Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 41, Number 296, Decatur, Adams County, 16 December 1943 — Page 1

Win the War/ Kfi<* Is Chores!

XLI. No. 296.

7 Ships Sunk By Nazi Planes In Italy Port HURCHiLL IS STRICKENWITH PNEUMONIA (bar 75 Are Dead In North Carolina Train Wreck

Lise Raid Mating LTo Allies Bcember 2 Attack Ktedly Revealed ■Wor Secretary H By United Pres* force ha« hit the |Kj,r., atitiK blow In Italy iornb- f«. in •' -turpri** at-I-ili.l'l Adriatic port of |K. .jnk 17 Allied ehlp-s and cs u.lltlcs. aa ye the raid. M*- I.y r. «I 4'l bomber* on m <-' no Allied oppose Ky.x'i I: ci is the chief sup<oi tin- British eighth Mot n( ** r Stimson officialCory. which had been M> ■/ ■ in-among Wash |K ---;>ond>'ntH bur which > i i :ot confirm. Slim I 000 casualtie and K .. Vnerican ships had K from other official wa* learned that the destruc'ive than i.y the war secretary. K j mention the 17 ship. all told Stimson said damage »*< caused by of two ammunition K-n not identity the Am |Kreli. |K- ,j.l caaualtiea inc lud'-.l ne said most of the S:<: he. n di-charged and was not great, >s- conference today, '.hat land fighting in hern particularly bitter week Progreso to|Mar he added, was not |Mna«e of rain, snow, bud ifliz »tiein- demolitions and nßtt -aid adverse weather aliampered recent Allied Mr.'. 'i. Il the tnedlterran|Mb<«h Brenner Pass Mfi-s- an Allied air armada sS* sore planes again lias Ml Germany* Brenner pan* M*' to Paly. The bombing tie vital road on hot h |M'> Alpine pass al InnsMht'na and Bolzano. Italy bottleneck ha been by Allied plat.'W |Mfort> indicate that th* Bj l nil lines, yards, and a »o well plastered that oat for some time. *,a took rare of the while Liberators on the viaduct 30 Bolsano not a plane Che raiding fleet — SMuiion m Italy al-o has Sear the Adriatic. |B'-Pt’b army troops have |B* !» piercing the make IM ‘tr Wow th- Pescara W" »' - German held >a'-r places and captur--9 only a few mile- from iM** l - Column I) r *" ■ ■**ATUAk READING M*tAT TKtRMOMZTffR M ( *• 24 M*» ■ —a M «>atn«r and Friday; conM*** ‘•"••Ml Slowly noBM***«re Friday. |fr 5 Health Bond H n<> I o O F lodge has purchase of a |a ■J* 1 * bond officials of C>,| »tmai seal cam ML, m A *»®» county today All pro from the annual 8K *•' sales are used tn |K • tuborculoata and to W ,Os undernourished

