Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 43, Number 65, Decatur, Adams County, 17 March 1945 — Page 1

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■ MIXLIII. No. 65.

THIRD ARMY STORMS COBLENZ OUTSKIRTS

Ition Mounts Bong Entire pern Front last Nazi Toehold |Qn Lower Oder Near so Russian Capture Ldon, Mar. 17— (UP) —Mar- ■ Gregory K. Zhukov’s forces Led into Altdamm today, last Lan toehold on the east bank Le lower Oder, and opened lon Stettin, big Baltic port Ls the river from Altdamm. ■oscow and Berlin reports told ■mounting action everywhere ■the eastern front between beLered Koenigsberg, capital Last Prussia, and the Lake Lon area of Hungary. ■oscow dispatches said there ■ reason to expect word of lificant developments soon L the blacked-out Berlin front Leen Kuestrin and the SileI battlefields. Soviet reports said Zhukov was lining Altdamm and had massfan “extraordinary” concentra- | of artillery 'in the Stettin secI “preparatory to another of Le classic break-throughs |(h hithero have brought stagling dividends.” Berlin reported that the Red Ly opened a violent new offenL over a wide front in western Ingary. Nazi broadcasts said Las aimed at forcing the GerIns east of Lake Balaton to ■roup. Krnst Von, Hammer, Nhzi |ii> commentator, said that on ■ Mooddrenched battlefield west lOppeln in Silesia the struggle kerns to be approaching a inoliit of supreme crisis.” He said Iremely strong armored forces Ire locked in crucial fighting. ■wither big battle in southern lesia north of Ratibor was reIted by Von Hammer to have ihered new ferocity. There, he Id. the Russians threw in long tank forces, and “despite ■ceaseless onslaught they only Inaged to gain a little ground.” Far to the northeast, other batI appeared to be in their delve phases at Koenigsberg, Inzig; Gdynia, and smaller Iman pockets along the Baltic Ist. ■oscow reports said the days I Danzig and Gdynia appeared inhered after the Russians P ve a wedge to the sea between I (Turn To Page 3, Column 2) I o psbyterians Plan br Special Services Pltv. Dudley R. Wilson of Union |ty will have charge of the anhl candle light Communion pice on Good Friday evening the First Presbyterian church, p's for this and also for spepl Easter services with Rev. pnson in charge, were made F evening at the meeting of F advisory board. Dr. Fred person, local moderator, turnW. P. Schrock, W. H. Lee and rs ’ Don Lutes as a committee , ave charge of the services, jhe pulpit committee was inpitted to continue negotiations ' Rev. John W. McPheeters Farmington, in., after a unaniMs vote favored such action. C “'Uhur K. Korteling of £“non, moderator, attented the W‘ng and conferred with the psory board. ~~ o— Road To Berlin Th United Press Wni L nearest distances to Berlin vanned Allied lines today: Derick) frOnt ' 31 miles (from ht^n 1 front: 275 miles (from li Ahausen). lato rivfr! “ ileS (fr ° m P ° Di Pri ' B EMOro*t TURE read, NG 'mocrat thermometer poiootm 65 .. 66 . WEATHER h*?bv e Ji* ho I wer ’ today - fol ‘ l Jir clearing tonight and L ’“"day. Con.lder.bly n ‘ 9ht and Sunday, #i lht. B * rind ’ diminishing to-

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

Great Aerial Fleets Winging Over Germany London, March 17 —(UP)—Great formations of 'American heavy bomlbers with fighter escort thundered across the cljannel today to continue the non-ending assault on Germany. Nazi radios reported a short time later that the advance formations were approaching western Germany. 'The American operations followed in the wake of heavy night attack by RAF heavies on two vital road and rail junction centers in southwestern Germany and the 25th consecutive night raid on Berlin by Mosquito (bombers. _.__Q Japan's Main ■ Port In Flames After Bombing

