Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 43, Number 159, Decatur, Adams County, 7 July 1945 — Page 1

WeMustWintheWar. mfise is Chores! .... .

foI.XLIII. No. 159. 2 XSEsKHGK«V *

JAP HOMELAND IN FLAMES AFTER RAIDS

Anthony Corral lies In Aufo Zrash Today 58 Mexican Youth Is Killed In Wreck Near Preble Today ' Si Anthony Corral, 15, son of Mr. nd Mrs. Joe Corral, Mexican farmI rs who tenant the Simeon J. Hain 1 irm in Root township, was killed 1 an auto accident at about 6:30 ' / (’clock this morning on a county ' rad, one and one-half miles north Preble and a little east of the *>ad intersection. Exact details of the tragedy are rtavallable as no one saw the accident, Leo Gillig, sheriff, and Rob--4 rt Zwick, county coroner, report1. The boy left his home about oglttdO o’clock with his brother, Joe orral, Jr., 18, presumably to drive to state highway No. 1, to =atch his ride to Fort Wayne. here he is employed. II Completing that mission, the Mouth was on his way home, the I Officials said, when the fatal acciI’ent occurred. Sheriff Gillig exlained that there were marks in re road which indicated that the I puth had swerved from the high[fay into a soybean field, then jross a deep ditch. Evidently ne >st control of his car, the officer < lid. The accident occurred near the ustave Koenemann and Otto Peck • irnis in Preble township. Mr. ' oeneman saw the wrecked car ad later discovered the body. ■ a heriff Gillig and Coroner Zwick | ere called. , | The boy’s body lay about 50 feet om his automobile and Mr. Zwick itimated that he had died about Vu hour before the examination : ' 'ta made. ( The boy had a fracired skull and internal injuries, te coroner said. Surviving besides the parents . id, one brother, is another broth- , Ihir-J Anialio florral, well known in its city. Funeral arrangements l!1 ‘ id not been completed at noon. V lx.i-.jiiA— o ■ . - further Damage To em 1 ap Cities Revealed til • U.S. Planes Uncover Additional Damage July 7.—(UP)—U. S. re""Tlinaissance planes, taking advan- ■ >ge of the first good weather over ipan in almost a month, have un»vered more than five’additional i&are miles destroyed and damped in ifve Japanese cities and etorles, the 21st bomber comand announced today. The devastated areas included igineering works and an oil relery. The discovery of the new s sstruction lifted to nearly 126 mare miles the territory razed by ' 29 supertorts. The five cities damaged in raids : far back as June 10 were Himi, Kure, Kumamoto and Übe on onshu and Kochi on Shikoku. In idition, the Hitachi engineering orke at Sukewawa, one of six inSSE To Pafre 6. Column 8) i • 0 jjrthur Christianer Friday Evening — Arthur J. Christianer, 53, died] J 5 o’clock Friday evening at s home, four miles southwest of onroeville. Death was caused by leumonia. He had never mared. He was a member of St. star's Lutheran church. ’ Surviving are the father, Henry ~ and a sister, Mrs. L. J. Dorndf, both of Allen county. Funerservices will be held at 2 p. m. • onday at the church, with the ev. Karl Hofmann officiating, urial will be in the church cemery. The body will be removed ; BE the| Zwick funeral home to .eresidence this evening. o DEMOCRAT THERMOMETER JMBMRATURE READING 8:00 a. m — 65 ’.■10:00 a. m 70 1*11:00.. m, 72 WEATHER a/' Fair and a little warmer toisnlffhit and Sunday.

