Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 43, Number 47, Decatur, Adams County, 24 February 1945 — Page 1

stWintheWar! fse Is Chores! -

111. No. 47.

ANKEES ROCK NAZIS BACK ON ROER LINE I * *

Bur TeamsjLeft I .Running For Ictional Title

btur Commies jlay Monmouth, |e Vs. Geneva Semi-Finals I Commodores vs Monks Geneva! [the lineup for the semiBes this afternoon at the [yellow Jackets gymnas- ■ the first struggle slatBO p. m. ecatur Commodores and Bi Eagles qualified for final bracket Friday af[the Commies trampling [son Warriors, 41 to 15, I Eagles eliminating the [Gorillas, 44 to 27. I Bears earned their I spot in the first Friday Ish, turning in a con--14 to 18 triumph over the pellow Jackets, and the Cardinals rallied to oust [land Kangaroos, 30 to lie most thrilling battle Ictional to date. [he elimination of DecaBow Jackets, the local [is assured of a new I and likewise, a new i will be crowned in the bn regional next SaturHie Jackets also won this (afternoon’s victors will t the sectional championI o'clock tonight. Commodores Win |’s Commodores, making Et tourney etart in the kame of the Friday afiterpion, toyed with the Jefarriors to register an easy [ictory and qualify for the l-final contest. knmodores led at the first 17 to 2, at the half, 22 to i the third quarter, 38 to if the 10 Commodore playI into the scoring column, Bing with 10 points. For [ Hill was high with five The Commodores took 52 1 their 18 field goals, while | connected only five times (field in 54 attempts. Each He five free throws, with inies missing six and Jefne. lonmouth Advances pnmouth Eagles won the •meet the Commodores in [semi-final clash, eliminat[Hantford Gorillas in the friday afternoon clash, 44 (nth was out in front by te points, 10 to 7, at the she first quarter, but inmis margin to 24 to 13 at ! Hartford rallied in the iod to cut the score to 29 lonmouth, but the fcagles ! an easy triumph In the It minutes. ►as outstanding for MonIth 18 points, while PoorB Hartford’s leader with pts. Monmouth took an total of 82 shots, connect--9 fielders, while Hartford iht of 54 shots.' From the ; Monmouith converted six d Hartford made good on lears Win Easily ihad little difficulty in pg the champion Decalets in Friday night’s • After a sluggish first which ended with Berne, ■ a 5 to 3 score, the Bears to an 18 to 7 margin at | Berne built this lead to ' at the third period, and Bts never threatened. P. veteran Berne guard, teammates to victory with I, while Bromer was just I only threat on offense l points. Berne took 53 To Page 6, Column 2) —o—‘ERATURE READING &RAT THERMOMETER I. m 30 L m . 36 L m 39 WEATHER Nng and warmer today ng cloudy and continuum tonight and Sunday Bht rain by Sunday eve-

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Another Daylight Attack On Germany London, Feb. 24.— (UP) —American Flying Fortresses spearheaded another daylight air assult on Germany today. Rdio Berlin said one formation was over northwest Germany approaching the Hannover-Brunswick area and another was approaching Carinthia and Styria, Austria, from Italy. Flying Fortresses and other planes returned from one raid ■shortly before noon in an hourlong processio nacross the English channel. — —o Report German Garrison Out Os Koenigsberg Poznan Fall Clears New Path For Reds To Push On Berlin London, Feb. 24. — (UP) —The Paris radio broadcast an unconfirmed report of doubtful authenticity today that ithe German army had evacuated Koenigsberg, capital of East Prussia. A Paiis broadcast said the garrison of beleaguered Koenigsberg had pulled out, “leaving the population to their fate.” Two days ago Moscow said the Germans had opened a corridor through the Soviet siege lines ito the Baltic port of Pillau. The fall of Koenigsberg would mean the near completion of the Red army campaign in East Prussia, where it trapped an estimated 200,000 German troops. The fall of encircled Poznan, last enemy-held city in Poland, was expected to speed a Soviet smash across the Oder river on a broad front toward the doomed Nazi capital, 30-odd miles to the west. The reduction of Poznan not only released troops under 24 generals for the drive on Berlin, but cleared the Moscow-Warsaw-Berlin trunk railway and highway as far as the Oder for the movement of reinforcements and supplies. The last organized German resistance in Poznan, Poland’s fourth largest city with a pre-war population of 272,000, was smashed yesterday after a month-long siege during which Marshal Gregory K. Zhukov’s first White Russian army raced on 110 miles farther west toward Berlin. Some 25,000 Germans were killed and 23,000 captured during the prolonged and bitter battle for Poznan. Adolf Hitler ordered the city held at all cost, but Major General Mattern, the Nazi commander, was among the prisoneis taken. Zhukov’s forces cleared another encircled German city yesterday, Arnswalde, 39 miles southeast of the Baltic port of Stettin and junction of the Danzig'-Berlin and Poz-nan-Stettin railways. Marshal Ivan S. Konev’s first Ukrainian army, meantime, broke into the streets of a third encircled German city, the Silesian capital of Breslau, 175 miles southeast of Berlin. Twenty city blocks and a number of tank and automobile factories were captured. —o— —— Milk Producers To Meet Next Tuesday The annual meeting of the Wayne Cooperative Milk Producers, Inc., will be held at the Chamber of Commerce building, Fort Wayne, on February 27, at 10 a. m. Plate lunch will be served to those returning cards for reservations. Larry Brandon, secretary and director of organization of the Indiana farm bureau will be the speaker. Producers shipping to the association are invited.

