Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 43, Number 161, Decatur, Adams County, 10 July 1945 — Page 1

WeMustWin the War! k AH Else Is Chores! ,

XLIII. No. 161.

MORE THAN 1,200 AMERICAN ARMY, NAVY PLANES SMASH AT TOKYO, JAPAN’S COAST ont I: Ess 1 • ——

! lew Landings ly Allies In hitch Indies Japan's Last Grip On Borneo's Oil Threatened Today ' i———Manila, July 10. —(UP)—Japan’s st grip on Borneo’s vital oil was reatened today as Gen. Douglas acArthur announced Dutch amIbious forces had made two ridings op the north shore of Bal•papan Bay while Australian pops were wiping out trapped danders of the great Pandansari flnerlee. .The Dutch fighters landed on Moktebang and Kariango peninlas completing encirclement of e lower Balikpapan bay on its stern, western, and northern ores. They were opposed by determiuJapanese small arms fire from e shore and from the decks of emy river craft. Reports reaching here indicated e seventh Australian division Ids a good portion, and posl'.b’.y , of the Pandansari refinery. An istralian. army announcement oadcast by Melbourne radio said at seventh division troops have vanced through swampy country hind the Soember river estuary lid have captured the village of ember, effectively cutting off the panic - in the refinery area lere tne c nemy was being wiped It. • Japanese forces continued batng desperately in the Manggar pa with Japs setting up roaddill Tims ip an effort to halt ad vane j. Aussie mechanized equipment. Australian units which landed the, Penajam area beat off a panese counterattack one mile rth of the Sesoempoe river while trols moving north from Penan captured an enemy dump conning 500 pound bombs. lOver 50 heavy and medium mbers and fighters supported I erations in east Borneo. More tn 100 B-25 Mitchells and B-21 • beratora of the fifth airforce hit itguyama and Taihoku airfields north Formosa and Rokko airid in west-central Formosa. These planes also attacked an sohol plant at Kizon in southst Formosa. IAAF fighters and bombers mbed and strafed six airfields ■oughout Celebes. Mopping up operations continued northern Luzon with the 32nd dsion reporting increased suriders. Ten prisoners have been ptured in the last two days while j division took only 41 during » days of bitter fighting from (Turn To page 5, Column 7) ——————o ve Os Contingent issed For Service -ttve of the contingent J fob wm sent to Indianapolis last Junsday for re-examination under : selective service ruling on men i .the 18-25 year class, have been TpteS. jor service, the local board jounced today. ! I were Zane Elmo iR. McClenahan, z, James Carroll lard Paul Gehrig. ★ * ★ * Discharge ★* ★ * u Linn, army air e, will be placed it on July 29. ERMOMETER I TBMHWtATURE READING 18:00 p. m - 62 LoOk-JS - 63 boon ....~ —- 66 WEATHER M Fair and cool tonight; Wed■Mdiy fair and continued cool

