Wilkes-Barre Sunday Independent

              A Paper For The Home
SUNDAY INDEPENDENT
The Weather
Sunday:  F«ir, warmlnit Monday: Cloudy, wanner.
35TH YEAR, NO. 22-52 PAGES
WILKES-BARRE, PA., SUNDAY, MARCH 30, 1941
PRICE TEN CENTS
BRITISH CATCH ITALIAN FLEET; CHASE ON FOR KNOCKOUT BLOW
U.S. Board Ends Strike; F.R.Warns of Inner Perils
^ Jersey Plant . Will Reopen
V here Easy Axis Advance Halts
Bethlehem Ultimatum; Green Tells AFL To Avoid Strikes; Illinois Mine Strike
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Washington, March 29 (UP> - StrikinK workers at the Plainfield, N. J., plant of the Condenser t^or- poration of America agreed tonight to return to work on the basis of a nettlement plan arranged by the new Defense Mediation Board in a •even-hour conference.
The settlement was the second of the four cases that Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins certified to th» new mediation board earlier this week and it came after Pre.«i- dent William Green of the AFL is.iued a call to all AFU unions to refrain from strikes on defense project.s.
The strike at the Condenser Cor¬ poration, affcctinc 25,000 workers engaged in manufacturing defense materials, began on March 10. The other strike certified to the board and which has been .settled was that of the Universal Cyclops Co., Bridgeville. Pa. An agreement was reached before the board held con¬ ferences on that case. Ip to lj»ader»
Onion representatives said that the agreement settling the Con¬ denser di.ipute would be given President Ed .1. Brown of the In¬ ternational Brotherhood of Elec¬ trical Workers, and IBEW General Counsel Isaac L. Straus at Balti¬ more on Monday.
The two-point recommendation by the board, to which both the company and the union representa¬ tives agreed, provides:
1. "That all employees of the company now on .strike return to work as soon as possible in ac¬ cordance with the !.pirit and the recommendation of the President of the United States in his execu¬ tive order creating the national defense board, the imderstanding being that the employees who are now on strike will in no way have their rights jeopardized by the re- ttirn to work. This assurance has been given them by the mediation hoard.
2. That the company will re¬ sume immediately negotiations with , the union for a satisfactory agree¬ ment Including wage schedules and in the event no agreement is reached, the entire matter shall again he taken up with the Medi¬ ation Board for such further action aa is necessary to carry out the purposes of the President's order creating the hoard.
TTnlon officials said that if the agreement is approved Monday by Brown and Straus the workers probably will return to their jobs Tuesday. j
Confereen   Kxhaiiat4>d
Frank A. Graham, president of North Carolina University, wa.<; chairman of the three-man panel of the mediation board. The other-; were Cyrus Thing, representing i employers, and George Harrison, •¦•presenting labor. Eugene Meyer, •ditor of the Washineton Po't. and 'Continued on  Page  A-10) i
Druggists Look        ! For 410,000 Tablets
Federal   inspectors   and   physi-  | cians  of  the  <ountry  are  on  the lookout for 410,000 medicinal tab- Uts which the American Medical   j Association  announced  yesterday   | are    contaminated.     A    powerful '•dative   drug  was   inadvertently used    in    the    manufacture    of tablets  used  m  the  treatment of   j pneumonia    and    certain    infec¬ tions.
Dr. Morris Fishbein. editor of the AMA .journal, asked drug¬ gists and physicians to be on the lookout for the tablets, which could be distinguished by the lot j number MP-029. It was distrib¬ uted by the Winthrop Chemical Company of New  York.
•^'^'^^'^V^;V;:'::A^''soI/iit   Russia
Sees Terror Propaganda
Jugoslavia Is Praised By Moscow
Congratulations Reported Received; To Answer Nazis
President Says Reds Betrayed Labor in France; Calls for Unity
Yesterday's sea battle took place in tlic Ionian Sea, whidi lies between lt.Hly and Greece. It added to the Axi.s troubles in the area .shown above, following the ri.sc of an anti-Axis regime in Belgrade (1), which le.ive.s the German flank open C'l and both Nazis and Jugoslavs mass on border (3i. If Jugoslavia joins the war, Germans will face the Jugoslavs on the west, Greece (4) on the south and Turkey (5j on the east.
E STRIKERS REFUSE JO INTERVENE 10
E
Wire President; Accuse Knox, Knudsen Of High-Handed Plan
Milwaukee, Wis., March 29. (UP> Telegrams sped to President Roosevelt and other otJicial.s to¬ night stating the refu.sal of the CIO United Automobile Workers to return to work on vital defense production at the Allis-Chalraera Manufacturing   Co.   plant.
