The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 1

MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Special Correspondents over llorth Carolina and South Carolina WASHINGTON AND RALEIGH BUREAUS First In America No newspaper morning or evening published in the in a city of comparable size has a circulation equal to that of The Charlotte Observer The Observer carries more advertising than any other newspaper in the two Carolinas Current net paid circulation in excess Daily 120000 Sunday 128000 1250150 PEOPLE i live within 60 miles of Charlotte 2 hours SLOW driving time to Carolinas shopping Center 'THE FOREMOST NEWSPAPER OF THE TWO CAROLINAS" "CIRCULATION BOOKS OPEN TO ALL" VOL No 363 22 PAGES TODAY CHARLOTTE TUESDAY MORNING APRIL 2 1946 PRICE: 5c DAILY-lOc SUNDAY Soft Coal Strike Forces Many Steel Plants To Curtail I Apparent Reply To Soviet DIES AJ George Stephens prominent North Carolinian died in Asheville after an illness of eight weeks cause of death was ascribed to a heart Funeral will be held in Biltmore today Report 26 Dead i And Many Hurt BILL Damage Is Heavy Iran Government Gives Unqualified Support To Envoy Flat Boost to 60 Cents Favored By Senators 400000 Launch First Walkout Since the War 55-60-65 SCALE TALKED HONOR LEWIS MITCHEL Senate Consideration Delayed Due to Lengthy Debate On Nomination Of Vardaman Steel Banks 2800 Coke Ovens and Will Begin Bank ing Blast Furnaces Today the statement was not Iran's answer to the appeal for a full report under the joint request to Moscow and Tehran That reply an official of the Iranian office said probably would be received late tonight or early tomorrow There was no indication here or in Moscow as to next step in view of the Wednesday morning deadline on the bid for information Ambassador Andrei A Gromyko remained in the city but refused to answer any queries In London authoritative sources said the British government was convinced Russia would seek to make the United Nations work and had no intention of quitting (See IRAN Page 2 Col 6) BY LAItRY HAUCK NEW YORK April P)-The government of Iran gave unqualified support to its embassador here today amid mounting speculation over reaction to the request of the United Nations Security Council for a full report on the Iranian issue statement communicated directly from Premier Ahmed Qavam to Secretary-General Trygve Lie apparently was in response to earlier Russian claims that Ambassador Hussein Ala was not familiar with the latest developments in the situation Ala presented side to the council last week immediately after dramatic walkout Spokesmen made it clear that Hilo Largest of Island Group Is Most Severely Hit By Giant Seas Honolulu Property Loss Will Run High Breakers 25 Feet Above Highest High Tide Levels BY DON WHITEHEAD HONOLULU April 1 A triple tidal wave born of a major submarine earthquake broke with awesome and shattering force on the Hawaiian islands today taking possibly 26 lives injuring many scores and causing damage estimated at millions of dollars All of the eight major and many of the smaller islands of the Hawaiian group were lashed by the titanic sea which terrified witnesses said towered as much as 25 feet above the highest high-tide levels The city of Hilo on Hawaii largest island of the Hawaiian group apparently was the most severely hit Damage and injuries in Honolulu on this most-populous island of Oahu provided a close second Deaths and disappearances thus far listed included: Five persons missing from Kaneohe point on the west side of Oahu Three children killed on the east side of Oahu when their home was flooded SCHOOL TEACHERS LOST Ten persons killed or lost in Hilo Eight school teachers from the mainland washed to sea from Lau-pahoehoe on the Hawaii coast None -of the -dead and missing was identified It was possible that some of the missing might be found safe at sea by immediately-organized army and navy air and sea By The Associated Press Colossal waves generated by a submarine earthquake of character agitated the Pacific ocean Monday Traveling For Utility Holding Companies Top Court Upholds Death Sentence Act Funeral In Biltmore Today WASHINGTON April The "death sentence clause of the utility holding company act subject of a bitter controversy dating back to early New Deal days Was ruled constitutional today in a 6 to 0 Supreme Cour decision Enacted in 1935 after a memorable battle it provides that a holding a REECE ELECTED BY WILLIAM TEACOCK WASHINGTON April 1 (P) Administration forces were reported near a compromise tonight with one Senate faction opposing the 65-cent minimum wage bill A Senate source said has been made toward getting together with the group led by Senators Ellender Democrat of Louisiana and Ball Republican of Minnesota which has offered a 55-cent substitute This official said two wage prop ositions were under consideration 1 A flat boost of the present 40-rent minimum wage to 60 cents effective nine months