The Brownsville Herald (Brownsville, Tex.), Vol. 48, No. 268, Ed. 1 Monday, April 29, 1940 Page: 1 of 8
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9
THE WEATHER '
: Por the Lower Rio Grande Valley!
Partly cloudy Monday night and Tuen-
tity. not much change in temperature.
High Tide—
Tu«*»«y . 11 53 a m.
Low Tide—
. 4:15 a. m.—4:54 p m.
VALLEY
EDITION
FORTY-EIGHTH YEAR—No. 268
_ BROWNSVILLE TEXAS MONDAY APRIL 29 1940
★ * * * EIGHT PAGES TODAY
5<i A COPY
Valley Faces Bad Water Shortage; Pumps Shutdown
B ————-. . M — M - - - - ---- - - -- ■- mmm—mmmmmmmmmmmmmm—mm—mmmm—mmmm
I ^ ^ 1
* M
\ tl / d^fc ^g>T V
I • _.0 ' \ -*A^
■CTHE NATIONAL ELECTION IN
1 Mexico will take place in early
July.
Every day that passes is certain
to increase the activity of the par-
"ilsans of the various factions that
are seeking political control of the
republic.
In the days that pass between
now and the election there are
^certain to be rumors of trouble—
^Ihe boiling to the surface of the
heat of an election campaign.
|^rom over at Hermosillo. in So-
nora the other day came a dis-
patch that seemed excited.
it told of a demonstration at the
Hermosillo railroad station on the
arrival of a train from Mexico
City.
The dispatches told of a scare
thrown into passengers. The dem-
onstrators seemingly were center-
ing their attention on two Mexi-
can army aviation officers.
| • • •
f ATER A DISPATCH. QUOT-
ing the governor of Sonora
‘Aid the demonstration was not as
aerlous as had been reported.
None of the Pullman car pas-
sengers was molested. In fact
the cars were not entered.
It was described as a ‘‘normal''
political demonstration. And most
likely that is what it was.
The two army officers were re-
ported to be partisans ol General
Juan Andreu Almazan. one oi the
leading candidates for the preoi-
I dency.
I It is therefore to be assumed
8 that the demonstration was pro-
ll Yoked by partisans of Manuel
1 Avila Camacho the candidate of
f| the National Revolutionary Party
i of Mexico. Therefore at least for
I the present the man who is given
I the blessings of the Cardenas ad-
■ nist ration.
I NOW COMES ONE-EYED GEN-
II eral Joaquin Amaro with the
| announcement that he is definite-
I ly to be accounted a candidate for
1 Ate presidency of Mexico.
H ^General Amaro is a former cab-
i (net member having served with
I Flutarco Elias Calles as the lat-
1 ter s secretary cf war.
B Amaro will introduce a new ele-
I ment into the picture.
| And probably bring about an in-
P crease of the heat that already
|j Ms been engendered into the sit-
gjj uation.
If Unless something hap|>ens to
ft change the picture men in touch
jg with political affairs in Mexico
i gay. Camacho is destined to be the
| leader in the counting of the
H /otes
R Just what will happen if the
¥ totes go that way is something
■ that no one seems willing to pre-
S diet.
E The government is bending its
|j efforts to see that the election
1 campaign is a peaceful one. It
■ Ms even supplied military guards
1 to candidates in whom it is not
■ officially interested.
I - If the campaign is allowed to
H proceed without an upheaval of
I any sort it drill be a moral victory
1 for the forces of peace in Mexico.
u • * »
I XT/EDNESDAY MAY 1 WILL
E ™ be quite an event at the
■ Brownsville Municipal Airport.
K3K. Tbe number of airplanes in and
i 0ut of the port daily will be in-
I c9**ed by exactly 100 per cent.
■ Instead of eight planes daily in
|§ and out there will be sixteen.
1 The increased schedules further
I reduce the time involved in trav-
i| oi between Latin American points
and all parts of the United States.
