The News Journal from Wilmington, Delaware • Page 1

I EVENING (XL SERVICE OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, VISITED PRESS ASD I STERN A TI OS A SEWS SERVICE 1.1 1141 )( JaxlBai tuitd4 I HJ I Hint JaxiBai tuid4 I Cmbiii Jearnl mad Ever; Evaatag Wilmington, Delaware, Monday, July 31, 1944 18 Pages Price Three CcnU Coniotidatca Jam. t. rv 0. fcfclal ml Home Edition IcD 11l fl kJ a A Pen Into Mile Yanks Gai etrate vranches Soviet Army Outside Pisa's Leaning Tower Razed By Allied Artillery, Nazis Say Berlin Radio Contends Famed Italian Structure Free Of Military Installations; Fails to Repeat Story Beamed To North American Listeners American Advance Threatens to Break Into Central France Warsaw, Germany Says; Kaunas Falls NEW YORK, July 31 (P). A German broadcast designed for North American listeners asserted today that Allied artillery fire had leveled Italy's Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Subsequent German broadcasts did not mention the tower, and there was no Allied confirmation of the report. Government monitors and radio networks heard the Berlin announce New Trap Closed Upon German Units Fighting North of Granville With Yanks' Capture of Gateway to Paris; British Offensive Gains Emht Miles By Associated Press SUPREME HEADQUARTERS ALLIED, EXPEDITIONARY FORCE, July 31. A strong American armored force, slipping into high gear after the virtual destruction of six German divisions of perhaps 60,000 men and the mauling of two others, drove deeply into Avranches in a dash of 18 miles from last reported positions and threatened today to break into the interior of France. The entry into Avranches marked a 60-mile penetration from the D-Day beachheads. The force entering the city at the west base of the Normandy peninsula was described as "fairly strong" and its position as "well into" the town.

The sensational burst to Avranches, at the angle formed by the Normandy and Brest Spurs, closed a new trap on, Germans fighting to the north around Granville and along the line of Gavray to Tessy-sur-Vire, threatening to add to the 10,000 prisoners taken since the start of the American offensive last Tuesday. The Americans captured Gran- New uP Air, Base Chief I y1' V'." 1 Edwin M. Dixon Dover Airport Expansion Cost early MilliQn Hangar, 10 Other Units 98 Per Cent Finished; Plan Open House Tomorrow DOVER ARMY AIR FIELD, DOVER, July 31. Construction of a new hangar and 10 smaller buildings at an overall cost of nearly is virtually completed at the over Army Air Field, Edwin M. Dixon, commanding officer, revealed today on the eve of the first "open hou.se" in the history of the field.

The major building project is considered 98 per cent complete and will augment materially the facilities of the 31-month-old field now used for training P-47 fighter pilots as overseas replacements. The new hangar will be used for base operations in conjunction with the new shop buildings and is locat ed at the northwest end of ihe field near the present transient hangar. The various shops will be housed in the smaller buildings, constructed of pre-fabricated materials. The para chute building includes a 35-foot tower to aid in handling service parachutes. One of the shop buildings will include a large propeller pit.

The new hangar's floor space is (See AIRPORT Page 4) Navy Orders Drastic Cut InSubOutput Lighter Loss of Undersea Craft Than Expected Plus IVeed for 8 Other Types Is Basis for Decision WASHINGTON, July 31 UP). The Navy announced a cutback in the submarine building program today and attributed the step to two factors the loss of fewer submarines than was expected and the need for at least eight other types of ships or weapons. The announcement gave no figures either on the cutback or the existing fleet of underwater craft. On the basis of submarines known to be building or in commission, however, the American undersea fleet apparently is in excess of 200. "The reduction will be accomplished by not starting a number of submarines which were scheduled for completion toward the end of the building program," the announcement said.

"While some adjustments in the working forces in the six submarine building yards will be involved, the submarines completion schedule will be maintained at present levels throughout the next seven or eight months. Such men and women as are re leased over the next few months can be advantageously employed on other parts of the navy shipbuilding and repair programs and will be given opportunities for such employment. "The reduction in the number of submarines in the building program does not mean that the over-all Navy production program is declining. The total Navy program will continue to increase in size at least until the first quarter of 1945. There are eight classes of weapons and supplies which the Navy urgently needs at the present time." The Navy said these munitions are: Aircraft carriers and cruisers, (See SUBMARINES Page 4) Office Chair Shortage Announced hv WPB WASHINGTON, July 31 (INS).

