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Cassatt Boy Relates Story of Sinking of Aircraft Carrier 1 Young Walter V. Wntklus. hoii of J. II. Walking and tho lute Mm. Wutkins, wuh hero for a month's furlough recently. The lud was a survivor of tho aircraft carrier Hornet, aunk hy the Jups in the Pudflc. Wo asked young Watklna to give uh a Htory of the sinking, hut ho said ho was not allowed do ho bocauHo H.e government had not releusod the newH. Youiik Wutkins writes un from Memphis, where he 1h a pharmaclHt helper In a government hospltal there. He lellH an interesting Htory uh follows: Kditor Chronicle: You aaked me Hoveral tiineH to tell you all I could about the Hornet and my experience, but at that time I couldn't give you a full story uh I hhw It, but now I think I can Klvo you an Ideu of what it waa like. The date, October 20; the ship, If. 8. 8. Hornet. I'm aure I can nevor forget either. We hud been at boh In the southwestern Pacific for four weekH, patrollnR the bosh and loolcIiir and HpollliiR for a tlRht with an enemy who Hoemed to be afraid to come out of hldliiR to tlRht. In fact, everything soomcd too qutnt to ault uh?something like the lull before tho Htorm. Several dayfl prior to tho engagement, we began receiving reports of Jap ship concentration In the Solomon's urea. Rumors began going around thut we would boo action Boon and then on October 25 we received a report stating that a largo Jap task force was sighted in the vicinity of the Santa Cruz Islands, only two hundred and fifty miles from our task force. We began Immediately to prepare for an inevitable battle that was to come. After everything was made ready for tjction, everyone ofT watch turned fn for flome Bloep and rest, and except for a tenseness among the men, one would never have thought Home of these young men would never live to see another sun set. The admiral In command of our taHk force informed us of his Intention of attacking early on tho next morning. Our attack group left the ship about 9 a. m. and headed for tho enemy who was 200 miles distant: At 9:40 wo were called to buttle stations duo to a report that enemy planes were approaching our force. The expected attack came at 9:50 and lasted for nearly 20 minutes. I had Just flushed checking my first aid kit and don nlUK my ?111 I flash salt. Wo wore Instructed to lay prone on the deck with our arms folded under our cheat to prevent concussion of the lungs. I remember the last word pusscd over our speaker system. Those words were siH>ken calmly, ulnioat as If lu a drill: "Knemy planes are directly overhead, a bombluK attack Is Imminent. All hands will scatter out as pre-arranged." I don't know how I came to remember those words. It's Just one of those strange things that happen under such circumstances. The |lrst bomb, an armor piercing? missed 'mo by ten foot, but didn't ex plode until it hud passed beneath me. I never saw my first aid kit after that. I suppose you, like oth ere, will wjuU to know how I felt. That's Impossible to answer. I only know that I prayed and asked that 1 be spared, and I might add, I wasn't the only one either, yes, I was scared plenty, but I believe It's only natural for unyono to get scared at a time like that. We received several torpedo hits during the first torpedo attack and ull the power wus knocked out. Our gunners did a magnificent piece of work. Somo reports state that sixty-odd planes were destroyed out of an attacking force of approximately seventy or eighty pianos. Then came the lull, time for the wounded to be gathered und treated. I'm proud to be able to say that I helped to treat some men that would have died, had they not received treatmont. I take or ask no crodlt for anything 1 did, It was only my duty and I did It as woll as I could. I saw friends and shipmates dying around me, so believe me when I say "War Is he lit" Wo had several other smaller attacks during the following three hours but received no hits. A cruiser had begun to tow us when the final attack was made. It was another torpedo attack at about 4:30 in the afternoon. We received another hit &nd took a heavy list to starboard. The captain then ordered all hands to abandon ship. It may sound silly to you. but I hated to leave the Hor[not. It seemed like leaving home and everyone that means anything to me. The attack was still In proI greks when we abandoned ship because I later sat on u rubber llfe> raft and watched the planes dive at I the ship. it wasn't meant for me to keep my raft long, becauso a piece of