus merchant ships, now ly*
ing idle at anchor in the James
river in Virginia, will be moved
to the new storage basin in the
Brunswick river here within 90
days, a U. S. Maritime commission
spokesman disclosed in Washing*
ton, D. C., yesterday,
i The spokesman said further that
. the North Carolina Shipbuilding
[ company here will definitely pre
pare the ships for storage. Such
preparations, he added, consists of
placing the ships in dry-dock and
stripping them down.
No Official Word
P. F. Halsey, vice president and
* general manager of NCSC, said last
• night he has received no official
word yet of the transfer of the
ships.
“It’s news to me,’* he said, 1
can’t say that we will place tha
ships in dry-dock because, as yet,
we have no dry-dock.
Hope for Dry-dock
“There are no new developments
to date concerning the building of
a dry-dock here although we hop*
to get one in line with the ship*
storage operations.
“The only work on the project
going on now is the dredging or
the storage basin.”
The dredging is said to be about
25 per cent completed.
And So To Bed.#
Mrs. Dionne, mother of the.
famous quintuplets, had better
look to her laurels. /
J. C. Williams, 809 Park
avenue, Audubon, has a hen
which seems set to break all
production records.
Last week this hen, a normal
chicken to all outside appear
ances, laid an egg, size 3” by
4”.
Inside this egg was another
regular-size egg.
And both had whites sad
yolks.
This week she did It again.
And Mr. Williams thinks she’s
going to keep right on with it.
“What does the chicken hav#
to say to all this?” Mr. WIL
liams was asked.
“Cluck, cluck,” said Mb
Williams, "in a strained voh^.'