Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 43, Number 155, Decatur, Adams County, 2 July 1945 — Page 1

WeMustWintheWar AII Else Is Chores!

Vol. XLIII. No. 155.

RECORD FLEET OF B-29S POUNDS JAPAN

Truman Pleads For Fast Action On World Pad

Tells Senate World Looks To Body For Lead In Approval Os World Charter Washington, July 2 — (UP) — President Truman in an historic appearance today placed the United Nations charter before the senate and asked for its prompt ratification. (Ie did so with a warning that the senate could not choose between the charter and something else but “between' this charter and no charter at all.” !Mr. Truman, the first president to appear before the senate since 1932, told his former colleagues that the people of the world looked to them “to take the lead in approving the charter . . . and pointing the way for the rest of the world.” "The choice before the senate is now clear,” he said. “The choice is not between this charter and something else. It is between this charter and no charter at all. “Improvements will come in the future as the United Nations gain experience with the machinery and methods which they have set up. For this is not a static treaty. It can be improved—and, as the years go by, it will be — just as our own constitution has been improved, “This chartq- points down the only road tq enduring peace. There is no other. Let us not hesitate to join hands with the peace-loving pquplefe of the earth and start dowti that road —with firm resolve thkt we can and will reach our goal.!' Opening his personal campaign for approval op the charter, the president reviewed in simple terms the objectives of the charter, asking the Jenate to consider not only its wn«s but the spirit which gave it mianing. This is the v|y he listed the charter's objectiiLs: “It seeks to Iprevent future wars. “It seeks to pnlnote world wide disputes by peaciful means and in conformity will principles of justice. “I seeks to pro®ole world-wide progress and bettAr standards of living. “It seeks to acWeve universal I respect for, and Observance of, human rights ami fundamental freedoms for all m|ti and women —without distinct!® as to race, laHguage or “It seeks, to rem®e the economic and social crises of international conflict an! unrest.” Describing how the charter was produced by maL hands and many influences, tie president said it evolved fromr'the reality I L ’ (Turn To Pae® 2. |lumn 4) Commissioners kleet In Monthly Sessjon —I ■ - E § The county commissiners have § received a letter and m® from the 3 Indiana state highway ®nmission, irrelative to post-war rnr| building I programe. The federal sfveniment I; will appropriate $500,001000 each ®year for three years Jo id in the I, building of farm to-maiV.t roads 4‘and Indiana will receive k, 022,000 of federal aid each year. I The commissioners weL asked to make a survey of roadfceeds in (this county and comirunilte with the state highway cotnmislon so a jstatewide road building |fogram could be inaugurated. A sßrt session of the 'board will be i|ld this month, there being few malers on '.the docket. The forenoon leeting was devoted to the checkag and (allowing of bills. DEMOCRAT THERMOMETER TEMPERATURE READIIG 8:00 a.m. .............. .—I 59 1 10:00 aim. ............. 159 Noon 160 i 2:00 p.rn 164 WEATHER Fair and comfortably cbi tonight and Tuesday. Wtonesday, fair and mild. I

