Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 43, Number 82, Decatur, Adams County, 6 April 1945 — Page 1

Lust W/nt* e War' L Else Is Chores!

I. XLIH. No. 82.

MLIES STRIKE FOR BERLIN, NORTH SEA

k| Graduates [Seven Rural |gh Schools Speakers Are Named for Commencement Lid Baccalaureate l tes for the baccalaureate serfs and commencement exercises K e seven township high schools, ■nliiig Geneva, and the names | hP speakers for the occasions Ke announced today by the Lol principals, through the of- | of Lyman L. Hann, county Lil superintendent. Ke list of graduates from each Koi was also released. ■he Monroe high school comLement will be the first, on inesday. April IS, at tne MonMethodist church. Rev. Matif Worthman, of Bluffton, will he speaker. The baccalaureate rices will be held Sunday, April a; the church, with Rev. Bryof the Friends church, iroe, delivering the sermon. he Hartford township comicement will be held on April at the high school, with Mrs. rgaret A. Afflis, representative ihe state probation department, ianapolis, delivering the adss. The baccalaureate service he held on Sunday. April 15, he high school auditorium, with r. H. 11. Meckstroth, pastor of John’s Evangelical and Reformchurch of Vera Cruz, delivering sermon. n April 20, three commencement irises will be held. The Kirk--1 township program will be held the high school with Joseph goner, Hartford City superindent of schools, giving the talk, r. William Feller, pastor of the n Evangelical and Reformed rch of this city, will deliver the calaureate address on April 15 the school. edge William H. Schannen of ft Wayne, will deliver the cotnncement address at the Geneva h school, and Rev. James RichIson of Geneva, the baccalaure address on April 15. Both grains will be held in the high 001. ienneth Shoemaker, banker and iday school leader of Geneva, I deliver the address at the Jefson township high school and r. C. P. Maas of Berne, will give baccalaureate sermon at the :hel church. 'he Monmouth high school comncement will be held at the iool on April 25. The epeaker 1 be Rev. Matthew Worthman of tffton. Rev. Paul Schultz, pastor the Zion Lutheran church, this f. will give the baccalaureate mon on Sunday, April 22. fbe Pleasant Mills high school rcises will take place Thursday, til 26 at the school, with Rev. dter Moeller of Van Wert, 0.. as ■ speaker. Rev. Feller of this y, will give the baccalaureate mon on Sunday, April 22. The Graduates The list of graduates from the schools is: Monroe Mired Lucille Beer, Wanda M. ’khead, Clair Duane Christner, cille Marie Christner, Jean M. PPess. William J. Flueckinger, hel Louise Guntie, Corinne V. egger, Pauline Hanni, Chester Longenberger, Lawrence E. lc T. James Henry Nussbaum, Jmond Duane Sadler. Max Linn windier. David J. Schwartz Jr., ' rn y Roberta Sprunger, Mary len Sprunger, Verne Sprunger. Hartford 80 Marie Aschleman, Alfred Xne Biberstein, V ila 6 Eugene .7’ D ° nal<l Duane, Bonnie Joan er, Paul Kennett Kauffman, n ~ Moeschberger, Earlene ® r ’ Justus Moser, “ston Dwight Moser, June Eliza!orp! ha T nkS ’ IXISB Gene Sm,th ’ 8 June Sprunger, Marieda <Tu ~ To Page 2 , Column 3) 2:on _ 45 . LEATHER '•’rmer”*!"® cloudi "«« and cloudy and n ' 9ht ‘ Saturday •howers in mild with , 'o ht ».