The union cho.se its course at a mas.s meeting of ^,000 workers at the state fair grounds coliseum. The members voted not»to resume production until the company ac¬ cepts the so-called "OPM formula ' for settlement of their dispute. Accuse Knox, Knudaen
The union resolution accused Secretary of Navy Frank Knox and Director General William S. Knud¬ sen of the office of production management of "conspiracy with company officials to force a gov¬ ernment-sponsored back-to-work 1 movement with all the high-handei tactics \ised by Mr. Knudsen as head of the General Motors Cor¬ poration in 1937 to wreck the union."
It said Knudsen a.-^reed to force I the company to accept the formula, which answered the union's strike demand for "union security," if the UAW adopted it. The union com¬ plied but Krud.sen reneged, the resolution  charged. i
The company meanwhile asserted | that work begun yesterday by a partial iiroduction force would ke continued on a 24-hour basis, with chief attention given to navy gun mount.s, destroyer turbines and generators, and electrical equip¬ ment for defense power projects at Boulder, Mt, Wilson and Shasta dams. Work  Claims  Olaagree
The    company    spokesman    said
production   for   the   last   .""i   hours j
(Continued  on  Page  B-111
Agent Sent to Meet Negotiators; Confer on Monday
New York, March 29. (UP) The federal government prepared to¬ night to intervene in wage-hour negotiations for the Appalachian soft coal industry to prevent a threatened mine shutdown next week. I John R. Steelmam, chief of the Ijibor Department's conciliation .•ervicc, was dispatched from Wash¬ ington to meet with the negotiators on Monday, a few hours before expiration of the 1939-41 contract which representatives of miners and operators thus far have failed to replace or renew.
The negotiators, deadlocked over the United Mine Workers' demand for a .$l-a-day wage increase and elimination of wage differentia!.' between the North and South, will continue their labors through to¬ morrow in an effort to find a formula for keeping the mines open. >'ital to Defense Industry
The negotiations directly affect 21 operators' associations and 330,- 000 miners in an eight-state area which produces TO per cent of the nation's soft coal supply, vital to defense. They indirectly affect 12R.- 000 miners in outlying districts where contracts are modeled on the Appalachian agreement. 1
Two years ago the negotiations became deadlocked and Appala¬ chian mine.s were idle for six week.s while eastern cities and indu.stries faced serious coal shortages. Thi.s : .vear the defense program makes the prospect of an Appalai iiinn shutdown more serious than ever.
James Dewey. Labor Department
conciliator,     then     Steelman.     and,
eventually     Secretary     of     La'ior
Frances  M.  Perkin.«,   inlei-ven=d  m I
(Continued  on  Page  B-IH
Port Everglades, Fla., March 29. (UP)-President Roosevelt pro¬ claimed tonight that Americana, regardless of party, are united for defense of democracy and their country and promised "ac¬ tion and more action" to offset the work of Communists, Nazis, defeatists   and   their  dupes.
The President warned the na¬ tions of the Berlin-Rnnie-Tokio Axis-the "alliance of dictator nations" that America has an¬ nounced its solemn decision to use all its resources and all its power to "help those who block the dic¬ tators in their march toward dom¬ ination  of  the  world."
The titular head of the Demo¬ cratic party, speaking by radio to a nation-wide series of dinners honoring the Democratic tradition of Andrew Jackson. Mr. Roose¬ velt cited the example of Wendell L. Willkie to demonstrate the ex¬ tent to which national unity has transcended partisanship in Ameri¬ ca's national crisis. Itl«e Above Party PoliUra
"To do this job, we Americans - nearly all of us-have risen above any consideration of party polit¬ ics." Mr. Roosevelt said.
Mr. Roosevelt asserted that enemies of democracy and their agents or dupes in this coun¬ try are attempting to spread terror in America "to shatter the con¬ fidence of Americans in their gov¬ ernment  and  in  one  another."
The     Pre.sident     .summoned     all Americans, whether Democrats. Re¬ publicans or independents,  to  rally to the defense of their way of life. Bui  he  warned   that  the   task   en¬ tails sacrifice—"you  have  to work overtime   and   work   harder   than I ever before  on your life."    He set ; as the alternative: j What Kind of Peace? I     "If  our  kind  of civilization  gets run over, the kind of peace we seek will become an unattainable hope."
Sun-tanned and refreshed after eight days of sunshine at sea, Mr. j Roosevelt .spoke by radio to the I nation and the world from the cabin of the presidential yacht Potomac, tied up at the dock here. He spoke as chieftain of the Demo¬ cratic party and addressed his speech to a nation-wide series of dinner.s of party leaders observing Jackson Day.