Note to office workers: Take good care of those office chairs. There won't be any for a long time. The War Production Board reported today the wood office chair advisory committee did not expect the amount of lumber allotted for production of chairs in the third quarter of 1944 to be sufficient to meet their needs. Industry members recommended that WPB permit the use of metal swivel and tilt irons in wood office chairs by the first quarter of 1945, WPB said, provided metal and labor are available. Heat Spell Goes Into Seventh Day Temperature Climhs To 90 by Noon No Relief Is in Sight The heat spell continued into the seventh consecutive day with the street temperature climbing to 90 degrees shortly before noon and no immediate promise of a break.

Storm clouds gathered yesterday afternoon and last night but blew away smashing all hopes of victory gardeners and farmers for a good and badly needed drenching. Indications are that July which ends today will be recorded as one of the hottest and certainly one of the most humid Julys in years. Conscientious gardeners who have not given up hope, spent a greater part of the week-end, trying to mulch the ground to preserve what moisture is left. Miss Le Hand, 3 Delaware Men Killed In Normandy Sergt. Cohen Helped To Take 10 Prisoners Before He Fell; Balick Also Dies; Newark Man Casualty Sergt.

Herman Cohen, 25. of 312 West Eighth Street, who, with a friend, had helped to capture a Nazi headquarters with 10 prisoners during the early fighting in Normandy, has been reported killed in action on July 9. He was a member of the famous Fourth Infantry Division which took part in the heavy fighting on D-Day. The Wilmington sergeant was in one of the early draft calls, having gone into the army in February, 1941. He was the son of Mr.

and Mrs. Samuel Cohen. Another Wilmingtonian, Pfc. Nathan Balick. 24, son of Mr.

and Mrs. Rubin Balick, 17 West Thirty-eighth Street, also in the Fourth Division, was reported killed In action in France on July 11. The third Delaware an in today's roster is Pfc. Ralph Adams, 19, 6on of Mrs. Lillian B.

Adams of Newark. He died in France, June 28. Four other Delaware soldiers have been reported wounded and another reported missing in today's casualties. They are: Wounded: Private Francis C. Tag-gatr, 32, husband of Mrs.

Marjorie Rhoades Taggart, 12 Avenue Worthland, Claymont, and son of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Taggart of 2316 Tatnall Street, in France on June 21. Pfc. William J.

Palmer. 32, husband of Mrs. Nina Griffith Palmer, 636 Clark Street. New Castle, and son of Mrs. Clarence Palmer.

612 (See CASUALTIES Pae 12) Canned Corn Returned To Ration List hy OPA WASHINGTON, July 31 JP). Canned corn was back on the ration list today following action by the Office of Price Administration to "keep retailers' stocks from running out." A new value of three points for the commonly-used 12-ounce can was established for whole kernel, vacuum-packed corn. Other canned corn was given a five-point rating for a 20-ounce can. At the same time, OPA made grape jam, tomato preserves and tomato marmalades ration-free. The changes became effective yesterday.

Circus Resumes Tour Minus Canvas 'Big Top' SARASOTA July 21 (TP. The Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus is en route to Akron, to resume its summer tour. The big show returned to its winter headquarters here for repairs after fire swept its main tent in Hartford, July 6 with the loss of more than 160 lives. The first section of the circus red and yellow train left Sarasota Sunday with 12 flat cars and about 50 wagons. Circus officials said that performances for the remainder of the season will be in stadiums and baseball parks without the big top: Winslow F.

Alder assistant Scout executive at Bing-hamton, N. after previous service in his home community of Rome, N. Y. Powerful Red Forces Foiled in Attempt To Reach Polish Capital, Nazi Broadcast Asserts Russians Enlcr Suwalki Triangle Former Seat of Lithuanian Government Is Captured After Reich Throws In Many Fresdi Reserves By Associated Press LONDON, July 31. The Germans Indicated today that the Russians may have reached Warsaw proper and their communique acknowledged the fall of the former Lithuanian capital of Kaunas after a fateful Sunday inf which other Soviet forces stormed seven miles inside the Suwalki triangle of East Prussia.

