Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 43, Number 50, Decatur, Adams County, 28 February 1945 — Page 1

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

txUil. No. 50.

YANKS BREAK THROUGH ERFT RIVER LINE

Ips Fall Back I Yank Drive Ist Os Manila — * ■ Complete Mop-Up ■ Os Enemy Forces ■ On Verde Island ■byia-F-b. - s - < UP) -Japan-f-'.l hack along a 10-imU* ■'. .. -hr Marakina watershed ■ of Manila mday under the imU tW() divisions of American Kps'and swarms of bombers fiehteis. ■ Ma. Arthur’s mountK llf f,. W :vc also brought the coin- ■ inn tion Japanese remon Verde island, off the tip "f Luzon, elimination all | |UI ..ev. ral hundred enemy „ n c„ ;1 ~gidor. and new ■ iry aerial blows on the Japan- ■ ?,m Formo-a to French Indo- ■-,-. nf the sixth infantry divis- ■, r „„,,l the drive toward Luzon’s ■,coast and captured' Mt. MatBB ip miles northeast of Manila. ■ knock a hole in the enemy’s line. ■t-.’. -,-itlit-rn ar.d western .slopes Pawamin also were secured ■-. sixth division troops who |Hoo> to within two miles of tlie ■s-.-ov: Mont iPsm-Wawa high|^L.ettcmitered tierce enemy at Antipole. eight miles ■n of Mi. Mataba and 11 east ■Manila. ■ p J.cwnete unloosed 1 heavy r.rmortar ami machine gun : a de~p rate defense of AntiE whtkrn fall would give the first ■rs,-r. .-mitral rd the highway runnorth from Laguna bay to sixth infantry front in the jKnh. of American planes, fighters to heavy Liberator steadily supported the ■wml drive through the Marawatershed. The Liberators plastered the .Japanese troops ■ Essitiotis with 155 tons of high exjHteives. while lighters and attack raked the enemy lines low-level. communique disclosed that *- quantities of enemy equip B'and ordnance were captured E t in the last 24 hours ■ the Marakina front. They in- - calibres, machine guns, caissons and 13S motor veS l * the far northern Luzon front, division iroops continued their northward toward the Cagay<9 (Turn Tn Pag-e 2. Column 4) jS: ——o Begin Assessing Os Kroperty Thursday -ownship assessors and their will gather at the county U* ses w s office in the court house to dbtain Their supplies begin the assessing of personal in the county. assessing period extends over The collection of the dog w ’'' made by the assessors IB?' ca '.l upon the property ownon real estate will Bf ; be listed by the assessors and the exception of ,n ™tnship. which injB f( ,“" D * ra ’ t ur. the township trus■h a « as assessing officers. In ”. n&hip ’ Wil * Winn es is the i" 4> ' P '* 0! ' three deputies named to assist him. I I|f ' 7

1944 Tax Receipts Are Now Available Roy Price. Adaims county treasurer. announced today that tax receipts for 1944, payable this year, have been prepared in his office and payments may now be made. The dead-line for the spring payment of taxes is Monday, May 7. o Marines Gain Ground Slowly On Iwo Island Straighten Lines Preparatory For General Assault Guam, Feb. 28— (UP) —U. S. marines straightened their lines across Iwo’s central plateau in no-quarter battles today preparatory to a general assault toward the mountainous north coast. (A Tokyo broadcast heard by the Australian information department listening post said the Americans ”at last are showing signs of victory on Iwo.") (The Tokyo Domei agency, in a broadcast recorded by the FCC, claimed that the Japanese were "holding their own at their respective positions" against an American general offensive that began Monday. It said the garrison had inflicted 1.500 casualties between Monday noon and Tuesday night and estimated total American casualties in the two campaign at 20,000.) Gains were measured in feet and yards at high cost. A front dispatch said the marines were coming up against such heavy - defenses as two-story cement blockhouses sunk so deep that they protrude only a couple of feet above the ground "There are no apparent exits to these mammoth vaults," United Press war corresponded Lisle Shoemaker reported from Iwo. ■ “There may be underground tunnels, hut it would not be surprising if the Japs had sealed themi selves in for a death stand." The third marine division alone has counted 800 pillboxes of all sizes, and shapes in its zone of operations at the center of the , American line. Shoemaker said . Iwo was the most heavily defended spot “per square inch” ever , assaulted in warfare. “Even the most optimistic wori’t surmise that this assault may be concluded in under 10 ■ days.” Shoemaker said. Admiral Chester W. Nimitz announced in a communique that the marines made “limited gains ” in an attack yesterday after repulsing several small-scale enemy attempts to infiltrate the American lines the previous night. Enemy artillery and mortar tire continued heavy throughout yes(Turn To Pag* 5, Column 4) O Daughters Guests Os Decatur Lions Fathers-Daughters Meeting Held Here Members of the Decatur Lions ■ club entertained their daughters at a father and daughters meeting Tuesday evening at the K. of P. home. An interesting program was presented following the dinner, featured by the appearance of S. F. Stern. Fort Wayne magician, who delighted those present with his feats of magic. A girls’ sextet from the Decatur junior-senior high school, under the direction of Miss Helen Haubold, music supervisor in the public schools, presented several selections. Members of the sextet' were the Misses Patricia Kitson, Edna Mae Schultz. Wilma Wilson, Clarice Sauer, Vera Steury and Leona Hoile A special ‘‘Yankee Doodle Dandy.” was offered by Anita Smith and Sue Troutner, and piano selections were played by Wilma Wilson. Deane Dorwin, Lions club president conducted the mpeQ Ing, and Robert Gay and Roy Mumma werU chairmen of the program.

