Charleston Gazette (Newspaper) - February 18, 1940, Charleston, West Virginia Largest Circulation in West Virginia The Charleston Gazette The State of The Associated Press 1887 Charleston West Virginia Sunday Morning February 18 1940 Finnish Commander Rallies Troops Says Foreign Aid On Way Five Cents Rain today and Monday not much change in Nation No Longer Fights Mannerheim Tells Soldiers Urging Stiffened Defense RUSSIA New Class Called Up Reserve Forces More Artillery Sent to Front To Stem Soviet Drive HELSINKI Feb commander Field Marshal Baron Mannerheim night reassured the nation that foreign help is coming continually and exhorted the Mannerheim line ers to hold firm to the new defenses to which they have withdrawn under the weight of the Red army's 1 offensive This stirring appeal by the old supreme com- who spoke confidently of every possibility of followed reports of a smashing Finnish victory FDR to Inspect Atlantic Zone Canal Defense Secrecy Veil Surrounding President's Cruise Lifted As Aide Announces Destination Hull May Hold Whip on Japan Embargo Vote Senate Foreign Relations Apparently Split on Proposals For Restrictions Four Say Secretary Could Sway Support Two Pending Resolutions Studied by Six Undecided on the eastern front with Russian dead numbering but also grim admissions of a further retreat on the vital Karelian isthmus Longer Fight Alone no longer fights Baron Mannerheim ed From abroad there already has come aid to a considerable extent and it is coming continually You can rest that the enemy never will be able to break c defensive system if from ror ABOARD U S S LANG AT SEA Fob Via the veil of secrecy surrounding his cruise President r inlands grizzled Roosevelt announced through aide today that he would ar- rive at the canal zone early morrow for an inspection of the defenses on the Atlantic side of the canal To Confer with General Brig Gen Edwin M Watson the president's secretary and military aide said Mr Roosevelt would con- fer with Commanding Gen Van Voorhis of the canal zone and tary naval and civilian authorities Watson indicated further tion would be disclosed tomorrow night It was assumed President velt would discuss the proposed ad- set of canal locks and in- creases made in the defense son at the strategic link between the Atlantic and the Pacific The mystery of the voyage was as the cruiser Tuscaloosa carrying the president and the con- More Blimps Urged by Navy WASHINGTON Feb senate foreign relations committee is so evenly split on the question of imposing goes on exports to Japan that a word from Secretary of State Hull probably would decide the issue either way Poll Indicates Split This became apparent today when an informal poll of the com- 23 members showed seven opposed to two pending embargo proposals seven in or and six undecided Three were unrecorded Of the six who said they had not made up their minds four ed they would be swayed by Hull's views as yet not made public One who declined to comment on his stand Sen Green R con- has supported the on legislation considered by the committee The committee is expected to discuss informally at its meeting next Wednesday two pending em- bargo proposals Would Empower President The first by Chairman Pittman D would empower the president to restrict exports of war materials including iron steel oil gasoline and scrap metal to Japan of British Run Nazi Ship Ashore To Rescue 300 Captive Tars Threatens Norway Germa ny Raging Nazis Hin t At Dark Revenge Most of Hatred Is Directed Against Old Idiots And Tiny Criminal Minds Running Britain Norway's Attitude Lessens Wrath BERLIN Sunday hints of re- venge for the British attack on the German steamer Altmark were published by an indignant Nazi press today Wrathful official quarters took a grave view of the act Says Effects Unpredictable The crime in us with an entirely new Peace Envoys On High Seas my deep formation we raise new fied positions to wear down his of- fensive power until the end The moment has como when by strong and vigorous measures the enemy's attack must again be Claim Gains MOSCOW Feb Soviet Russian tary headquarters today ed the capture of a station only four miles southeast of the vital Finnish city ot Viipuri The enemy hurriedly ed under the blows of Soviet troops toward Viipuri suffering grave and setting villages on the communique said The station of four miles of the town of on the northern shore of a fortified zone at west of Sum ma and the towns of and in the coastal area were occupied by Red army troops the communique added Lines Also Recommended Feb construction of more naval bles and government aid for com- airship linos was mended today by a special navy board j Larger I military and commercial j forecastle destroyers Lang and Jouett I because of alleged violation cruised in the Caribbean sea off American rights in China Nicaragua The second by Sen Since leaving Pensacola Fla bach D would impose Thursday the three warships have embargoes on the ground that been setting the straightest course j Japan has violated the nine-power possible