Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 43, Number 58, Decatur, Adams County, 9 March 1945 — Page 1

HTxi!ll. No- 58.

lANKS DRIVE FOUR MILES BEYOND RHINE

Jo Defenders | Virtually ■lit In Two Complete Conquest ■if Tiny Jap Isle K Believed Near Sun, Mar . 9.-(UP)-U s. «, les virtually split in two the Japanese today with a drive to a 100MLiff overlooking the northcoast. . gK won’t be long before tins IK i s over," Vice Admiral RichK Keliey Turner., commander K Pacific amphibious forces, Jaftcr a tour of the tiny island front doorstep. reports indicated that a ■ marine division spearhead "it iK . ~v of the line had gainod cliff commanding the deep Ugkrtistern beach after ramming SELh the last defenses in the IKc push all but severed enemy |KL on the* north coast from |K along the northeast shore. Tokyo broadcast said 29,670 ■ties had been killed or wound■htough Wednesday. The broadrecorded by the FCC.) K,. fifth division advanced along jßlortliern tip of Iwo in a frontal IK against the enemy’s northern ■b IK' fourth division still was en■tering difficulty in rugged terKn along the east coast, but the breakthrough to the north Jatened the rear of the enemy's IKheastem pocket. planes and the big guns offshore supported the fKr.c offensive, now in its fourth Pacific fleet, communique said ■■ surviving Japanese, believed To Page 5, Column 6) Sv. McPheeters At ■esbyterian Church John W. McPheeters, pasBil of the First Presbyterian ■ra at Farmington, 111., .will here over Sunday, according IK'iim received this morning by IBineth Runyon, secretary of the ■lit committee of the Decatur L MePTieeiters will arrive here afternoon and writes that |flteires to attend Sunday school Mvices and will supply at the ■’.'Sitig service. Sunday morning. of the church and all interested are urged io atiK: the services and invited to jßet him. IB ■— o Bate Bulletins With U. iS. Third Army in Germany, March 9—(UP)—A divisional general, his K' ,!ire staff and 3,200 officers ■ a " d men surrendered to the MAm-erican Third Army today. «|| With American Third Army ■"Germany, March 9 — (UP) KJ The German s today blew up K e Rhine railway bridge at ■"sera, midway between Cobfl enz ant i Andernach, to prevent ■V? 8 *'" 0 by * he American ■ h .' r arn V- The only other fl, 0e #tan <*ing in this sector |i" Co^n? ann GOerin3 Brid3e ■ n>a? r ?; MarCh 3 - (UP )~ G®'" ■ an forces, apparently from ■ !a n ? n " >CCUpied channe l !®- ■ can J Mrried ou t what was ■ Norm ’ nuiaan « raid on the - I ®y United Press' flta C |^! ,ic ’ n Buperfortre *ses at- ■ ar » earl Tok,o ‘ Yok ahoma E T »kvo u Saturday morning, ■ '"J fire?? 0 announced, sett- ■ T i ße ’“KINS S 8 :0o°a RAT THER MOMETER ■ 30 flS«on - S 3 ■ 2:08 38 H P1 "> .... .42 ■ Mv 61 Weat 'her K ‘•’"Mraturt r*? ,ltt,e chßn 3® ■ lr a Uhl ton Bht Saturday warn..