Army Os 600 Volunteers Will Launch Adams County Drive Thursday For Red Cross War Fund-Expect To Exceed Quota Os $16,700

Spurred by the slogan, "Keep | Your Red Cross at His Side?’ a I home front army of at least 600 I volunteers will move forward to-; morrow in the drive >to raise $16.-; 700 for the Adams County Red i Cross was fund, hoping to reach , the goal by March 15. Under the generalship of Clar-1 ence Ziner, county war fund direct-| or; Lyman L. Hann, farm area chairman, who is supported by a regiment of 330 township workers; James Elberson, chairman of the 16 district organizations in Decatur, the campaign was ready for the kick-off early in the morning. Separate organizations for industrial plants, with Felix Maier acting as chairman and Walter Lister, in charge of fraternal and service groups, and individual organizations in Ren ne, Geneva and Monroe, the "generals” had everything planned for zero hour. The tempo of the drive is expected to grow daily, climaxing in the successful raising of the fund that goes in most part for aiding men and women in uniform in this country and in all parts of the world. The local chapter’s share of the county’s quota is $2,700. Although the chapter is expending an amount greater than that figure, Clarence E. Bell, chairman of the Adams county Red Cross chapter, announced that part of the treasury sur-' plus would be used in 1945 to defray its expended service program 'this year. In this connection, the chapter has opened a. home service office in s the Reppert building on Madison |

62 Men Are Sent For Pre-Induction Exams Large Group Leaves Here This Morning Sixty-two men left Decatur this morning for pre-induction physical examinations under selective service at Indianapolis. A large number of these men were young farmers, now classified 2-C, and those of this group who are accepted will have their classifications reviewed before being sent for active induction into the armed services In addition to the 62 sent for examination, three men classified 4E (conscientious objectors), were sent for final type examinations prior to being assigned to a work camp. Three of today’s contingent were transferred from other boards, while Thorval Lee Mattax, former Geneva school teacher, was transferred to the jurisdiction of the board at Urbana, 111. Merlin William Sprunger was leader of today's contingent, with Marion Earl Schindler and Gorman Dale Fox as assistant leaders. The complete list of today’s contingent follows: Walter Mathias Leimenstoll, Hilton Oliver Miller, Carl Edward Stuckey, Merlin William Sprunger,. Levi E. Hilty, Elgene Fred Hoile, Joseph A. Schwartz. Donald Elroy Grote, David W. Schwartz. David William Sprunger, Robert Lowell Gage, Richaid Eugene Walters, Menno S. Eicher, Solomon E. Schwartz, Marion Earl Schindler, John Philipp Eicher, Denver Wayne Rich. Charles Edward Workinger, Paul William Moser, Donald Wayne Hirschy, Joseph S. Schwartz. Enos E. Swartz, Harold Wayne Scherry, Lester Scheiman. Paul Martin Schueler, Albert Allen Anderson, Lyle Truman Bailey. John E. Schwartz, Maurice Leroy Tinkham, Charles Edward Rauch, Jack Andrews, Clarence Edward Amstutz, Robert Dale Workinger. Charles Henry Yake. Emanuel M. Schwartz, Chalmer Coolidge Miller, Ellis Neuenschwander, Menno E. Hilty, Noah R. Schwartz, Richard Orville Manley, Waldo Conrad, Eli C Beer* Curtis LeDoyl Zimmerman, Daniel O. Schwartz. Harry Dorwin Bollinger, Wayne Leioy Barger, Raymond Luther Chamness, Robert Laverne Sipe, Robert James Kaehr, Gorman Dale Fox, Dallis Jean Walchle, Lester Fredrich Walter Thieme, Truman John Baumgartner, Robert Louis Nussbaum. Charles Delmar Connelley, Donald Edi (Turn To F**e 8> •olumn 8)

ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Decatur, Indiana, Wednesday, February 28,1945

Welcome The Red Cross! 1 fl @1 ~~;'r f> m|Kf I I rvND JaK k \i I

street, wi . Mrs. Ruth Hollingsworth in i .targe as secretary. Service to men of the armed forces and to their families is rendered daily -through this office. As veterans return home following their discharge from army or navy, services including aid in their tiling of papers in connection with the G. I. bill of rights, will be extended by the Red Cross. Local funds also enable the women’s volunteer organization to ’ carry on its work, including the production of Red Cross supplies, kit bags And' other articles producI ed by the corps of women trom

Today Deadline For New Auto Licenses 'Today was the last day for obtaining the 1945 auto license plate and an operator’s license, if the owner wishes to operate his car in compliance with the law. The local licence bureau was experiencing a rush as last minute applicants applied tor their plate and license. One of the requirements is that the auto owner must produce his tax receipt, or a certificate from the county treasurer that his last year’s taxes are paid. o— Continue Probe Os Welfare Department Lower House Adopts Resolution Today Indianapolis, Feb. 28 —(UP) — The state department of public welfare faced the threat of a continued investigation by Hoosier lawmakers for two more years today. The Indiana house of representatives adopted by voice vote a resolution urging that the legislative advisory commission resume a study of the administration of welfare laws, and report to the governor and the 1947 general assembly. Rep. Earl B. Teckemeyer. R„ Indianapolis, w’ho served as chairman of the legislative welfare investigating commission between 1943 and 1945, and who was chairman of the important house social security committee, introduced the resolution. Teckemeyer proposed that the advisory commission take over the work of the welfare investigating body, which recommended widespread modifications in the welfare laws to the current assembly. Few of the major recommendations, however, were accepted. The resolution now goes to the senate for concurrence. State flood control legislation also was given a boost when the house sent to final consideration a senate measure establishing a nine-member state flood control commission. (Turn To Page 6, Column 4) O TEMPERATURE READING DEMOCRAT THERMOMETER J5:00 a. m. . 25 10:00 «. m. 25 Noon — 28 2:00 >p. m. — 28 WEATHER • Fair tonight and Thursday: rising temperatures Thursday. 1

- month to month. These articles ■: are shipped to national Red Cross > depots 'and distributed to men in I the army and navy in camp and - abroad. The local production, sew- ■ ( ing and knitting groups have pro- • duced thousands of items for the ; men and women in uniform. ! The quota this year is the same I as in 1944. and the drive last year wound up with the county oversub- ■ -scribing the amount by several > thousand dollars. With this for a ; basis, the Red Cross leaders and , workers believe that the people in • the county will answer the call, i “Give More . . . Give Now.”

Soviet Army Drives Toward Baltic Sea Threaten To Trap Ail German Troops London. Feb. 28 —(UP) —Germany acknowledged today the loss of Neustettin, anchor base of the defenses in central Pome- 1 rania, to a Russian offensive threatening to trap all the German troops to the northeast. The Nazis reported that Neustettin, Pomeranian stronghold outflanked by Marshal Konstantin K. Rokossovsky’s speedy drive toward the Baltic, had been evac- ■ uated. Rokossovsky’s second White ; Russian army was reported driv-| ing within about 25 miles of the Baltic Sea. northwest of Neustettin. A thrust to the sea would seal off eastern Pomerania, the Danzig free state, and the northern part of the old Polish corridor. Moscow dispatches said Rokossovsky’s tanks, tank-borne infan-I try and self-propelled guns were | pushing across the flooded plains I of Pomerania toward the Baltic I and rapidly narrowing the Ger-1 (Turn To Pgg« 5, Column 4) O Mrs. Emma Anspaugh Dies Last Evening Funeral Services Thursday Afternoon Mrs. Emma J. Anspaugh, 83-year-, bld Bryant resident, was found dead i at her home last evening about 6 o'clock. Mrs. Anspaugh, who lived alone, was the last charter member of the Mt. Carmel church, and was born in Ohio. The following children survive: James L. of Pittsford, Mich., Edward of Lima, 0., Dore D., rural route Geneva, Elmer J. and George, both of this city. One brother. Peter Tester of Seward, Neb., 17 grandchildren and 22 great-grand-children also survive. Three brothers, one sister and 4 grandchildren preceded her in death. The body will be removed to the home of Dore E. Anspaugh from the Wells & Hardy funeral home this evening at 5 o’clock. Funeral services will be held Thursday afternoon at 2 o’clock at the M't. Carmel Evangelical church, with Rev. J. O. Mosier of Van Wert, 0., officiating.