"At Warsaw, German troops prevented strong Soviet forces from breaking through toward the town" the official Nazi agency DNB said. A Berlin radio commentator said poon afterwards that the Russians were drawn up in an arc six miles from the Polish capital, within sight and easy artillery range of its oli spires. The last Moscow report placed the Red Army 20 miles southeast, but Berlin told of fresh retreats below the Polish capital. The military spokesman obviously was preparing the German home front for early news of the fall of Warsaw. Kaunas, second city of Lithuania with 152,365 population, lies 35 miles east of the pre-war East Prussian frontier, and on tr Niemen Fiver.

Moscow reported Red troops well west of Kaunas and said th-Germans were throwing in many fresh men and reserves to halt a Russian push into East Prussia itself. The German Transocean Agency pi id last Friday that Kaunas was tvacuated but official announcements did not confirm the victory until the announcement today in the German High Command's communique. The plunge into the Suwalki triangle, which East Prussia annexed (Se Rl'SSIAN WAR Pagre .4) Halsey Son To Wed Here Will Marry St. Louis Girl at Greenville Wednesday Miss Mary Jane Selkirk, daughter of Mr. and Mrs.

Benjamin John-rtone Selkirk of St. Louis, will become the bride of Lieut. William F. Halsey III, U. S.

N. son of Admiral and Mrs. William F. Halsey, on Wednesday. The ceremony will be performed at 4 o'clock Wednesday afternoon at the Greenville home of Mr.

and Mrs. Preston Lea Spruance, brother-in-law and sister of the bridegroom. Miss Selkirk was graduated from EL Louis University in 1943. Lieutenant Halsey who was graduated from Princeton University in 1938, recently returned from 18 months in the South Pacific; He is now stationed at an eastern base. His father is in command of the Third Pacific Fleet.

Russian War Plane Designer Dead at 52 MOSCOW, July 3i (P). Nikolai N. Polikarpov. 52, designer of small, last Russian fighter and one cf the nation's greatest aviation engineers, died yesterday after a long illness. Polikarpov, a deputy to the Supreme Soviet who held the coveted Hero of Socialist Labor Medal, which lso is worn by Premier-Marshal Stalin, designed the Red Army fighters U-2.

1-15, 1-16, and the Chiaka." His planes played Important roles In. the early stages of the Russo-German war. Lately, Polikarpov, in addition to his work as a consultant on plane construction, taught at the Moscow Aviation Institute. ment, which was coupled with the assertion that there were no military installations in or near the tower. Dispatches last week said American forces, in southern Pisa below the Arno River, had seen the Germans using the Twelfth Century tower, one of the original seven wonders of the world, as an observation post.

Accused By Army Paper Italian editions of the Army newspaper Stars and Stripes said last week that "the Krauts have no scruples in using historical monuments to save their skins first Cassino and now the Leaning Tower of Pisa." Commenting on this, the Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano asserted Saturday it had never found that Monte Cassino Abbey was used for military purpose, "and the contrary never has been demonstrated to us up to now." (Allied dispatches in May told of piles of hundreds of mortar shells in neat stacks only a few feet from the abbey's chapel, and of machine gun cartridges scattered on the floors.) The Leaning Tower, jutting out obliquely 16 feet from the perpendicular, for centuries ha been an architectural monument and an architectural mystery. Seen Accidental There ha been no reason to believe that the architects who planned it Bonannus of Pisa, started it in 1174, and William of Innsbruck completed it in 1350 deliberately achieved the oblique position. It is generally believed that the 179-foot tower, built as the bell tower, or campanile, of the great marble cathedral of Pisa, sank in th course of its building and defied he attempts of architects to return it to a perpendicular position. Its foundations are only 10 feet deep, with the same circumference, as the base of the tower. From this bell tower Galileo made his calculations on the velocity of falling bodies, availing himself of the oblique position to test his theories of the laws of gravitation.

Drops His Plane in Surf To Avoid Hitting Crowd PHILADELPHIA. July 31 OP). To avoid injuring bathers by landing on a beach, a pilot whose Navy plane developed engine trouble on a training flight from the Wild wood, N. naval air station dropped the plane into the surf at Sea Isle City, N. yesterday, the Fourth Naval District reported.

The pilot and a passenger were unhurt, and they swam and waded 150 feet to shore. Italian Captives On Special List Preferred Status Given To Service Units; 'No Coddling'- WASHINGTON, July 31 P). Non-Fascist Italian captives, members of service units aiding the American war program, have been given a preferred status, the War Department says, because Italy has been accepted by this country, Britain and Russia as a co-belligerent against Germany. In replying to assertions that Italian war prisoners have been "coddled" by the Army, the department said in a statement yesterday that members of such service units made "substantial contributions to the American war effort." There are 35,000 members of the service units located at various stations throughout the country. The Italian prisoners" are investigated after they volunteer for non-combat war duty, and those with pro-Fascist? leanings are excluded, it was said.

New Jap Premier Calls For 'Vigorous Spirit' By Associated Press The Tokyo radio quoted Premier Koiso today as saying that the Japanese people now need a "vigorous spirit" and voicing his determination "for complete victory." The broadcast, recorded by FCC monitors, said the message was sent to the Japanese people after Premier Koiso, Navy Minister Mitsumasa Yonai, and Justice Minister Hiro-masa Hatsuzuka had returned to Tokyo' from a "pilgrimage" to the Ise shrine at Ujiyamada, near Nagoya, where they "purified" p. mi I Cm' Leaning Tower of Fisa. Smaller Goal For United War Fund Decided $823,500 Will Be Sought In October, $76,500 Less Than Last Year's Figures The United War Fund of Delaware, will seek' to raise $823,500 in its annual drive during October, a reduction of $76,500 from last year's goal, which was oversubscribed, according to an announcement from the war fund office. The portion of the budget allotted to 19 local agencies, plus campaign expenses and a contingent fund, is $421,000, as compared with $475,000 last year. Delaware's, quota in the National War Fund drive will be $402,500.

a reduction of $22,500 from last year's figure. Of the new amount, $196,000 is Delaware's U. S. O. quota, and more than half the total is for the combined servicemen's funds.

U. S. 0. War Prisoners' Aid, and Seamen's Relief. The drive will begin Sunday, Oct.

1, with a community rally, and solicitations will start the next day. R. G. Hackett will be general chairman of the campaign, John G. Leach will serve as vice-chairman for Delaware outside the Wilming- (See WAR FUND Page 4) Left Over Oil -Coupons Valid May Be Turned In For New Season Allot ment Users of fuel oil for home heating w-ho have coupons left over from last winter's allotment may trade them for an equivalent value in 1944-45 coupons after Oct.

1. it was announced by the Wilmington War Price and Rationing Board. Next winter's oil coupons are now being mailed, and applications should be in for them in time to permit Ihem to be mailed before they become valid Sept. 1. The number of leftover coupons has no effect on the rations to be given for the coming year, and they should not be handed in until October.

O)-4 coupons should not be turned in i dealers but must be taken to the rationing board office by the consumers to be exchanged during October. I A Tf I 4 A fir-' i 1 III 1 in if i i i If i 9 I Weapon Used Upon Tinian Observer l5oubts Human Beings Within 100 Feet Survive U. S. Invention TJ. S.

PACIFIC FLEET HEADQUARTERS, PEARL HARBOR, July 31 (JP). A secret weapon gave American forces a new advantage In their invasion of the Marianas today as their spearheads hammered a widening wedge across Guam and swept past Tinian's largest town. "One of the most fearful instruments of death from America's arsenal of secret weapons aided the Tinian invaders," War Correspondent Clinton Green reported as Admiral Chester W. Nimitz announced that Guam's main harbor and airstrip already were in American use. Security prohibits even a hint as to the nature of the weapon, Green said, but its effectiveness has been proved.

"It is truly fearful and it is extremely doubtful whether any human being within 100 feet of its action would be able to survive," he wTOte. "It is easy to foresee the devastation and death which would result from its use on such targets as the crowded cities of the Japanese homeland." While the Yanks speeded their Saipan-born envelopment of key Ma- (See PACIFIC WAR Page 4) 0 3 Army Planes Found Wrecked on Mountain LUKE FIELD, July 31 (JP). The burned wreckage of three Army single engine training planes missing since March 25,. and the bodies of three or four officers aboard, have been found smashed against the same wooded mountainside 30 miles southeast of Prescot, Ariz. Officers at- Luke Field, in announcing the discovery, said 150 enlisted men were en route to the scene 55 miles north of here to search for the fourth officer.

Tht bodies of three second lieutenants were removed by a ground party that reached there Saturday. Luke Field officers said remnants of three parachutes were found, so they believe one may have bailed out before the ships plunged into the side of Tower Mountain. ille, 16 miles southwest of Cou-tances and 13 miles northwest of Avranches. Seizure of pivotal Avranches placed the Americans on a springboard for an eastward drive for Paris, 160 miles away, outflanking the remaining German forces to the north, or a southward plunge Lo lop off the Brest peninsula. Ciy Faces Encirclement Meanwhile other columns pressed an encircling drive around the obstacle city of 27 miles inland, capturing the hamlets of La Reaviere and La Frectiere to the The Fifth Parachute and the 77th, 91st, 243rd, 352nd, and 353rd Ger: man Infantry Divisions were said to have been virtually knocked out of existence by Omar N.

Bradley's smashing offensive. In addition, the crack Second Elite Guard and Lehr Armored Di visions were believed to have been badly smashed but with enough of their original equipment and personnel to retain their identities. Thus the remnants of at least eight divisions were being rapidly ground up in the American machine, which appeared to be rapidly completing a 105-mile arc across the base of the Normandy peninsula whence to break into central France. Other Nazis Threatened More thousands were threatened with capture by the advance southeast of Torigni, where the Germans were being pushed back against the Vire River, and a newly blossoming British offensive to the east had scored an eight-mile advance on a. seven-mile front south of Cau-mont.

This British smash had taken Hill 309, the highest point of land yet seized in the invasion a 900- (See INVASION Page 4) 28 Clerics, Writers Ask Nazis to Halt Rohots NEW YORK, July 31 clergymen and writers have appealed to the Germans "not to engage in the wanton cruelty of robot bombing or other methods of civilian massacre." The group, which last March protested the obliteration bombing of German cities, issued a statement yesterday which said: "Let us not dim the hope of future peace by deeds in the closing period of the war which will add to the load of hatred that our generation carries." John Nevin Sayre, co-secretary of the American Fellowship of Reconciliation, made the statement public. Secretary Until she left the White House hers was often an around-tiie-clock task, especially during the recurrent crises thai preceded and followed outbreak of the war. All telephone calls went first to her. If she decided the message or person calling warranted it, the President was awakened. Miss Le Hand became Mr.

Roosevelt's personal secretary during his unsuccessful campaign in 1920 for vice-president and remained with him until her retirement. At the White House she worked in a private office next to that of the President. She handled his personal and private mail and answered about two-thirds of it without troubling "The Boss." Winslow F. Alder. Boy Scout.

Official, Accepts A7. Y. Offer To Roosevelt. Expires Winslow F. Alder, assistant Scout executive of the Del-Mar-Va Council, Boy Scouts of America, and director of the Rodney Scout Camps lor the past seven seasons, will become Scout executive of the Louis Agassiz Fuertes Council at Ithaca, N.

on Sept. 1. This was announced by Frederic Wellington, Scout executive. His promotion comes at a time when the Wilmington city district, which he directs, has reached a new high membership of 1700 Scouts and Scouters in 64 Boy Scout troops and Cub Packs Adler has been serving as chief of the Del-Mar-Va Council executive staff and as secretary-adviser to the council committees on camping, organization and extension, activities, and leader-training. During his service as director of ihe Rodney Scout camps, attendance has grown from 600 to approximately 1000 different boys per season, many of them coming as troops under leadership of their own scoutmaster.

During this period, a wilderness camp site was added to the original property, and a year-round lodge and Adirondack shelters have been constructed to increase camping capacity. Mr. Alder came to Wilmington in January, 1938 from a position as In Today's Paper i WAR NEWS 4-5 Amusements Answers to Questions Classified 16-17 Comics 14 Culbertson on Contract 8 Death Notices 15 Editorials Financial Map of the Star 18 Obituary Radio Sports is Society Women's Interest WASHINGTON, July 31 (JP). Miss Marguerite Alice (Missy) Le Hand, who served as President Roosevelt's personal secretary for more than a score of years, died today at Chelsea, of cerebral embolism. Her death was announced by the White House, where it was said she had been stricken unexpectedly.

She retired as the President's secretary Dec. 18. 1942, because of ill health but had improved somewhat since that time. As Mr. Roosevelt's "right hand," Miss Le Hand had one of the most important secretarial jobs in the world.

She was in on national and international secrets of utmost importand she kept thern..