Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 43, Number 41, Decatur, Adams County, 17 February 1945 — Page 1

JW/se Is Chores!

No. 41.

AMERICANS STORM ONTO CORREGIDOR, IWO

wzedule Drawn B>r Sectional ftzzmey Here

»ms County Teams iWinete In Meet At ;SB°w Jackets Gym Winning Thursday 1 K< ?hedule on page 6) for the Decatur lournamewt, along with i;:l tourneys in the state, at 8 o’clock this '• I >lli "‘P s ' coministhe Indiana high school Milks Spartans and Kangaroos drew the honin the itourney opens; evening, February 22. battle of the first undoubtedly be the first tilt at 7 o’clock, when Yellow Jackets and toajKars tangle in the closing - Bd tilt. the Pleasant Millsclash in the tourney opwrßisday evening, the Geneva aritSgs. county champions, will Monroe Bearkatz. TlisJ®. itur Commodores really smiles of Lady Luck in draw. The ComgeaSying in ,;lle first same Frifesßnoon at 2 o’clock, meet the Warriors, who have not for the past two seasMonmouth Eagles and Gorillas will clash in the fesjMn’ni -noon game Friday at Ifilßicg the Herne-Decatur clash S ?ffi]ock Friday evening, the tbaMi the 'two Thursday nfght meet at 8 p. HL. Ts®ii.-i Saturday afternoon iß*). at 1:30 p. nt., will pit the of' the Friday afternoon JaiMß The victors in the Friday ig&Ks will meet in the second et?sHl at 2:30 p. m. Saturday. Thmkini-tinalist winners will 8 p. m. Saturday for the championship. will be Richard Kolp Dickie. tickets for the sectional. $1.50. will go on sale at P hools in the county Mon--2? ■ning. Regional of the Decatur seecompete in the Huntingtournament Saturday, Jarcß. The winners at Bluffton tut will clash in the tUt at 1:30 !’• m ’ lol ‘ the winners at Decatur isti iWtford City. regional winner ell.-Bn compete in the Muncie Saturday. March 10. The and Muncie regional will meet at 1:30 p. m., by the Huntington and ■victors. TJfcßato finals will be held at March 17, with the and Indianapolis wlniw«B?tmg in the first clash, and sa®Band Lafayette winners in g Xnd. K Bluffton Sectional Thursday tjß.-Ossian vs. Rockcreek. i 18-- Liberty Center vs. ChesFriday X^B-~ Vnion Center vs. Bluff'fiß.- Jackson vs. Petroleum. Lancaster vs. winner Page G, Column 3) ■ o StfSVendell Sheehan Purple Heart Wendell Sheehan, eon ‘‘‘-■nd Mns. James Sheehan of route three, has been arar|B the 'Purple Heart for in action with t'he in France, the parents advised. ‘Wyntnded sergeant is steadily the parents said. j® ■« TyPERATURE READING S W>CRAT THERMOMETER ■a. m. 25 t SB a - m - 25 m 25 WEATHER ■iefat? snow south, end»*Mv afternoon, partly cloudy ’’ ; ’B colder today, very cold

