Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 43, Number 85, Decatur, Adams County, 10 April 1945 — Page 1

ls tWintheWar. ’lse Is Chores!

LUI. No. 85.

IMERICAN TROOPS CAPTURE HANNOVER

|r Erection Community ■ding Here ■nual Meeting Os Icatur Community Bid Held Monday I ent strongly endorsing the reding a modern communing as a memorial to the women of Decatur who ng their country in World vas expressed last evening nnnal meeting of Decatur ity Fund members, held at State bank. lection of three directors Community Fund Board ace during the meetthree former members, eph J. Seimetz, pastor of •y s chur ch, Herman ierg, assistant cashier of State Bank, and Clarence of Local 44, Central Soya , being re-elected. Pumphrey, president, pre- — and minutes were read by Berman Keller, the secretary. Kai reports were given by Kueckeberg, the treasurer. Eport on the operation of the Knteen, which was establishK last October and is supportfl funds from the Community ■treasury, was given by Deane Bn. supervisor of the youth B. Mr. Dorwin stated that inBin the canteen continued and Btudent hours of participation ■otaled about 25,000 hours. Knteen is opened after school Bto supper time and then fl in the evening. At each Bn an average of 56 student fl attendance has been enjoyed B place. fl Krneckeberg reported that ■ the first year's operation of ■(immunity Fund, the treasury fl balance of approximately fl. after paying in full the ■ share of the war fund quota; Roy and Girl Scout committfl; the Salvation Army and ■buttons to the youth commitfl the Woman’s club, sponsors fl canteen and the North Ward ■round project. Bun the 1944-45 drive, which. ■ pledges, totaled approximately ■2,000, all commitments can be ■and a balance of around $7,000 ■be available for other local Bets. Biter J. Krick, superintendent By schools, spoke on the subJjof launching the idea, in keepipith local sentiment, toward Building of "a suitable memor|o the men and women of Delr who are serving their coun|n uniform in this war.” Becatur wants and needs a fcnmity building and there is Ibetter way to build a living lument to the men and women |he armed forces than through ■erection of such a place," Mr. |k stated, |t is possibly too early to have I definite plan in mind, but sure■here is some way to proceed I will help crystalize city-wide liment tor a building of this r le ai *d at the same time serve | llr htonument to the many men I women from this city who are gmg their country on the battles s m the world, in the air and L e sea, ’ remarked the speaker. directors and voting memF| 0 atten ded the meeting eni’fd the idea and authorized the [ '? nt t 0 a PP° in t a committee L ea Preliminary survey as h,„n t C0 ‘ nmunky could I hilt and financed. F.'„ m Knck also pointe d out that dhv ru y * >u,lding couW be f r the various civic, service r iraternal organizations; the m, ■ u n<l veteran ’s organizaLos h : be prom P t ed along the Wren Useful to adults and t vniHi. More adef iuate quarters the t. aCtivities > tbe ex Panding etui r™ canteen idea and other boused ® anity endeavors could 1 comm, v conducted in a m6drarity center, along with _2_ To Pasa 4. Column 4) READING 8:00 THERMOMETER >0:00 54 Roon ' 66 — TO * W ' 77 J WEathe * W.dniXjT"’ ‘° n,9ht anC