12 Square Miles In Kobe Aflame After Attack By B-29s Guam, Mar. 17.—(UP) —At. least 12 square miles of docks, war factories and other buildings in the heart of Kobe, Japan’s principal port, were a flaming inferno today after the biggest B-29 raid of the war. Fires visible more than 100 miles at sea swept through the inflammable fifth largest city in Japan. More than 2,500 tons of incendiary bombs were dropped by W'ell over 300 Superfortresses in the predawn raid. “Nine solid square miles of Kobe are burning or in ashes immediately surrounding the original five-square-miie target area,” Maj. Gen. Curtis Le May, commander of the 21st bomber command announced. “Near this area, an additional three square miles were aflame.” An aircraft factory and a locomotive plant in southwest Kobe were among the key targets hit and set afire, one pilot said. Others told of fires in shipyards, docks and building. It was the fourth major B-29 raid on Japan in a week and caused destraction second only to that inflicted on Tokyo, where 17 square miles were destroyed last Saturday. Two square miles were burned out (Turn To Page 3, Column 8) O St. Joseph School Pupils Honor Pastor IThe pupils of St. Joseph’s Catholic school honored their pastor, ReV. Joseph J. Seimetz, at a program Friday afternoon in the school auditorium, the occasion being the pre-oibservance of St. Joseph’s day, which is Monday. IMusic and speeches and entertaining skits were given by the children. Father Seimetz responded by ordering the dismissal of classes on Monday, his patronal feast day.

Clifton Shoemaker Dies Friday Night Jay County Farmer is Taken By Death Clifton Shoemaker, 63, prominent farmer of near Bryant, and a brother of Mrs. Ruth Hollingsworth, secretary of the local Red Cross home service office, died last night in the Portland hospital of a heart ailment. Mr. Shoemaker, who formerly live in Hartford township, Adams county, suffered his first heart ‘attack about a week ago and was moved to the hospital. The deceased was born August 16, 1881. He was engaged in farming in this county and 35 years ago moved to Jay county. He owned a large farm one mile west of Bryant. Surviving are the widow and two Children, Mrs. Ward of Portland and Elrnest Shoemaker of Lockport, Ill.;'and four grandchildren. Besides .the sister in this city, he is survived by three brothers, Alva and Gttie Shoemaker of Bryant and Harold Shoemaker of Geneva. Funeral arrangements had not been completed at noon today.

Beethoven Still Stands After Symphony Os War E. I c I ■ ra ftl '1 i ■Mia-il * Jlwb w • j in! If i , kt in ■ WHEN WAR THUNDERED through his home town of Bonn, Germany, most of the city was left in ruins, but the statue honoring Ludwig Van Beethoven, one of the world's greatest composers, still stands in the town square. This photo was made after troops of the U. S. First Army had cleared the town of Nazi resistance.

Fori Wayne's Murder Lisi Grows Io Four ' Fort Wayne Woman Dies Os Exposure Fort Wayne, Ind., Mar. 17. —(UP) —Fort Wayne’s total of unsolved rape murders within the last 13 months rose to four today with the death of Mrs. Dorothea Howard, 36, a soldier’s wife. Her home was in Mesa, Ariz., but she was living in Fort Wayne while her husband, John, was stationed at nearby Baer Field. Mrs. Howard died directly from pneumonia which she caught while lying nude in an alley for more than five hours after a severe beating March 6, police said. They added that medical tests did not prove she was raped, but that she told them she was certain her attacker had mutilated her body. Unlike .the other three real rape cases, the officers have some clues as to whom her murderer might be, for she was able to talk the day after she was found. Too, two witnesses saw her in the company of two men the night of March 5 and described their appearances and actions to the police. According to the records, Mi’s. Howard became intoxicated at a downtown tavern and a soldier started to help her home. The soldier, who later identified himself to military authorities, said that a civilian joined them and started to help him with her. They entered an alley, he said, at the civilian’s suggestion and the latter started to make advances toward the woman. The soldier added that when someone drove into the alley both men left the woman there. When the civilian asked him to go back to get her, the soldier said he refused. Other witnesses to the alley scene said that shortly after the two men left, the civilian returned, looked at Mrs./ Howard on the steps, and said, as if he were an officer, “drunk again,” and pulled her to her feet. He dragged her after him, they added. She was found naked in the alley by a merchant policeman who heard her groans. It appeared she would reeover until pneumonia set in. .

The civilian was described as being a man about 40 years old, 6’2”, 225 pounds, with a barrelled chest and small waist. He wore a tan jacket, dark trousers and hat, and a white shirt on the night of the attack, the witnesses said. When he is found, charges of murder will be preferred against him, the police said. They added that although pneumonia was the direct cause of .her death, she developed it from lying exposed in the alley after the beating. The three other women who were raped and murdered in Fort Wayne last year were: Wilhelma Haaga, 38, Feb. 2; Anna Kuzeff, 20, May 22, and Phyllis Conine, 17, Aug. 6. No solution has been found to any of them, although it is believed that these three were connected.

ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Decatur, Indiana, Saturday, March 17,1945.

Fort Wayne Youth Wins Zone Contest (Philip Traycoff, of Fort Wayne won the second zone American Legion oratorical contest at Huntington Friday afternoon. Traycoff recently won the fourth district contest at Fort iWayne and will now .be entered in the state contest, scheduled for next month at Indianapolis. .IT. <H. Gehrig, of this city, fourth district commander of the American Legion, attended yesterday’s zone contest. Traycoff defeated Lee M. Haines, of Fairmount, fifth district winner, in the zone contest. o Decalur Scouts Al First Aid Contesl Three Local Patrols Compete Last Night Three Decatur Boy Scout patrols completed in the area frat aid contest, held at the G. 10. Club in Fort Wayne Friday eveninlg, with one of patrols being awarded an A rating and the other bwo B. ratings. This contest is the combined Anthony Wayne area and midwest area contest, held annually. The two area contests, were combined this year as a transportation conservation measure;

The row patrol of troop 62, sponsored by the Lions club, was awarded an A rating with a grade of 92 percent. iThe Colbra and Swallo.w patrols of troop 61, sponsored by the Rotary clulb, won B. ratings. Lowell Smith, scoutmaster of troop 62, also acted,as a judge at last night’s area contest. Judges did not judge when their own troops were competing. Fifty patrols were entered in the area contest. Members of the Crow patrol of troop 62 are: Roger Gentis, patrol leader; Medford Smith, Jitai Cowens. Boib Boknecht. Victor Porter, Dick McConnel and Bydford Smith, with Don Smith as a patient. Members of the Cobra patrol, troop 61, are: Norman Stingely, patrol leader; Sheldon Daniel, Dave Mac Lean, Don Mac Lean, Kenneth Nash, Norman Leonardson and Total Bales. Members of the .Swallow patrol, troop 61, are Herman Andress, patrol leader: Eugene Ziner, Neil (Turn To Page 6, Column S) 0 Motorists Are Urged To Check All Tires James D. Strickland, Indiana OPA district, director, has asked all war price and ration boards to call the attention of the public to “National Check Your Tires week” which begins Monday, March 19. The purpose of the observation is to impress on the people the great need of doing everything possible to conserve their tires. Repairs should be made at once and re-capp-ing should not be delayed if it is needed, Mr. Strickland said.

Marine Casualties Near 20,000 On Iwo X 45 Percent Os Force Killed Or Wounded Guam, Mar. 17. — (UP) —Fortyfive percent of the mariues who conquered Iwo were killed or wounded in the 26-day campaign, casualty figures in the bloodiest battle of the Pacific war indicated today. Pacific fleet headquarters said casualties totalled 19,938 — 766 a day or one every two minutes — among three marine divisions, normally about 45,000 men. The toll comprised 4,189 dead, 15,308 wounded and 441 missing in action against an estimated 21,000 Japanese killed. Still more marines and Japanese ye.t may die. The last organized enemy resistance was smashed at 6 p. m. yesterday, but scattered disorganized Japanese still remained to snipe and kill from caves. All officers admitted the cost was high, but Admiral Chester W. Nimitz said the conquest of the eight-square-mile island 750 miles south of Tokyo brought the war “much closer to its inevitable end.” “The United States marines, by their individual and collective courage have conquered a base which is as necessary to us in our continuing, forward movement toward victory as it was vital to the enemy in staving off ultimate defeat,” Nimitz said in a communique. “By their victory, the third, fourth, and fifth marine divisions and other units of the fifth amphibious corps have made an accounting to the country which only history will be able to value fully.”

