davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-01-05
LOCAL INFLUENZA
EPIDEMIC PASSES

The epidemic of mild influenza
that has affected an estimated TO-
900 residents of the city is on the
decline, according to the observa-
tons of officials of the New Han
over Medical Society, Tuesday.
1t is believed that the peak Of
the current wave of illness was
reached late last week.
H. M. Roland, superintendent
Of schools, reported that approx
mately 80 per cent of the normal
school enrolment was absent Mon
day, the opening day. Schools
closed Wednesday afternoon, De-
cember 10 because of the snow.)
However, Mr.. Roland attributed the
majority Of the absences to the
lnclement weather, as attendance
SioI sharply upward on Tuesday.
Inc Medical society spokesman
pfedlcted that with bright weather
1eWer and fewer cases would be
reported.
cooperation of citizens with local
health authorities-in the matter
VI gong to bed at the first signs
Oh sickness, and in the matter of
felfalnlng from calling doctors I'M
necessarily--was soundly applaud
ed.
Local hospitals were said not to
oe oVertaxed with flu and pneu-
nonla patients.
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-01-05
TURIN RAILROAD
YARDS HAMMERED
German Transport Bottle
neck In Northern Italy
Is Hit

ALLIED HEADQUARTERS, Al
giers, Jan. 4.-CP)-German sup
ply traffic through the big rail
way bottleneck at Turin in north
ern Italy was disrupted and a ball
and roller bearing works at near,
by Villar Pescora shattered by a
heavy and accurate onslaught Of
U. S. Flying Fortresses yester'
day, photographs showed today.
A hundred direct hits were scor-
ed in the heart of the Turin yards
by the raid. blocking at least tenn
porarily all through lines from
France and Milan that converge
at Turin to form the principal
west coast route down to Genoa
and Rome.
simultaneously, two other waves
of Fortresses struck in clear. cold
weather at the bearing works at
Villar Perosa, nestled in the Chi
some River valley % miles south
west of Turin, and turned it into
shambles. The huge main build
ing of tho plant, which produces
eight per cent of the Nazis' bear
ings, was blasted by direct hits
and near misses, probably knock
ing the factory out of the war for
a long period.
Twice before American bombers
attacked the Villar Perosa works.
but each time heavy clouds i'm
paired the results. Yesterday it
was oinpointed.
While the weather favored heavy
bomber activity for the first time
in nearly a week, the opposing
land armies in Italy remained
stalled in heavy snow in tn noun
tains and begged to the axles in
mud near both coasts.
American patrols that probed
Nazi defenses around the destroy
ed village of San Vittore on the
main inland highway to Rome
stirred up a violent reaction be-
fore withdrawing as did similar
patrols at other points on the Fifth
Army front.
A Radio France broadcast re-
ported that Fifth Army troops car
ried out one raid across the Ca
gliano river near the western coast
that penetrated a mile and a half
into German positions, but there
was no official confirmation.
Field dispatches said Canadian
forces on the Adriatic coast expe-
rienced their quietest day since
the battle of the Moro river began
nearly month ago. The Cana
dams had yet made no serious at
tempt to dislcdge the Nazis from
Point So" strongly fortified
hill about three miles out of Orto-
ma on the coastal highway to
Pescara. Patrols spent yesterday
feeling out the enemy positio-.
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-01-05
Newell DRIVE OPENS
1000 More Germans Kill
ed and IS Tanks Are
Destroyed

LONDON, Wednesday, Jan. s.
lREThe Russians smashed weak
German counter-attack near t h e
pre-war Polish border. killed 1900
more Germaus ana destroyed IS
OF their tanks yesterday, while to
the southeast another force cap.
tured the stubbornly defended
stronghold and railway station of
Belaya Tserkov and 40 other Uk-
ralnian towns.
The Russians, who have killed
9,oo0 Germans in the border area
in two days, were reported by
Moscow to have advance guards
already operating across the for
mer frontier.
The Moscow midnight acommuni-
que, recorded by the Soviet moni-
tor from a broadcast, told of a
German infantry counter attack
with two neutrality-suspicious. 1,5OO
men. This force "succeeded in
breaking through to the position of
Soviet troops" it said, but "our
units encircled the enemy forma-
tons and wiped out the Hitlerites.
Over 400 prisoners were taken"
The Red army troops also de-
stroyed % big German guns, 1870
trucks and captu ed seven tanks
and AZ guns in the area.
Another 1,10C Germans were kill
ed in the White Russian battle
front around Newell, where re-
surgent Soviet drive to the north
captured 100 populated places and
cleared the 40-mi1e Nevel-Velikie
Luki rail line Of Germans. Plesh-
kovo, 20 miles northeast of Newell
and the rail station of Izocha, 10
miles north of Newell. were cap
tured in the push.
With the fall of the German for
tress of Belaya Tserkov-announc
ed in special order of the day
by Premier Marshal Joseph Stain
more than half million Ger
mans in the Dnieper bend faced
the fate of the German army of
Stalingrad unless Field Marshal
Ger. Fritz vol Mannstein orders
a mass retreat.
For in addition to wrestling back
Belaya Tserkov i'll four-day strug-
gle the Russians also advanced to
Continued on Page Two; Col. d
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-01-05
S0L0NS LAMBAST
PENDING TAX BILL
Senators Say Bill Would
Make New Crop OF
War Millionaires