Yanks Mopping Up Last Japs In Manila City Americans Capture All But Three Os Jap-Held Buildings Manila, Feb. 24— (UP) —The battle for Manila virtually ended today as American troops captured all but three of the enemyheld buildings in the devastated ancient walled city. Front reports said tank-supported infantrymen were attacking the last Japanese positions in a church and small sections on the west and south sides of the Intramuros area. While the 37th division troops were cleaning up the final Japanese pocket in the Philippines capital, Gen. Douglas MacArthur announced that American paratroopers and Filipino guerrillas liberated 2,146 Allied prisoners from Los Banos internment camp on the southern shore of Laguna Bay, 25 miles behind the enemy lines. The freed prisoners included Americans, Australians, Norwegians and other Allied groups, MacArthur said. The .final assault on the Japanese in Manila followed a combined land and amphibious attack by the 37th division which breached the ancient wall around Intramuros. Following in the wake of a thunderous artillery barrage, which virtually flattened the old Intramuros section, the American troops stormed through and over the medieval wall from the east and across the wide Pasig river on the north. The double attack, which was joined inside the walled city, was expected to quickly end organized Japanese resistance in Manila, although it may be several days before the last fanatical enemy is mopped up. “The destruction of the final remnants of the enemy’s trapped garrison in south Manila is in its final phases," Gen. Douglas MacArthur said in his communique. He also announced that other American forces had seized Biri island at the eastern end of San Bernardino strait to complete U. S. domination of the water passageway at the southeastern (Turn To Page 5. Column 4) 0 More Prisoners On Philippines Rescued Rescue Civilians After Daring Raid Manila, Feb. 24—(UP) —American paratroops and Filipino guerrillas have rescued 2,146 American and other Allied civilians in a daring air, sea and land raid on Los Banos internment camp 34 miles southeast of Manila, Gen. Douglas MacArthur announced today. The internees comprised 1,589 Americans, 329 Britons, 43 Australians, 56 Canadians, 89 Dutch, 22 Poles, 10 Norwegians, 15 Italians and one Nicaraguan. Men, women and children were rescued. The raid was carried out at dawn yesterday by 1,200 troops from the 11th airborne division and 200 guerrillas. Striking 25 miles behind the enemy lines, the raiders killed the entire Japanese garrison of 243 men and burned their barracks. The camp was situated in hills overlooking the southern shore of Laguna Bay. American losses were two killed and two wounded in addition to two internees slightly injured. “Nothing could be more satisfying to a soldier’s heart than this rescue,” MacArthur said in announcing the raid. “I am deeply grateful. God certainly was with us today.” The Los Banos camp was the .last of the large Japanese prison establishments on Luzon. Since Jan. 30, MacArthur’s forces have rescued 14,789 Allied soldiers and civilians from Japanese prisons and internment camps in five separate operations. The internees included priests, (Turn To Page 5, Column 1)

Decatur, Indiana, Saturday, February 24,1945.

