WEATHER
Fair and colder tonight. Thurs
day, increasing cloudiness and
warmer, with probable rain or
jltOW.
-• •« • •
GOOD AFTERNOON
^ "i .' . •'-r. h'V.r
Eztri'liMvy daw in CtU/oni^l
total pracipiUUia dnriaf item
was 9^1 Utkn.
Largest Daily Circulation of Any Newspaper in North Carolina in Proportion to Population
VOL. 57—No. 309
HENDERSONVILLE, N. cJWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1938
single copies, five cent*
*** *** *** *** £ - *** *#* ***
Loyalists Are Ready To Flee Barcelona
A - A ; i.
FRANCO ENDS
FIRSTPHASEOF
VICTORY DRIVE
Huge Force Pointed at
Barcelona; to Split
Catalonia
300.000 MEN SWEEP
ON IN CAMPAIGN
H E N D A Y E, Franco-Spanish
Frontier, Dec. 28. (UP) — The
lirst phase of Generalissimo Fran
cisco Franco's end-the-war offen
sive was completed today and he
prepared a second drive to change
the map of Catalonia.
Insurgent dispatches claimed
continued success along a 60-mile
front which gradually was shaping
into a huge triangle, the apex
aimed almost directly at the loyal
ist capital. Barcelona, and it was
designed to cut' Catalonia into
halves.
The northern wing of the insur-j
trent army of 300,000 swept across
Montsech mountain range, cap
tured villages and prepared to at
tack Aresa de Segre, the so-called
gateway to Catalonia.
Loyalist defenders of Catalonia
last night were reported in retreat
along a 60-mile front to escape
the jaws of Generalissimo Franco's
>riant pinc*rs snapping shut ujjoi^
the walled town of Cervera, 48
miles inland from Barcelona.
Insurgent dispatches at the same
time indicated that Franco's forces
on the southern wing were only
30 miles from the important gov
ernment seaport of Tarragona on
the Mediterranean, but instead of
striking on to the seacoast they
swung north around Borjas Blan
cas and drove toward Cervera.
Simultaneously, Franco's crack
Xavarrese and Galicians in the
Tremp sector to the north swept
southward across 5.000-feet moun
tain peaks in swirling snow upon
the town of Artesa de Segre, key
communications center of the gov
ernment's entire center Catalon
ian front.
The security of lovaiist uener
alissimo Vincente Rojo's entire de
fense system from Tremp down to
Lerida east of the Segre valley
was at stake.
From Artesa do Segre on the
south bank of the Se«re Franco's
forces must cut an 18-mile arc to
reach Cervera while his southern
army, composed lareely of Italian
Legionnaires and Moroccan cav
alry, must drive north and east 17
miles across jagged hills to reach
Cervera. I
Once this liaison is formed, the
insurgents will have bitten off a
irreat bulging slice of loyalist ter
ritory from Tremp to Mora de
Ebro, trapping loyalist units be
hind them, and would be massed
for a death blow at Barcelona, di
rectly east over a broad highway.
Frontier reports said that the
loyalist government was preparing
to abandon Barcelona should the
insurgents get within striking dis
tance.
Insurgent dispatches said Pre
mier Juan Negrin and his cabinet
*ere holding a fleet of ships in
^adiness ready to move the gov
ernment to the southern section of
dismembered loyalist Spain, prob
ably Cartagena or A'bacete.
Catalonian dispatches said Gen
eralissimo Franco was laying down
the heaviest artillery bombard
ment of the entire civil war. using
more than 500 guns alone his lines
from TremD to Seroa. More than
3.000 aerial bombs and 8,000
shells were said to have fallen on
loyalist positions in the sector dur
the last 72 hours.
H.S. Class Of 1938
Will Hold Reunion
I he 1938 graduating class of
jhe Hendersonvllle high school will
hold its first reunion tomorrow,;
Wednesday night at 8 o'clock at
'he Home Food Shop, when the
^v«nt will take the form of an in
Jormal banquet. A large crowd is
expected. Soonsors of the eather
lnK today asked that all *ho have;
done so leave their plater
yUirjje for the banquet with Miss
auc Turner at the Economy drug
store.