WASHINGTON. Jan. 4 up -
Citing ECO examples of allegedly
excessive cooperative profits after
taxes. four of the q members of
the Senate Finance Committee to-
day signed minority report lam
basting pending legislation which.
one of the Senators said, would
make "a new crop of war mil
ionaires."
The legislation in question con-
sists of amendments to the war
contracts renegotiation act which
have been approved by a majority
OF the Finance committee. The
four minority signery are Senators
Walsh ID. -Mass.), ConnalIy ID.
Tex. La Toilette prog. Wis., J.
and Lucas ID -Ill).
Walsh asserted that the amend
ments written into the pending ST.
275, 600.020 tax bill, would strike
down the existing prote ion
against war rrofiteering, allow
ing and in some cases compelling
large groups OF war contractors
to make outra geous profits"
The reregotiation statute has
provided an effective means of
limiting war profiteering,'' the
Senator said, under it, war con-
tractors have been allowed liberal
profits on their war business, but
inordinate profits have been elimi-
mated. Through its operation, ,ol-
diers AND the public have been
given a measure of assurance that
no group would make exorbitant
profits during the war from juni-
tons and var supplies"
Walsh said the minority report
would list 200 specific examples
of excessive profits after taxes.
He did not name any of the firms
in his statement, bit commented:
Forty Of these companies who
have had war contracts with the
government show over 100 per cent
earned by the companies listed is
965 per cent ard there are several
companies who have earned in ex-
cess of 500 per cent.
incidentally, these cases have
been solely selected from among
cases which are in process of re-
negotiation by the War Depart
ment.
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-01-05
Hitler Is Living


WASHINGTON, Jan. 4.-(R
- Adolf Hitler is living on
borrowed time and the loan
may soon be fOreclosed by his
own people.
This is the belief of many
persons who know Germany
well. They have little doubt
that Hitler's fate is early
death; their only division Of
opinion is about how death
will come to him.
On this there are two schools
of thought. One, supported by
Emil Ludwig, noted German
historian and biographer, is
that German generals will
shortly decide to do away with
the man who proclaimed on
New Years Day that there can
be no victor in World War Ii.
Foreign Minister Jan Masar-
yk of Czechoslovakia sub
scribes to the second school.
He believes Hitler may take
his own life rather than face
the disillusioned people whom
he led to disaster with his gilt
tering promises.
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-01-05
TODAY and TOMORROW
BY WALTER LIPPMANN

Believing in the democratic prin-
ciple that the best way to clarity
an issue is to debate it. I should
like to discuss an article by my
old FRIEND Mr.. William Hard,
which appears ir The Reader
Digest" for December under the
title american Internationalism. :"
1t is curious article in that Mr..
Hard is vehement!Jr and eloquently
against policy Which no serious
person, so far as I know, has adj
vocated, and he is In favor of the
policy to which the United States
and it's allies are in fact commit
ted by the Moscow agreements.
If ever there was a fierce as
sault on a straw man, it is this
article of Mr.. Hard's The only ex-
PLANTATION that makes any sense to
me is that Mr.. Hard wrote the ar
ticle and sent it t. the printer be-
fore he saw the Moscow agree
ments.
What is Mr.. Hard against? He
is against giving eternal Ameri-
can sanction and protection to eve
ry existing boundary of the British
and Russian empires" Has any
one made such a preposterous pro-
posal? II so. who? Has Britain or
Russia asked us for any such
eternal American sanction and
protection" If so, when? If Mr..
Hard had seen tine Moscow agree
ments before he wrote his article,
he would have known that the only
commitment Of force which Mr..
HILL made WAS thai the fo1lr DOW.
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-01-05
GERMANY ALSO IS HIT
More Than 2,750 Planes
Used In Great Shut
tie Raids