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

Swiss Legation Is Evacuating Berlin Zurich, April 10.—(UP)— The Swiss legation at Berlin has largely discontinued activities and the minister and the ibigger part of life staff have evacuated to Tegern See, in Bavaria, 28 miles south of Munich, it was disclosed today. 0 Nazi Barracks In Vienna Fall To Red Forces Berlin Preparing . German People For City's Early Fall London, Apr. 10— (UP) —Russian siege forces storming the last third of Vienna in German hands today captured the Rennweg barracks, the main barracks of the Austrian capitol’s hard pressed garrison. (A spokesman at U. S. 12th army group headquarters said the Russians were 110 miles from Berchtesgaden at an undisclosed point, and were ‘‘likely to get there before the Germans" seeking refuge in the Bavarian Alps.) Gloomy Nazi reports of steady Soviet gains in the Vienna streets indicated that Berlin was preparing the German people for the early fall of the city. The free Austrian radio reported the fall of the Rennweg barracks, on a street of the same name which leads directly to the Ringstrasse. The German high command reported "grim fighting" in Vienna. Supplementary Berlin broadcasts said the pocket still in German hands was being stormed from the north, south and west, and portions of it were on fire. The Russians were reported battling for crossings of the Danube river and canal. Virtually all that portion of Vienna west of the river and canal, including the center of the city, was liberated by Marshal Feodor I. Tolbukhin’s third Ukrainian army yesterday. Swept up in the advance were the parliament building, main police station, radio station, central postoffice, state opera house, gas works, the Central -European bank and several factories. Still in German hands was a 10-square mile front east of the Danube river and canal, mostly factories and the big Prater Park. The Germans were resisting stubbornly, a Soviet communique announced, but Tolbukhin’s troops cleared block after block in rapid succession. One Soviet column was fighting in the mint district, the enemy’s last foothold west of the Danube canal. (Turn To Page 4, Column 5) O Miss Eloise A. Noll Joins Army Nurses G. E. Nurse Enlists In Army Nurse Corps Miss Eloise A. Npll, industrial nurse at the Decatur works of the General Electric company since June 2, 1941, and now in charge of the dispensary at the local plant, has enlisted in the United States army nurse corps, and has been commissioned as a second lieutenant. Miss Noll, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas R. Noll of southeast of Decatur, has received orders to report at Fort Knox, Kentucky on Sunday, April 22. Adams county’s latest nurse volunteer enlisted in January and passed her physical examination at Baer Field and has since been awaiting call to active duty. A graduate of the Decatur high school, Miss Noll took nurse’s training at the Lutheran hospital in Fort Wayne, where she was graduated in 1932. She was en? ployed at the Adams county memorial hospital until accepting the position as industrial nurse at the local General Electric plant. Miss Noll has a brother, S/Sgt. Richard B. Noll, who is now stationed with the V. S. army somewhere in Germany.

Decatur Plant Os General Electric Company Began Operations 25 Years Ago Today-No Celebration-War Work Continues As Usual

Twenty-five years ago today, April 10, 1920, was a memorable day in the history of Decatur. Twenty-five years ago today the town was in gala dress, for it was celebrating a momentous event. Twenty-five years ago today, hope was renewed in the heart’s of all citizens, for they saw jobs in the offing. The reason for the street and store decorations, high spirit, smiles and confidence, was that 25 years ago today the General Electric company’s plant on North Ninth street was formally dedicated .. . and everything was ready to start the wheels of that great industry. Through the quarter century, this model plant, located when Fred S. Hunting was general man ager and E. A. Barnes, superintendent, of the Fort Wayne Works, has provided employment for thousands, expanded its original building two or three times and now occupies two modern structures covering nearly two blocks of space. Twenty-five years ago E. W. Lankenau became the superinten dent of the Decatur plant and formed his organization with 40 persons, 31 of whom are still with the company. All through the peace-time years the company produced • washing machine and fractional horsepower motors and when the defense program got underway, immediately converted its production to war materials. Since the days of Pearl Harbor it has been Decatur’s laigest arsenal of production, its facil Announce Results Os Hearing Tests Defect Percentage Reported Low Here In the report made by Elmer J. La Branche of Ball State Teachers College, Muncie, to Lyman L. Hann, on the hearing test conducted in the rural schools last November, only 61 of the 2,362 pupils tested showed hearing defects. tA ton audiometer was used by Mr. La Branche in testing the hearing of the pupils and an audiogram was made of the hearing loss. Mr. La Branche has sent typewritten copies of this report to Mr. Hann, (which contains the following information: number of pupils tested, 12,36'1; pupils with defective hearing 61; number of schools tested. 31; number of townships, 12; percent of pupils with hearing loss, 2.5. The cost to the townships was $425,16, or 18 cents per pupil. Commenting on the hearing test, Mr. La Branche said. “Whenever possible, parents were urged to call at the school to talk over hearing problems with the consultant. Information on hearing conservation was sent home with each child that failed the tests. Information and recommendations were also given the teachers of these children. *'ln a few instances where children were found to have ‘borderline hearing or hearing that passed the requirements and no more, these children were given warning cards to take home, in order to keep their parents alert for possible ear trouble.” The regulations governing hearing tests state that any child who fails to hear two or more frequencies on the pure-tone audiometer at 15 decibels or highar shall be considered hard-of-hearing and an audiogram made of the hearing loss. o — Louisa Miller Will Probated In Court iThe will of Mrs. Louisa Miller was probated in Adams circuit court today. It was written April 22, 14M0. The estate is bequeathed to the decedent’s three children, Edward J. Miller, Mrs. Lydia Deitsch and (Elmer Miller, and a granddaughter, Marjorie Miller, share and share alike. Walter Deitsch was named executor. Letters of administration ware issued and bond for $3,000 was filed and approved. No inventory was filed with the papers.

ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Decatur, Indiana, Tuesday, April 10,1945.

ities being augmented by an entire new plant erected by the Defense Plant Corp., at the corner of Ninth street and Dayton avenue. Military censorship prevents the relating of the wonderful record of production accomplished in the local plants or the number of persons therein. Suffice to say, the local company and its large family of co-workers turned out the' stuff and provided products that went to battlefields, ships and air corps all over the world. The Army-Navy E for excellence in production was awarded the company and employes early in the war and renewed each six months as the de sense workers continued to roll out the materials needed by the armed forces. Not alone on the conveyor line, but in the armed forces themselves. 246 local G. E. employes are serving their country in uniform, four of whom have met death in action, or in the service of their country. War-time compliance prevents a celebration today, as stated in a page message published by the company in this issue, “Today all of our products are being used to further the war effort . . . Today there will be no big celebration of this'anniversary . . . We will work and produce so that we may help to bring home sooner our sons, husbands, daughters . . . our Two hundred forty-six employes now serving in the armed forces.” That’s the G. E. spirit which expresses the determination of the men and women who today hoped to set up another record in production as “backing from the home School Leaders To District Meetings School officials and administrators are planning to attend district meetings in neaitby counties which are sponsored by Dr. Clement. C. Malan in the interest of school administration in relation to the war effort. County superintendent Lyman L. Hann will attend the meeting at Marion and Walter J. Krick, city superintendent, will attend the one at Columbia City. Increased emphasis is being placed on the teaching of mathematics in the schools, as youths who enter the army and navy find this subject in necessary in their training, Mr. Hann said, o Operators, Miners Are Near Agreement 9 Government Studies Seizure Os Mines Washington, Apr. 10 —(UP) — Soft coal operators and the United Mine Workers were reported near agreement on a new contract today as the’ government contemplated seizure of some 200 strike-ridden captive coal mines. The war labor board was understood to have referred the strikes in the captive mines—those owned hy steel companies—to stabilization director William H. Davis because of the UMW’s inability to get the miners back on the job. Some' quarters believed seizure of the mines to be imminent. Production in the vital Pennsylvania fields was estimated at only 60 percent of normal yesterday despite reports of a strong back to work movement. The wildcat strikes cut deeply into output of steel. Meanwhile, the conferees on a new soft coal wage-hour contract, who have changed their minds almost daily about prospects for a voluntary settlement, once again indicated that things looked well. A new contract was said to depend only on a proposed clause for unionization of supervisory employes. The parties were reported in agreement in principle on virtually all other issues in dispute. The parties recessed negotiations yesterday to recommend to their policy groups acceptance of proposals wnicn were estimated to mean approximately $1.25 a day increase for the miners and I (Turn To Page 5, Column 6)