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

Purple Heart Award Made To Fred Coffee The Purple Heart has been awarded to Fred Coffee, aviation machinist mate, third clasts, son of Mr. and Mjs. Adrian Coffee of this city, for wounds received in action against the enemy on April 30, in the Ryuku islands. Coffee, who served as a gunner on a navy torpedo airplane, parachuted to safety and was rescued from the sea, near the Ryukuyu islands. As he was coming down the Japs fired on him, tearing several holes in his parachute. His pilot was killed in the plane. Brought back to this country, the Decatur youth is now in a hos-‘ pital at Farragut, Idaho. His address is: Fred P. Coffee, A.M.M. 3/c, Ward B-5, U. S. Naval Hospital, Farragut, Idaho. Publication Os Both Fort Wayne Papers Halted Contract Dispute Brings Suspension Os All Publication ’ Fort Wayne, Ind., July 7—(UP) — The Fort Wayne JournalHGazette and the News-Sentinel today suspended publication until further notice a,s the result of a contract dispute between composing room employes and the publishers. A spokesman for the publishers said the workers were ordered off their jobs by Harry D. Keller, president of Fort Wayne typographical Union No. 78. Keller maintained tho printers were not on strike, but had been laid off by the publishers of both newspapers. He described the stoppage as a lockout. Composing room workers at the Journal-Gazette .left their jobc soon after the newspapers first edition went to press, thus limiting the isaue to four pages, the pwblisher’is spokesmen said. Union officials said composing room employed at the News-Sentin-el also were involved. Suspension of the two papers climaxed a month’s dispute between the publishers and the union. Menjibens employed by tlhe two papers have been working* under their own ruleis since contract negotiations failed last June 22. At that time both papers eliminated all advertising. They continued printing news until today. The dispute began when the International Typographical Union, with which the local printers union is affiliated, asked that the new contract include all of the “modelcontract” provisions approval by the ITU convention last year. The Fort Wayne publishers refused to grant the request, contending the most important clauses were phrased ambiguouslly. The publishers agreed to incor(Tu.rn To Page 6, Column 8) o Infantile Paralysis Meeting Held Here Outline Activities At Meeting Friday Activities and aims of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, Inc., were outlined Friday night at a meeting of the Adams county chapter of the foundation and several other interested persons. Miss Betty Malinka, of Indianapolis) state representative for the national foundation, addressed the meeting and outlined the work that is being done throughout the nation by the organization in fighting the crippling disease. The speaker also discussed the activities and duties of local chapters. Herman H. Krueckeberg, treasurer of the Adams county chapter conducted the meeting and also gave a brief financial report. Cash on hand as of May 31, 1944, was 1480.38. Receipts of the chapter during the past year totaled $t>15.45. The chapter expended (Turn To Page 6, Column 8)

Vital Supplies Pour Into Rebuilt Manila Harbor

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. . . . — * M- -'’W. A GRAVEYARD of sunken naval and merchant vessels when U. S. forces liberated Manila in February, the famous Manila bay today is a busy place. This general view of the harbor shows a Liberty ship being unloaded at a reconstructed pier in foreground and other vessels in dock. This is official United States Signal Corps -photograph.

I Trustees To Select Attendance Officer Township Trustees In Session Today One of the considerations to come before the township trustees at their meeting today is the election of a county attendance officer, who, under the new law shall be appointed in counties where the average daily school attendance exceeds 1,500. In Adams county, the daily school attendance is about 2,100, Lyman L. Hann, county superintendent of schools, stated. An appropriation for the salary of the prospective school officer is asked of the county council, which will meet in special session on July 16 to consider the request. The salary is listed at $175 per month and requests for mileage and office expense for the balance of the year, are also to be considered by the council. To qualify for the post, an applicant must have at least two years of college training. A person who has four years of college and some teaching experience, may qualify for a five years’ license, Mr. Hann explained. Under the law, the school superintendent shall nominate a candidate and the trustees shall elect. Mr. Hann stated this morning that he did not know if the prospective candidate would permit his name to be submitted to the board of trustees for considera- , tion of the appointment. o— Puzzling Silence On DeGaulle Visit No Verification Os Truman Invitation ,Washington, July 7 —(UP)— It was assumed here today on the basis of Paris and Washington reports that Gen. Charles DeGaulle will visit the United States next month at the invitation of President Truman. United State,s officials maintained a puzzling silence, however, on the official Paris announcement that tlhe French President had accepted an invitation from Mr. Truman and would come here in August. Some reporters who sought official verification of Mr. Truman’s invitation detected thinly veiled hints that np specific invitation had been sent to the provisional Frendh president. White house press secretary Charles G. Roas offered only a persistent “no comment.” he, as well as state department officials directly concerned with American-French relations, refused even to discuas the situation off the record. French ambassador Henri Bonnet contributed to the puzzle When, after emerging from a conference with President Truman, he ,said that “(Everything but the date” of DeGaulle’s departure from Paris had been set. Bonnet was allowed to cool his heels for nearly an hour in the (Turn To Page 3, Column 3)

ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Decatur, Indiana, Saturday, July 7, 1945.