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

Destroyer-Escort Survives Attacks Repels Attacks Os Jap Suicide Planes Seattle, July 2. —(UP)—The gallant, little destroyer-escort U. S. Si Rail appeared small prey to the kamikaze but she staunchly beat off the attacks of five Jap suicide planes, at a cost of 59 casualties, the navy revealed today. The Rail’s hull was ripped from starboard to port by a 500-pound bomb. Her interior was gutted by flames from an exploded ammunition locker and the deckhouse was rammed by a kamikaze plane which crashed grotesquely through a passageway. But the gallantry of the Rail’s crew kept her afloat under her own power and she limped into port here for repairs. Three of the attacking suicide planes, their machine guns spitting death, roared at wave-top level toward the, tiny ship. They were downed by the Roll’s guns. A fourth kamikaze was destroyed by the guns of a nearby cruiser. Yet a fifth plane dived on the 1,350-ton ship. It found its target. The Rail’s guns cut off one of its wings which dropped burning into the wateY about 50 feet from the ship. Lieut. Comdr. Crittenden Taylor, Libia, 0., the skipper of the gallant ship, told how the dive-bomber smashed onto the Rail’s deck. “The impact sheared off the other wing, the under-carriage and the 500-pound bomb,” he said. “The bomb kept going, tearing a huge, round hole right through the hull.” The bomb burst alongside -the Rail in the water, its fiery fragments killing 21 men and seriously wounding 38. The plane, minus wings, skidded across the deck and lodged neatly in a passageway leading through the deckhouse. None of the crew was in the passageway. “It stuck there, the tail sticking out one door and the engine out the other,” he said. During the earlier machinegun attacks by the Jap planes, an ammunition locker was hit and ex(Turn.To Page 2. Column 1) o Troop 62 Boy Scouts Attend Week's Camp Receive High Honors At Big Island Camp Seventeen Boy Scouts of troop 62, sponsored hy the Decatur Lions club, have returned from a week’s outing at Big Island camp at Sylvan Lake. They were/ accompanied by their scoutmaster, Lowell Smith, who was in charge of the group for the week. (Every member of troop 62 earned the honor camper award, and the troop made the highest record ever won by troop 62 at the camp, Mr. Smith stated. In addition to the honor camper awards, seven of the Scouts were awarded special accomplishment strips. A total of 38 tests was passed by troop members, 10 merit bades were awarded and two Scouts were advanced in rank. Special accomplishment strips were awarded as follows: aquatic strips to Byford Smith, Victor Porter, Dick McConnell and Medford Smith; camping strip to Jim Cowens: craft strips to Bob Boknecht and Roger Gentis. % Don Smith and Dick McConnell were advanced to first class Scouts. Troop members who at: ended the week's camp were: David Owens, Jim Bassett, Bob Dague, Merlin Lister, Ralph Smith, Jr., Billy Brentlinger, Dick Hott, John Doan, Dan Mills, Don Smith, Byford Smith, Victor Porter, Dick McConnell, Jim Cowens, Roger Gentis, Medford Smith and Bob Boknecht.

Borneo's Rich Oil Center Is Under Invasion Allied Troops Near Important Airdrome In Borneo Invasion Manila, July 2 — (UP) —The Australian seventh division, with supporting American and Dutch troops, today neared the Seppinggang airdrome, six miles northeast of Balikpapan, as the enemy fled the invaded Borneo oil center under heavy air assaults. Tokyo broadcasts claimed that the Japanese had counter-attack-ed the beachhead established by the Australians Sunday morning, and that bitter fighting was underway. However, front dispatches reported the Australians were striking deep inland against light opposition, confined mainly to small arms fire. The seventh division, after winning the high ground dominating Balikpapan, struck’ northeast from the town. By nightfall Sunday, the Aussies were closing toward the Seppinggang airfield, on the coast midway between Balikpapan and Manggar airdrome, 12 miles northeast of the town. They already had driven across the Seppinggang Besar their first water barrier. The air force reported that enemy troops were streaming northward from Balikpapan in all kinds of vehicles. The Japanese columns were ptfunded repeatedly by Allied planes. Japanese broadcasts admitted that the original landing force, which Tokyo estimated at 5,000 troops, had been reinforced. A heavy smoke pall from oil installations set afire by the tremendous pre-invasion aerial and naval bombardment covered the battlefield. One of the first barriers met by the invaders was a wide anti-tank ditch, lined with oil pipes designed to erect a barrier of flames against any attack. However, Allied bombings had wrecked the pfpes and made the ditch useless. According to an American radio reporter, the Australians were aided by» specialized American troops in the invasion. Dutch troops also stormed ashore on the beach north of Balikpapan, as dta Dutch oil specialists. American Seabees Wf3t to work assembling and floating causeways for the unloading of cargo ships, which will follow with the heavier material necessary for the campaign. It was said that the Japanese garrison at Balikpapan was the largest on Borneo, although its size was not estimated. (Turn To Page 4, Column 7) O a Final Band Concert Here Tuesday Night Decatur High School Band Gives Concert The final band concert in the summer aeries by the Decatur high school band will be held at 8 o’clock Tuesday evening on the court house ramp. These concerts have been presented weekly since the first of June. The band will meet for final rehearsal at 7:15 o’clock this evening. Announcement was also made that a dance for band members and their invited guests, will be held at the school immediately following Tuesday night’s concert. The complete program, as announced by Albert Sellemeyer, di-, rector, is as follows: “Alamo,” Huff. “Sky Anchors,” ’Waring. “Country Gardens,” old English dance. “King Cotton,” Sousa. “Poet’s Dream,” Huff. “Field Artillery,” Sousa. "Humoreske,” Dvorak. “Mountaineers,” Metcalf. “His Honor,” Fillmore. "Marines’ Hymn,” M. Van Loock. “Fight On,” Alford. “Star Spangled Banner.”

ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Decatur, Indiana, Monday, July 2, 1945.

Parley Charter Reaches Capital

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SECRET SERVICE MAN George Keiuahan is shown with the original ' United Nations charter in its specially constructed container shortly after it had been brought from San Francisco to Washington. It was flown to the capital in a C-54 transport plane.

NO PAPER WEDNESDAY „ In accordance with annual custom, the Daily Democrat will not publish an edition Wednesday, July 4. o Local Sailor Tells Os Narrow Escape ' Vilas W. Feasel On Blasted USS Bright , Vilas Wilson Feasel, radarman ■ 3/c, is home on leave with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles / Feasel, 316 Marshall street, and his wife in Fort Wayne. lie - had a narrow escape from death when his ship, the destroyer escort USS Bright, was hit by a Jap suicide plane during the Okinawa campaign. While she was engaged in anti-submarine patrol, a plane was sighted coming over a small island and bearing directly for the ship. From its method of approach it was ascertained to be a Kamikaze, intent on crashing the vessel amidship on the port side. > Guns were rapidly shifted to the approaching target and took it under fire at about 3,506 yards. Hits were scored on the engine 1 and port wing of the plane by 40-mm. and 20-mm. guns diverting : the suicide craft from its course. The plane burst into flame? , and crashed with a portion of the ■ wing hitting the depth charge rack. As the plane hit the water its bomb exploded, blowing in the stern from below the water line to the main deck. The explosion rendered the entire steering engine useless, bigw holes in the main deck and in the 40-mm. magazine, demolishing the smoke screen cylinders and depth charge racks and started electrical fires below decks. All personnel in the after steering room were wounded, none fatally. All gunners remained at their stations meanwhile, directing 1 their fire against several other 1 Jap planes which were attacking ' shipping in the area. Soon afterward the vessel was taken in tow and proceeded to ’ safe anchorage. The Bright returned to the United States for repairs completely under its own power, being steered by a “jury ( rig” of unique and effective de--1 sign. 1 Radarman Feasel entered the ' navy in January, 1944 and left ' for sea duty in June, 1944. Q ; Board Os Review To Adjourn On Tuesday The county board of review, i .which has been in session since June 4, plane to adjourn tomorrow. Tbo review of assessments has been completed and the members ere tabulating the totals. iDue to smaller inventories, the prediction was made that the assessment of personal property would show a loss over a year ago. The total of personal property assessed last year exceeded $7,000,600.

Governors Confab Opens At Mackinac Demand Restitution Os State Authority Mackinac Island, Mich., July 2.— (UP) —The governors of 42 states today explored a three-phase challenge to strengthen states’ rights and curb controls by the federal -government. Gov e Maurice J. Tobin of Massachusetts, Herbert B. Maw of Utah, and Herbert R. O'Conor of Maryland issued separate demands for restoration of state authority in addresses before opening sessions of the 37th annual governors conference. Maw keynoted formal discussions in the scheduled four-day meeting with a warning that “the American public will sustain this conference in what it does to re-establish our old ancestral philo'sophy —that ‘that government is best which governs least.’ ” His view was supported immediately by O'Conor and Tobin. Tobin extended his appeal for states rights to include broader taxation and revenue sources for the nation’s municipalities. “The present dominating position of the federal government in the realm of taxes,” Tobin asserted, “must be superseded at the earliest possible moment by a fair re-allo-cation of spheres and cities.” Firm opinions were expressed generally by the chief executives on the issue of states’ rights, although most were openly in support of wide federal power in the field of international relations. Gov. Thomas E. Dewey of New York, nominal leader of the Republican party, set the pattern yesterday in his demand for immediate senate approval of the San Francisco charter “without reservation.” Dewey’s views in support of the charter promised to come before the conference in resolution form when Gov. Mortimer R. Proctor of Vermont said he would ask support of a ratifying statement. Maw, in his keynote speech as (Turn To Fax* 2. Column 4) o : Local Pastor's Mother Dies This Morning Dr. M, O. Lester, pastor of the First Methodist church, received word this morning of the death of his mother, Mrs. Lou E. Lester, 81, who died this morning at the home of a daughter, 'Mrs. J. H. Zink, at Muskogee, Okla. Mrs. Lester had been seriously ill for the past two years. « Mrs. Lester was the widow of the late Rev. F. A. Lester, w(ho was a pastor in the Indiana Methodist conference for 40 years. Other survivors include a daughter, Mrs. Frank Wallin of Yuma, Ariz., and four grandchildren. The body will be brought to Indianapolis for funeral services and burial at a time to be announced later.

