Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 43, Number 49, Decatur, Adams County, 27 February 1945 — Page 1

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tTxuii- No - 49 -

GERMAN DEFENSES BREAK ON RHINE FRONT

oviet Armies teak Across leisse River Central Pomeranian German Lines Also Broken By Russians Ln. Feb. 27.-(UP)-Red L were reported today to have L through the German lines Lvtral Pomerania and along the L river southeast of Berlin. L German high command said . Lan forces had crashed through lL the Baltic sea in Pomerania b rolled up gains of 25 miles L their last reporteel positions. L Moscow dispatch reported a Lt tank battle raging somewhere Lpn the Neisse and Dresden. L would mean that Marshal pn S. Konev had shattered the iU line and thrown powerful Lred forces into a drive toward L Saxony capital of Dresden. Moscow said American fliers who L forced landings recently in Lea of the middle Oder before L reported ceaseless and inL artillery fire on both sides, u a Steady flow of Russian inaHal and men westward. fftro regiments —at least 6,000 Ls-of the first Ukrainian army Leif across the Neisse and Lt into Gross Gastrose, 53 L southeast of Berlin, in fierce L battles yesterday Berlin File thrust wedged into Berlin’s ■tbeastern defense triangle baslon Guben, on the Neisse four L northeast of Gross Gastrose; kst, also on the Neisse IS miles Lh of Guben, and Cottbus, 13 be west of Forst. Consolidation of the bridgehead Laid give the Soviets a springL for the encirclement of Ln or an advance northwest totai Beilin in conjunction with a ntal push across the Oder river. aUdio Berlin also reported that |e Soviets had opened a new attkin the Slovakian mountains toSvolen, 125 miles east of Hu. One column advanced 10 Mb to Slatina, seven miles east Svolen, Berlin said. Moscow remained silent on both K Neisse ri»er and Slovakian atids, but Czechoslovak leaders in Mon and Moscow broadcast apNs to the underground in their baeland to rise against the Gerbus at once. [The Red army is at the gates of Mia-Moravia," the leaders said, the time has come to fight openly r towns and villages. Strike at p enemy, disobey the enemy’s plizatkm and evacuation orders, gensify sabotage, and increase kikes.” iA Soviet communique announced bt Marshal Ivan S. Konev’s first army, far behind the river front, had captured bflniley depot in encircled 1 Brescapital of German Silesia. vi 1 y-fortified Hindenburg tare- a ' on 8 with 15 more blocks isootheni Breslau, also was capW More than 1,000 Germans *re killed in street fighting and pothers taken prisoner, Stiff fighting also continued tahwest an(l o{ Mhigslterg, capital of East Prus- . ' T “™ Tc Page 5, Column 6) foe Rural Worker Finishes Campaign For Red Cross Fund I chairman of section ' K,rk!a nd township, has airivJ . roin ? lete d his Red Crees u ai „ , n J 1 ® mile-square area he ins from eight per- ■ oahng $47, an exceptionally ave rage . »l| h^ M Cn>Bs war fund drive Thureday and stan vo!unle er workers L‘„f • Ch ! cain » ai P> which Red bo WMV r ' opp t 0 conclude in I _2L' " e POal is ? 16 -7°o. B EMOCRiT TURE READ 'NG TTHE r MOMETER 10:00, m 23 Noon * - 23 kri. WE *THER 'Mh portin’ •'° Udy NheX? * Oni « ht and wS.'X,?'"’

