Evening star. [volume], February 16, 1944, Image 1

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

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
Weather Forecast
Cloudy; near freezing tonight. Tomor
row warmer, occasional rain.
Temperatures today—Highest, 38, at
1.30 pin.; lowest, 28, at 8:05 a.m. Yes
terday—Highest, 44, at 4 p.m.; lowest,
34, at 3:45 a.m.
__Late New York Markets, Poge A-17._
Guide for Readers
Page.
! Amusements A-12
Comics_B-18-19
Editorials -.A-8
Edlt’l Articles - A-9
Finance .A-17
Lost and Found A-3
Page.
Obituary .A-10
Radio .B-19
Society.B-3
Sports .A-14-15
Where to Go __ B-8
Woman’s Page.A-11
An Associoted Press Newspaper
92d YEAR. No. 36,449.
WASHINGTON, D, C., WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1944—THIRTY-EIGHT PAGES. ***
~ THREE CENTS. "
RAF Drops 2,800 Tons of Bombs
On Berlin in War's Biggest Raid;
Germans' Cassino Line Breached
Big Fires Started;
43 Aircraft Lost
In Night Forays
Fy the Associated Press.
LONDON, Feb. 16.—The RAF
smashed Berlin last night with
the greatest load of bombs ever
dropped on a single target—well
over 2.800 tons—which cascaded
down in a 20-minute attack by
800 to 900 heavy bombers.
Forty-three aircraft are missing
from the night's operations, which
included other forays.
The Air Ministry first listed 45
planes lost, but later announced the
toll was 43.
The RAF waited two weeks to deal
this crushing blow against the Ger
man capital. Not since January 30,
when Berlin was hit by a force ap
proaching 800 planes, had it made a
major attack.
It is believed that the armada
sent over Germany last night com
prised the greatest number of planes
ever to fill the Reich’s skies in one
night, including 1,000 heavy bomb
ers and more than 200 lighter craft.
Berlin itself received the contents of
800 to 900 big bomb bavs.
Smoke Rises Four Miles.
Billows of flame swept through
the city when the assault was fin
ished. Crews of reconnoitering
Mosquitos reported a large field of
fire, with smoke rising 4 miles into
the air.
Just before Berlin was hit a
smaller force of Lancasters made a
feint attack on Frankfurt-on-Oder,
50 miles east of Berlin, and Mos
quitos bombed targets in Western
Germany and Holland. Mines also
were laid in enemy waters.
The heaviest previous raid on
Berlin was on the night of last
January 20, when more than 2,578
tons #2,300 British long tons) were
dropped within an hour. The RAF’s
heaviest previous raid on a single
target was its attack on Hannover,
about 2,800 tons, last September 22.
A Swedish report quoting private
advices reaching Stockholm said
high explosives and incendiaries
showered down on all sections of
Berlin last night.
Many Fires Started.
All bus, tram and underground
traffic was reported disrupted. Ber
lin correspondents Of Swedish news
papers were almost completely
silenced, but the German-controlled
Scandinavian Telegraph Bureau re
ported from Zurich that the heavy
attack started many fires.
DNB, German news agency, de
clared in a broadcast:
"British air Huns carried out an
other terror raid on the Reich cap
ital. The raiders were favored by
the weather. A layer of dense
cloud lay over the city and the
enemy took advantage of this to
drop bombs at random in several
districts. The terror raiders ■were
met by extraordinarily heavy anti
aircraft fire. Damage was caused
mainly in residential districts.”
Returning pilots agreed a ceiling
of heavy clouds over Berlin pre
vented accurate observation of the
results and also impeded the de
fenses. They said flak over the tar
get area was intense but inaccurate.
Fighter opposition was light as com
pared with some of the previous
Berlin attacks.
The Swedish newspaper Afton
bladet's Berlin correspondent re
ported that two houses used tem
porarily by the Swedish Legation
were destroyed by fire bombs and
that a Swedish church in the South
western section of the city was hit
By incendiaries.
28,000 Tons Dropped.
