Wilkes-Barre Sunday Independent

              A Paper For The Home
SUNDAY INDEPENDENT
The Weather
Sunday:  Snow flurries, colder. J
Monday: Snow nurrles. I
35TH YEAR, NO. 15-^4 PAGES
WILKES-BARRE, PA., SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1941
PRICE TEN CENTS
HOUSE PASSESJIDJILL
Petain Reported Fleeing to Nortti Africa
London Says German Radio Reported Marshal's Flight
BLXLETIN
London, Feb. g. (IP)—The British Prew Assoelatlon said tonight It understood the German radio had reported the flight of Chief nf 8tate Henri Philippe Petain and Admiral FranroU Ihirlan from Vichy to North Africa.
There waa no oonrirination of the report in authoritative quar- tere, whirh pointed out that It emanated from (ierman eourcea quoting meaxageA from Berne, Switzerland. Authoritative quarters xaid  no nimllar report direct from  Berne had reached  London.
The Press Amociation «I»o quoted the IVanitorean New* Service aa reporting rioting and shooting In \ichy. Transorean, the Press Association said, quoted messages from Berne, Switzerland, aa the basis for Its report.
The German radio report which the Press Association said it understood had been picked up here said that Petain and Darlan, who have been at odds with Germany over Nazi collaboration de¬ mands, had gone to Afrira by airplane.
(In New lork the Columbia Broadrasting System said It had recorded two British Broadcasting Company reports hi the German and Freneh languages roncerning the same rumors reported by the British Press Association.
(BB(^ warned its Freneh listeners (hat there was no ronflrmation of the reports In London and urged them not to take any action lest the German reports had be«i issued to provide an excuse for Nazi reprisals if disorder occurred.)
The British Broadcasting Cnmpany said Its monitors picked up a Transocean .Morse broadcjist and carried the report.   When it dis¬ covered     that     Trapsocean     was*	
quoting "Berne reports," however, BBC stopped dis.-teminating the rumor.
The Uniled Press listening sta¬ tion .said the Berlin radio had not nenlioned any such reports during :he  night.
U941 Warsaw Traffic
Guerrillas Kill Jap Leaders
Berlin Issues Flat Denial
Berlin, Sunday, Feb. ».—(yp);-r: Informed German quarters said to¬ day that the Transocean News Agency quoted reports that the Pe¬ tain government had fled from Vichy, hut also carried a flat de- i nial by a spokesman of the French ministry of information, I
BBC  broadcast only  part of the | Transocean    report,    German    in¬ formed quarters said.
The original Transocean report was said to have Included: "State¬ ments by a spokesman of the min¬ istry of Information at Vichy that rumors were circulating abroad | that  the   Petain   government    had ;
(Continued on Page A-10)
Chungking, China, Feb, «, (UP) —Tlie Chinese national military council said today It had received a report that Chinese guerrillas Jn Kwangtung province had shot down a' plane carrying Admiral MIneo OsumI, Read Admiral Hokljiro Suga and other high Japanese  naval  officers.
Death of Osumi and his col¬ leagues In a plane crash in South China has been announced offi¬ cially by the navy ministry in Tokyo,
The military council said that Chine,se guerrilla fighters ha.l salvaged "extremely confidential" documents from Osumi's plane. It was said that the plane had been shot down by machine gun flre 42 miles south of Canton, Credentials were said to have identified nine Japane-^ie aboard the   plane.
I..eg-driven bleycle-taxis have replaced motor vehicles on streets of Warsaw, Poland, hecau.-je of lack of gasoline. Here are two Nazi airmen  on leave, looking over ruins Nsri Luftwaffe made  of city.
Believe Brifish Plan More Bold Offensives
Now 100 Miles West Of Benghazi to Cut off Italians
L
PEIAIN'S OFFER;
i
Marshal Stubborn And Supported by Admiral Leahy
By RALPH HEINZEN
Vichy, Feh, 8, {IW> Pro-German Pierre Laval has snubbed over¬ tures from Chief of State Henri Philippe Petain, it was disclosed tonight, and ss a result Admiral Francois Darlan will attempl. to form a cabinet excluding the swarthy former vice-premier and other engineers of the peace with Germany.