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Two Torpedo Boats Are Accidentally Sunk Washington, Mar. 9.—(UP)—The navy announced today that two American torpedo boats were accidentally sunk, by a U. S. ship in the Philippines. Casualties aboard the two vessels, the PT-77 and the PT-79, were light, the navy said. Such craft carry a normal complement of 11 ■to 15 men. The skippers of both vessels were saved. Portsmouth Fights To Save River Levee ✓ Airplanes Pressed Into Aid Os City By United Press The crest of flood waters in the Ohio valiey moved southward today, hut Portsmouth, 0., fought an inch-by-inch battle to save its levees. Even airplanes were brought into the struggle at the Ohio industrial city as the murky waters lapped to within 7tf6 of a foot of the 65-foot level which engineers said the sandbagged levee could withstand. Army cargo planes plummeted 25,000 sandbags into Portsmouth, and soldiers and volunteers feverishly piled them as levee reinforcement. Mayor John J. Salladay said that the next 72 hours would tell the tale. If the levee holds that long, the crest will have passed. Meanwhile, the upper reaches of the river valley breathed easier. War production and mining operations were resumed, and families moved back in to clean up the messes in their homes and their premises. The east coast faced another disruption of oil, gasoline and kerosene deliveries when the floodtides disrupted shipping. It was feared river bank erosion might buckle or break pipe lines. Ten were dead. The search continued for the body of a soldier drowned when he was swept into the turbulent stream. More than 10,000 persons had fled their homes. Red Cross units were swamped with work. Food was being sent into some isolated communities. An alert was posted along the 600 miles that the river flows in Kentucky, from Catlettsburg to Paducah, for the river was rising ominously. Southern Indiana towns were also endangered. The crest has passed Cincinnati. Engineers at Memphis said chances of a southern flood seemed slight, for the Mississippi had high levees and could take the heavy inpouring of water at the Cairo, 111., confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi. At St. Louis, where the Missouri empties into the Mississippi, the situation seemed safe. At Louisville, the river rose slowly toward a predicted 48-foot level. During the night the water hit the 47.1 foot mark, only ten (Turn To Page 2. Column 3) o Local Girl Places Second In Conlesf Fort Wayne Student Is Legion Winner Second place in the district American Legion oratorical contest, held last evening at the home of Post 47 in Fort Wayne, was awrded to Miss Mary Smith, Decatur high school senior, and winner of the Adams county contest. First place was won by Phillip Traycoff, a South Side high school student in Fort Wayne. Other winners were, Bonnie Fahl of Columbia City and Sally Burns of Chester Center, Wells county. The orators discussed the constitution and bill of rights. The district winner will go to the zone contest. Judges were William Keane, Charles Stamm, John Kenney and Ramon Perry, all Fort Wayne attorneys, and Ralph Stogdill. T. H. Gehrig, fourth district commander and Edward Jaberg, county chairman of this city, assisted Ralph Whitehouse, Allen county chairman, in staging the contest, Several Decatur people accompanied Mias Smith and her parents io Fort ’Wurue *•«’ SVCUing,

All-Out Soviet Drive Underway On East Front Battle Os Berlin Reported Resumed On Flaming Front London, Mar. 9. —(UP)—‘Moscow dispatches reported today that the battle of Berlin has been resumed in full fury along a 175-mile stretch of the Oder and Neisse rivers. Nazi accounts said the Red army has broken into the heart of the apparently encircled Kuestrin, main anchor of the last-ditch Oder line before the capital. Kuestrin lies 38 miles east of Berlin, but the Germans conceded that the Red army was only 29 miles away from the capital at the bend of the Oder northwest of Kuestrin and 33 miles away southwest of Kuestrin. Adolf Hitler has just returned from a visit to the Oder front some 30 miles from Berlin, Nazi broadcasts said as the decisive battle for the eastern approaches to the capital began. Moscow reported that the Soviet high command contimied to screen developments along the OderNeisee front with a security blackout, but added significantly: “Unofficial advices indicate that the whole Oder-Neisse line is aflame, with the second phase of the decisive winter offensive in full swing.” Moscow also reported that, the Soviets were storming and shelling the outskirts of both Danzig and Stettin, biggest German-held ports on the Baltic sea, after crumpling their outer defenses “like a house of cards.” The Red army was within sight of both ports. Berlin broadcasts said Marshal Gregory K. Zhukov’s first White Russian army had swung across the Oder river behind Kuestrin, 38 miles east of Berlin, and was storming the burning fortress city from “all sides”—an indication that Kuestrin has been encircled. The forces which attacked from the rear broke into the west-bank portion of Kuestrin, Berlin said, but the main assault came from the northwest on the opposite side of the big bend of the Oder. The German defenders repulsed 17 Soviet thrusts from the northwest, the German DNB agency’s Ernst Von Hammer said'. On their 18th try, powerful Russian infantry and tank forces broke into the streets of the city, he said. Q— —— Local Man In Health Unit Sent To Greece Charles R. McGill Among 14 Selected Washington, Mar. 9.— (UP) — Pharmacist’s Mate 1/c Charles R. McGill of Decatur, Ind., will ’eave soon for Athens at the request of the Greek government to relieve Sanitary conditions and curb disease in that war-torn country, the navy disclosed today. McGill, one of a 14-man public health unit destined for Greece, has been trained in epidemic control. The group’s duties will be comprised primarily of working to prevent tuberculosis, typhoid fever, malaria, syphilis, typhus and trachoma, the navy said. Ph. M. McGill is a son of Mrs. Earl A. Cridep, 220 North Tenth street. Hie father was the late Harry McGill. He enlisted in the navy on Oct. 28, 1942 and prior to that time was employed as a technician in the Central Soya company laboratory in this city. He married Miss Mary Catherine McMillen, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Brice McMillen of Pleasant Mills. They have one child, a son. Mrs. McGill and son reside in Washington while Mr. McGill was taking the specialized training there. They arrived here today and will make their home with relatives during Mr. McGill’s service overseas. Ph. M. McGill is a graduate of Decatur high echool and in the exsminaion given him by the navy in Washington, be had the second highest grade of any man in the class.