Wife, Mother of Condemned Yank J .. jhaMlr ’ Bl / a » / ’*■ 18111 r kJI I MRS. RITA HULTEN and Mrs. Signe Hulten, wife and mother, left to right, of Pvt. Karl Hulten, 22, young paratrooper who is condemned to hang with Mrs. Elizabeth M. Jones for the murder of a London cabbie, George Heath. The young wife may fly to England tp bid her doomed GI husband farewell. Both live in Boston.

Special Session 01 Legislature Likely Saturday And Night Sessions Necessary Indianapolis, Feb. 24. — (UP) — Hoosier legislators burned the midnight oil to study a pile of pending bills and then returned to itheir desks in both houses of the Indiana general assembly today as the end of the regular 1945 session loomed. March 5, the constitutional limit, wgs little more, than a week away. That day, a week from next Monday, is ithe 61st day of the session which began Jan. 4. ' Legislators found themselves, if not in a jam, in a position requiring longer daily sessions. This necessitated a Saturday session in both houses for the first time. It also set the stage for night meetings next week. The possibility of a special session immediately succeeding the present one. or another before the year is out, still held the attention of the lawmakers. Some anticipated at least two special sessions before the nexit regular session in 1947. Postwar problems and veteran rehabilitation questions, unsolved by the present legislature, would be the basis for extra sessions, the lawmakers believed. The GOP legislative policy committee met twice yesterday, recommending modification of a pending bill to create a state employes’ retirement plan and considering minor proposals they had discussed previously. Action in the house yesterday centered on a near tragedy caused by a falling pieces of plaster from a ceiling chandelier. The plaster fall, which barely missed hitting two Republican leaders, house majority leader George W. Henley, R., Bloomington, and (Turn To Pag« 5. Column 4)

Lenten Meditation (Rev. Robert J. Hoevel, St. Mary's Catholic Church) “HOPE OF ETERNAL LIFE” “If with this life only in view we have had hope in Christ, we are of all men the most to be pitied.” 1 Cor. xv, 19. Christian hope is the confident expectation of all those things which Christ promised us, if we fulfill the will of God. Jesus did promise us eternal salvation on this condition, that we seek the will of God in all things. Jesus said: “I came not to do My Own will, but the will of My Father, Who sent Me,” and Jesus refers to His Father’s will as His meat. His sustinence. We need the very same nourishment. If we seek it not, we are warned —“Not every one who says to Me. ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven.” We are free to fulfill or reject the will of God, but to reject His will is sinful, for sin is the willful transgression of the law of God. God’s law reveals His will. Christian hope has life, a life which depends vitally upon, our effort to cooperate with God’s help. Because hope is alive, we -.persevere in our confident expectation of eternal salvation. Despair kills our hope, for in so acting, we surrender cowardly. Presumption destroys our hope, for in so doing, we tell God we don’t need Him or His help. Our hope mus t so live as to guide us to know, love and serve God in this life that we may be happy with Him forever in the next.

Waste Basket Fired, Department Is Called 'The contents of a waste paper basket caught fire in the wash room of the Rice hotel last night and the fire department was called. Some one -had thrown a lighted match into the basket and the paper caught fire. o Singapore Bombed By Big B-29 Fleet India-Based Planes Pound At Jap Base Washington.' Feb. 24 — (UP) — The biggest fleet of superfortresses ever to take off from India today bombed Singapore, crossroads of war traffic between Japan and her stolen southern empire. Hundreds, perhaps- thousands, of demolition and incendiary bombs were rained on Singapore's extensive and well-estab-lished dock and harbor facilities in the fourth B-29 daylight attack of the war on the naval stronghold. The 20th air force, in announcing the raid, for the first time described a superfortress raiding armada from India as “large,” an indication that it totalled well over 100 bombers. A Tokyo broadcast heard by the FCC said 130 B-29s participated. Results will be announced after operational reports have been received from Brig. Gen. Roger M. Ramey's 20th bomber command, the 20th air force said. In the last previous raid on Singapore Feb. 1, B-29s sank a naval drydock, largest of its type in the world, and damaged other harbor installations. The superfortresses may have caught part of the elusive Jap(Turn To Page 5. Column 4)