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Waste Paper, Tin Can Drive Here Saturday The regular monthly waste paper and tin can drive will be held Saturday, with city trucks and the Boy I Semite again making the collection. ■Phil Sauer, Chairman of the drive, stated that there is an u"gent need tor both waste paper and tin cans and urges everyone to get ae much out as possible. Mr. Sauer requests that paper and tin cans be placed in separate containers to help speed the collection. O s Half Os Japs' Iwo Garrison Knocked Out Marine Planes Are Already Operating From One Airfield Guam, Feb. 27— (UP) —Field: dispatches said today that U. S. : marines have knocked out half the Japanese garrison of 20,0001 in battling across both Iwo's air- ■ fields to within a little more than a mile and a half of the north . coast. (A Japanese Domei dispatch recorded by the FCC said the marines opened a “major offensive against our main positions” in central and northern Iwo Monday following an all-night bombardment by navy guns. "Sanguinary battles” were said to he raging.) Marine planes already were operating from the southern airfield, captured a week ago. Thel northern tip of the central air- ‘ field still was in Japanese hands, but it was under artillery fire from a newly-captured hill dominating the area. The battle of Iwo went into its ninth day while Pacific fleet headquarters awaited word from famed task force 58 on the extent of destruction wrought in its third carrier-plane raid in 10 days Sunday on Tokyo. 750 miles north of the embattled island. Vice Admiral Stare A. Mitscher's task force remained under radio silence. It was possible the carriers still were off Tokyo, awaiting better weather before resuming their assault. Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. commander of the Pacific fleet, announced in a'communique early today that 741 more Japanese bodies had been counted on Iwo, bringing the number of known enemy dead to 3,568 for the first. eight days of battle. However as many more enemy dead probably still remained behind enemy lines. United Press war correspondent Mac R. Johnson, aboard the invasion flagship off Iwo. said 10,000 Japanese were believed d£ad or seriously wounded. Maj. Gen. Graves B. Erskine’s third division advanced 400 yards —four times the length of a football field — at the center o? the line in bloody fighting yesterday. By dusk, the marines had seized high ground of the 342-foot high centra! plateau and most of the central airfield, Motoyama No. 2. The fourth marine division on the eastern flank and the fifth: on the west also scored new gains. The fourth captured hill | 382 near the east coast, dominat-; ing a major portion of the re- ; maining enemy-held territory to; the north. The third division was only a little more than a mile and a half (Turn To Page 2, Column 1) | ! / aJL \ • i TT y

Rockets Added To Firepower Yanks Use On Iwo t * s W - & ■ I’ I ROCKETS are fired from a United States landing craft onto Iwo Jima. where the Yanks and the Japs i I are locked in bitter battle. After a week's fighting, the island’s second airfield Was in nearly complete | I possession of Maj. Gen. Harry Schmidt’s forces. Coast Guard photo. |

Lower House Passes Record Budget Bill Bill Passed Without Any Dissenting Vote Indianapolis. Feb. 27 — (UP) — The Indiana house suspended its rules today and passed a recordbreaking $89,617,007 biennial appropriations hill, 80-0, and sent it to the senate. There was no debate, but Rep. I Robert H. Heller, D„ Decatur, ' minority floor leader, attempted ; “for the record” to insert an ■ amendment to ear mark SIO,OOO,- j 000 for postwar institutional ! building. Hellers motion yesterday to follow the suggestion of former governor Henry F. Schricker regarding an appropriation from the state general fund balance was . defeated by the Republican ma-I jority. Indiana taxpayers faced a I state biennium budget of nearly I $90,000,000. a net increase of | more than $1,000,000 above, thei $88,523,810 estimated expenditures ' approved by the Indiana budget , committee. The budget, as amended, in- ' eluded a $1,000,000 item for thej upstate hospital, provided by a | 1943 legislative act which failed to set aside the money for building it. Rep. Jesse L. Dickinson, D., South Bend, led the sponsors of the hospital appropriation amendment. Claiming that a current bill appropriating $1,800,000 for the hospital was pigeon-holed in the house ways and means committee, Dickinson urged adoption of his amendment because “the people of northern Indiana are becoming discouraged” over the delay in making an appropriation. Northern Indiana Republicans Joined Dickinson in supporting the amendment on a standing vote during a meeting of the (Turn To Page s , Column 5) oMis. Benj. Winans Dies In Montana Former Local Lady Is Taken By Death Word of the death of Mrs. Benjamin Winans, 74. of Livingston, Mont., has been received here by her sisters. Mrs. Sadie Schnitz and Mrs. Louise Schnitz of 313 Adams street. Mr. and Mrs. Winans formerly lived here. The family moved to Livingston more than 35 years ago. Mr. Winans is a retired school principal and prior to moving to the northwest taught school in Decatur and Berne. Mrs. Winans was a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry C. Fuhrman. Besides the husband, and sisters in this city, she is survived by five daughters and two sons, the latter being in the armed forces. Funeral services will be held Wednesday afternoon in Livingston, with burial there.

Decatur, Indiana, Tuesday, February 27,1945.