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Today Deadline For Auto Use Tax Stamp Today was the last day for obtaining the auto use tax stamp which must be displayed on automobiles. The stamps may be obtained at the post office and cost $5. Internal revenue agents will begin checking of autos this week, a representative stated. 0 German War Making Potential Strong Senate Is Warned Os German Threat (Washington, July 10 —i(UP) —A senate .subcommittee warned today that Germany i,s now “better prepared to implement her plot for world conquest” than after world war 1, and recommended ruthless elimination of the Reich’s capacity to wage war. At the same time two of the subcommittee’s members suggested that special Allied observers keep a close watch on the Germans to see that they don’t build up a new war machine. A “watchful eye” policy, they said, would eliminate the need for a prolonged military occupation. The subcommittee, beaded by Sen. Harley ‘M. Kilgore, D., W. Va., based its report on on-the-spot investigations in Germany and testimony of government officials at open hearings here. The report said Germany is trying to hoodwink the world into thinging she is “completely crushed.” (But in reality, it said, German industry, far from being knocked out, “could readily attain and surpass their previous war production level" if giving a short period for repairs. • Despite wartime destruction, the senators said, Germany probably would have had her synthetic oil industries rebuilt underground if the war had lasted six months longer, and would have been sending v-bombs to smash New York. The committee said German industrialists were equally responsible with the Nazis and the generstaff for war crimes. Key industrial leaders who have been- jailed by the Allies “confidently expect to be rescued from their present plight .by powerful British and American friends who were their for, mer cartel affiliates,” it added. These industrialist, the report declared, “(Remain the principal custodians of Germany’s plans for renewed aggression.” (Turn To Page 6, Column 4) — 0 Entries Are Made In Wabash Dredge Case Current Report Os Commissioner Filed » -—— Two entries were made today in the William Fennig dredge case, better known as the Wabash river dredge, by Special Judge Henry Kister of Evansville. Judge Kister approved the current report of Homer Teeters, commissioner of construction. Mr. Teeters reported that no progress had been made in the proposed improvement. A petition from William J. Journey, one of the land owners assessed in the proposed dredging proceedings, asked that the court order the superintendent of construction to file a list of those who have paid their assessments. Judge Kister ordered that the list be filed not later than September 12. The Wabash dredge case was started in March. 1926. and through the years legal battles have been waged against the project, which proposed that the river should be dredged from a point near the Ohio line, west to the Jim Town bridge, near Linn Grove in Adams county. Many of the land owners have already paid assessments in the case and contract for the dredging of the river has been awarded, but work has not started, due to legal hurdles.

Committee Os Senate Studies World Charter Committee Reviews Hans To Assemble Military Strength (Washington, July 10 —(UP)— The methods by which the United Nations propose to assemble military strength to prevent future wars came up for review today before -the senate foreign relations committee. -Continuing its appraisal of the United Nations charter, the committee turned its attention to the provisions for .joint military action —the “teeth” —to prevent future breaches of -the peace. ■Dr. Leo Pasvolsky, state department expert on the charter, was called to resume the point-by-point review on which he spent four and one-half hours at Yesterday’s opening session. Unlike the covenant of the old League of Nations, the new charter contemplates specific measures for prompt action by its security council, including the use of force, to prevent international disputes from growing into war. ■lt proposes that member nations make armed forces available to the council, particularly fast-striking air-force contingents, and sets up a military staff committee to advise the council on the size of force needed and how it shall be employed. One phase of the terms under which such force would be employed was discussed at length at the close of yesterday’s session. It involved -the question of using council enforcement measures to force Boundary changes over which there may be an international dispute. ‘Sen. Warren R. Austin, R., Vt., (Turn To Page 4, Column 7) 0 Hold CAP Graduate Exercises Thursday Members Os Local Flight To Graduate Graduation Exercises for the 35 members of flight 523-1-C, civil air patrol of Decatur, will be held at the Central high school in Fort Wayne Thursday evening. All members of the local CAP are requested to meet at the Lincoln school in this city promptly at 6:4-5 p. m. Thursday, where transportation will be provided for the trip to Fort Wayne. -Officers of the Fort Wayne .squadron of the CAP, of which the Decatur unit is a flight, and representatives from (Baer Field will conduct the graduation exercises. •Having completed basic training, the lo'eal group will become a recognized flight of the CAP and will operate under army air force regulations, of which it is an auxiliary. Leaders of the Decatur CAP hope that in the near future the flight will have a landing field in condition for use as a base for operations, and for Decatur to hold a CAP meet similar to the one held recently in Huntington, which attracted considerable miterest. All members of the local flight are requested to meet at 7:30 o’clock at the usual site for final detailed preparations for the graduation Thursday evening. 0 : Decatur Man's Aunt Dies At Fort Wayne • Robert Garard received word this morning of the death of his aunt, Mrs. Lillian Garard, who died Monday at Fort Wayne following an operation. Mrs. Garard and her husband, M. G. Garard, formerly resided In this city. Funeral services will be held at 1.(30 o’clock Wednesday afternoon at Klaehn & Sons funeral home in Fort Wayne.