Two Women Killed In Bus-Truck Collision 33 Others Hurt In Crash This Morning South Bend, Ind., March 17— (DIP)—(A bus-truck collision seven miles west of South Bend early today killed two women and injured 33 other persons, one critically. The dead were Mrs. Hanna Sadler, 46 Flint Mich., and Miss Margaret Mougin, 20, of Owosso and Byron, Mich. Herman Oscar Pommer, 20, South Branch, Mich., a student at Michigan State college at East Lansing was hurt critically. The bus crashed into the stalled truck on Indiana State road 2 about 3:30 A. M. Truck driver Daniel A. Everhart, 24, employed by the Long transiportation company of Detroit, said he had stopped on the two-lane highway because of tire trouble. Half of the right rear side of the bus was sheared off iu the collision. Bus driver Gail Bliss, 29, Owosso, Mich., said that no flares (Turn To Page 3, Column 8),

100,000 German Troops In Saarland Outflanked By Lightning Maneuver

Coal-Negotiations In Tug-Of-War Stage Mine Owners Offer Counter-Proposals Washington, Mar. 17 —(UP) — Soft coal wage negotiations enter the tug-of-war stage today with an anxious government poised to prevent a work stoppage when the present contract expires March 31. United Mine Workers president John L. Lewis will tell the producers that he is ready to discuss a new agreement on the basis of his 18 original demands. This he was instructed to do late yesterday by the 200-man UMW wage policy committee after they discussed the operators rejection of those demands. The operators were ready to negotiate on the basis of their counter-proposals, which included increased vacation pay for miners' with five years service, premium pay of four and six cents for second and third shift work and straight time full pay for underground travel time. Producers estimated that these concessions would add $1.69 a week to the miners’ basic earnings. Both sides believed there was a foundation for “real” collective bargaining. The labor department conciliation service thought so too but indicated that the joint wage conference would have to tackle the serious task at once if agreement is to be reached in 14 days. There were two reasons for this urgency. Fuel administrator Harold L. Ickes has warned that the nation cannot afford even the briefest interruption of coal production. On the. other hand. Lewis has asked . the national labor relations board to poll his 400,000 miners on March 28 to see whether they are willing to strike to enforce their demands. If the parties fail to make speedy progress, secretary of labor Frances Perkins may ask them to extend the present contract for one month to permit more time for negotiations. If a stalemate develops the dispute (Turn To Page 3, Column 5)

Red Cross War Fund Nearing Final Goal Less Than $3,000 Needed For Quota The Red Cross war fund amounted to $13,961.73 at noon today, less than $3,000 of the $16,700 goal. The $16,700 goal in the Red Cross war fund was within sight today as reports from workers came in, boosting the total so far donated to the $14,000 mark. Lyman L. Hann, chairman of the township sections, reports that with 76 areas still unreported, the farm area has already contributed $5,404.85. This is an average of about s2l from each mile-square section, an increase of approximately $3 over a year ago. In Mr. Hann’s report, the contributions are listed by townships, with the number of sections reporting also listed. They are: Blue Creek. 12, $239.10; French, 17, $467.68; Hartford, 18, $357.50; Jefferson, 14, $207.75; Kirkland, 20, $619.50; Monroe, 28, $671.30; Preble, 20, $394.75; Root, 30, $544; St. Mary’s, 11, $174; Union, 17, $342.37; Wabash, 24, $549.80; Washington, 27, $536.50. Total, $5,104.25. Pleasant Mills, $158; Preble, $142.60. Mr. Hann said that no report had yet been made from Monroe, Linn Grove and Monmouth. The rural donations will probably exceed $6,000, the chairman estimated.

Yankee Thrusts Split Japanese On East Luzon Vital Supply Route For Japs Is Snapped By American Forces Manila, Mar. 17 —(UP) —Japanese forces in eastern Luzon were virtually split in two today by a wide-sweeping American thrust which cut the enemy’s main north-south communication line. The vital supply route was snapped by elements of the 43rd division which circled through the below Ankipolto, 12 miles east of Manila, and swept through the town of Maybancal, one mile from the north shore of Laguna Bay. Other forces of the 43rd also struck four miles eastward from Antipold in a dual drive which Gen. Douglas MacArthur's communique said destroyed the entire southern flank of the elaborate Wawa-Antipolo line. The Japanese strong defense positions south and east of Antipolo were smashed with “great losses to the enemy both in personnel and supplies and with only light losses to our own troops ” MacArthur said. In cutting the enemy’s vital communication line in that sector, the 43rd division troops executed one of the most surprising tactical moves of the bitterly fought campaign east of Manila. The Americans left the highway at recently-captured Anti) polo, cut westward through the mountains and then circled back eastward into Maybancal, six miles to the south. The troops continued eastward and then swung back north to occupy high ground dominating Teresa, on the main highway midway between Antipolo and Maybancal. Besides being the junction of two highways skirting around Laguna Bay, Maybancal also is the terminus of mountain trails leading in southeastern Luzon.