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

Bataan Seized By Yankees In Bold Landing I Historic Peninsula In Philippines Is Recaptured By Yanks Manila, Feb. 17. — (UP) —American troops have redeemed historic Bataan with a bold sea-borne landing on the southern shores of the peninsula under the of Japan-ese-held Corregidor. “We have captured Bataan,” Gen. Douglas MacArthur announced in a triumphant communique. Less than 48 hours after the landing, all the peninsula's militar-ily-important objectives were in American hands. MacArthur’s troops were pursuing the disorganized enemy over the same dark ground where on April 11, 1942. sbme 30,000 Americans and Filipinos laid down their arms and began their tragic death march to Camp O’Donnell. Covered by the big guns of the U. S. seventh fleet and the bombs and bullets of hundreds of American warplanes, a big invasion convoy swept into the mouth of Manila bay at dawn Thursday to spill tanks, troops and guns ashore at "MariVelee. The startled Japanese coastal defenders fought back briefly, then broke and fled into the hills under a storm of rockets and gunfire. Corregidor’s giant batteries, partially neutralized by days of continuous aerial and naval bombardment. fired a few bursts at the convoy but they were silenced quickly by salvo after salvo from American cruisers and destroyers. Mariveles, where the remnants of the American-Filipino army embarked for Corregidor after the fall of Bataan three years ago, was captured by the first wave of attacking infantrymen, who found the town reduced to rubble by the preliminary air and sea barrage. All of the native population had fled before the attack began. United Press war correspondent Richard G. Harris who went ashore with the landing forces reported that the tiny minesweepers ranged off the beaches almost up to the moment of the attack. The landing was led by Col. Ralf Paddock, Frankfort, Ind., under Brig. Gen. William C. Chase, El Paso, Tex., who was promoted to command oft Tie division after leading the dramatic liberation of Allied prisoners from the Santo Tomas concentration camp a few weeks ago. o Mrs. Lunetta Drake Dies This Morning Mrs. Wm. Drake Is Taken By Death Mrs. Lunetta Krick-Drake, 81, widow of the late William Drake, died at 3:15 o’clock this morning at t'he home of a daughter, Mrs. Dasil Gephart in Union township. She suffered a stroke of paralysis three weeks ago. She was born in Union township February 5, 18«4, the daughter of Eliaja and Louisa Tague-Krick. She was a member of the Liberal U. B. Church at Wren, O. Surviving are. four daughters. Mrs. Gephart, Mrs. Mary E. Mumma o f Spencer, Mns. Louisa A. Jackson of Fort Wayne and Mrs. Nora Hoverman of Van Wert, O.; a fosterson,. Paris Drake of Decatur, 28 grandchildren and 16 great-grand-children. . (Funeral services will be held at 1-4 S n. m. Tuesday at the Black funeral Ijome and at 2:30 o’clock at the Liberal U.B. church in Wren, O. Burial will be in tho ML Tabor cemetery. Friends may call At the funeral ftome after 4 p. m. Sunday.

Superfort Crashes Into Bay Near LaGuardia Field • tUINKWIIUWW'W 1 ’"" I .. ' . ->■? V I • ' A NEW YORK CITY FIREBOAT rushes into the scene of the B-29 superfortress crash in the waters of Flushing Bay near LaGuardia Field. Five of the 11 aboard the craft were picked up by crash boats which pulled out into the flaming area surrounding plane before explosions had stopped reverberating. The plane, which had taken off a short time earlier from Mitchell Field. L. 1., came into LaGuardia Field for an emergency landing. With- its left wing tip dragging in the waters of the bay, it somersaulted, crashed into the water and immediately burst into flames.

Assembly Recesses Until Next Monday Two Weeks Left Os Assembly Session Indianapolis, Feb. ‘l6—(UP) — Hoosier legislators rested at their homes today in preparation for the last two rigorous weeks of the Indiana general assembly's 1945 biennial session. Both houses adjourned late yesterday for the week-end, senators to reconvene at 11 a. m. and representatives at 1 p tn. Monday. The house calendar was in excellent shape, Speaker Hobart Creighton, R., Warsaw, said. In the senate, the agenda was facilitated by two night sessions this week, thus eliminating the necessity for a Saturday session. Before they recessed, house committee chairman brought in a sheaf of reports in bills referred to them earlier in the session. Most of the bills were recommended for passage, but a few were handed to the house floor without recommendation because of their controversial nature. Other bills—a large number, in sact —were doomed to die in committee for lack of support by majority members. By the end of the seventh week of the nine-week session, fewer than 100 measures had passed both houses. Nearly 800 were introduced in the assembly. But in order to pass most of the GOPsponsored bills, a steady grind of work was necessary during the remaining days of the meet. Among bills reported to the. (Turn To Page 5. Column 4) 0 10 Persons Killed In Apartment Fire Factory Explosion Is Blamed For Fire Tacoma, Wash., Feb. 17. —(UP) —Fire believed to hve started from an explosion in a candy factory raced through the five-story Mayfair apartments early today, trapping many of .the residents in the upper stories. An estimated 10 persons perished in the blaze and at least 17 others were injured when they leaped from the windows of the burning building. Two unidentified persons, a man and a woman, were known to be dead and fire chief Charles J. Eisenbacher said he was “practically certain” that eight others were trapped in the upper stories and had perished. The fire broke out at 3 a. m., forcing many.of the tenants to flee in their night clothing, and was brought under control two hours later. The Tacoma armory was converted into a dormitory to give shelter ito uninjured survivors. Many of the survivors were hysterical as they searched through the ruins of the building for members of their families who were trapped by the flames. _ ..

ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY.

Decatur, Indiana, Saturday, February 17,1945.