Decatur, Indiana, Friday, March 9,1945.

New Stabilization, WLB Chiefs Jr’i i ™ I OL. 2. 1 ■ I ■Jp ' ' -— J ’ • *, Ilk BeT K IN THE RESHUFFLING of the nation’s war administrations caused by President Roosevelt’s appointment of Henry A. Wallace to be commerce secretary, William N. Davis, left, takes over the duties of Fred M. Vinson, now* federal loan administrator, as director of economic stabilization, while his former post as chairman of the War Labor board has been given by FDR to Dr. George W. Taylor, right above, of Philadelphia, the man who wrote the little steel formula.

Coal Restrictions Announced Today Restrict Coal Use East Os Mississippi Washington, Mar. 9 — (UP) — Eastern household consumers of any kind of coal will be restricted to 80 percent of their normal consumption during the 12 months beginning April 1. Solid fuels administrator Harold L. Ickes announced the restriction today. The limit will apply to all states east of the Mississippi, and also to Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, lowa, Louisville and the city and county of St. Louis, Mo. The only restriction heretofore In effect on household use of coal has been that such users could not get. more than 87% percent of the anthracite they normally consume. There has been no restriction on use of bituminous coal. Ickes has warned however, that the coal situation is getting worse and that production this year probably cannot meet demands. Householders will have to file declarations, before any deliveries can be made of anthracite, bituminous coal, coke, briquettes, or packaged or processed solid fuels. They must show the amount of solid fuel normally required in the building in which it is used, the kinds and sizes ordinarily burned, and the number of rooms to be heated. The declarations will be filed with dealers. Consumers of more than 25 tons a year will be required to count the fuel in their bins on April 1 as part of their next year’s quota. Consumers of less than 25 tons will not be required to do so. Consumers filing a declaration (Turn To Page 4, Column 5) Two Jap Warships Submarine Victims 10 Other Japanese Vessels Also Sunk IMarch 9 —(UlP)—(American submarines have sunk a Japanese escort carrier, a destroyer and 10 other craft in their latest sweeps in far eastern waters, the navy announced today. tin addition to the two a large tanker, four cargo transports and five cargo vessels were sent to the bottom, the communique reported. iThese singings brought total enemy craft sunk iby U. S. subs to 1,057 including 112 combat vessels. Fleet admiral Chester W. Nimitz comma nder-in-chieif of the Pacific fleet, reported yesterday that American submarines have accounted for approximately 75 per cent of all Japanese shipping destroyed in this war.

Research Director Is Rotary Speaker Homer Kuehn director of bakery research for the Central Soya company, was the guest speaker at the weekly meeting of the Decatur Rotary club Thursday evening. He discussed the great improvements made in the production of soya flour and the varied uses the product now has. (New clulb members, introduced last night, were C. I. Findlayson, manager of the Central Soya Co., and Rev. William C Feller, pastor of the Zion (Evangelical and Reformed church. Harry Maddox was chairman of the program. —— o Dog Escapes Crate Here, Soon Caught Valuable Animal Recovered Today Dogs have away of making the front pages these days. Even more famous than Blaze, the mastiff English bull shipped by airplane on an A priority by Brig.-General Elliott Roosevelt to his new bride, Faye Emerson of Hollywood fame, was the search in Decatur last night and this morning for Lead, a GO pound coon hound which escaped from its crate at the Railway Express office yesterday afternoon, within a half hour after its arrival here. Bob Krick, the genial and accommodating agertt, Was more jittery’ over the turn of events than the Germans are on the east side of the Rhine. And he had good reason, for Lead had been shipped from a dog breeder in Honaker, Va., with a? 350 value placed on it. The hound was assigned to Walter Gerber of Craigville, whose sport and hobby is coon hunting. Through no fault of Agent Krick, the hound, a very friendly animal, escaped from the crate. It was an improvised crate, with a large gap at one end and Lead just decided to go on a hunting expedition in Decatur. The crate had been loaded on the express company’s platform at the rear of the local office and when Mr. Krick walked back to rear of the building he almost had heart failure when he noticed that the valuable animal was gone. Agent Krick sent out an SOS and also notified local police. Word finally came to him that a boy in the south end of town had caught a stray dog. This morning, Mr. Krick and his wife made a trip to the Wolfe home on Schirmeyer street, where Billy Wolfe, age 15, had a black and white spotted dog. Mr. Krick didn’t have the hound long enough to acquaint himself with its color. A wire was sent to the shipper and later a word description of the animal was received, answering to the letter the markings and color of the dog caught <Turß JPq 3i Column 0X