B Newspapermen will be brought
E to Brownsville Wednesday from
Mexico and from points in the ln-
R terior of the United States
gt TO familiarize them with what
I i going on down here on the bor-
1 der to connection with interna-
B airway transportation.
j Wire Flashes
F CHANGES MIND AGAIN
AMARILLO — (API — Texas
' Railroad C'ommiawnn Ernest O.
Thompson announced Monday
his withdrawal from the 18th
1 district congressional race. He did
not say whether he planned te
reenter the Texaa gubernatorial
race. Thompson announced his
candidacy soon after Rep. Mar-
vin Jones was appointed to the
court of claims. The commission-
er. runner-up in the governor’s
[ race in 1938 had - planned to
open his gubernatorial campaign
May 1.
LABOR BOARD UPHELD
WASHINGTON — <APj — The
mipreme court dismissed Monday
an attack by seven steel com-
panies upon a labor deportment
order fixing the minimum wages
they must pay their employes
. | to obtain contracts with the fed-
eral government Justice Black
delivered the decision. The order
was issued under provisions of
the 1936 Walsh-Healey act
which require companies sell-
ing the government more than
810.000 worth of supplies to pay
their employes the prevailing
minimum wage for their “local-
»ty”
gas tanker afire
CHARLESTON S. C— (API -
A fire aboard the gasoline-laden
Norwegian tanker Willy in Char-
leston harbor was reported un-
der control Monday afternoon
although smoke was still rising
from the engine room. Danger
was believed past of an explosion
I of the highly inflammable cargo
which was separated from the
remainder of the ship by a four-
foot coffer dam bulkhead.
- -
OIL OPERATOR DIES
TULSA — (APi — William N.
Sill 69 Tulsa oil operator died
at his home here Monday. He had
been ill two years.
CIVILIANS WARNED
PARIS—(API—The ministry of
information issued a warning
Monday that civilians whose in-
discreet talk on military matters
in public places might aid enemy
intelligence services are liable to
I prosecution.
CARTER LASHES
HAROLD KIES
—
FORT worth -hF— Amon G.
Carter Fort Worth publisher told
Secretary of the Interior Harold
i Ickes Monday in sn open letter
that while Texas is grateful for
I his ‘ good job" in helping with its
oil problems "we do not necessarily
need the same kind of help ••• in
respect to political problems in
i Texas at the moment."
Carter in his 2.000-word reply to
a ieter from Ickes copies of which
the secretary sent Texas members
of congress said he was ’touched”
by Ickes' ’ solicitude Tor the freedom
of Texas voter* and subscribe fully
to your obviously lately developed
opinion that they are capable of
noting for themseives without being
told how.”
( Ickes' letter was in reply to an
editorial published recently by the
Port Worth Star Telegram in
> which Ickes said he had been de-
i scribed as a ‘carpetbagger ” The
cabinet member said he understood
that Carter and associates had ;
sent political ’carpetbaggers" into
Wisconsin for the primary elections
; in behalf of the John Garner
campaign.
State Senator Rogers Kelley of
i this district campaigned in Wiscon- '
i sin Tor Garner. i
Cold Hunger and Disease Take
> ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ . ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥
: Heavy Toll of War Refugees
NEAR NAMSOS. Norway— (JP) -
• The terrible plight of mar refugee*
1 who have sought safety in the snow-
covered mountains of Central Nor-
I may is becoming more evident daily
as cold hunger and disease take
their toll.
Adequate food and clothing 1*
> lacking for the refugees from the
Namsos. Namdalen and Steinkjei
’ areas. Among children and oldei
« persons illness is occurring mith
i practically no medical aid or medi-
cine available north of Trondheim.
; Tragic scenes are enacted nightly
t in the region when refugees slip
> down from the mountains into val-
ley communities to poke through
i the ashes of their homes seeking
' lost possessions.
Mountain huts especially in the
Namsos district are so crowded
with refugees that they must take
turns sleeping indoors.