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

Dallas Factory Is Destroyed By Fire Dalias. Tex., Dec. 1« (t’P) a' brilliant blase of Pjrrotechnl.» fla-h- ( ed and flared across the eky over' Dallas last night. While firemen; stood by helplta■ iy. flame* ate I through a |1,444.000 bomb-case: manufacturing plant. Tongue* of fire leaped 100 feet in the air, magnesium spattered and exploded. The flames were so .bright that mo t of Dallas was illuminated, and it wa«< possible to read a newspaper from the glow a mile away. The fire started while most of the plant employe* were ' out to lunch. No one wm Injured. ' o All-Out Allied Rabaul Assault Believed Near Allied Airmen Make Powerful Raids On West New Britain BULLETIN Phosnix, Aris., Otc. IB. —(UP) —A monitor for the British broadcasting corporation reports that h« has rscordsd a Tokyo radio broadcast saying American forcoo havo invaded New Britain island. Ths monitor io L. D. Brower. I By United Press 1 Military observers believe an 1 all out assault on Rabaul. Japan's key base in the southwest Pacific, . may be General MacArthur's next 1 goal. Rabaul. which is on New Britain ' Island, I* now flanked by Austral- ■ lan ground troops to the south- ' west in New Guinea, and by 1 American marine* to the southeast on Bougainville island. 1 The pathway leading to Rabaul ’ Is being softened up by Allied airpower. Waves of Allied bombers have; 1 left many Japanese defenses on 1 1 the invasion coast of New Britain ' In smouldering ruin*. ' For one month now. Allied war- ' planes have been hammering at the western coast of New Britain —pt the other end of the long 1 island from Rabaul Itself. But the latest attack was the greatest 1 of them all. Indeed, it was the J biggest attack ever conducted anywhere in the south west Pacific. Tuesday, hundred* of Allied ( planes dumped 3S< tons of explosives and Incendiaries into the port of Arewe-3<o mile* south- ' west of Rabaul Knemy ground ’ defenses and supply dumps were destroyed And not one enemy 1 (Turn To P»<* «. Column «» ( ■■ 0 I ~ — Delay Promotion Os 13 Army Officers Patton Incident • Results In Delay 'Washington. Dec. Id—(VP>—The promotion of 13 army off ice ns hae been delayed probably for three month.- -as a result of the Patton incident. A senate military affairs sobcommittee considering the promotioM haa voted to poatpone acUoa. The committee say. R •»« • future decision on public enaction to the Patton episode-the striking of a ooldler in Sicily by the aeventh army commander. If the public I* wllliOß «o 1 Patton if -no other timllar !«*• i ent. oecur-the. Patton • r Gon from the permanent rank of . colonel to major general probably r will be approved If however, the committee still is > snaattofled at the end * three 1 <IU . [ dropped from tba MM of promotes end the other U •»' *• aPP»® r **-

Russians Drive Spearhead In Smela Suburb Germans Resisting Stubbornly At Key Railroad Junction By United Pres* A Russian spe-irhead haa penetreated the -üburga of Smela. a key railroad junction in the the northern half of the Dnieper bend. The German* are resisting .Huie Itornly at Nrnela in order to prevent the Russian* from gaining control of the entire Fa-tov to Dniepropetrovak railroad. Should Smela fall, the German* would have a difficult time maintaining their defense line stretching from Smela through Kirovograd and along the Ingulet* river to Odessa on the Black Sea. The German high command al-o tell* of action on the lower Dnieper. ■Berlin say* the Ruwians ure attempting to break through toward the iron ore city of Krlvoi-Rog. The Paris radio, -peaking of the reme Russian thrust, said the Red army mailed in it* attack but i« now attempting to outflank KrivoiRog Military obsrevers believed the perstotency of these enemy report* indicate that the Ru aians are within range of Krivio Rog. The Russians are on the offensive in the Kiev Bulge, too. After abandoning Radomisl. 4» miles west of Kiev, the Ru-siaua have regained the initiative. The Germans tried to widen and deepen their wedge at Radomisl. hut were thrown back everywhere. The Russians' real plan, seem to hinge on the weather A special broadcast to the Red army areerted that the Soviet- would hit the Germans harder thia winter than they have ever been hit before. Slow Mercury Climb Is Predicted Friday Drop Foreseen In Influenza Epidemic Indianapcll*. Dec. 18. — (VP) Sub-iero tempraturea again have bit northern and central Indiana But the weather bureau at Indianapolis say* warmer temperature* are in store for Friday. The .oldest spot* in the state last night were South Bend. Marion. Indianapolis and Terre Haute All have reported offlcial reading* of one degree below xero. Scuth Bend also reports a trace of »now The bureau says Fort Wayn-'a lowest temperature was one above xero. and at Evansville the minimum was three above The weathermen say the cold will continue tonight But a slow, upward temperature climb is expected to begin tomorrow. To Mow Disease .By United Press* It's an ill wind that blows nobody good , The American Medical Association say* this week's auhsero cold spell is g< ing to bring a decrease In the wave of inßuensa that haa been aw< ping the country. Nevertnelee*. the weatherman (Turn Te P*<* *• Column 1> SCRAP DRIVE A city-wide piek «P ®f Oid Mgffgzine* Newnpapere Prepared Tin Cans _ win be conducted Saturday. City trucks, urtth Boy Scouts will pick up youi scrap material Tie magazines and newspapers in banties. 01 place them in Prepare the tteo aM place them in box Put container* along curb in front of your house

ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Decatur, Indiana, Thursday, December 16, 1943.