BULLETIN Washington, Feb. 27.—(UP) — Maj. Gen. Edwin M. (Pa) Watson, White House secretary and military aide to President Roosevelt, died last week while en route home from the Crimea conference, it was learned today. Watson, artillery officer in world war I and former West Point football player, had been ill for some time. It was reported he died of a heart attack. o Two Men Reported Prisoners Os War Another Is Wounded In Luzon Invasion Two men who formerly were 1 j listed as missing in action in Bel- j i gium are now reported prisoners ' lof war in Germany, relatives; have learned. One is reported ' j wounded in the invasion of Luzon.: ; Cpl. Ralph C. Peterson, 27-year- : old son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles | Peterson, 521 Penn street, and I husband of Mrs. Lucinda Borne i Peterson of 1420 South Anthony : Blvd.. Fort Wayne, is reported a prisoner of war oi Germany. He was listed as missing in action since Dec. 17. His wife received a letter yesterday from Captain Leuty. commander of Ralph’s company, in which he stated that to the best of his knowledge, her husband was a prisoner of war. Cpl. Peterson, who joined the army in September 1942, has been overseas since last September. He was the athletic director for his company. Lt. William J. Dowling of Gary, son of Mr. and Mrs. William J. Dowling, formerly of this, city, also listed as missing in battle on the Belgium front is now reported to be a prisoner of war. according to word relayed to the parents by persons who heard a broadcast from overseas last week. The parents have pot received any direct word, but had messages from radio listeners in the east that they heard Lt. Dowling's name mentioned as a German war prisoner. (Turn To Page 6, Column 5)

Lenten Meditation (Rev. E. O. Kegerreis. Monroe Methodist Church) “LIFE WITHOUT LOVE” “I may speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but if I have no love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal; I may prophesy, fathom all mysteries and secret lore, I may have such absolute faith that I can move hills from their place, but if I have no love, I count for nothing.” 1 Cor. 13: 1-2 (Moffatt)) I To live a life without love means simply to exist. To merely exist is to live on a far lower plain than God intends. Man created in the image of God and made little lower than the angels is not made just for existence. He is created for a purpose. Without Love that purpose is handicapped and so is man. The Scriptures testify that God is love. This raises a question. Can the Divine Personality that Jesus calls "Father.” be understood and influence a life that ignores love? Apparently we miss the understanding of life and God who ordained it when we try to live without love. Jesus lived a life that shows us love in its fullest expression. His passion and death were motivated by love. The benefits of his passion for mankind are a direct contradiction to the life that fails to consider love. "If I have no love, I count for nothing.”

MacArthur Hands Back Philippines Fulfills Pledge To Filipinos In 1942 (Manila, Feb. 27 —(UP) — Gen. j Douglas MacArthur restored civil j j administration of the Philippines to I I the commonwealth government to-: I day and solemnly proclaimed “my I country has kept the faith. ’ He thus fulfilled a pledge given! to the Filipinos when ho withdrew I his troops from Manila three years ago. Standing among the ruins of burn-1 ed and sacked Manila. MaicArthur : reviewed those three years of “(bit- ! terness, struggle and sacrifice,” and ■ I vowed that “by these ashes” the enemy “has wantonly fixed the pat- ' lern of his own doom." I Gen. MacArthur’s historic action.' j broadcast throughout the world j over the voice of freedom radio, ! was hailed by a cheering throng of I civil and military officials gather- j ed in the liberated capital. President Sergio Osmena, in ac- i cepting restoration of the civil government, appealed to all duly-elect-ed members of the congress who ! "have remained steadfast to their allegiance" to return to Manila and reestablish the legislative branch. “>I ask all my people to help reestablish laiw and order for a formal return so that in 1945 our request •for independence will be granted,” Osmena eaid. The Philippines president warmly praised the American general for fulfiling his vow “to return” and dre w a loud burst of applause when he predicted that “Gen. Douglas MacArthur will go down in history.” MacArthur had told the Filipinos that the long struggle through the | three dark years of Japanese oocu-1 patton was “not in vain.” “God has indeed blessed our! arms," he said. "The great unleash-; ed power of America, supported by our Allies, turned the tide of battle I in the Pacific and resulted in an unbroken string of crushing details upon the enemy—culminating in the redemption of your soil and t’he liberaition of your people. ‘)My country has kept the laith.’’.!