Berlin now' has received almost
28.000 tons (25.000 long tons) of
bombs in a series of 15 heavy at
tacks beginning November 18. 1943.
The total heavy bombers last on
these night raids is 467, an aver
age of 31 a raid.
Frankfurt-on-Oder, a city of
about 70,000. was attacked only once
before, in October, 1940. Its main
industries manufacture machinery
and chemicals and it is important
as a railway center.
Among the hundreds of planes
which flew to Berlin was the largest
force of heavy bombers ever to oper
ate from Royal Canadian Air Force
bases in Britain. It was composed of
four-engined Lancasters and Hali
faxes. of which four were missing.
A communique declared that the
bombers "took the offensive against
Germany in very great strength,
flying in all operations over 1,000
sorties. The main objective was
Berlin, where well over 2,500 long
tons of high explosive and in
cendiary bombs were dropped, a
heavier load than in any previous
attack on any objective in air war
fare."
Entire Formation Returns.
Indicating the scarcity of opposi
tion over Berlin, 35 Lancasters
manned by British, Canadian and
Australian crews took off from one
(See RAIDS, Page A-27)
Two Japanese Admirals
Killed in Marshalls
By the Associated Press.
UNITED STATES ARMY HEAD
QUARTERS, Central Pacific. Feb.
16.—Two Japanese admirals were
killed in the American conquest of
Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshalls,
Maj. Gen. Charles H. Corlett, com
manding the 7th Army Division of
Army troops, said yesterday.
One was killed On Kwajalein
Island, one on Ebeye—both eitlier by
Army artillery or rifle fire.
Gen. Corlett said the admiral of
Kwajalein was commander of the
whole Marshalls and other terri
tories. The admiral emerged from
a dugout on the second day of the
invasion and was hit. The next day
hxfcataff committed hara-kiri. j
► _ - ■ '
On-Spot Radio Facilities Barred
To War Correspondents in Italy
Dispatches Must Go
To Base Headquarters
For Censorship
E.v the Associated Press.
LONDON, Feb. 16.—Delayed
j dispatches from the Anzio
bridgehead below Rome said to
day the Allied command had
banned use of on-the-spot radio
facilities to news correspondents,
decreeing that news copy must
be carried by courier service and
censored at base headquarters
on policy as well as security
grounds.
A Reuters dispatch, dated Febru
ary 13, said Lt. Gen. Mark W.
Clark’s command had taken this
action because of annoyance caused
by some press dispatches concerning
the beachhead operation. The dis
patch said there was criticism of
reports which called the beachhead
another Tobruk or Dunkerque.
Norman Clark, representing the
combined British press, said in a
dispatch also dated February 13 that
this "bridling'’ of the correspond
ents’ attempts to represent the day
(See CORRESPONDENTS? Pg. A-2?i
Gen. Alexander, Sure
Of Victory, Assails
'Pessimistic Rubbish'
Bv DANIEL DE LUCE,
Associated Press War Correspondent.
! ON THE ANZIO BEACHHEAD,
Italy, Feb. 14 (Delayed).—Gen.
Sir Harold Alexander, command
er in chief of Allied armies in
Italy, declared today after a tour
of the Anzio front that “we are
! winning the second round of the
j battle of the beachhead.”
| Using strong, unqualified lan
guage to express the conviction that
the Anzio landings would lead to
success, the general, in barely 10
minutes of rapid-fire discussion,
gave the clearest statement on the
beachhead situation yet made by
any high military source.
“We won the first round with our
surprise landing—a beauty!” Gen.
Alexander said. “I assure you the
Germans opppsite us are a very un
happy party. As Kesselring (Field
Marshal Gen. Albert Kesselring,1
commander of German forces in
Italy i cnce said, if you allow the
_(See ALEXANDER. Page A-2.i
Green Islands Seizure
Ends Solomons Drive,
Trapping 22,000 Japs
Latest Landing Marks
750-Mile Push Since
Guadalcanal Invasion
(Map on Page A-4.)
By the Associated Press.
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN
THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC.
Feb. 16.—Admiral William F.