Slephen Linn Dies Al Daughter's Home Funeral Services Monday Afternoon IStephen Linn, 84, father of Mbs. Ollie Kreps of southwest of Decatur, died Friday at the home of anothr daughter, Mrs. Shloe Elliott, Fort Wayne. Death was attributed to a heart ailment. He was born in Wells county July 6, 1860, the son of John and Nancy Harmson-Linn. He had lived in Oxly, Mo„ for 30 yeans moving to Fort Wayne three years ago. His wife, formerly Eliza Jane Ogleslbee, died in 1935. Surviving in addition to Mils. Kreps and Mrs. Elliott are two other daughters. Misses Mary and Martha Linn, southeast of Bluff(Turn To Page 6, Column 7) o Berne Missionary Is Freed From Japanese (Miss Edna Amstutz of Berne, a missionary to India from the Missionary church association, has been released from a Jap prison camp, according to word received by relatives. IMiss Amstutz, who was enroute to India when taking captive, had been a prisoner of the Japanese since the fall of Manila in 1941. In her letter, in which she rejoiced at being freed, she wrote, “we are now comfortalbly housed in prison buildings and getting good food out of American tins. Tastes scrumptious. We are 2,300 hungry people,”

Price Four Cents.

American Troops In Remagen Bridgehead Steadily Expanding East Rhine Pocket Baris, Mar. 17—(UP)—A lightning column of Lt. Gen. George S. Patton’s third army raced anpther 15 miles up the Rhine valley far above Colilenz today, outflanking and almost blocking up some 100,000 German troops iu the Saarland. The German high command reported that American troops in the Remagen bridgehead had captured Koenigswinter, big Rhineside town 7*4 miles north of Remagen, giving them a solid anchor for the northern end of the steadily expanding pocket. Third army forces stormed into the outskirts of Coblenz, headquarters of the American army of occupation after the first world war. and plunged multiple spearheads into the gashed German flank. Berlin said Patton’s vanguard had reached Bad Krueznach 37 miles south of Coblenz, and the situation was “acute.” Maj. Gen. Hugh Gaffey’s rampaging fourth armored division paced the third army flanking drive into the Saar-Palatinate corner of Germany, with a spurt from Simmern to the Nahe valley half way from Coblenz Io Lugwigshafen. Some 45 miles south of the Nahe river, Lt. Gen. Alexander M. Patch’s U. S. seventh army whs swarming northward on a 50mile front after tearing out the anchor of the last German salient in France with the capture of Bitche and striking into the outer defenses of the Siegfried line. On % Patton’s other flank, Lt. Gen. Courtney H. Hodges' Remagen bridgehead forces cleaned up the villages of Bremschied, Reifert, Heeg, and Hahnen on the rim of their 13 by 7 mile pocket. They linked their salients across the Ruhr —Rhine superhighway near Hoven, forming a solid front of a mile or so on the road. A dispatch from Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley’s 12th army group headquarters said Gaffey’s thrust. 15 miles southeast from Simmern “virtually doomed the withdrawal of the German armies committed to the south and west, setting the stage for an all-out decisive battle for the area.” Security restrictions cloaked the precise course of the fourth armored advance. Bad Krueznach, which the Germans said the Americans had reached, is 17 miles southeast of Simmern. The town is on the Nahe, eight miles south of Bingen on the Rhine and 40 miles west of Frankfurt. The thrust carried Gaffey’s spearhead out of the fertile Moselle valley and through the fromidable quartz and slate range of highlands just north of and parallel to the Nahe. “Authoritative sources here believed the Germans had waited too long to effect a successful withdrawal, and now would elect, a stand and fight he third army advance,” a dispatch from Brad(Turn To Page 6, Column 2) O Fear Ted Schindler Missing In Action It is feared that Captain Ted K. Schindler, 23, one of two captain sons of Mr. and Mrs. John W. Schindler of Berne, is missing in acion somewhere over Europe. Capt. Ted Schindler and his brother, Capt. Hollman Schindler, an* pilots of B-24 Liberators. Yesterday the Schindler family received word from Mrs. Shirley Graham of Altoona, Pa., that she had received notice from the war department that her husband, who was a co-pilot on Capt. Schindler’s plane, was missing in action since The Schindler family has not yet been notified. The two brothers were recently promoted to the rank of captain. They have been based in Italy.