Germans Reeling Back Before Great American Push On Western Front

51 Men Are Accepted For Armed Services To Review Cases Os All Young Farmers The Adams county selective service hoard announced today that 51 men sent to Indianapolis Tuesday for pre-induction physical examinations were accepted for the nation's armed forces. This entire contingent was composed of men classified 2-C (essential agricultural workers,) .and the classifications of the 51 accepted men will be reviewed before any are sent for active induction. The names of the accepted men are as follows: Howard Lewis Zimmerman, Berwyn Gerald Sprunger, Robert James Dubach, Robert Henry Berning, Gerald Joseph Lengerich, Glen Dale Shoemaker, Roy Dwight Bieberich, Vernon Ray Neuenschwander, Weldon John Lehman, Luther Evan Engle, Roger John Kaehr, Thomas Otto Lehman, Gail Alton Runyon, Jacob S. Schwartz, Robert Janies Mailer, Raymond Bernard Schultz, Leroy Chester Vore. Karl Edwin Ray, Nolan Wayne Barger, Harold Henry Schamerloh, Karl James Closer, Hubert Alphonous Lengerich, Zeal Harold Miller, Homer Lawrence Heyerly, Paul Melvin Schug, Leo Francis Miller, William Lee Ringger, Ivan Samuel Zeigler, Richard Allen Martin, Fredrick William Fuelling, Joel E. Schwartz, Rolland Justice Beer, Marvin Dale Sprunger. Howard Franklin Steiner, Oscar Russell Moser. Elmo Ehlerding, Andrew A. Hilty, Cornelils Ci Troyer, John Peter Koors, Dwight Edmund Sprunger, Vernon Smith Ralston, Daniel M. Schwartz, Warren Hugh Nidlinger, Jr., James Eugene Myers, Maver Otis Roth, Jay N. Martin, James Gerhard Kohne, Dale Ted Beer, Ronald William John Dettmer, Adrian Stanley Lehman, Dale Arnold Schnepf. In addition, Christian E. Schwartz, 4 E (conscientious objector), was accepted for a work camp for objectors. 0 Filling Station Sale Is Announced Today George Whittenibarger has taken over the filling station at t.he corner of Marshall and 'North Second streets, formerly operated by Hendricks brothers. Mr. Whittenbarger is a return army veteran. o ■ — - German Attacks In Italy Are Repulsed Fifth Army Holds To New-Won Positions Rome, Feb. 24. — (UP) — Fifth army forces beat off repeated German counter-attacks and held firmly today to newly-won peak positions in the Apennines southwest cf Bologna. Doughboys, Who scaled 3,500 foot Mount Della Torraccia against stiff opposition, mopped up resistance pockets on the heights and threw back several German attempts to retake the peak, ttwo and a half miles northeast of Mount Belvedere. Farther to the northeast Brazilian troops, supporting the drive in the Belvedere area, repulsed several counterattacks and consolidated 'their positions of Mount Castello. Headquarters announced today that a new contingent of Brazilian ground troops had arrived in the Italian theater of operations. American artillery and mortar fire repulsed a strong German counterattack near Campiano, two miles west of Mount Belvedere.

