Washington, June 18.
In cancelling long planned visits of the United States Fleet to Pacific Coast ports, Admiral James O, Rich-arson, Commander-in-Chief of the Fleet, apparently was pursuing President Roosevelt's earlier decision to keep the warships based at Honolulu indefinitely, the Navy Department said today.
Informed quarters, however, interpreted the new order as an American move to remind Japan of the presence of the Fleet in waters close to Japan.
These quarters believed that Admiral Richardson's new order was issued for the purpose of emphasizing the watchfulness of the United States fleet and to throw the spot-light on the Fleet's presence at Honolulu.
Munich, June 18.
S Chancellor Adolf Hitler and Premier Benito Mussolini at 4 pin. today (midnight Shanghai daylight saving time) here began their historic conference, which may decide the fate of France, Italian officials said the Axis Powers would continue the war until France accepted their peace terms.
Berlin afternoon papers reaching here indicated that the terms would be extremely severe, since Germany would take into full account the French attitude in the past 21 years.
Conversations between the two leaders began in the official residence of the Fuehrer at 4 p.m. in the presence of Herr Joachim von Ribbentrop, Reich Foreign Minister, Count Galeazzo Ciano, Italian Foreign Minister, and General Wilhelm Keitel, Chief of the High Command of the German Armed Forces.—United Press.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.