shrapnel hit and burst It aud or course I had to awlin for It. I stayed lu the water for ultuost two hours before a destroyer rescued us. A few minutes before the rescue I had the good luck of hooking a ride with some friends on unuther raft. An odd thing happened then?several Of us were from Bouth Carolina aud of all things to do, we sang "Just a Little lilt Bouth North Carolina. The destroyer that rescued us was one of the ships ordered to complete tho sinking. I'll never forget tl^e "Hornet" as I last saw her. She vtl stricken but her Stars and Stripe* and battle ensign still proudly flew to tho end. Twenty-one days later'I landed at a west coast port, proud to be Id the good old U. 8. A. again. Five dags later all hands were granted thirty days leave and seven . days travel time. 1 don't have to tell you ho^r glad I was to get homo again. I'm stationed at the Naval Air Station at Memphis, Tenn., temporarily, I'm to go on duty at the Naval hospital when It Is .commissioned. May I add In closing that I haven't forgotten my buddies who died on October 26 and I do hope to get another crack at the Japs soon. That Is my story in detail, as as I can tell you. I wish everyone could know how proud I am to be able to say that I took part in a war against a ruthless enemy who doesn't know what freedom and liberty means. Arrives at Training Center Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., Jan. 18?* William A. Prother, Route 1, Ridgeway, who recently entered dillitary service, has arrived at the Emplacement Training Center here for an Intensive training program In preparation for combat engineer duty. Training will Include basic subjects like close and extended order drill, manual of arms, rifle marksmanship and combat principles as well as the functions of military engineering? use of toolH and equipment, building of fixed and floating bridges, demolitions and construction of roads and obstacles. Soldiers go from here to tactical units or to special training or officer candidate schools. Normal jaw pressure of a man In biting is 60 to 65 pounds, but the normal bite of a woman is only 25 to 30 pounds. THE POCK ETBOOK1 of KNOWLEDGE ^ I A * W Type or VWNPOW PAMe OP w -n?AH?PAPCWT PIA?TIC ' L/JMlMATgPWiTMWIRe i MC6H WHICH WILL f WITW6TANP THtt eXPL06)ONl OA*ISO-IB. &OM&, ei6^i\nwA\w?X i iWe "TERM "rttCUT)\fC \ MAMS/OA/ WAff -TMe \ OFFICIAL NAME OF THE \ WHITE HOU6C UNTIL THgOOORE\ ROOSEVELT* ADMINISTRATION^ . * Teopy * MADE THE "WHITE ' HOUSE " OFFICIAL By HAVING rr PRINTED ON STATION ERy ( AND DOCUMENTS AM tfouRS WOR* . WILL Boy 7.5T POUND6 0Tl?ffV? A 6ERMAM C7?N Bl>y 5" POOMD* JS OF THE VATIOV'S MAJOR. /NPUSTRIES HAVE BEEN DEVELOPEP /R THE LAST 62 YEARS . CREATIVE VJORK FOR ABOUT A v J5,000,000 /M PBRSOMS Chase of Convict8 Results in Capture The "Shandon Prowler," who was I charged with breaking Into 28 Columbia homes and boasts that he entered at least 60, is back in custody. The object of a Vide search since he and four other convicts escaped from the state prison farm at Boykin, Kershaw county, January 4, he was arrested early Sunday morning at a lumber camp near Greeleyville on a tip that came from Sheriff J. E. Gamble of Clarendon county. Nabbed at the same time by state officers J. L. Dollard, of Sumter, and Fearless Lambert, of Kingstree, at the direction of Chief S. J. Pratt were two other escapees, Jesse Huggins of Elliott, who was sent up from Lee county to serve a life sentence for murder, and Jesse Moses, originally of WarsaV. in Williamsburg county, who was sent up from Sumter county for the theft of five automobiles. Two others who participated in the January 4 escape were previously captured before they got out of Kershaw county. Sylvester McCullough, or the "Shandon Prowler," as he is known, and the name by which he likes to identify himself, was in a talkative mood yesterday and related freely to Chief Pratt and his captors the story of his escape, his travels since then and the events leading up to his series of robberies that terrorized one i of Columbia's most thickly populated i residential districts for several ' months. | , During his short-lived freedom j from the prison farm, he again visited the Shandon section of Columbia, but this time he was on his way to Williamsburg county and did not stop to pay any calls, according to his story. "But boss, them streets looked awful familiar," hd added. McCullough claims I>amar, his native town, as his home. "When I came to Columbia," he said. "I started going with a school teacher. I wasn't making