after the measure is enacted 2 A 55-60-65 scale in place of the 65-70-75 The administration measure calls for an Increase to 65 cents Immediately to 70 cents after two years and to 75 cents after four years Senate leaders were represented as inclined to the flat 60-cent pro posal Senate consideration of the wage legislation was put aside for the day as lengthy debate developed on the nomination of Commodore James Vardaman Jr White House naval aide to a place on the Federal Reserve board Backers of the administration bill held a conference with Senators El lender Ball and others One senator who attended said the two groups would have no diffi culty in compromising on a wage figure but that the "rub" was on the question of coverage He asked not to be quoted by name The administration measure would extend the minimum wage law to some 3500000 additional workers including seamen and certain processors of agricultural products such as cotton gins now exempt Those seeking a compromise con template that the farm-price-boost ing amendment sponsored by Senator Russell Democrat of Georgia could be knocked out if a wage figure lower than the original scale wore accepted President Truman has served no tice that he will veto the legislation if it reached him with the Russell amendment included Despite the President's warning the Senate adopted the Russell proposal 43 to 31 on last Friday Those believing the Russell amendment might be defeated if a downward-revised wage scale Is approved say there are several senators who voted for it Friday who would shift positions PITTSBURGH April yP) The 400000 bituminous coal miners to day launched their first al out strike since the war wit a program of parades am speeches celebrating Mitchell The coal-diggers hold the tradi tional holiday annually in tribute to two United Mine presi John Lewis and the late John Mitchell Union leaders and public officials addressed the gath erings which were more numerous in the leading coal states of West Virginia and Pennsylvania Outside of that the strike began quietly in coal fields across the na tion There was no picketing Miners laying aside their grimy work clothes simply started a rou tine walkout in the atmosphere of a spring vacation Tomorrow however the coal shutdown takes on a more serious hue with start of curtailment steel production which was Just getting back on its feet after tjie crippling strike of 750000 CIO Unit ed Steel Workers in January Preparing for the curtailment the Steel corporation largest steel producer announced banking of its 2800 beehive coke ovens In the Fayette county Pa area The corporation planned to begin banking tomorrow 20 of its 32 blast furnaces in the Pittsburgh district This would cut its steel output here to 47 per cent The scheduled ingot production of Pittsburgh mills had been 99 per cent of theoretical cap acity highest since January 1944 Other Pittsburgh steel firms announced they had enough coal on hand to forestall need for any im mediate curtailment Perry president of the Car negie-Illinois Steel corporation Steel subsidiary said a cut in steel output would result in the idleness of a large number of steel Other industries reported generally their coal supplies would last two to eight weeks The government had already adopted a coal conservation measure restricting deliveries to essential users like public utilities and hospitals Efforts to settle the contract dis pute between the union and coal operators continued at Washington today under government auspices with Special Mediator Paul Fuller of Akron 0 in the Heading the list of nine contract proposals submitted by the union Is a demand for a health and welfare fund for the miners Operators offered the miners a pay raise of about 18 1-2 cents an hour but Lewis spurned talk of wages and hours until the health fund Issue Is settled Tennessee Congressman Is Elected to National Leadership On Third Ballot company must confine itself to single integrated system of operal ing companies The court's ruling was against the giant North American company which had appealed from an order by the Securities and Exchange commission directing the concern to divest itself of all but one of its many utilities systems In passing the death sentence clause Congress concerned with the economic evils resulting from unco-ordinated and uninte grated public utility holding com pany the opinion said "These evils were found to be polluting the channels of interstate commerce Congress also found that the national welfare was there by harmed as well as the interests of investors and consumers These evils moreover were traceable in large part to the nature and extent of the securities owned by the holding companies "Congress therefore had power Vmder the commerce clause to attempt to remove those evils by or Jdering the holding companies to divest themselves of the securities that made such evils Justice Murphy delivered the court's opinion