davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-03-31
Fine Legislative Record

Sufficient time has elapsed since the legls'
1at,,re adjourned to provide a fair perspec-
tive of the work by Representative j. Q. Lee
Grand for his district and what is shown in
that vista is pleasing to his constituency
He presented and carried through to enact
ment nineteen local bills-an extra rdinary
record for any legislator in any state
Among them are three well calculated to
advance this city and county beyond the SAN
oune hopes of ardent community builders.
They provide for extension of the city linn
it's for the establishment of a Ports Authority
and creation of \ junior college. Mr.. LeGrand
deserves highest praise for his leading part
in this legislation.
But it would be unfair to overlook that in it
all he had the cooperation OF Senator Roy
Rowe of Fender county, through whose splen-
did efforts the bills were approved in the
upper house at Raleigh.
Without Mr. Rowes support the bills might
all too easily have been lost in the senate
hoppers for New Hanover county had no sena-
tor of its own during this session, though it
deserves one at all legislative sessions.
Mr.. Rowe could not have served New Han
over county more faithfully if he had been
elected by its voters, and that without neg
lecting the interests of his own county or
other areas in his senatorial district.
LeGrand and Rowe made an excellent team,
the one carrying the ball and the other run
ming interference.
However, and in all seriousness, it is to
be pointed out that even with their fine work
the legislation which they put through canno
the legislation which they put through cannot
public support.
City extension can be achieved only by vote
of the people. The junior college is in the
same situation The Ports Authority can pro-
vide full cargoes for ships arriving and leav-
ing wharfs only if the personnel is advisedly
selected and members fitted by training, ex-
perience and vision for the task ahead are
named by Governor Cherry.
These are matters demanding much thought
and wisdom by the people Of this district and
favorable action at the polls upon the two
requiring vote.
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-03-31
Not Fun

At one time or another every normal young
ster feels like destroying the school he at
tends. but for the most part he comes out
of his tantrum and is back in class next
day. Not so with a trio of nine-year-olds in
Brooklyn, who broke into public school and
with fire axes chopped desks and other furni-
ture broke windows in twenty-one rooms,
SCARED pictures in Railways, broke the strings
in piano, and wound up by setting fires
with waste paper while they enjoyed meal
of crackers and jam taken from the domestic
science kitchen.
When brought to bay they explained it was
all in fun The court couldn't see it that way.
They were adjudged delinquent and paroled
until May 10, pending further investigation.
The question is how far can a nine-year-old
youngster be held responsible for his actions.
Certainly if he has had any home training,
he knows that the destruction of property
even in schools not fun.
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-03-31
Our Tanks Best

There has been considerable criticism Of
turning home from the war zone They are
held to be inferior to German tanks or a
dozen counts, particularly the German pam
Their and tiger types.
Contradicting these complaints there is Of
fered the most expert evidence. General
George S. Patton, Jr., commander Of the
Third Army, whose tank units are speeding
across the waist of Germany at speed tanks
never before travelled in battle, says the crit
cism is all poppycock. That's not his word
but it conveys the sense OF his decision.
General Patton has addressed letter to
Lieut.. Gen. Thomas T. Handy, deputy chief
Of staff, declaring that in mechanical endur-
ance and ease of maintenance "our tanks are
infinitely superior to any tank in the theater
of war" In proof of this he cites that between
August l last and the date of his letter
March 49, American forces had lost 1,136
tanks against German loss of 2,287
And he adds:
with the advent of the heavy, cumber-
some Tiger tank, the German, in my opinion,
lost much of his ability in armored combat.
These tanks are SO heavy and their road
life is SO short that the German uses them
as guns and not as tanks-that is, he uses
them on the defense against our armor,
whereas we invariably try and generally sue
coed in using our armor on the offensive
against his infantry, which is the proper use
Of arnor.
visions (which accompanied the Third Army
across France had been equipped with Tiger
tanks, the road losses would have been 100
per cent by the time We reached the Moselle
river. AS it is, the road losses of our tanks
were negligible
"In the current operations had the Fourth
Armored Division been equipped with Tiger
end Panther tanks and been required to make
the move from Saarguemines to Arlon, then
through to Bastogne, from Bastogne to the
Rhine, and now to Mainz-it would have been
necessary to re-armor it twice; and further
more, it would have had serious if not un-
surmountable difficulties in crossing rivers -
| Since General Patton has devoted much OF
his military career to tank operations and
probably knows their capacity to take it,
as well # not better than any Allied COM
mander, certainly better than any unframed
observer, we may safely conclude that Amer.
lean tanks are all that he claims for them
Certainly they are doing their part in the
present battle.
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-03-31