Darlan, it was said, will try to organize Ihe new cabinet within the next 48 hours with himself as premier and, observers believed, close naval colleagues in other key posts. The new cabinet, if Darlan succeeds in forming it, also will exclude Pierre Etienne Flandin, present   foreign   minister,
(The official Germany news agency, DNB, carried reports from Geneva that Flandin hsd offered his resignation and Petain had ac¬ cepted It.) Relations  Deadlocked
The aged Marshal Petain him¬ self announced the snubbing by Laval, whose ousting ,S8 days ago created the current deadlock in Franco-fJerman relations—a dead¬ lock which a Darlan cabinet wbuld hardly. In the opinion of observers here,   he  able   to  break,
Petain's announcement followed return of Darlan from Paris where he gave Laval the chief of state's jffer of inclusion in the government ss member of a proposed three-or- four-man "directing committee" <Continued on Page A-11)
IFNAZISINVAOE
British Note Comes As New Fears Rise Of German Invasion
/n Today's Issue
Classified Editorial .Movies . Politica
B-U A-17
"¦«"»  »»ZZZ!'.A-ai
Sporta   Il_l
Story
B—n
^W .M-U
By HI GO SPECK
Sofia, Feb, 8. (UP)- Great Britain, it was said authoritatively tonight, has warned Bulgaria that the Royal Air Force will bomb Bulgarian com¬ munication lines the moment word Is flashed of any German troop movement Into this country.
According to reports tonight, the j warning of the British government I was couched in the most categori¬ cal terms. It was said to have been delivered al a moment when fresh fears were rising in Bulgaria that Germany does In fact con¬ template early movement of troops Into this country, presumably to attack the Greeks at Solanika,
As reported tonight, the British idvised Bulgaria that RAF bomb¬ ers will roar to the attack the mo¬ ment news is received of any such movement. |
Train Service Cut !
I Fears of a Nazi Incursion have I waxed and waned in Bulgaria for I many weeks. Currently they are gif>wing because of an unusual government order suspending nor- '¦ mal train services on many Bulgar- | lan lines. I
The  government's  order    Is    ex- ! plained  on  the grounds    that    the lines and  rolling stork are  needed for movement of Bulgarian troops. However,  this  nervous  capital, im- ; mediately speculated that Germany j might be behind the order In some ' way, j
It had been thought that Premier Bogdan Filoff might cast ,somc light on the .situation in an addre.ss today, but h-? dealt only with agri¬ cultural affairs. i Filoff announced adoption of a : system of farmers' pensions and said the government was convinced that the .situation of the country as a whole could best be improved by ameliorating the econrtmic and cul¬ tural italus of small villages. He made nn reference whatever to Toreign «/f«ira.
Bj   PHILLIP S. TAYLOR
Cairo, .Sunday, Feb, 9. (UP) — British empire forces, continuing their sweep across Libya, have reached the coast ..f the Gulf of Sirle between Solluch and Aged- abla, south of Benghazi, British general headquarters announced today.
Among the prisoners taken, It was announced, was the command¬ ing officer of Benghazi, second In command to Marshal Rodolfo Graziani,
It was revealed that part of two divisions, about 30,000 men, which Graziani had left in Eastern Libya before the British army of the Nile occupied Tobruk and Derna. had escaped along the coastal road to Tripoli,
Italians Cut oft ! The British advance to the Gulf of Sirte at a point approximately 100 miles soulh of Benghazi cut off any possibility of escape for Italian stragglers in the hump of Eastern Libya which juts into the Mediterranean,
The new success was reported as British troops pressed toward the capital of Eritrea in Italian East Africa, ,    .    .,
The   column   that   reached   the
coast was the same one that cut oft
i Italian   retreat   from   Benghazi   by
: advancing straight across the Llb-
! yan plateau. , .
Of the 1.") divisions comprising about 2.50,000 men the Italians had I In the field at the beginning of the Libyan campaign, they have now lost 10, military experts believed, and the remaining five are bat¬ tered and weakened by the loss of tank.s, trucks and guns.
Tonight the British were believed to be planning bold new offensives , againsi the Italians. I
Jusl  how  the  British  would  de- . liver their next blows was not dis- ] closed,   however,   and   It   was   not known whether Gen. Sir Archibald Wavell planned to strike along the , 600 miles of coastline between cap¬ tured   Benghazi  and  Tripoli   or  to attempt, with naval co-operation, a short cut by sea. Supreme at Sea
Either plan was feasible, in the opinion of miliUry observers, with \ the British thus far supreme al sea and the demoralized Italian army Incapable, it was believed, of mak¬ ing a stand anywhere ea.sl of Tri¬ poli,   capital   of  Wc-tern   Libya.