Kills 12 Japs —> jr ”^ll ■Bl Fileman Aurelio Ta**ono of Milford. Mat*. is credited with killing 12 Jap* with a bulldoter somewhere in th* Routh Pacific. Three Nazi Soldiers Confess Atrocities Admit Part In Nazi Kharkov Atrocities <By United Pre*s> Three German oldler* have signed formal confenaion* that they took part in Nasi atrocltiea at Zharkov. The defendants all face death sentence*. A 2<-year-old Itus-ian also pleaded guilty He acted a* chauffeur of the "German death wagon". According to the Moscow newapapers. theae men who rode the German death wagon caused the death of more than 20.000 Rus lan* during the Nasi-occupatlon of Khari kov. One of the murders, who i* u captain In the Nail counter-espionage service, calmly testified that he beat a Ru slan woman to death in the preueixce of her Itaby l»oy and then who! and killed the child to stop his crying. When be wau asked by the court now many people he bad sentenced to death on false charge-, he eat back, thought about the qaewllon. and answered "Oh. about a 10." o Decaturites Shiver As Cold Continues With th« weatherman promising a break in the cold wave, Decaturitm continued to shiver today under near xero temperatures. At 8 a. m. today the Dally Ibntocrat thermometer registered live degrees above aero. It started a steady climb after that hour, however. and by noon was near the 20degree mark.

American Bombers’ Accuracy Amazes German Air Leaders

d» m»WW — -W* —— — (By United Press) The Nail air force has doffed it* hat to American fliers The German luftwaffe—now beaten in the skies it once ruled —aays. in effect: You have to hand It to the Yanka. The amaxing accuracy of Amer (can bombing has inspired ench wonder among the German airmen that they actually have congratulated the Americana. Wellwood Beall, an Am dean air craft executive just back from England. tells about it. The buTa-eye markmanahip that evoked German admiration cam* in the raid on Regensburg The target was a Natl plane factory, rcaghly rectangular tn shape -and fairly small In a corner of the target area was a pteinly-marked hospital Dam age to anything that close to a target would seem inevitable But

Continue Food Price Subsidies To Feb. 2 Rail Brotherhoods Vote Strike Call Washington, Dec 10 tl'Pi Th* Christmas rush has spared the administration's subsidy program for another fiO day* The senate banking committee voted II to 5 to continue fold price subsidies and the commodity credit corporation until February •s The action came after the senator* turned down two alternatives a flat ban on subsidies, and Senator Taft's compromise proposal which would have permitted | the spending of HOO.OOO.tMiO a year for subsidies other than butter, meat and milk Farm bloc leaders were unanimous in opposing Taft's plan. Renato Democratic leader Hark ley says the legislators will tackle iRu subsidy problem as soon a* possible after the holidays Economic stabilization director Vinson made a last-ditch stand to- . day against the senate-approved Truman resolution to grant the non operating railway workers an elght-cent an hour wage increase. Vinson told the house Inter-atale commerce committee that th* Ten man resolution is an attack on the administration's stabilization program which would break the little steel fonnufS. Vinson's appeal came les* than 24 hours after the operating railway brotherhood voted to call a strike on December 30. unless ’ their wage demand* a-e met. Vln- ' son wa* the final witness l*-fore a house committee voted on the 1 Truman resolution. The commit j tee expected to approve it. ■ The xenat* finance committee* r -ii-.-(Turn To Pur* 4. Column 4) ; Nazis Claim FDR Plane Forced Down Landed At Azores [ On Trip To Cairo • London. Dec 18 (UP) —The ' German DNB news agency reports ’ that a plan* carrying President ’ H<H(sevelt made a forced landing 1 in the Azores because of motor • • trouble. The enemy broadcast which has not been confirmed by any Allied source said the reported forced landing was made in the Azores while Mr. Roosevelt was. en route to the Cairo and Tehran j C conferences. According to the • Nazi broadcast, motor troulth- • necessitated a landing for repair* The broadcast said the president • spent a few hours In the Azores b while his plan* wa* being repalr- • ed This report comes from an i • enemy source and has not been. confirmed elsewhere.