Justices Douglas Reed and Jackson disqualified Search Pressed Off Florida Coast For Craft Loaded With Ammunition' Most Holding Companies Have Compliance Plans NEW YORK April WD-Thc Supreme Court's long expected up holding of the "death "clause for public utility holding (See UTILITIES Page 2 Col 6) George Stephens Dies In Asheville ASHEVILLE April 1 (JP) Funeral services will be conducted here tomorrow for George Stephens 73 retired Asheville and Charlotte businessman and banker who died at a hospital here today after an illness of eight weeks The services will be held at 4 o'clock tomorrow afternoon at the All Souls Episcopal church of Biltmore conducted by the church rector Rev Isaac Northop and Rev Mark Jenkins pastor of the Calvary Episcopal church of Fletcher Burial will be in the cemetery of the Calvary church at Fletcher Mr Stephens had made his home in Asheville for the last 27 years Survivors include his wife Mrs Sophie Myers Stephens a son George Myers Stephens and daughter Mrs Edward Watts Mar tin all of Asheville i NATIVE OF GUILFORD Mr Stephens (baptized George Erwin Cullet Stephens) was born near Summerfleld Guilford county on April 8 1873 His father Addison Stephens came partly of Guilford Quaker stock served as a courier at 16 during the last part of the Civil war and died when his son was about nine years old His mother Lydia Pierson Lambeth Stephens also came from Guilford George was their only child and moved with his mother to Greensboro where he went to school under Miss Lina Porter aunt of William Sydney Porter (O Henry) Later he attended Oak Ridge institute where he began to show ability as a left-handed baseball pitcher and became especially interested in physical education He took a summer course in physical education at Springfield college Mass On entering the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill after graduation from Oak Ridge he was appointed instructor in physical education a position which enabled him to earn his way through four years of college Ho played halfback on the varsity football team for three years beginning with 1893 He continued his baseball as varsity pitcher With the habit of concentration on his goal he spent extra time on batting practice and made himself the exception to the rule by being one pitcher who was a dependable hitter During his college summers he played with teams made of college men playing one summer at East Orange and another in Asheville As he had learned stenography to help pay his way through college he had the privilege of serving ns secretary to the late Holmes state geologist of North Carolina who made a special study of good roads and road materials This ex perlcnce led him to write his gradu ation thesis on road materials and to take an active part in the North Carolina good roads movement The rank of Mecklenburg county as the leading good roads county of the state was one factor In his selection of Charlotte as the place to start in business He began business In Charlotte in 1896 with the late Walter Brem and his college roommate the late Dr Walter Brem Jr under the insurance firm of Brem Stephens and Brem Later he bought an in MIAMI Fla April m-Coast Guard planes and a sea-going tug pressed a search until darkness tonight for a derelict ammunition barge loaded with 134 tons of bombs and depth charges which was being swept north in the Gulf Stream off the Florida East coast A warning to all ships to steer clear of the unmanned barge was broadcast by Coast Guard hcadquar tors here It was nnt known whether the craft had riding lights still burning and Coast Guard officials said there was a chance that It was wandering in the darkness in the path coastwise vessels Seventh naval district headquarters said It was believed the ammunition was "in a safe condition" but indicated that old explosives such ns those on board were tricky things The barge which broke loose from its towing tug shortly after 4 today approximately 40 miles list of Fort Tierce Fla was trans porting the bombs and depth charges out to a depth of 600 fathoms to dump them when it was caught In high seas ana forced to turn Coast Guard officials said the ammunition was from donetivited airfields in northern Florida and was being dumped because it was either because the powder had gone bad the ammunition was out date or because the lot numbers had been lost and it was no longer possible to tell its age a conference on atomic energy sponsored by the University of Lyle Borst chief of the experimental physicist section of the Oak Ridge Tcnn project described the bomb as on our necks" Tromlnent scientists attending also included Dr Harrison Brown of the Tennessee project and David Hill of the with airplane speed across vast distances it hurled death and destruc tion on shorelines in Hawaii Alas ka and Central California The Navy late Monday warned North Pacific shipping to be pared for 90 to 100-foot waves fol lowing a sea