Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 43, Number 77, Decatur, Adams County, 31 March 1945 — Page 1

KtV/intheWar. L Is Chores!

Lilt. No. 77.

Kennan High Command Ready To Seek Armistice

■ALL OF RUHR BASIN APPEARS IMMINENT

■cfion Delayed ■s Nazis Refuse lb Quit Control

■ropean Reports Hy Hitler, Army ■ads Agree That ■rmany Defeated ■on, Mar. 31 — (UP) — reports said Adolf Ilit- .■ ihe German high comre pi| ar a dramatic all..tint; ending early today gHermany should seek an but apparently delayed iiiWwhen tire Nazis refused to ißp the government immedi'•"■l high command informed that it was prepared to for an armistice if the aßgovernment would quit, a ■mini Tidningen dispatch .:■ by the Exchange Tele«agency said. ■ staff officers were said to ■(ontended that continuation war was impossible in ■of the Allied breakthrough ■ west and the Soviet threat east. ■er countered with a propos■ahanilon bis position as sole ■ in favor of a “Fuehrer’s ■il" headed by Marshal Al■Kesselring and Col. Gen. ■land Von Schoerner, com■ers on the western and ■n fronts, Tidningen said. ■niters of the council under ■iring ami Von Schoerner ■ be Hitler himself, ReichsMi.il Hermann Goering, gesta■liiei Heinrich Himmler and ■ admiral Karl Doenitz. ■ler was said to have told the ■ais they could open negotia- ■ with the Allies while he ■Himmler answered for inter■riler. ■iningen said the generals of ■high command rejected the ■sal. The final result of the yrence, which lasted from Bay yesterday to early this Bing, was not known, TidninBsaid. Be meeting was said to have Bn place at Hitler’s headquart- [ A Zurich dispatch to the Bange Telegraph agency said Ber finally conceded at the Bing that Germany had lost ■ war. B> the end of the meeting,” ■ Zurich dispatch said, “Hitler ■self faced up to the fact that ■ high command possessed no ■ns to deal with the overBhning Allied onslaught.” ■here was no way of, ascertain- ■ the authenticity of the report ■Turn To Page 8, Column 6) ■ 0 fen Annual Clean-Up hek In This City fl.ins are being made for the ftts! clean-up week, in Decatur, I Sauer, city street commission- ■ announced today. file designated week will be declined largely -by tihe weather, Ii^ U > er sald ’ Tbe city either g gnate the week in April or the as t - le dean-up L'l.'? 11 '" 1611 and tr “cks will be L , ye s and anyone who wishes as a civic worker will y w iT 6 ”.’ Mr ’ Sauer said - The L UI lhaul away the winter’s acle“ Ts" “ f ruihlbisll ’ hut not I old hoHi a leyS wiU be leaned LroJ tin Cans ’ (thoße L unsi t, ° f the SCrap drivee >- j ““’ightly debris. hSjfI* TURE reading ,JMOC r AT thermometer kJ;" *»» and east h? We#t by forenooß lo **d bv a Mrly aftern °on foli’"d b*<L.? Cre “ ,n " cloudiness Sunday w? ,air tonight and •id BomiT» rmer centrili today.

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

Seek To Averl Coal Mine Slrike Public Hearing To Be Held By WLB Washington, Mar. 31 —(UP) — The war labor board today tackles the job of trying to avert a soft coal strike less thnrn 11 hours before the midnight expiration of the current contract between the producers and United Mine Workers. UMW president .John L. Lewis and the operators will tell the WLB at a public hearing whether they will abide, by an order to continue production under their present contract. They \vill be asked to agree to make April 1 the effective date for any wage adjustments finally approved, and to state whether they want more time to negotiate a new contract or the WLB to order one for them. If them answers are a guarantee of uninterrupted production, the government will postpone seizure of the mines. Plans are ready, however, to take over the coal pits if there is no other way to avert a halt in production. The miners have A policy of “no contract, no work.” Should the.WLB fail to secure an extension of the old contract, they could he expected to refuse to continue work. However, a general walkout would not make itself widely felt until Tuesday, since few shifts work on Sunday, ’ and Monday is another miners’ holiday. The WLB assumed jurisdiction over the dispute yesterday after secretary of labor l<Tances Perkins failed to get the parties together on a contract or an extension of the present agreement. Operators earlier in the week also rejected a request by fuel admin-

