Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 43, Number 12, Decatur, Adams County, 15 January 1945 — Page 1

I /e Must Win the War All Else Is Chores!

Vol. XLIII. No. 12.

POUND AT CENTER OF ARDENNES SALIENT

-Great Battle On Eastern Front

imusi'i — hree Million eds, Germans ocked In Fight ||k Tremendous Battle 4Rages Along Great ’War Front In East tondon, Jan. 15 —(UP)—One of greatest battles of the war ragoday along a virtually unbroken it from Lithuania to Yugoslavia. ®?h possibly 3,250,000 (Russian's y*' Germane locked in at least nine ■ely synchronized struggles. * Bitter fighting has flared up on entire front” the German high / t tinand reported. he Russians already were calltheir great winter offensive the s-ch to Berlin. Naz. military / keamen warned that the Red - y “intends to end the war.” Iw o far Moscow had confirmed ~ ' Marshal Ivan S. Konev’s push the frozen plains of southr Mar ~a i Poland, aimed squarely at hips ar; g rea t Nazi defence baeton of is s -kow and the rich industries lerman an Re ,.lin said the Red army ofreive had raced to Both ends of .-ester-;.- t f ron , t) w [th sledge-hammer ee so near each other that it len - T difficult to determine where 3l See. attac j. ; 6 ft off and another be- ■ ' jjjazi propagandists said the SovM had Hung 115 divisions, plus Te than 15 tank corps, into four Rs alone, while a United Press iatch from Moscow figured Geri strength in Poland at 100 divithe single new front reported «. eMoscow, Soviet dispatches said Bgtgl Germans had been unable to and the Russians were roll- ' weetward at a cii p whioh s to split the Nazi armies rf|goland. SSgie German high command said M!jj|nain battle zones, from south to t|&§h, were Budapest, tne Danube northwest of the Hungarian ,-tal, the (Huagariaii-Slo.akian WSldei- area, tjhe Krakow front, the jjwv legion of the V ,®Wiles south of Warsaw, the Mag!Se area 33 miles below Warsaw. Vistula-Bug triangle north of capital, Soviet bridge3Croas the Narew on either of Pulutsk nertl) cf Warsaw, front in Uast Prussia. SjpiM Nazi command claimed that Russian tanks had been dessd “in the great winter battle stry i" o f th- I'urn To Page 5, Column 4) la/Sci- 0 .TTrplus Is Reported iG! County Hospital ’•deficit Shown At gpKdams County Farm ie Adams county memorial hoe1 card .has a surplus of $7,402.22 over have ir-sements in 1944. the annual rt filed with Turman I. Drew, ty auditor, reveals. J .-ceipts at the hospital were nCS'29.7-3 and disbursements t0ta1yj84,827.5L yj84,827.5L Following the instruc- -, from the state -board of ac- ■ ts, this surplus will remain to tredit of the hospital and does g I revert to the county’s general * ae other unexpended balances the beginning of the year. y I •:« deficit at the county farm ig the 'lasrt year was approxily $9,500, the auditor's report 's. Expenditures at the farm ed $113,6402 and receipts I [fihted to $4,009,19. 11 abetter showing, was made in I when receipts at the farm tothe * albout $7,000, Mr. Drew said. ' r, e are 80 inmates at the farm « present time. Afh’EMPERATURE READING hUUmocrat thermometer too m.W 22 Pho" f :eo a. m 22 on - —... 22 iS . p-" 22 r ° r ' WEATHER tow flurried end colder toa g Ibht, Tuesday clearing and tie change In temperature.

