Evening star. [volume], January 12, 1940, Page A-5, Image 5

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
New Law Believed
Necessary to Build
Larger Cruisers
Admiral Stark
Thinks Treaty Limits
Still Apply
•r the Associated Press.
Admiral Harold R. Stark said
today the Navy would ask Congress
for authority to build bigger cruisers
than the present 10.000-ton type if
It found that special legislative
action was necessary. *
Naval authorities have been in
terested for some time in the pos
sibility of using larger cruisers to
offset foreign navies’ vessels of the
German pocket-battleship type.
Testifying for the fifth consecu
tive day before the House Naval
Committee on the proposed $1,300,
000.000 naval expansion program,
the chief of naval operations dis
closed the Navy believed that ex
isting legislation restricted it to
treaty sizes for all categories of
ships except battleships.
Changes Former Stand.
Previously Admiral Stark had said
that all treaty limits on size had
expired. He declared, however, that
It now apprared that legislation,
based on the treaties, still was in
effect.
■'The Navy's judge advocate
general is studying the question,
end if we find that such limits still
exist wc will ask for revision of this
pending bill next week to correct
the situation.” Admiral Stark said.
Focusing attention on the possi
bility of bigger cruisers. Admiral
Stark testified that if the legal ex
perts of the Navy were right about
limitations the Navy could not lay
down even a 10.001-ton cruiser—1
ton above the treaty limit.
Admiral Stark gave the first offi
cial indication of bigger cruisers
last Monday, when he said that the
proposed expansion program had
been revised to provide for fewer but
' bigger ships. No battleships are in
volved. As originally announced, the
program would have given the Navy
95 new vessels. Admiral Stark said
that had been reduced to 77 ships
of increased tonnage.
Must Clear Budget Bureau.
Admiral Stark made it plain that
even after Congress authorized con
struction of those 77, the Navy still
would have to clear the Budget Bu
reau before it could ask Congress
for funds to start work on the ships.
Representative Jenks. Republican,
of New- Hampshire, complained that
the proposed expansion did not in
clude sufficient submarines. He as
serted that Russia. Germany and
Italy alone had 366. compared with
this country's 46.
Admiral Stark interposed that the
Navy had 65 submarines, and al
though about half were over age.
all were "seagoing" craft capable of
operating far from bases and of
staying at sea for extended periods.
Naval officials said the pending
program would authorize about 28
additional submarines and that an
other 14 could be builtoinder exist
ing law.
There was some discussion of the
• effectiveness of the German “pocket
battleship” Graf Spee. when Repre
sentative Darden, Democrat, of Vir
ginia, asked if the Spee's downfall
was not due to poor gunnery.
“I think that if you asked the
people on the Exeter, they would
tell you she was doing pretty effec
tive shooting." Admiral Stark re
plied. The Exeter, one of three Brit
ish cruisers which engaged the Graf
Spee. was badly damaged.
Taussig for Reorganization.
Rear Admiral J. K. Taussig, com
mandant of the fifth naval district
at Norfolk, Va., gave support today
to moves in Congress to reorganize
the Navy Department.
Outlining a proposal for drastic
reshuffling through the Naval In
stitute Proceedings, Admiral Taus
sig suggested that principal func
tions of the department be headed
into offices of operations, personnel
and material.
“There is so much divided re
sponsibility with so many co-equal
bureau chiefs, and with a chief of
naval operations who has no au
thority over these chiefs, that we
have in our present setup an excel
lent example of the tail wagging
the dog." he said.
Fleets Declared Handicapped.
w Without a change, he contended,
"our fleets would not be able to
operate to the best advantage” in
another war.
Admiral Taussig's proposal was
published at the start of a study by
a House Naval Affairs Subcommit
tee which will report in April on
recommendations to increase the
Navy's efficiency through better
co-ordination.
Under piecemeal legislation and
regulations, the Navy now is oper
ated largely by heads of bureaus
who receive appropriations directly
from Congress.
An undf/rcover conflict over war
ship building details among the
Construction. Engineering and Ord
nance Bureaus prompted a recent
move by Secretary Edison to co
ordinate all shipbuilding under
Rear Admiral Samuel M. Robinson.
A. F. of L.
(Continued From First Page.)
■ held, “directly repudiates the De
partment of Justice as to what con
stitutes violations of the Sherman
* Act by activities of labor organiza
tions.”
The Gundersheimer company
brought action for treble damages
, against the unions for striking in
order to prevent the employer from
receiving shipments of cakes from
Philadelphia. The unions contended
such shipments had the effect of
displacing local union bakers.
Justice Adkins said regarding ac
tion of the unions: "It seems to me
that was a purpose which was not
unlawful."
Dismiss Motion Denied.
After the opening statement of the
plaintiff. Joseph A. Padway, general
counsel for the A. F. of L., moved
to dismiss the case. Justice Adkins,
in a verbal ruling from the bench,
held that the alleged conspiracy was
not unlawful and that the interstate
commerce affected the unions’ action
was negligible.