Decatur, Indiana, Tuesday, July 10, 1945.

Youthful Japs Taken On Okinawa EUw A ‘ f % life T Xi

THESE TINY JAP SOLDIERS, captured on Okinawa, are reportedly 18 and 20 years old. Trying to question them is Marine First Lt. Hart H. Spiegel of Topeka, Kan. U. S. Marine photo.

11,000 War Veterans Pour Into New York Four Transports To Dock By Nightfall New 'York, July 10 —(UP) —Eleven thousand veterans of the battle for Europe were pouring into New York today. The first of four transports scheduled to dock here before nightfall was the Trietam Dalton, which arrived with 381 troops after a rough 13 day voyage -from Le Harve. The crew reported sighting foflr floating mines in the Atlantic. Other ehips arriving included tho Hermitage, with 5,843 aboard, including Maj. Gen. Harold W. Blakeley and part of the fourth infantry division; the Hawaiian Shipper, with 2,259 men and the Sea Pike, with 2,616 men. Troops on the Tristam Dalton included monos the 838th ordnance depot company, which supported tjie l'2th corps of the third army in the battle of Germany. It was headed by Capt. H. J. Kennedy of Indianapolis, Ind. Also on the Ralton were the 3463rd ordnance medium maintenance company and the 77th ordnance battalion. Troops on the Hawaiian Shipper included members of the eighth infantry division engineers and numerous smaller units.

Package, Bar Soaps Virtually Vanish From Grocery Shelves

By United Press If the corner grocer Is looking more harried than usual of late, it’s safe to assume that a shortage of soap, latest item on the list of wartime uiiobtainables, is to blame. In virtually every city in the country, supplies of package soaps and the better-known bar soaps have virtually disappeared from the shelves, a United Press survey disclosed today. Less popular brands, however, usually are available in limited quantities. Retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers —not to mention frenzied housewives —agreed there was a shortage. Many felt that decreased production because of a scarcity of fats and oils was a contributing factor. Others said rumors of rationing actually had created the shortage. In Chicago, one manufacturer blamed cuts of raw materials al-

Area Rent Director In Decatur Thursday John E. Williams, area rent director, will be at the Decatur post office on Thursday, to answer questions and give information on reut problems. M'ns. Williams will be at the office at 9:30 in the morning and remain here until mid afternoon. Local perrons who have rental problems are invited to confer with him. o Five Nazi Prisoners Hanged In Army Camp Hanged For Murder Os Fellow Soldier Fort Leavenworth, Kans., July 10. —'(UP) —Five German prisoners of war whose Nazi zeal led them to murder a fellow soldier in an Oklahoma internment camp ■were hanged at the disciplinary barracks early today in an historic application of U. S. military justice. Li was the first time that an enemy war prisoner had been executed in the United States. The doomed men, former members of Rommel’s Afrika korps, displayed the stolidity and iron discipline for which that unit was known as they were marched to gallows set up in an elevator shaft. Seven reporters, with war depart(Turn To Page 4, Column 7)

lotments and government earmarking of the finished product. Another cited the diversion of normal civilian supplies to military and lend-lease uses. Hoarding, they said, was limited “because there’s nothing to hoard.’’ A Washington soap maker attributed the situation to “a shortage of fats and oils and an oversupply of government regulations." Cake sales were estimated at one-tourth and those of granulated and flake soaps at one half of last yeaTs in Detroit, where a swollen population put an additional strain on existing supplies. Laundries reported some increased business, because washwomen were telling their customers, "No soap, no clothes.” Dealers in Denver, Cleveland, Atlanta, Columbus and Kansas City (Turn To Page 4, Column 6)