CITY AND LAKE LURE
ALL STARS TO PLAY
Announcement was made today
Gat the Hendersonville All Star!
i *cetball team will play the Lake
a.Ur* All Stars tonight at 8 o'clock
the Flat Rock high school gym.'
JAPS PLANNING
NEW CAMPAIGN
IN SO. CHINA
SHANGHAI, Dec. 28. (UP) —
Chinese sources today reported
that Japanese troops are massing
west of Canton and appeared to
be planning a drive into the in
terior of China, possibly along the
border of French Indo-China.
Chinese military authorities said
that Japanese casualties during
the war have totaled 650,000.
FMS.PLAN TO
TRAIN PILOTS
WINS SUPPORT
Senator Sheppard Okehs
Large Civilian Avia
tion Reserve
WASHINGTON. Dec. 28. (UP)
Chairman Morris Sheppard of the
senate military affairs commit
tee today promised support for
President Roosevelt's new pro
gram Jto augment vastly the na
tion's trained civilian airpower.
Sheppard expressed his appro
val of plans to train annually un
der the direction of the Civil
Aeronautics authority 20,000
youtfis Between fhe ageS 'of 18
and 25 as air pilots to provide
a reserve .in case of war.
"We've got to cultivate avia
; tion among civilians as well as
among army and navy forces,"
i Sheppard said. "We must encour
age civilian aviation as much as
possible."
WASHINGTON, Dec. 28. (UP)
President Roosevelt disclosed yes
terday that the government soon
would begin training 20,000 col
lege students annually as expert
pilots, giving the United States
one of the most formidable aerial
reserves in the world.
He said at his press conference
that preliminary plans call for
start of the program in several
hundred colleges during the
school year 1939-40, under super
vision of the National Youth ad
ministration. Details were worked
out by the Civil Aeronautics au
thority. he added.
Mr. Roosevelt's disclosure came
after it was learned authorita
tively that he plans to send a
special message to the 76th con
gress asking for supplemental
military and naval funds to de
velop a gigantic, long-range air
armada.
Military and naval experts now
estimate that there are 30,000 to
35,000 pilots and students in civ
il aviation who could be con-1
scripted in event of war. Since
the president placed no limit on
the length of time the new pro
gram would run, it is believed the
United States may become undis
puted in air supremacy within a
few years.
Mr. Roosevelt said that the
plan would be placed on an ex
perimental basis during the sec
ond semester of the present school
year in a number of colleges that
had pioneered in the field, and '
that at least 300 students would |
be trained in this period.
Pending further arrangements
the CAA announced that courses
in the test semester would be pre
sented at the following colleges
and universities: Purdue, Ala
bama, Minnesota, University of
Washington, Massachusetts Insti
tute of Technology, Texas Agri
culture and Mechanical, and Geor
gia School of Technology.
He emphasized that the com
plete program would entail an an
nual cost of $9,800,000 which
must be appropriated through
(Continued on page three)
Rome Speculates France May Yield
Use Of African Seaport Facilities
J
ROME, Dec. 28. (UP)—Specu
lation that France might agree to
certain non-territorial concessions
facilitating Italy's use of the Port
of Djibouti developed last night
following reports of Italian troop
concentrations along: the border of
French Somaliland.
The Fascist press reproduced
French newspaper reports of the
Italian troop movements, suppos
edly with the aim of occupying
the Djibouti terminum of the rail
road to Addis Ababa, but govern
ment officials declined to either
confirm or deny the reports.
Diplomats admitted that if the
reports of menacing Italian troop
movements were true they wouin
constitute «n embarrassing prel
ude to the mid-January visit to
Rome of British Prime Minister
Neville Chamberlain who seeks de-1
velopment of his European ap
peasement program.
Speculation that France might ■
agree to make concessions in re
gard to Italians rights in Djibouti,!
providing they do not involve any
surrender of territory, grew outj
of disclosure of the contents of a
French note delivered Monday to
Italian Foreign Minister Count
Galeazzo Ciano. The note was in
answer to Italy's formal repudia
(Continued on page six).