This is the district where bombing
planes have caused the greatest
civilian damage in proportion to the
population. During the first Ger-
man bombing of Namsos. the region’s
largest sawmill mas set fire and the
entire populace turned out to help
extinguish it.
They were partly successful until
wave after wave of bombers return-
ed sending the Norwegians running
in panic. Some sought refuge in
cellars but most fled helter-skelter
into the mountains without pausing
| to take along proper clothing to
protect them against cold of the
high altitudes.
Mountain peasants now are shar-
ing. their meagre possessions with
the refugees. Highly valued cows.
pigs and even horses art being
slaughtered for food.
The peasants not only must care
for refugees but they must help feed
Allied troops in the vicinity.
A canning factory outside Namsos
escaped damage but its large stocks
have been plundered. Not one can
remains.
The shortage of flour sugar and
; other Imported food Is acute. These
supplies formerly came north from
Trondheim which is in German
hands. No possibility of aid from
Sweden exists because of lack of
transportation.
A major difficulty in providing
relief will be the fact that the refu-
gees are scattered over a wide area
and many are in the inaccessible
mountain height*. I
RIVER CRISIS
WORSE THAN
LASTMARCH
Flow At Rio Grande
City Is Lowest It
Has Been In Many
Months
Valley irrigation districts Mon-
day were being forced to shut down
some of their pumps as the erratic
Rio Grande at flood stage several
weeks ago. had dwmdled again to
a thin trickle in most places. A
serious shortage was in view un-
less the Rio Grande watershed
gets rain.
The flow at Rio Grande City as
reported by Engineer J. L. Lytel of
the International Boundary Com-
mission. was 1220 second-feet the
lowest it has been in months and
less than it was at the last critical
dry stage in March.
The gauge reading at Rio
Grande City was minus 15 feet
the United States Weather Bureau
reported. At Hidalgo the stage was
1.6 feet a drop of two-tenths in
24 hours three feet at Mercedes
and four-tenths of a foot at
Brownsville.
Still Dropping
Hidalgo County Water Control
and Improvement District No. 6.
Mission was running only two of
its four pumps as the river showed
water only six inches above the
(See RIVER. Page Two)
SUITOR SHOOTS
VALLEY BEAUTY
Youth Sought In Brush
Near Rio Grande
RIO GRANDE CITY^Shot in the
head with a bullet from a .32-20
pistol. Maria Gonzalez pretty 20-
year-old tavern waitress was in a
critical condition Monday while
Starr county officers sought a re-
jected 21-year-old suitor reported
hiding in the brush near the Rio
Grande.
The shooting occurred just before
noon Saturday in the C. O D. Club
a beer tavern and restaurant in
Rio Grande City where the girl was
employed.
Youth Opens Fire
Witnesses told investigating of-
licers. headed by Chief Deputy
Sheriff O. Sanchez that a brief
argument ensued between the girl
and a young man who had come
into the dub.
After a heated verbal exchange
the man drew a pistol and shot the
girl. The bullet struck her just
over the left eye and coursed dia-
gonally. emerging above her left
ear. The young man fled imme-
diately.
Has Chance For Life
Attending physicians reported
that the girl has a chance u> re-
cover. but they could not tell de-
finitely for another day or two
According to Chief Deputy San-
chez. the man sought is a resident
of the Santa Cruz 'Dreamland)
community about five miles east
of Rio Grande City and has been
“going with” the girl for several
months. She came to Rio Grande
City from Corpus Christ! Sanchez
said.
The chief deputy reported Mon-
day morning that officers had
found the fugitive's trail and ex-
pected to close in on him during
the day.
This Tarp Sets River Record
Here Is Arnutfo Garxa. Brownsville with his six-foot two-inch tarpon
caught at the mnuth of the Rio Grande Saturday in the Fourth An-
nual International Tarpon Rodeo. It is believed to be the largest ever
caught in the river and won a special prise for Garxa. (Story on
Sports Page).