(Turn To Pag* 6. Column 7) 0 — Lions Club Sponsors Waste Paper Drive Local Service Club Aids Monthly Drive The monthly waste paper and tin can drive next Saturday will be sponsored by the Lions club, Phil Sauer, city street commissioner and chairman of the campaign, announced today. The Lions club will feed the Boy Scouts and truck drivers at noon at the K. of P. home. The meal will be prepared by Wilson F. and Roy Mumma, assisted by other club members. Mr. Sauer has his goal set at 10 tons of waste paper and at least a ton of flattened tins. Last month the drive produced about six tons of paper and 1200 pounds of prepared tins. The Boy Scouts are doing a magnificent job in the drive, Mr. Sauer said. "Without their help we could not gather up the waste paper,” he said. About 20 Scouts are expected to turn out for the city-wide drive next Saturday. Every street will be covered by the city trucks. Residents are asked to tie their papers in bundles and place the packages along the curb in front of their house. The flattened tins should be placed in a container. The waste paper is sold to the local junk yard and the proceeds are turned over to the Boy Scouts, Mr. Sauer said. The tins are taken to Fort Wayne, where 'they are shipped to the detinning mills. The Boy Scouts also receive the nominal payment from the tins.

18 Jap Ships Sunk By U. S. Carrier Force 14 Others Probably Sunk, 15 Damaged At Okinawa Island Guam, Mar. 31. — (UP) —Carrier task forces of the U. S. Pacific fleet sank 18 Japanese ships, probably sank 14 and damaged 15 near Okinawa island and Kyushu March 28 and 29, Adm. Chester H. Nimitz announced today. Battleships and light units of the Pacific fleet meanwhile blasted at shore installations on Okinawa as carrier planes hit the main island of Ryukyus again today, Nimitz said. Besides the 47 enemy ships sunk or damaged, 28 aircraft were shot out of the air, 16 were destroyed on the ground and 42 damaged or destroyed on the ground. Twelve American planes and six pilots were lost in combat during the same period. Nimitz said the heavy shelling of Okinawa yesterday was made at close range. “Seawalls were breached by gunfire, and defensive gun positions, airfields and bridges were heavily hit,” he said. Fleet surface units on March 27 and 28 also bombarded tiny Minarai Daito island, 300 miles east of Okinawa, and outside the Ryukyu chain, which guards the approaches to Japan, Formosa, and the China coast. Nimitz reported that a carrier task force of the British Pacific fleet struck at targets in the Saltashima group of the southern Ryukyus, less than 300 miles east of Formosa. Meanwhile, a strong force of B--29s blasted targets and airfields on Kyushu, Japan’s southernmost island. Tokyo said an invasion of Okinawa appeared imminent. American minesweepers have begun clearing the approaches to Okinawa, a naval and air base island midway between Japan and Formosa, in preparation for landings and a “powerful transport armada” is headed toward the area, Japanese broadcasts said. An enemy communique reported that battleships and other warships were hurling hundreds of tons of shells into Okinawa for the ninth straight day. The fleet has been reinforced by the arrival of about 15 battleships and other heavy warships, Tokyo said. Earlier Tokyo broadcasts had (Turn To Page 6, Column 5) o

Offers Plan To Aid Garbage Collection Suggestion Is Made To Local Residents Phil Sauer, city street commissioner, offers a suggestion and a plan to local residents who want more efficient handling of their garbage. Through the cooperation of Ralph Roop, city engineer, a garbage pit has been designed, which Mr. Sauer asks the people to install at the back end of their lot, or within easy access of the garbage collector. Mr. Sauer recently made all inspection trip with the garbage contractor and learned that about half of their time was taken in trying to find the location of the garbage can. Here is what Mr. Sauer has designed: Dig a hole 30 inches deep and a little over 18 inches in width, so that an 18-inch tile can be placed in the hole. Fill the bottom of the tile with six inches of gravel. Place- a layer of brick on top of the sand, so that the five-gallon can will rest on the brick. Construct a wood cover for the tile, with cleats on the side, so that it cannot be shoved off-by (Turn To Pag* 6, Column 6)

ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Decatur, Indiana, Saturday, March 31,1945.