Halsey's South Pacific forces in
a bold surprise move seized the
Green Islands at the northern j
tip of the Solomons Monday,!
Gen. Douglas MacArthur an
nounced today, closing a itarve
or-surrender trap, on 22,000 Jap
anese troops to the south.
American and New Zealand troops,
under cover of air and naval surface
strength which included cruisers,
landed in an 8 p.m. twilight and met
only light machine-gun resistance.
‘For all strategic military pur
poses, this completes the campaign
for the Solomon Islands.” Gen. Mac
Arthur said in a communique.
The estimated 22.000 ~ Japanese
trapped on Choiseul, Shortland
Bougainville and Buka Islands to
the south “are now isolated from
their sources of supply at Rabaul
(New Britain),” he said.
“Starvation and disease are cer
tain to ensue from the military
blockade, which renders their posi
tion hopeless. With their airfields
destroyed and their barge traffic
paralyzed, relief of the scattered
garrisons is no longer practicable
and their ultimate fate is sealed.”
Rear Admiral Theodore S. Wilkin
son of Washington, commanded the
amphibious operation. New Zealand
Maj. Gen. Harold E. Barrow
Clough was in charge of the ground
troops, mainly New Zealanders.
The Green Islands, also known as
the Nissan Islands, are 40 miles
northwest of Buka Island and about
120 miles east of the Japanese base
at Rabaul, where the enemy has
been taking repeated and heavy Al
lied aerial pounding.'. They also are
only 230 miles southeast of another
Japanese base at Kavieng, New Ire
land.
Territory seized by the Americans
and New Zealanders is composed of
a group of five coral islands form
ing a horseshoe-shaped atoll 16 by
14 miles. Thera is an interior la
goon and a low coral perimeter.
Highest point on the atoll is 200 feet,
and there are a number of flat
places suitable for airfields.
The operation culminated a series
of outflanking maneuvers In the
(See PACIFIC, Page A-4.)
Air and Sea Power
Cannot Defeat Japs,
MacArthur Declares
Must Be Supported by
Ground Action to Clinch
Victory, He Points Out
Ej the Associated Press.
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS IN
SOUTHWEST PACIFIC. Feb. 16.
—Gen. Douglas MacArthur said
today that Japan cannot be de
feated through blockade and
bombing alone.
“We must defeat Japan's army
and for that purpose our strategy
must devise ways and means ,to
bring our ground forces into con
tact with his at decisive points,” he
said in a special statement.
The Southwest Pacific commander
made his comment following discus
sion of recent successes in his sector
in which blockade and bombardment
played such a vital part.
The statement said the general
was asked If he thought Japan could
be defeated through blockade and
bombing alone, and the answer was
a decisive “no.”
Must Defeat Jap Army.
“Both of these are powerful
weapons, indeed, but decisive results
in modern war can only be achieved
through the combined efforts of all
three forces—ground, naval and air.",
Gen. MacArthur declared. “No one ‘
or no two of them can obtain vic
tory.
“The strongest military element of
Japan is the army which must be
defeated before our success is as
sured. This can only be done by1
th% use of large ground forces. It's!
useless and misleading to talk of
short cuts. They do not exist.
“It’s teamwork of a united, well
balanced command used as a unit
and not its preponderance of any
one element that is essential to vic
tory. We delude ourselves if we plan
otherwise. Just as is the case with j
Germany, we must devise ways and
means to bring our ground forces
into contact with his at decisive!
points.”
Jap Holdings Large.
Gen. MacArthur said the old con
cept of Japan as a predominantly
maritime nation based on her island
empire is no longer “factual,'’
adding:
“With her immense holdings on
the Asiatic continent, Manchuria,
Korea, and Northern China, to say
nothing of her southern mainland
conquests, she has become intrinsi
cally a continental power with her
greatest potential inland.
“Her outlying islands of the Pa
ciflc represent an outpost position
• See MACARTHUR, Page A-4.)
Curt Nazi Note Took Argentina
Near War Before Gilbert Ouster
Ey the Associates Press.
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Feb.