DECATUR DAI J X DEMOCRAT

Pvt. Norman Noack Wounded In Germany Pvt. Norman L. Noack, of this city, was wounded in action in Germany on December 22, the war department baa notified his wife, Mrs. Norman L. Noack, 3721 Euclid avenue, Fort Wayne. Pvt. Noack, an infantryman, ie a son of Mrs. Lewie Stump of Decatur rural route six. He entered the army on April 26, 1944 and went overseas last. October. In a recent letter to his wife, Pvt. Noack asked to be remembered to his friends of the Pleasant Valley church. State Legislature Reconvened Today Legislators Begin Second Full Week Indianapolis. Jan. 15 —(UP) —. Hoosier legislators begin their second full week of work today after seven days of actual sessions in which there was little or no partisan debate and few controversial measures introduced in either house of the general assembly. Os 150 bills offered, only one has been passed—a $200,000 appropriation to pay the costs of the 84th assembly, including $5 a day to each legislator for ‘expenses,’ and still hanging fire were several proposals to change the administration of the state welfare department, some of them nonpartisan. Both houses reconvene at 1 p. m. after a weekend adjournment. Within the next few days, the senators and representatives were expected to concern themselves with the possibility of new taxes to keep intact the state’s huge general fund surplus for post-war insurance against reconversion and probable unemployment. A taxpayer’s group has recommended a recodification of the state’s property tax laws, many of which have been re-enacted or amended at each biennial session of the legislature. However, no general agreement has been reached among the Republican majority leadership of what new taxes, if any. should be added, but the most-discussed so far was a hike in the levy againsft cigarettes. The state budget committee 5 was reported to be working on ’an appropriation measure, calling for of more than $90,00l)‘0b0 for the operation of state government for the next two years, including increases of some $8,000,000 above the current fiscal budget for increased (Turn To Page S. Column 3) O 243 German Planes Destroyed Sunday Berlin Hit Twice During The Night London, Jan. 15. — (UP) — More than 1,100 RAF bombers took over the offensive against Germany’s shrinking oil supplies' last night and early today, bombing a synthetic oil plant, a fuel depot and Berlin in a sequel to yesterday’s raids in which 243 enemy planes were destroyed. Soon after dawn, American heavy bombers with an escort of soared back over Germany for a new round of attacks. Four-engine# RAF Lancaster bombers attacked the Leuna synthetic oil plant at Merseburg, 17 miles west of Leipzig, one St 9 a m. and the other after midnight. Returning crewmen reported tremendous explosions split the night sky as their bombs found vital targets. Hundreds of direct hits also were reported in the attack on Dulmen, whose fuel depot 17 miles southwest of Munster, was one of those from which the German army drew supplies for the breakthrough in Ardennes. Berlin was hit twice during the night, first at 8:30 p. m. and again about mldttight- ©then RAF night raider* attacked railways behind (Turn To Page 5, Column 2) -

Yanks Advance To Within 80 Miles Os Manila Stab Inland From Lingayen Gulf To Pour Across Agno General MacArthur’s Headquarters. Luzon. Jan. 15. — il’P) —American invasion troops, etabbing 30 miles inland from the Lingaye.i gulf, poured across the Agno river and advanced to within SO miles or less of Manila today. The forcing of the Agno in strength shattered at one stroke probably the strongest natural defense line north of Manila and optimism grew at Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s headquarters that the Philippines capital would be in American hands within a few weeks, rather than months as first believed. While the main American columns speared more than a quarter of the distance from Lingayen to Manila in a froirtal advance, other forces widened the six-day-oiu beachhead along the gulf itself to 45 miles. (A Japanese communique said today that American forces were “gradually closing in" on Japanese positions on both sides of the Pangasinan (province) plain. Japanese units were said to have counter-at-tacked American troops who landed near Damortifi on the northeast side of the beachhead and to have killed or wounded 1,000 of them in flighting last Thursday and Fri-I day.) (Tokyo radio said three to four American divisions have landed in the Lingayen gulf. A Japanese military commentator said the invasion offered the Japanese a “golden opportunity for annihilating the enemy,” but conceded that flexible American strategy made the “opportunity for a defensive campaign hard.” (Saburo Kurusu, Japan s special envoy to the United States at the (Turn To Page 3. Column 5) o— Four Local Soldiers Are Given Citations Cited For Service With Army In France Four Decatur soldiers have been cited by the war department for distinctive service in combat against the enemy in France. The combat infantryman’s badge has been awarded to three and the bronze star medal to one. The three soldiers who receiv- ■ ed the combat infantryman’s badge are with the 319th Infantry in France, their citation being for "exemplary conduct in action against the enemy." They are: Pvt. Doyle H. Gay, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Gay of Decatur rural route four, and husband of Jean Marie LaForge Gay, who resides in Fort Wayne with their two children. Nancy and Richard Gay. Pvt. Gay is a graduate of Decatur high school and entered the army in July, 1942. Pfc. Ermil D. Shifferly. son of Mr. and Mrs. Otis Shifferly of Decatur rural route three. He i entered the army on July 1, 1942 ■ and in June 1943 was made a private first class. T/Sgt. Lloyd A. Myers, son of George A. Myers of Thirteenth street. He is with an anti-tank company of the 319th Infantry regiment. He entered the army in July 1942. Staff Sgt. Eugene Hitchcock, son of Mr. and Mrs. Floyd R. Hitchcock of South Line street, was awarded the bronze star medal for "Distinctive Service in connection with military operations against the on Aug- , ust 24, 1944, in the vicinity of i Fontainebleau. France." The 0 citation reads. “Sgt” Hitchcock, an observer, was manning an observation post which was under intense enemy artillery, mortar and small arms fire. Sgt. Hitch(Turn To Page S, Column 3)

ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Decatur, Indiana, Monday, January 15, 1945.

a ' A Study In Comparison - ’’ . A i JF VS wk SiMlO II TO J ■' ll ' / WftMMßegi 111 1 Ml iiiMllillffiA W TV. Wrfti K_.' ... ASK ■ THE SIZE of a B 29 can be judged by the men shown working on the tail assembly of one of the big ships at its base on Saipan in the Marianas. Although tlie enemy lias launched many attacks against outbase here, the Superfortresses continue to blast industrial targets in the Jap homeland. This is an official U. S. Air Forces photo.

Thomas Dale Biery Killed In Belgium Former Geneva Man Is Killed In Action Pvt. Thomae Dale Biery, 26. of Geneva, father of two small boys was killed in action in Belgium on December 36, rejativee have been notified by the war department. Pvt. Biery was an infantryman in the ninth rainy. He entered service April 20. 1944, and after receiving basic training at an army camp in Texas, wa>3 sent overseas in October. ■He was born June 17. 19IS, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Biery. and was married to Frances Mason 19138. Mrs. Biery and their two small sons, Marvin Dean, aged three, and David Dale, who was -born last July, reside with her father. John D. Mason, who lives southeast of Berne. Surviving in addition to the wife and two sons are the father. Peter Biery, of Geneva, and four sisters: ‘Mils. Waldo Neal, Mrs. Lloyd MunDelilah Andrews, all of Geneva, and Mrs. Emma Brown of (Turn T” Pag.e 5. Column 1)

Pfc. Robert L. Holloway Is Killed In Action In Belgium

Pfc. Robert L. Holloway. 21, only son of Mr. and Mrs. Murray Holloway of Pleasant Mills, was killed in action in Belgium in the German counter-drive on lleceinher 26, the war department notified the yesterday. Going overseas last August, the young infantryman landed in England and then went to France. ; He served with the 84th Infantry ; division in that country, and in Belgium and Holland, had entered Germany with the American troops, and then transferred back to Belgium. Pfc. Holloway was a chemical engineer attached to the division. He was graduated from the Pleasant Mills high school, where he starred on the basketball team, anil had attended., Bal! State college about two years before entering the army in March. 1943. He took basic training at Camp Ark.. and various of specialized training Pat Camp Maxey. Texas, Camp Claiborne. La., and at Lafayette college, Eastern, Pa. He was home on furlough last summer, iust prior to his going overseas in August. Pfc. Holloway was born in Fort Wayne on October 28, 1925. Be-

Two Jap Admirals Are Reported Dead By United Press The deaths of Vice Admiral Sadimich Kajioka and Rear Admiral 'Miuegoro Kameyama announced 'by the Hokosuka naval station, the Domei news agency said today inoa transmission ref corded 'by the FCC. ’ | The dispatch gave no details, i Their deaths brought to 82 the num- ! iiber of Japanese admirals reported | to have died on active duty sipce May, 1944. i; o— Montana Congressman ’ Dies Sunday Night (Washington. Jan. 15 —(UP) —Rep. James F. O’Connor. D.. Mont., ranking representative from his state. ' died at his home here last night, !, his office said today. He was 66 and a resideftt of Livingston Mint. IHe was chairman of the house Indian affairs committee. OlConnor was born on a farm near California Junction, la., and J attended public and normal schools i in lowa. He was graduated from j the University of Nebraska law ' I school in 1914 and moved to MonI tana when he was 21. In his new i state he engaged in cattle ranching ’ • and the practice of law.

j I' .resides his parents, he is survived by his grandparents, Mr. • and Mrs. Jess Steele of Pleasant Mills and George Holloway, grandfather, of Bluffton. His parents had a letter from him written on December 17. in which he mentioned about the weather over there, and added that he preferred the Indiana brand.