Citrus Growers To Get
Hearing On Wednesday
WASHINGTON A hear-
ing on the citrus industry’s demand
for modification of ’area of pro-
duction" regulations Of the wage-
TORNADIC WIND
HITS LOUISIANA
RAYNE. La. — (API — Tomadic 1
winds Monday ripped through the
Rayne area partially unroofing the
new high school building and the
Edmonson-Duhe rice mill.
Several negro cabins were blown
down in outlying rural sections but
Mayor Joe Essen. Jr. said no
casualties had been reported.
An oil derrick was toppled In
the Bosco field near Carenco.
The winds and a deluge of rain
accompanied a Gulf Coast storm.
Small craft warnings flew from
Brownsville to Appalachicola. Fla.
The warnings were ordered Sun-
day night by the New Orleans
weather bureau Sheets of rain in
mid-morning temporarily flooded
some downtown streets in New
O: leans.
Lake Charles had a 38-mile-an-
hour wind velocity at 4:30 a. m.
with more than an inch of rain.
hour division will be held here
Wednesday.
Representatives of the citrus
industry * demand for modification
of area of production ’ regula-
tions of the wage-hour division will
be held here Wednesday.
Representatives of the citrus
pecking industry will be heard by
Merle D. Vincent director of the
hearings branch in the first of
three scheduled proceedings in-
volving the packing and canning of
fruit* and vegetables.
A hearing on the packing of non-
citrus fruits and vegetables is set
for May 6 Spokesmen for fruit and
vegetable canning factories and
drying establishments will testify
May 9.
The wage-hour act provides ex-
Boilfc Grapefruit Four
Hours; But It Is Bitter
WASHINGTON— «AP) —A
Texas citrus grower told a
bouse committee that the Fed-
eral Surplus C ommodities Cor-
porate. distributing grape-
fruitT^ the needy had found
it “an unknown commodity'’ in
some places.
Thr witness. William A.
Brunton. said a woman had
complained that the grapefruit
she had received through the
FSCC was unfit for hivnan
consumption.
“She related." Brunton said
“that the had boiled it as long
as four hours and It wa« still
bitter-
reptions for employes engaged In
processing agricultural products
within the “area of production.”
The. administrator’s definition of
that area has caused dissatisfac-
tion among citrus men and others.
An economic report prepared by
the division for use in connection
with the hearing showed that 66
per cent of the employes in the
citrus packing industry received
less than 30 cents an hour during
an active week in the 1939 season.
It said in California 34 per cent
of such employes received less than
30 cents an hour In 1939. In Flor-
ida. it said. 33 6 per cent received
less then 30 cents and in Texas
86 7 per cent of the workers were
below that figure
(Additional wage-hour news on
PM* Eight).
NAZIS REPORT
STIFF BATHES
ARE UNDERWAY
Norwegians Lose Six
Batteries 2 0000
Artillery Shells In
New Clash
BERLIN —(AP>— DNB reported
Monday that heavy fighting was
taking place between Nazi and Al-
lied forces at several points in the
Norwegian mountains.
The official German news agency
admitting for the first time that
German progress in Norway mas
meeting increasingly stiff opposition
said that the British in Norway
after their • failures" in past weeks
•obviously had received orders to
strengthen their resistance." but the
agency said the firmer British stand
"had not halted" Nan drives.
Six Batteries Seised
DNB reported that the Nazis In
capturing six additional Norwegian
batteries had seized 20.000 artillery
shells a large number of portable
wireless sets snd quantities of mis-
cellaneous war materials.
Berlin Sunday claimed officially
that In the Stavanger district which
has been the target of repeated
British air attacks the Nazis had
taken 241 officers including ‘•num-
erous English fliers." and 2.921 men
The communique did not say how
many of these prisoners were Nor-
wegian.
Stavanger is in southwest Norway
and previously had not been repre-
sented as a region of large land
operations.
Germany Confident
Germany radiated confi d e n e e
Monday that the Nazis' military and
diplomatic blows were undermining
Allied strength.