the Americana dumped hundreds of bombs on the factory Thia is the wonder —only two bombs fell near the hrspltal. and neither damaged the building. The luftwaffe radioed General Eaker. chief of the United States ■ eighth air force The message called the raid "a job well done." And the Nails added: “We don’t see bow you did it." When the enemy admit* you're good well, that's pin-point bombing The American plane executive also telle how lakers men dlecov ered the secret o< th* new German rocket plane He aays a Thuadei bolt with a camera in its nose happened to get on the tatl of a. Messerschmitt An American hnl-1 (Turn Te Page t, Ceiuma »)

British Prime Minister 111 In Middle East General Condition As Satisfactory As Can Be Expected BULLETIN London. Dec. 14. — (UP) —A late bulletin from number 10 Downing street says Prime Minister Winston Churchill had a good night and there is some improvement in his general condition. By United Pre** Prim* Minister Churchill ha* I been stricken with pneumonia. ll* I* presumably somewhere in th* Mediterranean area. A bulletin from 10 Downing street said a patch of pneumonia has developed on I'htirchill'* left lung And it adds that his general condition l« a* satisfactory as can Im- expected. The bulletin was read in th.* house of common* by deputy; prime minister Attlee. It did not reveal Chun hill's, present when about*. Bin foreign secretary i Eden said <m Tuesday that the' prime minislei had decided not lo' return to England with him be i cause there remained “Important work for him in the sphere where, h* now Is." Eden said Chun hill was in g<><»! health, though perhap- a little | tired when he left him Attlee assured common* that ! Churchill i« being well attended I Several specialists are at his bedI side one being lieutenant colonel j Pitlverlaft. commanding pathology officer Os the middle eastern for-. 1 ces That I* further indication i that ('hiiichill is in th* Middle , East. Churchill celebrated hi* fitlh ■birthday on Novemlter 3<t Only | la-t week he concluded a hi-toric-al round of conferences at Cairo ■ and Tehran with President R<>os<i velt. Premier Stalin. Generalis-I 'mo Chiang Kai Shek and Pre-i- ■ dent Ismet Inontt of Turkey. Churchill was said to lie in Cairo as late as last Friday when th* Greek information office attnounced that he bad conferred there with the premier of the Greek government in-exile. The illness is Churchill’s set ond this year In January he w asconfined to his lied with acute catarrh and an Inflammation of . the respiratory passageToday'* bulletin brought tip a ticklish question that of a po*(Turn To !’*<• 1. Column 4) . .. _ _o — — Committee Studies Boom Town Problems Small Mississippi Town Probe Scene Washington. Dee. 14 — (UP) Ctngress has eent a spacial com mitte* down Into a gulf coast war boom town to find out what has made it atop ticking A special senate committee ha* set up shop In the guinea pig town of Pascagoula. Miss The senators are trying to find cut what is wrong with Pascagoula, and thousands of other mushroom war town* throughout the nation In the Brat two hours of it* in vestlgatfon. the committee learned that —am ng other things Paacagoula hasn't enough dolors, street ; light*, ice and garbag - collections. In fact the only things Paarsgoula has too much of are honky tonk* and juke joint* That's because thi* rambling I little sea-side eommuncy with «- ■ inhabitant* bark in IM7 was I suddenly transformed Into a busy metropolis of 2A<*n »•.<*• using •”(Tara To Pa«s 2, Colama »)