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

Waste Paper, Tin Can Drive Saturday The monthly waste paper and flattened tin can drive will be conducted tomorrow. Residents are asked to place their bundles of papens and containers of tine along the curb in front of their home so the Boy Scouts can pick them up. Phil Sauer, city chairman of the drive, said the trucks would etart out at 8 o’clock An effort is being made to get 10 tone of paper and at leaet a ton of tine. -• ■ o Jap Resistance Is Mounting On Okinawa Island American Invasion Forces Brought To Virtual Standstill Guam, Apr. 6.—(UP) —Japanese defenders-of Okinawa opened their biggest counterattack of the campaign today, bringing the American invasion forces to a virtual standstill in the west and central sectors of the island battlefront. United Press correspondent James Mac Lean reported the Japanese counterblow in a dispatch from Okinawa. It coincided with numerous signs '’that the walkover phase of the invasion was finished and bloody fighting lay ahead. Resistance was reported stiffening all along the Okinawa front. The stalemate in the west and central parts came as 10th army forces stormed the slopes of three hills anchoring the defenses of Naha, smouldering and resorted capital city some four miles to the south. The hills before Naha blocked the United States passage down the isthmus to the southern part of the island. Late reports from Okinawa disclosing the Japanese counterattack said that only in the eastern sector were the Americans advancing at anything like the pace of their initial fanout from the west coast beachhead. Lt. Gen. Simon B. Buckner’s forces were pushing down the east coast toward the town of Tsuwa, three miles north of Yonabaru, the island’s principal east coast port. The American vanguard wasj within two miles of Yonabaru air •strip, which the Japanese had partly conetructed when the invasion began. Front reports said it probably could be made usable in a short time. On the west coast, the Americans were bogged down about a mile north of Nakama, atop a high ridge running inland. Japanese artillery on the ridge was pounding our forces. A curtain of smoke hung over the ridge as naval guns and land-based artillery teamed with bombers in a concerted assault on it. Five Japanese planes were shot down by antiaircraft fire this as(Turn To Page 5. Column 4) —— —o Pvt. Keith Hammond Wounded In Europe Decatur Soldier Is Wounded In Action Pvt. Keith D. Hammond. 19year old son of Charles Hammond, 918 Line street, has been wounded the second time in action with American troops, the war department notified the father last night. The young infantryman was wounded on March 25 in Germany. Presumably his outfit had crossed the Rhine. He was with the 19th Armored Infantry Battalion. Wounded on last December 15, in Southern France, Pvt. Hammond was hospitalized and latei returned to his company. The message did not describe the extent of his wounds. Pvt. Hammond entered the army in March, 1944 and following his basic and specialized training in this country, was sent overseas last October. He has traveled through France and other European countries through Germany and was on the ultimate drive to Berlin.

Will Yanks, Russians Join For March Up Elbe? Statute Miles I —North Sea •"2"VCS^ LUt(cI< 7T z Vj V m7( F— I 0 50 100 - /gw / < < X>IDINIU»c\ W - Z // ( /‘ ? * VH.Z * Kkuktun » \X BERUN PONK KTO B .*no.L.c\\ O ifili POLAND •MINDEN B , UNSWIC , n •\\ M HUNKfUHTI » *lnhem hannovh\v• — “ .r \\ V , ****• \x GERMANY \\ s—. \ tS’"fMME»ICH»- NX « |i \\ X. \ —-"k MUENm.—= XX. MAGDEBURG \\ COtTBUS \ X . OUISBU»G>— \ \\ I X z H T a iWJH'*'— x X\\ ' OuThSIOOBfV WUBMBTAI, ' \\ / • ■COLOGNE \ n or\ ,ONN K ““Subg. a \ C \ BELG.V mac A c||ssENe ' VIA \ ; /. coßitNzX / * Prague f \J *\ , A j aux\/ W,E pc ' . mahbosebauA "V \ \ V ' lStM CZECHOSLOVAKIA l-X J - \ FRANCE »KAns»uHt - x f*'*- rP DIRECTION OF Lt. Gen. George S. Patton's tank drive toward the eastern front indicates to observers in Washington that a juncture will be made with the Red Army in the vicinity of Dresden, on the Elbe river. The Red Army, which is poised at Gorlitz, barely 55 miles east of Dresden, is ready for another all-out blow, according to Moscow. Possibly under an understanding already made, this force will time its movements to reach the Elbe simultaneously with Patton’s group. The Elbe, which flows into the North Sea to constitute the port of Hamburg, would create a natural dividing line between the American and Red forces, and together they could work northward to clear out the Nazis in north Germany with a valuable demarcation bet ween their territories.