Mighty American Tide Os Troops, Guns Pours Over Ludendorf Bridge

German Rail Center Pounded By Planes ILondon, March 9 —(UiP) —Kausel, one of the biggest rail centers between the American bridgehead over the Rhine and Berlin, was bomibed heavily for the second time in 12 hours today by part of a fleet of 1,400 U. S. planes attacking western Germany. American heavies smashed at rail yards and tank plants in Kassel while fires still burned from concentrated night bombardment Iby the Royal air force. British Lancasters made a concentrated attack this afternoon on two benzol plants on the Northeastern outskirts of the Ruhr. 0 New American Army On Western Front Organization Os 15th Army Is Announced U. S. 14th Army Group Hqrs, Western Front, March 9 —<(UP) — A new American army—the 15th — is on the western front ready to join in the final assault on Germany, it was announced officially today. Lt. Gen. Leonard 'T. Gerow is the commander of the 15th army, the specific (whereabouts and assignment was not revealed. (The 15th army will fight as a part of Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley’s 12th army group, which in addition comprises Lt. General George S.Patton’s third army and Lt. General Courtney H. Hodges’ first army. With the addition of the 15th army, Bradley now is in administrative or tactical command of more comtbat troops —more than a million' —than any American General in modern history, including General John J. Penshinig, commander of the AIDE in the First world war. The presence of the 15th army on the continent was revealed on the occasion of elaborate ceremonies here at which the French legion of honor was presented to Gerow and six other American army and (Turn To Page 4, Column 5) 0 Lt. Brandyberry Is Speaker Thursday Decatur Army Nurse Tells Experiences The library auditorium was packed to the doors last evening, when the men’s prayer organization presented as their speaker, First Lt. Marcella Brandyberry, a Decatur young lady who recently returned from more than three years service with Uncle Sam’s forces in the South Pacific. As the lieutenant was presented the entire audience, composed of men and women from every part of the county and every church in the city, arose and gave her an enthusiastic welcome. She spoke 25 minutes, reciting many experiences of the days of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and immediately afterward, land then answered questions for 15 minutes. Lt. Brandyberry gave one incident that proved the quality of the Yanks. She approached one lad whose shoulder had been shot away but he told her to attend others, that he was alright and could be taken care of later, and a few minutes afterwards she saw him helping with his one hand to assist others more severely injured. She said that every once in a while Lt. David Macklin would bring copies of the Daily Democrat to the hospital where she was stationed and then the “gang” from Adams county would read an<j discuss every item. Charles D. Teeple presided and Rev. Albert Swenson gave the closing parysr.