Attorneys for the company took
exception to the ruling and noted an
appeal in open court, indicating
" that the United States Court of
Appeals will be called on shortly to
consider the case.
Under the suit filed by the com
pany, $100,000 damages were asked
directly, but the company explained
that trouble damages were allow
t
CLEVELAND.—DENIES EX-AGENT’S CHARGE—Utterly ridicu
lous,” commented Sonja Henie last night when told her former
agent, D. R. Scanlon, testified in New York of an alleged agree
ment under which he was to influence selection of 1936 winter
Olympic judges known to be “not unfavorable” to her. She is
shown in her dressing room after an appearance of her ice
revue- -—A. P. Wirephoto.
Battle
_(Continued From First Page.)
Russians, and the result of this I
saw stretching for 4 miles in one
long junk heap along the narrow
road.
Falling in beside the Finns' staff
colonel. I began cautiously to move
along the road. Hardly an inch of
the road was uncovered. It was 10
times worse than the scene after
the battle of Kemijaervi. I squeezed
my way along between the tanks,
stepping over dead Russians and
frozen horses.
The detonations of hand-grenades
Luck Put Writer
On Finnish Front
James Aldridge, writer of this
and other dramatic dispatches
from the Finnish war front, is a
young Australian newspaper
man who. failing to get an
assignment as a war corre
spondent in London, decided to
go to Russia soon after the war
broke out. En route he had
hardly landed in Finland when
the Russians started to march
in and quite by accident found
himself on the scene which was
to produce the most exciting
experiences of the conflict. He
has accompanied Finnish ski
troops on many forays.
could be heard somewhere on the
right. The Finnish colonel said.
“That's a wandering* band in the
woods.”
It was a kaleidoscope of bodies—
bodies everywhere, tangled up with
tipped-up and scattered guns, tanks,
armored cars, dead horses and ma
chine guns spattered wfith blood. We
came to a large tank and the
colonel said. “This is a 30-ton one.
I don't know why they put it in the
middle of the column. We stopped
it with a captured Russian anti
tank gun. This equipment is all
excellent, but it is too much for this
type of fighting."
The Finns moving up had to use
j the sides of the road. Rifle fire rang
out somewhere on the left, a hun
dred or so yards away. Almost at
the same time about 15 Russian
prisoners, flanked with two rows of
Finns, came down the side of the
road. They had been led the whole
length of their destroyed column
and saw all. It showed in their
faces. They were well-built soldiers.
The colonel said. “These are excel
lent men and most of them have
been well trained, especially the
machine-gunners and artillerymen.”
After an hour of cautious walking
we came to the rear of the destroyed
! division and the colonel remarked,
i “Now you can see how we did it.
! We let them come in so far and then
j sent a patrol from the south to blow
! up the bridge behind them, cutting
1 off their retreat. Then we shot
■ their advance patrols and came in
on both sides and both ends. We
opened fire with mortars located
back of where you saw those first
bodies. They didn't have a chance
; and they knew it.
Reinforcements Held Up.
"The colonel commanding, a Col.
j Vinogradoff. kept sending messages
j to his general headquarters, but they
I sent only two battalions and our few
I
able for restraint of trade, making
a total of $300,000 damages asked.
Mr. Padway was assisted in the
defense by Attorney John K. Keane.
Mr. Arnold has stated that the
anti-trust laws apply when union
activities "have no reasonable con
nection with wages, hours, health,
safety, the speedup system or the
establishment of the right of col
lective bargaining.”
A spokesman for the A. F. of L.,
emphasizing the far-reaching na
ture of Justice Adkins decision, said
today that court action similar to
that instituted by the bakery here
was pending against unions else
where in the country.
In its suit, filed in July, 1937, the
Gundersheimer company contended
that its plant was operated without
difficulty until the previous April
when it became necessary to pur
chase certain types of goods from a
Philadelpnia firm, which, incident
ally, operated under a union shop.
The local unions objected to the
purchase of the supplies and called
a strike, which the company alleged
in the suit was for the purpose of
preventing the shipment of goods
from Philadelphia and their resale
hi the District and adjacent ter
ritory. This i.ction, the suit claimed,
was In violation of both the Sher
man and Clayton Acts.
The local concern contended It
was damaged to the extent of
$100,000. The Sherman Act per
mitted the recovery of treble dam
ages if the allegations could have
been proved.
\
men held them up at the border line
while we finished off this lot. We
got more material out of this battle
than we have had here ourselves
and it is all excellent.
He pointed to some Finnish sol
diers dismantling a brace of six
barrelled machine guns. “These are
excellent," he said. "I wish they had
brought more with them, as we
could do with a few more.”
We heard more firing, farther
away this time. "That's our men,
they are still cleaning up," the col
onel said.
I We began the journey back
j through the battlefield as darkness
j crept down. In the dimness every
1 thing took on a silhouetted grim
ness as a light snow began to cover
! the dead. The horror of the thing
seemed to be lessened because there
was so much of it.
Most of the Soviet troops were Uk
rainians, Kerdis, Tartars and Baskis.
A prisoner told me later that only
a few Communist Finns and Karel
ians were with them.