up the gang-plank and spent the
remainder of the day on the boat.
"She got underway before dark, y
reminisced George, land we didn't
get a chance to have Easter ser.
vices.
Sgt. John DiMezza, now to be
found at Camp Davis Message Cen.
ter, spent his last Easter as a
member of Maj. Gen. Claire Chen
ault's 18th AAF in China. John
recalls that he went to Mass that
morning and spent the rest OF the
day sweating out an air raid. "
WAC S. Sgt. Eula Page remem-
bers last Easter as a pleasant one
spent in Caserta, Italy, where she
was secretary to Maj. Gen c. c.
Johnson, Chief of Staff for the
Mediterranean Allied Air Force
Headquarters. II went to church
and then went to a picnic" she
related.
The man who will deliver the
Easter message to the men of
Camp Davis is also a returnee. He
is Maj. Richard r. Potter, Camp
Davis base chaplain, who spent his
last Easter Sunday preaching a
sermon to men of the 18th AAF
on Guadalcanal in the Solomon
islands.
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-03-31
The Literary Guidepost

It's surprising how little hap.
pens yet how much that little
matters. The Mercados 60 to town
to sell t h cir produce: Mama
Chula cleans house; they buy a
radio speaking machine" they
SANDER a neighbor and then re-
pent; they fall in love with
founding; they 60 to barbecue
and turn it hilariously into a
fiesta.
Moody doesn't observe these
foreigners with scientific detach-
ment; he doesn't write about them
condescandingly, either, though
that is a common offense of the
NOVELIST who goes Summing. His
people are as real, as worth be-
frlendlng, as the high and mighty
of this land, at least in his naive
eyes; he builds them up to their
full stature as. humans. We may
not approve of them, but we can't
help liking them.
This is, I believe, Moody's first
book. He has, however, written
several plays produced in his
adopted state. He himself n o w
sleeps in the sun; he died last
year.
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-03-31
Pershing Knew

With Allied armies sweeping across Ger
many at an unprecedented rate leading to
inevitable defeat of Reich armed forces, the
Germans are getting lesson, at least which
General Pershing demanded they should be
taught in the former World war.
1t was Pershings view that British and
American forces should go straight to Berlin,
take over there, and occupy Germany for a
sufficient period of time to convince the peo-
pie and their leaders that war cannot be
made successfully gains t overwhelming
odds. Failure to go to Berlin, the General
contended, would leave the Germans free to
prepare for another war.
How well he understood the situation is
proved by World War No. 2. Is it too much to
think that if he had carried his point this war
would not have been started? We believe not
There is in the present whipping being
given the German armed forces on their own
soil as General Eisenhower calls it, fair rea
son to hope that the lesson which the Allies
failed to teach the Germans in 1918 will be
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-03-31

learned now But this can result only II, when
the firing ceases, the occupation OF tne neisA
is as thorough as the defeat OF its armies
and that it will continue in full force long
enough to see the teachings OF Hitler ana the
belief that Germans are super-race entltleo
to rule the world, eradicated.
Germany is capable Of occupying an A'ii-
portant part in the community OF nat1ons'
but not until its people and military unoer
stand that the rewards Of peace are surer
and greater than any problematical reward
Of war.
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-03-31
Parking Space