600 Giant Bombers Crash Half Million Incendiary Bombs On Four Jan Cities |

James Byrnes Is Confirmed As Secretary Unusual Speed Is Shown By Senate In Unanimous Action Washington, July 2. —(UP) —The Senate today confirmed the nomination of James F. Byrnes to be secretary of state. In an unusual burst of speed, the Senate unanimously approved President Truman’s appointment of the 66-year old South Carolinian after Democratic leader Alben W. Barkley, Ky., asked for confirmation without the usual committee hearings. ■ The former senator, supreme court justice, and war mobilization director suceeds Edward R. Stettinius, Jr., who resigned as secretary of state to become the U. S. delegate to the United Nations security council. Republican leader Wallace H. White, Jr., R., Me., endorsed Barkley’s request for unanimous approval of the nomination without hearings. He said Byrnes “comes here now after a record of public ■service that leaves no doubt in the minds of anyone as to his superb qualities.” ■ Barkley, In asking for immediate confirmation, pointed out that “we’re without a secretary of state.” Procedure for confirming a presidential nomination normally includes a review by a Senate committee before presentation to the Senate. Mr. Truman announced Byrnes’ appointment on Saturday, shortly after the chief executive had revealed that former Secretary Edward R. Stettinius, Jr., had resigned to take over the job of chief U. S,-delegate to the world security league. ** Under present law Byrnes would succeed to the presidency in the event of President Truman’s death or disability prior to the next presidential election in 1948. The state department’s high command is as anxious as the public to know what changes the GG-year-old former “assistant president” Intends to make in the U. S. (Turn To Page 5, Column 5) o To Organize Nurses Aide Class Thursday First Class Session Next Monday Night The new nurses aides class will he organized Thursday evening at 8 o’clock at Red Cross headquarters, in this city, Mrs. Roy Price, chairman of the division, announced today. Between 25 and 30 women have signified an intention of joining the volunteer nurses corps, Mrs. Price stated. Enrollment blanks will be furnished at the meeting and plans will be completed for holding the first class on next Monday night at the junior-senior high school building. Mrs. Harold Hoffman, a registered nurse, living in the Homesteads division, will be the instructor. This will be the third class of nurses aides to he organized and trained in the county since the outbreak of war. After completing their course of instruction, the women donate a minimum of 150 hours of service at the county hospital. Several of ’ the nurses aides have already donated more than 500 hours of their time, while others have received service ribbons for 200 and 300 hours. „ - •

Confirmed

■R’ ■ bsL mi Bilik

The United States senate today unanimously confirmed the nomination of James F. Byrnes to be secretary of state.