On the political battlefront. au-
thorized Nazi forces maintained that
Germany is satisfied that faith in
British and French assurances has
been removed from the minds ol
neutral nations.
This they held was the result oi
(See NAZIS. Page Two)
ALF1ERINAMED
ENVOY TO NAZIS
Italy Strengthens Tie
.With Hitler
_
ROME—>JP)—Dino Alfierl long
considered one of Italy s more
strongly pro-German figures Mon-
day mas appointed ambassador to
Germany succeeding Bernardo At-
wiico.
The two envoys exchanged posts
ALtolico replacing Alfierl as am-
bassador to the Vatican.
Alfierl. 53. has been especially
close to Mussolini in the last four
years.
Some foreign circles saw in his
appointment to Berlin an indica-
tion of a new strengthening of the
relations between Mussolini and
his axis partner Hitler.
At the time Alfierl was trans-
ferred from the Italian propa-
ganda office to the diplomatic
service last October observers
considered the move partly a con-
cession to Italian public opinion
which was supposed to be cool
tomard the alliance with the Ger-
mans.
In the past fortnight however
theie has been much evidence of
a stronger pro-German sentiment
among the Italians who were im-
pressed by the Nazi occupation of
Norway and Denmark.
This has been accompanied by
repeated criticism In the Italian
press of those Italians who con-
tinued to favor the Allies In the
war.
EAL Fires First Salvo
In Battle For Air Trade
Making a bid for lucrative Latin
American travel. Eastern Air Lanes
fired the first salvo in the battie
of the airways Sunday by increas-
ing its flow of planes here from
tao to six daily.
The first of the new Eastern
flights leaving here Sunday morn-
ing. carried Valley tomatoes and
potatoes to Mayor Piorello La
Ouardia of New York City as a
goodwill gesture.
With Bramff Airways adding
two more planes here Wednesdsy
and Pan American Airways inau-
1 evirating another flight to Mexico
; City the same day there will be
a total of 16 planes arriving and
departing here dally.
New Mexico Schedule
Pan American Airways Is to use
temporarily its huge 33 passenger
| slratoliner “The Plying Cloud." on
a new non-stop air service to the
Mexican capital Wednesday re-
quiring two hours and 45 minutes
as against the present time of
three hours and 35 minutes.
Texas and Mexico newspaper-
men. together with Braniff and
PAA officials will converge at tha
tflee AIR Page Two)
Both Sides Rush
'* *■ ;.i
Reinforcements
For Big Battle
STOCKHOLM—(AP)—German forces were re-
ported Monday night to have occupied Kvam 35
miles southeast of Dombas in their drive toward
Trondheim but to have been repelled in a violent at-
tack on the Steinkjer front north of that Nazi-held
port.
(By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Strong Allied resistance apparently was developing
Monday as a Nazi blow at a strategic Norwegian railway;
threatened to isolate Allied troops in central Norway.
Reports in Stockholm said the Germans now faced
the problem of breaking; through a supposedly strong
machine-gun and light artillery line the Allies have drawn
across the rocky Gudbrandsdalen (valley) and Glomrna
I river valley.
Whether the Germans again will*
be able to climb around the defense
positions by sending their columns
over snowy mountain paths depends
in the Allies’ ability to cope with the
Nazi air power these sources pre-
dicted.
Reports of Allied concentrations
however were regarded In Stock-
holm as evidence that the Allies
were alive to the situation.
Nazis Take Prisoner*
DNB. official German news agency
reported the Nazis had captured 20 - I
000 artillery shells many portable
wireless sets and other war material.
The high communique Sunday said
that 241 officers Including "num-
erous English fliers.” and 2.921 men
had been captured in the Stavanger
district of southern Norway. It did
not say how many prisoners were
Norwegians.
The British war office. In a late
Monday afternoon communique
said the Germans had attacked
heavily from the air the towns of
Andalsnes and Molde. Allied land-
ing places below Trondheim but
gave no details. In Gubrnndsdale
the war office announced the posi-
tion was unchanged.