But his address went beyond the party celebrations. The president made it obvious he was talking not only to the party which had made him the first third-term President in hi.story that rather he was talk¬ ing to all Americans. The two- party system remains as a basic principle of American political life. he said, but in the present grave national emergency "we Americans —nearly all of us have risen above any considerations of party poli¬ tics."
Mr. Roosevelt promised his party and the nation action to meet the crisis arising from a world at war. Time for Courage and Action
"In the comparative quiet of this week." he said, "I have become more than ever clear that the time calls for courage and more cour¬ age   action and more action.
"In   our  own   day   the   threat   to our   union   and   to  our  democracy <Continued   on   Page   B-7) '
DANUBE CLOSED
Germans Fleeing As Disorders Mount; Britain Sees Gains
By LEO KAY
Belgrade, March 29 (UP) The i Soviet government was reported to¬ night to have sent congratulations j to the new Jugoslav regime as the I German legation here burned its j archives, the customary diplomatic preliminary to severance of rela- ' tions,
I The Soviet telegram was said to ! have stated that the people of Jugo- j slavia have again "shown them- I selves worthy of their glorious past."
Jugoslavia   thus   faced   simultan¬ eous indications of Soviet approba¬ tion and German disapprovrl of her new government.    All German   na- j tionals were reported to have been t given   urgent   instructions   to   quit the country within 24 hours. To Answer Nazi Questions From    reliable   sources    it    wa.s i learned that the government is pre- ; paring a declaration of Jugoslavia's i attitude   toward   foreign   nations - the declaration  which Germany la , awaiting with such impatience. This declaration, it was said, will make these points'.
1.-Jugoslavia desires to remain in peace and maintain the best of relations with all her neighbors.
2. She can not accept any status which might be considered to limit her integrity or independeiue.
Many  German  nationals  already had   started   to   leave   the   country or   were   packing   up.     A   special Danube  steamer has  been  ordered to pick up the families of German nationals    Monday.      Whether    its departure  would   be  ha.stened   was not known.    This possibly ominous j development came as the (jcrman i minister, Viktor von Heeren, main¬ tained closest touch With the Jugo¬ slav foreign office. I     The   new   Jugoslav   government I was making every effort to prevent incidents involving German citizens and    strictest    instructions    were given  to the populace to maintain a correct attitude toward all Ger¬ mans.
Troopa Pour to Frontier I
Jugoslav mobilization, already almost complete, has sent a steady stream of reinforcements toward the Jugoslav frontiers In the past 48 hours. It was believed that Jugoslavia now has close to 1,000,- 000 men under military call, almost complete mobilization. Some 675,- 000 troops were under arms when the coup occurred.
At the same time, the govern¬ ment had bolstered Its internal position by giving guarantees to Vladimir Matchek. the venerable Croat leader wHo was vice-premier in the old government and retain¬ ed that post temporarily in the new.
r.ernian  Traffic  in Danube   Is   Halted
Budapest. March 29. (UP) - Hun¬ garian press reports claimed to¬ night that German nationals are fleeing Jugoslavia under a rising wave of anti-minority outbreaks and said air and Danube River traffic between Jugoslavia and German  has ceased.
All German traffic along the Jugoslav section of the Danube river was said to have been halted by German authorities while the ("ierman Lufthansa air line ceased service to Belgrade on the Buda- (Cnntinued  on  Page   B-7i
Battleship Is One of Six Fascist Ships Hit; Believe 2 Cruisers Sunk
London, March 29. (UP)—A British war fleet pounded the Mediterranean seas tonight hopinj? to close in for a death blow upon an Italian naval squadron already badly shattered by the sinking or damaging of probably six warships in the greatest -^ea and air engagement of the war.
The big battlewagons of Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham raced at forced draft in an attempt to smash almost the final vestige of Italian naval power before it could reach the protecting shel¬ ter of shore batteries on the Italian mainland.
Already, the British reported, in a sea and air encounter which began yesterday in the Ionian waters of the Kastern Mediterran¬ ean, off the heel of the Italian "boot," Italy has suffered:
One 35,000-ton Littorio class battleship badly damaged; two to four cruisers badly damaged and two possibly sunk; one or more destroyers shattered or sunk.
The crushing naval defeat was inflicted at a moment when
•rBi'itain feels certain Italian morale is at its lowest ebb since stait of the wai.
