Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi • Page 1

Mississippi's Leading Newspaper For More Than A Century Made to The Clarion-Ledger, its newspaper boys, arid subscribers for patriotic support of the War Savings Program. Full Associated Press Reports Jackson, Mississippi, Monday Morning, December 27,1943 Established 1837 1m. (m. U.S. IV in JV MERRY-60 i mm mi ROUND Services At Governor's Home Scharnhorst Sunk By British Fleet A.

M. Wednesday Protecting Convoy Mississippi Mourns Beloved Statesman Who Leaves Record Of Service To His Fellovman -1 "I want to so live that when my summons comes to 1 cross the great divide and enter my Father's House not made with hands, eternal in the Heavens, that can look back upon the sands of time where my earth- ly feet have trod, and see foot prints made by me, in the service of my country, and when I go down to tfie silent tomb of the dreamless dead I want to be able to hold in the hollow of my hand a record of service to I my fellow man." -Governor Paul B. Johnson. -r 1 52 Governor Paul B. Johnson dntexpreting 'EZJn rjnn rJCYTJS By ELTON A rvriAtr1 The reason for Japan's niggardly use of her army is be- Governor Paul Burney Johnson passed away quietlyat 5:15 Sunday morning at his farm residence south of Mississippi's beloved statesman, one of the outstanding: cliief executives to occupy the governor's chair, succumb ed to a heart ailment after a strenuous fight of nearly two months.

At his bedside when the end came were his wife, one of his sons, his daughter and four sisters. His four sisters were Abel Bilbo, Hattiesburg; Mrs. Clem C. Johnson, Memphis; Miss Tena Johnson, Morton and Mrs. John Foxx, Memphis.

Funeral services, which will be simple with no special music, held at his home "Tall Pines" and with interment in the Old City Cemetery in Hattiesburg, will be conducted -Wednesday! Arrival of his other son, Marine Lieutenant Paul Johnson, from San Diego, California, is expected tomorrow. The governor had been under treatment for heart trouble since first stricken November 2 when he came home from Jackson to 'vote in the general election. For months previously he had suffered from high blood pressure and had Spent periods now and then: away from his office undergoing treatment. The governor had been unconscious since Christmas bve night when he lapsed into a coma. He suffered a severe sinking spell last Thursday afternoon and his physicians expressed amazement over his survival of that The Capitol offices in Jackson will be closedMonday and Tuesday and all flags will fly at half-mast in honor of Governor Johnson.

He was the third governor in Mississippi to expire while in office, the first being Governor Leake in 1825 and the second being Governor 111 Governor Johnson is automatically succeeded by. Lieutenant Governor Dennis Murphree who will -serve as the state's chief executive until January 18 when Goyernor-Elect Thomas L. Bailey of Meridian, maugurated. Murphree, will be sworn in bymSupreme Court (lefJustue Sydney Smith at 10 a. m.

Thursday in the governors office in a formalceremony. gar. ginning, io. emerge. She appears to be husbanding it for the day when, with her perimeter defenses crushed by the steadily advancing weight of Allied sea and air attack, she must make one last, all-out effort on the Asiatic doorstep of her homeland.

And veteran military men say, in crisp Army language, that ifHvill be one hell of an effort." It should be. Estimates of the number of Japanese men rnntrp frnm 9.riftn.nnn to more than 4.000.000. ly DREW PEARSON Churchill And FDR Reported To Have Clashed Over Promises To Chiang; Briton Against Burma Campaign, Adamant On Hone Kong, Insiders Say: Also Said To Have Been Stumbling Block In Conferences With Stalin: Sena-tors Questioning Ratio Of Americans To Be Used In Second Front. Washington, Dec. 26 Capitol Hill has been highly intrigued by some of the inside details ol what is reported to have happened at Cairo and Teheran, as brought back by U.S.

advisers. The Cairo conference got off to an unfortunate start when Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek arrived at the airport with neither the President nor Prime Minister Churchill there td greet him. JusViy luck, General Joseph Stilwell, American commander in China, was at the airport and did the honors as best he could. However, General Stilwell has had to say "No" to the Chinese so many times and his face has become so familiar to Chiang, that his presence at the airport was considered nothing to cheer about. As Churchill and Roosevelt had been trying for some time to get together with Chiang, and as the Chinese are considered about the most neglected of the United Nations, the President felt that the 1 i I V- 111 itas lie aim Vsuuiinui tuuiu iwvc done was to meet Chiang at the airport.