“HE IS RISEN!” ’ JI HMi v Uu " iSSO.' J&SE& 11

Three Alleged Bank Bandits Are Nabbed Recover $22,745 In Illinois Loot Springfield, 111., March 31. —(UP) —(Three alleged bank bandits, one a 17-year-old youth, were held in Bond county jail at Greenville today following a seven-hour man hunt which saw a posse of 100 trap and capture the trio and recover $22,74'5 in cash and other loot. M 5 The trio are Carl Fauls, 2G, Detroit. Mich.; Stanley B. Stringer, 31, Hammond, Ind.; and Raymond Boos, Indianapolis, Ind. Federal bureau of investigation authorities said the trio confessed to the robbery yesterday of the Greenville First National bank. lA posse consisting of 50 state police, FBI agents, deputies from bond and Montgomery countries and local law enforcement agents captured two of the trio on a farm southiwest of Litchfield. The third member was captured close by. All surrendered without a fight. State police chief Harry Curtis said Fauls and Stringer were trapped in a cornfield. Boss, they said, was captured on the Henry Stamer farm neadby. The youth, they said had the bank plunder on him and a 30-30 rifle. FBI agents said they were investigating other possible crimes by the three including a bank robbery in Indiana and burglary of a Lebanon, Mo., jewelry store. They said they found ?i1,500 worth of watches and typewriters in the bandits’ abandoned car. The watches, they said, were stolen from the Reed jewelry store in Lebanon. They said they planned to question the trio at Greenville today. Meanwhile U. S. Atty Howard L. Doyle announced he had authorized issuance of warrants charging national bank rdblbery. Police said the three entered the Greenville bank yesterday, herded 25 bank customers into the rear of the building, waited 20 minut s for a time clock to open the bank vault scooped up the cash and backed out of the building. As the bandits left the bank they were seen by two boys, Billy Pierce and Eugene Kneirman, who stared in open mouth wonderment. One of the bandits stopped to jam a handful of money into their hands with the warning “to keep your mouths (Turn To Page 3, Column 8)

Miss Martha Macy 111 In Washington Word was received here this morning that Miss Martha Macy, yeoman 2/c, stationed at Navy headquarters in Washington the past 18 months, became ill Wednesday of this week while at work and is a patient at the Naval Dispensery there. Indications are that she will require a several weeks rest and will probably he transferred to Bethesday hospital. The physician in charge reported her condition favorable yesterday. 0 Church Services To Mark Easter Sunday Favorable Weather Predicted Sunday Emerging from the solemnity and sorrow attendant witlh Good Friday, the church-going population of the community looked' forward to the spiritual happiness given in the joyful message of the Angel, “He is Risen,” as they planned to attend the Easter,services Sunday celebrating the crucified Redeemer’s resurrection from the tomb. ’ 'Church services will predominate in the observance of Easter Sunday. Services will be held from early morning until evening and large congregations are expected to' 4'he various worship hours'. To augment the joyful individuals, the weather forecast is partly cloudy but void of shoiwers. Fulfillment of this prediction will bring out the customary Easier fashionparade, which this year will be more general and sparkingly displayed than usual. Easter shopping has been heavy in this city and nearby cities, espe(Turn To Page 6, Column 4) O Cpl. Robert Schweizer Is Freed By Russians 'CpI. Robert W. Schweizer. 27, of Fort Wayne, has been liberated by the Russians from German prison camp iStalag HUC, after seven months of interment. The word was received from the U. S. adjutant general through the war board at Moscow. Cpl. Schweizer’s wife, the former Harriett Linn, is a native at Decatur. Upl. Schweizer was a rigger with a paratroop unit.