American Columns Race Up To 10 Miles Through Chaotic Nazi Defenses

More Nazi Attacks Repulsed In Italy Rome, Felb, 27 —(UP)— Fifth army troops have repulsed further counterattaoks in the Mount Belvedere sector with heavy losses to Germans, headquarters said today. Preceded by an intense artillery (barrage. Germans in (battalion strength attacked Mount Della Torraccia Monday morning. They were thrown back with heavy casualties. The Germans continued to throw artillery and mortar fire into the American positions. 0 Upper Silesia, Other Lands To Go To Poland Churchill Reports On Territories To Be Granted Poland London, Feb. 27 —(UP) —Prime i ! Minister Chufchill said today that : Poland will be given Upper Sil-: j esia, Danzig, the greater part of | East Prussia, and a "long Baltic: I Sea front.” To compensate for territory yielded to Russia in the east, Po- i land also will receive such addii tional German territory east of ! the Oder river as may be decided [ I at the peace conference. Church-1 ■ ill told a packed commons. He said Poland would be grant- • ed the “greater part of East Prus- : sia to the west of Koenigsberg,” : indicating that Russia may retain the capital of the junkers prov- \ ince. In the important German indusi trial province of Upper—or southern —Silesia which Churchill said would go to Poland lie such manufacturing centers as Oppel, Hindenburg, Gleiwitz, and Beuthen. Poland's eastern frontier, he j reaffirmed, would be the Curzon line as drawn by an Allied commission in 191!) aryl “including, of course, the exclusion of Lwow from Poland.” As for Polish forces fighting under allegiance to the Polish exile government in London, Churchill said they were under British command. He hoped as many as possible of these troops would return to Poland. Those not desiring to (Turn To Page 6, Column 3) ———o 13 Are Assigned To Armed Services Report Received On Latest Contingent The Adams county selective ser- : vice board today received word I ' that of the 13 men sent for active i induction into the armed forces ' last Thursday, two were accepted | for navy service and 11 for the ■ army. These 13 men had all passed pre- | induction physical examinations 1 several weeks ago and- underwent further examination before being assigned to the service branches last week. The two accepted for navy ser-j i vice were Donn Eugene Eichar and 1 ! Morris Eugene McClure. The 11 assigned to army duty were as follows: Robert Edward Kuhnle, Lester Laverne Dubach, Gene Junior Hoffman, Robert Paul Brown. Richard Franklin Helmrich. Clarence Raymond Nevil. Donald Anselm Heimann, Raymond Junior Rolston, Francis Harold Bentz, Robert Amos Jones and Roger Wayne Amstutz. Another group of Adams county men has been ordered to report tomorrow for pre-induction physical examinations, the board had previously announced.

Yanks Seize Verde Island In Philippines 16th Philippines Island Invaded By Amphibious Forces Manila, Feb. 27— (UP)— American forces secured control today of' the western end of the central Phil- i ippines water route with the vir- j tually complete occupation of Ver-1 de island off the southern tip of ! Luzon. Verde, lying midway between the i Batangas area of Luzon and Min-: doro, was the 16th Philippines is- ' land invaded by U. S. amphibious ! forces. Units of the 24th division, veter-1 ans of the ibitter Leyte campaign, . landed on Verde Sunday and took the Japanese by complete surprise. Within three hours, the Americans reduced resistance to a pocket a-1 i round San Agapito. on the south-. | eastern coast, and last were report-' j ed mopping up the small Japanese iforce. (Seizure of Verde came within five : days after other American troops ; captured Capul and Birl islands in the San Bernardino strait at the I i eastern end of the water passage-j ; way. (between Luzon and Samar. L The water way is the main navigational route through the central ' Philippines for shipping from Ma-1 nila bay to'the United States. Gen. Douglas MacArthur said the | landing on Verdi was accomplished I with “practically no loss.” 'His communique also disclosed that paratroopers on Corregidor had cleaned out all but aibout one mile of the eastern tip of the island. The mopping of the Japanese stragglers had carried to the western end of Kindley .airotrip, between Cavalry Point and (Monkey Point, one mile east of Malinta Hill. The count of Japanese dead on ‘ Corregidor reached 3.1)56, although the communique said that “countless” others were killed inside /he (Turn To Page fi, Column 5) Allied Planes Blast Germany Rail Hubs 2,500 Planes Sent Over Nazi Targets London, Feb. 27. — (UP) — More than 2.500 American and British! warplanes carried the war deep in-, to Germany tor the 15th straight day today, unloading a great weight of bombs on the Nazi rail centers' of Leipzig, Halle and Mainz. Gen. Janies IL Doolittle's U. S. ■ eighth air force set the daylight. I ; bombardment in motion before mid- ; day with a 2,000-piane strike into I central Germany at Hallo and Leip-1 zig. Hours later, another raiding fleet of more than 500 RAF Lancasters and Halifaxes followed through with a heavy attack on the Mainz railway yards on the middle reaches of the Rhine. A smaller force of British heavies also bombed a benzol plant near Gelsenkirchen in the Ruhr valley. Swiss press dispatches repotting that two American bombers were shot down by Swiss fighters in the Luzern area of northern Switzerland suggested that American raiders from Italy also were attacking southern Germany.More than 1,100 U. S. Flying Fortresses and Liberators crashed almost 3,000 tons of bombs on Leipzig, 85 miles southwest of Berlin, and the neighboring town of Halle. The rail networks of these two cities control the transport of most of central Germany. Upwards of 700 Musitang and <Turn To Page 6, Column 5>