front.” , The 31 persons who started work with the G. E. 25 years ago, in al dit.ion to Mr. Lankenau, the genial and very successful superintendent, and are still with the organization, include Clyde Beery, Charles Peterson, Jesse Niblick. Fred Engle, William Kohls, Dwight Kimble, Arbie Owens, Arthur Bieberich, Tillman Gehrig, Elias Lichtenstiger, Rufus Roop. J. K. Eady, Andrew Hilton, Ralph Roop, Milton Brown, Fred Chronister, Oscar Teeple, Leo Ulman, Herman Linnemeir, Fannie Amstutz, Omar McManama, Lohnas Mclntosh, Grant Fry, Hubert Cochran, Milo C. Wait, Alva Buffenbarg er, Frank Braun, William Heim, Charles Langston, Russell Owens, Carl Smith. Three of the original workers are retired, Cash Lutz, John Knott and Charles Brothers. Six are deceased, Bert Gage, Dora Miller, Amos Yoder, Fran Geary. Fred Hammond and Al Fruchte. It was a great day in Decatur 25 years ago and there was ample reason why the American flag was hoisted, bunting and decorations on the buildings and across the street, for a great industry with international reputation had come to open the first of its unit of modern plants that would assure gainful employment to hundreds of people in this city. This newspaper issued a special edition to publicize the event, for Decatur had some thing to crow about. From that day, Decatur grew and continues to grow into a bigger and better city, in which to live and work. Eighth Army Opens New Drive In Italy Crumple Adriatic Wing Os Nazi Line Rome, Apr. 10. — (UP) —A new British eighth army offensive crumpled the Adriatic wing of the German defenses in Italy, carried over the Senio river on a broad front, and today spilled out over the eastern Po plain between Bologna and Ravenna. Gen. Mark W. Clark, commander of Allied forces in Italy, announced that the eighth army attacked yesterday evening after a pulverizing aid assault in the Senior sector by almost all of the air forces in this theater. The first onrush of Lt. Gen. Sir Richard McCreery’s forces broke the Senior river line. His assault forces swept across the stream on a broad front around Lugo, 27 miles east of Bologna arid 18 miles west of Ravenna. The eruption in the eastern coastal Sector of Italy set both ends of the long dormant front in motion. The U. S. fifth army was plugging northwestward along the Ligurian coast in a close in against Massa, big outpost of the La Spezia naval base. Clark’s armies now were pressing in against one of the last industrial areas left to the Nazis after the overrunning of the Ruhr and Silesia. This is the once rich production zone of northern Italy, centered around Milan. The eighth army offensive closely followed an amphibious operation which secured the sandpit be tween Lake Comacchio and the Adriatic. It was aimed across the Senio river west of Lake Comacchio along the traffic arteries to Bologna and Ferrara. The preparatory air activity was described by witnesses as the most intensive every carried out on the (Turn To Page S. Column 3) O Fort Wayne Strikers Returning To Jobs Fort Wayne, Ind.. April 10 —(UP) —More than 600 striking employes of General Electric returned to their jobs today. The number of strikers started with albout 250 last Friday and grew to a reported 700 by Monday. The workers voted to return to their jdbs after they found that the wage dispute, which precipitated the etrlke, was in the hands of govvernmental agencies