LONDON, Jan. A. Up --Ameri.
can heavy bombers in titanic
strength lashed northwest Ger
many today, with Kiel as the re.
ported main target. while Ameri.
can and British medium bombers
maintained a dawn-to-dusk shuttle
service of explosives on the Pas
De Calais area and the French
Invasion coast.
Together with the fighter es-
corts the two great missions en-
ployed probably the greatest num-
Der of war planes ever in action
in one day-more than 2,750-
dropping more than 5000 tons of
bombs on the enemy. A total of
l8 bombers and two fighters failed
to return. All the bombing was in
daylight.
There were about $500 planes
in the assault on northwest Ger.
many, including Flying Fortress
es, Liberators and American and
British fighters.
They stretched across more than
100 miles Of sky, darkenipg the
heavens, and one flier said their
methodical deposits of bombs on
the target reminded him of a re-
lay of dump trucks.
London announcements did not
identify the exact locations, but
both Swedish and German reports
named Kiel, big naval base and
submarine and shipyard center.
DNB, German news agency, said
the attack was made through hea-
Wy culnulus clouds from attitudes
of 1000 to $1,000 feet and admit
ted great numbers of incendiar-
les and PHOSPHORUS bombs were
dropped and caused great dam
age"
Meanwhile, the, medium bomb
ers and fighters raided the French
coast all day, with the Pas De
Calais Department as the only dis.
trict named. Two hundred Ameri-
can Marauders started the pro-
cession at dawn, followed regular
ly by British Typhoons and Hurri-
canes and then by Bostons, Nit
chells and Mosquitoes. The Marau-
ders then made a second trip. 1t
Continued on Page Two; Col. 81
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-01-05
BULCARIASHAKEN
BY SOVIET DRIVE

LONDON, Jan. 4.-R-The Red
army advance into old P o a n d
shook the Bulgarian government
of Premier Dobri Bojilov today,
while new peace cries were sound
ed by the Hungarians, and t h e
Poles described the Russian thrust
as the most serious political and
moral crisis of the whole war;
The Polish cabinet met today,
and announced afterwards that the
government attitude on the stu
alton will be made public in the
near future"
There was no confirmation in Of
fetal London circles of reports Of
pro-Allied coup d'etat overthrow
ing the Bulgarian government, and
the Germans branded the story as
false.
The much-bombed capital, Sofia,
still remained cut off from tn
rest of the world. A Berlin broad
cast said planes flew over Sofia
today, but dropped no bombs.
Important changes in policy have
been anticipated from Bulgaria,
(Cnnt;nuoJ M Daua Txuo. Coy ~
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-01-05

CAMP MACKALL, Jan. A.
Some 10000 men comprising an
airborne division were posted to-
day for the second large scale
maneuvers of the combined air.
borne and troop carrier commands
within a month which will get I'M
der way in this sandhills area OF
North Carolina tomorrow.
High ranking official United Ma
tions observers are on hand to
watch the exercises of these new
types of fighting units which have
been given actual combat tests in
the Mediterranean and South Paci-
fic theaters, but on somewhat
smaller scale than called for in
the maneuverS.
The battle exercises last month
were the first in which COM
plete division of airborne troops
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-01-05
TITO IS EXPECTED
TO TAKE KEY CITY
Fall OF Banja Luka Is Ex-
pected Hourly, Parti-
sans Say

LONDON, Jan. a. Fall of
Banja Luka, headquarters of the
German Second Tank Army in Yu-
goslaviLRe, in strong blow at the
heart of the whole Nazi defense
system on the Adriatic coast was
expected momentarily tonight as
partisan warriors Of Marshal Jo-
sip Broz (Tito) reported fresh sue
cesses in the battle for the town.
Tito's kroadcas! con1munique de-
clared his troops had captured both
the city l;all and prison and driven
the Germans into the northwest
district of Banja Luka.
Bitter street fighting still is in
progress, the bulletin added, and
the Germans threw in tanks and
guns in unsuccessful attempts to
stop the attack, launched N e W
Years Eve.
Our guns are successfully coun-
teracting the enemy tanks and the
last enemy nests of resistance are
being systematically smoked out, :"
the communicate saic, with Yugo-
slav gurs also denying the Banja
Luka airtield to the Germans.
1t declared more than 240 Ger
mans were killed il the fight for
the town prison and town hall.
The Yugoslavs intercepted a tele-
gram from the German garrison
urgently asking for help, the com
munique continued.
A Yugoslav government state
ment in Cairo said officers of the
Royal Yugoslav Army stationed in
the Middle East had begun join
ing Tito to make common front
against the Germans, with II Of
ficers already signed up.
An Italian pocket division
composed mainly of the old We
nezia division regrouped and re-
named the Garibaldi division-was
said to have joined the battle in
Yugoslavia. fightinr its way inland
from the Adriatic.
A Cairo broadcast added that
Greek guerrillas had fought a
bloody action with 1000 Nazi
troops in the Expirus region of
Greece, killing 600 while suffering
only slight losses themselves.
(A1lie d officers, presumably
and British, are leading
many of Tito's divisions, said a
Budapest dispatch to Stockholm,
and it is rumored in Belgrade that
the Allies soon may invade the
Dalmation coast.) -.
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-01-05
LAWMAKERS BACK
A HIGH OFFICIAL
Congressman Say State
ment Strikes Aid Axis
Is True