Smith Funeral Rites Here Monday Morning Funeral services for Mrs. Charles B. Smith of Fort Wayne, who died here Friday morning, will be held at 16 o’clock Monday morning at the Black funeral hotfne, with Dr. M. O. Lester, pastor of the First Met hod is t Church, officiating. Friends may call at the funeral home after 4 o'clock this afternoon. 0 Decline In School Enrollment Shown Rising Cost Trend Is Also Revealed Declining public school enrollments, a rising school expenditure trend and the existence among local school units of wide variations in public educational costs, are facts disclosed in a publiaction released by the Indiana State Chamber of Commerce. Since the last pre-war school year of 1940-41, enrollment in the 12 elementary and high school grades in Indiana has dropped from 656,229 to 628,375 in the 1943-44 school year, while in the same period the costs have risen from $58,to $67,598,877, the booklet shows. Changes in the system of financing public education in Indiana, with the state assuming an increasingly large share of local school costs, are traced in detail. In the 1943-44 school year, 34.7 percenit of local school revenues were con- , tributed from state funds in the current school year an even larger share will come from the state, it was shown. Facts reported in the booklet Adams county and Decatur city schools include: * 1. All schools in the county as a whole levied in property taxes for the 1943-44 school year a total of $265,888, or an average of $69.71 per pupil, while receiving state funds in the form of state school aid totaling $140,111, an average cf $36.73 per pupil. 2. For the 1944-45 school year, all schools in the county will receive approximately $16G,197 in state school aid, or an average of (Turn To Page 5, Column 6)

Lenten Meditation (Dr. M. O. Lester, First Methodist Church) FAITH AND EXPERIENCE Psa 27:1—“The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid.” I The elect lady Helen Keller learned the name of God. When some one attempted to teach her about God she replied, “I have always known that there must be such a person, but 1 did not know his name.” She was quite ready to believe in. God because she had : experienced Him. It is not easy to discredit or deny a faith based on experience. Great epochs have been ushered in by great men of faith. Isaiah saw God sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up and became a Missionary of the most high. Augustine found peace and , assurance amid his inward conflicts as he walked in the garden and heard the voice of G,od speak to him. Everything changed in 1 the life of St. Francis after he knelt at the altar of the little chapel of St. Damian. John Wesley went forth with holy boldness after his heart had been strangely warmed in’ Aldergates street. There is no denial of a faith based upon such experience. It is effective, creative, triumphant!

All Schools Enrolled In Junior Red Cross 100 Percent Record Is Reported Today The schools of Adams county have enrolled 100 percent in the Junior Red Cross, according to the county chairman, Miss Grace Coffee. The contributions totaled $259.91. The enrollment fee for the county amounted to $64.50, which has been forwarded to area headquarters. This entitles every teacher to an annual subscription to the Junior Red Cross Journal. A SSO contribution was made to the national children's fund. This fund was started in 1919 and is maintained by voluntary contributions from the American Junior Red Cross. Raised by children, it is expended for children both in this country and abroad. Other activities of the Adams county chapter for the year are: 20 joke books and cross-word puzzle books, one unit (8 different projects) of Christmas table decorations for service men abroad, 50 new decks of playing cards sent to area headquarters, and 100 gift boxes filled for the children of the liberated countries. Plans for filling 100 educational gift boxes are almost Completed. The name of each school, the teacher or the principal, and the amoum. contributed follows: Kimsey, Chrystal Rice, $2.28; Kimsey, Leia Chammers, $3; Lincoln, Edith Morrison, 50c: "Lincoln, Rhea Strayer, 50c; Election, Emma Worthman, 50c; Meyer, Agnes Shoemaker, $3.35; Reynolds, Pearl Glendenning, $2; Hartford 11. S., Russell Steiner, • $7.05; Hartford, grades, Russell Steiner, $5; Linn Grove. Mary Schlagenhauf, $5.85; Jefferson H. S., J. H. Eberly, $1.41; Jefferson grades, J. H. Eberly, $6.15; Kirkland H. S., Hugh Tate, $5.76; Kirkland grades, Hugh Tate, $3.43; Hower, Marcella Scherry, $2; Election, Mabel Marshall, $1; Monroe 11. S., Orville Blue, $3.24; Monroe grades, Orville Blue, $3.14; Election, Veda Crist, $6; Muensterberg, Harry Johnson, (Turn To Page 4, Column 4)