Fought Mostly at Night.
On the return trip I noted more
details. This battle had been
fought mostly at night and I could
see how some of the Russians had
been sleeping in make-shift huts,
j though most of them were on the
road. A Finnish officer told me the
Russians put up a good fight, but
their fire was not heavy because
they did not know where the Finns
were except from rifle flashes. So
i they just had to sit and take it,
i but they stuck it out. Hundreds of
I empty mortar shells along the road,
with men dead beside the guns,
showed they had got going, but
! could not keep up. It was obvious
that when the Finns poured heavy
fire into them they were puzzled and
did not know individually what to
j expect or how to avoid it or how
to act. Every Finn knew what he
i was doing and how to do it.
On the way back in the dark, with
: eight Russian prisoners in front on
1 sleds. I attempted to get the whole
thing in proper perspective. Back
in the headquarters farmhouse,
somewhere behind the lines, we
went into a barn where there were
several hundred Russian prisoners,
i It was a dark, warm, dank place,
with men coughing and moaning,
1 some ill and some wounded.
! Among the Russians were two lieu
tenants and several non-commis
sioned officers
Thought Finland Like Poland.
A lieutenant from Leningrad who
was a school teached said. “We were
just surprised. We did not expect
to meet so much resistance. We
thought it would be like Poland.
Our main trouble was that we could
not seen the Finns and they kept
moving' about so much, while we
did not have time to change our
own position. We had more or less
established ourselves as safe and
our column was packed tight on the
road, with little or no rear-guard
mobility. We could not go into the
woods. We sent out one patrol, but
we heard them being destroyed.
Maybe we could have done better
if we knew how to fight in this
country.”
This lieutenant also told us he
had seen Col. Vinogradoff on the
first day of the battle, but he dis
appeared the second day. "Did you
find him?” he asked. The Finns
said they had not found him and
that he was now either wandering
in the woods or frozen or shot.
This story was written on Rus
sian military paper taken from an
overturned propaganda truck on
the battlefield
i
i
A. U. Park Citizens
Oppose Gas-Tax Boost
Opposition to a gasoline tax in
crease in the District, proposed in
a congressional bill, was voiced last
night by the American University
Park Citizens’ Association, which
met in Hurst Hall.
In other resolutions the associa
tion favored in principal the in
corporation of the Federation of
Citizens’ Associations "for protec
tion of officers of the body” and
also requested the Capital Transit
Co. to abandon the Ward Circle bus
terminal and to operate all buses
on the route through to Fessenden
street and Wisconsin avenue N.W.
Mrs. Ethel Montgomery, repre
senting the District Suffrage Asso
ociation, urged full support of the
park group in the fight on local
suffrage.
A proposal for the annual dinner
of the association was referred to
Mrs. John P. Davenport, chairman
of the Entertainment Committee.
Vincent B. Smith and Dr. Ralph
Barnhard were appointed delegates
to the District Public School Asso
ciation. W. A. Ross, chairman of
mem mm* mmmmmmrn m I mmmmm
the Membership Committee, re
ported the addition of 43 new mem
bers to the association in the past
month.
Girl Bars Street to Mayor
GREENVILLE, S. C., Jan. 12 (/P.—
As Mayor Fred C. McCullough drove
into a side street, a little girl in a
snow suit held up a hand:
"You can’t go this way—we have
it blocked off for sledding.”
Hizzoner looked down the block
at the children playing, said "Yes,
mata,” backed up and drove an
other direction.
Request for Bioff Return
Signed by Gov. Horner
By the Associated Press.
SPRINGFIELD, 111., Jan. 12.—
Gov. Henry Homer signed and
mailed to Gov. Culbert L. Olson
last night a request that William
Bioff, Hollywood labor leader, be re
turned to Illinois to complete a 1922
Jail sentence for pandering.
Before he signed the requisition
for Bioff’s extradition, the Illinois
Governor issued a statement sug
gesting that the defendant “be given
an opportunity to relate before a
grand jury how he has been able
to evade for 17 years the serving
of his sentence.”
SEE
US FOR
BETTER
USED CARS
TOP TRADES
FLOOD PONTIAC CO.
Oldest Pontiac Dealer In D C.
4221 Conn. Are.Weed. WOO
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Warning signals flash higher prices ahead
Wool up 60%. Many clothiers already posting
increases. Take the tip. Snatch up a Bond
Rochester tailored overcoat or topcoat,
save plenty! As usual, this Sale pulls no
punches. These coats are regular Bond stock,
reduced from this seasons low prices.
/Snake*. LOTS pvam WAY UP
2-trouser suits and overcoats - ylw
Remember the Scotch tweeds, fine shetlands
featured last month? Look where they’re now.
COMPLETE IQTS up. & $30.00
2-trouser suits and overcoats - ylw
The "star*" of our stock. Many of them
imported wools —all Rochester tailored.
REGULARLY up to- <35.00*
__
*Park Lane Clothes now 3285
t
1335FSt.N.W.
Uetea to Arthar Godfrey, “Son Dial,” WJ8V,
Every Weekday Morning—7:45 to i