WASHINGTON, Jan. A. Up -
Three members of Congress tonight
defended as essentiallysNue h e
statement attributed to Gen. Geo.
c. Marshall, Army Chief of Staff,
that strike threats had given Ger
many a propaganda weapon with
which it may have delayed revolts
in Europe.
One also suggested that any un-
ion leaders who doubt that labor
troubles have had an effect on the
war effort should be taken to the
battlefronts to hear how the SOL
diers feel about the subject.
The new outburs: of comment
about the now-famous New Years
Eve statement by an unnamed Of
fetal kept at a high pitch the tu-
multi that has ragged ever since it
was made public. Tie latest COM
ments served in tte nature of a
reply to ALL President William
Green who nance. Marshall as the
source sof the statement in sharp
ly-worded criticisms yesterday.
Chairman May O.-KyD of the
House Military Committee told re-
porters today that he didn't know
whether Marshall made the state
ment or not but regardless of
who it was he agreed that the
rail and steel strike threats gave
.sI,o,oo opJ apoo11r- convent IN Hit.
Ter and his satellite nations.
May said neither President
Roosevelt nor Gen. Marshall ever
has been critical of labor and
to labor leaders who regarded the
statement as offensive, he suggest
ed:
"First-Have no more strikes or
threatened strikes while we are at
war.
"Second-It anyone doubts that
strikes and the .aking over of the
railroads had the effect on the
war effort claimed by such high
official, then to suggest that those
complaining apply 10 G n !
Marshall and l am sure he Will
be delighted to furnish transpor-
tation to the battle fronts for first
hand information and ver;ficatlon
of the result of strikes on our own
fighting forces"
Senator Reed (R.-Kas.) defended
Gen. Marshall as a model of can
dor and directness, he said the
statement YVES kept anonymous be-
cause of Marshall's loyalty to his
superior officer, tine President.
eff the President had the intel
lectual integrity, the courage and
the candor of Ger. Marshall" said
Reed in {. statement. he long ago
would have said what Marshall
has said. Strikes in essential in
dustry in time OF wal are form
of treason and should be so regard
ed and treated.
From Rep. Plumley (R. Vt.)
came the, declaration that the peo-
ple don't care who made the state
ment because they know it is SO.
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-01-05
10, 900 Men, An Airborne Diuisioh
Are ReadyFor Sandhills Maneuuers

have been moved, along with their
equipment, to their detectives by
air.
The maneuvers, which will end
next Sunday, call for vertical en-
velopment of key airports held by
the Red forces. Combat teams,
highly trained and fully equipped
for extended field duty, will be
dropped by parachutes and Gid
ers to seize and hold the airfields
until relieved by an infantry di-
vision driving its way through
enemy territory. a
A troop carrier command wing
operating with the Blue forces will
deliver the airborne troops to their
detectives il transport aircraft
and elders. Once the troops have
Continued on Page Three; Col. -
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-01-05

ers would take all measures
deemed by them to be necessary
to provide against any violation of
the terms imposed upon the enc
my Though it may not seem OBJ
vious at first glance, this commit
ment to prevent a revival of Ger
man and Japanese military pow
er and aggression is sufficient to
prevent great wars in this genera
ton. No sensible person would
ever think of making eternal
commitments about anything in
politics.
Is Mr.. Hard against this COM
mitment? He is not. He says de-
finitely that he is ir favor of IAN
agreement to keep Germany and
Japan disarmed for a time" He
is, therefore. in favor of the actual
policy of the United States gov
eminent and of it's allies. His ella
borate objections are directed
against a policy which no one is
following.
But in celebrating his objections
to the policy which no responsible
person favors, Mr.. Hard makes
several statements which peed to
be looked at. He says, for exam
pie, that "a basic truth in all in
ternational history is that every
alliance produces q counter-alli-
ance." Suppose we examine the in
ternational history of the past
twenty-five years to see how much
truth there is in this dictum.
Continued on Page Three; Col. ~
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-01-05
Red Squeeze Underlines Stains
Prediction ~ Will Be w Year