Lightning Advance Made
Thrusting over snowy mountain
roads the Germans were reported to
have reached the railroad linking
Dombas and 8toren at a point where
British troops met them in the first
i round of a battle which may decide
; control of southern Norway.
Both sides rushed up reinforce-
ments. presaging a bitter battle A
lightning 40-mile advance enabled
the Germans to strike at the rall-
' way.
On other Norwegian front* the
Germans were said to have halted
and started digging in against Al- i
lied attempts to dislodge them.
Britain announced three German
supply ships had been sunk and said
more Allied troops had made land-
ings at Andalsnes. despite strenuous
German efforts to forestall them
German Claims Denied
The British issued a communique
denying Orrman claims that four
cruisers and 11 transports had beer
sunk or severely damaged in the last
49 hours but acknowledging one
trawler had been sunk and another
set afire by bombs.
Germany said tha British war-
ships had been damaged off Narvik
and central Norway.
While the Germans were claiming
new success in Norway the leader
of the Nazi labor front. Robert Ley
proclaimed solidarity of the Rome-
Berlin axis for future "victory” in a
speech at a Cologne machine plant
He lumped Britain and France as
common enemies of Germany and
Italy. He challenged the Allies’
rights to possessions In the Medi-
terranean
In Rome meanwhile. It was an-
nounced that Dino Alfleri. regarded
there as a pro-Oerman fascist had
been named ambassador to Ger-
many to succeed Bernardo Attollco
(See BATTLE. Page Two)
BRITISH SINK
THREE GERMAN
SUPPLY SHIPS
Admiralty Admits Sho
Lost Two Trawlers
Hit By Nazi Bombs
Over Weekend
LONDON—Allied troops In
Norway were reported holding fast
Monday against growing German
pressure whila Britain sought to
strengthen her hard with better
diplomatic and trade relations with
Hitler s axis partner. Italy and tha
British navy claimed that three
German supply transports had been
torpedoed and sunk.
Heavy German air attacks on tha
coastal towns of Molde and An-
dalsnes used by the Allies for
landings were reported In a war
office communique.
The war office also said there
had been patrol activity In the
Namsos area where the Allies also
landed but that the position of tha
opposing forces In the Gudbrans-
daien (valley; In central Norway
remained unchanged."
Two Trawlers hunk
An admiralty communique ac-
knowledged that two British trawl-
ers the Hammond and Larwood
had been lost to German bombs
but said there were no casualties.
It denied German claims that
British warships and 13 transports
had been sunk or damaged In the
preceding 48 hours.
Germany s "determined attempt
to render tha waters of the Nor-
wegian coast untenabl# have been
attended with but slight result*.'*
the communique said.
Air Betties deported
Above the Norwegian battle*
grounds British fighter planet
were reported challenging German
bombers which have been harassing
Allied forces.
The Norwegian telegraph agency
reported air battles on a large
scale over Lake Erg'set near the
port df Alesund midway between
Bergen and Trondheim two Nor-
wegian ports held by the Germans.
Several machines were seen to
crash it said.
< Alesund la 40 miles directly west
of Andalsnes. where the Allies
(See BRITISH Page Two>
Death Sentence
For Woman Spy
PARIS The first death
sentence for espionage handed
down by the Pans military tri-
bunal and the second in France
against a woman since the war
began was pronounced Monday
against Carmen Mory 34 a Swisa
news pa per woman.
Fritz Erner. 34. a Oerman movie
producer arrested in October 1938
at the same time at the Swiss
journalist also received the death
penalty.
Military authority* said the
two condemned were operating to-
gether when arrested by French
counter-espionage agents.
The first woman condemned to
death In France since the start eg
the war was Eugenie Lupr a Ger-
man. who was sentenced la lltf*
selves on fg*-rch 1L
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The Brownsville Herald (Brownsville, Tex.), Vol. 48, No. 268, Ed. 1 Monday, April 29, 1940, newspaper, April 29, 1940; Brownsville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1405551/m1/1/: accessed July 11, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .