Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 43, Number 188, Decatur, Adams County, 10 August 1945 — Page 1

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I XLIII. No. 188.

RADIO TOKYO BROADCASTS OFFER FROM Japanese government to surrender

||e Red Army Hives 30 Miles ■o Manchuria i Scinforced Soviets | Snvade Korea And | wore Os Manchuria g BULLETIN I ■.oridon, Aug. 10. — (UP) — | Kr Soviet communique toI Kht reported that Red army I Hees in the trans-Baikal re- | Kti have dr'vcn forward more I Bn 100 miles in two days I Kiting and captured the vital | K junction of Hailar. E is nearly 110 miles R Ktheast of the Manchurian I Kd'er which Red army forces K Kssed at ManchoulJ less than B Bhours ago. 8 ■ulon, Aug. 10.—(UP)—ReinKWhl Soviet armies have invaded K. kßp. the Japanese-held hall' of Ksßfclin island and two more secManchuria, Tokyo reported g forces in Manchuria ■■oxi counter-attacked the in-g-vH's. a Japanese communique EiiHlnit Moscow reported that one p oflßrhaps six Red army columns j| ‘‘■ling into Manchuria was ■ B or more inside the border B Hli Russian and Japanese. B.kHps agreed that heavy fighting EcwHuuder way in Manchuria beI Soviet veterans of the Euro- | peß war and the enemy's crack I kKLing army. I W s, ' r <)nd day of the Russo-Jap- | »■ war thus found the Red army j viSßt March across all frontiers I ‘w 011 with Japan or territory. | ■an: si' imperial headquarters i ‘•‘■ted these developmentfl in its broadcast by the To't ST 1 ' 1 * army forces crossed into ' near the Korean border [ Uwof Keiko, 80 miles southwest F ■tdivostok and 16 miles inland, | "Kday afternoon. | Bloviet troops on Sakhalin in- [ vaK K a r a f u to. Japanese-owned I *Hern-half of the island, near | Kurn To Page 5. Column 5) f ■ 0 Men A. Warthman declared Dead f Soldier Missinq For | Bear Declared Dead j> ■- Chrystnl Warthman of Monword from the war r ’. ttiat her husband. Pvt. r '■'■ A. Warthman, who was re- | missing in action on March Bte in Italy, has been pro- | dead. The presumption ‘ ■ )f death is fixed as August 1. t ~,'K 1 le tter stated that Pvt. i ’jß* man was with his company v,i ■ 11OS ' ! ' on near Carono, Italy, ■ 'hey were attacked by a ’"■ euemy counter-attack. Asattack subsided, a search ■ area was made but no trace Warthman was revealed. ii i K Warthman, a graduate ot , "Kirkland high school, entered B 1 '- v as an infantryman on Nos‘ H r I?’ an d took his baBrining at Camp Wheeler, Ga. : ’ '■four months’ training he was ■ Verseas lnr March, 1943. ./BParticipated in the North Afu : l| Sici ' iy an( t Italian campaigns. J i;i ßin service he had his feet • rn To Paw 2. Column 4) WOCRAT THERMOMETER PE RATU RE READING a. m. 64 S® 0 a. m 73 ■" 79 BP 3 P- m £6 WEATHER cloudy and a little rßi' 1 * 1, toni ttt’ t - Saturday, cloudy and warm. Scatthundershowers in ex.ff ? north and in afternoon g ni ® ht ,n central portions.

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

Sentence Soldier On Manslaughter Charge London, Aug. 10 —(UP)— Pvt. Wal’er E. Mathews of Vevay, Ind., was sentenced on a manslaughter charge today to three years and nine months at hard labor, dishonorable discharge from the army air force and forfeiture of pay. Mathews was convicted in the dath of Mrs. Alice Speight, who was killed when a truck he was driving while under the influence of liquor crashed into a line of persons waiting for a bus. A court martial sitting at Luton, England, imposed the sentence. Truman Warns Os Futility Os Resistance Grim Promise Made Os More Battering Unless Japs Quit Washington, Aug. 10 —'(UP) — President Truman left bruised and battered Japan with the grim promise today of more atomic bombs j and more military surprises unless I she surrenders immediately. The Japanese have felt only part of the crushing fate that is in store for them if they choose to fight on, the chief executive declared last night in an historic radio “report to fellow Americans" on the Potsdam conference. “The Japs will soon learn some of the other 'military secrets agreed upon at Berlin,” he said, “. . .and they will not like them.” Mr. Truman vowed that the atomic bomb would continue to be turned on the enemy until the minute of surrender, and he warned Japanese civilians to vacate war industrial centers and “save themselves from destruction.” He said Japan’s past deeds, including her execution of American prisoners, fully justified the decision to use the atomic bomb “Against those who have abandoned all pretense of obeying international laws of warfare.” (The President, at the same time, said he was fully aware that the horrible potentialities of the new weapon posed a threat to all mankind if it gets in the wrong hands. Therefore, he said, the United States, Canada and Britain, who hold the secret, will keep it from the world—apparently even from the Russians—“until means have (Turn To Page 6. Column 4) — o Mrs. Sarah Straub Is Taken By Death Funeral Services Saturday Afternoon Mrs. Sarah Mellessia Straub, 82, lifelong resident of Adams county, died Thursday afternoon at her home in Peterson following an eight months illness of complications. She was born in Adams county January 2, 1863, the daughter of Joseph and Sarah Shady-Steele. She was married to William A. Straub September 17, 1881. She was a member of the Beulah Chapel Methodist church. Surviving are the husband, four sons, Austin Straub of Cambridge City, Earl of Willshire, 0., and Glen and .Ralph, both of Peterson' one sister, Mrs. Elmer Sprague of Monroeville; 10 grandchildren and eight great-grandchil-dren. Two daughters, one brother and six sisters are deceased. Funeral services will Be held at 2:30 o’clock Saturday afternoon at the church, with the Rev. E Arthur, of Muncie, officiating, assisted by the Rev. Homer Studabaker. Burial will be in Antioch cemetery. The body has been removed from the Jahn funeral home to the residence in Peterson.

Key Port In Russian Siberia Now In News

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VLADIVOSTOK, Russia’s Pacific seaport in Siberia, now is projected into the news following Russia's declaration of war on Japan. U. S. warships can refuel here and I lie base can lie used by the Allies in the final assault against Japan. (International)

All Nagasaki Built-Up Area Is Destroyed Second Atom Bomb Obliterates Urban Area Os Nagasaki Guam, Aug. 10* —(UP) — The second atomic bomb dropped on Japan obliterated Nagasaki in an inferno of smoke and flame that swirled more than 10 miles into the .stratosphere and could be seen for 250 miles, an Okinawa dispatch said today. OkinaWa-based pilots attacking other objectives on Kyushu yesterday said the clouds of smoke from Nagasaki spread rapidly until they obscured bombing targets 60 miles from the port. Fliers told United Press war correspondent Russel Annabel at Okinawa that the atomic bomb explosion was “too tremendous to believe.” One said that the blinding glare of the blast was so great that, when it faded he thought for a moment the sun was setting. The airmen’s stories bolstered a growing belief that the entire Urban or built-up area of Nagasaki major naval base, industrial center and Japan’s 11th city, was destroyed by the Aatomic bomb. The built-up area totalled only four square miles. Four and onetenth square miles of Hlroshia were, levelled Monday when the first atomic bomb was dropped on Japan. Accurate assessment of the destruction at Nagasaki awaited reconnaissance photographs. Reconnaissance planes which flew over the city three hours after the attacks said smoke rising to 20,000 feet still covered the center of the city. Photographs taken at the time showed scattered fires outside the smoke area, Gen. Carl A. Spaatz, commander of the strategic air forces, said. The Japanese government formally protested to the United States through Switzerland on use of the atomic bomb against Hiroshima, radio Tokyo said. The broadcast failed to mention the Nagasaki attack, as had previous enemy broadcasts. "Indiscriminate use by the United States of such atomics weapons as the atomic bomb constituted a new crime against the whole of humanity and civilization," Tokyo said, quoting the protest. “Therefore the Japanese government in the name ot the Japanese people and also in the name of humanity and civilization condemns the United States government, simultaneously requesting it to immediately discontinue the use of ~ (Turn To Paffe 4, Column 8)

ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ADAMS COUNTY

Decatur, Indiana, Friday, August 10, 1945.

Plan Thanksgiving Service At Church If victory in the Pacific is declared before Sunday, special thank-giving services will be held at the Zion Lutheran church on Sunday morning, it was announced today by the Rev. Paul W. Schultz. o To Dedicate Airport Here Sunday Morning Visiting Aviators Here For Ceremony Preparations were being completed today for the dedication of McComb Airport, northwest of Hie intersection of U. S. highway 27 and 224, just beyond the city limits, on Sunday morning, members of the Decatur Aero club announced today. At least 15 visiting airmen and possibly twice that number are exi,--.ed here for the morning ceremonies and breakfast which will be served ,at the Reber restaurant, the pilots being the the gflests of Decatur,merchants. The airmen will begin to land on McComb field around 7:30 o'clock. The breakfast is at 8:30 o’clock, following which an auto tour of the city will be made. Transportation and guides will be provided by members of Adams' Post 43 of the American Legicn. A series of flights will take place over the Aity du’ing tne afternoon, followed by a short de(Turn To Page 5. Column 6)

United Press Scores Beat In Flash Os Jap Surrender Offer

San Francisco, Aug. 10. —(UP) — First news that Japan had offered to surrender was flashed to the ’ world today by the United Press from its trans-Pacific post in California’s Moraga valley. The great news beat was relayed around the world from three to seven minutes ahead of other news services or the monitoring service of the r’ederal Communications commission. This is how the news came in: At 4:27 a.m| (PWT) or 8:27 p.m. Tokyo time, the Morse dot-dash of Domei news agency’s regular 4 a. m. broadcast started a new item. William Wells, Morse telegrapher, was copying letter for letter as the Domei transmission progressed. But he was not copying on a typewriter. He was punching out the letters on the keyboard of a teletype machine at the Moraga listening post. Each time he struck a key the letter was recorded at the other end of the teletype circuit in the United Press news room in the Daily' News buttding in San Francisco. This instantaneous relay of the Domei eignal had become

Invest Monsignor Seimetz Sept. 20 Plan Investiture Os Decatur Priest The investiture of the Very Rev. Monsignor Joseph J. Seimetz. pastor of St. Mary's Catholic church since 1933, with the rank of the new papal office, will take place in this city on Thursday, September 20, it was announced today. A solemn high mass, coram episcopa (in the presence of the Bishop) will be celebrated at 9:30 o’clock with the Most Rev. John F. Noil, bishop of Fort Wayne, and a number of the clergy of the diocese attending. Msgr. Seimetz. who had the title of monsignor conferred on him by Pope Pius XII, last June, was advised of the investiture date this morning. Consequently, details pertaining to Hie program of service and officers of the mass were not yet available. The formal conferring of the rank, which also carries with it the title of papal chamberlain, precedes the saying of the solemn high mass. Msgr. Seimetz. who succeeded his uncle, the .late Rev. Julius A. Seimetz as pastor, came to Decatur from Michigan City in January, 1933. His parish has a membership of nearly 1,800. Ordained in 1911. Msgr. Seimetz entered his 35th year in the priesthood last June. He is the first Decatur pastor to receive the rank of monsignor.

standard practice at Moraga during the Climactic phases of the Pacific war. The new Domei item began inauspiciously. “Tokyo—the Japanese government today‘addressed the following communication to the Swiss and Swedish governments. . .” It sounded like just another routine propaganda broadcast protesting against American use of the atomic bomb. As the story continued from Tokyo’s station JUO—Japan Union Ocean —at the slow speed of only 25 words a minute, United Press j overnight editor Hennen Hackett watched the teletype in the Sas I Francisco bureau. Tokyo was more than half way through the more than 220-word dispatch, which took almost nine minutes. to transmit, before the words began to come indicating that the Japs were making an offer to give up. The key sentence came laboriously over the wire— , “The Japanese government are (Turn To Pa<» 3, Column 7)

Offer Is Not Officially Received By Washington; Want Emperor Retained

Seared And Shattered Japan Broadcasts Offer To Surrender To Allies; Offer Is Conditioned On Japanese Emperor To Retain His Sovereignty BULLETIN u T , Washington, Aug. 10—(UP)—The White House today confirmed that Japan has offered to surrender and said the United States is conferring "ith Grea ri am, . sia and China “regarding the Japanese surrender offer.” White House press £ ec ™‘ ar ;\ Charles G. Ross said at 2:28 p.m., CWT “that is all that can be announced at this time. Washington, Aug. 10—(UP)—Radio Tkyo today broadcast an offer by seared and shattered Japan to surrender to the Allies, but the offer had not yet been leceivec o i - ly by the United States government. Thus even if the offer should be acceptable, it might be some time—even days—before it could be put into effect. The offer was conditioned on the Japanese Emperor retaining his sovereignty. Unofficial belief here was that this in itself was not likely to be a barrier to acceptance pl the surrender. There was no official word on this point, however. Secretary of State James F. Byrnes, said at 8:20 a.m. atiei a 30-minute conference of key cabinet officials with President Truman at the White House Japanese offer had not been received through any official channels. In any event, he said, “we would take no action without consultation with the othei governments.” London reported such consultation was in progress by telephone.