Third Fleet Dares Japs To Fight-Grew Denies i Enemy Surrender Offer

Acting Secretary Os State Declares Enemy Attempting To Breach Allies Washington, July 10 — (UP) — Acting secretary of state Joseph C. Grew, denying that Japan has offered to surrender, said today that the enemy is attempting to 'split the Allies by provoking public discussion of Pacific surrender terms. He denied for the third time in recent weeks that Japan has made conditional surrender ogers “either through official Or unofficial channels.” , But in a surprise statement warning against a relaxation of the Allies’ unconditional surrend er demand, Grew acknowledged that many “alleged peace feelers” oa the part of the Japanese Ijave been reported to this government through indirect channels. Itemizing some of these “feelers," Grew said they were “familiar weapons of psychological warfare” being tossed into the battle now that the enemy’s military position is deteriorating and the plight of Japanese civilians is becoming more critical. He said “conversations relating to peace” have been reported to the state department from various parts of the world. “But,”'he emphasized, “in no case has an approach been made to this government, directly or indirectly, by a person who could for the Japanese goverwent, and in no case has an offer of surrender been made. “In no case has this government been presented with a statement purporting to define the base upon which the Japanese government would be prepared to conclude peace.” Grew cited one occasion when . “leading Japanese industrialists” —and ne emphasized the quotation marks around this phrase—were reported as eager to know “the best possible conditions the Allies would advance for a compromise peace.” (Turn To Page 4, Column 7) o —: Nurses Aide Class Has First Meeting 20 Women Enrolled Here For Classes Twenty women have enrolled in the new nurses aide class, which held its first meeting at the juniorsenior high school last evening, Mrs. Roy Price, chairman, announced today. The women will take 40 hours of theory instruction, followed by 40 hours of practice work at the Adairs county memorial hospital, before they volunteer for 150 hours of servjce as nurees’ aides. Mrs. Harold Hoffman, a registered nurse of this city, is the class instructor. The women who have enrolled are: Miss Eileen Sprunger, Mies Dorothy Sprunger, Miss Virgene Dro, Mrs. Lester Habegger, Miss Esther Kistler, Miss Helen Elzey, Miss ■ Ruby Reynolds, all of Berne. Mrs. J. O. Tricker, Mrs. Forrest Warner, Mrs. Richard Garner, Mrs. Hubet Omlor, Mrs. Lawrence Beal. Miss Phyllfe Wilkinson. Mrs. Niland D. Ochsenrider, Miss Joan Miller, Miss Rosalia Miller, Mrs. Earl Shoaf, Miss Harriet Haines, Mre. Paul Wendel, Miss Grace Lichtensteiger, all of Decatur. This is the third nurses' aide class organized here since the outbreak of war. Many of the former graduates are still doing volunteer work at the hospital.

Agreement Is Made On Joint Berlin Control Occupation Forces Chiefs Agreed On Allied Authority Berlin, July 10 — (UP) —Chiefs of the American, Russian and British occupation forces met today and agreed upon the immediate establishment of an interallied governing authority to direct the joint administration of Berlin. An official announcement of the agreement was issued after a conference of the big three leaders. Marshal Gregory K. Zhukov of Russia, Lt. Gen. Lucius Clay of the United States and Lt. Gen. Sir Ronald Weeks of Britain were the conferees. Zhukov presided. They decided to establish at once the mixed governing authority “tb direct jointly the administration of greater Berlin under the interallied agreement on control machinery in Germany.” “A satisfactory arrangement was made to meet the immediate problems of food supply for the civil population of Berlin on the basis of contribution from all the zones of occupation,” the official announcement said. “Progress was made toward a solution of the problem of fuel supply on a similar basis.” The announcement said proposals were made to bring into operation soon various divisions of the interallied agreement on control machinery in Germany. That apparently meant the prospective establishment of the Allied control commission. The interallied governing command for Berlin will hold its first meeting Monday. By unanimous agreement at today’s meeting, a French representative will be invited to sit in as a fourth member. The top command will comprise (Turn To Page 5, Column 5) o Floyd Hunter Heads Local Legion Post Annual Election Is Held Monday Night Floyd B. Hunter, well known Decatur man, was elected commander of Adams Post 43, American Legion, at the annual election of officers, held Monday night at the Legion home at First and Madison streets. Mr. Hunter will succeed Albert Rumschlag, who has served as commander for the past year. The new officers will be installed in August. Other officers elected last night were: Arthur Meyer, first vice commander; T. C. Smith; second vice commander; George Harding, third vice commander; Dwight Sheets, fourth vice commander; William Linn, finance officer; Tillman Gehrig, adjutant; Ed Bauer, trustee. Delegates to the state convention are Tillman Gehrig, Albert Rumschlag, Floyd B. Hunter, A. J. Baker and Harvey Riesen. Alternate delegates are Ed Bauer, Harry Knapp, James K. Staley, Charles Weber and Joe Rash. • (Turn To Page 5, Column 3)