16. — Germany’s curt protest
against detention of the German
Military Attache, Gen. Friedrich
Wolff, brought Argentina close
to war with the Reich last week,
a diplomatic source said today,
and precipitated yesterday’s
palace revolution ousting For
eign Minister Gen. Alberto Gil
bert.
This source, conversant with the
swiftly-moving events in Argentina,
gave this version:
Germany on Friday sent an inso
lent note to Argentina through the
Swiss government. The note de
clared that charges of Nazi espion
age in Argentina were a “lie,” and
that Germany would hold Argentina
responsible for treatment accorded
to Wolff. It threatened reprisals
against Argentine diplomatic repre
sentatives in Nazi-controlled terri
tories. t
Wanted to Prove Good Faith.
Gilbert angrily demanded a
declaration of war against Ger
many, and rupture of relations with
Spain on grounds it also was impli
cated in Axis espionage in Argentina.
He was pictured as feeling this w6uld
not only prove Argentina’s good
faith abroad, but also would
strengthen the government of Gen.
Pedro Ramirez at home against na
tionalists who still were grumbling
over the breaking of relations with
Germany and Japan.
But Gilbert, who presumably had
the support of Ramirez and the
President’s former executive secre
tary, Col. Enrique Gonzalez, was un
able to persuade the Nationalist of
ficers to agree to war. There were
signs of unusual military prepara
tions in Argentina during this time.
Gilbert and two other state of
ficials were forced to resign as a
result.
Gen. Ramirez himself apparently
was left in a precarious situation by
the coup, engineered by a group of
reactionary army officers who seized
control of the Foreign Ministry
while unknowing Argentine citizens
fanned themselves in the sultry
weather.
The sudden turn of events caused
Gustavo Martines Zuviria, whoJiad
resigned earlier as Minister of Jus
tice and Education because of his
opposition to the break with the
Axis, to withdraw his resignation,
’ (See ARGENTINE, Page A-4.)
Siege Guns Open
Bombardment of
Monastery Hill
(Map on Page A-3.)
By the Associated Press.
ALLIED HEADQUARTERS, Al
giers, Feb. 16.—American siege
guns have opened a concentrated
bombardment of Monastery Hill,
following the destruction of the
historic Mount Cassino Abbey,
and breaches have been opened
in that main sector of the Ger
man line overlooking the town
of Cassino, Allied headquarters
announced today.
To the west, along the invasion
beachhead, the lull in ground fight
ing continued, with only patrol
clashes in the Cisterna and Car
roceto (Aprilla) areas, a com
munique said.
Headquarters said Carroceto was
in German hands. Fierce fighting
has swirled in this neighborhood,
with a canning factory there chang
ing hands four times. Allied forces
had pushed 4 miles north of Car
roceto to the outskirts of Campo
leone, 16 miles below Rome, but
German counterattacks forced them
back. Carroceto is 10 miles north
of Anzio.
Warships again battered the Ger
mans ringing the beachhead and
RAF Wellingtons flung down block
busters in a night attack.
Rome Suburbs Raided.
While Allied heavy bombers gave
direct support to infantry on both
the beach and Cassino front. A-36
Invaders struck a sharp series of
blows at railroad yards in the
suburbs of Rome, plastering the
Trastevere and Tiburtina freight
yards through which German sup
plies and reinforcements were mov
ing southward. (The Paris radio
said the Rome area was attacked
again today and that Castel Gan
dolfo was hit yesterday.)
The Germans launched their
first attack in several weeks against
8th Army positions along the Adri
atic, sending infantry and light
tanks against Indian troops. The
assault, described as on a "small
scale,” was beaten back.
(Douglas Amaron, Canadian
Press war correspondent, said in
a dispatch from the 8th Army
front that columns of smoke, ob
served Monday night on the
coastal road about 6 miles north
west of Ortona, were believed to
have resulted from German
demolitions in anticipation of a
renewed Allied offensive.)
In the town of Cassino, doughboys
were forcing their way through
blistering machine gun fire from
steel-reinforced concrete pillboxes in
the dwellings. These strong points,
protected by armor plate 3 to 4
inches thick, each are held by two
men, aiming machine gums with
periscopes without exposing them
selves.