Great Striking Force. Os 3,000 Allied Tanks 170 Miles From Berlin

Japs' Philippines Defenses Crumbling Two More Islands Invaded By Yanks Manila,. Mar. 31—(UP)—Japanese defenses throughout the central Philippines were collapsing today before American forces which seized control of all but one of the major islands in the Archipelago. The mounting campaign sent U. S. assault troops swarming over two more islands —Negros, the fourth largest island in the Philippines, and little Caballo in Manila Bay. They were the 31st and 32nd islands in the Philippines invaded by Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s American forces. Bohol, between Cebu and Leyte, was the only large island still *held by the Japanese. Seasoned veterans of Maj. Gen. Rapp Brush’s 40th division landed on the west coast of Negros Thursday after a 10-mile amphibious hop from Guimaras island and in nine hours had established a solid 25-mile long beachhead. The landing near Bago, just across from Guimaras, was made without opposition although some scattered resistance was met as the troops moved inland under the support of 13th air force planes and naval units commanded by Rear Admiral Arthur Struble. After securing the landing beach, the troops split into three forces which fanned out along the island's smooth coastal plain. The northern contingent speared 14 miles to the outskirts of Bacolod, capital of the island, and overran the city's airfield with its two air strips 3,600 and 4.600 feet long. o Easter Bus Traffic Stopped By Strike Indianapolis, Mar. 31. — (UP) — Easter bus traffic was stopped between seven Indiana cities and intermediate points today by a strike of 85 Indiana Railroad line drivers. Service on Indiana Railroad’s routes between Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, Terre Haute, Kokomo, Peru, Anderson, Muncie and points on the w T ay, was affected. —, — o Ask Explanation Os Secret Agreements Roosevelt Advisers Urge Explanations Washington, Mar. 31.—(UP) — President Roosevelt’s closest advisers on foreign policy were urging him today to explain NOW any other secret agreements made at the big three meeting. They were alarmed at the reaction to the secret agreement on world assembly votes made at Yalta and some were frankly describing it, and the policy of keeping it secret for 47 days, as a “colossal blunder.” Secretary of State Sdward. R. Stettinius, Jr., who also was at Yalta, is expected to talk over the entire problem with Mr. Roosevelt this weekend. They will seek to prepare an explanation of the voting agreement, and will also discuss any other unrevealed decisions. Stettinius’ entire staff of public relations officials are searching meanwhile for away to repair the damage to public opinion on the eve of the San Francisco conference (Turn To Page 3, Column 7).

Russian Army Closing In On Cify Os Vienna Reds Reveloping Drive To Capture Vienna From South London, Mar. 31—(UP)—Red army columns swung north behind Vienna's outer eastern defenses today in a developing drive to take the Austrian capital from the south. The tank forces were racing toward Vienna under a security blackout after turning the frontal defense line anchored on Lake Neusiedler with a push across the Austrian border at Koeszeg, 50 miles south of the capital. Another column of Marshal Feodor I. Tolbukhin’s - third Ukrainian army group, also moving under a security blackout, was less than 40 miles southeast of Vienna in a frontal advance toward the Lake Neusiedler line. Marshal Rodion Y. Malinovsky’s second Ukrainian army group, on Tolbukhin’s northern flank, simultaneously struck out on a 100 mile front for Bratislava, capital of Germany’s puppet state of Slovakia and key to the Bratislava gap to Vienna. South of the Danube, the second army group punched to within 30 miles southeast of Bratislava ami 44 miles southeast of Vienna with the capture of Tarno-Kreti. Nagy Bajes, 38 miles southeast of Bratislava, also fell to the Soviets. Other second army group forces north of the Danube forced the Hron and Nitra rivers, tributaries of the Danube, on a 45-mile front and advanced to within 51 miles northeast of Bratislava. (Turn To Page 6. Column 6) Legion To Undertake Grave Registration Legion Officials To Be Sent Overseas Indianapolis, Ind., Mar. 31 — (UP)—The American Legion will undertake an, immediate regis» tration of the 176,009 graves of World War II dead on all fighting fronts and a survey of 30,000 European graves of World War 1 servicemen. National commander Edward N. Scheiberling, who announced the program yesterday, said that Maneel Talcott, Waukegan, 111., chairman of the Legion’s national grave registration committee, will have charge of the project. Talcott said that officials and staff men will be sent overseas to inspect six American national cemeteries in France, Belgium and England. “Particular attention will be given to graves in cemeteries in areas overrun and held by enemy forces for more than three years,” he said. “A full report of this survey will be made public.” Talcott added that plans will be worked out with federal agencies to assure adequate registration and care of graves of World War II dead in 30 cemeteries already established and others planned in former and present Allied battle zones, including the South Pacific. Scheiberling also announced the Legion is investigating charges that the G. I. bill of rights lacks “flexibility.”. The organiza(Turn To Page 3, Column 4)