The City Planning Board, meeting with
George w. Simons, Jr., who is making a
survey as part of the general plan to create
a zoning ordinance, discussed among other
things the question of off-street parking in
the business district with the thought OF pro-
viding more readily accessible and adeGuae
parking space.
What can be done about it is not clearly
seen, but that something ought to be, and
done right speedily, is known to all drivers.
Even with automobiles going to t lie junk
yards in great numbers and the possibility
of buying new cars more remote than ever,
the curbs in the business area are crowded
to such an extent that motorists seeking
berth at parking meter and well beyond
the meter zone usually are forced to drive
around several blocks before finding one, a
process which consumes valuable time and
precious gasoline.
1t is to be noted, however, that the down.
town section of the city still has vacant lots
not many, but enough to relieve the parking
situation partially at least. Might it not be
possible 1or the CITY duIlllil1se1 dIoil w leiA.
them for public parking places, with rea-
sonable charge to patrons, without decreasing
the business of parking lot operators depend
ent for livelihood upon regular customers?
Any survey of traffic on downtown streets
will show enough cars in use to keep meter
berths and established parking lots filled,
with enough left over to occupy any addition
al lots the city can provide.
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-03-31
BY w, G. ROGERS

"Sleep in the Sum-" by Alan
Moody (Houghton Mifflin; so
This gentle novel is about Next
cans who have settled in San Mar
que canyon in California. It's a
place out Of this world, in the
Slang expression, and certainly out
of these United States. The people
love. but short of ecstasy; they
hate, but stop at name calling;
they are ambitious, but only tor the
slightest things; they work, but no
more than they absolutely have to.
They drink, too. But they don't
get drunk. They get intoxicated
in the nobler sense, and the SYM
pathetic author makes you share
their intoxication. Though they
live in the 1940s, they are pretty
much eternal.
1t is perhaps a series OF short
stories rather than novel. The
incidents are bound together by
the single scene and by the prln-
cipal characters, Jose Mercado, his
with Mama Chula and her aged
mother. With them should be
grouped Lupe Mendoz, the sheep
woman; Mrs. Biatriz Gracia, who
sells the good red wine; and the
sun which warns them al.
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-03-31
FLIERS RECALL
EASTER, 1914

The celebration Of Easter last
year for permanent party per
sonnet of Camp Davis, was in
many instances, "a short prayer
and back to the business OF war. -
Duties ranging from plotting a
B-24 over Germany to manning a
switchboard on a tiny island OH
the coast of New Guinea, prevent
ed some Of them from going to
church on that day.
On such pilot is Capt. L. r:
Bishop, now assistant director OF
administration and services at
Camp Davis, who spent last Eas-
ter delivering bomb load tor the
18th AAF to Weiner-Neustadt, Ger
many, and returning to base.
Asked if he attended church, the
Captain grinned: Il prayed all the
way up and back. but I didn't get
to 60 to church.
Pfc. George N. Condren couldn' t
attend Eastern services either be-
cause he had to operate switch
board that day. Condren was pull
ling duty with the 5th AAF on one
of three small islands known as
the Trobiand Group near New
Guinea. ut was a warm Easter, !"
said George.
A boat loading troops for voy-
age to Panama, was the Easter
locale for TIA Joseph T. Kleponis
who now works in the Sergeant
Majors office at Camp Davis. He
waited most of the day for his
name to be called, then walked
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-03-31
S. S. Velma Lykes
To Be Christened

The SIS. Velma Lykes, 200tn snip
to near completion at the yard Vi
the North Carolina Shipbullaln3ss
company, will be launched at liz
pm. today under the sponsorship
of Miss Sandra ingalls,, OF Washlns'
ton, D. c. !,
Miss ingalls, is the daughter o,
Mr.. and Mrs. Abbott 1ngalls ahu
granddaughter Of Herbert Sattef,
lee, former assistant secretary "
the Navy, all OF Washington ,,.,
Her attendants will be Ml's
Cynthia Dunn, Of Washington. ' apl
Miss Margaret Mcmahon, Of Wiz
A c. type cargo ship, the S >,
velma Lykes is the third 10 y.
built here for the Lykes Bfo'As'
Co.
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-03-31

Massachusetts-born, and New
Hampshire University graduate, in
business course at that. He's Is
now.
But he has the Westerner's
knack for steadiness. He is very
quite and polite. He knows how to
do things. He never gets excited.
He has silot down seven planes.
The others describe him as the
man you'd like to have along If
you ever got into trouble. To which
Ensign Buchanan would undoubt-
eddy say "Amen!''
The night before our strike -
the southern islands, everybody
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-03-31
Daily Prayer
FOR THE SOLDIERS SPIRITS