Radio Tokyo Reports Landing, Unconfirmed From American Sources

Goebbels Pictures Allies As Bullies London, Fef6. 17 —(UPb —Germap propaganda minister Paul Joseph Goebbels now is picturing the Allies as big bullies ganging up on Germany. Instead of playing at being superior our enemies should be ashamed of themselves for attacking us at odds of 10-1 in this war,” The Berlin home radio quoted him •today from an article in Das Reich. “What would happen to the British. Americans, and Soviets if we could deal with them one by one? We would chase them to the ends of the world.” o Russian Vanguards Reach Neisse River Advance Crumbles German Defenses London, Feb. 17.—(UP)—The Soviet newspaper Pravda said today that Russian armored vanguards broke through to the Neisse river on a broad front only 12 miles from bomb-battered Cotitbus. one of the main strongholds guards the southern approaches o Berlin. The 12-mile advance crumbled German defense positions on the lower reaches of the Luebst river, a tributary of the Neisse, and put the Russians within easy artillery range of Cotitbus, a big railway hub on the Spree river 47 miles southeast of Berlin. Northwest of Cottbus, other units of Marshal Ivan S. Konev’s first Ukrainian army sweeping along the west batik of the Oder river reached the outskirts of Crossen, column was 17 miles from he first 63 miles southeast of Berlin. This of the Oder bridgeheads which the Germans said the Red army has established east of the capital. The southern wing of Konev’s army, meantime, began a battle of annihilation against the encircled German garrison of Breslau, capital of Silesia. The encirclement was completed yesterday with the capture of Klettendorf, only a mile southwest of Breslau. More than 200 other Silesian towns and villages were captured as the Soviets closed the ring about Breslau, the Soviet high command announced. Northwest of Berlin, the second White Russian army drove forward on a 30-mile front to within 51 miles southwest of Danzig. o- ■ — Stabilized Wage RatesEsfablished Permanent Rates To Metal Workers Chicago, Feb. 17 —(UP) —Edgar L. Warren, chairman of the regional war labor board, announced today adoption of new permanent stabilized wage rates and rate ranges for metal working industries in LaPorte and Michigan City, Ind. The new rates range from 68 cents an hour for job classifications including janitors, watchmen. grade C machine welders and hand truckers, to sl.ll for grade A production machinists. Each job classification has a range from minimum to maximum rates. The ranges vary in size from 10 cents for unskilled classifications, with a minimum of 63 cents and a maximum of 73 cents, to 20 cents for top skilled classifications, with a minimum of sl.Ol and a maximum of $1.21. The 1 new rates are based on a survey of wage structures in the area, prepared by the Chicago regional office of the bureau of labor statistics. The survey also took in Chicago, Indianapolis, Minneapolis-St. Paul,' Milwaukee, South Bend and Springfield and Rockford, 111. Data gathered covered 620,000 workers in 1,500 (Turn To Page 6, Column 6),

Canadian First Army Offensive Rolls Forward Tremendous Aerial Bombardment Shakes Germans From Forts Paris, Feb. 17—(UP)—The Canadian first army drive on the Ruhr rolled forward today against stunned German troops shaken out of their Rhineland forts and pillboxes by a tremendous Allied aerial bombardment. Stalled for almost 48 hours by a flaming wall of German guns thrown across the 17-mile corridor between the Maas (Meuse) and Rhine rivers, Gen. H. D. G. Crerar's troops were on the move again all along the front. Hammering out gains of a mile or more, the British drove armored spearheads to within about two miles of the fortress towns of Goch and Calcar, barely 25 miles northwest of the Ruhr valley. Late reports from the front said the Canadian first army gains were extended to as much as four miles early today as the Nazi lines began to buckle under the attack. Vanguards of the attacking force were reported within 11 2 miles of Goch at a point near Asperden. Field dispatches said Nazi resistance was softening under the shattering ground and air assault and the battle of the Rhineland appeared to be merging swiftly into the battle of the Ruhr. More than 3,50(1 American and British warplanes set the offensive rolling yesterday afternoon, laying a terrible pattern of bombs and gunfire across the MaasRhine bottleneck. Elements of eight Nazi divisions were caught in the path of the aerial scythe and buried in the wreckage of (Turn To Page 6, Column 3) — O Heart Attack Fatal To Nelson D. Gause Decatur Man Dies Friday Afternoon Nelson D. Gause, 47, of Fornax street, an employe of the Y’ost Construction company for the past 20 years, died of a heart attack at 4 o’clock Friday afternoon, in the cab of a pick-up truck on state highway 124, east ’ of Monroe, as he was being conveyed to this city to receive medical attention. Mr. Gause was seized with (he fatal attack when he was driving a heavier truck for Cal Yost, contractor, on the building of the Miller bridge in Blue Creek township. He stopped his truck and the driver of the truck that was following him got out and inquired if anything was wrong. Mr. Gause informed him that he was ill. He was removed from the cab of his truck and placed in one driven by Harold Fast. They started toward Decatur and had gone only a few miles when Mr. Gause slumped over dead in the seat of the truck. Mr. Gause was a son of Nathan and Fannie Meyers Gause. He was born in Van Wert county, Ohio, but lived in Decatur and vicinity nearly all his life. Surviving are the following brothers and sisters, Cecil C., of Decatur: Raymond of Columbia City; Fred of Warsaw; Mrs. Lulu Pressler, Columbia City; Jake of TaiPorte and Mrs. Marcile Akron of Van Wert, Ohio. Half-brothers and sisters who survive are, Mrs. D> Ila Yont of Columbia City: Mrs. Nancy Plumbers of South A’hitley; Nathan Gause, Jr., of the U. S. army; Robert of Oolum(Turn To Page 6, Column 3£