Two American Infantry Divisions Only Seven Miles From The Rhine

240 Blocks In Tokyo Burned Out By B-29s Congested Industry Areas Are Hard Hit BULLETIN Guam, Feb. 28 — (UP) — Superfortresses apparently knocked out Tokyo’s big Ueno railway station and freight yards in raids which left 240 blocks of the industrial heart of the city destroyed by fire, reconnaissance photographs showed today. — Guam, Felb. 28 -dUP)!— B-29! Superfortresses burned out 2401 b10ck5—29,074,000 square feet— in the heart of Tokyo in their heaviest raid of the war on the enemy capital Sunday, reconnaissance photographs showed today. The giant raiders blazed a trail of flaming destruction through : Tokyo from northeast to southwest skirting east of Emperor Hirohito’s ; palace and extending to the waterfront. (Radio Tokyo itself reported that some demolition and fire bombs fell “adjacent to" a building on the palace grounds, as well as near ' the palace of the Emperor’s mother, a mile and a half to the southwest. (The burned-out area of approximately 667 acres was in the most congested industrial area of Tokyo. A 21st bomber command announcement described results of the attack as “excellent.” More than 200 iB-295, the largest, force of superfortresses ever dispatched on a single raid, participated in the attack. They dropped upwards of 1.000 tons of bomibs through clouds from 25,000 feet with the aid of precision instru- ! ments. Not a bomiber was lost. The attack capped a morning as(Turn To Page 6, Column 5) o George Bill Signed By President Roosevelt Washington, Feb. 28 — (UP) — President Roosevelt has signed the George bill separating federal lending agencies from the commerce department, the White House announced today. o 7 Boy Scout First Aid Contest Held Monday — Four Patrols To Take Part In Area Meet — The annual first aid contest for i Adams county Boy Scouts was held ! Tuesday evening at the Lincoln school, with 35 Scouts from Decatur and Berne participating in the meet. Four partrols; Cobra and Swallow, both of Rotary troop 61. Decatur; Crow of Lions troop 62, Decatur. and Eagle of troop 67, Berne, were awarded A ratings, and will participate in the area meet, which will be held March 16 at the G. E. gymnasium in Font Wayne. Clarence Ziner was chairman of last night’s county meet, which was under the supervision of Joe Saunders. assistant Scout executive of the Anthony Wayne area. Judges were Carl Gerber. T. C. Smith, Robert Zwiok, Dee Frybaok, Bryce Thomas and Rev. C. A. Schmid. Recorders were Gerald Elzey and Karl Hilty. Lowell Smith acted as announcer, Harold Daniel as timer, and John Halter-man and Steve Evenhart as doctors. The participating patrols, their ratings, and members of the patrols, are as follows: (Troop 61, Colbra patrol—Grade A Nonman Stingely, Sheidcn Daniel, Nortnan Leonardson, Dave MacLean, Tom Bayles, Kenneth Nash: Troop 61, Swallow patrol—Grade A—iHennan Andrees, David Moore, Gerald Schultz, Neil Thomas, Dan (Tur» To Pago 4, '-Column 8),