Therefore, when FDR heard about the oversight, he rushed over to the Generalissimo's heau luartcrs to pay an official vis it. Deadlock On Burma Just prior to this, the President had been listening to a detailed plan for opening the Burma Road, given him by General B. B. Somervell, head of the Army Service Forces. Somervell had sold tne President a bill of goods.

So, in greeting the Generalissimo, the President waxed enthusiastic over tuo question of a Burma campaign and told Chiang of the plans to reopen to Burma Road and get sup plies io long-buiiermg wiuia. Naturally, the Generalissimo was delighted. But later, when they sat down in the three-cornered conferences with Churchill, the Prime Minister Is reported to have said "No." He was most uncnthusiastic and uncooperative about a Burma campaign. His reasons presumably were the same as those expressed and apparent in the past, namely that it would be unwise to let Chinese troops fight in Burma. Without native troops, it woudl obviously be difficult to get sufficient (Continued On Page Ten) Country Faces Strike Crisis Powerful Unions Hit 'Little Steel' Washington, Dec.

(INS) High administration officials spent a busy Christmas week-end try ing to formulate plaps for solving the greatest strike crisis to face the country since Pearl War Mobilization Director James F. Byrnes, Economic Stabilization Director Fred M. Vinson, and Chairman William H. Davis of the War Labor Board discussed pro-nnsals for renewing eTmirincr lahnr contracts tne steet industry until demands of steel workers for pay increases can be settled. Meanwhile.

Attorney General I rancis Biddle was preparing necessary legal documents for government seizure and operation of the nation's railroads, faced with strikes called for 6 a. m. Thursday by 1,100,000 non-operating workers and 125,000 conductors, firemen and enginemen and switchmen. Heads of the strike-pledged rail unions said nothing was done today toward settlement of the threatened transportation tie-up, and both government and union sources predicted that the government would over the railroads. This is expected Wednesday morning unless a settlement of demands for rail pay increases is reached tomorrow or Tuesday.

President Roosevelt is prepared to take over the roads 24 hours (Continued on page Two) Governor-Elect Bailey Mourns Passing Of jovernor Johnson Governor-Elect Tom Bailey, on a visit in Madison. Wise, yesteiday expressed his sincere regrets in the death of Governor Johnson and added, he was leaving for Hattiesburg to attend the funeral. He said: "Governor Johnson lived an intense and interesting life. Life gave him little but opportunity with which to start. He fought far all the honors and favors he received.

The fight he lost this morning is an epic in fighting courage and gives to us all an inspiring example in heroism of spirit for these tormented times. "He was a good man good governor end I. along with all who really knew him, mourn Set 10:30 Ortona Battle In Seventh Day 5th Army Storms Monte Sammucre Algiers, Dec. 26 (INS) The Stalingrad-type battle of Ortona raged into its seventh day of bitter street fighting as German tanks embedded in cellars of wrecked houses exchanged shot for shot with British armored forces in the ruin-strewn northwest corner of the town. On the Fifth Army front, American troops marked Christmas Day by storming up Monte Sammucre, overlooking San Vit-tore, two; miles west of captured San Pietro.

Driving the Nazis off the peak, the Yanks seized, positions looking into the heart-of the Germans' San Vittore defenses. On Christmas Eve, Lieut. Gen. Mark W. Clark's patrols stole through pelting rain to within a mile of the Garigliano river west of Rocco and blew up a large German ammunition dump.