Tokyo Reports Yanks Land On Tsukata Island Savage Fighting Continues Before Okinawa Capital Guam. Apr. 10. — 1 (UP) —Tokyo said today that American troops have landed on Tsukata island controlling .the entrance to nearly-con-quered Nakagusuku bay naval anchorage in southeast Okinawa. Other troops spearing along the shore of the bay on Okinawa advanced more than a mile and a half to Onaha, on the edge of Yonabaru airfield and a mile and a half north of the port of Yonabaru itself, a Tokyo domei agency broadcast said. American destroyers and other warcraft already have entered Nakagusuku bay, the broadcast said. , American sources were unable to confirm the reported east coast developments, but said the greatest artillery duel of the Pacific war was underway in the southwest coast sector as the 24th army corps stormed deeper into defenses shielding the capital city of Naha. Gen. O. P. Smith, deputy chief of staff for the 10th army, said more battalions of artillery were supporting the ground forces than ever before in the Pacific. The concentration of guns per yard nearly equals the maximum known in warfare, he said. Domei said American troops landed on Tsukata island some eight miles off the southeast coast of Okinawa Sunday afternoon. Tile dispatch made no claim that the forces had been repulsed and it was possible the Americans quickly overran the tiny island. During the landing operations, Tokyo said, Japanese forces —presumably with artillery — sank one large American destroyer and a small craft out of a group of warcraft whictf penetrated Nakagusuku bay. More than two-thirds of the Okinawa coast of the bay already has been cleared by 24th army corps troops. Yonabaru, its principal port, lies at the southwest corner.

Forces which infiltrated the Japanese lines to Onaha, less than a mile and a half north of Yonabaru, were in company strength, domei said. Capture of the Yonabaru airfield would give the Americans their third airfield on Okinawa. Once Nakagusuku bay has been (Turn To Page 4, Column 5) Huge Bomber Fleel Hits Nazi Airfields 1,300 U. S. Bombers Pound German Fields London, Apr. 10 — (UP) — A huge fleet of 1,300 heavy bombers of the U. S. eighth air force, escorted by 850 fighter planes, attacked seven Nazi airfields for .■Jet-propelled aircraft in northern Germany today. The flying fortresses and liberators also hit an experimental field at Rechlin and an ordnance supply center at Oranienburg. Jet-propelled plane bases at Oranienburg, Larz. Burg, Briest, Enuruppin, Zerbst and Parchim, felt the heavy blows of the big bombers. The American aerial attack followed up last nights raids by more than 900 RAF planes which concentrated on shipyards at the big Nazi naval base at Kiel. Berlin also was hit. Submarine building yards were the main target at Kiel. The bombing was well concentrated and huge fires and many violent explosions were observed, the air ministry announced. Objectives at Plauen, Hamburg and Strade also were bombed and mines were laid in enemy waters. Six bombers were lost, but three enemy aircraft were shot down during the raids. British Lancasters, with an escort of Mustangs and Spitfires, dropped 11-ton volcano and sixton earthquake bombs on German submarine shelters at Hamburg yesterday.

Armored Sweep Rolls Forward Toward Berlin

U. S. Bombers Rip Jap Convoy In China Sea Two Destroyers In Toll Os Ships Sunk By American Airmen Manila, April 10—(UP)—American troops steadily compressed three big Japanese pockets on Luzon today while airmen caught 12 more enemy ships, including two destroyers, in the China Sea blockade. The heaviest toll in the aerial strikts was taken when Philippinesbased Liberators of the seventh fleet intercepted a 15-ship convoy leaving the Chinese port of Swat■ow, west of Formosa. One destroyer and a 8,000-ton transport were sunk, while another destroyer and a fourth ship, presumably a cargo vessel, were seriously damaged. It was not disclosed whether the transport was carrying any Japanese troops. Fifth army air force bombers accounted for eight other ships, all merchant craft, in tar-ranging raids from the (Dutch East Indies to Hong Kong and Formosa, where Liberatons dumped another 171 tons of bombs on the island’s airdromes. ißomibers and fighters also provided strong support for the American troops steadily hacking away at the dwindling Japanese forces in north, central and southern Lu(Turn To Fag's 4, Column 6) Report Is Filed On Sale Os Real Estate •Commissioner Nathan Nelson has filed his report in the circuit court covering the sale of real estate owned by the late David F. T-eple, in a partition suit proceeding. Deeds were ordered for the following’ conveyances of real estate to the purchasers, three lots in Nolble county on Lake Shore drive, to Julius F. Teeple for $2,300; lot 19 in Decatur, including residence and freight storage building on First street, to David H. Teeple for $16,000; east part of a lot in Portland to Fred Miller for $2,625.