Huy Wnr Savings Bonds And Stamps

Price Four Cents.

American Carrier Planes Continue Raids On Tokyo For Second Day In Row Admiral Nimitz’s Headquarters, Guam, Feb. 17 — (UP) — Radio Tokyo reported that American invasion forces stormed ashore on historic Corregidor and en Iwo Island, only 750 miles south of Tokyo, today while carrier planes still were blasting the smoking Japanese capital itself for tho second straight day. Only the carrier-based raids on Tokyo and a continuing air-naval bombardment of Iwo were confirmed by official American sources, but the Japanese radio told of these developments along a 2,400-mile arc from Tokyo to Manila: In the Volcano islands —American troops swarmed over the southwest, and southeast beaches of Iwo after two landings only 10 minutes apart. Tokyo added the customary claim that the troops had been "repulsed'* after fierce fighting. In the Philippines — American paratroops, dropping from transport planes, and sea-borne troops invaded Corregidor island at the entrance to Manila Bay and fierce fighting is under way on the southern shores. The thrusts followed by only 48 hours an amphibious landing on the southern tip of Bataan, five miles north of Corregidor. In the Izu islands—at least 200 American carrier planes have been attacking the stepping stone island of Hachijo, 200 miles south of Tokyo, since early yesterday. In Japan—Hundreds of American carrier planes, attacking in waves an hour and a half apart, raided Tokyo, for at least eight and a half hours today following yesterday's raid of nine to 10 hours. A Tokyo newspaper said American forces may be planning to invade the Japanese homeland. The purported landing on the strategic air base island of Iwo put American troops for the first time on Japanese soil administered as part of the Tokyo perfeeture. A Japanese communique claimed counterattacking Japanese batteries and planes at Iwo sank a battleship, two cruisers and two other ships in the invasion fleet. Three assault landing craft were damaged and 10 American planes shot. down, the communique said. The report of the invasion came on the second day of an earthshaking bombardment of Iwo by more than 30 American warships ranging from battleships to destroyers - and scores of carrier and land-based bombers. Most shore batteries were knocked out yesterday. A landing on Iwo would represent an amphibious jump of 750 "miles —half way to Tokyo—from the Marianas for the Americans and would give them at least three strategic air bases within flying fortress, liberator and fighter-plane range of the enemy capital. Wave after wave of American planes sent hundreds more tons of bombs crashing down on sraok(Turn To Page 6, Column 6) George Bill Passed By House Friday Washington, Feb. 17. — (UP) — House passage of the George bill cleared the way today for senate confirmation of Henry A. Wallace as secretary of commerce. There, appeared little doubt that Wallace wpuld be confirmed after President Roosevelt signed tho bill stripping the commerce job of control over the multi-billion-dol-lar reconstruction finance corporation and its subsidiaries. The president has said he will sign it. Senate Republican leaders conceded that house acceptance of the measure without amendments improved Wallace's chances for confirmation. They served notice however, that he wouldn’t get the post without a fight. The senate vote on the Wallace nomination has been set for March 1.