Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 43, Number 21, Decatur, Adams County, 25 January 1945 — Page 1

Ve Must Win the War! j Ail Else is Chores! «

oiTXLIIi. No. 21.

RED ARMIES BREAK ACROSS ODER RIVER — ■ — ■ 1 " ■ 1 •

rerman Forces In Attack On front jGenerol Sommervell [Says Allies Ready | For Big Offensive paris, Jan. 25 —(UP) —German r »Ces attacking on a 20-mile uitian front, possibly in an irt to upset a full scale Allied ensive that appeared to be iping up, have by-passed the transport hub of Haguenau both sides, supreme headquarIs announced today. Itriking in the single sector of *. western front where they held initiative, the Germans adiced nearly two miles in them Alsace, reaching the vile of Schillersdorf, at the edge the Hardt forest within a mile , the Haguenau-Sarre union nk highway. ’A. Gen. Alexander M. Patch’s enth army forces sealed off penetration, and were battit; about 300 Nazis who had ikbbed a foothold in Schillers‘midst signs of a brewing ied offensive, Lt. Gen. Brehon nervell said at supreme headirters that Gen. Dwight D. enhower’s forces had enough ,plles on hand to mount a jor drive while the Russians caving in the eastern defenI of Germany. jvhile stocks are on hand for a 111 operation, Somervell warned a press conference that the ' duction of ammunition, trucks, other war goods would have -be increased tremendously to vent critical shortages ou the item front. ‘'lie new German attack on the it enth army front between Ha- « nau and Reipertswiller open- . as other Allied armies to the th flattened the Ardennes sali (f ; to a thin bump and ground .'n the Nazis’ pocket across ' Roer in the appendix area of them Holland. '"he Germans drove across the '' ler river on both sides of "burn To Page ?, Column 2) A' o dssian Diplomat "es In Air Crash 'IT Soviet Ambassador To Mexico Killed Mexico City, Jan. 25. —(UP) — ibassador and Mrs. Constantine lansky were killed In the crash i Mexica army transport short--1 fter it took off from the Mexico • ■ airport today, the Russian emly announced. umansky was en route to San s, Costa Rica, to present his lentials to the Costa. Rican govnent. leven of IS passengers died in crash. Mexican military authI lies refused to permit newsmen ■ the scene of the accidnt, -'ju’vivprg were taken to hostile, too badly burned in the fire followed the crash to be quesi (he aircraft, a dual motored I iy trankport, burst into flames j i fell about a mile and a half ' h of the airport. Able Diplomat o umansky, considered one of the ,et union’s dost able diplomats, well known in Washington, ‘ re he served In the Russian emvtly from 1938 to 1941. is assignment to Mexico as am- ' lador was considered one of most difficult the Soviet union to offer. His job there was to to win for his country diploiflic recognition from the preLinantly Catholic, anti-Russian 'urn To Page 7, Column 1) [IItEMPERATURE READING SMOCRAT THERMOMETER :00 a. m. 12 :00 a. m, i— 14 >on — 16 :00 p. m. 18 WEATHER Occasional light rain in exisme south and a little snow I central portion tonight, endlllln early Friday; not so cold in IW'rth portion tonight, little ange in temperature Friday.