Gerald Vizard Named As Director Os Bank Gerald Vizard, 625 Winchester street, recreational director at the Central Soya company, has been elected a director of the First State Bank, Theodore F. Graliker, president, announced today. Mr. Vizard is a son of the late Dr. J. W. Vizard of Pleasant Mills, who served 25 years as a director of the bank. The other directors are Mr. Graliker, Dan Sprang, John P. Braun, Theo. Hobrock, and E. W. Busche. The bank has enjoyed wonderful growth in the past 10 years and today has total assets totaling nearly $8,000,000. It has deposits of $7,500,000. ■. —o Further Cuts In Civilian Travel Sleeping Car Use Cut For Civilians /Washington, July 7—(UP) —Civilians, barred from sleeping cars on train runs of 450 miles or less, today faced the prospect of even greater reductions in sleeping car accommodations in the near future. Further cuts in sleeping car use for civilians may depend on the extent to which the 450 mile limit, which goes into effect July 15, eliminates conditions which today are forcing thousands of soldiers to travel long distance in day coaches. A total of about 895 additional sleepers are expected to be available to the armed services as a result of the 450-mile order, announced late yesterday by the officer of defense transporation. Whether that additional number of cars would handle the large numbers of troops pouring into east coast ports headed for various parts of the country was problematical. Defense transportation director Col. J. Monroe Johnson seemed to have doubts in, his mind when be issued the order. Stating that July might be the biggest month for arrival,s of troops from ‘Europe, he added :i “As troops go across the pacific in increasing numbers there may have to be further withdrawals of sleeping cars for their use, perhaps within the next month.” Calling on railroad officials and .the public for “dheerful” acceptance of the situation, Johnson said any delay in transporting troops “will prolong the war with Japan.” “That cannot happen," he declared. There have been numerous protests about conditions under which returning servicemen have 'been forced to travel within the country. The latest travel restriction and the previous one —a five-day limit , on reservations —meant that more and more civilians would have to compete tor already crowded day , coach space. But Johnson, referring (-specially to tihe new 450-mile ban on sleeping accomodations, said he was sure Americans “will cheerfully accept the situation when they realize that if is one way in which they can make another important contribution to the war effort.” The latest travel directive reserves for exclusive military use about two-thirds of the nation’s (Turn To Page 3, Column 3)

Soldier Discharge Racket Is Probed Checking Civilians Party To Conspiracy Hempstead, N. Y„ July 7. —(UP) —The federal bureau of investigation is checking civilian parties to a conspiracy at Mitchel field to sell soldiers discharges and transfers, it was learned today. First air force officers investigating the alleged racket revealed that at least six Cl’s were given fraudulent medical discharges through the Mitchel fiield hospital. The FBI was reported investigating the civilian members of the alleged ring who sold discharges for “several thousand dollars” and transfers from army units bound overseas for less. Col. T. G. Wold, air inspector of the first air force, said the six soldiers who received phoney discharges never entered the Mitchel field hospital. Their names were merely added to a list of names of men whom army doctors had rec(Turn To Page 3, Column 8) 0 Sephus Melchi In Critical Condition Sephus Melchi, 73, veteran police officer of this city and a former county sheriff, is critically ill at his home, 437 S. First street, having suffered a double heart attack yesterday. Officer Melchi, who has served 34 years as a law enforcement officer, including four years as sheriff and several years as chief of police, reported for work yesterday. He was not feeling well and consulted a local physician. He was ordered to go home and rest. The heart attack seized him at about noon, followed by a second attack last evening. Mrs. Melchi has also been in ill health for the past year. o : Two Mentioned For Supreme Court Post Sherman Minton Os Indiana Mentioned Washington, July 7—(UP)—Two Federal circuit court judges from western states were mentioned today as likely prospects to succeed supreme court justice Owen J. Roberts. (One of the men—Judge Sam G. Bratton of Albuquerque, N. M., — already has been proposed to President Truman. His name was sent •to the President by Sen. Carl A. Hatch, D„ N. M. The other name to emerge from speculation over the first vacancy on the court in more Chan two years was that of Sherman Minton, of New Albany, Ind., an old friend of Mr. Truman’s from senate days. ißratton, a former U. S. Senator from New Mexico, served on the New Mexico supreme court for two years. A Democrat, he was appointed to 'the tenth circuit court of appeals in 1933. Minton served a six-year term in the senate before taking over (Turn To Page 3, Column <)