Monastery Destroyed.
Photographic recon naissance
showed that the Benedictine Mon
astery was destroyed yesterday in
the attack by United States heavy
and medium bombers and artillery
fire. Only a small portion of the
west wall was left.
Infantrymen who watched the as
sault said the bombing was "ex
tremely accurate and successful.”
Immediately after the panles left,
Allied artillery shells began drop
ping into the monastery ruins and
the entire area around.
The Germans may have tried to
rush infantry back into the ruins,
but whether they succeeded was not
known here. The bombing smoked
out nearly 300 Nazis.
The American Air Force disclosed
that four waves of Flying Fortresses
hammered the monastery with
“many tons” of high explosives and
incendiaries. The last waves of
bombers dropped the incendiaries.
German infantry presumably was
still in possession of Monastery Hill.
Weather Clears.
Clearing weather brought virtual
ly every type of Allied aircraft into
action, and Liberators also struck at
the Poggibonsi rail yards 20 miles
south of Florence. Nine enemy
planes were downed, including four
ove» the beachhead, while the Allies
lost one.
One formation of invaders caught
a string of nearly 200 freight cars
in the Tiburtina yards on the out
skirts of Rome, hitting them with
(See ITALY, Page A-3.)
Japs Bootleg Poison Liquor
To U. S. Troops in China
By the Associated Press.
HEADQUARTERS UNITED
STATES AIR FORCE IN CHINA,
Feb. 14 (Delayed).—The Japanese
have turned bootlegger In this war
theater, attempting to peddle
phoney “American” brands of
liquor—some of it poisoned—to
American "troops.
Lt. Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell in an
order to his troops in China de
clared liquors represented as Scotch,
rye, brandy and others are “being
smuggled into China from enemy
occupied territories by Japanese
agents intended for sale to Ameri
can troops.”
"Recent reports indicate the Jap
anese in some instances introduced
poisons into these liquors,” the order
said. "All United States Army per
sonnel is warned that the purchase
of these spurious liquors actually is
aiding and abetting the enemy, and
drinking the Japanese beverages
may result in serious illness or
death,"
Hull Tells House It's ‘Too Late'
For Him to Join Bureaucrats
$231,304,700 Fund Reported Out
For Three Government Departments
By the Associated Press.
The House Appropriations
Committee sent to the floor to
day legislation appropriating
$231,304,700 for the State, Com
merce and Justice Departments
for the fiscal year starting July 1.
The total was allocated in this
manner: State Department, $44.
234,500; Justice. $116,477,200; Com
merce, $70,593,000. The aggregate
was $5,987,700 below budget esti
mates.
The legislation was accompanied
by almost 1,000 pages of printed
testimony from high-ranking offi
cials of the three departments.
From Secretary of State Hull,
who told the committee at one point
that it was “too late in life for me"
to join “the bureaucrats,” came a
warning that the war is not “all
over but the shouting,” and Secre
tary of Commerce Jones declared
that much of the $2,700,000,000 in
vested by the Government in air
plane and engine plants will have to
be written off as a dead loss.
Outlined in the foreign service
section were reports that Americans
'See APPROPRIATIONS, Pg. A-57)
Reds Nearing Pskov,
Whittle Down Size of
Cherkasy Pocket
50,000 Trapped Nazis
Declared Fighting
Last-Ditch Battle
By the Associftt’er 1'ren*.
LONDON, Feb. 16 —Gen. Leo
nid A. Govorov's Leningrad army
pressed closer to historic Pskov
today as other Red Army forces
steadily whittled down the
Cherkasy death pocket in the.
upper Dnieper bend, where, the
Russians said, about 50.000
trapped Nazis were fighting a
last-ditch battle against over
whelming odds.
Capture of Pskov, hub of trunk
lines serving an" immense area to
the south, west and east, would set
up the beginning of a potential en
trapment .circle for those Germans
holding positions between Lake
Ilmen on the north and Novosokol
niki, 120 miles to the south. Their
escape avenue then would be cut to
a 120-mile-wide gap between Pskov
and Novosokolniki.