Early IB Diagnosis Campaign In County County Association Conducts Campaign The Adams county tuberculosis association is conducting an early diagnosis campaign throughout the county this month. W. Guy Brown, association president, lias announced. The campaign, conducted in large part through the schools and with the cooperation of all physicians in the county, is designed to combat the ravages of the "white plague” in its early stages. The early diagnosis campaign, in past years, has been conducted on a nationwide scale, but no such national campaign is being held this year because of wartime conditions. Unceasing vigilance and hard work on the part of all agencies concerned with TB control have prevented an increase in the disease in the United States, although other nations at war have reported increases. Persons not up to par physically are urged to undergo examinations this month, simple examinations which may reveal hitherto unsuspected presence of TB germs. Caught in its early stages, tuberculosis can be halted before serious damage is caused.

Buy Wehr Savings Bonds And Stamps

Price Four Cents.

Germans' Northern And Central Lines Caved In 115-120 Miles From Berlin Paris, Apr. 10 — (UP)—American troops captured Hannover today in an armored sweep that caved in Germany’s northern and central defenses and rolled forward at a mile-an-hour clip 115 and 120 miles from the Nazi capital. Two doughboy regiments of the U. S. ninth army's 84th division stormed into Hannover from the northwest and southwest early this morning. By midday they had reached the center of the flaming stronghold that once was the 12th city of Germany. A few isolated pockets of German resistance still held out late this afternoon, but American riflemen were combing them out one by one. Crowds of curious German civilians thronged into the streets, ignoring the bullets, to watch the death struggle of the Nazi garrison. Other ninth army forces stabbed 23 miles beyond the city toward Brunswick, 104 miles west, of Berlin, and at last reports were, only 16 miles from that town. Far to the south, American first army tanks broke into the Harz mountains covering the southwestern approaches to Berlin after a 26 mile advance that met only scattered and disorganized resistance. Both attacks were rolling swiftly forward behind a blazing Allied aerial bombardment that, reached hack almost to the gates of Berlin. In an explosive burst of power that threatened momentarily to cave in the Germans’ entire northern flank, the Americans broke loose on the main Hannover-Brunswick-Berlin superhighway less than. 16 miles from Brunswick and 55 miles from the Elbe river line that forms the enemy's last big defensive harrier in the west. Doughboys of the S4th infantry division swarmed through the streets of Hannover. Germany s 12th city, after a sudden breakthrough from, the north. Simultaneously, the ninth army's fifth armored division stabbed 23 miles northeastward to cut the superhighway at a point mid way between Hannover and Brunswick. British armored forces to the north laid siege to Bremen and wheeled northeastward within 60 miles or less of Hamburg, Germany's second city and greatest port. A third British column cut the Hamburg-Hannover Autobahn and raced eastward for Brunswick and Berlin on the ninth army's northern flank. The strike across northern Germany shot, the ninth army out in front of the race for Berlin, only a few hours after Lt. Gen. Courtney H. Hodgesf American first army had taken the lead with a new advance into the fringe of the Harz mountains in central Germany. Hodges' men broke loose on an 18 mile sweep beyond their Weser river bridgeheads yesterday and followed through early today with an armored and infantry drive on Nordhausen, 115 miles southwest of Berlin. The Americans knocked a 30(Turn To Page 5. Column 4) U. S. Delegation To Vote As Single Unit Washington, April 10 —(UP) — The U. S. delegation to the San Francisco conference will vote as a single unit and will decide Pa stand on all issues by a simple majority vote within the delegation, it was announced today. Secretary of state Edward R. Stettinius, Jr., said at his news conference that the delegation hopes to achieve unanimity of view. However, if it does not on any particular issue, the majority will rule.