Altar, yet ever near and dear 10
us, our soldiers and sailors ana
airmen wage valiant war Tor nj,
man liberty and democracy ana
right. We pray for them, 0 Al
mighty God, our Father in Heaven.
Thou art closer to them than Inc
battles din; may they feel lnee
near. Make them every one clear,
ly conscious of the sacradnesS o.
our Cause. and of Thy part there
in. Breathe Thine own peace ln'o
their spirits, even amidst '1s
clanor and clash Of conflict, IN
new maturity of life, may they
find Thee as motive and as mas "a.
ter. Recall to their minds 'ns
prayers that are hourly beng Oh
fered in their behalf. Enable them
every one to become good so !atess
of Jesus Christ, who dared aeled'
and death for the same molly pul'
poses tina thave led our Nation /"
take I'D arms. Amen.-W.I.b'
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-03-31
Your War; With Ernie Pyle

was relaxed and felt that wonder
full sense of relief over a danger
Gus job being finished.
That night we showed a movie
for the first time in three or four
days. 1t was a Western, called
THE Lights of Old Santa F'e, !"
with a regulation hero and william
and runaway horses and shootin'
and everything.
Those filters received it like mod
ern audiences receive THE
Drunkard." We almost Kissed the
william off the screen. We whistled
and clapped when the hero took
the girl in his arms.
I think we enjoyed it more than
any movie on the whole trip.
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-03-31
BY ERNIE PYLE

IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC
(delayed) - On our airplane car
rier, we ere all wondering what
day Mrs. Speidel had her baby.
Here is the reason we wonder:
Her husband is Liuet. John Spell
del, who pilots torpedo bomber
from our carrier. He is only %,
and naturally was excited at the
prospect of becoming father His
wife lives at AIS East Montana-st.,
Philadelphia.
Now Lieutenant Speidel isn't SO
young that he believes literally the
date of arrival which the doctor
gives several months ahead Of
time, but at least it's something
to shoot at.
And so it came about that THE
date and Lieut.. SpeidePs assign
ment on his first mission over To-
kyo conceded. He thought what a
wonderful double event.
But at the last moment the mis-
sion was cancelled, and our entire
DISK 1Ol &c SOQlllCo 1tS SSOA(o dl1d
headed south. The double went
aglimmering.
Next day we were within flying
distance of the Japanese islands to
the south, and we suddenly got or
ders for a special bombing mis-
sion on them. Liuetenant Speidel
went.
And his plane got shot up. He
was lucky to get back at all. He
had a hole in his wing, he couldn't
get his flaps down, and his air
speed indicator was shot out. 1t
seemed improbable that he could
land at all.
He made two trys at it. Both
looked disastrous, and he was wav-
ed off. He simply couldn't slow
down enough. So they sent him
over to one of the big carriers with
lots of deck room, and he landed
all right over there. 1t was quite
a day.
Now some OF US older hands
realize that a baby may be born
the day before the doctor predicts.
or the day after. So we wonder if
Lieutenant Speidel might just pos
sibly have had his two big days in
one after all?
editors note-Mrs. Speidel re-
ports the baby came early. He was
a week old the day his father was
bombing the Jap islands. The ba-
by's name is John Jr., and he's
doing fine. So is Mrs. SpeideD.
The two men who fly with Lieu
tenant Speidel are AL Kerby, radio
man from Woodbury., N. j., and
Gunner William Groepper, Of Avo-
ca, Iowa. They're interested in
what happened, too.
Remember the boys we wrote
about yesterday - Ensign Robert
Buchanan who was shot down in
Tokyo Bay, and Lieut.. John Fecke,
who directed the rescue?
Well, it wasn't the first time
those two had seen exciting times
together.
Last fall off Formosa a flight of
70 Jap planes bounced on two of
our cruisers that were crippled.
Fecke was leading a flight of eight
of which Buchanan was one.
Those eight took on the 70 JAMS.
They shot down % of them. lost
only one plane, broke up the attack
and saved the cruisers.
Fecke and Buchanan each got
five Jap planes in that one toray.
And each got the Navy Cross for
the JOB. So this little Tokyo Bay
incident didn't rattle them.
When I first saw Lieutenant
Fecke I said to myself ssThers,s
Westerner for sure" He lust has
that weather-beaten, cowboy look
liked him before 1 ever really
knew him.
Ana then he fooled me by turn
Ing out to be a New Enslander
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-03-31
interpreting
The War
By EDWARD H. HIGGs
Associated Press War AMI.