Price Four Cents.

Field Dispatches Say Entire Enemy Front Line Broken Under Yank Drive BULLETIN Paris, Feb. 27.—(UP)—American tanks and troops stormed the Erst river line eight miles from Cologne today and field dispatches indicated the Germans were fleeing in disorder across the Rhine. Paris, Feb. 27 — (UP) —American flying columns raced up to 10 miles through the chaotic German defenses on the Rhine plain | today in a spectacular breakthrough that carried into the rim |of the Ruhr valley and the out- : posts of Cologne. Hundreds of American tanks were running riot through the ; German lines guarding the great arsenal cities of the Ruhr and ; Rhineland, and field ._ dispatches : said the enemy's entire, front was i broken. I On the northern flank of the offensive line, armored and infan- | try units of the U. S. ninth army i outflanked and all but encircled ' the industrial city of .Muenchen- ' Gladbach, westernmost of the i Ruhr factory towns. Ten miles southeast of Muen- ‘ chen-Gladbach, the ninth armyreached the Erst river line some Hi miles northwest of Cologne. It captured Koenigshoven and the river village of Morken and ■ began probing for a crossing on j the direct road to the Rhine. Other first army- forces farther : south already were on the Erst I on the military highway west of I Dueren where the river bends I back within about eight miles of i Cologne. Powerful armored elements of Lt. Gen. William H. Simpson’s ninfn army were storming through Rhinedahlen five miles southwest of Muenchen-Gladbach. While other columns stabbed 10 miles northwest of Erkelenz in a wide end run that carried into Waldniel. 6’5 miles west of Muenchen. Still other forces were sweep- : ing in on the factory city from positions about two miles to the west and southeast. Panic and confusion were reported sweeping the German ranks and field dispatches said German civilians and police were fighting side by side with Nazi regulars in the front lines before Muenchen. Supreme headquarters reported that elements of the ninth and 11th German panzer divisions reinforced the five divisions manning the Roer river line when the (Turn To Page 5. Column 4) O — Earl S. Denny Dies Early This Morning Funeral Services Thursday Afternoon Earl Sylvester Denny. 58. died at 2 o'clock this morning at the home of a daughter. Mrs. John A. Myers of this city, after an illness of two weeks of heart trouble. He was employed at the Central Soya in this city until suffering a heart attack two weeks ago. Surviving are the following children: Mrs. Myers and Mrs. Naomi Rhoades, both, of Decatur: Mrs. Justine Liby of Linn Grove, Mrs. Emaline Ebnit of Fort Wayne and William Denny of Fort Wayne, and 11 grandchildren. Funeral services will be held at 2 o'clock Thursday afternoon at the John Myers home, with Rev: F. H. Willard officiating, assisted by Rev. J. C. Clawson of Marion. Burial will he in the M. R. E. cemetery at Berne. The body will be removed from the Yager funeral home to the Myers residence this evening.