Officially, the British contented themselves with the statement that "operatlon,s south of Benghazi are proceeding satisfactorialy" and that in Eritrea pressure against Keren, i (Continued on Page A-10)
Turkey Rushing Air Defenses
New York, Feb, 8. (UP>—The National Broadcasting Company tonight picked up a British Broadcasting Corporation report of an order by the Turkish war ministry that "all civil defense measures against air raids must be completed by the end of Feb¬ ruary."
Fail in Desperate Drive to Retake Central Positions
By BEN A-MES
Athens, Greece, Feb 8 (UP)—A smashing night offensive Into vl'hich the Italians hurled 15,000 men In a desperate attempt to re¬ capture positions west of Klisura was crushed by counter-charging Greek forces, report) from the front said tenight.
The night attack, which was at¬ tempted after daylight forays had failed, was said to have cost the Italians more than 1,000 dead.
Under cover of a mist that veiled a half moon ,an entire Italian divi¬ sion, supported by tanks and armer- ed cars, launched the attack. Greek outposts at first thought il to be an Italian reconnaissance patrol and Greek  cavalry  countercharged.
As soon as the proportions of the attack was realized, the Greeks opened a withering, close-range crossfire and the Italians were forced lo retreat over a battlefield covered wilh their dead, the re¬ ports from the front said. The battle   raged  for  two  days.
The Ministry of Public Security reported that Italian bombers at¬ tacked the municipal hospital at Prebeza and a town in the western Peloponnesus, There were said to have been three casualties al Pre¬ beza and two in the Pelopennesus town.
Rome Claims Some Successes In Greece
Rome, Feb. 8, iUP)-The Italians clamed some success on the (ireek front   and   said   their   war   planes (Continued oa Fag« AfW '
Luftwaffe Again Hits At Malta
Claim Attacks on Seaplane Base and Harbor Facilities
RAF RAIDING
Berlin Seeks to Belittle Effect of Bombing on Channel
All Efforts to Forte Drastic Changes Defeated By Vote on Party Lines
By JOSEPH W. ORIOO  JR.
i Berlin, Feb, 8, (UP) The high command reported today that the Luftwaffe has resumed Us smash¬ ing attacks against the British Mediterranean base of Malta after a lapse of several  days.
The fresh assault on Malta wns accompanied by dispersed attacks upon special objectives In the Brit¬ ish Isles and a report on what were described as "nuisance" at- ¦ tacks by the Royal Air Force upon the  French   channel   coast.
The high command said that the Malta  attack was  directed  at two 1 British    air    bases- -at   Luca   and Halfar   and    a    British    seaplane j base at Msrsa Scirocco as well ai ' :he  harbor works  at Valletta. I
The attack was said to be of the "rolling" variety and great damage to barracks, hartgars and dock works was claimed. Direct hits started large fires, the high ! command asserted, |
Operations again.sl the British Isles by the luftwaffe Involved a variety of targets, the high com¬ mand said. The gas reservoir of a Scottish east coast town. It was said, was set afire and bombs of the heaviest caliber scored hits on a railroad station and a factory in Southeast Britain,
Belittle RAF Raids
The high command dismissed the British attack on the French chan¬ nel coast a.s of little Importance, It was said to have caused only "insignificant damage." One Brit¬ ish plane was shot down by anti¬ aircraft fire, the high command said.
The British planes, DNB said, flew over the channel ports but were forced to drop their bombs aimlessly In open fields due lo ex¬ tremely bad weather. The British dropped many flares in an effort to locate targets, DNB said, hut were' unable to cause any notable dam¬ age.
Germans Take Danish Warships
Stockholm, Sweden, Sunday, Feb, 9, (UP)—The newspaper Dagens Nyheter reported today that Denmark, after "repeated demands," had turned over to Germany a largo number of Danish torpedo boats "which now are incorporated in the German navy,"
Reports that Germany hsd de¬ manded and taken over Den¬ mark's 12 submarines were de¬ nied.
All the vessels, the newspaper said, were disarmed before being turned over to tjermany, who was said to have promised they would be used only for patrols and maneuvers in the Baltic. The Danish torpedo boats. It was understood, ranged in size be¬ tween German speedboats and destroyers,
German crews have been man¬ ning the vessels since Wednes¬ day, the newspaper reported. Danish officers were said to have lowered the Danish flag to half- mast before turning the vessels over.
(Denmark has approximately 25 torpedo boats,)
F
Strike-Bound Firm Interfered with Men, NLRB Says in Ruling
RAF Reports Heaviest Raid on French Coast
A German speedboat, DNB re¬ ported, on Thursday torpedoed and sank the British armed vessel. Angularity, sailing from Ipswich to Newcastle with a cargo of phos¬ phates.