of "destructive magni at Unimak near the tip of the Alaska peninsula A heavy death toll was indicated as early and incomplete reports told of an Alaskan lighthouse over whelmed with loss of all personnel to have been five men of 26 known dead and missing in the Hawaiian islands and others pro bably swept away and of the death of one Californian seized by a huge wave and carried out to sea Dr Thomas A Jaggar University of Hawaii volcanologist said the tidal wave had been caused by a world-shaking submarine earth He ruled out the possibility of an undersea volcanic eruption Jaggar said the first wave hit Oahu at 7:00 am (12:30 pm EST) the second at 7:07 and the third at 7:14 and added: is the usual pattern for disturbances of this Up to 12:15 pm Pacific time there was no sign of a tidal wave at the naval base on Adak island nor had an earthquake been felt at that remote Aleutian station Adak reported however that it was unable to contact the signal corps sta-tion at Fort Glenn on Unimak is land 400 miles east of Adak find about 50 miles west of Dutch Har bor The Navy warning based on the tidal wave at Unimak did not men tion casualties or damage at Unimak station It said the center of the tidal wave was undetermined but "believed to be at latitude 55 north longitude 164 California appeared to have escaped the full force of the tidal dis turbance SWErT TO SEA The giant waves which crashed on central California beaches however terrified beholders and carried at least one man to his death The elderly victim was one of two men strolling on a beach at Santa Cruz south of San Francisco when great wave rushed upon them The survivor said he seized his com panion and helped him to his feet and then lost hold of him as the outgoing wave tumbled them in the surf Huge waves also were reported at Half Moon bay south of San Fran cisco and at Bolinas and Point Arena north of San Francisco Some points reported property damage There was no unusual activity on the San Francisco beach front but 6-foot wave hit Santa Barbara beach in Southern Calofirnia San Pedro just below Los Angeles reported one tanker and two cargo ships broke dock lines and were pushed back into the docks by tugs A 10-foot wave hit the Oregon coast at Charleston at the entrance to Coos bay No damage was reported At Seattle Howard Coombs associate professor of geology at the University of Washington said he believed the tidal disturbance originated in a submarine earthquake of major Intensity in the Aleutian area He estimated that the wave was traveling at a speed of 400 to 500 miles an hour HONOLULU April The Coast Guard warned at noon today that a new tidal wave may be expected to hit the Hawaiian islands about 1:30 (7 EST) Radio warnings were issued to all residents of northern beaches of the islands to evacuate Immediately to higher ground As reports of the eatastrophe cam in from every hand over damaged communications facilities it was evident that the death toll probably would grow when the full extent of the catastrophe was determined Ships burst their moorings Small craft were smashed and hurled high ashore Waterfront storebuildings and homes were wrecked and flooded Cars were engulfed and huiled hundreds of yards by the irresistible tons of sea water Little East island on French Frigate shoal 450 miles northwest of here was completely inundated the coast guard reported The fate of its small naval garrison was unknown First rough estimates placed Honolulu harbor damage at more than $50000 and Hilo suffered worse The collection of damage and casualty reports was hamtiered by the rupture of communications and power lines at many points and by the disappearance of stretches of coastal road and railway Witnesses differed as to the number and height o' the waves All agreed the blow fell shortly before 7 a rrf (12:30 eastern standard time) SEA RECEDED AT FIRST Dr Thomas A Jaggcr University of Hawaii volcanologist said there were three distinct waves Their appearance was about five hours after the seismograph at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena Calif recorded two major earth shocks in the north Pacific and approximately eight hours after the Aleutinns-Alaska area suffered from earth shocks and waves Witnesses said the sea Ht first receded baring wide stretches of ocean bottom Then It came roaring back hundreds of yards inland sweeping everything before It Mrs Wade Sheehan of Honolulu said she first noticed bare reefs offshore Then she saw a small wave but two feet high heading Inshore like a moving wall It was followed by others each higher than the preceding one until the final ones towered 25 feet above high tide mark and deposited two smashed boats on her front steps At Kanoehe point on the west side of Oahu and site of a Naval air station five persons were listed as washed away and presumed dead while the lighthouse had to be converted Into a first-aid station for the injured Some of those