ANOTHER COLD
WAVE SWEEPS
OUT OF ARCTIC
Warning Comes as Almost
Entire Nation Gripped
by First One
EXPECTED~TO STRIKE
ALL EAST OF ROCKIES
(UNITED PRESS)
"Kid Cold" cocked his fist today
for a second punch at the nation,
already reeling from his first win
try blow.
United States weather forecas
ter J. R. Lloyd at Chicago warned
that a second cold wave is sweep
ing down from the Arctic Circle
while the first wave held almost
the entire nation in its grip.
The fringe of the new wave
has reached Montana and Lloyd
said by tomorrow night it would
blanket the Plains states and the
Missouri valley.
The most severe cold wave of
the winter stretched icy tentacles
toward the eastern seaboard today
and penetrated even sections of
the deep south.
Intense cold already had spread
, over the Plains states, the lower
Missouri. Mississippi and Ohio
river valleys and the Great Lakes
region. Blizzards raged across the
upper Michigan peninsula and in
parts of Ohio. Pennsylvania and
upner New York.
U. S. forecaster Lloyd expected
that the cold would cover every
portion of the country east of the
Rocky mountains bv tonight. He
said great masses of Polar air still
are sweeping southeastward from
the MacKenzie river basin and
that the cold might not abate for
a week.
Zero readings were reported
from the Rockies to Michigan and
a line of near zero temperatures
stretched northeastward from
Pennsylvania across New York
into northern New England. Tem
peratures leached the freezing
point in portions of southern
Texas and were sub-normal in
Florida. The Pacific coast was the
only section of the country to es
cape the cold.
Toledo, O., a city of 300,000
population, faced a threat of a
water shortage. High off-shore
winds had blown so much water
of the Maumee river into Lake
Erie the water department was
forced to draw upon emergency
supplies stored in reservoire. The
river is the city's only source for
water. Its stage drooped six feet
yesterday and the city's intake
was cut to nearly one-fifth of nor
mal.
George Schoonmaker, citv engi
neer, said the threat of a famine
had subsided but warned citizens
to economize rigidly.
"We still may be forced to cut
off the water completely at any
hour to assure a fire protection
(Continued on iwg-e three)
HUNGARY WOLVES KILL
CARPATHIAN PEOPLE
BUCHAREST, Rumania, Dec.
28.—(UP)—A dispatch from the
village of Brusturi, in the Car
pathian mountains, said today
that four villagers were killed in ;
a fight with wolves which, des
perate from hunger because of |
snow, attacked the village sta
bles.
According to the dispatch, all j
the men of the village, armed
with sickles, hatchets and knives,1
fought 50 wolves for several;
hours, and killed 14. The wolves 1
had killed sheep and cattle in
their raid, it was said.
The cold which brought the
wolves down from the mountains
affected the entire country. It
was accompanied by heavy snow.
__ I
Prayer—As Usual
Forced to live and pray in a s';able previously condemned as unfit
for horses, this elderly Jewish roftfgoe offers up his devout morning
prayers as usual, clad in prayer sUawl a; d phylacteries. He is one
of 6000 Jews forced out of bailed from Poland, now
living in a frontier "'no man s land." {fis sfeble-home is near
Zzonszyn, Poland.
LIMA PARLEY'S RESULTS ARE
SUMMED UP AS EFFORT TO
PRESERVE AMERICAN SYSTEM
Nazi Writers Not
Invited To Dinner
For Foreign Press
Protest A11 e g e d Snub
When Peruvian Presi
dent Is Host
LIMA, Peru, Dec. 2S. (UP).—
A group of German newspaper
men representing the official Ger
man News Agency Transocean
last night protested to Berlin that
they were not invited to a cock
tail party President Oscar Bena
vides of Peru, gave at noon in
honor of foreign correspondents
covering the eighth Pan American
conference.
The party was held at the presi
dent's La Perla residence.
The Nazi newspaper men also
urged the German minister here
to lodge a formal protest with the
Peruvian government for what
they regarded as a "direct, inten
tional affront." They further an
nounced they would refuse to con
tinue reporting the conference,
which ended at 6 p. m., in protest
against the president's failure to
invite them.