Roosevelt Back In Washington After Confabs President Inspired By Allied Progress Toward Durable Peace Washington, Feb. 28 — (UP) — President Roosevelt returned today from his historic Crimea coirt’er- | ence so inspired by the Big Three’s progress toward a durable peace . I thatlie could foresee ultimate arm- > ament reduction by the major A'.-1 lied fighting powers. (But he feels that Germany and i Japan must be on trial for perhaps 50 years or more before being readmitted as equals to the society of nations. Meantime, they must be restrained by force if necessary. His full report, will be made to congress this week. The President returned to American soil last night, landing at an east coast port after a 10-day voyage from Algiers aboard a. heavy American cruiser which went within a few miles of enemy submarines striking at Allied shipping off Gibraltar. He then proceeded to Washington by overnight train, arriving back in t'he White House early this ' morning. iHe had ready for congress a lengthy report on the Crimea meeting which he will deliver in person on Capitol Hill in a day or two. 'ln his message to congress whch (Will be broadcast simultaneously I to the nation. Mr. Roosevelt will ■ itell how he, Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Premier Josef Stalin and their top advisers met in the old Livadia palace of Czar Nicolas LII on the Black sea and developed plans for a three-way operation to squeeze the last life out of the German military machine. He will tell also how they also built the foundation of an international organiza,tin which can squelch future wars before they start. (As ‘his ship approached the American coast, he spent an hour with three press association correspondents who joined his party at Algiers, going over the accomplishments of the Yalta conference. 11 • made these specific points; 1. He looks forward to a time after the war when armament of all nations, including the United States, England, Russia, China and France, will be 1 decreased. 2. Germany and Japan should at some time be added to the ass- nibly of United Nations members but only after they have shown a defin(Turn To Page 6, Column 3) John A. Bilderback Dies This Morning Dies Suddenly At Richmond Hospital — John A. J. Bildetthack, 34. of near Willshire. O„ died suddenly early I this morning at a Richmond hosi pital, where he had been a patient I since the first of the year. He was born in Blue Creek towns'hip November 2. 1910, the son of John (Fred) and Mary Ellen Bar-gahiser-Bilderback. The parents still reside in Blue Creek township. He has been employed for the past two years as a chemical engineer at th Font Wayne General Electric company. He was a member of the Methodist church at Willshire. (Surviving in addition to the parents are the wife, formerly Thelma Hileman; five children, Johnny, Rose Ann, Mary. Elinor and James, all at home; and one sister. Miss Catherine. Bilderback of Bryan, O. One sister preceded him in death. -Funeral arrangements have not been completed. The body tyas brought, to the Zwick funeral home in this city.

Price Four Cents.

Majority Os German Divisions Believed Fled Across Rhine; Strong Rear Guards Paris. Feb. 28 — (UP) — Two American infantry divisions broke-through the Erst river line barely seven miles from the Rhine today and locked in a vicious battle with die-hard Nazi troops manning the outer works of Cologne Soldiers of the U. S. first army's 104th and eighth divisions rammed across the Erst on both sides of the main Dueren-Cologne highway and won two solid bridgeheads on the east bank of that last water barrier west of the I Rhine. | Only weak opposition met the I first assault troops who stormed the river under cover of darkj uess late last night, but the ! Nazis stiffened as the advance j carried into high ground east of I the Erst. The bulk of the German dlvL i sions facing the first army was i believed to have fled across the l Rhine, but strong rear guard for- ! mations were fighting back desperately on the approaches to Cologne from a maze of inter- ’ locking trenches and breastworks overlooking the Erst. Field dispatches reported that ’ the- American advance was pro- ’ gressing steadily although at a ■ less spectacular rate than in the ’ sweep through the Roer-Erft ! corridor. A flood of tanks, guns and troops was reported moving through the twin bridgeheads in the wake of the infantrymen, and 155-millimeter long toms were pumping shellfire into Cologne. i The dramatic breakthrough J promised to plant the first army’s ■ j battle flags on the Rhine in a J matter of days at most. It came ' as Lt. Gen. William H Simpson’s U. S. ninth army to the north ripped into the western edge of. the Ruhr valley and brought the arsenal city of Duesseldorf within artillery range for the first time. Operating under a security blackout ordered by Simpson when it became apparent that the Germans’ communications had broken down completely, the Americans at last reports —- admittedly 24 hours behind the , battle —had outflanked Muenchen- , Gladbach, westernmost of the (Turn To Page 5, Column 4) — o —— ——-— Organize New Dens For Decatur Cub Pack Three new Dens wil] be organized and admitted to the Decatur Cub pack, at a meeting at the Lincoln school at 7 o’clock this evening. The new Dens and their members are: Den 5, Ronald Secaur, Gary Harvfy and Roger Pollock. Den 6, Bobby Ailerson. Jer r y Morris Acheson, Paul Conrad. Jr.. James Helm, Ferris 1). Kohne and David Whittredge. Den 7, Thomas D. Bosse, William Bowers. Jr. and Edward Deßolt. In addition. Ronald Bassett will become a member of Den 3. This will make a total of seven Dens, wit-h 37 members.' The various Denis will present a patriotic! pageant, representing scenes from I history and legend concerning Washington and Lincoln at to- . night's meeting. - LOCAL CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING RATES —o—- — MARCH 1 —o— For 25 words or less: 1 time 50c; 2 times 75c; 3 times $1; 6 times $1.75. Rates quoted are for consecutive insertions. No classified ads accepted on skipday schedule. Rate’ for 10 point BLACK FACE is 5c per word for insertion. Copy must he in office by 11 a. m. Monday through Friday. , Saturday deadline is 9a. m.