Bitterest fighting of Christmas Day raged on the Adriatic front, where Gen. Sir Benard Montgomery's Canadians are locked in a furious struggle for possession of the Ortona anchor of the German defense line shielding Pescara, the Adriatic terminal of the "back door road to Rome." In a desperate effort to halt the Candians in Ortona and prevent them from storming eleven miles up the coast to Pescara, the Nazis blew up whole sections of landing quays in the harbor, wrecked streets, erected road blocks and emplaced their tanks in cellars as stationary artillery. (The German high command, announcing" that "heavy fighting continues in Ortona," claimed that German defenders recaptured "an important height" yesterday.) Six miles inland, other British (Continued on page- Two) Jap Destroyer, Two Cargo Vessels Sunk Convoy Attacked Off New Ireland Advanced Allied Headquarters, New Guinea, (Monday) Dec. 272 ID Planes from an American carrier have sunk one enemy destroyer and two large cargo vessels in an attack on a convoy off Kav-ieng, New Ireland, the high command announced todays The attack on the convoy, made by planes from Adm. William F.

Halsey's South Pacific Command, also damaged' another destroyer and a patrol boat, and sank three enemy -barges. Allied aircraft returned to Ra-baul. Japanese air and supply base on the northwestern coast of New Britain, downing 28 enemy planes. Thirty Japanese fighters were shot (Continued on page Two) Bilbo Declares Nation Loses One Of Its Outstanding Governors Senior Senator Theodore G. Bilbo, at his home in Poplar-ville, yesterday stated "Mississippi and the nation lost one of the outstanding governors" in the" passing of Governor Johnson.

His comment in full: Tn the passing of Governor Johnson, Mississippi and the nation lost one of the outstanding governors. He was truly the people's governor and kept faith with them notwithstanding failing health. 1 "For the greater part of his administration he fought a great fight and accomplished many great things for the state and for the rank and file of the people. "Starting out as a poor boy and reaching the top by his own efforts, his life should be an inspiration to every poor boy in the state." Abe Martin Standin on ther dignity makes some people look shorter. Th' hardest -thing is writin'- a recom mendation er some one we know.

it Governor Murphree Extends Sympathy To Johnson Family In behalf of the people of Mississippi, Governor Dennis Murphree yesterday extended sympathy to the Johnson family in the passing of the governor. He said: "In the passing of Governor Johnson I have lost a good friend and the people of Mississippi have lost a faithful official and a good citizen. "During his term as governor he demonstrated his' friend- ship to the common people and his administration will be long remembered as one of the most successful and humane in the state's history. "In behalf of the people of Mississippi, I extend sincere sympathy to the family of Governor Johnson who may be consoled by the fact that his was a useful and worthwhile life." Russian Forces Set Initiative Situation In Hand West Of Kiev London, (Monday), Dee. 27 Russia's First Ukraine Army has rolled back German troops 25 miles on a 550 mile front in the Kiev bulge, killing 15,000 of them and routing ten enemy divisions fighting io hold the approaches to Zhitomir on the road to Poland, a Moscow communique disclosed today.

Moscow, Dec. 26 Hard-hitting Soviet forces have seized the initiative on every sector of the long German-Russian front, battle line dispatches said today, except southwest of Zhlobin in White Russia. v- West of Kiev where the Germans made huge efforts to break thru to "the Dnieper and re-establish their crumbling front, the situation is more than well in The Red army has sealed all breaches, has taken the offensive away from the Germans and has dealt their armored forces one of its greatest defeats and disappointments of the war. (The German high command reported that Gen. Nikolai Vatutin has "extended his attacks" in the Zhitomir battle area of the Kiev bulge, using "superior forces." The.

Nazis said "enemy attacking spearheads which had penetrated into our positions were checked in bitter fighting." (Of the Zhlobin sector, the Germans said only, "our infantry mopped up in a counterattack a place where the enemy had broken Col. Stanton Karpov, special military reviewer for the Moscow News, said of the Kiev sector, "the situation here was radically changed." As Vatutin's first Ukrainian army took over the initiative west of Kiev," Gen. Ivari C. Bargramian's Baltic forces pushed on towards Vitebsk, rolling back the stubbornly-resisting German infantry groups which are being thrown from miles of their -warm winter quarters in well-constructed dugouts. The Red army has fanned, out widely north, northwest and northeast of Vitebsk in one of its characteristic encircling movements.