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY <

Third In Lecture Series On Tonight iA quartet from the Decatur Catholic high school will sing at the opening of the program this evening at the Decatur junior-senior high school when Arthur O'Connor of New York City, native of Australia and famed newspaper correspondent, will deliver an address on Australia and New Zeland. 'Mr. O'Connor’s talk in the third •in the series'of lectures in the institute of international understanding, sponsored by the Decatur Rotary club. i b Tokyo Reports B-29 Nuisance Raids On Osaka l Also Reports U. S. Naval Bombardment Os Volcano Island Pearl Harbor. Jan. 25. — (UP)— Tokyo reported two more B-29 nuisance raids on the Japanese industrial center of Osaka, a naval bombardment of Two in the Volcanoes and a 120-plane carrier-bas-ed raid on Palembang in the Dutch East Indies in the quickening Pacific war today. A Japanese domestic broadcast ' said lone Superfortresses bombed the Osaka area 250 miles west of Tokyo at 8 o’clock last night and again at 1 a.m. today (Tokyo timei, but caused no damage. ’ American surface ships, including four cruisers and eight destroyers, bombarded Iwo. Japanese | stepping stone island 750 miles , south of Tokyo Wednesday and infileted “negligible" damaged, anoth- , er Tokyo broadcast said. Superfortresses from the Marianas blasted Iwo in strength wi s h , “good results” Wednesday, according to a war department communique, and it ’was possible that the naval bombardment was tied > in with the air attack. Twice be ; fore 11-29 s have hit Iwo in con- , junction with surface vessels. One of the attacking cruisers was damaged heavily by Japanese shore batteries in the latest bombardment, Tokyo said. A Japanese imperial headquartets communique reported the car-rier-borne raid on Palembang. one of the most important oil-producing centers in the Dutch East Indies. It is situated on the southeastern end of Sumatra, about 300 miles south of Singapore. Tokyo radio said the raid was launched from a British task force, built around three large aircraft ■ carriers, and was part of the Brit- ! ish fleet “which is coming in from i the Indian ocean area.” The enemy communique said 120 i carrier planes attacked Palembang ■ Wednesday morning. Japanese fighters and antiaircraft batteries L shot down 78 of the raiders, the . communique claimed, while 14 Jap(Turn To Page 7, Column 3) o t Annual K. C. Rabbit Supper Next Week - Rev. Aloys Dirksen Principal Speaker The annual rabbit supper of the i Knights of Columbus for members, , > their wives and sweethearts will be . held next Wednesday at the K. of C. ■ hall, Ben Biting, chairman of She event, announced today. , During the past hunting season, • members obtained 85 rabbits, which 1 were dressed and placed in the Sorg , ' locker, aaiting the date for the annaul banquet. The date was deferr- ’ ed until the remodeling program ■ 1 in the K. of C. club rooms was com- i pitted. ißev. Aloys Dirksen, pastor of the j Precious Blood churea in Fort , Wayne, former president of St. Jos- , eph's College, Rensselaer, will be ) the principal speaker. Rev. Joseph i J. Seimetz, pastor of S't. Mary’s ■ church, Rev. Robert Hotvel, assistant to Father Seimetz and Rev. I Joseph Hennes, pastor of St. Rose's ; churdh iMonroevtll®. will aleo ; i apeak. The banquet will be prepared by > women of the parish, following < which a dance and social program 1 Will be conducted. 1

Henry Wallace Hits Back At Jones'Charge Wallace Outlines His Proposed Plans As Commerce Head Washington, Jan. 25 —(UP) — Former vice president Henry A. Wallace struck back today at Jesse Jones’ charge that he would be a dangerous man as federal loan administrator, but said he would take the job of commerce secretary even if it were stripped of its present huge financial powers. Testifying before the senate commerce committee against a bill to divorce the Reconstruction finance Corp, from the commerce department, Wallace said he would like to use the RFC’s billions “in the interests of ail the American people.” But in any event he will, if confirmed, take the job to which President Roosevelt has nominated him, and will concentrate all the department's efforts “to the winning of the war.” Meanwhile, Jones, ousted .by the president to make way for Wallace, disclosed that he had turned over all his “functions and responsibilities” as secretary of commerce and federal loan administrator to undersecretary Wayne C. Taylor, pending installation of a new secretary. In a formal statement to the senate committee, Wallace outlined proposed plans for putting into effect the economic bill of rights which President Roosevelt presented in his 1944 and 1945 annual messages to congress. He recommended among other things a guaranteed minimum annual wage for labor: a floor under prices for farmers, and as little regulation of business as possible consistent with the greatest public good. Wallace also replied to Jones’ charge, voiced before the committee yesterday, that he was “a man willing to jeopardize the country's future with untried ideas and idealistic schemes.” In so doing he revived his (Turn Tn Page S. Column 2) 0 New Assignment To Gen. Joe Stilwell Named Commander Os Ground Forces Washington, Jan. 25 —(UP) — Secretary of war Henry L. Stimson today announced the appoint-’ ment of Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell, former commander of American forces in the China-Burma-India theater, as commander of U. S. army ground forces. Stilwell succeeds Lt. Gen. Ben Lear, recently named deputy commander of American forces in the European theater of operations. Lear is serving there in an administrative capacity. “Vinegar Joe” Stilwell was re- ■ called from the Orient at the request of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek as a result of differences between the two men over how best to make use of what war materials they had. He had been serving as chief of staff to Chiang as well as commander of American forces. Stlmsoh announced the appointment at a news conference to 1 which he also read a cablegram < from Lt. Gen. Dan I. Sultan, now < commander of American forces 1 in Burma: and India, expressing 1 regret that Stilwell was not present to see the opening of the new j Ledo road over which supplies ] are to be carried from India to ; China. * ; In his new post, Stilwell will be in command of one of the three ( components of the army. The . other two are the army air forces, j headed by Gen. Henry H. Arnold, < and the army service forces, headed by Lt. Gen. Brehon B. Somervell. The three leaders make 1 their here and their • jobs are administrative, rather 1 than combat. 1 Stilwells friends were convinc- 1 ed he . would have preferred a < combat command but the army 1 hign command apparently deemed otherwise. «

Decatur Indiana, Thursday, January 25,1945.

