The Charlotte News

Monday, September 4, 1950

FOUR EDITORIALS

Site Ed. Note: The front page reports that two tank-led North Korean columns had penetrated allied lines in the northeast sector of the 120-mile defense arc south of Kigye in the Pohang area and moved down two main highways about 12.5 miles, threatening to outflank Taegu, one prong reaching Kyongju, sixteen miles southwest of Pohang, while the other moved five miles toward Yongchon, between Kyongju and Taegu. The advance represented the largest enemy gain in weeks. Elsewhere, an American counterthrust by Marines and Second Division infantrymen made gains against the North Korean forces on the Naktong River bulge west of Yongsan. The enemy was reported fleeing the area, after fourteen tanks had been knocked out in two days. An estimated 40,000 enemy troops had been massed in this bulge. In the southwest, American forces held their original positions west of Masan against North Korean forces. The enemy had lost 12,000 troops in this sector in the course of three days.

The new enemy offensive was said to have begun to appear as a fighter without a knockout punch, condemned to die. North Korean tactics puzzled American officers, who expected them to feign a drive at one point while building up a fighting force at another to try to break through the allied lines. Instead, they had tried to force the whole line in a series of relatively small attacks. The situation remained serious north of Taegu and in the area of Pohang, but there was no massed power in either location. The North Koreans had broken through both the 25th and Second Infantry Divisions, and had they followed through, the road to Pusan would have been open and impossible to defend. North Korea, American commanders thus surmised, had no back-up troops to put into the sector.

Maybe, in truth, they did not wish to fight for fatso's grandpappy, the moronic little Russian puppet-boy. Did you ever think of that, fatso? You're not very bright.

Fighter planes served as aerial artillery for the U.N. forces, hitting straw stacks, favorite hiding places for materiel such as gas tanks, while B-29's switched from ground support to bombing railway bridges north of the 38th parallel. One hit train exploded with a "big bang".

A North Korean female soldier wielding a tommy-gun shot seven bound American prisoners of war the previous night near Masan, after they had been captured while sleeping. Two survived the attack, having been left for dead, and told of the incident. A South Korean soldier assigned as sentry was also slain. A South Korean interpreter managed to free his hands, escaped, and also told of the incident. The detachment had been captured by a contingent of ten enemy soldiers, three of whom were female, dressed as South Korean troops, as the Americans slept in a tent to keep dry from a rainstorm. A few minutes after the attack, an American patrol reached the location. They searched the area for the guerrillas who had fled into the night, but had not found anyone thus far.

A typhoon hit southern Japan, leaving 200 dead and hundreds missing, with thousands injured. Osaka and nine neighboring prefectures bore the brunt of the wave, which had struck at 3:00 a.m. EST. Six ships had been sunk by the typhoon.

Congressman Anthony Tauriello of New York, who the previous week had sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson urging him to resign for the good of the country, sent another letter to him accusing him of "persecuting" deceased former Secretary of Defense James Forrestal with rumors, forcing his resignation in March, 1949, two months after which he had committed suicide. He also claimed that Mr. Johnson's economy program had made it difficult to stockpile strategic raw materials.

Governor Thomas Dewey of New York was expected to announce later in the day that he would accept the Republican nomination for a third term as Governor, after he had previously declined to run again. The Lieutenant Governor, Joe Hanley, 74, who had planned to run, removed himself from consideration in deference to the draft-Dewey movement.

In Detroit, Ford formed a new five-year labor agreement with its autoworkers under which it raised wages by eight cents per hour based on a cost of living adjustment, subject to reduction, plus a four cent flat increase. It was the last of the major automakers to do so, duplicating the G.M.formula. Both management and the UAW indicated satisfaction with the agreement. It was not clear whether the raise would mean higher prices on Ford-manufactured cars.

The remaining 37,000-employee strike set to start the next day at G.E., to add to the 23,000 who had struck the prior week, was still in doubt pending votes by locals, at least one of which, 6,000 strong, had voted to overrule the International Union of Electrical Workers' directive to strike.

Three hurricanes hovered off Florida, one on the west coast in the Apalachee Bay area, bypassing St. Petersburg, Sarasota, and Fort Myers, now positioned 40 miles southwest of Tampa, moving at 10 mph, with 65 to 75 mph winds. A storm warning was raised from Jacksonville to Charleston and hurricane warnings remained in effect from Sarasota to Apalachicola.

Another hurricane headed out to sea after bypassing Bermuda without damage. A third hurricane, deemed severe with 150 mph winds, was about a thousand miles southeast of Miami.

The holiday weekend death toll, according to the National Safety Council, had reached 332, 259 of which were in traffic accidents, amounting to one every 13 minutes through midnight the previous day, less than the average anticipated of one every eleven minutes, which would equate to a total of 435 for the full three-day weekend.

On the editorial page, "Mr. Truman Spells Out U.S. Policy" finds that the President, though lacking some of the verbal charisma of his predecessor, had, in plain language, spelled out American policy in his speech the previous Friday night. He made clear that the U.S. would not tolerate further Soviet aggression and gave assurance that the U.S. would not, itself, take part in any offensive aggression, that the only way World War III could start would be through Communist initiation. He had also outlined the degree of military preparation needed for security, that three million men was a necessary minimum strength. In his eight-point plan for world peace, he invited all nations of the world to participate. He specifically addressed the Far East by saying that the U.S. wanted no part of Asia, including Formosa, and urged the Chinese people not to be misled into fighting the U.N. forces and the American people, who remained their friends.