With the main highway to Polotsk already in their hands, the Russians drove hard for the Polotsk railway, five miles beyond, the main supply line westward from Vitebsk. There was difficult fighting reported in the narrow sector between the highway and the railroad and resistance is as stubborn as anywhere since the Russians started their offensive. 12 das's ago. Should the Russians sever the railway to Polotsk in addition to the highway, the garrison at Vitebsk will have to depend on a round about railway which runs southward to Orsha where it con nects with the main Warsaw line. on the White Russian front Vitebsk appeared to be doomed.

(Continued on page Five) Benito Busy New York. Dec. 26 fiNRi The German transocean agency re ported toaay mat Benito Mussolini is workine several hours ri drafting Italy's "Republican Consti tution." me dispatch was quoted by the British radio and heard hv CBS. WEATHER flood warmer in north and central portion, tndayt tomorrow rain, rolder in north and west-central Dortion. Jackson 42 4 dis attorney, president protem, of London.

Dec. 26. (INS) The? admiralty announced tonight that the German battleship Scharnhorst has "been sunk. The mighty warship was sent to the bottom today by units of the British home fleet protecting a convoy in northern Russian waters, according to a terse communique. Locale of the sinking was identified as off North Cape.

Warships credited with sinking the powerful battlewagon, sistership of the Gneisenau, were under the oirction of Admiral Sir Bruce Prase, home fleet commander. The Scharnhorst had a normal complement of 1,461 men. The brief communique gave no indication of how many of them lost their lives when the great ship went to the bottom, nor was the naval action described. Fockholm reports three months ago said the Scharnhorst, as well as the Tlrpitz and Luetzow, were damaged by their own crews hi Alt jen Fjord of Noray. The German seamen were said to have attempted to sabotage their ships when they heard of the surrender of the Italian fleet to the Allies.

Five years old, the Scharnhorst carried guns ranging up to eleven inches in caliber. It was laid down in 1334 and completed in January, 1939. Announcement of the sinking of the Scharnhorst was the first news of German fleet units operating away from the security of their home bases since midget British submarines slipped through a maze of minefields in Alten Fjord, in northern Norway, in October seeking some of the big Nazi warships as targets. They torpedoed the (Continued on page Three) FDR Appeals To Steel Workers Until Differences Can Be Adjusted Hyde Park, N. Dec.

26 President Roosevelt appealed tonight to steel workers and com panies where steet production has been halted to keep working and operating under, old contracts until their differences can be adjusted peacefully. Mr. Roosevelt, attempting to end a work stoppage which already has taken more than 60,000 steel ofi the job, sent his appeal in identical telegrams to: Philip Murray, chairman of the CIO, the Republic Steel Company at Cleveland, the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company at Youngstown, Ohio, and G. Hanks, president of Taylor Wharton Iron" and Steel Company at Highbridge, N. J.

The disputes between steel companies and workers, Mr. Roosevelt said, must be settled, under labor's national no strike agreement by means of collective bargaining, conciliation and final determination, if necessary, by the War Labor Board. "I therefore request the companies and the steel workers," the chief executive declared, "to continue the uninterrupted production of steel and steel products under the terms and conditions of their old contracts until the differences that now separate them are peacefully and finally resolved, with the understanding that if the new a-greements include any wage adjustments, such adjustments shall be computed and applied retroatctive-ly to the date when the particular contract in questipn would have expired by virtue of the notice of termination under such contract. Roosevelt however, that any pay adjustments must conform with the economic stabilization act and subsequent executive orders with which he implemented the act. Asking every one concerned to proceed "with all speed consistent with the complete and fair-minded settlement of the dispute," the president said it would be unfair to workers and companies to pro-lonsr a ceriod of uncrt.aintv un duly.

Governor Johnson Was Personal Friend Of Governor Broughton Raleigh, N. C. Dec. 26. MP) Governor J.

Melville Broughton of North Carolina today issued this statement in connection with the death of Mississippi's Governor Paul B. Johnson: "Governor Johnson was my warm personal friend, and I am grieved to learn of his death. He was recognized as a leader among southern governors, and his passing is a great loss to the entire south." Small Craft Warning New Orleans. Dec. 26 Ml The United States Weather Bureau reported tonight that small craft warnings are indicated at 5 a.

m. tomorrow morning for the area from Brownsville, to -Lake La. C. FAY War Analvst the United States and Great miir.li more than 200.000 -a by the number of men reach- two vears. i.ne nean 01 uapan a muu iuico is the Kwantung army, ine eiiw group of Nippon, well-equipped, experienced.

Its command includes Manchuria, Korea, Inner Mongolia and north China and its influence in the political and economic af -farc in islands is strong. About it probably will be built the combined lana iorces irom ow-er areas for the final attempt to stave off defeat of Japan. President Roosevelt reported that he discussed with Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek all the manifold military plans for striking at Japan with decisive force from many directions and noted that Chinese ground and air forces augmented by American aviation are "playing a vital part in starting the drive which will push the invaders into the sea." That then, suggests big scale warfare on the Asiatic mainland. Because of the current serious limitations placed on supplying forces in China, it is highly unlikely that a major Allied effort is imminent iut it is certain. To meet such a blow from the west will be the task of a Japan- (Continued on page Two) Bolivia To Comply With Past Policy.

Washington, Dec. 26 (VP) The new Bolivian government has pledged, the embassy here said tonight, to comply with all commitments and obligations of the Pan American conferences on hemisphere security and continental defense. The government; the embassy -aid it was advised, has sent a cable to that effect to the committee of political security at Montevideo, a groun set up by the Pan American nations. Such action, the embassy asserted, is aimed at assuring there will be no change in the previous hemisphere policy of the government of President Penaranda. ousted by the new regime in a military coup d'etat.

The povernment-sin a bid for United Nations recognition previously had agreed to observe Bolivia's obligations as an ally. Eastland Expresses His Sentiments On Passing Of Governor At his home in Ruleville Sun-day, Senator James O. Eastland expressed his feelings on the passing of Governor Paul Johnson. He said: "Governor Johnson's death is a great loss to Mississippians in every walk of life. He was one of- Mississippi's greatest and best-loved governors.

His administration will go down in history as having enacted more beneficial legislation for the masses than any other administration. "An honest, upright and sincere man with a big brain and a kind heart has passed to the life beyond "the grave. A truer friend never lived." Her losses since she engaged Tifairi in--wnivmnv- nnf hp deficit more than corrected i'nn -mil tf aofo In ihf nnst. Rising Temperature Melts Coated South Holiday Accidents Lightest In Years By. The Associated Press Temperature in Jackson was high, 42, low 40.

Rising temperatures Sunday were melting most of the ice sheet which coated much of the "south Christmas day. Three deaths from freezing were reported, however, from the freezing rain and sleet which began Christmas eve. One death wan re ported in Tennessee, one in Arkansas, and one in North Carolina. The holiday accident count except in- Virginia was one of the lightest in years, despite icy streets Christmas day. Few serious traffic accidents were recorded, although there were numerous minor automobile collissions and wrecks.

Rising temperatures, accompasned by some were reported all along the Atlantic Seaboard Sunday. Georgia and the Carolinas were overpast, with abnormally mild weather in the western portions. Last icy vestiges were reported disappearing in northern Virginia, although some points still were near freezing Baltimore and Philadelphia each reported freezing rain, but at Norfolk, the mercury stood at 52, and at Hattares it was 59. Raleigh, N. had 56, and Wilmington 65, while Chattanooga logsed its temperature at 43, Knoxville 44.

Atlanta at 42, and Birmingham 43. The weather bureau said rain was expected to cease over most of the area Sunday night and Monday with North Carolina experiencing some rain in the east portion until afternoon. Sligntly oler weather was forecast along oie coast. Disappearance of ice from highways and rail lines restored tratfic to normal. Carolina Governor Expresses 'Regrets' In Johnson's Death Columbia.

S. Dec. 26 WV-Governor Olin D. Johnston of South Carolina expressed "deepest regrets" today on hearing of the death of Gov. Paul Johnson of Mississippi.

"I "have known Governor Johnson for many years," South Carolina's chief executive said, "and I have been associated with him at various governors' conferences and in other business of state. "I know that not only Mississippi but the nation will feel his loss greatly. He was not only a man of character, but one of ability and vision. "South Carolina joins with Mississippi in mourning the -loss of -this statesman." the Senate, by virtue of his post automatically becomes lieutenant governor. Three Methodist ministers of Hattiesburrg will officiate at the services.

They are: the Rev. B. M. Hunt, pastor of the Main Street Methodist Church where the governor held membership; the Rev. L.

D. Houghton, pastor of the Court Street church; and the Rev. J. T. Leggett (retired) former pastor of the governor.

Active pallbearers will be four of his nephews, Wm. A. Bilbo, Magnolia; Lt. Emmett Thomas, Camp Davis, N. Cpl.

Hammond -H. Hinton, who has just returned from overseas; Rudolph Johnson of Memphis; and MaJ. Gen. Ralph Hays, state adjutant general; Lt. Col.

D. C. Lea, State Guard, Jackson; Fewell Thompson, Hattiesburg city commissioner; and Lt. Col. James Davis, State Selective Service.

Jackson. Honorary pallbearers will include all the colonels on the governor's staff in addition to the following: Governor Dennis Murphree, Senator J. O. Eastland, M. Heder-man, W.

Eastland" of Dodds-ville; Governor-Elect Tom Bailey, George C. Calhoun, G. M. McWil-liams, West O. Tatum, Dave P.

Cameron, J. E. Davis, J. P. Baldwin.

Dr. S. E. Bethea, Dr. H.

C. Mc-Leod, Dr. P. E. Smith, all of Hattiesburg, Dr.

G. W. Rembert. Col. L.

W. Long, all of Jackson; Claude Pittman of Hattiesburg; Homer Pittman of Hattiesburg; Dr. O. J. Burnham of Morton; Albert Leggett of Jackson: Oscar Jordan of Biloxi; Claude Hill, Hattiesburg; Ed Cur rie of Jackson, George Abraham of Meridian; Herman Katz of Hat- tiesburg and Frank Harper of Lau rel.

Intensely human, sympathetic4 with all those who suffer and en-' dure, vigilantly I alert to the re-ouirements of the people he served-Governor Johnson was regarded as one of Mississippi's most able During his thirty years in public life his character, record, qualifi cations and political philosophy1 were never doubted. He honored the people. The people honored him. He never lost understanding and faith in his fellow man. He looked ahead and dared to do the things that bamsn the injustices tnai harass, tind he wanted with all his heart to spread happiness into the lives of his fellows, just as he him self knew the quiet ecstacies and happiness that come from a broad outlook on life the satisfaction of a job well done, a happy home life and a life of usefulness to those who needed him.

Governor Johnson preached and adherei to a political creed which (Continued On Pact Ten) Governor Of Arkansas Says Johnson Was 'Christian Gentleman' Utile Rock, Dec. 26 W) The south has lost an "honest, high type Christian gentleman in the death of Gov. Paul B. Johnson of Mississippi," Gov. Homer M.

Adkins of Arkansas said today. "I knew Governor Johnson well through the Southern Governor's Conference," said Adkins. "He had the admiration of everybody in the conference. Everybody recognized him as an honest, high type Christian gentleman whose worth to the south as an official and as an an individual was inestimable." Denial Of Willkie Letter Spurs Probe Says Hopkins Predicted Victory Washington, Dec. 26.

(INS) -Release of a letter purported to have been written by Harry Hopkins, presidential confidante, in which hp nredicted Wendell L. Willkie will be the 1944 Republican presidential nominee, raisea new interest today in an investgation of the 1940 Willkie convention drive. The letter was made public at Akron, by C. Nelson Sparks, former mayor and author of the book "One Man Wendell Willkie," after Hopkins issued a denial of authorship. Hopkin's denial brougnt tne 101-lowing comment from Sen: William H.

Langer (R.) N. sponsor of a resolution calling for a thorough investigation of Spark's charges that the 1940 Willkie organization had (Continued on page Two) Puertq Rico Educator To Make Lectures In Texas During January Austin. Dec. 26 (fPh-'Texas communities have been invited to aoplv to the University of Texas for the services of a Puerto Rican educator as lecturer during January, Dr. H.

T. Manuel, university professor of educational psychology announced. Dr. J. dean of the college of education at the University of Puerto Rico, is being brought to Texas for the month under sponsorship of the university's committee on Inter-American relations.

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