The newspapermen concerned
were Walter Von Simons of Ber
lin, head of the German group;
Dr. Pablo Breuer of Buenos Aires,
chief of the South American serv
ice for Transocean, and Alberto
Pinetta, attached to the Buenos
Aires Transocean bureau.
WRITERS SAY INCIDENT
IS "HOSTILE ACT"
In his telegram to Berlin, Sim
ons charged that the Peruvian
ministry of foreign affairB had
committed a "hostile act" against
the German newspaper men by
not including them in the invita
tions to the party. He requested
that the Nazi government defend
"if possible" German journalism
against the "continued difficul
ties" it encountered abroad.
The German legation said Sim
ons spoke to Willy Nobel, the
minister, about the affair and that
Nobel was considering the situa
tion but had not decided what to
do about it. His secretary said
the minister might speak to For
eign Minister Carlos Concha about
it at last night's state banquet
tendered by President Benavides
to the conference delegates.
The press officer of the con
ference explained the incident by
saying that the persons invited
were limited to those from the
Pan American countries and did
(Continued on page six)
%
Argentina Wins Duel to
Avoid Definite Alliance
of Republics
LIMA, Peru. Dec. 28. (UP) —
The Ujiited States delegation to'
the Eighth Pan American confer-!
en.ce 8f iled for home today with'
plins for strengthening the dec
' laration of American solidarity1
: against foreign political or mili
; tary interference.
The accord unanimously adopt- j
j ed by the conference is regarded
as highly satisfactory by Secre
tary of State Cordeli Hull but it
is admitted that the work must be
continued in future to strengthen
this agreement and add concrete
achievements to the moral declara
tion of unity adopted by the 21
American nations.
LIMA. Peru, Dec. 28.—(UP)—I
Foreign Minister Carlos Concha of
Peru last night closed the Eighth j
Pan American conference on a
keynote of peace and security in
the western hemisphere based on
the 21 American republics' dec
laration of solidarity against for
eign aggression or interference
with American institutions.
The conference adjourned at
7:42 p. m.f the delegates and
others present immediately stand
ing to sing "The Hymn of the
Americas."
Uoncha, in summing up me
i American Philosophy of Life" told
the delegates that "All we seek is
to strengthen our existence by
means of ties that guarantee the
perpetual existence of our insti
tutions." He said the solidarity
declaration "supports the exist-!
ence of a purely American system
which tends to conservation of
peace and proscription of war."
Foreign Minister Luis Lopez De
Mesa of Colombia, as the repre
sentative of the country which will
be host to the Ninth Pan Ameri
can conference in 1943, also spoke.!
All the nations had signed the
"final act" of the conference, con
tainine 111 resolutions but not a
single treaty or convention, before
the closing ceremony was called to
order by Concha in the Peruvian
chamber of deputies.
Sijcning of the final act, printed
in the four official languages of
the American republics—Spanish,
English, Portuguese and French—
began at 9:50 a. m., when Foreign
Secretary Narcfso Garay of Pan
ama affixed his signature and the
seal of that republic to the docu
ment. Other delegates followed
suit throughout the day in the or
der of their arrival at the Con
gress building.
To all intents and purposes the
conference, which began Dec. 9,
closed at 10:12 p. m. Saturday
when the final plenary session ad
journed after approving unani
(Continued on page six).
COUNTIES MAY
RON RELIEF TO
SHUN POLITICS
Roosevelt Studies Scheme
for Non-Partisan Lo
cal Operation
WOULD WARD OFF
INQUIRY ON WPA
WASHINGTON, Dec. 28. (UP)
President Roosevelt is considering
today the establishment of non
partisan boards in every county
to keep politics out of relief.
The plan, it was tearqed, was
outlined at recent ^Vhite House
conferences. One usually well
informed source said that it was
designed to answer congressional
criticism of the Works Progress
administration and to soften de
mands for an investigation of
that agency.
Mew attaqKS on wjta were ex
pected to follow publication of
the report of the senate campaign
expenditures committee, which in
vestigated charges of political ac
tivity among federal employes
during the last .elections.