What To Do About Henry? rSSE WPtlir . '.r-Sr. DISCUSSING THE CHANGE from Jesse Jones to Henry A. Wallace as secretary of commerce, the Senate committee on commerce meets in secret session. Senator Josiah Bailey, left, of North Carolina, committee chairman, is shown above talking with Senator Walter I’. George of Georgia about the proposed stripping of financial power from the commerce secretary's post.

New Senators Pledge Roosevelt Support Freshmen Solons To Back Foreign Policy Washington, Jan. 25. — (UP) — President Roosevelt was armed today with an unequivocal pledge of ■ support by every new member of the senate for a dynamic Toreign policy which would commit the United States to direct and im- 1 mediat# participation in the. set-1 tlement of European problems. Coming on the eve of the forthcoming big three conference, the unexpected blanket approval of a; policy action, instead of words, i placed the president in a far stronger position to negotiate with Prime Minister Winston Churchill; and Premier Josef Stalin. The pledge was given by 16 j “freshmen" senators —lO Demo-; crats and six Republicans — who' constitute one-sixth of the senate. It was damatic support for what President Roosevelt considers a fourth term election mandate .to lead the United States to a posi-! tion of responsibility in European affairs. It came in the midst of revelation that Mr. Roosevelt had submitted to Churchill a detailed memorandum on the United States attitude toward liberated countries | and other international problems.) This preview of the position the president will take at the big three j conference was said to emphasize, that the United States intends toj have an active part in the settle-; ment of all European problems. The president laid down the main i outlines of future U. S. foreign; policy in his address to congress earlier this month. He promised; a “people’s peace." but warned that! it could be obtained only if this country uses its influence and power to achieve the principles fori (Turn To Page 2. Column 11

Sgt. Norwin Stoppenhagen Dies Os Illness With Army In Europe

Sgt. Norwin T. Stoppenhagen, 26, son of Mr. and Mrs. Herman Stoppt nhagen of Decatur route one. died of lymphatic leukemia in Belgium cn December 10, in the service of hixs country, the war department has notified relatives. The parents did not have any previous word’ pt their son's illness. He went overseas last September and was with a field artillery company. Sgt. Stoppenhagen was married to Miss Della Auman on June 18, 1944. He was home on furlough last Labor Day, embarking on his' overseas adventure shortly thereafter. Entering the army in January. 1942, Sgt. Stoppenhagtn served one year in Puerto Rico and then came back to this country. He attended the Friedi'.ieim Lutheran school in ber of the Zion Lutheran church of Friedhiem and was a farmer ; prior to entering the army. ! Besides his parents and wife he is i survived by two brothers, SJSgt. Wil-4

Farm Residence Is Destroyed By Fire The Ed Clem farm residence, eight miles northeast of Decatur, was completely destroyed by fire early Wednesday evening, Harry Stults, Decatur fire chief, reported today. The Monroeville fire department was unable to reach the fire because of drifted roads. The Decatur department was then called, but i.ie local truck was stalled in the snow about a mile from the Clem farm. o First Welfare Bill Is Passed By House Present Board Is Abolished By Bill Indianapolis, Jan. 25. — (UP) The first of three controversial state welfare department reorganization bills sponsored by the Republican majority was passed today in the Indiana house of representatives, 64 to 29, in a vote which closely followed party lines. The measure abolishes the present five-member, policy-making state welfare board and creates a paid, three-member administrative board. After passage, it was sent to the senate for consideration. Passage of the bill followed a strong appeal for its support by Rep. Earl B. Techemeyer, R., Indianapolis, who charged that employes and directors of the present public welfare administration held almost complete power over welfare boards. Teckemeyer, chairman of the legislative welfare investigating commission, said that the stale and county boards generally were unfamiliar with the welfare department’s administrative rules. He quoted one member of the state (Turn To Page 5, Column 5)

• V* bert Stoppenhagen with American troops in Italy ; Arnold of'-.Allen county; two sieters, Lorna and i Anita, at home.