Moscow dispatches said Govorov
hoped to be in Pskov by February
23, the 25th anniversary of the Red
Army's official birthday.
Many Prisoners Captured.
A Russian communique yesterday
said Govorov's troops storming down
the Leningrad-Pskov railway from
Luga captured the railway station
of Serebryanka, 15 miles southwest
of Luca, and the highway town of
Gorodets, a few miles east of Sere
bryanka. Spearheads of this force
then battered their way into the
town of Kalbutitsy, 16 miles south
of Luga and 75 miles northeast of
Pskov.
Another Govorov column, pound
ing down the Narva-Pskov railway
along the eastern shore of Lake
Piepus, overran several towns,
routed an enemy regiment and cap
tured many prisoners, the Moscow
bulletin said. Russian advance
units on this sector were last re
ported at Polna, 47 miles north of
Pskov.
German transport was reported in
hopeless confusion, as the retreating
Nazis were forced off the main roads
by Soviet artillery fire and bombing
attacks. Columns of Nazi trucks,
carts and other transport were
blown to bits^ the Soviet bulletin
said.
More than 1,000 German troops
were killed and 40 towns and vil
(See RUSSIA, Page A-4l
Late Bulletin
Wants Bill Reconsidered
Senator O'Mahoney, Demo
crat, of Wyoming, moved in
the Senate today for reconsid
eration of the bill passed yes
terday giving the District in
surance superintendent power
toi regulate Are insurance
rates. He expressed fear there
were too many strings at
tached to the superintendent’s
authority, and made clear he
was in favor of the objectives
of the measure.
(Earlier Story on Page B-l.)
24 Lost as Blizzard
Drives British Vessel
Onto Maine Rocks
20 Rescued After Ship
Splits in Two Under
Heavy Sea Pounding
Bt the Associated Press.
PORTSMOUTH, N. H . Feb. 16 —
Twenty-four members of the crew of
44 on a 7.244-ton British freighter
were lost when the ship piled onto
Boon Island Ledge, about 12 miles
off York. Me., in a driving blizzard
Friday and split in two, the 1st
Naval District public relations office
disclosed today, with approval of
the British Admiralty.
The motor vessel crashed onto the
rock at 2:23 p.m. and. pounded all
night by terrific seas, broke up Sat
urday morning, with the forward
half remaining fast on the ledge
and the aft half floating crazilv
away to sink later. Chief Engineer
Svend Haagensen related.
Rescuers Handicapped.
Rescue ships stood by. but could
not get close enough to take off the
men. The rescue craft, including
Coast Guard and United States naval
vessels, rendered daring service,
however, in picking up survivors
from the tempest-ridden seas. Thir
teen bodies were recovered later.
Thirteen of the survivors were
taken to Portland, Me., and seven
more were brought into Portsmouth.
Virtually all required hospital treat
ment.
Most of the ship's life-saving
equipment either was washed into
the sea or smashed when the ves
sel split, and some rafts capsized
after they hit the water.
Mr. Haagensen related that he
was 1 of the 19 men ii^ the for
ward section who plunged into the
boisterous ocean as the ship split.
Fifty-foot swells, he said, were run
ning during the night.
Jumped as Ship Broke,
"We jumped," he reiterated, “just
as the ship broke in two, between
the saloon and the third hatch. I
was in the water about 20 minutes
before a liferaft floated by with
<See SiUPWRECK~Page~A^37)
Labor Conscription
Would Not Prevent
Strikes, Green Insists
Citizens' Committee Tells
Hearing Union Chiefs
Fought Selective Service
Bv J. A. O’LEARY.
A national service law would
not prevent strikes and is not
needed to meet war production
requirements. William Green,
president of the American Fed
eration of Labor, told the Senate
Military Affairs Committee today
in opposing a labor draft system.
At the same time, the Citizens
Committee for a National War Serv
ice Act told the committee the same
labor leaders who now are oppos
ing this legislation objected to the
selective service law in 1940.