injured were in a near-by naval radar station Fragmentary dispatches from the Island of Kauai near Oahu said the waves there were 20 feet high The island of Maul reported severe damage RAILWAY BRIDGE OUT The Hilo Tribune-Herald ou the Island of Hawaii retried by rad phone that a succession of waves that largest island of the Ilawauars and caused heavy damage in the (See HAWAIIAN Page 2 Col 1) BY HAROLD OLIVER WASHINGTON April pP)-The Republican National committee turned to the southern border state of Tennessee today for its new chairman and elected Rep Carroll Reece on the third ballot in a three-man contest The 56-year-old Reece now serv ing his 12th term in the House said he would resign (hat seat to devote his whole time to working for a Republican victory in the November elections Reece who succeeds the retiring Herbert Brownell Jr is a decorated veteran of World War I lawer teacher and banker He turned to politics in 1920 and was elected for every succeeding term except 1930 when despite an indorsement by then President Hoover he lost to an Independent Lovett It is understood that Reece will serve without pay despite pleas from committeemen during session that the job be made a sal aried one Reece won over former Senator John A Danaher of Connecticut now a $20000 a year congressional aide to the national committee and John Hanes New York financier-industrialist former under-secretary of the treasury and a native of Winston-Salem Hanes was put forward by former supporters of the late Wendell Willkie His Republicanism was challenged on the floor by Charles A Jonas North Carolina committeeman but his supporters replied that he had voted the Republican ticket except for a democratic vote for Woodrow Wilson in 1916 There was considerable harmony talk after the battle with exchanges of mutual friendship and promises to work together Reece said he regarded Danaher as one of the three ablest men to serve in the Senate in recent years Danaher called the voting a wonderful example of the exercise of franchise The committee adopted a resolution offered by seven-man policy subcommittee deploring what it called and in the handling of foreign affairs It also approved a resolution by Joseph Farrington Hawaiian delegate favoring ultimate statehood for Hawaii The committeemen elected to the executive committee Walter Hal-lanan of West Virginia who previously had held such post but failed of reelection in 1944 JO JO SAYS As bromide kiss On mg cheek was cooling I saw the dainty Miss Was only April fooling EIGHT ASK ELECTION TO CLIO TOWN COUNCIL BENNETTSVILLE April 1 candidates will run in a second election next Monday for the four places on the Clio town council 13 candidates offered for these posts in the municipal elec' tion held today Howard Woodley was unopposed for mayor as Smith encumbent did not ask for re-election The candidates in the second race next Monday are: Glenn Bundy Bundy Lee Jones Koger Fred (Rick) McColl If McColl Powers and Hamer Smith ADMINISTRATOR WICKARD OF REA SPEAKS IN PICKENS April l-(T) -The Rural Electrification Administration anticipates approval of a 11550000000 nationwide electrification program within the next two weeks Administrator Claude Wickard said here today Addressing the annual meeting of the Blue Ridge Electric Co-Operative Inc Wickard described the anticipated program as the largest rural electrification goal in the past 10 years He told stockholders of the cooperative he would "never bo satisfied until every rural home without electricity has the opportunity of using electric Soviet Refuses To Join Parley On Food Supply A-Bomb Expert Asserts Armament Race Now On WARMER LONDON April 1 (P) The Soviet Union has rejected an invitation to join 18 nations in the emergency conference on European cereal supplies opening here Wednesday conference officials said tonight There was no explanation of the Soviet refusal A message requesting reconsideration hHS been sent to Moscow a spokesman said Ernest Bovin British Foreign secretary will speak at the opening session of the conference The United States will be represented by Thomas Blais-dell chief of the Economic Mission to Europe Kansas city Kas April i Dr Theodore Jorgenson research physicist from the Btomic bomb project In Lon Alamos declared today that "a world armament race has been under way for six months and we arc headed straight for another war unless the atom bomb can be 'placed under the control of an International Dr Jorgenson made his statement at a meeting of 200 civic and business leaders invited to University of Chicago bomb project II Temperature (airport) 71 43 Year ago (city) 74 64 North Carolina and South Carolina: Clear or pnrtly cloudy and slightly warmer Tuesday (Further 8 Weather Bureau Data Page 2) To Pre-ent Play Thomashoro high school dramatics club will present Louisa May Friday night at 8 o'clock The play Is under the direction of Mrs Roberson I (See STEVENS rage 2 Col 4).