Big Silesian Industry Center Captured, Reds 124 Miles From Berlin

Ward Company Case Ruling On Saturday Chicago, Jan 25 —'Federal district Judge Philip Sullivan announced today t'hat he would give a decision at 10 a. m. Saturday In the Montgomery Ward cade which involves the President’s wartime powers of seizure. Judge Sullivan will rule on the petition for an injunction to prevent the mail order and retail store firm from interfering with army operation of the company's facilities in seven cities, J which were taken over under ord-; ers of President Roosevelt after the ' company refused to comply with I war labor board orders. Regardless of the decision, it will be appealed to the supreme court as a test of the chief executive’s powers of seizure during time of war. , o — Ship Carrying Yankee Troops I, Reported Sunk 248 Americans Are Killed And 517 Are Listed As Missing Washington. Jan. 25 —(UP) —'A | ship carrying 2.200 American soldiers wao sunk recently in Euro-1 ptan w-aters by enemy action, with I 248 killed and 517 missing, secre-1 tary of war Henry L Stimson announced today. More than 1,400 were saved. Stimson announced the loss to a | press conference in these words: “It may now be disclosed that a | II ship carrying more than 2,200 Am-: ■' erican soldiers was sunk recently in j’ ’ European waters due to enemy ac-1 tion. The ship sank swiftly, and 248 I men were killed and 517 are miss--1 ing. The rest, over 1.400 were sav- : ed. “This announcement is made in ; accordance with our established i policy of stating all losses in regular course, even though some of the 1 details may not yet be made available.” 701,950 Casualties . Washington, Jan. 25 - (UP) — . U. S. Combat casualties, some of t . them suffered in the German western offensive last month, now toI tai 701,950. Secretary of war Henry L. Stimson announced today that army casualties in all theaters compiled in Washington through Jan. 14 were ' 616,9'51, including 117,256 killed! 356.813 wounded, 57,432 prisoners of ' war and 85.450 missing. This figure | . | (Turn To Page 5, Column 2) ,I ’ o j Several Township Schools Are Closed I Drifted Highways Result In Closing Several of the township schools were still closed today because of drifted roads which prevented the school buses from operating, Lyman L. Hann, 'county superintendent of schools was advised. ; The north and south roads were reported to be in the worst condition. The high wind Monday night blew the snow in the paths that had been cleared by the county high department plows and yeftter- ■ day schools in Jefferson and Kirk- ■ land townships were closed. A 35-year record of having the ground cover d with snow and ice was broken today. H. M. Reuaser. weather observer at Berne announced. Since December 10, a stretch of 45 days, the ground has been covered wRh snow. The former record was 44 days. At present, indications are that the st)ow will remain many More Alura X 9 £*«s v» Cqluuuj il