Russian troops are forging what
appears to be triple entrapment
pattern. They a1e following the
oldest military axiom divide and
conquer, in determined effort to
surround or destroy virtually a
third of all German forces still in
Russia. Success must inevitably
shorten the war in Europe.
There have beer many indica-
tons that with the German lines
split in the north, the weight of
the Russian attack would tur n
southwark to mop up. That i'm
preston was heightened by Mos
cow announcement of the capture
of Belaya Tserkov or the extreme
left flank of the kiev bulge. Its
fall represented Nazi flight from
Continued on Page TwoCol. g.
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-01-05
NAVY IDENTIFIES
LOST DESTR0YERS

WASHINGTON. Jan. 4-iR-The
Navy tonight identified the de-
troyer sunk by an explosion Oft
Sandy Hook as the 1,70O-ton U. S.
S. Turner, and said another de-
stroyer, torpedoed in the North
Atlantic was the 1,090-ton Leary.
Loss of the ships was announc-
ed by the Navl yesterday, but it
withheld their names. The Turn
er, commissioned only last April,
blew up in New York harbor with
such violence that her men and
guns were hurled into the sea.
Little detail was given on the
loss of the 34-year-old Leary ex-
cept that she sank in the North
Atlantic after she was torpedoed
Christmas Eve.
Commanding officers Of both
vessels are listed as missing. They
are Commander James E. Kyes,
81, 1881 18th Ave, South, Seat
tie, of the Leary, and commander
Henry S. Wygant, Jr., 81, 18th and
Lincoln St. Camp Hill. Pa, of the
Turner.
Coast Guard cutters rescued 152
enlisted men and two officers, the
Navy said, after the terrific blast
split the Turner in two. Most OF
the rescued had injuries.
No figures were given by the
Navy of the number of casualties
in the loss of the two vessels, each
Of which carried more than 100
men,
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-01-05
Ceiling Prices
For Coal Set
By 0P'A Here
BITUMINOUS ONLY
Flat Dollars And &c
Cost Announced By
Price Office

Establishment of flat dollars and
cents top legal prices for bitumin-
Gus coal sold in Wilmington and
within 20 miles of the city S
corporate limits became effective
Tuesday according to an announce.
ment received here from Theodore
S. johnson district director of OPA,
Raleigh.
The effect of the order will be
to eliminate differences in cell
ing prices of the same grade of
coal which may exist from dealer
to dealer and to afford the con-
sumner an understanding of top
legal prices, johnson said.
Prices were established by the
Atlanta regional OPA office after
consultation of November 10 with
retail coal dealers in Wilmington
and vicinity who sell more than
SO per- cent of the total tonnage of
coal in this area. The order, John
sui SdlSt, 10 dloo CAPCSlCd W llldhC
possible a simple and practical
compliance with OPA price regu-
lations.
The new basic prices follow:
Low volatile bituminous Goals
from District Egg, stove or
lump, $3.50 per 2,OOO-pound ton;
$6.41 per one-half ton of 1000
pounds; 1888 per one-quarter ton
of 500 pounds. Stoker, $3.50 per
2,OOO-pound ton; $4.91 per one-half
ton of 1000 pounds; $3.57 per one
quarter ton of 500 pounds. Run-of-
mine, 1910 per 2,000-pound ton;
$5.11 per one-half ton of 1000
pounds; $2.68 per one-quarter ton
of 500 pounds.
High volatile bituminous Goals
from District egg or lump,
$11.1O per 1000 pound ton; $3.50
per one-half ton OF 1000 pounds;
S303 per one-quarter ton of 500
pounds. Splint, egg, lump or
stove, S10.35 per 2,OO0-pound ton;
So. 43 per one-half ton of !, 900
pounds; 1924 per one-quarter ton
of 500 pounds. Stoker. S9.45 per
?, 000-opund ton; S4.98 per one-half
ton of 1000 pounds; S2.61 per one
quarter ton of 500 pounds. Nut
and slack. 1928 per 2.000-pound
ton; $438 per one-half ton of L.
900 pounds; 1921 per one-quarter
ton of 500 pounds.
Low volatile bituminous Goals
from District 8-Raven red ash
Continued OH Page Three; Col. g.