By H. L. PERCT
London, Feb, 8. '(UP> - The Brit¬ ish claimed tonight lhat the Royal Air Force has started numerous fires, sunk many ships, and smashed barge concentrations In one of the fiercest raids of the war on German Invasion bases on the continent.
Anticipating possible Invasion at¬ tempts—Lieut. Col, L, S. Amery, Secrelary of State for India, warn¬ ed only today that a Nazi effort at •conquest of this Island" was im- British      ' ^
Wa.shlnglon, Feb. 8. (UPi The National Labor Relations Board to¬ day found International Harvester Co, guilty of "unfair labor prac¬ tices" at six plants, including those at Chicago and Rock Falls, III., where strikes have hold up pro¬ duction of defense orders.
The Board directed the company to stop Interfering wilh unioniza¬ tion of its employees, abolish com¬ pany-dominated unions al six plants, and to Invalidate contracts signed with these organizations. The company has $10,000,000 In de¬ fense orders.
Charges against the company were filed by the CIO Farm Equip¬ ment Workers Organizing Commit¬ tee, which called the strikes In de¬ mand for higher wages and union recognition. Approximately fi.OOO workers are employed in the two plants.
To Resume Peace Talks
Shortly after the board's nrder was Issued John R. Steelman, U, S. conciliation director, ordered Com¬ missioner David T. Roadley to re¬ turn to Chicago and resume nego¬ tiations In an attempt lo settle the controversy. Roadley left for Chi¬ cago Immediately and expects to begin conferences Monday.
The board found the company at¬ tempted to "discourage membership in all outside labor organiz.TUons, hammered | *"''  'he CIO In  particular," domi
minent—the      .^.,-—      — — - . „„,^ .       j  ,  .    #¦     ,      -.l   ..
Bouloene   Dunkirk, Calais and Os-   "atea  »nd   interfered   with   the  six lend on    the    continental    channel   organizations,  and  encouraged  and . solicited   support   of   the   indepcn-
Many high explosives and  thou-   dents, sands   of   Incendiary   bombs   were ——
dropped by wave after wave of F"* D*'*-"*" Strike" boombers pressing home what ob-i In addition to the International servers believed was the heaviest Harvester ruling, the National raid since Sept. 15 when fhe RAF: Labor Relations Board interceded broke up whst appeared to be Saturday in one of the labor dis- invasion   preparations.    All   planes, pules  which  have  shut down  four
(Continued on Page A-11)
To the Ladies
Tlie flve neH features In thr Women's Section, which were so well received when first pre- teuted last Sunday—and which brought in such a heavy mall throughout the week—will be found In the same place* today.
t'onoerned with the problem of good taste in dressing, health and youthful beauty, and rais¬ ing of children, three touches close to the heart. For enter¬ tainment and information there are the famous "Hedda Hop¬ per's Holl.^-wnnd" of Inside movie news and the splendid draw¬ ings nf James .Montgomery FiNtf.
the President's authority under the bill at any time by a mere majority of bolh  houses.
Another Important change was ail administration amendment lo limit to $1,300,000,000 the value of "on  hand  or  on   order"  army  and
as they nre submitted. The Presi¬ dent, however, may transfer arm.v, navy and marine corp equipment now on hand or on order, to Brit¬ ain to the extent of $1,300,000,000.
In addition    to   authorizing   the manufacture    and  lease,    sale,    or
navy  equipment   which   the   Presi-   donation of defense articles In  re-
dent could send abroad. This ap piles only to present slocks and those contracted for under defense appropriations for the current fiscal year.
That limitation does not apply to equipment bought from defense ap¬ propriations for the next fiscal year, nor to equipment which will be bought with funds specifically appropriated In the future under the authority of the bill. That amendment was Injected hy admin¬ istration leaders to forestall further criticism that the bill would em¬ power the President "to give away the whole navy" or other branches of the armed service. No F'unds Provided
TTie hill is an authorization meas¬ ure only with no overall limit on the authorization. Funds will have to be provided under separate ap¬ propriation  bills snd Congress will
turn for "direct and Indirect bene¬ fit to tho United States, the bill authorized this government to re¬ pair or recondition defense articles of other nations, Tliat would per¬ mit the repair and completion of British battleships, for example. In the Brooklyn Navy Yard,
The government also may com¬ municate defense Information to other governments under the terms of the bill, such as the secret bombsight If It was considered to the advantage of national defense to do so.