Gen. MacArthur To Lead Tokyo March Bataan Hero Picked By Chiefs Os Staff Washington, Apr. 6 —(UP) — Gen. Douglas MacArthur will lead the march on Tokyo. He was picked for the joh by the joint chiefs of staff. The dashing, 65-year-old hero of Bataan, who made good his promise to return to the Philippines, will command all army forces in the Pacific. Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, who stopped the once-arrogant Japanest fleet and then battered it into virtual insignificance, was assigned command of all naval forces. While MacArthur and Nimitz ostensibly are on a par in the new command set-up. the general actually emerges as the key figure in the war on Japan. As army commander, it will be MacArthi ur's task to invade the enemy homeland, the ultimate objective of the American high command. Nimitz’ role then will be largely to transport and protect MacArthur's troops and supplies and to support the landings. The new command arrangement ’ accomplishes these changes: 1. Removes from MacArthur's control the naval forces which have helped him cover the long journey from Australia back to the Philippines. These forces comprise the seventh fleet, under the immediate command of Vice Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid. Henceforth, they will be at Nimitz' disposition. 2. Removes from Nimitz’ command all army troops which have served under him in the central and north Pacific. They will serve under MacArthur. The directive from the joint chiefs of staff does not mention it, but marine troops would be available to MacArthur whenever he needed them. 3. Eliminates the lines of de(Turn To Page 5. Column 3) —o Bunker Hill Squad At Oetting Rites A chaplain and firing squad from Bunker Hill Naval Training Station. near Peru, will attend the funeral services for Naval Aviation Cadet Elmer C. Oetting at St. John’s Lutheran church, north of Decatur, Sunday afternoon. Full military honors will be paid the young cadet, who was killed in an aircraft accident at Corpus Christi, Texas last Monday. The rites at the grave will be conducted by the firing squad and chaplain from Bunker Hill, and Adams poet 43 of the American Legion will provide ithe color guard for the funeral services. Rev. H. W. Bouman, pastor, will be in charge of the services. The body will arrive in Fort Wayne early 'Saturday morning with an escort from Corpus Chrtati.

ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Decatur, Indiana, Fr iday, April 6,1945.

Mrs. Miller Rites Sunday Afternoon Funeral services for Mrs. Martin Miller, who died noon Thursday, will be held at 2 o'clock, Sunday afternoon at the home, 821 West Monroe street, and at 2:30 p. in. at the Zion Evangelical and Reformed church, with the Rev. William C. Feller officiating. Burial will be in the Decatur cemetery. The body will be removed from the Black funeral home to the residence late this afternoon and may be viewed* after 7 p. m. 0 _ Hong Kong Pounded By American Planes Aerial Forces From Philippines Active Manila, April 6 —(UP)—U. S. Aerial forces from the Philippines left Hong Kong heaped with wreckage today after two straight days of attacks and accounted for 33 more Japanese ships through the southwest Pacific. Every type of ibomiber and fighter was thrown into the widespread attacks that ranged from the China coast to French Indo China as Gen. Douglas MacArthur's fliers maintained a firm blockade of Japan's life-line to the south. The heaviest assault was centered on port installations and shipping at Hong Kong,' where more than 50 Lilberators of the fifth aitforce stoked huge fires Tuesday with 168 tons of high explosives. Nine merchant ships were sunk in the harfbor, while a destroyer and two other cargo vessels were damaged. Smoke from the burning shipyards and blasted oil storage tanks soared nearly a mile and a half into the air. The raid brought the two-day neutralization bomb load piled on Hong Kong’s great port to nearly 300 tons. Not a single American plane was lost in either of the attacks. Army bomlbers and fighters ranged over Formosa again Tuesday, hammering factories, airdromes and transportation targets, A communique said '“many” parked planes were destroyed at the Kagi airdrome, while three Japanese interceptors were shot down south of the island. o Passenger Killed As Bus Hits Truck Terre Haute, Ind., April 6 —(UP) —One person was killed and 16 others injured when a Greyhound bus sideswiped a beer truck one mile east of here early today on U. S. 40. (Mrs. Lorma Worley. 24, Patterson, Ohio, died from shock and abdominal injuries. The bus, driven by R. E. Lee, Indianapolis, was en route from Terre Haute to Indianapolis when it struck the truck. Lee said that the truck was parked along the highway without lights. 1