iTuin £o. £*«£ » t Galiu&a

Clark Field's Airstrips Near Yank Caplure Americans Within 48 Miles Os Manila, Corregidor Bomber BULLETIN By United Press Tokyo radio said today that American troops have landed on the northeastern coast of Mindoro Island in the Philippines are fighting toward Calapan, the capital city, situated azout 75 miles directly south of Manila. General MacArthur's Headquarters, Luzon, Jan. 25. — (UP) —The American 14th corps surged across the great Clark Field clusters of i airdromes within 48 miles north-; : west of Manila today and all 11 : i airstrips, along with adjacent. Fort i Stotsenburg, appeared about to fall j j without a major battle. At least one and probably more i I of the airstrips already were lirmjly in American hands. Bamhan Field, northernmost of the Clark; i constellation, was overrun Tuesday ' ; and mechanized patrols were oper-j ating yesterday in. the vicinity of Clark Field itself, six miles to the I south, and Fort Stotsenburg. The advance carried across Bam- ; ban river, where the Japanese ha 1 (been expected to make a strong, stand, and overran Mabalaeat. four; (miles south of Bamban and 50; miles northwest of Manila, without ; encountering major resistance. Small enemy motorized patrols and harassing snipers were dispersI ed. Lashing out ahead of the ground ■ troops, Liberator bombers began the aerial reduction of Fort Cor-; regidor, scene of the bloody last ' American stand in Manila bay in; I 1942. Forty-five tons of bombs were dropped in the initial raid Tuesday. ; touching off huge fires and explosions among enemy installations. Gen. Douglas MacArthur jubilant-j | ly revealed that his ground forces [ I had killed 10 Japanese for every; I American lost in the first two' : weeks of the invasion of Luzon. Japanese casualties, he said, to-; taled abou 14,000, comprising 6.449 known dead. 423 prisoners ami an estimated 7,200 wounded. American casualties were listed as 657 dead, 187 missing and 2,301 wounded, a total of 3,145. "Every possible strategical and j ; tactical ingenuity is being success-, i fully employed to hold our losses : j in men to an absolute minimum," MacArthur reported in his communique. Capture of the Clark Field ai ■ center will give the Americans on-; of the finest air bases in the west-' ern Pacific, within 475 miles of: Formosa, 775 miles of French Into-; i China and 650 miles of Hong Kong.; The airfields would prove invalu : ■ able in any landing operations i along the China coast, which Ad-! , miral Chester W. Nimitz has Indi cated may precede an invasion of I | Japan proper. Bamban and its adjacent airfield were captured Tuesday afternoon by the 40th division, self-styled ' "Los Angeles imperial guard" because of the large proportion of its | members from California. Frank Hewlett, United Press war (Turn To Page 5. Column 4) Georqe Mann Rites Sunday Afternoon Funeral services for George C. Mann, who died Wednesday morning. will be held at 1:30 o’clock Sunday afternoon at the Pleasant Mills Methodist church, with Rev. Seth ‘ Painter officiating. Burial will be at Fort Recovery, O. The body will be reqjoved from the Zwick funeral tome to the residence in PDasant ' Mills Friday evening, where friends call alter 7 p. m (

Buy War Savinqs Bonds And Stamps

Price Four Cents.

Nazis Say Russians Forces Break Over River In Several Strategic Places London. Jan. 25 —(UP) —Russian armies captured the big Silesian industrial center of Gleiwitz and speared within “some 124 miles" of Berlin today, and the Nazis said Soviet forces had broken across the Oder river at several points and had sealed off East Prussia. Marshal Ivan S. Konev's army successfully stormed Gleiwitz. fortified factory town anchoring the defenses of the southeastern nose of Silesia, and at the same time overran Chrzanow, 34 miles to the southeast of the Dubrova coal mining basin of Poland. Marshal Stalin, in Moscow’s first victory announcement of the day, bailed Konev’s first Ukrainian army for the capture of the key bastion in the southern wing of the Red army's vast offeztsive front. Down the Oder valley. Konev’s forces were, by German account, across the strategic river at sevral places and held the crossings at captured Oppeln, while Breslau was reported under frontal assault as the Russian campaign in Silesia developed rapidly. The Red army organ. Red Star, declared that “only some 200 odd kilometers (124 miles)" separate Soviet spearheads from Berlin but did not specify the points of greatest Russian advances. How ever, Nazi accounts admitted that the troops of Marshal Ivan S. Konev’s first Ukrainian army had driven several. bridgeheads across tfie frozen Oder on a 100-mile front on both sides u Breslau. One bridgehead was at Steinau, 136 miles southeast of Berlin, and 34 miles northwest of Breslau. The German accounts said that <he Soviet forces wore busily building up their bridgeheads across the last strategic river barrier protecting Berlin but insisted that counterattacks were narrowing them down." Breslau itself was under direct assault and it was evident that the German hopes — if any —of holding off the Red army along the line of the Oder and of saving industrially rich Silesia were in imminent, peril. To the northeast the Germans frankly admitted that their citadel province of East Prussia had neen severed from the homeland by the advance of Marshal Konstantin K. Rokossovsky’s columns to tlie Baltic lagoon of Firsches (Turn To Page 5, Column 3) Limited National Service Approved House Committee Urges Early Action Washington. Jan. 25. — (UP) — The house military affairs committee today urged immediate passage of its work-or-flght bill to “marshall our full strength and resource to keep tfie battle lines moving forward." The commitee, which completed work last yesterday on the bill to force 18-45-year-old men into essential work, said in a report to house speaker Sam Rayburn that the measure must be enacted at once to make up manpower deficiencies in the plants turning out war materiel. Warning that serious shortages now exist in many types of armament, the committee said: “They are bottlenecks that must be broken. The forward sweep of the war into enemy territory cannot await the outcome of debate as to past action or omission to act, but must press constantly and increasingly on." Ths report said that this country was now committed to great offensive* in Europe and the Philippines and that there was not alternative but to take every step to assure XXuia To Fus,e 5, Column 4).