The Italian Kntpire in .\fi'ica is reKaided heie as in the [final stages of dissipation with Italy clinKing only to Western Tripoli with the aid of Nazi armored troops and apparently unable to make any move which will prevent early and com- ipletc Hriti.sh control of East .\frica.
In Albania, Italy's plight has taken a sudden turn for the wor.se as a result of the JuKoslav coup d'etat. It wan pointed out here that should .lugo.slav move into the war as an ally of Britain, it would be a comparatively simple and quick [operation for (ireek and .luRoslav troops to o<errun that portion of .\lbania still in Italian hands.
.\t this ebb-tide of Fascism, the British levealed toda.A, Cunningham's poweiful Eastein Mediterranean war fleet finally succeeded in cimiing to giips with that elusive portion of Benito IVlu.ssolini's navy which has not been previou.sly engaged by British waiships and war planes.
Reports of what followed are not yet complete .since the admiralty said that the engagement was .still "in progress" when its statement was made.
Hut .'sufficient details were received to make plain that it wa.s one of liie great sea encounters of the war and that ItaHaii .sea power had apparently been reriuced to a negligible factor iiy the guns of British dreadnaughts and the iiombs :)f the lloyal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm.
Working in closest collal)oration with the Royal Navy, the IIAF went into immediate action, attacking the Italian war fieel and heavily pounding Italian air bases in the vicinity :)f Krindisi (on tlie heel of the "boot"), presumably to allow the British to continue their pursuit close to the Italian shore without interference from land-based Italian or GeiTnan .aircraft.
With customary understatement, the admiralty reported that naval operations "of sdme importance are taking place in the Eastern Mediterranean."
".So far," .said the admiralty, "only preliminary reports are available but from these it appears that yesterday our naval forc(\s operating under the command of .Admiral Sir Andrew- Cunningham, sighted Italian forces consisting of battleships, cruisers and destroyers.
"The enemy force scattered but some units have been ' (Continued on Page B-7)
HI! NEAJIREIE
Believed Part of Mediterranean Fight; Say Transport Bombed
:     Berlin, March 30 (Sunday)  (UPi
German sources reporte<l early today that Nazi bomber.s scored I three direct hits upon a British ! warship in the vicinity of Crete late Saturday, The (German attack may have been on one of the Brit¬ ish warships which participated in the successful Briti.sh Mediter¬ ranean attack upon an Italian naval squadron which started Fri¬ day in the Ionian Sea.
The reported attaik upon a Brit¬ ish warsliip followed a Nazi claim ; that 7,,'500 tons of shipping had been siinlf around the British Isles in addition to a 12,CK)()-ton troop trans¬ port which the official DNB news agency called a total loss. Report Hita on Waraliip
The German Informant said that Nazi bombers "successfully attack¬ ed" heavy units and destroyers of the British fleet in the area around Oete Saturday afternoon. The bombers were said to have siored three hits on an especially large warship. The hits were scored on both the) stern and bow of the ship, it was said.
German bombing .squadrons oper¬ ating againat Britain were said to have carried out a successful at¬ tack Saturday night but no details were offered. The high command .said that six ships had been sunk or succeii.sfully attacked by German airplanes. Transport Attariiinl
The attack on the transport oc¬ curred about 300 miles west of Cape Wrath, on the northwe.'t eoa.st of Scotland, and troops were said to have taken to life boats after a di¬ rect hit. The official new.s agency said that the .ship was afire and could be considered a total lo.ss. The high command said the Luft¬ waffe also sank a ship of 2,,500 ton.s in  the aame area.
Two other merchant ships, totl- ling ."i.OOO tons, were sunk at the south entrance to St. Oorge's Channel, between England and Ireland,  the high   ¦.nmond  added.
Nazi Tension Forecasts Action in Jugoslavia
Berlin Statement Similar to That Before Norway Fell
Report Nazis on Jugoslav Border-Turkey May Fight
'n Today's Issue
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( laMifled Kdltorial . Movlea   ... T*olltlc«  ...
Radio   	
Kporfa   	
Social   	
Story  	
. A—2?
A—19 . B—1 .A—14
A—21
By IIA.NA S< HMIDT
Iktaiihul, March >n (I Pi- Travelers from Bulgaria reported tonight that (ierniaiiy U moving troop concentration*, up to the •lugoslav frontier and reHponitihle Turkish sources said Turkey might fight a "preventive war" If open hostilities atart between Germany  and  .liigoslavi.).
According to the reports from Bulgaria, the (irrniaii Balkan army, now estimated at het«een .lOO.iMMl and .¦>(MI,l>mi men, has sud¬ denly started to shift substantial forces In the west along the •lugoslav border, «tnly a few Nail troops had heen stationed in this area previously, it waa aaid, the
great hulk being slationed on the
Bulgarlan-tireek frontier and the
vicinity of the  Bulgarian-Turkish'
frontier.