Yankee Tanks, Infantry Storm Near Defenses Os Houffalize, Nazi Bastion

Roosevelt’s Fourth Inaugural Saturday Leaves Shortly For 'Big Three' Confab Washington. Jan. 15.—(UP). —A deiii ate and urgently important six mouths period in the political relationships of the major Allies begins this week with President Roosevelt’s inauguration for t fourth term as chief executive of the United Slates. The ceremony will take place mt /he south portico of the White House at noon on Saturday. Jan. 20. Mr. Roosevelt will leave soon afterward for a secret conference wish Prime Minister Winston Churc’hill and Marshal Josef V. Stalin. The president probably will be back hottie by mid-March. Soon thereafter jj.is expected that the United States will issue inVjjStio'i* for a full dress conference;of the United Natioils. That-* will undertake to draft a p®aceguarantee tijeaty which V-if the schedule can be maintained.’-*': 1 ' be submitted to the senale before June, for ratification. Such a treaty would formally commit ratifying powers to the collective postwar security proposals implicit in the Dumbarton Oaks agreement -reached here last autumn in conferences between representatives of the Soviet Union. Great Britain and the United States. This is a hurry-up program for international agreement and action upon postwar peace machinery. It is designed to avoid the political disagreements which turned former military friends and Allies into diplomatic foes after World War t (Turn Tn Pagie 2. Column 4) O Heavy Snows Smother Italian Front Action Rome, Jan. 15—(UP'- Heavy snows in the Appenines and rains n the Adriatic coastal .rector smothered action on the fifth and eighth army frantic although the Germans continued attempts to (establish outposts ■ it the south side of the Reno river north of Ravenna, headquarters said today. Today s communique report d: “There has ‘been no change in forward positionls on either the fifth or eighth army fronts." n County’s Red Cross Quota Is Increased Mounting Demands Os War Up Quota iDue f«» mouiHlng - demand's fwRed Cross services in the .European jind Pacific theatres of war. the national Red 'Cro.-n has notified Clarence E. Bell. Adams county chapter chairman, that the war fund goal hjjs been increased from $ I.B'l. 000 to $290,000,1'00, boosting the county's share by $2,000. , "‘J’reviously the local . hapt.r had turn advised that the county’s share of tile national fund was $12.000. It hatTbeen increased to $14,000. The cbapter’is budget is $2,700. making the goal for the war fund drive which opens in March $16,700. ■Mr. Bell explained that the $16.700 goal is the same <’s the 1944 quota. The fund was oversubecribed by several thousand dollars. (Chait man Basil O Connor of the iR( d 'Crees Issued the following statement in connection with the announcement of increasing the national goal: "It is obvious that th- estimates we made last fall for our twar fund campaign in 'March are now inadequate,” Mr. O'Connor said. “Accordingly we have revised cur goal to meet this new situation. I am confident the American public will respond generously to this emergency when the campaign opens on March 1.”

Tokyo Reports Carrier Planes Rake Formosa 200 Carrier Planes Reported In Attack On Japanese Bastion Pearl Harbor, Jan. 15—-l UP)— l Enemy broadcasts said 21'0 AmerI ican carrier planes—presumably I from Admiral William F. Halsey's : campaigning third fleet — raked airfields and communications on the Japanese island bastion of Formosa today. Tlie broadcasts indicated that the third fleet under radio silence since it wrecked 38 enemy ships in attacks along a 250-mile stretch of the French IndoChina coast last Friday, had swung j north from the South China Sea for .its third assauU on Formosa in two weeks. 1 A communique issued by Japanese army headquarters said the carrier planes boinbed airfields and communications facilities and also strafed and blasted Taichu. Shoka, Takao. and several other villages for four and a half hours. The communique acknowledged “some damage" to airfields ami said “small fires” were started, at Takao, where 30 civilians were reported to have been killed or wounded. The raids lasted from i 8:30 a. m to 1 p. nt.. Tokyo time, the communique said. Five of the raiders were shot down and one damaged, the coni; munique said. It was broadcast by the Domei agepCy. transmitted by Tokyo radio, and recorded by FCC Monitors. Carrier planes also attacked Formosa Jan. 2 and 3 and again last Tuesday in an attempt to ' prevent the Japanese from mov(Turn Tn Pan-' Cnlu'iin I) 0 Thousands Seeking War Industry Jobs GJ g- O O o ca* cbb" Work Qr Fr a ght°Bill Threat Effective By United Press The threat of work or fight legislation has had almost as much effect in getting pten to transfer to war industries as a draft would and thousands of workers have jammed U. S. employment offices throughout the country to sign up for war work. ■ a survey revealed today. Many major war production . '-enters reported the heaviest Htt creases in war job seekers since D-Day and in Wisconsin alone, more than 11.000 applicants jammed USES offices with tlie greatest. increase reported in war-busy Milwaukee. The war manpower commission at Detroit reported that 5.000 of the applicants processed last week were "highly capable ami qualified 4-F’s from service- industries—just the kind we’re after" One of the largest incrases was reported in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Applicants last Mon day and Tuesday at St. Paul increased 400 percent over the previous week, while in Minneapolis, the increase for the first two weeks of this month topped a similar period in December by 125 percent. Boston reported a 40 percent increase and in Pennsylvania applicants lumped more titan 20 percent. Many W.MC offices also reported that requests for statements of availability required for job transfers had dropped to a newlow. The Sacramento. Calif., office of the USES reported that it had received no requests since Jan. 1 and the Chicago office reported a sharp decline in requests (Turn To Page 2, Column 2)