Marines Renew Drive Against Iwo Air Field Casualties Mount On Both Sides In Bloody Battling Guam, Feb. 24—(UP) —Tankled U. S. marines renewed the. assault on Iwo's central air field from a springboard on its lower edge today and at noon were hammering out slow gains against violent, resistance. Admiral Chester W. Nimitz announced that the marines charged Japanese positions on the Iwo air field from a line on the southwestern rim of the base and south of its center. With tank support the marines struck this morning after American planes, artillery, and warships had plastered the field with a great weight of explosives. “By noon our forces were reported to be gaining ground slowly,” Nimitz said in a communique. “Enemy resistance is heavy.” On the southern tip of Iwo, patrols entered the crater of the extinct Suribachi volcano, atop which the stars and stripes flew, and were mopping up remnants of the Japanese forces defending the natural fortress. “Conditions on the beaches are generally improved, and the unloading of general cargo is proceeding,” the communique reported. Casualties mounted steadily on both sides in the bloodiest fighting of the Pacific war. While American losses have not been announced beyond 5,372 casualties for the first 58 hours of the six-day battle, the finding of another 717 Japanese bodies jumped the number of enemy dead to at least 1,939. (A Japanese broadcast claimed that American losses on Iwo were "well over 17,000” up to Friday night. Eight more American warships, including two battleships, have been sunk or damaged off the island, Tokyo said.) Elements of the third marine division fought onto the 300-foot high central plateau yesterday and had advanced 50 yards along the southern tip of the southwestnortheast runway of Motoyama airfield No. 2 by dusk.’ The fourth and fifth marine divisions still were attempting to clamber up the slopes of the plateau from the east and west under almost pointblank artillery, machine-gun and rocket fire from an intricate system of pillboxes, blockhouses and fortified caves. ■ o Divorce Decrees Denied By Judge Cross Complaint Is Also Denied Judge J. Fred Fruchte of the Adams circuit court late yesterday denied the granting of two divorce decrees to men plaintiffs, the one also including a denial on a cross complaint of the defendant. The suits were filed by Homer Meshberger against his wife, Beatrice E. Meshberger, and Paul B. Gould, who sought a divorce from his wife, Alice E. Gould. The cases were heard last Tuesday and Judge Fruchte withheld his decision until late yesterday. He denied a decree of divorce in either case and also found against the cross complaint filed by Alice E. Gould. In both cases, the costs were ordered taxed against the plaintiffs. Attorneys for the plaintiffs did not indicate if further action was contemplated.

Buy War Savings Bonds And Stamps

Price Four Cents.

Driving Offensive Sends Germans Back Within 19 Miles Os Cologne And Rhine Paris, Feb. 24 —(UP)—American tanks and infantrymen drove two to 3% miles beyond the shattered Roer river line on a 22-mile front today in a driving offensive that rocked the Germans back within 19 miles of Cologne and the Rhine. Everywhere the Germans were reeling back before one of the mightiest assaults of the western war. A dozen fortified towns on the west end of the Cologne plain and more than 1,200 stunhbd prisoners fell into American hands in the first 24 hours rtf the attack. Six German divisions were-over-whelmed in the first A ank surge across the Roer. as Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower hurled armored and infantry divisions of the U. S. first and ninth armies into the narrow offensive front. German spokesmen said the Americans had 20 divisions, including six armored divisions, totaling perhaps 300,000 men on the attack front. Field dispatches said Yank engineers were working feverishly to throw additiorftl bridges across the still-swollen Roer. The battle appeared to be developing into a race to get the Americans’ full armored power across the river before the arrival of the Germans’ main reserves. Official reports said enemy resistance, softened by a continuous drumfire of bombs and shells, w’as relatively light and that American casualties were small. There was still no evidence that the Nazi retreat had become disorganized. however, and it was expected that the opposition would stiffen within the next few hours as the advance drilled into their main defenses behind the Roer. Juelich, 22 miles west of Co. logne and probably the toughest German stronghold on the Roer. fell to the ninth army after a fierce street battle. Remnants of the enemy garrison still were bolding out inside the town's walled, moated citadel this morning, but the tide of battle already had swept out beyond them and their elimination was only a matter of time. Lt. Gen. William H. Simpson’s ninth army spearheads also captured Glimbach, Gevenich, Ruhrich, Boslar, Seigersdofif, Hambach, Korrenzig and Baal on the east side of the Roer above and below .Tuleich. At Baal, the Yanks were 3% miles northeast of Linnich and the' same distance southwest of the Nazi base at Erkelenz. At Hambach, they were on the edge of the Staats forest and barely 19 miles west of Cologne. 0 — Grants Petition For Sale Os Real Estate The petition ito sell real estate of the David Teeple estate, in the partition suit filed by David H. Teeple ve Agnes Teeple Hardy, was granted by Judge J. Fred Fruchte in Adams circuit court today. Nathan C. Nelson was named commissioner and filed bond for $15,000 which was approved by the court. o American Legion Meeting Monday Adams post 43, American Legion, will hold a meeting Monday night at the Legion. This will be a social meeting, with refreshments and special entertainment. All members are urged to ibe present. 11l Health Blamed For Warsaw Suicide ‘ Wansaw. Ind., Feh. 24 —(UP)— Despondency over ill health was blamed by relatives for the suicide of Charles M. Sensibaugh, 73, last night. He was found hanging at home.