Allied thrusts into Germany ly' J.
pear to be falling into patts,a ap'
Underlying the whole s,rst..
OF course, is this prime obiectssss'
destruction Of the Nazi srn~ Ns =
the west. For the time benz Il,
least, geographical advances vii, a.
be secondary to that goal MI
The Germans east and ,o.n
the Rhine river apparently VI VI VI
concentrated in three areas- 4s
Ruhr, Holland and in soutbvaO s
Germany in the triangle formas
roughly by Mannenheim, Mun;os
and the Swiss, French and Ce~n.u
border. ''''"
Already, a giant trap is b~r.
forged around some six to tss
German divisions in the Rubr|
probably between the Nazi forcs,
in the west. The American Nintb
Army is driving along the north.
ern flank to a junction with tbs
First Army swinging up from Tho
south and behind the Ruhr.
This suggests, along with Other
indications, that similar traps will
be closed around the other two biz
pockets of German resistance.
The British-Canadian forces m
the left of the Ninth Army appear
to be slanting to the northeast an
indication that they may be fash.
ioning a loop around the Germans
in Holland. This development NAV
swing north along the Ems or h,
Weser rivers.
In the south. 1t. Gen Alexander
Patch's Seventh Army is probing
southwest, apparently maneuver.
ing into position to strike behind
the Germans in the mountainous
southwest triangle.
1t. Gen. George Patton's Third
Army is rolling east between the
First and Seventh, seemingly rea.
dy to turn either north or south
for one of Patton's famous END
runs. Still to be heard from is
the recently disclosed 18th Army
regarded as Gen. Eisenhower's
ace in the hole.
The Allies are bagging German
prisoners by the thousands daily
but there is a significant note in
the surrenders. AS yet, there has
been no mass equalization Of large
units. When whole divisions, corps
and armies begin to give up, total
collapse of the German amy in
the West will be at hand
Until that happens, it must be
assumed that the Germans are still
struggling to follow general
plan and to fall back to some new
line. Gen. Eisenhower and Secre.
tary of War Stimson both have
suggested that the Nazls may al
tempt another last futile stand
west of Berlin.
An indication that the Maj high
command is still grabbing fran
tically for reinforcements to make
that stand comes in hints from the
Italian front that the Nazis there
are preparing some move. The en-
envy has suddenly increased artl-
lery fire, stepped up patrolling and
generally assumed a more agrees
sive attitude.
Obviously the Germans are not
considering any general attack but
apparently getting set to withdraw
possibly to the Alps.
Some 20 to Is German DIVISION
have been tied down in Italy az
a retreat to the southern AlE
would free possibly 10 or more
divisions for use within the Relcn.
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-03-31
Blaze In Doughnut Shop
Blamed On Carelessns"

Wilmington firemen reported y -.
terday that "carelessness' |S ~ IA
sponsible for the fire at ~ ~.
o'clock this morning at bIn. .
Donut shop, 222 Princess slL tesd
SMALL damage was coiIit'-o ~,
to the basement, where tlreli ~.
said a "big vat of grease on md md
stove furnace boiled over ~ a..
ignited on top of the stove. I ,,ot
shop owner apparently mao Nv
cut down the blaze suttlcle""'
firemen reported,
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-03-31
DEVELOPS LENS FOR HAZE

oOUIHBRIDGE, Mass, March
29.-U'1-Even haze-covered tar
gets will be visible to Army Air
force pilots, thanks to a new glass
lens developed by the American
Optical Co. The new lens removes
binding glare and invisible light
rays because its glass composition
absorbs scattered blue light cha
racteristic of haze,
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-03-31
Bruises Healing

(Westbrook Pegler's articles which gen
orally occupy this space are discontinued
during the writer's vacation. They will be
resumed late In April.-The Editor.
The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-03-31
THOUGHT FOR TODAY

"she was dimly beginning to UNNECESSARILY
the truth that simple human kindness Is the
most needed thing in the world, the mos
truly scientific of all treatments for all hui
man ills, the crux of all sound psychology,
the core of all true religion"
From "His Wife-In-Law."