F Buy War Savings ’-V Bonds And Stamps

Price rour uenrs.

Japanese Admirals Refuse Adm. Halsey Bid To Fight; Hit Tokyo Eight Hours Pearl Harbor, July 10.—(UP) — Admiral William F. (Bull) Halsey, stood with his third fleet 200 miles outside the gates of Tokyo today and dared the Japanese to emerge and fight. His 1,000 planes blasted airfields around the enemy capital for eight hours. But the Japanese admirals must have realized that the scores of carriers, cruisers, battleships constituting Vice-Admiral John S. McCain’s task force 38 presented tho mightiest naval striking force in history because not one of Nippon’s ships came out to fight. Racirfg into battle under forced draft the carriers sent their planes toward the Japanese capital a few minutes after 5 a.m. today (Tokyo time) and the baffled Japs offered practically no opposition either aloft or on the ground. The targets included over 70 airdromes ranging across 2,400 miles of the capital’s encircling plane, as well as the gutted great city Itself. Screaming Japanese broadcasts said the fliers were ranging up and down the east coast of Honshu, on all side® of Tokyo. Around midday the Japanese reported another 100 army Mustang fighters accompanied by several B-29 superforts had joined in the navy's strike, attacking shipping and shore installations in tha Osaka-Kobe area southwest of To kyo. Vice-Admiral McCain with cou) disdain gave a running account ot the strike over his ship’s radio. auA he identified his top flag commanders as well as 2G of his attacking warships. But still the Japanese navy refused to fight. Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, in a dramatic communique, called the attack “a complete surprise” and Tokyo supported this statement by waiting three hours before first mentionin'-, tne raid. Tliis was the first major assault for Halsey's famous third fleet since the old seadog led his ships back into the Pacific last May 27. He brought along such famous warriors as the 27,000-ton carriers Lexington and Essex, the 45,000ton battleship lowa, and the 10,000ton carriers Independence and San Jacinto. Today’s five-way blow was tho fifth major attack from the M/r---ianas-based B-29’s this month. Tho target cities were Sendai, 193 miles north of Tokyo and the deepest penetration yet made by the superforts; Gifu, 18 miles northwest of Nagoya; Sakai, a suburb of Osako; Yokkaichi, near Nagoya, and Wakayma. 30 miles south of Osaka. Richard W. Johnston, United Press correspondent with Halsey’s fleet, reported returning Corsair and Hellcat pilots said that they had encountered a sharp wind, but no airborne opposition and only the lightest flak. Johnston said last night the battleship’s chaplain prayed for good weather and today his prayers ' (Turn To Page 5, Column 6) o — ” BULLETIN Washington, July 10. —(UP) —The agriculture department today forecast a 1945 corn crop of 2,685.328,000 bushels. This would compare with 1944 production of 3.228,361,000 bushels and the 1934-43 average of 2,433,060,000 bushels. The wheat crop was estimated at another all-time record of 1,128,690,000 bushels. Last month’s report forecast 1,084,652,000 bushels of wheat, compared with 1944 production of 1,078,647,000 bushels.