Buy War Savings Bonds And Stamps

Price Four Cents.

Germans Reel Back In Wild Flight For Life As Allies Are Racing To Junction Paris, Mar. 31. —(UP) —The fall of Germany’s industrial Ruhr basin and the Weser river stronghold of Kassel appeared imminent today as a great striking force of almost 3,000 American and British tanks crashed through the enemy’s riddled defenses within 170 miles of Berlin. Armored vanguards of the U. S. first army were racing northward from captured Paderborn over the last 40 miles separating them from Field Marshal Sir Bernard L. Montgomery's American and British forces on the Westphalian plain. Montgomery’s men were reported officially 50 miles or more east of the Rhine and going ahead so fast that a juncture with the first army appeared only a matter of hours. Between the two converging forces, the remnants of the five German divisions were reeling back in a wild flight for life, raked from ground and air by Allied fire. Ninety mile* to the southeast, Lt. Gen. George S. Patton's American third army was running wild over the approaches to Kassel, kingpin of the Weser river line where the Germans had planned their next major stand behind the Rhine. Patton’s trobps were only 10 miles south of Kassel this morning and all accounts indicated the thoroughly beaten Germans had nothing left to defend the city. Kassel lies 165 miles southwest of Berlin and its fall would leave the Germans no defensible line short of the Elbe river at Magdeburg, 105 miles to the northeast and only 60 miles from the German capital. A high-ranking German officer captured by the rough riding third army told his captors glumly that the road to Berlin was wide open. The officer, whose name was withheld, said no organized German resistance was left in the path of the Allied armies, and he was understood to have volunteered the information that Patton's men could spend Easter Sunday in Berlin if they wished. London press despatches quoted the officer as saying that the German army was deliberately letting the western allies through while fighting desperately tn hold the Russians in the east. Only on the U. S. seventh army front to the south were the Allips meeting the fanatical resistance that Nazi spokesmen had boasted would face them on every mile of the road to Berlin. The seventh army captured the famous university city of Heidelberg with relative ease, but 30-odi miles to the north they ran into a ferocious battle along the Maia river in and south of Aschaffeaburg. German regulars, volksturm units and even teen-aged girls swarmed back into Aschaffenburg, where all resistance appeared to have ended days ago. and fought viciously from house to house against doughboys of the American 45th infantry division. The motely German defense force also was fighting back hard from a miniature Siegfried line of steel and concrete bunkers east/ of the Main river just south of Schafteaburg. Front dispatches said the Nazis had, strong artillery and tank forces in action there, possibly to cover a German retreat into the southern mountains of Bavaria. German women and schoolgirls were reported sniping at the Yanks inside Aschaffenburg with rifles and bazookas, and repeatedly hurled grenades down on the heads of the Americans. One 15-year-old was shot while trying to Are a bazooka at a column of .passing American tanks. (Turn To Page 6, Column 7)