Report Schricker To Convene Legislature To Provide Voting For Men In Service Indianapolis. Dec. 18 (UP) It’- reported reliably (hat governor Hchrlcker will ca'l a e|(e< ial session I of the Indiana general assembly in ' February or Mar h to pae l l*gl-la-tlon permitting -ervlcemen and women to vote in the !•»14 state election*. Th* chief executive i* expected to announce the special se-slon within the next two week*. Sources ■ i lo*.- to Schricker say that fltwt he will <onfer with Republican stat* ; . hairman Ralph Gate le-nnwratic j »taie chairman Fred Haye. Lieutenant governor Charle* Dawson and house speaker Holiart Creighton. The governor himself decline* to ay definitely that a session will It* .■ailed But he doe* aay: •'As far as I am concerned, I want to do everything possible to see ' that our lioye In the united force* i g.-t a ehnnee to vote." However, before summoning legislators, Sbericker Is expected to make certain that th* legislation would lie free of the red tape which makre it virtually Impos-ible for soldier* oversea* to vote 99 Os Savannah’s Crew Are Decorated Allied Headquarter*. Algiers. D.-< 18 (UP) Ninety nine mem iters I j of the cruiser Havannah'- crew have. been decorated for their part in the ] Ulied landings at Valertio on Bep-■ , tember 11 Among th<-m are two Indiana men. who were awarded silver star* They ate shipfitter thiid das*' John Rw.gon of Gary and gunner' ; mate third < la* Roy Summers of of Warsaw The Cavalniiah was ltoml*-d and <lantag.*l severely during the oper- ; atfotl*. —— Catholic Schools To Close Tomorrow 'I "T —L To Remain Closed Until January 3 With Chrl turns Day a little mor* than a week away. Decatur and community are beginning to pro I dme evidences of the approaching < holiday First tangible evidence of the season will Im shown tomorrow when the Catholic SI bools ate closed for ,' the holiday, with cla *e» discontlnu- . id until January 3. after New I Year’s Day. I*uldic schools tn the city and 1 county will not cl<M* untit the fol i lowing Friday. December 24. and i remain closed until January 3. Although Chrlsttna* shopping ha ■ 1.. .H nawialiy brig! thin year, pnrt- • ly because of the enlarged payroll* j and partly becau e of the necessity of early purchases for men and women in the armed fercew. the usual I last minute rush I* expected next Week Rtorre of the city will remain open night- next week un’il P P m. except on Friday night, when they will doe at 5:2® p m to permit 1 workers to mark Christmas Eve st I home. 1 The customary Thursday afternoon closing in we store- has also ' tieen abandoned until after the boll- ■ I day*. bujetin” Washinghffl. !>«•- 11 — (IT) — The White Houwe announrew that President Kmmevelt is "safely back in the Stales” from the overseas joarwey of about five weeks which took him to war conferences in the Middle East. However. White House ■ secretary Stephen Early sayn he hasn't been adviw- ! ed an to when the president will reach Washington.

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Two Sections Os Crack Train Wrecked Today Accurate Casualty List Impossible; Many Are Injured Rcnm-rt. N C. Dre 18 -flip)— A serlou* railroad accident on th* Atlantic Coast Line railway haw caused a tragic toll of dead and injured. Al least 5® persons are ieported to have been killed It Is feared th* death toll may reach 75 There are many Injured person* about Lio in all arc believe® to have been hurt. It is impossible to give an occurnt* casualty figure, because some persons «till are burled in the wreckage. Th* accident happened early today In near-zero weather near Rennert. N <’ when three car* of the Tamiami Champion. Florida bound from New York, jumped the track Th* northlionnd east. | coast Champion, running from Miami to New York, smashed into the derailed train Many of tin- bodies are being taken to a funeral home at Red Spring* N C A woman in charge of th* place said that almut &O bodies had been brought In with more still coming Atlantic coastline officials at Rocky Point said reports to them Indicated the death toll would reach 75. Most of the dead and many injured were In two < ar* of th* north bound Ea-t Coast Champion. The secund and third coaebM behind It* engine weie telescoped and jammed the three derailed cars of the Tamiami Champion The Impact scattered wreckage over several hnndn-d yards of track Scores of injured were trapped in cars or thrown out into the near zero <<dd and *now (our Inches dc*|Bel ween 5* and 8" of the injuri ed were servicemen Willkie Welcomes Vote-Buying Probe Wa hington. D-c 18 (UP) A special senate judiciary suit-com-mittee plane to ask Wendell Willkfe some question* after January j 1 -to determine if vote-buying helped him with th* Republican pre-ld-ential nomination in IM<> Wlllkl* han denied the charge, and *ay* he will welcome an Investigation. Committee chairman Kilgore of W, -I Virginia say* the group also will h-ad Republican Renator Langer of North Dakota, who introduced a r. -idstlon calling for uit Investigation Another Witness Will be formet Mayor C Nelson Spark® Ot Akron. Ohio, in whose (took — “Oimi Man Wendell Willkie" the votebuying charge was made. o Burns Are Fatal To Logansport Woman ■ - lavgansport. Ind. Dec. 14 —(UP) —Mtw Florence Htpsher of 1-ogan-sport died thi. morning ot Imrns suffered Tuesday wh*a her clothing was ignited by an oil -tore in ' the ki'chen of her home Rhe wm 1 41 yeatw old. 7JWPHW bNesql