All contracts made for disposi¬ tion of defense articles must eon- tain a clause under which the for¬ eign government promises not to transfer title to defense articles It receives without presidential con¬ sent. The secretaries of war and navy sre authorized to acquire war (Continued   on   Page   A-2)
other  plants  working  on    national defense orders.
The International Harvester dis¬ pute  and  a  strike  of  7,800  United Automobile   Workers   lCIO>   at  the Milwaukee plant of Allis Chalmers Manufacturing Company  were  the [ largest    involving    defense    Indus- ; tries.     Two    others    involved    less ' than   1,000   workers   and   most   of I the nation's Industrial plants were operating   normally   on   production of defense  supplies.
Other strikes in  brief:
Cleveland, O, -Strike of 600 members of the UAW-CIO, in , progress since Jan. 27, holding up production al Standard Tool Co, Strikers demand union contract and  higher wages.
Pittsburgh—Strike    of    22S    men over settlement of wage grievances shut   dnwn    the   loo-jnch   mill   of (Ck)ntinued on P«g* A-ll)
WillisVan Devanter Dies Suddenly; Supreme Court Foe of New Deal
Washington, Feb. 8, (UP)   -Willis , Van Devanter, retired justice of the U.S.   .Supreme   Court,   died   at   his home  here   tonight  after  suffering a heart attack.
Death wa.s unexpected although the general health of the aged jur¬ ist had been poor since his partici¬ pation in a New York court case shortly after he left the Supreme Court bench in 1937,
Justice Van Devanter, dean of the Supreme Court for the five years prior lo his retirement, was noted for his staunch conservatism and his individual part in defeating President Roosevelt's plan to In¬ crease the membership of the court.
His dramatically annoamed re¬ liremenl on May 18. 1937, was re¬ garded in Wa.shington as having a vital impact against the court proposal. Opposed New Deal I.Jkws
In the years following President Roosevelt's fir.st inauguration Van Devanter voted consistently against New Deal Measures and other emergency legislation. He voted againsi the NRA. the AAA, gold devaluation, "hot oil" legislation, the Krazicr-LcmUe .\rt and the Rail¬ road Retirement Act.
Van Devanler's retirement mark¬ ed the beginning of the end of the one-time    solid    conservative    ma- (Continued on Fag* A-2)
WILLIS VAN DEVANTER
Dispatches from Euro¬ pean countries are now subject   to   censorship.
Approved 260 to 165 as Last-Minute Move hy Fish to Reeommit Is Lost; All Motions to Limit Cost Fail; Only Change Made over Objections Gives Congress Majority Right to End President's Authority at Any Time
By FRANK McNAUGHTON
WashinKton, Feh. 8. (TP)—The admini.stration's historic bill to help arm (Jreat Rritain and other democracies fighting totalitarian agKression wa.s approved b.v a 260 to 16.') vote of the House tonight, and sent to the Senate, where debate is expected to begin late next week.
The measure was pa.ssed without drastic changes, and substantially in the form desired by the administration. Prior to the final vote the House re.jected. 26,1 to 160, a motion to recommit the bill to the foreign .\fTairs commttee. The vote generally was along party lines, with approxim¬ ately the same number of Democrats deserting the majority to vote against the bill as there were Republicans voting for it. For the bill were 2.36 Democrats and 2\ Republicans. Against it were 13.'> Republicans. 2.') Democrats, .1 Pro- . gressives, 1 Farmer-Laborite. and I  American-Laborite.
Ju.st before passage the Hou.se re.jected an attempt to 'limit the spending under the program, which terminates June 30, 1943, to .$7,0(10,(100,00(1. It voted down 122 to 38 an amendment to that eff«?ct b^- llep, Jamp.s W. Wadsworth, R.,N.Y., and earlier it i'ejectp(i an amendment to place a $2,000,000,000 ceiling on the prosram, offered by Rep. Charles A. Eaton, R.,.\.J., 177 to 120.
Sliortly before the House prepared for the final vote it shout(^d down a motion by Rep. Hamilton Fish, R,.X.Y,, to recommit tlie bill. The attempt to recommit the bill—hav¬ ing the cITect of killing it—was the third attempt of the day by Rep. Hamilton Fi.sh to defeat or alter the bill.
The only change in the measure made over the objection of administration leaders was adoption of an amendment
by Rep, Everett M, Dirksen, R.,II1.,* ¦ —	
providing lhat Congress could end i j,^^,^ ^^ ^.^^^ „^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^^
L^^
JL
JL
i