Mr. Green condemned wartime
strikes, but predicted they woulc
continue to occur because the Gov
ernment has failed to stabilize liv
ing costs along with wages.
Britain's Experienre Cited.
“The War Labor Disputes Act
has not prevented strikes." said the
AFL leader, referring to the Con
nally law. "Neither would a na
tional service law.
“We have only to examine the
experiences of Great Britain for
further confirmation. Britain has
a national service law. adopted in
the national emergency which fol
lowed Dunkerque. This law has
not prevented strikes in Britain
On the contrary, the records show
that there have been more strike.
proportionately in Great Britain
while the national service law was
in effect there than there have
been in this country during the
same period."
The Citizens' Committee countered
with the charge that some of
labor’s strike comparisons with
England have been misleading be
cause they were based on one year
—1942—and "because the emphasis
is placed solely on relative numbers
of strikes and omits the true cri
terion of the number of work davs
lost."
Statistics Presented.
The committee favoring national
service said official figures of the
British and American government;
for the three calendar years 1941
1942 and 1943 inclusive show the
following results;
Total number of strikes — Great
Britain. 4.307: United States. 11.006
Man days lost—Great Britain. 4.
410.000; United States. 40.730.000.
"No one in America has been more
outspoken in condemnation of war
time strikes than I have." said Mr
Green. ‘Repeatedly I have urged
the membership of the American
Federation of Labor to live up to
our no-strike pledge, and they have
followed this advice to the extent
of more than 99 per cent. There
can be no possible justification for
strikes at a time when the fate of
the Nation and the lives of thou
~7~See LABOrTDRAFT.Page A-2.r
Two Canceled Weddings Bring
Walter Reed Explanations
Arrangements for the weddings
of iwo young Washington women to
servicemen, which their families un
derstood had been definitely sched
uled for the chapel at Walter Reed
Hospital next Saturday, have been
cancelled by military authorities
there and will be held elsewhere,
The Star learned today.
Definitely scheduled for 8 p.m.
next Saturday in the same chapel is
the floral wedding of Miss Jane
Kirk, daughter of Maj. Gen. and
Mrs. Norman T. Kirk, to Lt. Marvin
Rea Kimbrell. Gen. Kirk is the
surgeon general of the Army.
Plans for a fourth wedding which
had been scheduled for the same
day were canceled orally by Lt.
Neal McManus, Catholic chaplain
attached to the chapel, but it was
subsequently authorized. This wed
ding, that of Muss Mary Howard
Gillespie and Lt. Laurence Sanford
Kritchell, will be performed at noon,
or eight hours before the Kirk
nuptials.
Arrangements Made.
Miss Kathryn May Galiher,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Claude
Galiher, 1629 Montague street N.W.,
who is to wed Lt. Edward Turner.
U. S. N., told The Star today that
she and her fiance, who recently
returned from an assignment in
[the Pacific, visited Father Mc
Manus on January 23 and made
arrangements to use the chapel for
their wedding. A rehearsal, she
added, was set for last Monday.
Consequently, Miss Galiher said,
her parents sent engraved invita
tions to some 200 persons, many of
whom live in other cities, inviting
them to the wedding at the chapel
On February 4, Miss Galiher said,
she was informed by telephone by
an orderly at Walter Reed that all
weddings at the chapel for next
Saturday had been canceled. No
reason was given, she added.
Subsequently, Miss Galiher said
she learned that Miss Kirk's wed
ding was still scheduled, and be
lieving there might be clash in ar
rangements, called Miss Kirk on
the telephone. Miss Galiher de
scribed Miss Kirk’s attitude as
“friendly,” but said her (the Kirk)
family was insistent that Miss
Galiher’s wedding not be held the
(See WEDDINGS, Page A-16.)
U. S. Oil Policy
Is Demanded in
Truman Report
Says Nation's Future
May Depend on
Foreign Supplies
By the Associated Press.
A warning that the Nation’s
future may depend on develop
ment of foreign oil reserves was
sounded by the Truman Com
mittee today in calling for im
mediate congressional formula
tion of “a positive, vigorous
American policy” on petroleum.
Asserting that the war is deplet
ing domestic reserves, the commit
tee urged that the Nation’s Allies,
particularly Great Britain, be asked
to transfer to the United States "a
compensating volume of proved
reserves outside this country.”
“However,” it continued, "even
more important is an agreement
with our Allies on the equitable al
location of world reserves of petro
leum which will be discovered and
proved in the future, plus the for
mulation of a positive, vigorous
American policy on the whole sub
ject.”
Parley on Committee Held.
Before issuance of the Truman
Committee report Majority Leader
Barkley conferred with Chairman
Bailey of the Senate Commerce
Committee and others on establish
ment of a nine-man Senate com
mitee to establish a national petro
leum policy.
Senator Bailey said the proposed
group would include three repre
sentatives each from the Commerce,
Foreign Relations and Interstate
Commerce Committees. In addition
to its broader duties it would con
sider complaints made by Senator
Moore. Republican, of Oklahoma
against Petroleum Administrator
Ickes and would investigate the
proposed construction of a 1.250-mile
pipe line from the Persian Gulf
area to the Mediterranean.
Oil Ample to Win War.
The Truman committee said the
current depletion' of petroleum re
sources "does not present the possi
bility of an immediate catastrophe,
.because fortunately we have beyond
doubt sufficient petroleum to win
this war.”
It made public a letter from Mr.
Ickes asserting that reserves in this
country "have a relatively short life
expectancy of 14 years” The com
mittee said that indicated the im
portance of assuring access to petro
leum resources in the Eastern Hemi
sphere.
While Mr. Ickes declared that
American interests were supplying
a disproportionate share of oil, in
cluding 95 per cent of the aviation
gasoline, he added that the British
were "producing and refining all
.that they can. subject only to the
^physical limitations of available
facilities”
Partial Government Ownership.
■While asserting that Government
ownership of foreign oil reserves is
out of the question on the ground
that "if there had been no incentive
for private initiative, our conces
sions at Bahrein Island and in
Saudi Arabia would never have been
obtained." and that it would involve
"a radical change in our economic
system," the committee said par
tial Government ownership cannot
be ruled out.
Although partial ownership might
also discourage private initiative
and impose the possibility of politi
cal influences, the report asserted.
| obtaining oil resources is so vital
and the regulation of foreign fields
so difficult, that “Government par
ticipation in ownership may need
to be given serious consideration”
Other courses Congress should
consider, it said, are continuation
of the present policy of exploration
by private firm with limited diplo
matic assistance or "full diplomatic
backing" for American business.
Although private American en
(See OIL. Page A-4.)
5 Drown as Taxi Carrying 9
Plunges Into Virginia River
By the Associated Press.
GRUNDY. Va„ Feb 16 —Three
; adults and two small girls were
■ drowned when a rural taxicab carry
ing nine persons plunged into the
Levisa River near this Southwest
Virginia coal mining town last night.
Buchanan County authorities said
the driver, Australia Justus, had
picked up the passengers along a
10-mile route between Harman and
Grundy. Justus was being held on
manslaughter charges.
Bodies recovered included those of
Amanda Keene. 35. Grundy; Leon
Clevenger, 24, Vansant: Lloyd Sims,
35. Harman, and Jeraldine Owens,
11. of near Grundy.
U. S. Holds 2,000
Alien Foes From
Latin Nations
By the Associate:! Press.
Attorney General Biddle has told
Congress that approximately 2.000
enealiy aliens have been brought to
the United States from South Amer
ican countries and are being kept
in the 11 detention camps at this
Government's expense.
Testimony before the House Ap
propriations Committee made pub
lic today disclosed that the State
Department agreed with various
South American countries that
these enemy aliens, mostly Ger
mans, were “dangerous” and were
"not being properly protected” in
South America. *
“The total camp population is ap
proximately 10,000,” Mr. Biddle
said, “and of that total population
about 2.000 have been brought up
from South America.”
After the war these persons will
be sent back to South America and
repatriated, the Attorney General
explained.
Cost of keeping the prisoners Is
about $1 a day, he said.