enough money to be in her class, so I started stealing. "I got to be a great church member after I came here. At preaching I would always be the first one to put money in the collection plate. I'd walk down the aisle and drop 60 cents on the table. I could hear the congregation saying, "Who's that putting that 60 cents in the collection?' And I could hear them say, 'Why, that's Mr. McCullough.' Then maybe that night I'd steal that 60 cents back from them." The "Shandon Prowler" said that his Btring of robberies included homes of both Negroes and white persons. Here is the story of the escape of the five men as told to Chief Pratt: They plotted their break in advance I and made their getaway while dig-! King stumps. All were unshackled except Mc-' Cullough. When he got away he carried his axe with him and chopped off the shackles. All five found a fishing boat on the bank of the Wateree and crossed the j river in it. They headed toward the Wateree bridge between Camden and Colombia, but saw a light, turned back, built a fire and went to sleep in the swamp. ~ "" While they were there, bloodhounds used by searchers picked up their trail and bayed them. They threw sand at the doge until they could get enough distance to run. One of the quintet hit upon the idea of shaking black pepper on his own trail to stop the dogs. He carried a can along with him for this purpose and of the Ave men, he was the one caught by the dogs. McCullough, Moses and Huggins escaped. They walked adong the railroad track to Columbia and passed through the center of the city in the daytime. While walking on Main street, they spaced themselves several yards one behind the other to avoid suspicion. For a day and a night they hid on the banks of the Broad river near the state penitentiary and the city waterworks, then they started out for Williamsburg county where Moses was familiar with lumber mill workers. As they passed through Shandon, McCullough pointed out residences he had robbed. They walked to Sumter, then to Manning, then to Greeleyville. They secured food and lodging along the way by stopping at country homes and begging or doing chores to pay for their room and board, they said. Several housebreakings in the vicinity of Foreston. which is about ten miles from Manning and two miles from the Williamsburg county line, furnished the major clue that led to their arrest. Sheriff Gamble received reports of these and also had Information that the trio had stopped at several homes and asked for food. He relayed these reports to the state officers and from them Chief Pratt and his men picked up the trail. It led to the Brooklyn Cooperage lumber camp (BOO employes) near Greeleyville, where It was learned that three Negroes, claiming they were from Virginia, had applied for work and secured Jobs Thursday. OfTlcers Dollard and Lambert planned to arrest them In a lumber camp cabin Saturday night, but the cabin was crowded with Negroes in a gambling game and there was a chance that the wanted men would escape in the crowd if the officers walked in. So the officers waited until daybreak Sunday morning. They walked Into a cabin and found McCollough and .Huggins asleep. Confronted with their photographs and other Identifying matter, the two escapes immediately admitted their identity and surrendered without a struggle. If they had received their pay for their three days' work, "the prowler" said he would have been "long gone," but he had not received his pay. Each of the three had borrowed $2 from his employer Saturday. McCullough and Huggins had lost theirs gambling. Moses was found still gambling In a nearby cabin and was' arrested on the spot. The tlrae Negroes were brought to Columbia and placed in the state penitentiary, where the "Shandon prowler" will continue serving his 25-year sentence. When asked by Chief Pratt why they escaped, McCullough, who appeared to be the ring leader of the plot, replied, ''Cap'n. I'm a ladles man and I was looking for company." Machine tool plants In the United States number about three hundred, each employing about to to 160 men and representing an Investment of uj to $1,000,000. Usually each plant specialises In one or two partieulai tools. . m FSA FAMILIES 00 NOT FEAR FOOD RATIONING PROGRAM Actual records on food produci ion I of 193 Farm Security famUlou m I Kerakaw county fof 1942 show u marked Increase over food produced In 1941. These families have cooperated fully In the program "Food for I Freedom." I In the livestock part of the program, the records'9how fbat 400 hogs wore killed for home use of moat and lard, while 200 were put on the mar- ; ket. Actual figures also t?how thai 16,200 doaen eggs and 10,639 fryers were sold during the yea*:, as com- I pared with 12,000 dozen eggs and 6,000 fryers sold in 1941. Six thousand, good laying hens are being carried over for 1943. Milch cows were in -M creased from 196 In 1941 to 225 in 1942. Home garden acres vol#", almost doubled in 1942. There were 195 | acres of home garden and 230 acres of truck crops planted. The produce from these truck acres was sold to fl local markets and to private homes. 