toward Panama Weather Excellent j The weather was excellent today and a tropical sun sent the i upwards of 85 giving members of the presidential a chance to sunbathe on- the ped at the new defense line to the support of which I have directed from my reserves new forces and artillery Soldiers of We must stand without faltering The 1 of the situation gives us every possibility of victory The i Finnish ration stands behind us i and trusts us Let us be firm j South Finland Bombed Echoing the thunderous roar of j battle in the isthmus and i the eastern front were the j sions of hundreds of bombs j ped by Rod army raiders ranging over southern Finland Three air raid alarms sounded here and un- official reports said one Soviet plane was shot down Military informants hof ered it improbable that any part ol the Mannerheim line proper s vast Irregular system of j tions miles deep was involved in today's losses They said it was more likely that the abandoned positions were frontal defenses constructed since the first of the year by students and other volunteers Eighteen hundred Russians were said to have been slain in a combat in the Kuhmo sector halfway up Finland's long eastern frontier where the Helsinki communique reported of battalions Consumers sales tax collections and reconnaissance unite destroyed on December business set an time high Tax Commissioner Ernest K James reported yesterday but the overall 1939 collections still slightly below 1937 Collections amounted to ties which the U S alone can ex- because of its virtual oly of helium gas the two-man board reported to Sec Edison Its members were I Rear Admiral Ernest J King and Capt Garland Fulton j Urging a resumption of can airship developments which I were interrupted by the loss of the naval dirigibles Akron and Macon I the board I Five Year Program A five-year naval gram involving construction of a dirigible which congress ready has authorized and ton or more Construction at an appropriate time of two dirigible larger than the Akron and Macon designed for use as long-range scouting cruisers and aircraft carriers which would be immune from mines and submarines Federal subsidies through an agency such as the maritime com- mission or the civil aeronautics authority for commercial airships which in time of war could be con- verted to naval uses Replace Los Angeles The naval airship recommended for immediate construction would be a craft of cubic feet to replace the decommissioned Los Angeles Congress authorized con- struction in 1938 but a propriation was permitted to lapse after President Roosevelt stated a controversy over designs had raised questions of safety The board said that the was but one untoward incident and that caused but mentary uneasiness It occurred when an American tramp tanker refused to alter its course and passed between the Jouett and caloosa The president's destination was undisclosed until 48 hours after em- for the two days ing not even the course 01 speed Please Turn to Page 2 Col 4 treaty in which the signatories pledged respect for the territorial integrity of China Although several committee members have said they would want to hear Hull's views before acting the secretary was reported Please Turn to Paffe 2 Farley Sets Parley July 15 Full Bioff Must Return To Serve Term Presidential Drive Is Assured Bv Action MIAMI Fla Feb presidential campaign was assured today as Postmaster Gen James A Farley announced that the Democratic national convention will grt under way in Chicago July 15 This date is just three weeks after the si art nf the Republican party's convention SACRAMENTO Calif Feb which will be held in Philadelphia Olson Okays Extradition Of Panderer Takes Slap At Chicago Police Bioff Hollywood motion picture labor leader tonight Setting the date for mid-July regarded previous suggestions faced return to Chicago to complete i the nominating conventions be de- Please Turn to Page 2 Col 7 Sales Tax Receipts Climb to New High Collections on December Are Best On Record Please Turn to Page 2 Col 1 French Said Throwing Arsenal Open to Finns Only Latest Model Guns To Be Held Back Paris Hears a pandering sentence there after Gov L Olson approved extradition papers filed by Illinois authorities Bioff now out on bail at Los Angeles on a federal charge of evading income taxes had hoped to escape removal to Chicago on the grounds that he fully re- habilitated and should not be com- to serve out a court judgment of 18 years ago Olson announced his de- today after a hearing at Sacramento The defendant urged that his offense was indiscretion and that he is now fully and leading a useful life On the other hand my attention has been called to the frequent in- I questionings arrests and detention by law enforcement of Chicago of the ant and his associates in connection with illegal activities many in com- recent years when he can no longer be considered youthful While it is true he was never convicted of another offense I feel constrained to take into tion the fact that he lived in a community which has had a type of law enforcement