Tokyo Reports New Invasion Os Philippines Reports American Invasion Armada Is Off Mindanao Manila, March 9.—(UP)— Tokyo reported today that a 77-ehip American invasion armada was maneuvering for a landing at Zamboanga on the southwest top of Mindanao, second largest of the Philippine islands, after a 24-hour naval bombardment. (Tokyo radio, in an Italian-lan-guage broadcast to Europe, said a landing attempt had been made but bad “failed.” The broadcast wai recorded iby FCC.) Minesweepers began clearing a channel off the coast yesterday morning, Tokyo radio said, and the task force is “showing signs of a landing attempt.” Th? broadcast said the American fleet comprised three battleships, four cruisers, 29 landing craft and 50 other warships and assorted craft. It began shelling Zamboanga early yesterday, Tokyo added. Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s headquarters were silent on the enemy reports. Today's communique disclosed, however, that liberators, Mitchell mediums and lightnings wrecked buildings and started many fires in Zamlboanga with a 129-ton raid Tu'esday. Zamlboanga, on ißasiian strait 535 miles south of Manila, is one of the principal ports of Mindanao, southernmast of the Philippines and defended by the last sizeable enemy force remaining in the qrchipelago. Tokyo said the invasion fleet comprised two task forces which dy. Good and choice barrows and the east and west. The first force consisted of 30 unclassified warships, while the second comprised three battleships, four cruisers, 20 landing cralft and 20 small other craft, Tokyo said. While minesweepers were clearing a channel the broadcast said that three cruisers, under cover of a “substantial” air force, shelled (Turn To Page 5, Column 5) O Another Village Captured In Italy Carviano Taken By Fifth Army Troops Rome, Mar. 9—(UP)—Fifth army troops were reported today to have captured the village of Carviano, about a mile east of Vergato and within 13 miles of Bologna. Action along the remainder of the Italian front was limited to patrol clashes and artillery duels, headquarters said. German artillery continued to shell roads south and southwest of Castel D’Aiano and in the vicinity of Mount Della Spa, both taken this week in the fifth army’s drive into the approaches to Modena and Bologna. On the right flank patrols drew artillery fire. Units of a mortar platoon captured an enemy patrol which had infiltrated their lines in this area. Fighters and fighter bombers attacked communications in northern Italy and effected 51 rail cuts, including seven on the Brenner line. Heavy bombers hit communications and other targets in northern Italy, Hungary, Austria and Yugoslavia. The Mediterranean Allied air force said preliminary reports from 2,800 sorties showed 17 planes missing but it was believed several of |hees were safe at bases.

Price Four Cents.

Entire Rhineland Front Ablaze After Sensational Break By American Troops Paris, Mar. 9—(UP)—American first army tanks and troops swept across the Ludendorf bridge at Remagen and drove more than four miles into the German Hinterland today. To the» north, hundreds of U. S. ninth army guns began flattening the arsenal cities of the Ruhr valley in a tremendous bombardment from the west bank of the Rhine. , The security blackout that had . cloaked the progress of the first . army since it broke across the Rhine 48 hours ago was lifted dramatically today to reveal that the Ludendorf bridge had been captured intact in probably the most amazing military coup of the war. A mighty tide of American , guns, tanks and troops was racing through the 'breach and fanning out at top speed through the rolling hills east of the Rhine 1 against a stunned and apparently demoralized enemy. Despite frantic German broad1 casts asserting that the Americans had been checked on the northern and southern flanks of ’ the bridgehead, headquarters said ■ the attack was going well and I that the salient was being exi panded steadily. ’ The entire 110-mile Rhineland front from Coblenz north to the ’ Dutch border burst into flame in the wake of the sensational first army break-through. Headquarters revealed that an- ’ other American army, the 15th, had arrived on the continent and been placed under Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley’s 12th army group ' command with the U. S. first and third armies. With the 15th, ’ Bradley's command embraced 1 more than 1,009,000 American 1 soldiers, giving him tactical con- ' Irol of more combat troops than any other leader in modern mili- ' tary history. The arrival of the new army i critical hour of the battle of came at what was obviously the western Europe. i More than 250 giant field guns . of the U. S. ninth army massed before Dusseldorf and Duisburg opened a tremendous artillery barrage on the packed factory cities of the Ruhr in what appeared to be a double-edged blow aimed at flattening the industrial basin and blasting a path across the Rhine for Lt. Gen. William 11. Simpson’s armored and infantry divisions. Berlin military commentators also reported without confirmation that seven to eight British second army divisions, about 85.900 to 120,090 men. were deploying along the west bank of the Rhine near Emmerich, 35 miles north of the Ruhr. The British, Berlin said, were moving up to the river behind a great smoke screen in preparation for a full-scale crossing into ' the northwestern German plain. German broadcasts and heavily- , censored field dispatches from ' the Rhine left littlt doubt that ' the pay-off battle of the western ' war had been joined. Lt. Gen. George S. Pattonts ' American third army appeared on ’ the verge of striking for a crossing of the Rhine near Coblenz, ' and the rain of shells plunging ' into the Ruhr indicated strongly that the ninth army, too, was ready to join the march on Berlin. Salvo after salvo crashed down into the river towns of Duisburg, 1 Muelheim. Oberhausen, and other 1 points where a crossing might be made, while longer-range gums ’ reached a dozen miles or more ' beyond the river to blast the ’ sprawling arms plants of Essen . (Turn To Pagie 4, Column 6) I Red Cross Fund » - _ I County's quota $16,700.00 ; Donated to date 4,481.38 i Turn to page 4 for list of SCVUUU rcpoi'lde - I I -- ■ ■