Retail Business To Suspend For Holiday Most Os Industrial Plants Also Closed i Retail business will be at a : standstill and more than half of i the industrial plants will close 1 Wednesday m tne observance of the nation’s birthday anniver- ■ sary. Independence Day. The Fourth is a legal holiday in the state and banks will also be closed. There will not be any ’ mail deliveries, either on the rural routes or in the city. The General Electric plants and the Decatur Casting company will operate on the holiday. The Schafer company and the Central Soya company and McMillen Feed Mills announced that they would curtail operations on the Fourth. No public program or parade is planned for the local observance of the holiday. Following custom, the Daily Democrat will not be published Wednesday. Retail stores will close for the entire day, but will remain open Thursday afternoon. o American Subs Sink 10 More Jap Ships Enemy Cruiser Also British Sub Victim Washington, July 2. — (UP) — , American submarines have sunk 10 more Japanese vessels and a British submarine has sunk a 10,-000-ton enemy cruiser, the navy announced today. The British undersea craft was operating under U. S. control in the southwest Pacific when it sank the enemy warship of the Haguro class. Jane’s fighting .ships said the vessl had a normal complement of 692 men, carried 10 eight-guns andfour planes with two catapults. American submarines sent to the bottom one converted gunboat, one patrol escort vessel, six merchant vessels and two tankers. To date in this war U. S. undersea craft have destroyed 1,163 Japanese ships, including 140 warships and 1,023 merchant vessels. Today’s was the first navy an(Ttflrti To Page 2 Column 3) o Mrs. Lou Voglewede Dies In Oklahoma I - iFriends in this city have received ■ word of the death Saturday morning ’ of Mrs. Lou Voglewede of Musko- ■ gee. Okla. Funeral services have ■ been set for Wednesday. Mrs. Vogl lewede, formerly Miss Harriet • Burns, resided in this city before, moving to Muskogee.

X Buy War Savings & Bonds And Stamps

Price Four Cents.

Greatest Superfort Raid Leaves Cities Blazing Furiously In Wake Os Attack BULLETIN Washington, July 2.—(UP)— Returning to Japan less than 24 hours after today’s record strike, superfortresses in medium force attacked industrial targets at Shlmotsu in another night attack, the war department announced today. Heavy explosive bombs were used. Guam, Tuesday, July 3.—(UP)— A record fleet of almost 600 B-29 superfortresses crashed more than 500,000 gasoline-packed incendiaries into a 200-mile belt of Honshu and western Kyushu islands and left four more of Japan’s cities blazing furiously, returning airmen reported today. Heavy clouds obscured all but one of Monday morning’s targets in the greatest superfort raid yet against Japan. They were red clouds reflecting fires beneath and the fliers w r ere confident they had scored four more bullseyes. Three of the aerial task forces bombed by instrument through a mile-high overcast to hit the Kure naval base and Chimonoseki port on the Honshu coast of Japan’s inland sea, and the western Kyushu industrial center of Kumamato. A fourth group found clear weather over the Honshu coal city of Übe and Lt. Lee M. Jefferson, Salt Lake City, B-29 pilot who has flown in practically every fire assault mission against Japan, said “It was the best fire concentration I’ve ever seen.” “The entire water front was os fire.” Jefferson said, “and a strong surface wind blew the fire into the city. It was all burning when wa went over.” . . Only a few enemy fighters rose to challenge the superforts and their effort was described officially as “weak.” Flak was meager to moderate and inaccurate. Searchlights were unable to catch the silver giants in the sky. The crews could see the flame? of Übe and the glow of fires on the cloude above nearby Kure and Shimonoseki as they headed homeward. Many superforts made emergency landings on Iwo Jima for gasoline. They had purposely sacrificed fuel to carry the biggest bombload yet against the Japanese. Other pilots said they could sec smoke filtering through the clouds as high as 15.000 feet over Simonoseki. Capt. George G. Bertangoli, Pence, Wis., said he could see fires blazing in Kure from 120 miles away. The raiders struck at about three a.m.. (Tokyo time), showering perhaps 1.000 tons of fire bombs on each of the four targets, and Japanese broadcasts admitted that huge.conflagrations roared through the stricken cities for hours afterward. It was the first time any of the four cities had felt the weight of the 21st bomber command’s superfortresses. although Kure. Japan’s main naval base, was scorched by American carrier planes last March during the hunt for the hiding Jap(Turn To Paste 2 Column 3) —: o— — ****** ** Honorable Discharge ******** Sgt. Vincent Smi*h, son of Vincent Smith of this city. A veteran of more than four years’ service in the army, three of which were served in Australia. Solomons and New Guinea. Released on points at Camp Atterbury. • Staff Sgt. Forest A. Kenworthy, son of Mrs. M. A. Kenworthy, 194 Jefferson street, a veteran of the Algeria, Tunisia and Italian campaigns. He entered the army ’in September. 1941, and went overseas in May, 1942, and served with the 81st Mechanized Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron. Released on points system at Camp Atterbury.