Mines' Conference Virtually Collapses Operators Ignore Saturday Session Washington, Apr. 6— (UP) — The soft coal wage conference virtually collapsed today when the operators’ negotiators announced they would not attend a session scheduled for 10 a. in. tomorrow. Neither side would describe the situation as an end of negotiating, but it appeared increasingly probable that the war labor board would have to take over the job of writing a new contract. The board currently is trying to stop wildcat strikes in the soft coal mines. It has threatened quick government seizure of the mines unless production is resumed. The situation was somewhat improved today and a miners’ spokesman predicted full production on Moday. The miners' negotiators voted for another negotiating session tomorrow, but the operators announced they would not be present because they intended to report to the war labor board tomorrow. Their report necessarily will be that little or no progress has been made toward a new contract during the first week of the 30day extension of the present wage agreement. Ezra Van Horn, Cleveland operator and chairman of the conference, said after today's recess that the operators had moved that the conference recess indefinitely. This motion was lost and the union negotiators then obtained a recess until 10 a. m. tomorrow. The operators, Van Horn said, then told the union that they would not attend tomorrow’s meeting “by virtue of the fact that they were to the. war labor board to report on the conference.” The union negotiators. Van Horn added, said they would be present anyhow'. o Some Damage Done To Fruit Blossoms While no official estimate could be obtained on the damage done to fruit trees from the freezing weather, county agent L. E. Archbold and local farmers stated that “some damage was done to the blossoms from the frost last night.” Temperatures dropped to 30 and a little under that figure, in parts of the county. County agent Archbold said that the danger point was 26 degrees and if the temperature dropped to that figure severe damage would have been done to the cherry and plum trees. Not as much damage is expected to the apple trees, they being of a mo>e hardy growth. The snow blizzard yesterday afternoon was one of the unusual scenes for this time of year, although not uncommon. A local weather recorder said snow fell in Decatur on April 4 a year ago. •

American And British Troops Across Weser, Converge On Hannover

German Light Cruiser Sunk At Wilhelmshaven London. April 6 —(UP)—iAir reconnaissance pliotori today disclosed that the German light cruiser. Koeln, was sunk during the American air attack on the Wilhelmshaven naval base March 30. The Koeln is a 6,000-ton light cruiser, built by the Germans in 1928. The photos showed the Koeln apparently resting on the bottom with damage amidship and aft and one hole on the portside. o Japanese Seek To Avert War With Russians London Newspapers Predict Russians May Declare War London, Apr. fi—(UP) —Tokyo said today that Japan would make the “greatest possible effort.’’ to remain at peace with Russia, but was fully prepared for any “abrupt change” in their relations. London newspapers predicted Russia would follow up her denunciation of the Soviet-Japanese neutrality pact with a grant of Siberian bases to the Allies or even a declaration of war against Japan. Japanese hopes that a new cabinet would be completed today to succeed the resigned Koiso government. in meeting the country’s gravest military and political crisis were thwarted. Admiral Baron Kantaro Suzuki, premier-designate, ended his first day of conferences without submitting a list of ministers to Emperor Hirohito for approval as expected, radio Tokyo admitted. Sukuki died succeed in obtaining the cooperation of the army and navy, Tokyo said, and expects to take up the naming of candidates for those and other portfolios at 8 a. m. tomorrow (Tokyo time.) “The composition of the cabinet is expected to be completed (Turn To Page 5, Column 5) o Bond Sale In March Over SIOO,OOO Mark Seventh War Loan Opens Next Month Another SIOO,OOO has been added to the capital wealth of the people of Adams county with the announcement that bond buyers purchased $101,284.75 worth of bonds in March. The March sales were a little under February's record, Earl Caston, co-chairman of the county bond staff, stated. The amount, however, is considered good, in view of the fact that most of the bonds were purchased through the payroll savings plan. Sales during the month were reported from the following points as follows: Decatur. $81,503.50; Berne, $13,962.50; Geneva. $1,387.50; Monroe, $375; Preble, $4,056.25. The seventh war loan drive will open next month, but in the meantime a special campaign is on to enroll workers on a payroll savings plan and to increase their present allotments. Quotas for individuals have been furnished by employers based on average earnings, the top bracket of more than $250 per month taking a $250 bond over a three month period. In the lower income brackets, the expectation of purchase drops to an $18.75 bond. ♦