Marine Commander Says Japanese Homeland Ripe for American Invasion

Fred M. Vinson To Become New Treasury Head White House Lists Vinson As Successor To Henry Morgenthau Washington, July 7 — (UP) — Personal income tax payers—including the little fellows — can expect little from Fred M. Vinson who has been chosen to became secretary of the treasury next month. • Vinson believes excess profits taxes on business should be repealed immediately after Japan is whipped. He would write postwar tax bills to encourage capital to take job-making risks. But he believes the personal income tax base should be broad —that is, the exemptions should be low. Actually of course) congress writes the tax laws. But the recommendations of the treasury usually weigh heavily on tax matters. The White House announced yesterday that President Truman would' nominate Vinson for the treasury job on returning from the big three conference near Berlin. Vinson will succeed Henry Morgenthau, Jr., whose resignation has been accepted as of next month. Vinson will step up from directorship of the office of war mobilization and reconversion. He is a Kentuckian and a graduate of the house of representatives. When he enters the cabinet there will be four members with recent and important congressional experience. The others are: secretary of state James F. Byrnes, secretary of agriculture Clinton P. Anderson and secretary of labor Lewis B. Schwellenbach. These four with Mr. Truman’s own sound congressional connections inevitably will tend to make relations between the administration and congress considerably more cordial than they were during the latter years of the Roose(Turn To Page 3. Column 2) O Nicaragua First To Sign World Charter U.S. Senate Speeds Up Charter Action Washington, July’ 7. —(UP)—The United States Senate kept to its hurry-up schedule on United Nations charter today although it had loet the race to make the United States the first nation to ratify. Tiny Nicaragua in Central America became the first nation to formally subscribe to the charter of the new world peace league last night when its congress passed and its president signed the historic document. President Truman has expressed himself as hoping this country would be the first, or at least one of the first, to ratify the charter. With hopes of being number one gone administration leaders in the Senate undoubtedly will concentrate on making the U.S. one of the very early signers—perhaps among the big powers. Chairman Tom Connally, I)., Tex., of the Senate foreign relations committee, said today that the speedup schedule on the charter would be maintained despite the fact that the Senate is accumulating a backlog of other business. Committee hearings on the charter are scheduled to start next Monday and Connally hopes to wind them up in one week. He wants to start floor debate July 16 (Turn To Page 5,» Column 7),

| Selective Service Office On 44 Hours In compliance with orders from national headquarters, the Adams county selective service office is now open on a 44-hour work week schedule, 'fhe local office is now open from 8 a. m. until 5 p. m. daily, Monday through Friday, and from 8 a. m. until 12 noon on Saturday. 0 Aussies Take Full Conlrol Os Oil Port Borneo's Greatest Oil Port Is Under Australian Control Manila, July 7. —(UP) —The Australian seventh division today won complete control of Balikpapan • bay, Borneo's greatest oil port, with a leap-frog landing on the : west shore. Gen. Douglas MacArthur's headi quarters reported that the Ausi tralians landed at Penadjam, three ■ miles across the bay from Baliki papan at 1:30 p.m. Thursday. Thus | • they secured the approaches to the : . fine harbor which usAd to be . jammed with tankers in pre-Pea’-l ; Harbor days. On the east shore of Balikpapan . bay, the Australians still battled . for the Pandansari refinery area on ; the outskirts of Balikpapan town. ■ MacArthur’s communique said the Aussies were closing in on the last refineries in enemy hands. t The Australians ran into rough . resistance beyond Manggar airdrome, 12 miles east of Balikpapan, . and their drive up the coast, which . had extended the beachhead to 18 j miles, was stalled for the time being. . Big coastal guns were backing . up the enemy infantry in a strong . stand northeast of Manggar. The . Japanese also were using strong , concentrations of .75 millimeter . guns and mortars. Today’s communique announced . that 3,031 Japanese dead have been counted in the Borneo operations, presumably including both the Brunei bay and Balikpapan offensives. The prisoner count was 274. The Australian casualties were 214 killed, 22 missing and 420 wounded. Big B-24 Liberators lumbered low over airfields on Borneo, straf(Turn To Page 6, Column 2) 0 , Rockford Teacher ; Injured In Wreck i Miss Bess Harb Is r Injured In Accident t 1 Bess Harb, 51. a Rockford, 3 Ohio, school teacher, received a triple fracture of her left arm in 1 an auto collision at a road interr section two miles south of Salem 5 in Blue Creek township Friday, enroute to the Adams county memoJ rial hospital in this city to visit J her sister-in-law, Mrs. Oscar Harb, -a patient at the hospital. ’ j Elzey O. Lynch, 34, of Berne, ; county cow tester, was driving west and Miss Harb was going , north when the two cars collided ’ at the corner. 1 Mrs. Christena Harb, mother of ’ the injured person, was riding e with her daughter, but was not ‘ seriously hurt. Mr. Lynch was uninjured. Sheriff* Leo Gillig investigated the accident and Berne physicians • were called to administer medical 3 aid to the injured person, who, with 2 her mother had planned to visit 5 their daughter and sister-in-law and then return home.