It was learned that the report,
covering inquiries made in 15
states, would contain serious
charges involving politics in re
lief in several states, notably
Kentucky,' Tennessee and Penn
TylvaMte. A coalition of Republi
cans and conservative Democrats
planned to use these charges as
ammunition in a fight to prevent
senate confirmation of former
WPA Administrator Harry L.
Hopkins' appointment as secretary
of commerce.
A recent White House visitor,
commenting on the relief situa
tion in his stat?, drew from the
president an outline of the pro
posal to create non - partisan
boards to investigate complaints
of political coercion and other
charges, and to advise the fed
eral agency. Actual administra
tion of relief would remain in
control of WPA. Members of the
boards would serve without sal
ary.
Congressional opponents of the
present relief set-up contended
that Mr. Roosevelt, in consider
ing such a plan, was admitting
weakness in the WPA which, they
said, permitted federal employes
in many states to play politics
with persons on relief rolls.
A strong group of senators, in
cluding Carter Glass (D., Va.]
Arthur H. Vandenberg (R
Mich.), Josiah W. Bailey (D., N.
C.), Harry F. Byord (D., Va.)
and Ellison D. Smith (D., S. C.),
planned to renew attempts to abol
ish WPA and turn its adminis
trative functions over to the in
dividual states.
These efforts may be strength
ened by the findings of the cam
paign expenditures investigators
Chairman Morris Sheppard (D.
Texas) said he hoped to make
the committee's report public on
(Continued on oage three) |
U. S. FLEET DIVISION
TO MAKE GOOD WILL
TRIP TO S. AMERICA
WASHINGTON, Dec. 28. (UP)
The Navy department today said
it plans to send a division of cruis
ers on a good will trip to South
America next spring.
Naval officials said details of
the proposed cruise are not avail
able but it is understood that Divi
sion 7. with the exception of the
Vincennes, probably will make the
trip.
Other ships in the division are
the San Francisco, Tuscaloosa and
the Quincy. The Vincennes' over
hauling schedule prevents her
from making the trip.
Nazis Say Any Break Fault Of U. S.;
Hold U. S. 'Defeated' In Lima Parley
BERLIN, Dec. 28. (UP)—Nazi
leaders last nisrht indicated Chan
cellor Adolf Hitler probably would
let the matter of the United
States' recent rebuke to Germany
drop and leave it to Washington
to take any initiative which might
lead to a definte break in German
American relations.
Hitler has had ample opportun
ity to study the rebuke, which an
swered a Nazi protest against a
speech by U. S. Secretary of In
terior Harold L. Ickes, but no of
ficial announcement or even a hint
as to Germany's course of dealing
with the matter has been forth- i
coming. '
Informed Nazi quarters believed
that the government Is convinced
that aggravation of the situation
would serve no political purpose.
A formal break in German-Ameri
can relations could only harm Ger
man trade, not onlv with the Uni
ted States but with other countries
where anti-Nazi boycotts have
been started.
Dr.'Hjalmar Schacht, president
of the Reichsbank and Germany's
outstanding economic authority,
and Field Marshal Hermann Wil
helm Goering, administrator of
the Reich's four-year economic
program, were said to have taken
(Continued on page fix)
Would Adolf
Approve This?
Herr Hitktr mi^nt not like just
now—his favorite Leni Riefen
stahl wearing a 100 per cent
American cowgirl outfit on a
ranch near Santa Barbara, Cal.
SEEK 5 MORE
IN DRUG CASE
Two Men and Woman Now
Being Held in Black
mail Charge
NEW YORK, Dec. 28. (UP).—
Police held a woman and two men
today and sought five more per
sons, all on suspicion of having
blackmailed F. Donald Coster, the
swindling president of McKesson
and Robhins, Inc., who killed him
self when he was exposed as
Philip Musica, an ex-convict.
The prisoners, belligerent and
uncommunicative, were Mary
Brandino, 37; her brother, Joseph,
61, and Walter H. Cragg, 56, a
disbarred lawyer imprisoned in
1914 for embezzling a client's
funds.