189 bushels of rice wer.e .harvested ? from 20 acres. This is a new crop W for FSA families and they plan to S plant more acreage In 1943, 7,163 bushels of sweet potatoes and 2,550 bushels of wheat werle harvested as I well as 1.722 gallons*^! syrup made. * For the 192 families, a general av- J ernge of 379 quarts per family was made. 65 families met their canning budget while 11 families canned far in excess of their quota. 11 beeves were canned as compared to 9 in 194i. , ,t ' Twenty-five families received Merit J Award Certificates for meeting all of their goals In 1942 for "Food for Freedom." In addition to this two Negro families, Dobe Drakeford, of Kershaw route 6, and Sam Patterson, of Camden route 1, received cash, awards in the Kershaw county corn contest. just what all of these figures mean is explained in words from Mrs. Lem L. Bradley, of Kershaw, Route 2, "We have more food than anybody ; also an expression from Mrs. Clifton i Hall, CasBatt Route 2, "Besides canning, drying and storing away enough food for my family, I have sold $160 , worth of mustard, beans and peas to the airport $200 worth of milk and butter to private homes and $50 wprth. ^ j of tomatoes to market." Although Kershaw county had extremely poor crop years in 1941 and j 1942 FSA families grew long staple cotton In 1942, and that is why four families are able to pay their entire J Indebtedness. All of this indebtedness would not have matured until a j year or two later. One family paid ^ their entire loan with money receiv-- ed from sale of hogs. i Robert Lee Tree ! Planting in March The planting of a tree in Kershaw park in honor of General Robert B. Lee, America's greatest soldier, scheduled to take place last Tuesday ,~i was postponed until sometime in March when the district meeting of the United Daughters of the Confederacy is to be held in Camden. While the weather was such as to prohibit any outdoor exercises and necessitated the postponement, it. was felt that to have the dedication in connection with the District meeting would be more fitting. 1 The U. D. C. wishes to request all who were invited to take part in the program Tuesday are asked to he present when the ceremony takes place in March. The program commemorating General Lee's birthday was held at the Camden grammar school Tuesday at 9:45 a. m. The program was J charge of Mrs. Susie Taylor s fifth grade pupils. * ? Outline War Goal x For Local Farmers (Continued from first page) against last year'# figure of 10,336,000 j pounds. Egg production must be ug from 374,114 dozen in 1942 to 416,229 dozen In 1943, Hens and pullets on farms January 1, 1944, .must tota 61,389 as against a previous figure Of Jj 67,892. Chickens raised on farms must total 160,800 as against 143,610. Turkeys raised on farms mult Increase 20 percent for a total of 5,400 J in 1943, as against 4,600 In 1942. Corn || must show a slight Increase to 34,510 acres this year, as against 32,531 acres last year Oats this rj m,.*t total 8.800 acres, as against 8/ _-|? 693 acres In 1942. Tame hay Is prac- . 1 tically unchanged but soybeans IE?* , | total 208 acres this year, a? 183 acres last year. Irish potato## listed at 280 acres In 1942, must have Jg ah additional 10 seres this Sweet potatoes are unchanged. ?s. . Lx) ' the acreage of wheat *7? Increase of percent or 1,024 l*V. for 1943, as against 9,063 acre# * J"* ago. All -cotton and tobacco ren^M? wwAiiiiigA - - or-1. --? , the^i^Sin^oiMy t^_tbs^ [ ATTENTION!!! I ^ FARMERS ? I I Owing to the fact that the War Production I I Board will not allot the factories enough steel I I very few new Cole Planters and Fertilizer Dis- I I tributors can be built this spring. I I Therefore you must REPAIR I I Your old Planters and Distributors I | | Come in. We have a complete stock of Genuine j j I COLE REPAIR PARTS I I OLIVER PLOWS - BACK BANDS I I PLOW LINES - TRACES - BRIDLES I j rj I Barringer Hardware Co. I J Phone 21 Camden, S. C. [