GERMANS   MAKE   DE.MAL
(A I Mited Press report from Sofia quoted a Nazi source aa saying "the Germans have not taken any special measures." Howe»er, the correspondent was prohibited from reporting any military  inovenients.)
The possibility that Turkey might emerge from her purely defensive attitude and engage in a preventive war" against tier- many was advanced by a sub¬ stantial Turkish source. Thl» ¦ourre    aald    that    "certain   de¬
velopments" ill -lugnslavia might lead to this change In policy, These developments, it waa said, would be open war between .lugo- slavla and  Germany,
Heretofore, Turkey haa indi¬ cated plainly that she would not emerge from a defensive stand in protection of her own sphere of Interest and the Dardanelles ex¬ cept in event of direct attack. However, the Turks have long advocated a mutual defense part between Jugoslavia, hernelf and Greece.
EXPECT NAZIS TO ACT
The semi-nfflrlal newspaper I lua of Ankara expreaaed do'(Fit that Germany would be willing to
allow .fugoslavla to follow a neu¬ tral attitude or would he aatlsfled with an.\ statement by the new government.
The newspaper IkdHm, coiii- meotlng on German denials that they had Intervened to bring about a reduction of Hungarian troop eonrentrations on the ¦lugo¬ slav frontier, predicted that tier- many would attempt to reverse the effects of the .Jugoslav coup by methods of external and in¬ ternal   pressure.
Ikdaiii said (iermany probably would try to employ fifth rolumn method* in .lugoslavla hv utiliz¬ ing the German, Hungarian and Bulgarian minoritiea in that country.
A  new Serial t>eglns:
]Vl.\HRl.\(iK BY APPOINTMKNT
By  >nCHAKI. .STORM
It was just what Kelly Madigan needed, a chance to use hi.s fists, to put the sIuk on somebody and get hi- mind off his troubles. He did a good job, too, and he v»a.s only a little startled when the girl In the ease said that now he was "in on it." A second glance at the girl told Kelly that was all right with him and they were married befor, he  learned what  she meant.
The first chapter of a whirl¬ wind love story appeara t«>da> on Page A-21.
By JO^I-U'H \V. GRIGG .fR.
Berlin, March 29. (UP) Germany I barged tonight that forces within I Jugoslavia ate working to disrupt i relations with the Reich and as.sert- ed that it was watching \^¦ith "ice- (old detachment" an attempt by "terroristic street mobs in Bel¬ grade" to sway Nazi policy.
(I'se of the phrase "ice-cold de¬ tachment" by the Nazi spokesman may be of utmost significance. A .Nazi spokesman used those iden¬ tical three words last April 8 to describe Germany's reaction to London's announcement that the neutral waters of Norway were be¬ ing mined. Less than 12 hours later the Nazi invasion of Norway was   under  way. i
A change in the temper of Ger¬ man comment on Jugoslavia was most evident tonight. No mere statement by the Jugoslavs of sup¬ port of the Axis policy, it was indicated, will be considered suffi¬ cient to clarify the situation. Jugo¬ slavia, it was said, must prove her sympathy with acts, not words. Protest Attack*
Spokesmen  and  llie  pre.»s  elabo¬ rated  on   alleged  attacks  by  Jugo¬ slav   mobs   upon   German   citizens j and   property   and   laid   great   em- ' phasli   en   •tatemaaU   Ui«x   aucb
conditions could not be allowad to continue "with impimity."
Another possibly significant Nazi line was an attempt to differenti¬ ate between the Serbs, who are the leaders of the new Jugoslav government, and the large Croat population which lives largely in the area adjaient to the German- Jugoslav frontier. Some non-official German political observers went so far as to suggest that If matters <anic to an open crisis between Berlin and Belgrade, the Croat.i might  not  support  the  Serbs.
However, tliere was no factual evidence to back up the belief that the .Vazis .are seeking to engineer a split between the Croats and the Serbs.
"If certain forces in Jugoslavia today think they must oppose friendship with the Axis and reject the Trl-Power Pact," said a Nazi spokesman, "then they and they exclusively must bear tha responsi¬ bility   for   this.
"If they think they can with im¬ punity play upon Germany's jen- reoslty they are mistaken. We are not willing to permit ourselves to be provoked and insuled by these (Continued  on  Pa«e  B-7)
Dispatches from Euro¬ pean countries are now subject   to   censorship.