The other suspects were not
named. Together, they were be
lieved to have extorted most or all
of the $150,000 a year that Cos
ter-Musica swindled from his coin*
pany.
The three were held on federal
charges of using the mails to de
fraud and "conspiring with other*
to extort sums of money from
Philip Musica." They were among
the few persons who knew of Co«
ter-Musica's 18-year masquerade,
during which he invaded Wall
(Continued on page three) |
UNEXPECTED
PROVINCES TO
BE OCCUPIED
Unprecedented Transfei
Financed by United
States, Britain
'RED' ANDR1GHTIST
CLEAVAGE GROW1NC
CHUNGKING, Dec. 28. (UP)
The Chines* government, partlj
with the aid of United States and
British loans, is undertaking an
almost unprecedented mass trans
fer of industrial resources intc
the unexploited provinces ol
western China. .
Millions of dollars worth oi
machinery and equipment, hun
dreds of thousands of laborer*
and many hundreds of skilled
technicians and engineers arc
moving westward as Japanese
bayonets cut off China's great
coastal commercial areas.
The movement may be one ol
the most significant development*
of the Far Eastern struggle
which recently has resulted in
mounting Japanese resentment
against the United States and
Britain, because of their financial
aid to China, for the purchase of
agricultural And. industrial ma
chinery. , ' * \ * .
SHANGHAI,-Dec. 28. (UP)—
Followers of Geiieralissimo Chi
ang Kai-shek sald^ far Chungking
today that any thought, of peacs
between Japan and China on the
basis of Japaneae Premier' Prince
Fumfanaro Konoye's statement oi
December 22, is fopotirible.
v Simultaneously It . was denied
officially, that former Premier
Wang Chbtg-wei has'been emoow:
ered to soUrnf oat the Japanese
on the poesibility of a truce and
present to them certain "minimum
conditions for peace" on behali
of the generalissimo.
Reports persisted, however, that
Wang either is or soon will be
talking with Japaneae representa
tives in Hanoi, French Indo-Chi
na, or Hong Kong, on the possi
bility of finding some formula
for an end of the war.
The newspaper Ta Kung Pao
insisted that Wane: arrived in
Hong Kong secretly on Mondiy
night and added that Chen Kun*
Po, chief of the Nationalist (Kuo
mintang) party in Siechuan, was
flying from Chengto, the Sxe«
chuan capital, "to -inquire about
Wang's health." _ _
uenerauuimo v/Bisny, nuwevei,
in addressing the weekly memor
ial meeting to Dr. Sub Yat-»en,
founder or the Nationalist party,
at Chungking, denounced Prince
Konoye's . declaration of Decem
ber 22 and indicated there haa
been no slackening in his deter
mination to continue fighting to
the bitter end.
Veteran Far Eastern observers
were convinced that some peace
move was under way but they
believed it might be several weeks
or months before anything defi
nite would develop.
' Wang is close to many right
wing leaders of the Kuomintang
who feel that Generalissimo Chi
ang gradually is permitting the
Chinese Communist party to gain
control of the masses, thus open
ing the way for a "red" govern
ment in which the interests of
the conservatives would be wiped
out
Baptist Finance
Group Will Meet
Roy C. Bennett, finance commit
tee chairman of the First Baptist
church announced this morning
that the larger finance committee
will hold an important meeting at
the church tonight following the
mid-week prayer service.
Mr. Bennett stated'that the pur
pose of the meeting was to make
final preparations--for the every
member canvass that will be con
ducted for that church next Sun
day.
1m
Low temperature lest night—17
degrees.
TUESDAY
Maximum temperature—44 de
grees. Minimum t 27 degrees.
Mean—85.6 degreas. Day's range
—17 degree*;
Normal mean temperature for
December—89.8 degrees. Rain
fall to date—i.78 inches; Normal
rainfall—5.46 inches.
HOME FROM RALEIGH
Mr. fcn* Mffc Dwigfct "W. Baft
net* ha*e Returned from Raleigh,
where they spent the holidays
with relatival* -
Li - -j*