U.S. Carrier Planes Attack In Tokyo Area 70 Superfortresses Drop One-Ton Bombs Into Arsenal Area Guam, Aug. 10 —(UP)— More than 1,200 carrier planes from Ihe third fleet shifted their attack to the Tokyo area today, the Japanese reported, after destroying or damaging 257 enemy aircraft in northern Honshu yesterday. Seventy Superfortresses also hit the Tokyo area today, dropping one-ton demolition bombs on the sprawling Tokyo arsenal area shortly before noon for the second time in +8 hours. Ninety other B-29s had raided the Nippon oil refinery at Amagasa ki near Osaka before dawn. A pacific fleet communique said planes of the third fleet attacked Northern Honshu this morning for the second straight day in an attempt to hamstring enemy efforts to move reinforcements to Korea and Manchuria to fight the invading red armies. The carrier aircraft shifted their assault to the Tokyo-Yokohama area during the morning, Tokyo said, and in the afternoon bombed and strafed airfield and military installations in the Chiba district just, east of Tokyo for an hour and a half. A dispatch from Richard W. Johnston, United Press correspondent with the U. S. third fleet said that clouds of planes “hit areas in which the Japanese have dozens of airfields and were believed to have airborne troops transportation points which might be used to re-inforce the Kwantung army in Manchuria.” Allied airmen destroyed 24 enemy gliders on the ground which possibly were scheduled for operations against the Russians. The fleet dispatch said actually there were no indications that the carrier planes were flying tactical missions in support of the Red 'Banner troops, but they apparently were seeking to isolate the northern Honshu forces and keep the Kwantung armies isolated from aerial aid from the Japanese home Islams.

The entire U. S. cabinet was scheduled to meet at 1 p.m. That meeting, however, had been set some days ago. Tokyo radio said the surrender offer—which came tour days after history's first atomic bomb annihilated Hiroshinut—was being transmitted through the Swiss and Swedish governments. Both the Swiss and Swedish legations here, however, reported they had received no communication from the Japanese respecting surrender. U. S. officials pointed out that formal communications from the Japanese to this country have normally been transmitted via Berne. They also recalled that in the past it usually has taken several days for urgent messages to or from the Japanese to clear through Swiss channels. The record so far is three days. The usual period for transmission has been about 10 days. B.nt someone might speed up this message.

Late Bulletins London, Aug. 10 —(UP) —The Swiss radio said today that the Japanese minister handed over a note to the Swiss foreign office for transmission to the American and Chinese governments. By United Press The NBC reported from Stockholm today that x'fte Swedish foreign office had received a “surrender offer” from the Japanese and transmitted it to the Allies. London, Aug. 10—(UP> A n official government statement late today said 1 that Britain is in consultation with the United States Russia and China on the Japanese surrender offer broadcast by Toyko radio. The statement, issued by No. 10 Downing Street, said no formal communication had yet been received from the Japanese government. Q Dr. Harvey Locke Resigns At I. U. Bloomington. Ind. Aug. 10—(UP) •—Dr. Harvey Locke today resigned as assistant professor of sociology at Indiana University. He will become associate professor of sociology at the University of Southern California. His wife, Mrs. Evelyn Locke, resigned as an instructor in music.

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Since the Soviet ambassador is still in Tokyo, it might not be necessary to await receipt of the offer through Swiss and Swedish channels. The Moscow radio said the Japanese foreign minister had told the Russian ambassador that Japan was now ready to accept the Potsdam terms. The Tokyo broadcast was timed here at about 6:35 a. m. CWT. President Truman arrived at the White House at 7:25 a.m.—his usual hour. Byrnes arrived at the executive office at 7 :48 a. m., followed by Adm. William D. Leahy, the President's chief of Staff; Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson and Secretary of Navy James Forrestal. Nobody seemed hurried. To reporters' questions as he entered the White House, Byrnes said “ask me when I come out.” Half an hour later he told them no official surrender offer had been received. President Truman did not cancel a heavy schedule of previous-ly-made routine appointments. The White House said he would have 12 callers, including several Congressmen, a number of ministers and ambassadors, and Secretary of Labor Lewis B. Schwellenbach. The 2 p.m. cabinet meeting had been scheduled earlier this week after the President’s return from Potsdam. If the Japanese offer in genuine—officials did not overlook the fact that it might possibly represent an attempted insurgent coup —it climaxed a rushing torrent of mighty events unparalleled in history. These events included: 1. The atomic bomb explosion (Turn To Page 4, Column 7)