that permitted laved until late summer in order to spare the party the heavy ex- pense of a long campaign The postmaster general who also is chairman of the Democratic Welles Taylor Depart For European Missions Rome First Stop ABOARD S S REX AT SEA Feb 17 Under Secretary of Slates Simmer Welles and ron C Taylor President Roosevelt's two envoys of peace were on the high seas tonight bound for the most important twin diplomatic mission undertaken by the U S since war enveloped the European continent They sailed aboard the Rex at noon accompanied by their wives and a staff of state department Eu- ropean experts Welles a career diplomat who maintained silence and de- spite a hammering question barrage from reporters will carry the chief burden of trying to find a basis upon which the warring nations would agree to sit around a ence table and talk peace To Report Only to The under secretary of state has mapped out an itinerary which will bring him into the closest contact with Europe's four outstanding chieftains He will first visit Premier solini then Chancellor Hitler in Berlin Premier Daladier in Paris and finally Prime Minister berlain in London Welles insisted that whatever he learns about conditions there will be reported to the president alone Taylor a former steel corporation chairman who is going to Europe as Mr Roosevelt's special dor to the Vatican was more com- In a prepared ment he said he is determined to do the utmost to assist in avoiding further suffering In parrying reporters queries state of affairs in war policy and war technique the effects of which cannot now be foreseen in the slightest degree raged Adolf ler's own newspaper Beobachter If old idiots and tiny criminal minds were not at the helm in England then they would know that National Socialist Greater many has the habit of striking back They would know that the tragedy has filled the entire man people with a single We will present an The more reserved Berlin Borsen Zeitung declared that the memory of the brave unarmed German ors who died will continue to flame within us and demand ex- piation Calls It War on Neutrals The Lokal described the incident as a declaration of war on neutrals A blunt declaration that non- combatant nations now must show whether they are strictly neutral was published by the tional Zeitung which is close to Field Marshal Hermann Goering This murder shows by what methods England wants to involve in the war with Germany jt said Germany sent a strong official protest to Norway for failing to protect the vessel within her wa- ters and accused Britain of piracy murder and gangsterism The protest delivered by the German minister at Oslo ed that Norway make reparation and warned that the incident might have serious but it was obvious that the real heat Vessel Left Jammed in Ice Rocks Of Fjord After Furious Fight On Shores of Scared Neutral FURIOUS REICH CALLS ENGLISH TACTICS DASTARDLY SWINISH Conquering Destroyer Is Greeted With Wildest Enthusiasm On Return to London LONDON Feb 1 A conquering British destroyer came home tonight with 300 Britons rescued from the Nazi prison ship Altmark leaving the German vessel rammed fast in the ice and rocks of a Norwegian fjord after a defiant and furious fight on the very shores of a frightened neutral nation Like a chapter from the exploits of Drake or Nelson a boarding party from H M S Cossack one of at least three British destroyers involved swarmed over the decks of the dingy Altmark freed the soners taken months ago by the Admiral Graf Spee and killed five Germans and wounded five Please Turn to Page 2 Col 5 Please Turn to Page 2 Col 4 Dies to Chart Blizzard Paralyzes Probe of Movies Texas Panhandle Voorhis to Demand Curb i On Outside Activities Authorities Speed Help To Marooned Travelers On State Roads LUBBOCK Tex Feb A flash that caught the southern Texas panhandle unawares contested efforts of stale Of WASHINGTON Feb Martin Dies D of Texas today called the committee investigating un-American ties to meet Monday to chart its course of inquiry into the and city authorities to rush I wood movie capital and into con- lona committee was authorized I aid travelers I sumers organizations by Hie committee nt ts recent monod on blocked highways meeting in Washington to choose PARIS Feb army headquarters waj understood today to have approved a ol the Daladier government calling for the opening of French arsenals to Finland and the extension of un- limited credits French planes guns heavy artillery rifles hand ades and ammunition already have been shipped to the inns AA r court's sentence to go unsatisfied for 44 indicating Christmas of more than he j j not fce convinced lhat tne best in many years and possibly in of wil be by history t honoring this of the guv in ernor of Illinois m tax and in the same 1937 month In the 1939 calendar year the stale realized from the two percent retail sales levy com- pared with in 1938 and in 1937 the peak since the tax law became effective in 1034 The beer barrel tax however through highs during 1930 as did the gasoline tax