Russia Reports City Os Vienna Nearly Circled Main German Supply Lines Southwest Os City Are Slashed London, Apr. 6 —(UP) —A Moscow dispatch said today " that Soviet forces had three-quarters encircled Vienna and were battling in the eastern outskirts. Two Soviet armies were storm ing the Austrian capital from the east, west and south, after cutling the main German supply lines southwest of the city. Moscow said assault units of Marshal Feodor I. Tolbukhin’s 3rd Ukrainian army had penetrated an industrial settlement on the eastern edge of the city. Resistance at Vienna apparently was considerably stiffer than that at Bratislava, which fell two days ago after one-day battlek Front reports said, however, the Russians were driving with all possible force in an attempt to capture the city before it suffered the disastrous fate that befell Budapest. While powerful tank anil artillery forces hammered at the capital from three sides, mobile columns raced around the outer flanks in converging drives that threatened to completely envelope the city. Tolbukhin s armored forces were stretched along a 33 mile front around Vienna and at one point were only live miles from St. Stephens capital in the heart of the capital. Marshal Rodion V. Malinovsky’s 2nd Ukrainian army joined in the assault front the southeast, at the lower anchor of' a 34 mile front that was being pushed rap idly through the Morava valley in a big flanking drive northeast of Vienna. Tolbukhin's columns first (Turn To Page 5. Column 5) —— () —. Mrs. Margaret May Dies At Hospital Funeral Services Saturday Afternoon Mrs. Margaret May, 71. widow of the late Nathaniel May. died late Thursday afternoon at the Adams county memorial hospital after a six months illness of complications. She was born in Marion Springs. Mich.. September 27. 1873, the daughter of Valentine and Esther Rover-Hartman. Her husband died January 1. 1925. She was a meipber of the Church of God. Surviving are a daughter, Mrs. Iva McDonald, and a son. Leland May. both of Decatur: the following step-children. Verne May of Galion, Mich., Jesse 11. May of Decatur. Reuben May of Miami. Fla., and Mrs. Samuel Sonday of Sturgis, Mich.; the following brothers and sisters: Charles Hartman of South Bend. George of Buchanan, Mich., Henry of Broda, Mich.. Miss Katherine Hartman and Mrs. Elizabeth Vetterley of Buchanan, Mich., Mrs. Emma Schmeley of Niles, Mich, and Mrs. Edith Hartman of Kalamazoo, Mich., and 13 grandchildren. Funeral services will be held at 2 p. tn. Saturday at the Lawrence McDonald home on Grant street, and at 2:30 o'clock at the Church of God, with the Rev. Glen Marshall officiating. Burial will be in the Decatur cemetery. The body was removed from the Zwick funeral home to the McDonald residence this afternoon. 1 t

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Break-Through By Ninth Army Sparks Drive; Resistance Crumbling In Path Baris. Apr. 6 (UP)—Three Allied armies struck for Berlin and the North Sea ports on a front of more than 100 miles today, sparked by an American ninth army break-through that carried live miles beyond the Weser river to within 17 miles of Hannover. British second army forces also were across the Weser in great strength on the ninth army’s right flank, driving in several columns on Hannover. 136 miles west of Berlin, and the northern ports of Bremen and Hamburg. (An unconfirmed London broadcast recorded by CBS Monitors in New York said the Allies were less than two miles from Hannover late today). Simultaneously, the American first army lashed out in a new Berlin-bound offensive from its lines east of the Ruhr and raced ahead as much as 25 miles to reach the Weser river at several points 160-odd miles west of the German capital. German resistance crumbled in the path of the Americans, and field dispatches said ninth army troops were five miles and mors beyond their Weser bridgeheads west and southwest of Hannover. The ninth’s second armored division crossed the Weser in the Hamelin area 22 miles southwest of Hannover and pushed up to within about 17 miles from the big rail and road center. Another tank and infantry force was advancing rapidly from a bridgehead at Minden. 32 miles west of Hannover. Late field dispatches said the Americans were 57 miles or less from the northwestern corner of Czechoslovakia. 60 miles from Leipzig and 166 miles away from the westbound Red army. Lt. Gen. George S. Patton’s third army tanks officially were 126 miles southwest of Berlin, but still-unconfirmed reports I placed them inside the Harz mountain range 120 miles or less from Hitler's dying citadel. On Patton's right flank, the U. S. seventh army advanced slowly but steadily east and southeast toward Nuernberg against fanatical opposition from. German Volksturm and regular army units defending the tapproaches to the Nazis’ "last redoubt'’ in the Bavarian mountains. French first army forces in the extreme south were reported 25 miles or less from Suttgart, 112 miles northeast of Munich and less than 10 miles from the headquarters of the Danube. North of the third army, the American first army broke through the hilly Hardahausen forests in a 22-mile eastward surge that carried almost to the Weser river at a point. 161 miles due west of Berlin. Simultaneously, the first army wheeled st t ong tank and infantry forces into the southeastern corner of the Ruhr basin, teaming up with American ninth army doughboys in a drive to wipe out an estimated 150,000 Germans trapped in the Ruhr. Massive assault teams of the ninth army’s 30th infantry and second armored divisions sparked the drive on the Weser river and Hannover. The doughboys crossed the 240(Turn To Page 2, Column 3) PAPER - TIN CAN DRIVE TOMORROW Regular monthly pick-up hy City Trucks and Boy Scouts. Have your waste paper and tin cans ready - - and help make this the LARGEST MONTH OF THE CAMPAIGN. j