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Five Big Japanese War Centers Fired In Greatest Fire Raid In History Guam, July 7 —(UP)—The Japanese homeland, aflame from Tokyo to the inland sea under one of the greatest fire raids in history, was proclaimed wide open for invasion today after 32 days of continuous aerial bombardment. A huge fleet of more than 600 B-29 superfortresses struck probably the heaviest blow of the Pacific war during the night. They splattered almost 4,000 tons of demolition and incendiary bombs into five big Japanese war centers lying along a 275-mile arc of central Honshu. Columns of smoke and flame spouting four miles into the night sky gave fiery proof that the flimsy target cities had joined the death list of 27 other Japanese towns gutted by the B-295. Tokyo admitted fires were still raging out of control in parts of the bombed cities after daybreak today. The said capped an all-day series of fighter and bomber forays yesterday in which American fliers sank or damaged 16 more Japanese ships and destroyed 24 grounded enemy planes on Kyushu. Even before the announcement, of the new raid, the U. S. fleet. | marine force’s new commander, Lt. Gen. Roy S. Geiger, declared .that the aerial softening-up already had accomplished its primary job. “Now it is just a question of ! wading in and finishing this war,” Geiger told a Pearl Harbor press conference. American troops, he added emphatically. can land in Japan “any time we want to.” His words were echoed on Okinawa by the veteran Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell, who declared flatly that it would take more than overwhelming air power to beat Japan—“it will take invasion.” "We must meet them personally and kill them x x x on their home ground,” said Stilwell. He stuck to his opinion that the war would go on for a long time, however, and indicated that the crack Japanese Kwangtung army in Manchuria might have to be beaten even after the enemy homeland falls. Meanwhile. Japan’s ordeal by fire was continuing and mounting in fury. At least three army air forces, backed up by marine and navy fliers, were hammering at the enemy’s war centers and two more—the eighth and 13th —were on the way. Last night's superfortress strike opened shortly before midnight when the giant bombers thundered in across the east coast of Honshu from their Marianas bases. Splitting into five task forces, the raiders divided their bomb loads among the Shimotsu oil center, 30 miles southwest of Osaka: Akashi, an aircraft manufacturing city 25 miles west of Osaka; Chiba and Kofu, important railway targets 16 miles southeast and 60 miles west of Tokyo, and the seaport of Shimuzu, 75 miles southwest of Tokyo. It was the first five-way superfortress blow of the war and the B-29s first attack on any of the cities except Shimotsu, which was hit hard on July 2. Japanese aer’al opposition, already drained off by the months- ■ long battle of Okinawa, was al- ’ most non-existent and their antiaircraft fire was weak and inaccurate. o Honorable Discharge ★ ★★★★★★★ Sgt. Robert B. Butler, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harve Butler. A veteran of nearly three years overseas. Discharge on points at Camp Atterbury.