though lames explained that the extra one cent tax on gasoline not effective during nil of 1937 and There reportedly was only one i the beer barrel tax was increased reservation of the high command during 1937 that the shipments to Finland would not include the latest models of various French arms The agreement tails with a similar pact which prevents the Allies from du in their military ment shipments to Finland The impost cm barrelled beer totaled last year in 1937 the previous high year Gasoline sales brought in 706.69 in 1939 compared with in 1938 and in 1937 Show Is Too Long So Operator Quits HUNDRED Feb Fifty patrons of this only movie theater have passes for a show tonight be- cause the operator decided a double-feature was too long and shut down the jector Ralph Murphy the only able operator closed the show 15 minutes before completion of the second film last night His only explanation was too so Miss Isabella Brown theater manager handed out passes to the patrons so they could see the end of the picture tho date for the convention Decision was postponed until after the had picked their convention date Thus when the Democratic delegates assemble in Chicago to draw up their form and select their candidates they will have the advantage of knowing exactly what their tion will be and can plan ingly In announcing the date the master general revealed that he had considered setting date for July two weeks after the start nf but that date would have made it Please Turn to Page 2 Col snowbound travelers The issue over whether to allow Army trucks laden with j Charles Coughlin Detroit blankets and food threw i dio priest to testify also will be their weight against huge drifts of snow to bring assistance to at least 20 persons marooned over- night near Tahoka small town 35 miles south here Earlier today the mounting fears of families and officials for 100 school children unheard from through the night were erased with reports they had been found safe Three buses of the Tahoka school district loaded with pupils were caught last night in snow driven by north winds The Lubbock that upwards of 700 were stuck fast in the drifts in and around Lubbock Missing Lot of Bliss Ask Marriage Law Change fought out at the executive sion The priest has challenged the committee to call him Rep Voorhis D of California liberal member served notice that he would propose to the committee a group of resolutions to curb the speaking and writing activities of the members Voorhis revealed he would de- mand that no member of the com- be allowed to speak or make a statement in connection with the group's work without approval of a majority Dies who this week er two months of illness at his Orange Tex home was placed un- der the care of a physician today Suffering from intense pain in his Please Turn to Papc 2 Col 1 Organization 25 New York University Form To Get Legislature to Make Consent Age 17 Can't Understand Old Folks Reasoning NEW YORK Feb New York university girls who had to go to college instead of married at 47 think they were cheated out of a lot of bliss and want to change the law the present marriage law Future Wives of The girls have the Future Wives of America and say they are going petition the New York stale legislature to change the minimum age Their president is Inez Freer who lives with her mother Josephine in the Bronx and is editor of the woman's page of the N Y Uni- versity Commerce Bulletin Inez wanted to get married at 17 She wants a big least nino and all boys If 1 rould have boon married she said 1 have had a good start What I can't under- stand is the process of reasoning by which older folks think at 17 we're old enough to go out and eel jobs and yet not old enough to get married Balked By Mother According to Inez one member of the club wants 10 children but her mother who married cany and had 10 babies balked at lotting the girl go to the altar at 17 We just got to talking about our lives and found out things are all wrong about the age nf consent and we have decided to change the if wo ran Inez's boy friend when she Avas 17 has married another girl Confucius A m a t e u r philosophers ot Charleston and have practically flooded the Confucius Say editor of The with en- tries in the past two days from the growing o t Oriental p r o u n came Confucius Grandma who once wore now drink II The entry of 1 E Robertson of Smithers it was adjudged the best Confucius Say of the day and therefore will win SI daily cash prize which The zette is offering The Gazette will continue publish daily the and we hope Hie funniest Con- Say Send yours in Raid Results Alarm Norse Altmark Is Expected to Be Interned Especially If It Is Armed OSLO Feb in- vasion of the Norwegian fjord in a daring raid on the German prison ship Altmark filled Norway tonight alarm for the delicate balance of her neutrality and with ment over the disregard sal her sovereignty She protested vigorously to Great Britain against the action of the British destroyer Cossack in forcing her way in the darkness last night into Josing fjord under orders of the British ad- to free the with or without permission of the Norwegian government Still Grounded Firmly The Altmark was stranded firmly in ice and rocks of a natural harbor about 60 miles south of Stavanger The government had not decided what action it would take concerning vessel but circles expressed belief she would be interned especially if i1 were established that she was armed and in the direct service of the man navy Norway received a strong test from the German government demanding repair of damage and compensation and warning of a most serious situation which could have the most severe consequences Premier Johan took the extraordinary step of going to the British legation personally to lodge Norway's demand for return of the freed British seamen com- and for respect of way's neutrality in the future But even as she protested way found herself confronted with the British declaration that the British warships which stalked the Altmark had full of his majesty's government to enter neutral waters On the other hand Norway's un- Flease Turn to Page 2 Col Belgium Purchases American Vessels Bothers Grounded by Briton The or the boarding party sprang eight feet to the lower deck of the Altmark knocked aside a German guard and raced to the bridge to send the Altmark hard ashore with a full speed astern ring of the telegraph Then he rushed to the captain's cabin and flung open the door only to be wounded in the arm by a pistol fixed in a booby trap In a spectacular side show to the battle the German tanker Baldur cornered off shore by the British destroyer Ivanhoe was tled by her German as the British admiralty put it The erstwhile prisoners who reached shore late today at Leith Scotland to tell tales treatment in a filthy ship during their long captivity said the cap- tain of the Altmark planned to blow her up if trapped that a time bomb was hidden on board Fate of Ship Unsettled Tonight however official reports C a r g o and Passenger Ships Included In Sales NEW YORK Feb Eight ships owned by the United States Lines have been sold to a Belgium corporation according an official announcement late day The vessels are cargo and senger boats which have been n service for the past thirty years The purchasing company is the Anversoise with headquarters in Antwerp The steamships sold are at present In Hoboken N J They will sail as soon as foreign crews can be obtained to man them Following s the list of steamers involved in the sale President Harding American Sanker American Farmer ican Importer American Merchant American Shipper Trader and American Traveler The United States Lines will resent the Belgian company ns agent in this country The steamers will be immediately placed under the Belgian flag and ply between New York and France and England One of the conditions under which the U S Maritime sion permitted sale of the vessels stipulated that the proceeds of the sale estimated at should go toward construction of new American tonnage from Oslo said the German legation there had ordered that the ship be not destroyed a German crew of about 100 men stayed aboard the stranded Altmark Her fate sibly internment was unsettled and British destroyers still were ing out at sea in constant watch Official Germany was furious Using adjectives like dastardly and authorized sources in Berlin declared the British invasion of Norwegian coastal waters was a gross violation of international law comparable to the bombardment of Copenhagen 133 years ago by 1 British fleet The German minister in Norway made a sharp and im- mediate demand for full restitution of the ship and indemnities for tba dead and injured He threatened the most serious consequences for Norway unless the German demands were met An official spokesman in Berlin likened the affair to a German U-boat entering New York harbor boarding the Queen Mary and shooting down her crew Norway Protests Energetically Norway herself caught tight in the war's pincers protests to London But the ad- loud in its praise of its own men notably Capt P L of the Cossack and Commander R C don of the destroyer Intrepid paid scant heed to the protestations Authorized spokesmen said Brit- ain had more grounds for a protest than Norway that Norway diced her neutrality on these two She permitted the mark to traverse Norwegian waters Please Turn to Page 2 Col 2 Boarding Attack Like Old Times Officer Jumps 8 or 10 Feet to Lead Tars Onto Altmark LONDON Feb 17 Last night's fight aboard the Altmark with a boarding party swarming onto the Nazi ship wielding pistols and cutlasses was the first such boarding of an enemy ship since the World war epic of the destroyer Broke In April 1917 the com- mander now Admiral Sir Edward R G R Evans of the scrambled onto a German destroyer at the head of a boarding party and cleaned up in short order The Broke and S de- six German destroyers in the battle was nade a captain f his services in action Last night's fight on the Altmark described by crewmen from Please Turn to Page 2 Col 7 Ail war news is censored judge for yourself if it is true