Buy War Savings Bonds And Stamps

Price Four Cents.

Forecast Early Fall Os Belgian Base To Allies, Forces Are Closing In For Kill BULLETIN Washington, Jan. 15—(UP) — American losses in ths zone of the German break-through in the Ardennes totalled nearly 40,000, secretary of war Henry „ L. Stimson announced today. The figures covered the period from Dec. 15, when the enemy offensive began, to Jan. 7, of the total. 18.000 are listed as missing and the majority of these presumably were captured. Paris. Jan. 15— (UPI — American tanks and infantry stormed the near defenses of Houffalize today and a dispatch from Lt. , Gen. Courtney H. Hodges’ headquarters forecast the early capture of the Belgian base which only was at the center of the collapsed Ardennes salient. Houffalize was invested on all I sides, and assault forces of the first ami third armies were closI ing in for tlie kill, with one spearhead driving down the main high'oway from Liege to within a mile and a half of the key transport ‘ center. A few miles to the northwest, outriders of the first and third i armies met for the first junction , of Hodges' and Lt. Gen. George S. j Patton’s troops since the first I phase of the German offensive i which split the 12th army group i wide open. United Press coifespohdeflt John McDermott reported from ’ Hodges' headquarters that two ! first army columns were should- ; ering in toward Houffalize against ( stiff German resistance. By early i afternoon one hail struck down i Hi” trunk highway from the north ' almost to the outskirts of the town, and McDermott said I hat I "there is a good possibility i( ■ will fall soon." ° The German garrison. ringed by American troops and armor, was fighting desperately, and fragmentary units w<-n- trying io filter through the U. S. lines and •seape over the thinly guarded back roads to the east. Hodges’ artillery was shellacking the German transports milling around in the battle zone and generally falling back to the shelter ot the Siegfried defenses. a»ops the 30th division >vi re battling inside Thirimont. four miles southeast of Malinedy, where th” bitterest battle of the first army front bad been going on for more than 24 hours. This battle was holding up the push down into the northeastern shoulder of the salient by Hodges' I left wing. While the first army columns were slugging down through Wilbrin and Dinez to the northern approaches of Houffalize, desperate German counterblows below the town drove the vanguard of the third army out of Neville, five miles south of Houffalize. only a few hours after the town was captured. Ice. snow bitter cold, and fog I which prevented air support slowed down the concerted drives by the first, third, and British second armies which were squeezing' the Germans out of the salient. Vanguards of the three armies were barely two to four miles from Houffalize early today and closing in from all sides at a speed that foreshadowed its. capture within a matter of hours. Strong German rear guards (Turn Tn Column 4) — —O Public Is Invited To Attend Safety Show , The public is invited to attend the safety show at the Decatur junior-senior high school Tuesday afternoon at 12:45 o’clock. The show is sponsored by the 'Erie railroad and the Decatur police department. Safety films will be sho-wn and a lecture will be given by Ralph Steen, captain of the Erie railroad poli:-- department. Students from the public and Catholic schools will attend the safety show.